Breaking Point

by Allison Brennan

  He stepped out and found Rachel standing at the one-way mirror looking into the conference room. “I’m glad you came.”

  Rachel didn’t look like her old self. She looked tired and overworked and she’d only been in San Antonio for five months.

  “I don’t know why you had me come here, other than to rub my nose in the fact that I have no control over my agents.”

  “I asked you to come so you could see your agents in action.”

  “What did she tell you?”

  “Nothing. She went out of her way to tell me nothing, so it was pretty clear there is friction between you.”

  Rachel turned to face Brad. “Why are you so loyal to a rookie? Did you date her or something?”

  Brad decided not to be insulted. First, because Lucy was hot and she was exactly the type of girl he’d date. Second, because Rachel didn’t mean it. “Lucy was assigned to Operation Heatwave when she first arrived in San Antonio. I didn’t want her because I don’t trust rookies. They make mistakes and screw up and we all pay for that. She didn’t. Her instincts are better than almost every agent I’ve ever worked with. She flipped Anton Meyer so fast I thought he would tell her where Jimmy Hoffa was buried. You need to watch the tape. And she saved my life, Rachel. But that’s not the only reason I trust her. I would take her onto my team in a heartbeat, no questions, she is that good—but I know she doesn’t want to work in the DEA.”

  “Do you know her files are all sealed? I can’t even access them. Half her colleagues think like you do—she’s the next Eliot Ness solving cases right and left and being a damn hero. The other half of her colleagues are scared to death of her.”

  “I don’t think so—”

  “Barry Crawford hasn’t made it a secret that he blames her and her husband for his kidnapping and torture. Yet neither she nor Rogan was brought up on charges, and there wasn’t even an investigation. Some agent out of Sacramento—where RCK is headquartered—rubber stamped everything they did. Even I don’t understand it, it had to do with asset forfeiture and money laundering. Other agents think that your boss was killed specifically as a way to get to Kincaid.”

  That pissed Brad off. “Stop right there. Samantha was a friend of mine, a good friend, and my boss. She was killed to get to me. If it weren’t for Kincaid, I would have gone off half-cocked and ended up dead, just like Sam.”

  “Be that as it may, controversy surrounds her, and if her colleagues can’t trust her, how can they work with her? Nate Dunning is the exception, not the rule. And I suspect it’s because he has loyalty to her family. Special Forces tend to stick together. Then this. She worked this case—on her own time—when I ordered her not to. I get called by the Assistant Director of the FBI and told to put her on a task force—over my objection. I told her she couldn’t use FBI resources and then got another call from the AD of Quantico telling me they need my office. And then you call Leo and pull him into a SWAT operation without going through me.”

  “SWAT works directly under Abigail Durant, and you know that.”

  “But it was for this op! You don’t see it.” Rachel stared through the one-way glass. Brad tried to see Lucy as Rachel saw her, and he couldn’t. Aggie was half in love with Lucy, thought she was brilliant, and people listened to her. At least, his staff listened to her because he had given her his stamp of approval and she had proven herself during Operation Heatwave. Now, Lucy was directing traffic, it appeared, and everyone paid attention and did their job.

  “Are you not impressed?” he finally asked.

  “I am. I think she’s the best agent I’ve ever worked with.”

  Brad did a double take. “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Everything. My authority means nothing. Partly it’s my fault—I came in here thinking I had a clean slate, when it’s clear that there are huge problems.”

  “Maybe you should try to start again,” Brad said.

  “And then next time I give Kincaid an assignment she doesn’t like, will she again call Rick Stockton? Come crying to you?”

  “Kincaid doesn’t go crying to anyone,” Brad said, “and she didn’t call Rick. JT Caruso and Rick were SEALs together. It’s as simple as that.”

  “But my office should have been brought in.”

  “I agree.”

  She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

  “I think Lucy would agree, too. This all happened above her. RCK is Rogan Caruso Kincaid. They made the calls to Rick, they worked the case before they even called Lucy for help.”

