Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The sound of the shower drifted through the house. Irish sat at Cass’s kitchen table, turning his phone over and over in his hand.

He’d wanted to join her in the shower after they’d eaten breakfast, but he’d refrained. She needed some alone time, and he did, too. So he could process what she’d told him about her time at the CIA.

One sentence stood out, and he couldn’t forget it.

It was like I was conditioned to work that way.

During his time as a Delta, Irish had been exposed to some of the methods the CIA used to get what they wanted. What they did to people they wanted to use for their benefit. None of it was pleasant. Then again, nothing he’d done as a Delta had been palatable.

He’d done things worse than the CIA to get the intel they’d needed. It didn’t matter that the people they interrogated were the scum of the earth or associated with the scum they were trying to eliminate. He’d done it cold-bloodedly and had no remorse when he finally put them out of their misery with a bullet to their head.

Had the CIA somehow programmed Cass to do what they wanted her to do, to her own detriment?

Stupid question. Of course, they had.

The question remained: why?

Why had they wanted Manuel Ramirez’s daughter to work like a robot for them?

So many questions with no way of getting to the truth. No way would the CIA admit they did anything to harm Cass. It wasn’t how they operated.

They got what they needed, and hell, half of their successful missions were due to the intel the CIA had gathered for them, so it wasn’t like Irish could totally hate them for how they operated the company.

They had a purpose—and a good one, but not in this situation. When it affected a person he cared deeply about, he didn’t like them. Or their methods.

Irish looked at his phone again. After a breath, he pulled up Ox’s contact and hit connect.

“Irish, what’s up?” his boss answered after a few rings .

The shower was still running so Irish was safe from Cass overhearing his conversation. Not that he wouldn’t tell her he’d call Ox, but he might omit some of the things they talked about.

Are you any better than the CIA?

He ignored the voice taunting him. Chances were, she’d walk in on him talking to Ox; this wasn’t going to be a quick conversation.

“Sorry to bother you on the weekend, but I needed to talk.”

“No bother. You know my phone is always available when you need it.”

Through the phone, a door clicked shut and leather creaked.

“I’m in my office now. What did you want to talk about?” Ox asked.

What he was about to tell his boss would let the man know he and Cass’s relationship had changed. It didn’t matter that Ox already had an idea that there was something going on with them. Ox had asked him to look out for Cass. He probably hadn’t meant to sleep with her. Then again, did it matter? It wasn’t like they were breaking any rules or anything.

“It’s Cass.”

“What about her?” Ox demanded before he could even say anything else .

“We were talking about her time in the CIA, and something she said has tweaked my instincts.”

“Go on.”

Irish gave a quick rundown of what she’d said. “I didn’t like the way she casually said that she was programmed to work all hours.”

“Neither do I, but we both know how the CIA works.”

“Yeah, they do good, and then they also do shit stuff. And that shit stuff is fucked up sometimes.”

Silence fell between them, and Irish let his boss ruminate over everything he’d told him.

The shower had stopped, and Cass would show up soon. He wouldn’t hide that he was talking to Ox. What would be the point? Besides, Irish expected this to happen.

“There’s still those two years we don’t know anything about,” Ox finally said.

“I know. Anything could’ve happened then. Not to mention she lived with agents. They would’ve followed any orders they were given, even ones that would affect her thought processes.”

“Son of a bitch, she never had a chance.”

Anger burned, and he wanted to pound his fist through the wall.

“We have her now. She’s safer than she’s ever been,” Ox said, as if he could read his mind.

“Is she though?” Irish countered. “The CIA let her walk, but you know they never like losing an asset, and Cass is one hell of an asset. Not to mention everything she knows and everything she did for them.”

“Granted, they could strike, but they haven’t over the last few years, so I don’t think they’re going to now. They must believe she’s not going to blab anything, and well, if it wasn’t you seeing what she’d found, there’s every chance she would’ve kept it to herself.”

Irish wanted to believe what Ox was saying, yet they had to be missing something. There was a bigger picture here, one that was still well hidden. He’d chip away at the board and uncover everything because keeping Cass safe was his number one priority.

“I don’t think they’re that na?ve. Have you had any luck with your contacts or Julian in seeing if we can uncover the two missing years in Cass’s childhood?” Irish asked.

“My CIA contact is tightlipped, which isn’t a surprise, considering Cass worked for them. Julian hasn’t had much luck either. What he did say was that when he mentioned the cartel, he noticed a significant change in the person’s demeanor.”

“In what way?”

“Julian didn’t elaborate, just said that he went from being open to Julian’s questions to quickly changing the subject when Julian asked about Ramirez.”

The more they delved, the murkier it got, which wasn’t surprising, but it was exceedingly frustrating.

Irish thought back over the last year. Their first involvement with the cartel was with Astrid. To everyone involved, they seemed very keen to get Astrid off the streets, and then they went cold on her.

