Jacob's Grace

by C. P. Rowlands

  He flashed a smile and was gone. If there was anyone she valued in this office, it was Chief William Whiteaker. He’d hung in there with her throughout that whole screw-up last winter and spring. She looked at Katie’s photo, thinking about yesterday. She had been exhausted, but the night had been great…after the two-hour argument over the new assignment and the damned shooting with Frog. Katie had loved the shakiness out of her, and she’d slept long and deep. Katie had been gone when she woke but had left a note, and AJ placed it on her desk now, rereading it. You need rest. I’m going to feed you lots of food tonight and put you to bed early. OXOX. She dialed Katie’s number.

  “Morning, sweetie,” Katie said, her voice dropping to intimate.

  AJ closed her eyes. “I love you and missed waking up with you this morning. How’d the meeting at the bank go?”

  “The next month is going to be insane, and I’m bracing myself for long hours. I can see why David Markam is the senior vice president at Bennings Bank. He reeled them in. Zack’s already working on graphics.” Katie’s voice picked up as she added details, and AJ let her ramble until she ran down. Katie had said long hours. Had she already forgotten that she’d be out of town, or was she saying it was okay to go because she was going to be really busy?

  “I just called to say hello. I reminded the chief about the meal tonight, and he said they’d bring the nut salad you like.”

  “Not just nuts. That’s a Chesapeake salad.” Katie laughed. “I’ll be home this afternoon. Mom’s helping, so don’t worry if you have more people at the dinner than we talked about. Don’t forget to tell Dr. Bergs about the shooting. Wait…nice photo in this morning’s paper.”

  “Haven’t seen it yet.” AJ heard voices nearing her office. “Gotta go. See you soon.” She hung up as Grace peeked inside with Tag behind her. Both of them had cups in their hands and looked rested.

  “Did you get breakfast?” AJ said, seeing their smiles.

  “Grace could run a B and B with no problem,” Tag said, folding her tall body into the chair.

  AJ handed Grace some papers. “Tag’s office is ready, but will you complete these? Send her the Michael’s Angels file and then what little we have on the new assignment. Oh, and include the summer’s work with Bill. If I had my way, we’d still be working with them.”

  “Will we still report to Justice?”

  “Yes, and list Peter Adams as our liaison over there. I want Tag to read everything as a timeline of where we’ve been, what we’ve done.” AJ watched Grace’s reaction. “I have a five o’clock doctor’s appointment this afternoon, and then I’ll see both of you at our place around six o’clock. Today we’ll have lunch across the street and talk over what you’ve read, Tag.” She held up the worn manila envelope. “If there’s time, we’ll look at this together.” Grace nodded and left for Tag’s office, leaving AJ alone with her new agent.

  Chapter Four

  Tag gestured at the door. “Want me to close the door?”

  AJ nodded at her. Tag wore confidence like her clothes, easy and naturally. The jeans, boots, and white collarless shirt stressed comfort before fashion. Straight black hair fell just below her ears, and warm, dark eyes matched the hair. A silver necklace was half hidden by the top open button.

  AJ blinked. Tag looked exactly like Katie’s favorite fiction character, Bren Black. “Great boots. I’m fond of boots myself,” she said, bending to look at the footwear to hide her grin.

  “Big feet,” Tag said, sitting and crossing her long legs, a boot resting on her knee. She smiled with practiced ease, and AJ saw that Tag had done a zillion interviews. “Nice office,” Tag continued. “I like it. Not overwhelmingly professional.”

  “Katie and Grace did it while I was recovering from an injury last spring.”

  “Grace said as much. I was surprised you weren’t downtown.”

  “Don’t like the politics down there…or anywhere. This building houses municipal police, Chief Whiteaker’s Special Forces, and our ATF group. It’s quiet out here,” AJ said. “Since you went to college in Madison, I assume you’re familiar with Milwaukee?”

  “I spent a lot of time here. Some of it academic, working with a mentor at Marquette, and some with my parents when they taught Native American Culture at UW-Milwaukee.”

