Cheating Justice (The Justice Team) (28 page)

Chapter Twenty-one

Caroline wanted to go home.

Whether Mitch agreed completely with her logic he wasn’t sure and really didn’t give a shit. But he was close enough to agreeing that he’d take a flyer. If Caroline wanted to go home, he’d get her there.

From his spot on the edge of the bed, he glanced over to where she was just about done sweet-talking her father into ponying up the plane. If he did nothing else right in his goat-fuck of a life, he’d make it work with Caroline.

Whatever it took.

He checked the digital clock on the bedside table. Brice had been gone thirty minutes. Another twenty and he should be back.

Then Mitch would go to work.

Caroline set her phone on the desk and gave it a spin so Mitch wandered over. “We all set?”

She nodded. “The plane is in D.C. He said he’d find their pilot and send him. If all goes well, we’ll be out of here tonight.”

Suddenly, the idea of leaving New Mexico had merit. Maybe Caroline’s theory about being on home turf had triggered something in him. “That works. We need to get Maria on board, no pun intended.”

“They’ll be back soon. Let’s talk about how we’re doing this. Before she knew you were Tommy’s friend, she was intimidated by you. Let’s capitalize on that. I’ll be the understanding female. I hate pulling this nonsense, but she’s loyal to her brother and she needs to be convinced that Jesse could be involved with Tommy’s murder.”

Involved? The way it looked, Jesse was their killer. That sounded too tidy though. And if so, why hadn’t Jesse been arrested when that ballistics report came back? Although, the government could be looking to wrap this up as fast and as quietly as possible and sacrifice Jesse along with Tommy. The big shots probably figured whoever Jesse was working for killed Tommy, but they’d let Jesse take the heat because his puzzle piece fit.

Mitch nodded. “I’ll take care of it. She may not like me when it’s over, but she’ll be on that plane.”

“I could use about a gallon of scotch right now,” Caroline cracked.

He rubbed her shoulders, digging his thumbs into the knots, and dropped a kiss on her head. “It’s like the old days. The two of us making a plan, working a case together. I miss those days.”

“Maybe if we figure this out, those days can exist again.”

She didn’t really believe that. “Uh, Caroline, I’m never going back to the Bureau. You know that, right?”

“Why not? Once your name is cleared, you could reapply.”

“Trust me, I know. Not only would they never hire me, I don’t want it. I don’t miss the politics and the bullshit. If I did anything, I’d work with Grey on his Justice Team. He’s got enough work there for ten people. And, even better, he’s the one dealing with the political garbage.”

She rolled her head as he continued his battle with her shoulders. “But you’ll come out of hiding, right? When this is over?”

Yeah, that he’d do. Once they cleared Tommy’s name, he still had to prove he hadn’t killed Kemp, but now, with Maria giving Kemp those files, he couldn’t help but think the two murders were linked. Once he uncovered who’d set Tommy up, he’d go to work on the Kemp connection. Then he’d make a deal with Donaldson. He’d turn himself in if Donaldson made sure Caroline’s career stayed on track. He couldn’t tell her about that, though.

“I’m tired of running. When we get back to D.C., I’m officially back on the grid.”

At the door, the lock tumbled and Mitch stood. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Brice hollered.

Mitch glanced down at Caroline, ran his fingers under her chin. “You ready for this?”

“I guess I have to be. Let’s roll.”

Maria looked tired. Brice was tight-lipped. And Mitch figured it would be a helluva ride.

“Bolt that door,” he reminded Brice. The former ATF agent looked annoyed, but did as instructed.

When Maria moved to the chair by the window, Mitch held up his hand. Time to start taking extra precautions. Just in case. “Not by the window. Over here, by the bathroom.”

Even with the drapes closed, a shooter could find its target. If she wasn’t sitting in front of the window maybe they had a chance of her not taking a round. Maybe.

Brice, ever the gentleman, moved the side chair to the cramped area between the closet and the bathroom door. Mitch sat on the end of the bed with Caroline across from him, the two of them pinning Maria with her back to the wall. Exactly as he’d planned.

