“We have an appointment with Diana Reyes at one,” Siren informed her.
The receptionist checked her calendar. “Ms. Reyes is expecting you,” she said, gesturing for the door behind the desk.
Reed held the door for Siren and followed her inside. Diana’s office was decorated with thriving potted plants, and black and white photographs of the city and natural landscapes. Several heavy-duty file cabinets lined the wall across from the window.
Diana stood when they entered, shook their hands in greeting, and invited them to sit in the comfortable upholstered chairs across from her sturdy oak desk. She was shorter than Siren by about five inches, with dark hair and clever eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses.
She was dressed in a gray skirt suit, with a mother of pearl cameo at the collar of her pink blouse. As they sat, Diana smiled and asked them about the estate issue that had brought them there today.
“Garrett Cole sent us. The river still runs,” Siren said.
Diana went still. For a long moment, no one spoke. Diana’s brown eyes fixed on Siren, her posture stiff.
“It’s been a long time since anyone said that to me. Tell me why you’re here.”
“We need information,” Siren said. “About Meridian.”
Diana sucked a breath, her face going pale. “Where did you hear that name?”
Siren nodded to Reed to start the recording. He pulled the device out of his pocket and hit the play button.
Carl Unger’s voice filled the space. “I want extraction. A new identity. The Fifty thousand you owe me. I know how Meridian works. I know where the money comes from.”
They listened in silence until the handler said, “The Major doesn’t tolerate loose ends.”
Diana’s brow furrowed. “The Major…”
The recording continued. The scuffle. The grunt. The silence. Reed hit the stop button on the recording device. Diana sat motionless, staring at them like they’d shattered her world.
“I’ve been chasing Meridian for twelve years,” she said, taking her glasses off. She rubbed her eyes. “Tell me everything.”
Siren gave her an up-to-date summary. The Crown Mountain conspiracy. She told her about the professional team that had ambushed them on the way to the safehouse in Oregon. The trail to Jackie, to Garret, to her.
Diana listened intently, her fingers threaded on the desk, her eyes focused on Siren.
“Why did Garrett send you to me?” she finally asked.
“He told us you’d been tracking this financial pipeline since you lost someone important.”
“My mate. Simon. We were partners in the Bureau. Financial crimes unit. I did the numbers. He did the fieldwork. He was a wolf shifter, and the love of my life.”
She stood and walked to the window, looking out at the street below. “Twelve years ago, we got a tip about money laundering. Suspicious shell companies in Delaware routing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a LLC in Wyoming called Teton Resource Group.”
She turned back to face them.
“We started digging into Teton Resource Group.” Her voice started to waver. “That’s when we found a reference to Meridian in the memo fields of multiple wire transfers. We didn’t know if it was a code name, an account, or an operation. But when Simon asked around about it, people got nervous.”
She paused, her eyes getting watery.
“A week later, he was shot dead in a parking garage, his car gone. It looked like a carjacking gone wrong. His wallet and his watch were gone. Case closed.”
“Doesn’t sound random,” Siren muttered.
“No.” Diana sat back down. “I tried to keep the investigation open. Pushed my supervisors. Demanded more resources. They shut me down with the usual excuses.”
Her voice flattened. “I quit the Bureau after that. Changed my name. Moved here and started over. I reached out to people I trusted to help me with my cover. Garrett was one of them. He’s my eyes and ears in that world.” She stood back up. “I’ve been building a case, waiting for someone who could do something with it.”
Diana walked to the filing cabinets against the wall, pulled out several thick folders, and set them on the desk.
