Chapter 27
#
#
#
It was late in the day when Michael returned to Jesse's office. His assistant buzzed him through the security door to the anteroom before the work area off to one side of Jesse's sleek and elegant work place.
He found Sam grinning, Oswald looking satisfied, but Barry was twitchy from being confined in an area near so many people who carried concealed weapons. The only thing in their favor, Barry said, was that they didn't work for the government.
Despite that complaint, Sam explained what Oswald and Barry uncovered, and then Michael told them what he'd learned from listening to tapes of Larry and Vaughn's conversations in adjoining cells, and his subsequent prison visit with Larry. Vaughn had looked on from across the wide expanse where Larry had been placed in the same holding cell Vaughn occupied months earlier when he was Michael's person of interest.
"Larry killed Brennan to take his arms inventory off his hands, but before he could get to them, the Miami-Dade cops had arrested him for Brennan's murder. That's when the CIA took custody and returned him to prison in Albania. Before that happened, Larry had already made plans with a smuggler to access Brennan's supply sources in Haiti, Puerto Rico and Suriname. The smuggler? R.J. Buller. I showed Larry the photo of his Georgia drivers' license. He wasn't pleased."
"So that's another source he found to restore his supply line after you and Raines took it down last year," Sam said then smirked. "Guess it never pays to do arms business over the phone."
"Yeah," Michael said with a small grin.
Sam chuckled. "That had to irritate the hell out of him."
"It did. And I finally have the answer as to why he showed up at my mother's house."
Barry clapped his hands down on the worktable surface. "At your mother's house? We're talking your mom, right? Chain smoking, tea drinking . . . "
"Yeah, Barry, but he's in prison now. Mom's okay, OK?"
Barry rolled his eyes. "I gotta get out of here."
"Jesse knows about this?" Michael asked, indicating the research Oswald and Barry had compiled.
"Yeah, he took copies back to show Pearce and check on her." Sam frowned and looked back at Michael. "Hey, Mike, you don't think that they're, ah . . ."
"Not my business. I need to check in with Jesse, Dani and Fi. Are you done?"
"No," Oswald said with frustration. "We have a couple of things we want to check out first. I know something here that . . . I can't remember. It's going to bug me until I figure out what. Know what I mean?"
"I know exactly what you mean," Michael assured him. "Good luck, Oswald, and thank you."
"We can go home then, right?" Barry asked.
Sam cleared his throat. "Yeah, about that, Ozzie, Barry. We're going to need to keep you two safe until we take care of a few things."
Barry and Oswald both protested, loudly.
Sam waved Michael off. He had this one.
#
#
#
They were sitting on the floor of the living area, both cross legged, sorting through the various documents she requested after Oswald and Barry finished their work earlier so she could see them. Dani wanted to organize them in a different way now that he'd brought them home.
Home. She didn't allow herself to dwell on that word, because it was too easy to get lost in possibilities she imagined instead of the improbabilities she understood.
"I find organizing information like this helps me see the size of the problem and, sometimes, ways to tackle it."
"You don't do this in your head?" Jesse wondered.
"Oh, I do," she assured him. "But this helps. Like the way you talk to yourself."
"I talk to myself?" His smile acknowledged her observation.
"Mmhum. You're entertaining. I'm . . . methodical."
"I'm not methodical?"
Dani glanced up and nearly held her breath. There was a sensual message in his question, she was sure of it, wasn't she? Maybe not. She'd never been very good at this sort of thing. The safest thing was to continue, and when she did, she saw the faint hint of a smile on his lips. She looked back down to the papers in her hands, utterly distracted for a moment.
"I meant, this was, is helpful. I did this for Raines when he came back from London. It illustrated the extent of the organization he and Michael brought down last year. It was huge. But Fullerton has rebuilt at an incredible pace. I'm not sure how one person could do so much in such a short period of time. It's like he has people helping him. A lot of people."
