Chapter 2

Deputy Director Deborah Mills was of average height, but that was the only thing average about her. Her hair, prematurely white, was always drawn into a braid that trailed down her back. It gave her an unusually carefree look that did not match her eyes. A striking blue. Icy. People often had trouble looking her in the eye, and that suited Deborah just fine. It was better to keep people from getting too comfortable. She was fair and more than competent, but being a woman in the top job meant you couldn’t show any weakness, and she was okay with that too. It was easier to pretend strength when everyone around you was convinced that it was the indisputable truth.

She propped her glasses on top of her head when there was a knock at her door.

“Come in.”

A stocky, dark-haired man entered. He nodded at Deborah, then dropped comfortably into a nearby seat.

“Agent Barak, thank you for coming.”

Thomas Barak was the special agent in charge of the taskforce Deborah had created with agents from multiple agencies. It was a group that helped facilitate the capture of suspects that crossed boundaries from drugs to guns to people smuggling and everything in between.

His half-smile carried a familiarity that matched the casual way he sat in the chair—not choosing the one across her desk but relaxing in a seating area with his foot propped on the coffee table in front of him. They’d known each other for more than a decade and had a lot of water under the bridge.

“Don’t want to keep the deputy director waiting,” he said. “How’s Charlie?”

“Didn’t you play golf with him last week?” Her husband wasn’t a good golfer, but that never stopped him.

“He said he pulled a muscle in his shoulder.”

“He always makes excuses when he’s losing,” Deborah said. “He’s fine.”

Barak squeezed both his fists, cracking his knuckles. “So, what is it I can do for you?”

She tossed a file to him. It spun like a frisbee before plopping neatly in his lap.

He flipped it open. “My report on the Siseras?”

“Calling it a report is quite generous, don’t you think? That’s more like a memo. He’s top of the list as far as these things go, and we can’t get one thing on him.” Her tone was steady and low, but her eyes flashed.

“What do you want me to say? We’re doing everything we can.”

“That’s my problem. Your best isn’t good enough on this case.”

Barak scoffed before spreading his hands in a grand gesture. “Then please, tell me what we should be doing differently.”

“You take a lot of liberties with our friendship.”

“You know I wouldn’t be so flippant if anyone else was around.”

“I hope it doesn’t affect the efficacy of your work.”

“You think we have nothing on Artus Sisera because I’m being lazy?”

“Not lazy.” She stood and walked around the desk. “But when everyone is afraid of the Siseras, it’s easier to hang back than push forward. Especially when you don’t believe there is a prodding stick in your back. Have I been going too easy on you lately?”

“When have you ever gone easy on me?”

She smacked his foot off the table. “You could at least do me the courtesy of sitting up straight.”

He looked annoyed but did as she asked, tugging hard on his jacket to be obtuse.

“On this matter,” she said, returning to her desk, “I’m your boss, not your friend, and I won’t give you any scope to do less than what is required to bring the Siseras and Jabin Enterprises down.”

“You think we’re afraid of him. But we’re not.”

“Oh, no? Then why haven’t you sent anyone undercover?”

Barak balked. “You know as well as I do that the best we’ll get out of a stunt like that is nothing. And more likely, we’ll lose a good agent.”

“I’ve been in this game longer than you have, Barak, and I haven’t lost my edge, but you seem to have. If you don’t want to make the hard calls, fine.”

“You think I won’t make hard calls?”

“I think you’ve become too narrow in your focus, so I’ll fix the problem myself. Why send a man in to do a woman’s job?”

“You’re going to play the gender card now?”

“I’m not playing,” Deborah said, steepling her fingers. “The job was yours to do. You haven’t done it, so I have someone else in mind.”

“You’re not going in yourself.” He looked worried. Good.

“Of course not.”

“Then who? Agent Hartley?”

“Veronica?” Deborah shook her head. “No.”

“Artus won’t let anyone near him. Man or woman. I don’t care who you have in mind, it won’t work.”

“You might not know anyone who can get close to him, but I do.”

“Who?”

She left a long pause. Long enough to see him shift uncomfortably. Then, she said, “Jael Heber.”

“Jael?” He shook his head with a laugh. “You’re out of your mind. Not only is her father out of the game these days, but Jael would smell us coming a mile away. And I’m sure she still believes we’re the reason her mom is dead.”

“We are, aren’t we?” Deborah said, leaning back in her chair.

“You want to be the one to add that to the report? Natalie Heber was in the wrong place at the right time and in possession of illicit drugs. End of story. None of our guys laid a finger on her.”

“That doesn’t mean we didn’t play our part.”

“Your point?”