Human beings were animals underneath the clothes and attitude. One glance to Mitch, then one to Caroline, and Maria’s face morphed from tired nurse into cornered prey.

“You’ve gotta be tired,” Mitch said, “so we’ll make this quick.”

“I’m fine.”

“Hungry?”

“Not yet.”

“Good.”

She fidgeted. “Brice said you had questions.”

Mitch jerked his head. “We went through the flash drive. Not all of it, but we got a good idea of what was going on. Tommy complained about the operation to his superiors. His complaints escalated and he threatened to go outside of New Mexico with major damning information. Were you aware of that?”

“Somewhat. He was extremely frustrated. And worried.”

“We could tell from his notes,” Caroline said.

Maria worked her purse strap between her fingers. “I didn’t want Jesse involved anymore. It was too risky.”

Mitch held out his hand. “How much did Jesse know about you and Tommy?”

“About our relationship? Nothing. We never told him. I wasn’t comfortable with it, but Tommy thought it was best. Jesse figured out I was seeing someone because he would tease me about my secret guy. I wanted to tell him.”

“But you didn’t?” Caroline asked.

“No.”

Time to amp this up
. Mitch rolled his eyes, made a show of not taking her seriously. “Jesse isn’t stupid. I think he knew.”

As Mitch had hoped, Maria responded with a skin-melting glare. “I’m good at keeping secrets. He didn’t know.”

Now he’d get answers. “Maybe he came by and saw Tommy’s car in your driveway and figured it out.”

“Tommy never parked in the drive or anywhere near the house for just that reason. He parked around the corner a block down in the parking lot.”

Around the corner. Tommy had been killed on the next block over. Mitch’s shoulder blades twitched, that feeling that he’d struck gold.
Holy shit
. “Was Tommy leaving your place when he got shot?”

Maria paused and her dark eyes filled with tears. She blinked a couple of times and swiped under her eyes. “Tommy had talked Jesse into turning over a bunch of guns to him. I guess from what Jesse told me later, Tommy stuck them in his car that night to take to a meeting with some bigwig as proof about what was happening with the taskforce. Jesse gave him the guns and took off to meet up with some of his friends.”

“How did he explain the guns going missing to whoever he was buying them for?”

“He never told Balboa he bought them. Tommy reimbursed Jesse for the cost of the guns and Jesse bought more guns for Balboa. He never knew Tommy took the first set of guns.”

The stash of guns found in Tommy’s car had to be worth fifteen grand. Tommy must have taken the money from his own account. Had to. Considering other ways he’d have gotten that money didn’t help Mitch’s argument that Tommy was clean. “What happened the night Tommy died?”

“I got home late and he was waiting for me. He stayed for a couple of hours, then said he had to go to a meeting. That’s when he gave me the flash drive and said if anything happened to him, I should give it to you or Kemp. He gave me Kemp’s contact info and a phone number for you, but that number didn’t work.”

No doubt because it was one of his burn phones. He never kept one longer than a week or two.

Her fingers tightened on the purse strap and tears leaked from her eyes. Her voice was barely a whisper, but she met Mitch’s gaze straight on. “I heard the shots from my house.”

Mitch’s heart triple-timed it.
Dear God
.

Caroline, the one equipped with the sensitivity gene, leaned over and touched Maria’s hand. “What did you do when you heard the shots?”

“At first, nothing. I thought it was just fireworks or something.” Her lips screwed up and she sobbed slightly. “Then it hit me. My next thought was
Jesse
. I ran out the door to figure out where the shots came from. I didn’t see anything so I ran to the end of the block. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything from the corner. All the parking lot lights were broken years ago. I was in a panic and walked toward the lot. My eyes adjusted and I saw Tommy’s car. I knew, I just
knew
.”

Mitch’s blood pressure soared. “Did you call 911?”

“I started running toward the car, saw Tommy lying on the ground, but before I got to him, a man stopped me and told me to stay back. I told him I was a nurse, but he said Tommy was already…” full-on sobs shook her body “…that Tommy was dead.”