  “You can see why I find that hard to believe.”

  “But why do you have to question it? Maybe Lucy did know from the beginning. But she wasn’t intentionally undermining you. I know her, I know how she works, and this conflict in the office is tearing her apart.”

  Rachel nodded toward the window. “She doesn’t look torn apart. She’s in her element, that is clear. She also looks like she won and I lost.”

  “This is not a competition. There are no winners or losers. You’re not listening to me.”

  “I am.” Rachel rubbed her eyes. “I get it, I do, but it remains that if I tell her no, I’ll never know if that will be the last decision I make.”

  Brad could understand that, he supposed. It was intimidating to know that Lucy had connections to some of the highest people in the FBI. But it was also a benefit. “I guess it comes down to trust. And until you get that, you’re right.”

  Brad walked away. He’d done everything he could to help Lucy and Rachel. He liked Rachel, he always had, but in the end, Lucy was not only a colleague but a friend. He would always be on her side.

  * * *

  Lucy found Sean in Brad’s office. She shut the door and wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Everything. I just wanted to see you for five minutes. Kate’s busting her butt getting thirty-two simultaneous raids together. I told her I wanted Port Arthur.”

  “Kane’s plane is ready, but Brad promised military transport and they go much faster.”

  He kissed her and smiled, then his smile disappeared. She must really look like crap.

  “What is it?”

  “The vastness of this network. What’s going to happen in two months? Someone will fill the void. It’s heartbreaking.”

  “And what have you told me time and time again? That it’s all worth it if you can save one. And you’ve already saved more than one.”

  “I want to find her, Sean.”

  She didn’t have to tell him she was talking about Hope.

  “Tia is talking to one of the girls who has been in the house for months. She knows Hope, she’s being reticent right now. Tia thinks she knows more than she’s saying.”

  “Do you want to go to the hospital and talk to her yourself?”

  She shook her head. “Tia knows what she’s doing.”

  There was a knock on the door, then Aggie popped her head in. “I’ve got Kate Donovan on Skype and she needs you now.”

  Lucy motioned for Sean to join her. It was nearly dark. Brad had ordered in sandwiches from a local deli, but she’d just picked at hers. She was surprised that Jason Lopez was still in the conference room—she thought for certain that he would bail as soon as the SWAT operation was over. Maybe Rachel wanted him to spy on her, report back.

  She didn’t trust what he would say, but she couldn’t worry about that now.

  Kate was on the phone with someone and had muted her end of Skype. When she saw Lucy she said something, then hung up the phone and typed on her computer.

  “You got it, Luce,” Kate said with a grin.

  “Because you worked your ass off.”

  “Me? No. I tapped into the resources of every agent-in-training on campus this weekend to help me. It was a valuable training tool, so I should be thanking you for coming up with this insanely wonderful plan. Eight a.m. Eastern Time simultaneous raids in seven cities and thirty-two locations. Half the police chiefs and sheriffs think I�
�m crazy, the other half are whooping it up to have something fun to do. Damn, I love this job.”

  Eight a.m. was seven a.m. in San Antonio.

  “To make it as easy as possible—ha ha—the local FBI office is coordinating in most of the locations. I have far more control over them then I do the locals. But so far, no police department has refused to help. With Murphy’s help, DEA is taking lead in the cities where I got pushback from the SAC. I wasn’t going to get into any departmental bullshit on this, and honestly, we’re asking a lot. We have thirty-two teams of eight. We reached out to Genesis Road and the Dixons are sending counselors to every city to work with rescued victims. I have a federal warrant just waiting to be signed that will cover every jurisdiction, and I’ve been promised by the Assistant AG herself that I’d have it in my hot little hands—and all your inboxes—before midnight. All communications are going through me from the local teams, and I have enough people here to help me. Donnelly—you there?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Ma’am? Really?”