Cass said the chatter on the dark web was that they’d found something far more important than some woman who’d stumbled upon a murder. Same with Teresa, they’d gone to extreme lengths, and when they could’ve killed her, they let her live.

Not to mention Alliez’s specialized team had taken down one of Ramirez’s human trafficking rings, which would have pissed Gomez off.

Were all these things connected to the more interesting item they’d found? What was that item? Was it a thing, or was it a whom?

“Talk to me, Irish. I know you’re wading through everything.”

The rattle of the cutlery drawer opening drew his attention .

Cass was in the kitchen, watching him.

“Ox, Cass is here now, so I’m going to put the phone on speaker.”

Cass’s eyes widened, as if she hadn’t expected him to include her. Maybe when he started the conversation, Irish had thought he’d keep some things from her, but now that she was standing in front of him, he’d changed his mind.

For so many years, people had been dictating how she thought and what she did. He wasn’t going to be another person who took choices from her.

She sat opposite him at the table.

He wished she’d sat next to him, but Irish could appreciate her need to have a little distance between them.

“Hey, Cass.”

“Hi, Ox. I take it you two are talking about me and what I told Irish this morning.”

That was another reason why the CIA had wanted her. Cass could read a situation and instinctively know what was going on.

Ox chuckled. “No flies on you.”

“Nope.”

“Now that Cass is aware she’s the main topic of our conversation, how about you tell me what’s going on in your mind, Irish? ”

He watched Cass, her face impassive and devoid of all emotion. The dark rimmed glasses she always wore when she read or used an electronic device sat on the tabletop next to her phone.

As if aware he was watching her, she met his gaze and gave him a short nod, as though saying she was ready for whatever he had to say.

“I was thinking back on everything that’s happened over the last year, starting with Astrid and through to Teresa. The way the cartel acted in both situations. The reason they backed off chasing Astrid was because they’d located something of interest. That’s what you found. Right, Cass?”

“Yes. I’ve never found out what they were talking about. There’s been nothing since. And with Teresa, they know that she’s alive, but because they got what they wanted they believe it’s a non-issue. Although, they did take a hit with us putting Arturo out of business and busting that trafficking ring. Last I looked, there was still no chatter about this mysterious item.”

The frustration that she hadn’t made any headway was evident in Cass’s voice, and Irish reached across the table to give her hand a squeeze.

He went to pull it back, but she wound her fingers around his and held tight. No way was he going to let her go, not if she needed him, and it looked like she did. Given what he was about to say, having the connection with her was probably a good thing.

“What I’m about to say is just speculation,” Irish said. “A random thought I had while thinking through things. What if the thing Ramirez is chasing isn’t an item but a person. What if that person is you, Cass?”

Her gasp filled the room, and her eyes widened, a hint of fear darkening the brown irises.

“Fuck, that’s a big call, Irish,” Ox said. “But it makes sense. I doubt Gomez would’ve forgotten Manuel had a daughter, and she’d disappeared the same time his brother was killed.”

“No, it can’t be me,” Cass whispered.

Irish stood, rounded the table, and hauled her into his arms.

Her tremors broke him, and he hated himself for causing her to react this way.

“I hope I’m wrong.” He kept hold of Cass while he continued his thought. “But I feel like I’m not.”

“Wonder if the guy the DEA has got in the cartel is aware of what Ramirez’s plans are,” Ox mused.

Something their boss had said earlier, pinged in Irish’s mind. “You said Julian thought something bigger was happening. My guess is all the agencies are working together. Cass’s true identity is known to the CIA. As much as they’ve used her over the years, there’s a reason why they kept her and didn’t leave her in Mexico with her family. They wouldn’t have known her computer prowess when they took her. That obviously came later.”

Cass’s body stiffened in his arms, and she leaned against him.

Irish dropped his arms, even though he didn’t want to.

“I need to find out what happened to me from the age of six to eight. Someone is going to talk to me.” Determination sparked fire in her eyes, chasing away that momentary fear.

Fuck, he admired her strength. After all this information had been dumped on them, a lesser person may have crumbled under it all.

Not Cass.

She stood strong.

“I’ll leave you both to it. But, Cass . . .” Ox paused.

“Yes?”

“If Irish is right, then we’re going to have to up our security around you. You know what that means, don’t you?”

Beside Irish, she sighed. “Yes. I’ll start wearing a tracker.”

“Good. Irish, keep me informed,” Ox said before the line went dead .

Cass went to walk away, but Irish grabbed her hand. “You’re not alone. You know that, don’t you, Cass? You have me, and you have the whole team at your back.”

“I know,” she said softly. “Whatever my uncle has planned, I’m going to find out, and then I’m going to bring him and the cartel to their knees. If he thinks he can persuade me to come back to the Ramirez family, he is much mistaken.”