"He might." But Jesse wasn't looking at what Dani was looking at. He was studying the hollow at the base of her throat and the corner of the bandage protecting her reconstructed clavicle exposed under her t-shirt.
She glanced up at him and paused at the intensity of his gaze. "What?"
"You used to wear a necklace."
Her hands stilled for a moment. "I did."
"I gave it back to you. With your watch."
"You did." Dani looked down at her hands and the watch on her wrist before leaning closer to him and touching the gold chain at his neck. "Tell me about this and I'll tell you about that."
He reached inside his shirt and pulled out his mangled St. Christopher's medal. "Gift from my mom about a week before she was killed. She had this thing about keeping me safe. That bullet you took passed through you and hit it, so it protected me after you protected me." He looked down to tuck it back inside his shirt.
"You should have it repaired," she said. When he didn't say more but continued to hold her eyes with his steady gaze, she realized it was her turn and he was waiting for her to explain. "I was engaged to a man, an asset. We were going to get married, but the op he was helping with went bad and he was killed. He'd given me a engagement ring which was impractical for my kind of work, and after he died, I donated it and some other jewelry he gave me to a group that works with throwaway kids who live in garbage dumps in Honduras. I kept his picture in my locket."
She looked away then from his warm brown eyes. "He's been dead a long time."
That was as much explanation as she was prepared to give him, because Jesse had no equal or rival when it came to her heart. She now questioned if what she'd felt for Janssen had been a blinding infatuation instead of love.
Until Jesse appointed himself her caretaker and nurse, she hadn't understood that she had not been mourning Janssen's death. She had been mourning the loss of love in her life, not the love of her life.
Dani understood that Jesse didn't love her, that he was merely being kind or feeling remorse that she'd been injured, but that didn't matter. He had soothed her and helped her heal, and she hoped that kind of caring might have a chance to grow into something more because it was a kind of caring she had never experienced in her life. She'd fallen in love with him on the day she woke after her surgery when he started yelling at her for saving his life. He had made himself a constant presence in her life every moment since then.
She wasn't quite sure what to do about this discovery. Or what to think about the kisses she couldn't stop thinking about, including the ones he placed on her forehead every night.
A few moments later, she was immensely thankful to whomever knocked on his door.
#
#
#
Fiona took one look at what Dani was doing and dropped down, crossing her legs as she joined her sitting on the floor. "I've seen this technique of yours before."
She was taking in every detail of Dani's arrangement of documents and information. Michael had come home with the news of Oswald's and Barry's research. It was astounding. Residence addresses. More business names and locations. Oswald and Barry had found all manner of Fullerton/Buller's addresses, physical addresses and post office boxes, with locations in country and out. They might not have uncovered all his hiding places but they'd found enough to give them a good start on where to go to bring him in.
Michael knew their next moves had to be coordinated, and for that he wanted to talk to Dani and Jesse. The longer they could keep a distance between their interaction with the DEA and the possibility of dealing with drug cartels, the better.
He was convinced of it.
After he explained what he wanted to do, Dani agreed. "That's what I would do, too, Michael," she said. "We need a more complete picture, and if you think Sophia's hiding something because Anson's targeted them, that's what you should do. If you're meeting with them tonight, we'll make the rest of our plans tomorrow."
Michael hadn't sat down since they arrived. Without realizing what he was doing, he was slowly pacing, thinking as he walked.
Michael told them what he'd learned from his visit with Larry earlier in the day and his reaction when he laid out who intercepted Brennan's arms. "No honor among thieves," he summarized.
"Did you figure out why Larry made himself such an easy target at Maddie's place?"
"Yeah," he said, as Fiona watched a muscle work in his jaw. Never a good sign, but she was pleased to see the Larry-effect on her husband was something he'd diminished, controlled. "He wanted my attention. He thought killing my mom in a way I'd recognize would do it. He didn't count on mom's neighbor or the alarm you installed, Jess, and he didn't know what Anson was doing."
"He screwed up."
