Chapter 23

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Jael said to Becca after the police left.

“I didn’t want it to come to this,” Becca said.

“I know. But now Martin knows it’s serious.”

“The room is booked,” Danny said from the doorway.

“It’s only a motel,” Jael said. “But there’s a pool for the kids. I’ll find more suitable accommodation as soon as I can.”

“Anywhere is fine as long as… Martin won’t know?”

“I’m paying for this one out of my own pocket, so I won’t be telling anyone.”

“You shouldn’t do that.”

“I’ve got more than enough. And you’ll sleep better knowing you’re one hundred percent safe. Why don’t you and the kids get packed?”

After Becca left the living room, Jael took Danny’s arm and led him outside. “Thanks again for coming. But you can go now.”

“You’re that desperate to get rid of me?”

“Becca will feel safer with you gone. I know you’re on our side, but she doesn’t trust many people, as I’m sure you can understand.”

“I can, but I don’t trust Christopher. I’d like to follow behind so I can make sure no one’s tailing you.”

“I’m perfectly capable of spotting a tail.”

“A second pair of eyes would help.”

“I can handle it.”

Danny rested his hands on his hips. “If you don’t trust me, why did you call me?”

“Honestly? I don’t know what to believe about you. I knew I couldn’t get Christopher to leave without help, and you were the only one I could think of that could step in. I had thought for a fleeting moment that you’d followed me here. But of course, you always pick the most inopportune times to give me a break.”

“I haven’t been following you. Not recently. But I can start again if you want.”

“Is that a threat?” She smiled despite herself.

“I’m only here to help. Let me make sure Christopher’s not following you.”

Before she could reply, Becca and the kids came out the door. “We’re ready.”

Jael looked at Danny and nodded.

After a detour through the McDonald’s drive-thru, they arrived at the motel.

Becca kept looking over her shoulder as Jael led her and the kids to the room.

“Martin didn’t follow,” Jael said. “Danny was watching for anyone.”

“I know. I can’t help it.”

“You’ll feel better once you’re settled in.”

While Becca unpacked the bags, Jael tucked a few hundred dollars under the lamp by the bed.

“I’ll find better accommodation as soon as I can,” she said. “In the meantime, we’ll continue moving forward. Everything will be back on track in no time.”

Becca hugged Jael and thanked her, then looked at Danny, who had remained at the door. “Thanks for your help too,” she said. “I—I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t turned up.” She looked at Jael. “I wanted to come out and save you when he attacked you, but I froze.”

“Good,” Jael said. “There’s nothing you could have done. The best thing you did was freeze, even if it wasn’t on purpose.”

“I’m just glad you’re safe now,” Danny said. “If you want my number, you can call me anytime. Or send a text. If you see someone suspicious outside, I can stop by and check it out for you.”

“That’s too much to ask,” Becca said.

“No, it’s not.”

“I’ll text you his number,” Jael said. “You should take him up on the offer.”

“Okay, but only if it’s an emergency.”

“Even if it’s not,” Danny said. “I don’t mind if only to set your mind at ease. It’s the least I can do.”

Jael looked at Danny, thankful and confused, but afraid to trust him.

She took her time with Becca, hoping Danny would get the hint and leave. She sat beside Kaitlin to look at the pictures she’d been drawing, but Danny remained at his post until Jael had run out of things to do.

“You call me if you need anything, okay?” she told Becca as they said goodbye. “Anything at all. And you have Hannah’s number.”

“I do.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow if I don’t see you.”

Jael shooed Danny out the door ahead of her, pulling the door closed as they went.

“You didn’t have to stay,” she said as they made their way back to the parking lot.

“It’s not only Becca I’m worried about.”

She stopped to look at him, then continued walking. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

She stopped again and turned to him. She was so tired of the charade.

“Can you please stop?” she said. Her plan had been to ignore him until he went away, but that turned out to be impossible. Maybe it was the fight with Martin still coursing through her that made her want to confront the issue instead of leaving it.

“Stop what?” Danny said. “Caring?”

“Please. That’s not what this is.”

“You think I’m pretending to care?”

“I don’t know why you’re still hanging around, but I do know it’s not because you care.”

Danny coughed out a laugh. “That’s what you’ve been thinking this whole time? That I have some ulterior motive?” But the incredulous look on his face didn’t last, and he averted his eyes. “I really do want to help you.”