  AJ turned her monitor so Tag could see it. “I see your parents are involved with the College of Menominee Nation.”

  “They love it. Will there be time to get up to Keshena?”

  “Is that where they live?”

  “Actually, north and east, out in the country where I grew up. I haven’t been there in a long time and I’d really like to see them.”

  “We’ll be in that area with the new task force but not sure exactly where.”

  Tag’s dark eyes widened. “Something’s wrong up there?”

  “The bureau chief, Lawrence Kelly, believes trafficking, but let’s do the personal stuff first.” She pointed at the computer. “You ran government backgrounds, so you know I have everything from your shoe size to your fingerprints. Any questions?”

  “No, but Charles Ryan said to mention his name.”

  “I’ll bet he did.” AJ laughed. “We’ve worked together since I left the army, and you’ll see him all over our last assignment, the Michael’s Angels task force. He was in charge of three states. I ran this end in Milwaukee, a combined DEA-ATF task force working with Chief Whiteaker.”

  “Charles is your number one fan.”

  “He was my mentor, and I taught at that facility before I came into the field. Then he had me undercover for a while, which I really liked—still do—but the last assignment in California was an experience I’ll never repeat. After that he talked me into the ATF and it’s been a fit, so fire away with anything you want to know. We won’t get much time once this begins.”

  “Well, the obvious. How did you happen to kill your own agent?”

  AJ’s gut tightened. It sucker-punched her every time. “That agent, Ariel, was rogue and none of us knew. She reported to Charles and blindsided him too. She put a gun to my head. Believe me, I had no choice. It was that simple.”

  “And that complicated.” Tag frowned at the floor. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. She had no living family, so Charles and I took her home and buried her beside her parents. Today’s my last doctor’s appointment over that.” The ghost of Ariel’s last breath as she died beside her swept through her mind, and she paused. “That brings me to this question. With all of your experience, skills, and education, why are you here as a rookie? And why the ATF? You could have gone anywhere. And it appears you were up for promotion.”

  Tag’s eyes flashed. The confident smile slid away and she straightened in her chair. “It’s complicated, but some of it is my family. Menominee County is the poorest in Wisconsin and one of the most poverty-stricken in the United States. The annual per capita income is less than eleven thousand dollars, and they tell me the whole area is drowning in drugs.” She pulled in a breath. “Maybe I’ll teach there someday like my parents. I’d love that.”

  “You came home for your family? I wasn’t aware of the poverty, but of course know about the drugs. It’s a pretty good dream, Tag.”

  Tag turned to the window. “I’m grateful to the military for what they taught me, plus it gave me the best friends of my life. I believe in protecting our country.” She was quiet for a moment. “If I’m going to fight for my country, I’ll do it right here. In America.”

  AJ took a mental step backward and waited.

  “How’s the mood here? In the city? The state?” Tag turned back to AJ.

  “Restless with this election. People are divided and polarized. Bad vibes everywhere, not to mention all the crime or drugs. You name it, we’ve got it, and I don’t like politics.”

  Tag looked down at her hands. “Do you know where I’ve spent the last six weeks?”

  “I thought you were on base, training for my group, here.”

  “No. I wa
s hauled all over Washington DC doing PR or something like it. As you just said, I don’t like politics either. Lots of photo shoots, and I hardly ever got out of my dress greens. Congressional committees or individual politicians, all wanting to talk to the big hero…blah, blah, blah. The one good thing was a meal and night out with what remaining Dragons I could find.” Tag scowled at the desk. “As to why the ATF, Mom’s mother, my grandmother, married an American-Swede after WWII, and he worked for the ATF in northern Wisconsin during the last mob years. I loved that man.”

  AJ looked back at her computer. Had she seen that information? “Your grandfather was an ATF agent? So you’re…?”

  “About half-Indian and I’m sure you know my father’s English. His mother was Irish so by the time you get to me, it’s a real stew. I got the black hair, eyes, and darker skin from my grandmother and the Nordic bones from my grandfather.”

  AJ studied her. “Nordic bones” was a spot-on description of her stunning high cheekbones, straight nose, and wide, expressive mouth.