"Yeah. But I don't want to with this. You said it, Dani's said it differently, and Sam's indicated the same thing. What you all have uncovered it too big for us. But, we need to finish gathering intel before we can set anything in motion, and for that we need to talk to Sophia and her husband. Your office is the safest place I can think of, Jess. What do you say?"
"You know I'm in, Mike."
"Trying to be polite, Jess."
"Yeah. I noticed."
Dani leaned back, bracing her hands on the floor as she watched them. "I've been wondering about something. Do Sophia and her husband have children? If Fullerton's blackmailing them, that might explain some things. We already know he's not above threatening a child since that's why Nate's family is being protected."
Michael and Fiona looked at each other.
"I can see how that would make for controlled irrational behavior," Fiona said.
"Employment records are confidential, but can Raines find out? Is he still working? Or is his wife . . . ?" Michael asked.
"He said he'd let me know when he took leave," she said. She stood and walked over to the corner where Jesse's computer was still hooked up to his secure line and sent a message to Raines.
"How long will that take?"
"A few hours. Longer, maybe. He'll have to make some calls."
Michael and Fiona returned to their townhouse. Jesse helped Dani finish sorting through her small stacks of papers, and she gathered everything up into neat piles and labeled them.
"I'm tired," she said.
"Go rest. I'll wait and watch for Raines' response."
"That may not be until tomorrow."
"I'll wait."
She understood his delaying technique, and a small part of her was glad about that. She also needed to put some space between them. The temptation to put her arms around Jesse's shoulders and seek his kiss for the sake of his kiss was nearly overpowering. She fell asleep moments after as she lay down on his bed.
#
#
#
The room was dark, the bed was soft, and she dreamed Jesse was above her, nudging, speaking softly. "Dani, hey, Dani," he said. "Wake up, hon, come on."
With her body heavy and lethargic, her eyes closed to peaceful images that rolled through her sleep-intoxicated mind, she smiled and slid her hand up and around his neck to pull his head down to hers. When their lips met, she heard her own sigh of contentment, and felt him deepen the kiss as it turned into a sexy, luscious exchange, mouth to mouth, making a deliciously heated journey of discovery to new compelling sensations that made every part of her body react.
He rested on his arms above her as she turned and slid her leg along his until the proof of his desire halted her movement. He responded to their electrified connection by slowly pulling back from that kiss and raising his head. Her hand was on his arm and she felt it turn to steel as he raised up and took a deep and shuddering breath.
She realized the bedside lamp was on as she opened her eyes to find him studying her. "Oh." He had to feel her heart thumping in her chest since his was pressed against hers. Or maybe that was his heart beating. "I'm sorry, Jess-"
He shook his head. "Nothing to be sorry for. Go back to sleep." With that he got up and left the bed, then the room.
Dani lay still. She had been lost in a sensual dream that wasn't a dream. It was real. The next time she opened her eyes, Jesse was freshly showered, dressed and waiting for her to wake.
He'd been watching her sleep again. He'd spent most of his time in the hospital watching the same thing, only now he could see she was much healthier. No, there would be no more waking her. That wasn't a good idea. Not that it had been a bad idea. It had been a terrific idea until it backfired on him.
He planned to tell her about Raines' call, but he'd been distracted after his body took over for his mind. He had to leave. He knew he couldn't stay or sleep next to her now. He'd tell her what Raines had to say in the morning.
That would be the sane thing to do. He'd been patient. Waiting for her to heal, to regain her strength. This would happen between them; he'd stopped fighting himself about that weeks ago. But not until she was stronger. Now she needed to get up and get ready. They needed to meet Sam.
#
#
#
"It explains how he rebuilt everything so quickly," Sam said.
Fiona was watching Sam carefully. It was as if he didn't believe what he was telling them, as if it was too incredible to comprehend fully.
He'd already taken Oswald and Barry back to the guest apartment Jesse's company provided, and she had been watching Michael assessing, then reassessing as Sam related his new intel.
