Hurricane Force (A Miss Fortune Mystery Book 7) (29 page)
Read Hurricane Force (A Miss Fortune Mystery Book 7) Online
Authors: Jana DeLeon
“Jesus. Poor Landon. Poor Belinda. She dedicated her life to protecting her son and then a scumbag like Max takes advantage of him.”
“Yeah. She was angry and sad about the whole thing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that broken—a civilian, anyway.”
“How did it come together?”
“A shutter came loose and she went out to secure it. She saw Max go down the street toward Celia’s house.”
I frowned. “I wonder what he was doing there?”
“I guess we’ll never know. Anyway, Belinda said she knew Celia was at the church, so she got her shotgun and followed him.”
“Where was Landon?”
“At the kitchen table watching movies on his iPad. He never knew she was gone. She followed Max into Celia’s house and confronted him in the kitchen. He tried to deny it at first, but finally admitted it was the truth and that he wasn’t leaving Sinful without getting what he came for.”
I shook my head. “So an angry mama bear was holding a shotgun on him and Max thought that was the way to handle it? What a moron.”
“She said she thought he was holding a pistol. She thought he lifted it and that’s why she fired.”
“Do you believe her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. At this point, she’d say anything.”
“Of course. She’s worried about what will happen to Landon if she’s convicted. Did you talk to the DA?”
“Yeah. He has a brother with autism and was particularly disturbed with the callousness Max displayed. Charges won’t be filed against Belinda as long as she testifies about the counterfeiting. And since she’s the only person capable of getting the story out of Landon, they need her with him to build their case against Jamison’s organization.”
“What will happen in the meantime?”
“They will be put in protective custody until the trial. I think that’s what relieved Belinda the most. She and Landon would be easy targets for a man with Jamison’s connections.”
I nodded. “I’m glad they’ll be safe.”
“Me too. You know, I’m still amazed how you put it all together. There was so little to go on.”
“I’m not sure how I did either. It was a few small things and a general feeling that something was off, you know? I just couldn’t figure out why, but then it all clicked. Landon’s reaction to Max at the General Store and refusal to draw anymore, Landon’s insistence on the sidewalk that day that he didn’t like the fake coin, Max’s return to Sinful, and the group home that was supposed to have closed down was still up and running. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but somehow it made sense.”
Carter nodded. “I think instinct is the most overlooked asset of good investigative work. If we paid more attention to those feelings, things wouldn’t be as hard to figure out.”
I had a feeling that his comment referred to far more than my uncovering of Belinda as Max’s killer. I was certain Carter had felt something was off with me, probably from the moment he first met me. And now he was kicking himself for letting his attraction to me override what his gut was telling him. It was a hard pill for anyone to swallow, but especially hard for someone whose job description included reading people.
“Probably so,” I said. “But if we didn’t get sidetracked by other things, then we would be robots, right?”
“I suppose that’s true enough.” He stared at the ground for several seconds, then finally looked back up at me. “Have you talked to Harrison yet about your situation?”
I nodded. “He called this morning after he’d had a chance to go over everything with Director Morrow.”
“And?”
“And they both feel I’m safer now than before. That given the FBI investigation into Jamison and the loss of his men on-site, Ahmad would be foolish to maintain a presence here. Ahmad doesn’t do foolish.”
“So you’re staying?”
“They told me it was my choice, and I chose to stay.”
Carter frowned and nodded. I’m not sure what reaction I’d hoped to get from him, but I couldn’t help feeling hurt at his lack of interest.
“Harrison told me how you blew your cover,” he said quietly. “Why Ahmad put the price on you.”
I felt a blush run up my face. “I shouldn’t have done it. All those years of work and I not only blew our setup but got myself put on the top of a hit list. It was stupid.”
“It was human.”
I sniffed. “Maybe.”
“He also told me that you’re generally thought of as one of the best agents the CIA has ever had.”
“Ha.” I looked down at the ground. “No, that honor goes to my father.”
“Who Harrison said was a fine agent and also a Grade A asshole.”
I felt a lump form in my throat and I looked back up at Carter. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I think you’re really hard on yourself. Don’t get me wrong, in your job you have to be. Perfection is the goal, and the closer you come to it, the better your chance of making it to the next mission. But you can push yourself so hard that you forget who you are or why you’re doing the job to begin with.”
“I have always known why I do the job.”
“To prove to your father that you are good enough?”
I frowned. This was something I’d been doing a lot of thinking about in the past couple days, and the takedown in New Orleans had clarified a couple of things that I wasn’t certain about.
“That’s definitely where it started,” I said.
“And now?”
“Now I do it because I love it. I’m not made for a regular life. Maybe it’s because of my father. Maybe it’s because I’ve been doing it for so long. But none of that matters now. The bottom line is that’s who I am. I need the work, the thrill, the excitement, the challenge.”
Carter nodded, and I could see the disappointment in his expression.
“I understand,” he said. “But it’s not something I want in my life. I came back here for a simple life…”
“And all I offer is complication.”
“I’m sorry, Fortune, but whatever we had can’t continue. The two of us want completely different things. When I left Iraq there were things I never wanted to be part of again. Your job…” He sighed. “I can’t sit home wondering if you’re all right when you’re gone. That’s not the way I want to live.”
I felt the tears well up in my eyes. I understood exactly what he was saying, and I didn’t blame him one bit. But it didn’t hurt any less.
He rose from the chair, leaned over, and kissed me on the cheek.
“Good-bye,” he said.
I felt the tears run down my cheeks as he walked away.
Maybe I’d made the wrong decision. Maybe I should have left Sinful and started over somewhere without the baggage. Without the heartache.
I wiped the tears with the back of my hand. Carter was only one part of my life in Sinful. All the others were worth staying for. I just had to keep reminding myself of that.
My cell phone buzzed and I looked down at the display and smiled.
Crisis at the café. Celia’s struck again.
What’s in the cards for Fortune? Find out more in FORTUNE HUNTER, coming 2016.
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About the Author
Jana DeLeon grew up among the bayous and gators of southwest Louisiana and writes about them now. She’s never stumbled across a mystery like one of her heroines but is still hopeful. She lives in Dallas, Texas with a menagerie of animals and not a single ghost.
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