“What truth is that?” she asked, and tucked a red strand of hair behind her ear. Her brown eyes were shifty.
“Can we come in?”
“Sure.”
Evan stepped in first. “You the only one home?”
“For now. My mom’s gone to get her hair and nails done.” She motioned to the kitchen. Evan followed, wary steps and cautious eyes.
Jody kept her hand on her sidepiece in case Layla was lying and someone else like Lawman1 was lurking. Or was he in Florida? “Can I use the restroom?” She’d snoop and make sure.
“It’s down that hall on the left. Y’all want coffee?”
“No, thanks,” Evan said.
Lemon. Mothballs. Vanilla—shampoo or lotion—and Layla’s floral perfume. Same one she’d smelled in Terry’s car that tipped Jody off to the affair.
Jody checked out the three bedrooms, including closets, and finished securing the home before she hobbled back to the kitchen.
Layla was crying.
Guess Evan had cracked her.
Evan folded his arms across his chest. “Layla knows we know about Terry.”
“It’s horrible. I know. That’s why I came to Mama’s. I need to figure this out. I’m not a home wrecker. I’m not that person.” She grabbed a napkin off the kitchen table and blew her nose.
“Why did you lie to me about SAC Bevin?”
She looked up, wide-eyed. “I didn’t lie about anything.”
“Layla,” Evan said calmly, but his eyes were ice. “You had access to my phone. You overheard the phone call with Terry. If you tell the truth maybe we can lessen your sentence.”
“What?” She jumped up. “What sentence? I didn’t do anything to your phone and, yes, I overheard, but when is that illegal?”
Evan pursed his lips. “Can I have your phone and laptop?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why did you email and tell me not to turn myself in to SAC Bevin because it was a ruse?” Evan took her phone, but kept his cool gaze locked on hers.
“Evan,” she said with a shaky voice. “I did not email you and warn you of anything at any time. I love my job. And I follow protocol. I never believed you did what they said, but I need my job.”
Evan ground his teeth. Jody stepped in.
“Layla, think. Did you tell anyone else what you overheard from Evan and Terry’s phone call?” It was possible Layla’s email was hacked—if she was telling the truth. But someone had to personally know about the safe house and Jody’s hospitalization.
Layla wiped her nose and shook her head. “No!” She suddenly froze. “Wait. Yes...but, I mean, there’s no way.”
Evan leaned forward. “Who did you tell, Layla?”
FOURTEEN
Evan might as well have been sucker punched.
Zoey Wyatt.
Jody scrolled through her phone as they drove back from Layla’s mom’s house. “She might be lying. They framed you. Framed me. Why not frame Zoey, too? They might even be framing this Dylan Vanhatter guy.”
Evan didn’t answer her. He was too busy trying to wrap his brain around the fact that sweet and shy Zoey Wyatt might be in cahoots with a mastermind to murder Evan and Jody.
“Now that you’re cleared,” she asked, “will you be heading back to Washington? The promotion?”
The promotion. He hadn’t thought about it in days. Everything was topsy-turvy. “I don’t know, Jo. I feel sixteen again.”
Unsure. Afraid. Insecure.
Jody shifted in the seat. “You’d be good, especially now that you’re not drinking or partying.”
Never again. But how could she say this knowing he would eventually be climbing toward her dashed dreams? She was more than he ever deserved. “Thank you.” Evan’s eyes stung and a lump grew in his throat. When he gained composure, he spoke. “I know I’ve been working toward this, but sometimes I don’t feel like I deserve it.”
Jody leaned her head on the seat. “Evan, we can’t change the past. I know Christine was never the same after what happened, but she didn’t choose to let God help her rise from the ashes. I know it wasn’t His fault she was hurt or that I was demoted. And I chose to cover up what happened that night with you. I thought I was protecting you, and I wasn’t. I was breaking protocol and probably would have lost my job if I had thrown you to the wolves.”
“That’s why you didn’t tell them I’d been drinking.” But she’d lost her job anyway.
“I didn’t believe they’d listen. I figured they’d sweep it under the rug. Take care of their boy. Because that’s what happened before. But maybe they wouldn’t have. Either way, I was wrong. I know that now. I was too angry and hurt to see it before.”
“You amaze me.”
“Well, I don’t know about all that, but don’t not take the promotion because you feel bad about what happened to me. It wasn’t all your fault. I can admit that since I decided to get back on board and talk to God again.” She grinned, but there was still pain in her eyes.
She’d lost everything. Never been reinstated. He’d realized that earlier today when it sank in that there was something he could do to right the injustice done to her.
It would destroy his career. His reputation. Bring humiliation. Everything he’d worked hard for and feared losing. These things had made him who he was.
His phone dinged. Jody glanced over. “You got a Scripture verse.” She chuckled.
“Read it to me. I’m driving.”
She picked up his phone. “This thing secure for real now?”
“Yes. After they cleared my name, they issued me a new phone and I made sure to double-check the encryption.”
“‘Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.’ Second Corinthians 5:17. I need this app.”
It was as if God was answering Evan with a personal text!
He could face the future no matter what. It was like God had given him new DNA—a new creation.