Last night, Oswald was insistent that he knew something but couldn't remember what he knew, so he'd stayed and worked. Sam had been watching, collecting odd bits of information as Oswald came across them, and Barry had sacked out on one of the couches in Jesse's office because Sam refused to take him home.
By the time morning came, Ozzie had his answers, and was exhausted.
Sam called Jesse and Mike and told them where to meet him after he'd taken Oswald and Barry back to the SecuriCorp apartment. They were sitting at an open air cafe near the area where Fi and Michael had met Oswald and Barry weeks earlier.
Jesse and Dani were waiting for him when he arrived, and Sam was thankful to be outside after spending more than 24 hours inside Jesse's office.
Their waiter returned with a tray laden with breakfast items, none of which held the least bit appetizing scent for Fiona. She took a sip of her coffee and set it aside while watching Jesse and Sam dig into their omelets. Michael and Dani ordered yogurts with fresh fruit and granola. Fi took a bite of her melon before setting it to the side as well. Jesse, ever precautious, laid something that looked like a phone on the table, then flipped a switch to provide audio scrambling whether they needed it or not.
Sam eyed the coffee Fi wasn't drinking. He'd already finished his first cup, so she pushed hers his direction with a smile. "You need this more than me."
He thanked her and continued where he'd left off before their meals arrived.
By now, Michael had noticed her uneaten melon, and she pushed it toward him as she purposefully watched Sam and didn't meet his gaze.
"It's incredible. His father's been using his identity. Maybe it's his own. We can't tell. Looks like they swap when it suits them. And the photos? Man, they look like the same person at a distance. So you got two of them, and that's the connection between the Mexican cartels and the father son duo. Dad Buller probably still has the street cred with the drug people. Son Buller, Anson, has all the people inside our federal agencies that he's running with mind games and blackmail, and since he likes to target only the most skilled operators, together they've got a clandestine arms business that could be comparable to anything a major organized crime operation has."
Jesse shook his head. "All previous information indicated he was dead. Hmm."
"Apparently not," Sam said. "He's in his 70s. Which means he must have been building that empire when Anson was a kid. Sorry, this name crap is getting confusing. That's a long time. You got to figure that somewhere between the Cold War ending and eight or nine years ago when they started targeting nonofficial cover agents like Mike . . . and hell, Raines' old partner, they collected arms everywhere someone had to get rid of them. You were on to something with Brennan and Larry, Mike, but that's just the top of a very deep pile, I think.
"If we locate arms, like what he had in Tampa and where Dani got shot, I bet we'll be able to link stuff from the IICD. Remember last year when they made that final report that essentially said, yeah, we decommissioned a lot of arms but we didn't really keep track of them? The hell they didn't. That was all political. Someone's got a list. I bet you'll also find stuff like what we were trying to take out of Libya when, ah, Fi and I bumped into each other, and everything since then." Sam finished his analysis with a grim expression.
"And Oswald found all of this," Michael said, shaking his head. "Less than 24 hours. What tripped his switch?"
Sam stretched back and smiled. "He'd seen him before."
"Yeah?"
"Remember when you and Fi brought him back from Puerto Rico? Just before that, he'd been thinking about buying a yacht, a used one. He only saw the guy for a minute or two, but it was Buller senior. How about that for dredging up a memory? Guy's a genius," Sam said.
"No argument there," Michael agreed.
Sam chuckled then. "While he was working on this, he and Barry spent the whole time complaining about some girl, and I was watching as he pulling this stuff up on his screen. Listen, the CIA needs to start hiring some hackers. Tell Raines, Dani."
She frowned. "I'm pretty sure he's figured that out. So, Anson's father is alive and they operate an arms business in tandem with yacht repair and charter fishing. You're right, Michael, I need to take this to Raines or you do. This has grown beyond the scope of what we can deal with."
Jesse touched her arm and she turned to look at him. "Do have a secure place you can send it this? You ought to get this in his hands as soon as possible."
