Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Irish shouldn’t have stormed out. Shouldn’t have thrown those angry words at Cass like he had, but he couldn’t help himself.

The fact that everyone in the room hadn’t judged her for what’d happened to her shouldn’t have hurt as much as it had.

It was irrational for him to be feeling this way. What’d happened to him and what happened to Cass were two completely different things.

Totally different circumstances.

She’d been an innocent child. A girl who still looked at the world with innocent eyes.

He’d been a hardened soldier who’d done what he’d been told to do. Only to have to the establishment he’d admired since he’d been a little boy turn their backs on him.

Although he couldn’t fault them when he’d done nothing to dissuade them from what they believed. Irish wanted them to believe it, so goal achieved. Yet it didn’t stop him from feeling bitter at having his career snatched away from him. His peers turn on him.

The worst for him was his closest friend, the one person who knew him in and out, had easily believed what he’d been told. He hadn’t defended himself because his friend should’ve known who Irish was and what he would and wouldn’t do.

That was the past.

He’d moved on—maybe.

Ox had given him a second chance. Even knowing everything that’d gone down, his boss had looked him in the eye and told him he trusted Irish had done what he’d had to do and then he’d offered him a job at Alliez.

He’d forever be grateful for the man’s belief in him and had done everything to prove Ox hadn’t made a mistake in hiring him. So, Irish really shouldn’t be pissed at what’d taken place in the conference room.

Irish sat at his computer, rereading the file of the botched operation which had resulted in Cass being squirreled away in the United States. Witness protection was the only thing that made sense for the situation she’d been launched into.

However, what’d happened between the time she’d been taken to the time she’d showed up at school, with a new last name and new parents?

He’d been surprised that they’d kept her given name, but he supposed it was easier than trying to get a six-year-old to be convinced their name would now be Natalie or Jemima .

Irish leaned back, chewing on a pen trying to muddle the problem out when he heard the soft tread of footsteps approaching. He glanced up as Ox reached his door.

“You good?” his boss asked.

“Yeah.”

Ox stepped into the room and took a seat. “Are you sure? Because you don’t look fine.”

Irish sighed and turned his laptop around so the man could see what he was looking at. “Trying to get a handle on this. Something feels off. Why the two-year gap? Where was she in that time? Not to mention, the other file she found shows she’s been on the CIA’s radar for her whole life.”

“Understandable that she’d be on a watch list of sorts, considering who her father was and who her uncle is. ”

“True, but they placed her with two CIA agents, not a family. They basically paid for her education and then recruited her to join them. That goes above and beyond putting her on a watch list because of her familial connections.” The whole situation was off.

There was also the lingering feeling that during Cass’s missing two years, she was put through some unpleasant things. He couldn’t be sure, but this was the CIA; they were known for all sorts of weird shit. He’d seen first-hand how far they’d go to make sure they got the information they wanted.

“What are you thinking? Because I can see the wheels turning.”

“The missing two years, Ox. Some shit happened to her.”

His boss nodded. “You’re probably right. And the fact there is a gap in their records isn’t an accident. It’s deliberate. You and I both know there are secrets government agencies hold close to their chest.”

“I know. And I hated seeing it in person, but knowing it could’ve happened to Cass cuts deep.”

Fuck, he wanted to burn down those that had hurt Cass. This woman was remarkable and had done nothing wrong but be born into a family that were evil.

Would she have turned out like her father? That was an unknown quantity but kindness couldn’t be manufactured. Kindness couldn’t be battered into a person. It was there, in their soul, and Cass had a kindness like that. The way she always doubled down and didn’t sleep when someone was missing.

When the guilt that she hadn’t been aware that Teresa had been missing had driven her to work herself almost sick.

That wasn’t fake.

It was real.

No, there was no way Cass would’ve turned out like Manual Ramirez. Or Gomez Ramirez.

“Who was her mother?” Irish asked. There’d been nothing in the CIA’s operation file about a mother.

“That’s another mystery that’ll probably not get solved,” Ox said.

“Whoever she was, I’m sure the outcome of her life wasn’t the one she’d ever imagined. We both know what men like Manuel do to women. Although.” He pointed to his laptop. “From their surveillance it looked like Manuel did love Cass. It appears as though he treated her well.”

“On paper it looks that way, and no doubt, at her young age, he probably did treat her like a princess. But you and I both know that the older she got, the more he would’ve pushed for her to work for him. Whether it be as someone who seduced rich men into taking drugs and having sex so Manuel could blackmail them. Or he’d have arranged for her to be married to someone suitable. Someone who would’ve helped Manuel and his empire. In some respects, the CIA saved Cass.”

Ox finished, and it was taking everything in Irish not to leap over the table and knock the hell out of his boss.

How could he say the CIA had saved Cass?

God knew what they’d done to her in those intervening years. Not to mention the way they’d used her during her career in such a way that she’d needed to get out of there and do something completely different.

Although she’d gravitated back to her first love—computers—a few months after she joined Alliez.

The CIA let her leave without any issues. Why?

“Why did the CIA let her leave? They basically let her walk out the door. Why wouldn’t they have wanted to keep her close, particularly after everything they’d put into her.” Irish got his thoughts out, hoping Ox had some insight because he sure as fuck didn’t.

“Another mystery we might not get an answer to. But it is unusual for them to let one of their agents go so easily. So yes, there had to be a reason for them to do it. Maybe they believed she wasn’t of much use to them now.”

Irish scoffed. “As if. You and I both know that’s not how they work.”

Ox stood. “I’ll ask around and see if I can find anything out. I’ll give Storm and Ash a call in New York and see if they have some contacts within the government agencies which might be of use to us.”

“What about Julian? He’s at the FBI.” Although, it wasn’t a sure thing that Julian had any influence, considering he’d only been with the bureau for a few years and hadn’t quite built up an inter-agency contact network.

Julian had worked with the FBI to bring down the cult he’d grown up with and rescue his sister when she’d been kidnapped by her own family.

“It’s possible I’ll call him and ask him.” Ox paused on his way out the door. “You should go and see Cass. Make sure she’s okay. If she’s not, get her out of here.”

Irish wanted to scoff. Would Cass want to have anything to do with him with the way he’d stormed out after yelling at her? He also knew himself. No way would he be able to leave without making sure she was okay. He didn’t even want her to go home alone.

He wanted to be with her—always.

“You got it. And thanks, Ox. ”

“Anytime.” Ox tapped the door frame twice before he disappeared down the hallway.

Irish swiveled his chair and gazed out the window. Life often threw curve balls. Sometimes he dodged them. Other times he faced them and knocked them out of the park.

The information Cass had found out today was her curve ball, and she hadn’t dodged it. She’d let it hit her and leave a bruise. A bruise that wasn’t going to fade in a few days.

If he knew Cass well, and he did, she wasn’t going to let a little hit keep her down. She was going to dig in and search for the answers she wanted.

Irish wasn’t going to let her search alone. He wasn’t going to let her face it by herself. He’d be there right by her side, and if she didn’t like that, then tough.

The time had come to stake a claim.