Glancing at Evan, he said, “When I told you that Jode was out of surgery, you were on the phone. With Terry. He must have overheard.”
Evan perched on the edge of the desk. “That’s the only way he could know.”
Earlier in the woods, Jody had heard everything Wilder had said when Evan was on the cell phone with him. It wasn’t far-fetched.
Wilder’s fist balled. “I should have been more careful. I’m sorry, kiddo.”
Well, at least Evan hadn’t offered her up as bait. Didn’t change anything, though. So far all they had on Terry was circumstantial. They needed hard proof, but Evan couldn’t do anything that might be inadmissible in court.
Their hands were tied.
Unless...
“How about we confront Terry. He doesn’t have to know we don’t have anything concrete. Evan, if anyone can make him believe evidence has been mined from the cyber world, it’s you. We can get him to cough up who Lawman1 really is, and if he doesn’t know, we use him to draw Lawman1 out.”
Evan rubbed his hands over his face. Exhaustion was making its mark. “We can try. His safe house was breached. That alone might make him squirm since I’m not dead. I’m sure he’s been notified that the FBI descended on his aunt’s house and an arrest was made. We can use it.”
“And I’m going.” She pointed to her leg. “He owes it to my face as much as he does yours.”
Evan didn’t argue. “You can come, but you can’t drive.” He smiled but sorrow couldn’t be hidden in his eyes.
He helped her to the car, and once he was inside she shifted and swallowed her pride. “I’m sorry.”
Evan glanced at her. “For what?”
“Accusing you of using me as bait.”
“Apology accepted. Can’t blame you for thinking the worst of me. I’ve done the worst to you.”
She kept silent for fear her voice might crack. Instead, she clicked her seat belt in place and hoped they could get Terry Pratt to confess.
THIRTEEN
Evan white-knuckled the steering wheel, unfocused. He should have come clean and told Jody he’d never proposed because he was a coward—afraid he’d wreck their marriage and it would end in divorce like Mom and Dad’s. Better not to marry her and not end up like Dad than to marry her and watch the train wreck happen, unable to control it. She would have tried to convince him otherwise if he’d confessed that truth back then. She wouldn’t have understood. She had no idea what it was like to live with this fear. This doom hanging over his head.
And he’d loved her so much he might have let her convince him—for a while.
Until he became the man who hurt the woman he loved. Repeatedly. That had been her exact word.
Well, he wouldn’t give himself the chance to do it again. Once justice was served to Terry Pratt and Lawman1, Evan would disappear from Jody’s life and all the pain he inflicted by being in it.
But he felt like any moment he might implode and he’d crumple on the pavement. Walking away was the right thing. The selfless thing. The sacrificial thing. The only way he knew he could love her and protect her.
She believed he’d left the hospital to be the hero to his colleagues, to the public. And his actions said as much. But he’d wanted her safe. Fast.
Evan’s words were worthless.
His actions had failed.
Evan tried to be the man of God the Bible said he could be. He failed daily. But he wanted to be the kind of man Jody could be proud of, even if only he would know it. She was done with him.
He turned into Terry Pratt’s driveway.
“Well...here goes everything.” He stepped out of the SUV and winced as Jody struggled to climb out. Wounded because of his mess up.
He knocked on Terry’s door.
Michael Pratt opened it. “Hey, man.” He glanced at Jody and back to Evan. “I heard you were on the run. It was all over the news.”
“Long story. Your dad here?” His car wasn’t in the drive.
“We were sitting down to a pizza. You hungry?”
“No, thanks,” Evan answered, and they followed Michael inside.
Terry entered the room. “Bro! Shouldn’t you be laying low at the safe house? Anyone finds you here, we’re both in trouble.”
Evan folded his arms and Jody stared Terry down.
“What’s going on?” Terry asked cautiously.
“You tell us,” Evan said, and updated him on what had happened at the hospital and the safe house. As if he didn’t already know. “Who is Lawman1?”
Terry’s eyes widened and he tossed his hands up. “I have no idea. I put my backside on the line to help you. I didn’t tell anyone you called.”
“You’re the only one I told. We have Robert Ramos in custody.”
Terry frowned. “Who’s Robert Ramos?”
“The ghost gun dealer. Why didn’t you tell me you were stationed in the Philippines?”
“I thought you knew. Why else would I want a piece of the action taking these guys down? I saw what those guns did.”
“How did you pay off your house and buy a boat on your salary?”
Terry stepped forward. “I didn’t tip off Lawman1 about the deal that night. I never did anything, and how I spend money is none of your business.”
“Then I’d like to see your private laptop and your phone.” Evan wanted to see if he had the anonymous browser downloaded. Wanted to see his texts.
“No. You can take my word, or take yourself out of my house right now.” The vein in his neck popped and his face flushed red.
If he had nothing to hide why not let Evan probe his computer?
Jody seemed confused about something. Distracted.
“Maybe the DA can cut you a deal, too, Terry.”
“I don’t need a deal. I haven’t done anything.”
Evan laughed humorlessly. “I have no devices left. No tracking chips. Nothing. The only thing left is you. Why do you think I even called?”