Sam interrupted. "You need to send this right to the top. Copy Raines and send it to the director. But it diverts the DEA operation."
"Might not be a bad thing," Jesse suggested.
"Might be the perfect thing," Michael said, "but not yet and not that way. This information needs to be handled in person. And before we do that, we need to meet with Sophia. Jesse, can I use your office? Or continue to use your office? She knew we were being watched when we went to Chantilly. If she's still being watched . . ."
Fiona watched their interaction. Jesse's grin was nearly as predatory as Michael's.
She exchanged a glance with Dani. "What are you two planning?"
"We'll be having a conversation, that's all, Fi."
"Just talking," Jesse agreed.
"And watching," Michael said.
"Fine. Lie to me," she said. "I want to point out one thing here. Since I was the last person to have contact with Anson, I can tell you he's lost his sanity. He's crazy and dangerous. Be very careful."
"Aw," Sam drawled. "Isn't that sweet, Mikey? The missus is worried about you." Then he looked over at Fiona, his tone of voice serious. "Don't fuss. You know Mike and Jesse can take care of themselves in an office."
Fiona crossed her arms, and found an irritated expression for Sam. He'd told her once it has been one of the reasons he had an ex-wife who, for reasons he never cared to explain, he'd never turned into an official ex-wife. He'd been a SEAL when they married and when he'd been deployed, she had worried about him to the extent he often didn't want to return home. Eventually, he'd stopped returning home.
She did know Michael could take care of himself, but even though it was too early to tell, she was extremely aware that her body had started to change in small ways, a very strong indication Michael was about to become a father. She wasn't ready to share the news yet. She needed to be sure, and she also knew she needed Michael to stay focused and not distracted.
Jesse grinned at her. "Didn't tell a single lie. We'll stay safe, Fi. We're just talking."
#
#
#
Sophia Valdez arrived at 10 sharp, ready to plan an clandestine operation for the DEA with CIA assistance. She didn't think it was odd they were meeting at SecuriCorp, she told her husband. It had more to do with Westen than the CIA. "He does things his way, and if this is what he wants it's not a big deal. He and Porter are friends, strange as that seems to me."
Jesse Porter met her at the door to escort her to his office. Michael was waiting upstairs. She hadn't met Porter until today although she was aware of him, and had been debriefed on his working relationship with Westen.
Michael was in the office on the opposite side of the central atrium, across from Jesse's office, watching for Sophia's arrival with the security cameras that scanned the areas around the SecuriCorp building and parking area. He asked the operator to enlarge an image on one of the screens, then turned to another screen it to view it from the opposite direction.
There, that was exactly what he'd been looking for.
When Jesse showed him the room a week ago, he'd been impressed.
"Some call it paranoia, we call it security," Jesse explained. The building had many of the same secure features found in the DEA and CIA buildings in Washington area, and being able to see who was on the outside, around and above, was critical information to access.
Whatever listening devices, communicators or trackers Sophia had were neutralized the moment she stepped into Jesse's office area.
He joined Jesse and Sophia a few moments after she arrived.
"We good?" Jesse asked.
"We're good," Michael said.
"We need to talk, Sophia," Michael began, "about why you have two surveillance cars following you this morning. Your husband is waiting in the car, and we'd like to have him here, too, but we don't need to raise any red flags for you."
He complexion paled. "I really don't know what you're talking about," she said. "I thought we were going to discuss our operation in the Dominican Republic."
"We'll get there in a minute," Michael assured her.
"This may help," Jesse said. "We know you're wearing a tracker and a communicator and something else, probably under that necklace, you've got another listening device. All of them are being blocked, they were the minute you stepped into my office. This a private meeting, so whoever is listening in or giving you directions is offline until you leave the building."
She listened, evaluated and was debating what to do next when Michael asked a question that made tears spring to her beautiful eyes.
"Tell me about your children, Sophia," Michael said softly.
Her face, her body, her clenched hands formed an image of loss. "They have them. How can you possibly know this?"