Best Laid Plans (43 page)

“Like I care? His people shot Lucy in the back! That girl isn’t the target, Lucy is. Or maybe both of them. But I can’t tell Juan how I know this.”

“Kane.”

“I’ve been trying to reach him. He was at my house this morning, but hell if I know where he is now. I even called J.T.—Kane’s partner—and said it was urgent. I’ve never done that before, so hopefully Kane gets the message.”

“No, what I mean is we tell Juan and Sam that the intel came from Kane. We have to get a protection detail on Lucy.”

“I’m her protection. She’s not leaving my sight.”

“Barry Crawford will love that,” Brad snapped.

“You’re not helping. I’m trusting you with this, Brad. It’s not easy for me.” He hoped he hadn’t made a mistake clueing in the DEA agent.

Brad let out a long sigh. “Look, I have no doubt that you can keep her safe, but you’re also a target, and if Tobias wants to take you both out, you won’t be able to stop him. We have to get a detail on you both—maybe it’ll draw him out. If we can get one of his people in custody, that gives us leverage.”

“You do. Nicole Rollins.”

Brad reddened. “She wants witness protection or fucking
immunity
and I’m not certain she knows much of anything. We can’t give her a free pass.”

Sean sat on the edge of the desk. “You’re right. I’m sorry—I hate having Lucy in the crosshairs just for doing her job.”

“It’s more than her job,” Brad said quietly. “You know that.”

“No—we saved your ass because you’re one of the good guys, and you’d have been dead and buried a thousand times over in the time it would take to cut through the bureaucratic bullshit. It may not be a job we get paid for, but it’s our job nonetheless.”

“Based on what Nicole told me—if I can believe her—Tobias orchestrated the murders of those nine people. What does that tell you?”

“He didn’t trust Trejo’s operation. Or he blamed them for what happened in Mexico.”

Brad shook his head. “They weren’t his people, Sean. That’s all I can come up with. Tobias wasn’t part of Trejo’s group. But Tobias blamed Trejo for losing the guns, and Sanchez for not killing me.”

“What do you mean by that? They tortured you.”

“For no reason. It was fun for Sanchez. It was punishment because I’d fucked with him, tore him down in front of his
amigos.
Got his sister to turn against him. But Trejo was furious. He said something, I don’t remember all of it, but something like, ‘You were supposed to kill him.’”

“So Tobias blamed Sanchez because you’re alive—maybe more because if he hadn’t taken you to Mexico, we would never have gone down there. And they would never have lost the guns.”

“Bingo.”

“Tobias is cleaning house. Taking out the gang, going after Lucy. But how does this connect to Adeline Worthington and her husband?”

“Maybe it doesn’t.”

Sean shook his head. “Too many coincidences. It’s all connected.” He wished he could talk this out with Lucy, but Brad was going to have to do. “The girl, Elise Hansen, confessed that Rob Garza—Adeline Worthington’s campaign manager—hired her to take pictures of Worthington, and then when she went to collect the rest of the money, he shot her. If Garza is responsible for her attack, the feds must think that Garza is behind the shooting here at the hospital.”

“Does Garza have those kinds of connections? Since when does a political campaign manager go around killing people?”

“Fact: Mona Hill works for—or with—Tobias. Fact: Mona Hill sent Elise Hansen, the prostitute, to James Everett’s hotel. Fact: Rob Garza sent Elise Hansen to Worthington. It reasons that Tobias is also connected to Rob Garza.”

“And where does the congresswoman fit in? A pawn?”

“A co-conspirator. I’m not supposed to know this, but the FBI is already investigating her for political corruption.”

“Then why kill her husband?”

“Because she doesn’t know about the investigation, and Harper was digging into her finances and her abuse of power. HWI hired me to assist with the security and forensic audit. Though I haven’t put all the pieces together, Harper found evidence in an audit that Adeline was using her position to create artificially high land values—when she wanted to sell, or when a friend wanted to sell—or artificially low land values when someone in her circle wanted to buy.”