“I hope because you trusted me!” He pointed to the front door.
“If you trust me give me your personal laptop. Give me your phone. Don’t make me get a warrant. I promise one is coming.”
“Dad?” Michael came into the room. “What’s going on? I think you need to leave, Evan.”
“Give me the phone and laptop.”
“No.”
“I’m coming for you, Terry.” He spun on his heel and followed Jody out the door. “He’s guilty and I can’t prove it.”
“I know. But you will.”
The door opened and Terry flagged him down. “Wait! Wait, Evan.”
Evan paused at the door. “You want to confess?”
“Yeah.” He hung his head. “I do.” He closed the distance. “But not to being corrupt. I never made a deal with anyone. I love my job.”
“Then what are you going to confess?”
Jody climbed out of the SUV.
Terry glanced back toward the house. “Michael gambles. More than he should and he’s lost a lot. I covered some of his debt with credit cards. He won pretty big not long ago and he repaid me by paying off the house and buying me the boat.”
“Anything else?”
“I’ll give you my laptop.” He handed Evan his phone. “And this.” He walked to his car next to Jody and opened it.
Her eyes grew wide. “How long have you been having an affair?” she asked.
Evan snapped his attention toward her. “What?”
“I smell the perfume. The car reeks of it. That and extra pine freshener to mask it. It’s not his wife’s perfume. I smelled hers in the house but also another scent on you. Most women stick with one fragrance.” She sniffed again. “You want to tell him with who or do you want me to?”
Evan’s head spun. Terry had been married twenty-eight years. They were happy. Weren’t the
y? “Terry?”
Shame drooped his shoulders. “It just happened.”
“Affairs do not just happen,” Evan said.
“I’ve been seeing Layla. About six months.”
Layla? His investigative support assistant? “She’s young enough to be your daughter! She’s a year younger than Michael!” Not that age mattered. The affair was wrong no matter how old Layla was, but still... “Are you having some kind of midlife crisis?”
“I don’t know!” Terry wailed.
She’d been coming to see the games because of Terry and dragging Zoey so it wouldn’t look suspicious. “Is that why you didn’t want to give me the laptop and phone?”
Terry nodded. “There are texts and emails between us. But you won’t find anything else because I did not cross you or the team.”
Layla.
You left your phone on your desk and it’s been beeping for five minutes.
He’d been out of sorts and forgotten to lock it up. With her tech savviness, she could have easily downloaded spyware. And she could have picked the lock on his drawer and placed the tracking chip in his wallet.
“Did you tell Layla I called you and told you I was alive? Did she overhear about Jody? Did you?” Evan asked.
She had access to his files. His computer. The task force information, including all their usernames. She could be working with Lawman1. She might even know him personally.
Michael stepped outside. “Dad? Everything okay?”
“Go back inside, son. It’s fine.” He turned to Evan and lowered his voice. “I did overhear about Jody, but you hung up so fast I never got to ask about her. Layla isn’t involved.”
“Did you tell her, though?”
“No.” Terry bit his bottom lip. “But she was next to me when you called.”
She could easily have overheard.
“Bro,” Terry said. “She’s been worried and asking about you nonstop. It’s not her.”
What if SAC Bevin did believe in Evan’s innocence and it wasn’t a ruse? What if Layla wanted to keep him on the run so the killers would eventually hit their target?
“I’m going to run an analysis on these devices.” Evan handed them off to Jody and she put them in the SUV. “Don’t leave the state.”
“I’m not guilty of anything except betraying my marriage.”
And if he’d betray the woman he’d pledged his life to, he would certainly betray Evan. “Tell no one about this visit. I’ll be in touch.” Evan climbed inside his SUV. Michael peered through the window.
Now to see what Terry’s computer and phone turned up.
* * *
Jody yawned and brewed a second pot of coffee. It had only been twenty-four hours since they’d talked to Terry. They hadn’t been able to locate Layla and she wouldn’t answer her phone or texts. Evan had been holed up with Wheezer on a computer while Jody had worked other angles and was forced by Wilder and Cosette to take it easy.
They had found out that Robert Ramos did not know Lawman1 personally. It appeared no one did. Evan had combed through Terry’s devices and, while there were many romantic emails and texts between him and Layla, there was nothing that proved they’d conspired against Evan and Jody. But there were ways to stay hidden, and they didn’t have enough probable cause to get warrants served to search homes and personal property.
The coffeepot beeped as someone knocked on her apartment door. She hobbled to answer it. Evan stood before her, freshly showered. A hint of coffee lingered on him.
“Any news?” she asked.
“Wheezer found a way to prove I didn’t set up that offshore account. I’d tell you the technical part, but you’d go cross-eyed. It was genius, though, and I didn’t think of it.”
“That’s great. You’ll be exonerated and able to go back into work. No more running from the good guys.” Just the bad ones.
“Yeah. But that’s not all. Wheezer overrode the encryption using a program he wrote and he cracked open an IP address from an internet café in Florida. I clearly was not in Florida so it couldn’t have been me.” He grinned. “You’re right. It would be terrifying if Wheezer worked for the opposite side of the law.”