Evan knew exactly what he needed to do. As soon as they brought down Lawman1 and the people helping him, he’d come clean. Clear Jody’s name. If she wanted the chance to go back into the Secret Service, he’d make sure she had it. He should have done it years ago, but she was right. He had been selfish. And afraid.
He turned into a small neighborhood. It was after six. Zoey ought to be home. She left work each day by five thirty.
“You know she had the same opportunity to mess with your personal items as Layla. Or Terry.”
“I know.”
They knocked on the door. Zoey may or may not be home. The garage door was down. No car in the drive.
After the third knock, movement sounded in the house and she opened the door.
“We have some talking to do, Zoey,” Evan said.
Jody sniffed. Nodded to Evan.
She smelled something he couldn’t. Something that let her know Zoey was either guilty of something or hiding something. After all these years, he could still read Jody’s eyes.
“You’re alive,” Zoey said. “How?”
“Cut the act. Layla told me she filled you in on the truth. I know you planted spyware on my phone and installed a tracking chip in my wallet. I also know you’re working with Lawman1 and told him about the safe house, about Jody in the hospital. Why would you think I wouldn’t find out?” Evan hardened his tone. Went in as if he already knew it all when he wasn’t sure of anything.
Her bottom lip trembled.
“I smell fear,” Jody said.
If only Zoey knew how literal Jody was being. Evan smelled nothing.
Zoey’s eyes filled with tears and she dropped her head. “How did you find out?”
So it was Zoey.
“I’m gonna be the one to ask the questions here. Who is Lawman1?”
Zoey sniffed. “I don’t know. Honestly. I got an email to my private account about a year ago.”
“I want your laptop.”
She nodded. “He knew about my college loans and credit card debt. I’m drowning in it. He offered me a large amount of Bitcoin and a way to have it exchanged into cash legally and under the radar if I supplied him with some simple answers.”
“Such as?” Evan balled his fist. Why hadn’t she come to him? He could have helped her figure a way out of her debts.
“What is Evan working on? Who is Evan working with? Is he seeing anyone? Seemingly harmless things, so I accepted the offer. But then when I told him you were heading a new task force to take down the Arsenal, it changed. He changed.”
Evan had made a name for himself in the cyber world. Enough that it had garnered Lawman1’s attention to keep tabs on him. Until it directly affected him. Hearing Evan had targeted Lawman1’s website had set the ball rolling.
“He wanted private information like your username and those involved. I said no, Evan. But I was too far in and he blackmailed me.”
Evan raked his hand through his hair. “And you kept him up-to-date on what was happening in the task force?”
She nodded.
“You told him about the sting in the junkyard with the gun dealers and he leaked it to them?” Evan asked, trying to keep calm. She could have gotten everyone killed.
“I did, but I didn’t want to.”
“You put the spyware on my phone?”
She nodded again.
“Picked the lock on my desk drawer and placed the tracking chip in my wallet?”
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“How did you get a high-tech chip like that Zoey?”
“He sent it to me. I have the box. If you want it.”
“I do.”
They followed her inside and he took the box from her, his mind whirling. Postal code from Florida. “Why did you call and warn me not to come in that morning?”
“He didn’t want you to come in. He wanted you dead. I didn’t. You have to believe that!”
Evan wasn’t sure what to believe. “And the information Layla gave you—when she thought she was soothing you. When she told you I was alive and at a safe house. You gave that information to Lawman1, as well?”
“I did. I was afraid if I didn’t and he found out you were alive and I’d known all along, he’d kill me for withholding information! He knows everything!”
That meant she gave him the information about Jody being in the hospital. His temper ratcheted to explosive levels.
“You know you’re under arrest, don’t you?” Jody asked.
Zoey buckled at the knees. “I just wanted to pay off my debt.”
“Now you have a debt to pay back to society,” Evan said. “Zoey Wyatt, you’re under arrest...”
* * *
Eight hours ago, Evan had arrested Zoey Wyatt but had taken Jody’s advice to keep his exoneration quiet for now. If Lawman1 thought Evan was still a fugitive and unable to concentrate on him, he might slip up, and it gave them the advantage. SAC Bevin had met them at a secure location and Evan had briefed him on everything. He wasn’t happy, but he understood since they’d been friends a long time. He had taken Zoey into custody and assured Evan they would keep things quiet and give him the time necessary to see this through.
While Evan and Jody had met with SAC Bevin, the FBI had made a deal with Ramos and he’d coughed up the name of the identity theft ring he used. They’d been referred to him through none other than Lawman1. And if Lawman1 had been using them, then they would surely find his real identity and his false one. For the last two hours Evan had been sitting at CCM searching the database with Jody, Wilder, Beckett and Wheezer, but nothing had popped for any of them. It was unbelievable how many people used false identities.
Jody worked across from him, brow furrowed, then she looked up. “Evan. You need to see this.”
Her tone and eyes sent a ripple of uneasiness through him. “Did you find him?” She’d found something she didn’t like.
Dread and compassion twisted her lips. “Yes...and no.”
Evan slowly came around the table and peered over her shoulder into Dylan Vanhatter’s face. Dylan Vanhatter, who had purchased an identity that included a fake passport, license and a fake social security number, all under the same alias.