Brad stared at him, incredulous. “And no one figured this out?”

“We’re talking about huge tracts of land, manipulating the environmental impact reports, causing delays or expediting processes. And isolated, these transactions appear perfectly normal. It’s when you put them all together and identify the buyers and sellers, who benefits and who doesn’t, it’s clear that there’s a major financial scam going on to defraud the government and defraud Adeline Worthington’s opponents, as well as benefit her and her supporters.

“I’ve also been looking into her finances,” Sean continued. “Not legally—so I can’t give any of it to the FBI. But I can steer them in the right direction. She’s been hiding money all over the world. If she wants to flee, she has the resources to do so.”

“We have to tell Juan.”

“I need to talk to Kane first.”

“He’ll give you cover?”

Sean nodded without hesitating. Kane would protect him just like he protected Lucy when he left her out of his report about what happened at the Trejo compound. Sean glanced at his watch. “Lucy should be done by now. How long do x-rays take?”

He stepped out of the office and into borderline chaos. The cops in the waiting area were all talking on phones or listening to Juan speak. Barry rushed by.

Sean grabbed him. “What happened? Is Tia okay?”

“She’s still in surgery, still fighting,” he said. He glanced at Brad, obviously surprised to see him. “I have to go.”

“Where’s Lucy?”

“I thought you knew she was done. She and I have to go.”

“Not without me.”

Barry turned to him. “Rogan, I don’t know what your thing is, but your girlfriend is a federal agent and has a job to do.”

“Lucy was the target.”

“That’s absurd.”

Brad intervened. “Barry—an informant contacted me earlier, that’s why I came here. There’s some chatter that Tobias planned to take out a fed today. We assumed it was someone in the DEA, but when I heard about the shooting here, I realized that both Ryan Quiroz and Lucy were on the task force that took down Tobias’s San Antonio operation. She could very well be a target.”

Sean was surprised and pleased at how smoothly Brad blended the truth and the lies.

“And why are you here instead of your boss?”

“Because I’m an SSA, just like Juan Casilla,” Brad snapped. “He’s here, I’m here.”

“We need to talk to Juan. This is all screwed up,” Barry said.

Sean let Brad walk off with Barry to discuss the new information with Juan, and he called Lucy. She finally answered, her voice soft. “Hello? Sean?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m outside Tia’s operating room. I needed to check on her.”

“Where?”

“Second floor.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Sean took the stairs down to the second floor. Lucy was pacing in front of the nurses’ station. Just seeing her made him breathe easier.

She saw him and her face showed everything he needed to see. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. She winced, but when he tried to let go she held him close.

“Dear God, Lucy. If you hadn’t put on that vest.”

“Don’t even think it.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. A big bruise. No cracked ribs. I had the wind knocked out of me, that’s it.”

Sean touched a bandage on her arm. “What’s this?”

“The bush I jumped into. Sharp branch. They sanitized it, gave me antibiotics, and glued the wound instead of putting in stitches.”

He kissed her wrist. “We need to talk.”

“Did Barry tell you?”

“He hasn’t told me shit, Lucy. Completely keeping me in the dark. Brad and I think that Tobias is behind the hit, and you were the target, not the girl.”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Yes,” he said emphatically. “I watched the video in slow motion. The first bullet hit you in the back.
You
were the target.”

It was clear she didn’t want to believe it. “I don’t know…”

“I do. Tobias is neck-deep in this entire mess. I haven’t put together all the pieces, but he’s involved. Brad agrees.” He couldn’t tell Lucy how he knew, and he hated lying to her. He had to find a way to give her all the information without her knowing how he obtained it.

“It’s Rob Garza,” she said.

“I know—I talked to Nate after Barry cut me out of the loop. If Garza’s involved with Harper Worthington’s murder, it has to be because Tobias ordered it.”

She frowned. “Why? It’s his wife, Adeline. Garza is her campaign manager.”