  “What about your family?” Tag gestured at the photos on the desk.

  AJ picked up a group picture and handed it to Tag. “I was adopted as an infant along with four other girls and raised on a farm in Maine. That farm is home to me. This is us, my four sisters, Mom and Dad. These two are married, supplying all of us with nieces and nephews. This one’s in post-grad work on the West Coast, and the youngest is an army medic, just transferred to Afghanistan two weeks ago.” She frowned at the picture. “I worry about her.”

  “Let me know where she ends up. I’ll track her for you.”

  “I’d appreciate that.” AJ set the picture back on the desk. “Anyone special in your life?” AJ said casually. The rumor mill loved Tag Beckett.

  “My stupid reputation.” Tag laughed with a shrug. “Truth? Lots of women that ended in friendship but nothing close to anything more, and not for trying. I can’t seem to find the right fit and I’ve about given up.”

  “Oh, I know. I was in the same spot when I met Katie here, last winter.”

  “Oh God. Katie.” Tag rubbed her face. “I apologize for that moment with her at the airport yesterday. Can I plead exhaustion, and the appreciation of an adorable woman?”

  “She is adorable with the best mind plus a wicked sense of humor, and you might have noticed her quick temper.” AJ held up a hand. “Fair warning? Katie’s father was city police for decades, and she spent a lot of time inside police stations.” She glanced at the photo of Katie on her desk. “Like Charles Ryan, you’ll see a lot of her in what you read today.”

  “Speaking of beautiful women, Grace—”

  “My second in command and quiet.” AJ glanced at Tag’s hopeful face. She obviously hadn’t given up, no matter what she said. “Like Katie, men and women flock to her. Bonnie has drooled for months, but Grace is firm on friendship only. I have no idea what she prefers except horses. She loves horses.” AJ handed the remaining papers to Tag. “You’ll meet most of our ATF group at our house tonight including the chief’s police that work with us. Greg and Jeff are already up north, so you’ll meet them up there. Our task force doesn’t have a name yet and we’ll be undercover. You’ll be a huge help because you know the area, plus you have experience with small ops. We have a meeting with two people from up there tomorrow morning. You’ll be here for that.”

  “What about this group’s last assignment? That was kind of a big deal.”

  “The Michael’s Angels task force was covert, ferreting out high-end meth dealers and manufacturers in this area, not street-level commerce or gangs. We tracked boardrooms, doctors, banks, that kind of thing. Charles Ryan still has a DEA group here, but they work the streets. I’d rather you’d read it first and then we’ll talk.”

  “One last thing. Someone shot at you?”

  “Ballistics says forty caliber pistol.” Anxiety slid inside AJ again just as a light knock sounded on the door. “We’ll break for lunch when you’re hungry.”

  Grace took Tag to her office, leaving AJ with all the things she hadn’t said. That shooting could be a lot of things. Something still lurking from Michael’s people to the group that Frog was a part of up north or something they’d run into this summer. A random robbery gone bad? Her worst fear was that it was connected to the new assignment. She glanced at her computer. At least she now knew some of the reasons Tag had come home and not taken the promotion, but there was more, something sliding around in the background. Something Tag hadn’t said.

  “She likes the setup,” Grace said, back in AJ’s office.

  “And I like her. She listens hard, and leadership oozes off her. And listen to this. They rushed her through the last six weeks with almost no training, and coming home is a big adjustment. Seriously, Grace, keep an eye on her for me. I doubt she’s even had time to breathe, and there’s no psych evaluation yet.”

  “I noticed the psych eval was missing, and that’s a first.” Grace leaned back. “One thing I can tell you after less than twenty-four hours. She spent a lot of time on the phone and computer last night and appears highly organized. Also, she did some work with human trafficking over there.”

  “She’ll need the organization for undercover. How’d you know about the trafficking?”

  “She told me this morning when we ate. Did you see her necklace, that nice thin silver chain with the little dragon that I asked her about yesterday? I thought that whole thing was really cool, that all-woman group.”