“You recognize him?” Wilder asked.
Evan couldn’t speak. Couldn’t breathe.
It all flashed in his mind.
“It’s Sam Bass,” Jody offered quietly. “He’s a young man Evan’s been mentoring at church—plays basketball on his league.”
Evan couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t force a single syllable out. It was like his lungs had deflated and his ticker stopped ticking.
Jody spoke, but it felt muffled. Too much blood pounding in his ears.
“Wheezer, search the alias. Let’s find amenities, bank accounts and homes. Whatever you can pull up, do it. Turn over every rock. I want everything on Sam Bass. I want it yesterday. Evan?”
He couldn’t talk about it and stumbled from the room, overwhelmed. Stunned. Sick.
Sam/Dylan had dropped that six-month AA chip six months ago right in front of Evan as a ploy to secure Evan’s attention, time and empathy. Evan had poured himself out to Sam Bass. To Dylan. Whoever. He had worked to keep him on the straight and narrow. He’d become someone special to him.
Lunches.
Dinners.
Basketball games.
He’d been in Evan’s home! He would’ve known about his security cameras. Could have easily given that information to the assassin who’d sneaked onto his property. He knew about Jody. Not by name. Evan had never mentioned it, but he’d told him about the woman he’d always loved but hurt. It would only take a little snooping for Sam to find out who Jody was and put two and two together—that she’d taken the blame for Evan’s drinking. Sam had toyed with Evan. With Jody. Like a little sign that Lawman1 was right under Evan’s nose.
And he had been.
Sam had a traveling job.
Lies.
He said that so he could easily go wherever he kept his toys and home with the money he’d made from commissions of gun sellers. Those two weeks Evan couldn’t get in touch with him and was scared out of his mind Sam had fallen off the wagon... He’d worried in vain. Sam was off partying it up. Living his alternate life.
When Evan wouldn’t talk about his work, Sam had employed Zoey. Probably combed through everyone’s financials and social media sites until he found the perfect victim.
She’d been vulnerable. Needy. Desperate to dig out of debt.
But that wasn’t the worst part of it. It only hammered home further how much Evan’s betrayal of Jody had destroyed her. Sam had been a man Evan was mentoring. Evan had been the man Jody wanted to marry! He collapsed on the bench in the foyer, hanging his head between his knees. If he could go back... God, I wish I could go back.
“Evan?”
Jody.
He couldn’t even look at her.
“Evan, I know you’re hurt.”
Of course she did!
Hurt morphed into anger. He’d been taken advantage of. Lied to. Humiliated. He wanted to put a fist through Sam Bass’s face. To put cuffs on him and haul him into a cage for the rest of his life. He rose to his feet and strode into the conference room, Jody following. “I’m going over there. He doesn’t know I’m onto him, exonerated or that Zoey is incarcerated. I want to look him in the eye and personally arrest him.”
“Then I’m going, too.” Jody touched his shoulder. “But you need to get a grip on your feelings or you might do something stupid.”
He wasn’t sure how to do that.
God, help me simmer down. Keep me grounded. Help me do the right thing.
“Beckett and I will come, too,” Wilder said. “This guy is calculating and dangerous, with unlimited resources due to dark web connections and more cash than we can count. Jody, you’re not at one hundred percent yet or I’d say have at it. We’ll stay invisible.”
He collected his keys.
They could come up with an idea on the drive back to Macon. An hour and a half later, Wilder had dropped Evan and Jody off at Evan’s house so they could drive separately. The game plan was formed.
“Ready?” Evan asked.
“Yep.”
He texted Sam: Hey, man, you doing okay? I need a favor.
Sam texted back: Dude. U all over the TV. What is going on?
Evan’s blood raced, but he texted back: I can explain. But me and my girl need a place to lay low. Lot to ask but I need somewhere no one would think to look for us. I didn’t do what they say I did.
A second later Sam texted back: Yeah, man. I owe you. Anything. Come on.
“Showtime. He bought it.”
They drove to Sam’s modest apartment, Wilder and Beckett not far behind. Evan cut the engine. “Let’s do this.” They climbed to the second floor, Jody only wincing once.
Evan knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again. “He knows we’re coming.”
“Maybe that’s not a good thing.”
“There’s no way he knows anything.” Evan twisted the knob. “It’s unlocked.”
Jody frowned. “Foul play, or is he setting us up to come in? Without a warrant, we could ruin a lot. He could say we didn’t have permission.”
True. And he could hack the phones and delete the texts, too—even if he needed to delete them from the mainframe at their service provider.
The apartment door across the hall opened and a sweet elderly woman came out, a bag of coffee in her hands. “You must be Sam’s guests.”
Evan frowned.
“He called and said friends were coming over and he was out of coffee. I told him I’d run it by since I was on my way out.”
Coffee. Oh, yeah. They had him good. Relief washed over Evan. “That’s us. We can take it in.” Give him an additional surprise.
“Oh, how sweet of you.” She handed him the bag of coffee and hobbled down the stairs to the parking lot.
Secret Service Setup Page 17