Caroline gave Mitch a look. “Ethan?”

Mitch nodded. “Did you see anyone leaving the crime scene?”

She shook her head. “The man asked the same thing but, no, I never saw anyone or any vehicle leaving the parking lot. I didn’t want to leave Tommy, but I had to find Jesse. I ran home and bolted the door shut. Jesse wouldn’t respond to my calls and I haven’t seen him since. The next day, I knew I had to do something with that flash drive. I couldn’t locate you, so I copied a few of the files and found Kemp. I wasn’t sure if I could trust him, so I gave him a separate USB drive in the park that night.”

“We need to talk to Jesse,” Mitch said. “Right now he’s looking like our suspect.”

Maria’s shoulders flew back. “Jesse? No. He wouldn’t.”

“How do you know? Maybe he found out about you and Tommy. Maybe
Balboa
found out about you and Tommy. Can’t have the straw buyer’s sister involved with a federal agent. That gets things all kinds of muddy.”

She shook her head, glanced at Caroline—bingo—aiming for support. “He wouldn’t.”

On cue, Caroline squeezed her hand. “How do we find him?”

Her shoulders were bowed, her eyes now pinned on a threadbare spot in the carpeting. “I don’t know. I’ve called every friend and acquaintance he had—at least all those I knew of—and none of them have seen him. I’m afraid he’s…dead.”

“He may well be, and we believe you’re in danger, Maria.” Mitch didn’t really feel like playing hardball with her, but they were all in too deep to turn back now. “We’re heading to Washington in a few hours. You need to come with us. We need your testimony along with Tommy’s files to provide the Justice Department with solid proof to investigate. We don’t know for sure who was behind the operation to let the guns walk and we don’t know how high this cover-up goes, but if we’re going to clear Tommy’s name and find his and Kemp’s killers, we need your help.”

Her head came up, ponytail swinging as she shook it. “I can’t. I can’t leave here. I have a job, and what if Jesse comes home? I need to be here for him.”

“Your brother was involved with a gun-running organization, and you got involved with a Bureau agent working undercover investigating that same organization. Your boyfriend was gunned down two blocks from your house, and another man was killed over a flash drive. Not only is the killer still running around, he must have guessed you didn’t give all the information to Kemp, so now he’s after you
and
us. The attack on Caroline was not some random mugging. You really think you’re safe here, Maria? Especially after we leave?”

Her eyes went to Caroline, back to Mitch. “Can’t you just tell the Justice people what I said?”

“No,” Mitch said. “You need to give your statement in person. Plus, after we leave, who’s gonna protect you?”

She looked at the carpet again. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

“Well, I guess you didn’t really care about Tommy like you claim.”

Her face was fierce when she met his eyes. “I
loved
him.”

“Then do the right goddamned thing. You have a chance to clear Tommy’s name and you won’t. What’s your angle, Maria? Is this some kind of sick game? You know what I think?” He felt sorry for her, being tangled up in this mess, but his blood was boiling, and Bad Cop went on the attack. “I think maybe Jesse killed Tommy and this whole big story of yours is just that. A story to protect your lousy, no-good brother.”

“Mitch,” Caroline said in that tone that warned him he was about to go too far.

Too bad.

Maria sucked in a sharp breath. “You don’t know anything about me or my brother.”

“I know he’s a criminal and all this talk about being in love with Tommy is a joke. You led him on and made him think you were in love with him while you and Jesse planned his murder, didn’t you?”

“Mitch!” Caroline hollered because—yeah—apparently he’d gone too far.

Maria reached out to slap him, but he caught her wrist. She swore at him in Spanish and tried to jerk away. “How dare you.”

He released her wrist. “Prove it. Prove to me that you and Jesse didn’t screw Tommy. Come to D.C. with us and give your testimony.”

Caroline inserted herself between them, shoved Mitch back a step and turned to Maria. “Don’t do it for us. Do it for Tommy. If you help us with this, I’ll do what I can to clear Jesse’s name and bring him home.”