God help him, but he had to lie. “I got a cryptic message from Kane. I’m trying to reach him, but he’s not available. Nicole Rollins told Brad that there was someone else dirty at the DEA. It’s likely that someone in-house figured out that you were feeding Brad the information on Tobias, or one of the goons who escaped that night told Tobias you were there. Or hell, he could have been watching the entire time while Trejo’s compound burned. I don’t know how! All I know is that you’re in danger.”

“Garza’s dead, Sean.”

“What?”

“He collapsed at the Dallas airport. Had a ticket to New York City he bought today. Kenzie and a couple other agents were at Adeline’s campaign headquarters with an arrest warrant when the call came in. They’re now on their way to Dallas.”

“Murder?”

“Most likely, but we don’t have much to go on right now. Garza was seen shaking the hand of someone he appeared to know, the man walked away, and a few minutes later Garza collapsed and died. We’re getting the security feeds, we’ll find the guy. Airports have the best security in the country, his ID would have been checked, and we can compare his image to the security checkpoint. We’ll know who he is.”

Sean knew a half dozen ways to get around airport security, but he didn’t say that to Lucy.

“But Elise has given a statement,” Lucy continued, “and so far, everything she said is holding up. She was working in D.C. as a prostitute and met Garza first as a john. He offered her ten thousand dollars to come to San Antonio and take compromising pictures. She didn’t know who or why until he sent her a photo of Harper Worthington and a location, plus a syringe that he said was ketamine in case Harper couldn’t be seduced.”

“Do you believe her?” Sean asked.

Lucy hesitated. “She’s holding something back. I’ll figure it out, and if I don’t, I’ll push her again. While the shooting the other night didn’t seem to scare her much, today was another story. A lot spilled out right after, things I think she’d have rather kept to herself. She’s calculating, but she’s smart. I’ll get the truth out of her, but it’s going to take time.”

“I know you will.” He kissed her again. He wished he had asked Mona Hill more questions, specifically about this girl Elise Hansen. But it looked like Lucy and her people were learning what they needed to know.

“Barry was on his way down here—we’re going to push Adeline tonight. We’re waiting for approval from on high.”

“Rick?”

“Probably. From what Barry said, when Juan called Agent Dunbar about bringing Adeline in, he went ballistic. So Juan went over his head.”

“Good for Juan.”

Lucy looked down at Sean’s hands. “What happened?” She turned them over.

He looked down. His knuckles were scratched and there was a bruise on the top of his fist. “I was an idiot when I was working out this morning. Letting off steam with my punching bag. Nothing to worry about.”

Barry, Brad, and Juan stepped off the elevator and approached Lucy and Sean. “Any word on Detective Mancini?” Juan asked.

“Still in surgery,” Lucy said. “The bullet went in through her side, at an angle, caused a lot of damage. But there’s plenty of blood on hand, and her captain is organizing a blood drive at SAPD if they need more.”

Juan glanced at Sean. Sean couldn’t read his expression, but Juan said to Lucy, “I’m sure Sean told you what Agent Donnelly learned today.”

“Yes. I don’t know how much to believe, sir,” she said. “I’m sorry, Brad—but my witness pointed at Garza.”

“And Garza is dead,” Juan said. “We can’t interrogate him. I can’t discount the threat, considering all the fallout after Operation Heatwave. You were involved in the takedown, you and Ryan fingered Nicole Rollins, and you shut down the pipeline of boys they were using. If Tobias is behind this in any way, it’s my duty to protect you.”

“You can’t take me off this case,” Lucy said, her voice quivering. “We’re so close to proving Adeline orchestrated her husband’s murder.”

“I’m not taking you off the case. Tobias is a terrorist, and I don’t run from terrorists. Neither do you. But you’re not stupid, Lucy. Brad’s attached to your hip from the minute you leave your house until you return.” Juan looked at Sean. “And I assume your home security is still the best.”