  Brad grinned.

  “You’re taking point in San Antonio. There are three locations there. That means twenty-four people. I’ve reached out to the FBI office and they will have twelve agents available, but you’re in charge. You pick the team leaders and insure they have been fully briefed. However, I’m going to speak to every office simultaneously at six a.m. ET in order to fill them in on the mission and purpose before we send the teams out. Stockton thinks that having someone from on high give the big rah-rah speech will get everyone psyched. He’ll be on my end, too. Questions.”

  “Port Arthur,” Lucy said.

  “It’s yours. Grab a flight out ASAP, the team leader is SSA Bing Hamilton. Yes, that’s his real name. Bing. He’s the SSA out of Beaumont. He’s expecting you. He’s already put together a team—there are four locations in the Port Arthur/Beaumont area. He understands you have some autonomy in this, so you won’t be assigned to a specific location, but you need to back him if he needs it. He’s pulling in extras because I gave him the heads-up that the head honcho may be there and that we’re also dealing with possible trafficked women from other countries coming in through their waterways.”

  “Do we have anything on Tommy Zimmerman yet?” Sean asked. “I’ve run him, but without more details I can’t narrow him down. I have a hundred plus possibles.”

  “I’ve narrowed it some based on a profile from Dr. Vigo—he won’t be married, he’s between the ages of thirty-five and fifty-five, he’s shorter than average, and has likely never filed taxes. But he does have a record—a man like him wouldn’t have been able to stay clean. I have three men, two of whom have sexual assaults on their record. One in California, one in Massachusetts, and one in Virginia.”

  “Send them to me,” Sean said. “You’re amazing.”

  “I know. Better than you, Rogan.”

  “Dream on.”

  Lucy usually enjoyed Sean and Kate’s friendly competition, but she was getting a headache and she wanted to get to Port Arthur as quickly as possible.

  “Anything else, Kate?” she asked.

  “Be careful, Luce. Everyone. And no one goes off the grid, got it?”

  “Got it,” Brad said.

  Aggie disconnected the Skype call and Brad said, “Nate, I need you here, buddy, okay?”

  Nate looked over at Sean, and Sean nodded.

  “I’ll go to Port Arthur,” Jason Lopez said. Lucy had almost forgotten he was there.

  “Because Rachel wants you to keep an eye on me?”

  Jason was surprised by her bluntness; even Lucy herself was surprised.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Thanks for being honest.”

  Sean wasn’t happy about it, it was clear, but Lucy was tired of walking on eggshells. She would earn this position on her own, or not. But she was done battling with her boss. It was exhausting.

  Besides, she’d gotten a scoop on Jason from Suzanne in New York, who’d texted her earlier.

  Luce—I talked to some of the old-timers in VCMO and they remember Lopez. He was considered over-cautious but smart on his feet. A kiss-ass, but likeable and friendly. Wish I could give you more. Love ya, Suz

  It wasn’t much, but it rang true. He wanted to please Rachel and he felt guilty that he was following Lucy. But he had no balls when it came to standing up to Rachel. A people pleaser, her mother would have said. And add in that Rachel was his superior. Yes, Lucy liked him—he was a likable person. People naturally wanted to talk to him, which would make him good in the field.

  But trust … that was something he was going to have to earn.

  Brad said, “Lopez, you go with Lucy and Sean. Do you need anyone else?”

  “I might take Nate back,” Lucy mumbled. She really was hungry and snippy; normally she’d never say something like that.

  “It’s fine,” Sean said, putting his arm around Lucy. He squeezed her shoulders, then dropped his arm. “You said you had a military plane.”

  “I’ll call my contact, get you up out of Lackland in two hours?”

  “Good. Nate—can you stay at the house tonight and feed Bandit in the morning?”

  “Sure thing.”

  “And don’t let him sleep on the bed again. Don’t tell me you didn’t—I found dog hair on the comforter.”

  “Busted,” Nate grinned.