“Are you saying Lawman1 sent the fake email from you to himself from Florida or made it appear to be from there?”
“It came directly from Florida. Wilder has a friend in Turtle Bay—Tom Kensington. He’s not far from where the email was sent. He’s going to check out the café and ask around. See if there are any regulars in there. We’re a step closer.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that.”
“And that money in the offshore account? It’s actually empty, but Lawman1 hacked the banking system to make it appear that funds were in the account.”
“Could he have done that with the assassination site?”
“Probably. But he didn’t. That Bitcoin is legit in the online wallet Wheezer set up, which will go to proper authorities now that all charges have been dropped and I’m no longer a fugitive. Agent Fenner sent the information to my supervising agent. Clive called the CCM office and I talked to him about ten minutes ago. He wants me to come in for a briefing and reinstatement.”
Jody leaned on the door frame. She wasn’t angry that Evan had his life back, his job. His reputation. He’d worked hard and deserved it. “That must be a relief.”
“It is.” His relaxed expression suddenly shifted as if some new revelation had dawned on him.
“What is it?”
He blinked and pursed his lips.
“Evan? What’s wrong?”
“I—uh... Nothing.” He cleared his throat. “SAC Bevin asked me why I never came in after he emailed me. He did believe me. Which means...”
“Layla was lying about it being a ruse. She wanted you to stay on the run.”
Evan called her cell phone again. Voice mail. He tried the office. A few moments later he hung up. “She’s not in the office today, either.”
That didn’t sound good. “You think she ran for it? What about Terry?”
“He’s been into work. If he’s innocent, why not, right?” He snapped his fingers. “I know someone who might know where Layla is.” He called Zoey, spoke for a moment and then hung up. “She says Layla is spending a few days with her mama, who lives outside Atlanta. Apparently, she’s ‘going through some stuff’ and needed some time.”
“I imagine she is. Let’s get Wheezer to find her mama’s address.”
“Good idea.” A few texts later, Evan had it. “You feel up to going for a ride? Sniff her out. Not literally of course.” He chuckled under his breath.
“It’s worth the drive to see if she’s there. If not, maybe her mom knows where she might be.” Jody grabbed her coat and followed Evan to the Suburban.
Thirty minutes into the drive, Evan’s phone rang. “Wilder.” He put the phone on speaker.
“Hey, it’s Wheezer.”
“And Wilder.”
“Go ahead, you’re on speaker,” Evan said.
“I have some news,” Wheezer said. “I tried a new approach to looking at the way that offshore account was set up.”
“Spare us all the nerd knowledge, Wheezer, and give us the short version,” Jody said. She glanced at Evan. “Sorry, but it all makes my head hurt.” Who cared about the how when they might have a why and a who.
Evan grinned. “Bottom line then.”
Wheezer continued, “I found a way into the Florida internet café’s mainframe and used it to find another IP address that linked to the one we found earlier. I used that to get us a physical location.”
Great news. “And?” Jody asked.
Wilder spoke. “It’s a residence about fifteen miles from the café. Owned by Roger and Marsha Vanhatter.”
Excitement raced through Jody’s veins. “Are you saying you found Lawman1 and his re
al identity?”
“They don’t fit the bill. But Wheezer searched around and discovered they have a daughter and son both in their early twenties. The son, Dylan, studied computer science at a local university. No social media sites.”
“That’s odd for a twentysomething,” Jody said.
Evan agreed.
“We couldn’t find a place of residence for him, but that just means he might live at home or with his sister or a roommate.”
“Or he doesn’t want anyone to see his real identity if he’s living a double life and using an alias. If he’s a billionaire, then he’s stashing luxury items like homes and toys somewhere. He’d have to hide that from his family unless they know about it, which I’m going to say they don’t, based on their profile,” Jody said. “This guy could be Lawman1.”
Evan frowned. “I don’t know. It’s possible Lawman1—if he’s this Dylan Vanhatter—made a mistake and left a trail of two IP addresses, but he might be playing more games. Framing more innocent people for his own twisted reasons.”
“This guy is smart and careful. But he is human, and humans—especially cocky ones—slip up. That IP might be his slip up. And our break,” Jody said.
“I’ll have August go back and question the head of the gun ring,” Wilder said. “They used fake identities to traffic guns. Maybe Lawman1 used the same people to get a fake ID, too.”
“Keep us posted.” Evan turned his signal on and exited the ramp. “We’re going to talk to Layla.”
Evan hung up and Jody chewed on the new information. “We might have him.”
“Or he might be sending us on yet another chase.”
“Let’s think positive. I need positive right now.”
“Me, too,” Evan said.
They pulled up to a modest home in a quiet neighborhood.
“That’s Layla’s car.”
“Doesn’t mean anything. She could be here deciding what the next move is.” Jody clambered from the vehicle and they knocked on the front door.
It cracked, then Layla swung it open wide. “Agent Novak!” She glanced at Jody. “Jody. What are y’all doin’ here?”
“We know the truth, Layla,” Evan offered, hoping she’d divulge.
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