“No,” Ian answered. He looked at his father. “That’s what she meant, right?”
He nodded. “I never understood why she came to the States.”
“She’s an American,” El said, frowning as if he couldn’t understand why anyone would question it.
“Actually, she officially has dual citizenship. Her mother was British, so it was easy to get that taken care of.”
Ian’s mind was already shifting through her comments and her actions. Every now and then, UK slang had slipped into her comments, but he had thought she did it to mock him. Now he knew that she did it because of her background.
“She was investigating her family’s death,” Ian said. He looked at El. “Maybe she got too close?”
“Could be,” he said. “Eden and I always worried that her helping us is what got her burned, but she kept saying that it had nothing to do with us.”
“What I don’t get is why she saves your ass so much? Is she watching you because she suspects you?” Jenner asked.
He shrugged and looked at his father.
“You were too young of course. And no, she didn’t suspect me. I’m the one who took her to England.”
He blinked. “You just showed up and took her to Judith?”
He nodded. “Judith couldn’t go. It wasn’t safe for her, and she was worried that going would put Lila in even more danger. So, she asked me.”
And that told him everything. Judith Eddington didn’t trust a lot of people. She was legendary in the business, which meant that a lot of people had targeted her. If she’d asked his father to retrieve her granddaughter, Judith definitely trusted his father.
“Judith always thought it had something to do with her. That killing her daughter and grandchildren was a way to get back at her.”
“But you didn’t.”
He shook his head. “If someone goes to those extremes, they tend to make sure to tell the person in some way. No one ever claimed the murders.”
“What did her parents do at the CIA?” he asked.
“They were just analysts, like Lila,” El said. “And a lot of people think that’s a safe job, but depending on their concentration, they would have access to a lot of things. I wonder if they had been tortured before.”
“Lila would know,” his father said. “But, maybe not. There wasn’t much of the bodies left after.”
“How old was she?”
“Twelve.”
Shit. That was…how did a person go on after that? Not only losing her family but witnessing it?
“So, she hit some trigger at the CIA? That’s not good,” Jenner said.
He glanced at the former medic. Ian was starting to understand why Luc had hired him. His skills as a medic were top notch, and he had a mind that understood things beyond surface.
“I agree. That means someone with some power, or at least connections at the CIA, had something to do with her family’s murders.”
His security pinged, telling him someone parked in front of his house. He grabbed his phone off the side table and saw a man park and then slip out of his car with the bag of food he’d ordered. The doorbell rang. He waited while the delivery driver set the food down and walked away.
By the time he got to the door, the man had already driven off.
After retrieving the food, he brought it into the house.
“I have some huli huli chicken if you’re hungry.”
He pulled out the large container of bone broth he’d ordered. After grabbing a spoon, he slipped into the bedroom. He knew she wasn’t asleep.