“I don’t need your help, and my father is dead. So what’s left?”

“What would you have done today if I wasn’t around?”

“You want me to say thanks? ’Cause I truly am grateful. But now we’re done. Got it?”

She turned in a huff and continued toward her car, but Danny ran to catch up, and he put a hand on her car door to keep it closed when she reached for it.

“Wait,” he said.

“Why?”

It was clear he had more to say but didn’t want to say it. She was curious enough to give him time to respond. She wanted the truth. With Danny more than anyone.

“Okay,” he finally said. “You’re partly right.”

“Which part?”

“I’m not still here because— I mean, I do care. I do want to help you. That’s why I’m here. That’s what I’m trying to—” He grunted and walked in a small circle.

“Just say it. Whatever it is. Stop trying to find the right words and spit it out. I can take it. I’m a big girl.”

“There’s something else going on.”

“Big surprise.”

“I was never in prison.”

She nodded. “So all this time, you never got out of the game. Is it a con, or did my dad call you for one last job together?”

“Neither.”

“Then where have you been for the last ten years?”

“Mostly living in Kenya.”

“Doing what? Drugs? Guns?” She paused before saying the last, “Trafficking kids?”

“No,” he said firmly. “Nothing like that. Nothing illegal.”

“I don’t believe you, but it doesn’t matter. All I want to know is why you’re here.”

His cheek twitched several times before he spoke. “I’m here because of the FBI.”

It felt as though she’d been dipped in an ice bath. “You mean running from them, right? You wouldn’t be working for them. Even you wouldn’t stoop that low.”

“I’m working with them. It’s not the first time.”

She slapped him hard. Her hand stung, but he barely flinched, and it made her more angry. When she tried to wrench open the car door, it wouldn’t budge. It had relocked itself. She pushed on the fob again, but he leaned against it.

“Will you wait? Please,” he said. “This is important.”

“You were here to spy on me and my dad for the FBI, and you want me to wait? They are the reason my mom is dead. Did you know that?”

“Jael.”

“And you work for those—those murdering?—”

“It’s not what you think.”

“It’s exactly what I think. You turned up at my dad’s door, pretending to be his friend so you could get dirt on him? And you did it for them. ”

“It isn’t about him or you. It’s about the Siseras.”

“I don’t care who it’s about— Wait, is that why you rejected me? Because I wasn’t part of the strategy? Is that why you rejected me all those years ago?”

“I’m not an agent, and I only started working with them after I left your dad.”

“Why? Why would you do that?”

“Partly to reduce my prison sentence and partly because there were bad men in the world that needed to be locked up.”

“Bad men like my dad. Why wasn’t he arrested?”

“They weren’t interested in him. They had bigger issues at the time.”

“But you would have?”

“I—I don’t know. I never had to make that choice.”

She scoffed. “This just gets better and better.”

“If you take time to cool down, you’ll understand. You’re helping people to make up for what you did in the past. I was doing the same. I was doing what I could to stop more people from getting hurt.”

“And what about you? Weren’t you one of those people? Why did you deserve to get off easy?”

“I didn’t. I would have taken the prison sentence if that’s what was on offer. But I got the chance to make a difference.”

She would have screamed if there wasn’t so much at stake. But she couldn’t afford to lose her head. She turned away from him to catch her breath. It was a shocking revelation, but one that she could use to her advantage. She had to.

“You said the FBI is after Artus and Christopher?” she said.

“Yes. No one can get close to Artus. They needed another way in, so they asked me to get close to you and your dad as an entry point.”

“My dad considered Artus a friend, but he couldn’t have helped you get close to Artus. You only got as far as that job with Christopher, which didn’t go well from what I understand.”

“That was never the plan. I had hoped it was a better opening, but I underestimated what a terrible person Christopher is.”

“I can’t believe this.” Jael barked a laugh. “So you say you had another plan? What was that?”

“The woman who asked me to come back?—”

“What woman?”

“Deborah Mills.”

“She works for the FBI?”

“Yeah.”

“What’s her role?”

When he hesitated, she braced herself.

“She’s the deputy director.”

“Wow,” she mocked. “You know people in high places. I’m impressed.”

“She’s the one I worked with before. She wasn’t in that position then.”

“So tell me, what did the deputy director want you to do?”

“She’d heard you’d soon be engaged to Christopher. I was supposed to get close enough to exert influence over the venue for the party.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

She tested his confession by going back over everything that had happened, but he came up short. “Nope. I don’t buy it.”