“I know for a fact that Jael believes it’s our fault. Am I sorry? No. Natalie was a criminal. It’s as much her fault she’s dead as ours. That doesn’t mean it’s not a sad scenario that requires some finesse.”

“The FBI is finessing our missions now?”

“When it’s required.”

“Still, I don’t see it. Even if Jael agreed to help us, which she wouldn’t, how would that get us Artus?”

“While Gregory Heber may have gone legit before we could get enough evidence to put him away, his ties to the Siseras and Jabin Enterprises are stronger than ever.”

“Are you talking about the rumors that Christopher will be the next CEO of Heber Industries?”

“Those aren’t the only rumors.”

“You know something I don’t?”

“From what I understand, there will be other causes for celebration. Word on the street is that Jael and the soon-to-be-appointed CEO of Heber Industries are to be engaged.”

“Christopher and Jael? Where’d you hear that?”

“I have ears everywhere. Why do you think I’m the deputy director?”

“Doesn’t matter, though, does it? Because it would still be impossible to get Jael to cooperate with us.”

“She will if she doesn’t know she’s helping.”

Barak blinked as the wheels turned, but they didn’t reach any destination. “I still don’t see it.”

“We send someone in to get close to the family. Jael and Gregory. To encourage them in the direction we want them to go.”

“We don’t have enough time to send someone in undercover to get close to her and then convince her to let us close to her soon-to-be father-in-law.”

“I know. That’s why we send in someone who’s already familiar with the family.”

Barak shook his head. “Why do you always make me work so hard for the answers?”

“It’s good for you. Keeps you sharp. If I don’t let you think for yourself, then you become useless to me. Besides, I shouldn’t need to do your job for you, but somehow, I am.”

“There’s no one on the taskforce who could pull that off.”

“I told you, you’re being narrow-minded. You need to think outside the box.”

“You must be pretty far outside.”

“Not as far as you might think. You remember Daniel Fletcher?”

“Danny? You want to bring Danny back in? I thought he’d paid his dues.”

“He did. And then some. I would never tell him this, but we got more out of that bargain than he did.”

“Do you even know where he is?”

“I always keep tabs on my best assets. I figured we’d need him again.”

“You have dirt on him I don’t know about? Because that’s the only way you’ll get him to come back.”

“No. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t something he wants that I can give him.”

“You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“My husband tells me all the time.”

“Do you remember when Danny finished with us? You promised he’d never have to see any of us ever again.”

“Especially you.”

“Exactly my point. How do you think he’ll react when you turn up on his doorstep and ask him to join my team?”

Deborah pushed a grim smile up her face. She knew how the meeting would go. But she was not a woman to back down in the face of a challenge.

“There’s too much at stake to worry about things like feelings,” she said.

“Is that what you’re going to tell him?”

“Danny’s a smart man.”

“And he’s had time to stew.”

“He’s not the stewing type,” she said.

“How do you know? It’s been—what—ten years?”

“Or thereabouts.”

“He’ll laugh in your face. Or worse, he may have let himself go. Sure, he was good for the work you gave him back then, but what if he’s spent the last decade playing video games and drinking beer?”

“He hasn’t.”

Barak narrowed his eyes. “This is a done deal, isn’t it?”

“I’ve made up my mind, if that’s what you mean. I’ll do what I need to do to make it happen.”

“So before I walked in, you knew what you were going to do. What was the point of this meeting?”

“I left some wriggle room for a change if you’d brought me something useful. I gave you your chance.”

Barak stood stiffly and paced the room. “It won’t work.”

“You’re defeated before we even begin? Perhaps you’re not the right person to continue leading this taskforce.”

He turned on her then, his face contorted in anger and indecision. He knew he’d failed her, but she could see he didn’t have it in him to rise up and be the leader she’d hoped he’d one day become. He was a good agent, but when it came down to it, she needed more.

“I hope you’re not threatening me,” Barak said.

“No threat. All I need is for you to be a team player. When Danny comes back, you give him whatever support he requires.”

“He won’t work with me. Not again.”

“You made that bed yourself. Now you have to lie in it. If you would have recognized why I chose to use him back then, you wouldn’t have burned your bridges.”

“I did what I had to to protect the bureau. He could have been a liability.”

Deborah rose slowly. She was done arguing. “But he wasn’t.”

“None of us could have known that. I was watching your back.”

“No, you weren’t. You were watching your own. This is happening. If you don’t like it, request a transfer. I’ll approve it.”

Barak’s fists tightened at his side. “Fine. I’ll be available for this idea of yours. But when he refuses to come back, what are we going to do then?”

“He won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’ll persuade him.”