Mack studied the photo. A woman with gleaming black hair and wearing a bright green knit top, jeans, and tall boots stood behind Zamora, a patronizing expression on her face as she looked at him. “Who is she?”
“Camila Baca. She’s my informant. In fact, she texted me on the day of my accident asking to meet, but I never got back to her.”
“Informant?” He looked up. “There’s nothing in the files about her.”
“I wanted to protect her identity. I didn’t even have her information in my phone.”
“How did you contact her?”
“By a prepaid phone. It’s at my house. I kept it there so she couldn’t be compromised.”
Her desire to protect this woman was admirable but broke protocol. He locked gazes with her. “You didn’t file a report and tell Harris about her?”
“Don’t look at me like that.” She narrowed her eyes.
“Like what?”
She crossed her arms. “Like you’re judging me. Like I’m a bad agent. Don’t tell me you’ve never kept your informants from your supervisor. Or if not that, then something else.”
After Eisenhower closed the Montgomery Three case, Mack and the team had kept months of continued investigating from him. So yeah, Mack was guilty. “You’re right. I have. So why did you hide Camila?”
Addy frowned. “She was so terrified of Razo that I promised not to tell anyone. It was the only way she would talk.”
“How does she know Razo?”
“Actually, she knows Zamora. She’s his jilted girlfriend.”
Odd.“And she’s still hanging around with him?”
Addy nodded. “She took up with another guy in Razo’s gang. At first she wanted to get back at Zamora, but then when she heard about the miniguns, she couldn’t live with knowing about them and doing nothing.”
Mack leaned back and pondered the information. Something seemed off to him. “Unusual to have a gang member, or in this case a gang girlfriend, with a conscience.”
Addy nodded and fell silent.
Mack was stunned. Not over the secret but over the memory loss—forgetting an informant was a big deal. Something he thought she would have recalled when she remembered so many other details in hypnosis. “Any idea why you didn’t remember her at first?”
Addy pursed her lips. “Dr. Galt said my brain might be refusing to remember things if there was any trauma around the situation. The last time I talked to Camila, Razo almost caught us talking. I got away in time, but it scared me nearly to death. Please, let’s not tell Harris.”
He never wanted to disappoint Addy, yet he had no choice. It was protocol. “I have to, Addy. You know that.”
Addy sighed. “Then let me talk to Camila first. Make sure she’s all right.”
No way he was going to let Addy venture out to an area where Razo frequented. “I can’t let you do that.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I can make my own decisions.” She lifted her chin.
She’d always been headstrong, and he loved that about her. But in this case, it went against everything he needed to do to keep her safe. “I can’t agree to it. It’s just too dangerous.”
She clasped her hands together on the table. “I have to do it. Camila could know where Zamora might be hanging out. Andif she does, it could blow this investigation wide open, and we could confiscate the guns. Save lives.”
Her this-is-not-negotiable look tightened her face. There would be no stopping her from going. Could he let her meet Camila? Maybe. With proper planning.
“If I agree to this...” He paused and held up his hands. “And I’m sayingif, then I’m coming with you.”
She narrowed her eyes, determination beaming at him. “Only if Camila agrees to it.”
“No.” He shook his head. “Iwillbe with you, so make sure you get her to agree.”
