Part 7 (2/2)
”Can you get into the house through the bas.e.m.e.nt?”
Jess nodded. ”There's no lock on the bas.e.m.e.nt door.”
She could tell she had his attention now, so she kept going. ”Angela kept a home office in a downstairs bedroom. There's a file cabinet there she kept locked.”
”Do you know what's inside?”
”All I know is that one night I went in to say goodnight to her and she seemed...secretive about it.”
He didn't look surprised and Jess got the feeling that there was more going on than she was being told. What was he hiding from her?
”I get the feeling none of this comes as a surprise to you,” she said.
”I didn't know about the cellar door.”
But you know why Angela kept a hidden file, a suspicious little voice added. ”What aren't you telling me?”
”A lot.”
She hadn't expected him to say that. She stared at him, her pulse ratcheting, her mind beginning to run through possibilities. ”What?”
He motioned toward the chair. ”Sit down.”
Jess took the chair again, wondering what he was going to hit her with next.
”Angela was not a police officer,” he said.
”What?”
”She was posing as a cop, but it was only an a.s.signment.”
”What are you talking about? What kind of a.s.signment?”
”She was working undercover for the same agency I work for. It's called the MIDNIGHT Agency. We're federal. Part of the CIA.”
”Angela was a federal agent?” She couldn't quite get her mind around the notion. ”What was she doing in Lighthouse Point?”
”I don't know. Her mission was covert. But I think she was working on something big.”
Jess's head reeled with the information. ”Why can't you call the agency you work for and ask for their help?”
His gaze dropped to the tabletop. ”When I found out about her death, I went to my superior and asked to be a.s.signed the case. He refused, citing the fact that I was too personally involved.”
Another surprise tossed at her like a gla.s.s of ice water. ”Are you?” she asked, wondering not for the first time about his relations.h.i.+p with Angela.
”No.” He grimaced. ”But my superior argued the point. Things got heated. I lost my temper.”
”You quit?”
”I caught the first flight west to find her killer. No holds barred.”
The way he said it made Jess s.h.i.+ver. She stared at him, the knowledge that two days ago he'd thought she was Angela's killer churning inside her.
He looked at her as if he'd read her thoughts. ”I know you didn't kill her.”
Relief swept through her with such power that for an instant she couldn't speak.
He continued. ”You were at the wrong place at the wrong time. A corrupt police department used that to their advantage.”
”To cover up a murder.”
He nodded. ”You're nothing more than a scapegoat.”
”Do you think someone figured out Angela was a federal agent?”
Madrid shook his head. ”I think someone realized she was on to their secret.”
”What secret?”
”That's what we're going to find out.”
Chapter Five.
Madrid hadn't wanted to involve his brother, but he needed a safe haven for Nicolas while he and Jess returned to Lighthouse Point. Father Matthew wasn't happy about the arrangement, but he was too good a man to refuse Madrid help, and he would never turn a child away from his church.
”How long will you be?” he asked.
”I don't know.”
Father Matthew motioned with his eyes toward Jess. ”What about her?”
Madrid risked a look at Jess. Sitting on the floor, she had her arm around Nicolas's thin shoulders and was holding a little purple hippo. Nicolas had gone into his own little world, but it didn't deter Jess from talking to him, from reaching out to him.
”She's coming with me.”
Father Matthew's usually serene expression turned incredulous. ”I don't have to tell you that's a bad idea, do I?”
”No.”
”You don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to women and decision making.”
Because Madrid couldn't dispute that, he said nothing.
<script>