Dirty (30 page)

“How did you learn about my brother’s involvement?”

Hank’s gaze slid to Dawson.
 
“Have a seat and we’ll talk.”

Dawson didn’t give in right away.
 
Even after Hank sat down he stood there ten maybe fifteen seconds before relenting.
 
I settled onto the edge of my desk, but remained poised to intervene if the need arose.
 
I had always seen my uncle and my father as heroes.
 
Everything about this case felt wrong.
 
I needed to hear something right.
 
I needed to be able to squash the dread mounting way too fast.
 
I didn’t like where it felt like this was going.

“Your father started getting pressured to find a way to throw out the case.”

“By whom?”
 
Dawson and I asked the question in chorus.
 
We exchanged a fleeting glance but neither of us wanted to miss any nuance of what my uncle would say next.

“The mayor.
 
The city council.
 
Anonymous notes.
 
Masters and Reagan were powerful men in this city.
 
They weren’t going to go down without a fuss.
 
It’s one thing to blame the drug and border problems on a Mexican cartel, but accusing men like Masters and Reagan was a whole other shooting match.”

I didn’t doubt that.
 
Texans were fiercely loyal to one another, even when they shouldn’t be.

“Rayburn had stayed undercover until the very end in hopes of nailing the dirty official facilitating these guys, but the day before jury selection was to end he broke protocol and called me with a warning.”

My heart rate picked up a few extra beats in anticipation.

“Rayburn risked his cover to warn me that a hit had been ordered.
 
On
you
, Jackie.”

My mouth fell open, but I was speechless.
 
Why would anyone order a hit on me?
 
I’d barely gotten the idea of my agency off the ground at that point.
 
Hadn’t made any enemies yet.

“If,” Hank went on, “that didn’t make your father do what they wanted Steven was supposed to be next.”

Ice slid through my veins.
 
I couldn’t breathe.
 
Couldn’t look at Dawson though I felt his gaze on me.

“My guess is,” Hank continued, “Rayburn was the one who was supposed to take you out.
 
As best I could figure Reagan and Masters were still doing business from their jail cells.
 
When Rayburn failed to do as ordered he probably signed his own death warrant.”

I pushed off my desk.
 
Struggled to keep some semblance of perspective.
 
“Are you saying he died because of me?”

Hank rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger, then sighed.
 
“In part.
 
I think he was supposed to make the hit on you when the charges against Masters and Reagan weren’t dropped by a certain time.
 
When the plan went to hell the suspects in custody and anyone else who could tell the tale were eliminated.
 
With Rayburn and the others out of the way, there was no one to blame.
 
Just a bunch of dead folks and a missing DEA agent who may or may not have gone over to the other side.”

“What about McElroy?” I tossed out.
 
“Was his death suicide like
The Chronicle
said or was he part of the clean-up too?”

“We found no evidence to rule out suicide.
 
But I can’t be completely certain.”

Denial fired through my blood.
 
“I don’t understand how this could have happened.
 
You were the lead investigator.
 
I saw the case file.”
 
I didn’t have to spell it out, he would know I meant the shoddy reports and the lack of follow-up work.
 
What the devil had he been covering up?
 
How the hell did someone get away with ordering all those executions?
 
With killing all those illegals—humans no matter their citizenship status?
 
Wasn’t anyone doing their job?

“Jackie,” Hank heaved a heavy breath “you have to believe I did what I could.
 
But, in those last few hours, your safety took precedence.”

I trembled with the emotions welling inside me...he was purposely leaving out pertinent information.
 
No matter how much I wanted to believe him, I could feel the weight of omission.
 
What did he have to hide?
 
“I was safe because I was with Warren Rayburn that night,” I told him in case he didn’t know.
 
“All night.”

Dawson abruptly rocketed to his feet and stormed out.
 
I barely suppressed the urge to go after him.
 
But he needed some space.
 
His brother was dead because of me.
 
Had sacrificed his life for me...for my son.
 
And I hadn’t even known his name.

“Damn you, Hank.”
 
I stared angrily at my uncle.
 
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?
 
Why aren’t you telling me everything now?”

Whatever he said in response didn’t register.
 
Too many other details came flooding into focus at once.
 
This
was why my father had changed.
 
The timing coincided with the divorce so I’d always associated the two.
 
Now I knew differently.
 
The scariest part of being a parent had come home to Jack Mercer.
 
He’d turned overprotective and secretive in hopes of keeping me safe.
 
Just like my mother always said.

No wonder he’d urged Hank to go into the PI business with me when he retired.
 
Another aspect of what my uncle had just said rushed over me like a stampede of spooked cattle.

“The two of you didn’t do anything to protect Rayburn.”
 
The statement hung in the air with an impending doom both he and I fully understood.
 
All thoughts of unexplained gaps in police work fell into insignificance.

The look on Hank’s face said it all.
 
No, they hadn’t.
 
He and my father had taken Rayburn’s warning and let him face the consequences alone.

“We did exactly as Rayburn instructed,” Hank countered though his voice held no real conviction.
 
“He didn’t want to blow his cover if he could help it.
 
If there was any chance he could stay put, he wanted to do that in hopes of finishing what he’d come here to do.”

I felt torn...unable to process this much emotion-shattering information at once.
 
“I don’t want to hear any more of your sidestepping, Hank.”