  “And I thought Lucy would be the worst sucker for those sad brown eyes,” Sean said. “Let’s pack a bag. Lopez, I’ll pick you up on the way to Lackland.”

  “I’ll write down my address.”

  Sean winked. “I know where you live.” He steered Lucy out. “You are going to sleep the entire flight, Princess. You’re a zombie. And testy.”

  “It’s been a long couple of days.”

  “That it has.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Anticipation of dying had to be worse than actually dying, Bella thought, as she sat strapped to a chair on a boat docked at the end of the haphazard pier.

  Tommy had hit her only once, then had Damien restrain her. They left her here. Too far from people for her screams to carry, so she decided to save her energy.

  But all she could think about was that Tommy would come back and finish the job. After he attempted to torture her for information that she didn’t have.

  She’d fucked up. She should have walked with Christina and Ashley. Hell, she shouldn’t have even gotten in this deep in the first place. What had she been thinking?

  You wanted to give the Hopewells peace of mind. The peace of mind that your grandma never had.

  She didn’t even know what time it was. Nearly midnight? Long dark, certainly.

  She tried to get out of the binds, but they were tight. The chair was bolted to the deck so she couldn’t scoot it over to a sharp edge to work on the ropes. She was trussed up like an animal, and her circulation was next to nothing.

  The boat creaked. She held her breath.

  Someone was on the deck above.

  She couldn’t see anyone in the dark, but the hull door opened and the frame of a large, fit man stepped through.

  Damien.

  He didn’t turn on any lights—there might not even be lights on the boat—but he sat down on the other chair in the belly of the boat. He had a small flashlight, which he shined on her. She blinked from the sudden brightness, then her eyes adjusted. Damien was a dark shadow now.

  “I told Z and Hirsch I would get answers from you. I don’t want to hurt you, Doc, but I will.”

  He would. It didn’t matter that he thought for five minutes that he loved her, that she made the sociopath feel something. Because he would hurt her and have no remorse in the morning.

  “What do you want to know?’

  “Are you a cop?”

  “No.”

  “Z says you are.”

  “I was a cop. I didn’t like their rules.”

  “Were you one of his whores?”

  “You want the truth?”


  “Yes.”

  “Yes, then. My father gave me to Sergio. Tommy worked for Sergio. So de facto I was one of his. Against my will. Like Christina and Ashley and so many others.”

  “Would it be better for them to give sick pleasure to their fathers or stepfathers or their mother’s pimps than to learn to make a living on their own?”

  He asked the question so matter-of-factly that Bella didn’t have the opportunity to be disgusted. She tried to keep her voice as even as Damien.

  “They deserve a choice. And no woman would choose to be held captive and beaten and forced to have sex with disgusting animals.”

  “None of us have choices, really.”

  “You do.”

  He shrugged, sighed. “You lied to me, Bella.”

  “Sometimes.”

  “You’re not a doctor.”

  “No.”

  “You were a cop.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why did you work for us?”

  “To find a missing girl.”

  “Who?”

  And that was the crux of it. Tommy wanted to know who she was after so that he could find her and kill her. To punish Bella. Because Tommy was a sadistic bastard.

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “You have to.”

  “If I tell you, Tommy will kill her. He’ll torture her and kill her right here, in front of me, to make me suffer.”

  “Why?”

  How did she explain to someone who had no understanding of empathy?

  “Why did you kill Papi Chavez?”

  “Because you wanted me to.”

  “I didn’t ask you to.”

  He seemed to consider that. “Do you regret he’s dead?”

  “No.” Her voice cracked. She was telling him the truth. She didn’t care one whit about Papi Chavez. Sue-Ann would likely die from her injuries. He deserved worse.

  “Then why are you angry that I killed him?”

  She didn’t know how to explain. “Because it’s murder.”

  “You killed the man in the bar.”

  It was like talking to a child. “He had a gun. He would have killed me.”