would assume so.” Mendez sat across from her and clasped his hands on the table.
“Porter and Winters aren’t listed, but I guess that makes sense since they weren’t Volkov spies and were instead taking money from the Russian government.” She flipped through another page, searching for familiar names. No one she knew personally, which was a relief. And she noticed that many names on the list had been killed shortly after her parents died at the hands of the Russians.
“The SVR only began recruiting Americans shortly before”—he cleared his throat, a fist to his mouth—“your parents were murdered.”
Since the Russians never decoded the ledger, they didn’t know who or how many Volkov spies to eliminate fifteen years ago, which left a lot of people for the Bureau to go after.
“There’s one more page I thought you might want to keep.” He opened another folder, then slid a sheet her way.
Her breath hitched at the sight of a drawing of her. Hair around her face. Palm to chin. Eyes downward. I’ll always watch out for you, my red angel. Love, Dad, was written in cursive beneath. “Thank you,” she said looking up at him, liquid coating her eyes as she tried to hold back her tears.
“Of course.” He pulled his hands into his lap. “When the case is closed, I’ll get you the other drawings unrelated to the case.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Mendez unbuttoned his suit jacket before settling his hands on the chair arms. “I’m sorry I never told you what really happened to your parents that night.”
She promptly lifted her eyes to his dark ones, curious as to where he was going with this.
“I was assigned to the task force, along with Winters, back in New York. I personally met with your parents. Your father never told our team about the forger. He just said that he was in possession of the Daylight Ledger, and it would assist in taking down a lot of corrupt people in the U.S. government, from the top and on down. He wanted safety and protection for his family. Immunity. A chance to start over somewhere in the country.” From what she’d seen, Mendez was a buttoned-up guy when it came to emotions, so sharing his words probably wasn’t so easy for him. “He wanted to give you a stable home life. Plant roots. He said you’d always wanted that.”
She closed her eyes and drew the back of her hand over her mouth to hide the wobble in her lip. The tears just might fall if he continued.
“When your parents were killed, there was a thorough investigation to determine if there’d been a leak from my task force. We were all cleared, but evidently, not well.”
She forced her gaze to return to the director and did her best to remain steady. To not let the overwhelming emotions rope her in.
“There were concerns for your safety after your parents died. The Bureau and Central Intelligence Committee decided it’d be best to keep the truth about your parents’ motives hidden to prevent retaliation against you.” Mendez’s eyes grew soft, a look of remorse mixed with compassion on his face, letting Ana know, in his own way, that he was sorry. An apology for allowing her to believe for fifteen years her parents had died because of greed. “We’re still trying to determine exactly what Winters and Porter had planned this time around, aside from a payday in the Maldives, but . . . well, if Porter doesn’t make it, hopefully the team will get to Winters and force him to talk.”
The team. A.J. and his people. “They’ll come through.” They’d never let Winters slip through the cracks. No way. “Will you keep their secret?” she asked, worried about A.J. and his team. Their truth was a fragile thing. In the wrong hands, it would be dangerous. Deadly.
“I’m still not sure how I feel about what they do, but I also don’t think this case would have ended quite the way it did, had they not intervened.” His answer was honest, at least. She could use a little honesty after so much betrayal. “But I’ll support the team to the best of my abilities,” he said as his phone began ringing. “It’s Jessica Scott.”
She sat taller at the news, and he surprised her by placing the call on speaker.
“Director Mendez, I’m calling to confirm our people have Winters in custody.”
Ana’s hand struck her chest with quick intensity, and she bowed her head.