  “I do too,” AJ said. She had noticed the necklace and knew about the Dragons but hadn’t checked all of Tag’s ops. She would now. “What about Frog?”

  “The GPS is working fine, and I talked to Greg this morning. The girls are west of Niagara in a motel by Crooked Lake, the resort where you and Katie vacationed. There are two adult women, one man, and twelve girls including Frog.”

  AJ opened her desk and handed Grace the bank card. “This is creepy. When I met Frog at the church she gave me this. Said two cops paid her to go undercover.”

  Grace studied the card. “That’s not possible. Our police? The chief has her marked.” She shook her head, frowning. “Does the chief know?”

  “Yes, and he agrees all of this is weird. As to the task force, we might get something useful from the two men from Niagara tomorrow.” AJ brought the file up on her computer. “What do you think of Pete Adams’s suggestion if we end up in Niagara?”

  “I like his idea but I didn’t know he grew up in that area. Being undercover at his uncle’s delivery business would get us into the community,” Grace said. “Did you see this morning’s Milwaukee paper, the press conference yesterday?”

  “No. I haven’t looked at today’s paper.”

  “I filed the link to it under our missing people too.” Grace tapped her pen on the desk. “The chief kept us connected with the new task force so we’ll be alert to the locals.”

  AJ shoved the photo the chief had given her across the desk. “The chief needs help, so while you’re working with Tag, I’ll search the group they arrested at that house. The victim, Kevin, had relatives involved. His older brother, John, owns the house. That was the man you and I met with at the gym when I tried to sell you.”

  Grace snorted a little laugh and tossed a newspaper onto the desk. “Tag found this on the plane.”

  AJ read the British Guardian headline. “Milwaukee’s a Human Trafficking Hub? You’ve read it?”

  Grace nodded.

  AJ laid the paper on her desk to read later. “I argued with the bureau chief on the phone again this morning about this assignment. What if we run into the FBI-DHS operation up there? I tried to tell him we’d be a lot more effective here, working the source, but he didn’t buy it. We’re going up there with nothing, no actual suspects. It’s like we’ll just be there to protect Frog and the eleven girls, and that’s okay…but a whole task force doesn’t make sense.”

  “I see it too. I agree with you.”

  “Our tax dollars at work.”
/>   Grace leaned back in her chair and changed the subject. “Tag said you are striking,” she said with a grin.

  “It was probably the suit Katie’s mother made for me, but I don’t think so.” She laughed. “Oh hell, there goes my badass reputation.”

  “What badass reputation? Get serious.”

  “One can only hope,” AJ said, still grinning.

  Chapter Five

  AJ left the doctor’s office that afternoon with time to get home for the cookout to introduce Tag. The doctor had signed her release today, which was good news, but she’d miss their conversations. She had come to admire Dr. Bergs, a part of the reason Milwaukee now had a new trafficking task force. She’d pounded the city all summer and worked with the FBI to show that they needed to act soon on the problem.

  Today, the last appointment, they’d talked about the young victim, Kevin Owens, and anxiety and panic…and her obsession with X-Girl. Always that.

  Thick summer sunlight flooded the quiet parking lot and surrounding trees, and she paused at an abandoned bird’s nest in the ivy on the wall. Her skin prickled, and she turned, glancing at the car where she’d left her weapon. Too quiet.

  The first shot hit the ivy, ripping the wood to splinters, showering her face and hair. She went down. The next bullet tore through her shirt and skin, nicking her left forearm. Her vehicle took several hits and shook with a metallic scream with rust falling underneath. Then silence with only her ragged breath and ringing ears. Out of sight, a motorcycle roared to life with that distinctive Harley sound.

  She blanked into pure panic for a moment before shoving into a sitting position. It hurt, and blood always made her vomit. She gulped for breath. The door above her flew open, and Dr. Bergs ran down the steps.

  “Were those gunshots? Are you hit?”

  AJ held out her arm, looking away from the blood. “They shot my car too,” she said and dialed the chief at her house. “The police are on their way. Everyone okay inside?”