He stood, his emotions, like mine, barely contained.
 
“Jackie, you have to know we did all we could.
 
It was out of our control...way over our heads.”

Maybe they had.
 
This was all too fresh to consider objectively just now.

But one thing was certain.
 
Brooks had been involved and since he was one of only two known variables in all of this, he would be the focus of my investigation from this moment on.
 
Brooks and my uncle.
 
Possibly even Chief Cates.
 
He had to have known what his detective was working on.
 
Considering what I’d just learned about my own father and my uncle, I didn’t trust anyone.

“Is there any chance Cates was involved?” I demanded on the heels of that thought.
 
Hank visibly winced at the ferocity of my words.
 
I refused to regret it.

He shook his head.
 
“He was aware of my assignment, but not much else.
 
The task force leader kept him out of the loop.”

“How can you be so sure?”
 
What he said brought up another issue.
 
“Who was the task force leader?
 
McElroy?”

The pain in Hank’s eyes fixed on mine. “HPD wasn’t dirty,” he said soberly.
 
“And, yes, McElroy was the task force leader and he still got dead the same as all the rest.”
 
He held up both hands to waylay my response.
 
“Jackie, this is dangerous business.
 
Disposable left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth ten years ago.
 
No one wants it resurrected.
 
This border business is already way out of control.
 
Dredging up ugly history will only add to the political turmoil.
 
Your friend Dawson has stirred up a hornet’s nest.
 
Both of you need to back off and let me handle this.
 
Cates and I can work together and—”

“Like you did before?
 
Everyone is dead but you and Brooks,” I argued, knowing the words would hit their mark.

Defeat sagged Hank’s shoulders.
 
“Think what you will.
 
I did my job.
 
Anything else was to protect you.”

And here we stood...only slightly closer to the truth...and a huge yawning chasm of hurt cutting me off from the man who’d been like a second father to me.

“I at least want in on your investigation,” Hank said.
 
“I know more about the case than anyone else.
 
You need me.”

Maybe he did, but he sure as hell wasn’t sharing it.
 
Of all people, he knew how I hated deception.
 
“You’re right.
 
I do need you.
 
And I need Dawson,” I stated for the record.

His guard went up again but not before I saw the reluctance or something along those lines flare in his eyes.
 
“I don’t know about him,” he countered.
 
“He could have gotten you killed going about this the way he did.”

I thought of the snake and the cemetery incident and knew he might be right.
 
But that didn’t change what I had to do.
 
And just like that I suddenly knew what my next step had to be.

“We’ll do this my way,” I stated with no room for rebuttal.
 
“No deviations.”
 
With that clear I left him to stew on my terms while I walked directly out to my assistant’s desk.
 
“Which way did he go?”

Hobbs jerked his head toward the entrance from the building’s main lobby.
 
“He’s just standing there staring out at the street.”
 
He sighed dramatically.
 
“He must be suffering immense anguish because there isn’t anything on the street worth more than a minute’s attention.”

I took off my jacket and left it on the closest chair, a throwing off of some of my armor, so to speak.
 
Well, that and the camisole was sexy as hell, made me feel damn good about how I looked.
 
I hadn’t completely forgotten about the supermodel.
 
I never could ignore a challenge.
 
I took a deep breath and walked out the door to join Dawson in the otherwise empty lobby.

He didn’t look at me as I approached.
 
Not that I blamed him.
 
Saying I’m sorry wasn’t nearly good enough.
 
I wasn’t sure there was anything I could say that would make a difference, but I had to say something.

“Your brother saved my life.”

Dawson looked at me then, the weight of a decade’s worth of pain etched on that handsome face.
 
“Yeah. I guess he did.”

From day one I’d felt a connection to Dawson.
 
Not in a gazillion years would I have ever guessed...this.
 
Fate had one hell of a sense of humor.

Dawson rounded on me then, fury beating back the hurt I’d seen only seconds before.
 
“I’m gonna get Brooks.
 
I know it’s him.”
 
He jerked his head toward the office.
 
“And your uncle knows more than he’s telling.”

He was right about Brooks and probably my uncle too, but we had to go about this rationally.
 
“We can’t be sure of anything yet.
 
We have to be very, very careful or we’ll screw this up.
 
We don’t have that many options.”

Dawson pointed that rapidly building fury at me.
 
“Fuck that.
 
I want Brooks.
 
I’ll beat the truth out of him.”

“And what will that accomplish?
 
You can’t use coerced testimony in court.”

“It won’t matter, because he’ll be dead.”

Okay, that was scary.
 
“And you’ll go to prison and then we’ll never know for sure who was really behind the order for your brother’s execution.”

That declaration appeared to give him pause.
 
At least I was making some headway.

“We have to do this the right way,” I urged.
 
For the first time since I’d received that photo I felt we had a real chance at solving this enigma that nobody wanted to talk about.
 
I was hyped for the job.
 
I wanted to get this done.

Dawson squeezed his eyes shut and allowed what was no doubt another tide of fierce rage to pass.
 
“How?” he demanded when his gaze locked with mine once more.

I smiled, my confidence soaring as a plan took shape in my mind.
 
“Trust me, Dawson.
 
I’ve never failed to get what I wanted from a man when I set my mind to it.
 
And Brooks,” I added tartly, “is a man.”