“It’s the truth.”

“When you turned up at my dad’s place, I wasn’t engaged. And I had no intention at that time of marrying Christopher.”

“Whoever gave her that information obviously knew what a convincing man your dad was. It’s what everyone was expecting. You may not have had it in mind, but your dad definitely did.”

“Okay, let’s say for a moment that I had intended to marry Christopher back then. What makes you think I would turn on my own fiancé?”

“You didn’t need to. All I needed to do was get you in the venue for the engagement party where the FBI could listen in. You wouldn’t have known anything about it.”

Jael stared at the ground as she put the pieces together, trying to make sense of what Danny was saying.

“That’s all you came here to do? Make sure I got engaged and tell me where I should have a party?”

“Basically.”

“But you told me not to marry him.”

“I know. I’ve been trying to find another way.”

“But I still don’t understand how a certain venue gets Artus and Christopher arrested. What if they didn’t talk business?”

“There are other operations in play that would have put pressure on them the night of the party. It was supposed to get them talking so they’d give up incriminating information.”

“Sounds like a long shot.”

“It is. But Artus is so careful, this was the only way they could see of getting to him.”

“So all this ‘caring’ for me that you’ve been doing has all been to get me to choose the right venue to celebrate my engagement?”

“No.” Danny took a step toward her. “I didn’t want to do the job at all. When Deborah came to me, I fully intended to turn her down. That’s not my life anymore. But part of the reason I finally agreed was because I was worried about you. The last thing I wanted was for you to marry Christopher. I’ve been doing everything I can to find a way at Artus that doesn’t involve you.”

“Why? What difference does it make to you?”

“I never stopped caring about you. I know I didn’t act like it, but…that’s the truth. All of it.”

She sagged against her car. Nothing in her life made sense, and even after Danny’s confession, she still couldn’t see a way forward for herself.

“I guess you’re out of luck,” she said. “Not only are you well and truly out of Artus’s circle after what you did to Christopher today, but how can I marry him after what happened? Which means there will be no engagement party, and Vita Nova comes to an end. I have nothing left. Nothing.”

“Then let me help you.”

She wanted to be mad at him for lying to her, but she had to choose her enemies carefully right now.

“You think you can still bring them down?” she said.

“I’ve got another plan in motion, yes.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t talk about it yet.”

“No. That’s not how this is going to work. You have to stop keeping secrets.” She noticed a change come over him. He looked suddenly pained. “What is it?” she said, bracing for more bad news. “Just tell me.”

“For the past couple of days, I’ve been following a lead. It’s a crime I’m confident I can pin on Artus. I’m certain he’s guilty. I’m working at putting together the evidence the FBI needs to arrest him for it.”

“Just one crime?” She lifted an eyebrow, but her face deadpanned at the look he gave her. “What? What has he done?”

“Murder.”

“Anyone I know?” she said. But she knew. And with the revelation, her legs gave way.

Danny caught her and held her steady. “I’m sorry.”

“My dad? You’re sure? How can you be sure?”

“I found the man who gave them the drug to make it look like a natural death.”

“How?”

“I followed Christopher. Saw him pay the man. I heard them talking. Christopher said Artus gave him a bonus because it worked out so well.”

“But I don’t understand. Why kill my dad? He’d given them everything they wanted.”

“Almost everything. I can’t say for certain, but I’m guessing he was interfering with the plans they had for Heber Industries.”

“He was old. They could have waited.”

“Artus isn’t a patient man. You know that.”

“It’s not even— I didn’t like my dad. He was horrible to me and difficult, but—I should be thanking them, shouldn’t I?”

“He was still your dad.”

“I didn’t like him, but I never wanted him dead.”

“I know.”

It took her a few minutes to compose herself. “You believe you could pin this murder on them?”

“I do.”

“Will it be enough? How long can they put him away for one murder?”

“If they can get him for this, that would give them the opportunity to look into his other activities. It’s a better plan than hoping he’ll say something at an engagement party.”

“Okay.” She pressed a hand against her forehead. “I need to go home.”

“Can you drive yourself?”

“Yeah. I need to be alone right now.”

“I understand. And I’m sorry for deceiving you. We’ll get the Siseras, and then you have the rest of your life to look forward to.”

But she wouldn’t put her hope in that. Not yet. Not when she still stood on a razor’s edge.