I sighed and began eating. The food might have been basic, but she added an extra kick to everything. I was a slow eater, but she was even slower. We ate in silence, and when I finished, I asked, “Why aren’t you with the FBI anymore?” I knew it was a loaded question, but if I was going to put my life in her hands, I needed to know what had caused her to end up in the middle of nowhere.
“I destroyed the life of my captain,” she said after a long pause. “He ended up blowing his head off.”
“What do you mean by destroying his life? I’m sure you didn’t do that on purpose.”
“That depends on who you’re asking.”
“I’m asking you.”
“Did I want him to commit suicide? Of course not. But he was a coward, and cowards aren’t known for making brave decisions.”
“What happened that made you go after him?”
She put her fork down, her omelet half-eaten. “He cut corners in places he shouldn’t have, and that made me suspicious. I kept an eye on him for a while, until I discovered he wassabotaging certain investigations, all connected to a specific crime organization we’d been trying to bring down for years.”
“Did he work for them?”
“That was never proven, but moneyhadchanged hands between them. When I had enough evidence to take him down, I went straight to the top and laid it all on the table. I didn’t expect a medal, but I also didn’t expect to be treated like an inconvenience. It was the late ‘80s, and the FBI was very much a boys’ club. When I realized a few weeks later that they were trying to bury the case and transfer him to a different department, I raised hell. They ended up charging him, but he killed himself before he could stand trial.”
“Did they fire you?”
“No, but there are ways to make someone leave without dealing with bureaucracy. I was a persona non grata, and my career was going nowhere. Since I wasn’t going to make their lives easy, I negotiated an early retirement settlement.”
By the way she said it, I gathered that hadn’t been enough to sweeten the pill.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She shrugged. “Old water under a rusty bridge.”
“I want to drive to the motel tomorrow. I don’t know how long I’ll need to stay there, but I could use a backup. Will you join me?”
She rolled her eyes. “No, I’ll stay here drinking tea while my nephew’s life is in danger. Fuck off, Jonah.” She added a wink at the end of her outburst, taking the edge off her words.
I exhaled, my body lighter. I already felt less alone in this.
“That thing in your leg—are we sure it isn’t tracking you now?”
I shook my head. “I can’t be sure, but we’re not that far from LA.”
“And when we’re at the motel?”
“I don’t know. I guess it’s a risk we’ll need to take. I don’t have time to go through surgery.”
“Hmm.” She nodded to herself like she’d made a decision, but all she said was, “It’s getting late.”
I glanced out the window, noticing it had gotten dark while we spoke. “I better head back home.”
“We should leave early tomorrow, so best for you to spend the night here. I have a spare room. We’ll make a stop to see a friend of mine on the way to the motel tomorrow. He used to work with my unit back in the day.”
“Okay. I have a bag with clothes in my car.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“I was thinking of driving straight to the motel if you’d refused to help.”
Tammy nodded and stood up. “I’ll go make up your room. You’ve been sleeping poorly lately.”
She didn’t say it as a question, meaning I must have looked as beat as I felt. I went to bring my bag from the car, then waited in the kitchen until she returned. “Room’s ready. The birds wake up early around here, so it’s a good time to call it a night.”
