Erica nodded. Kate searched her; then motioned for her to sit down at the dining-room table. Steven searched the house first for weapons or anything dangerous, and when it was cleared, he stood behind Kate, who sat across from Erica.
“Start from the beginning,” Kate said after reading Erica her rights.
“Where?”
“How about how you met Elise Hunt, when you started working for her, and why you quit your job. Then end with what you know about the prison break and who was involved other than Tim Sheffield.”
With tears streaming down her face, Erica Anderson told Kate everything.
Chapter Forty-one
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
It took hours to process the house that Elise Hunt had been living in. Two dead bodies, one critically injured, the room where Brad had been tortured, and of course both Nate and Aggie had to give statements to SAPD, the DEA, and the FBI. Brad had given a preliminary statement, but he was in serious condition and his statement was cut short.
Fortunately, his statement would clear Nate on the drug charges. A more detailed investigation would have to take place, but Brad had overhead enough at the house to believe that Pablo, Clara, and Mitts Vasquez had stolen the drugs, and Pablo and Donny and planted them in Nate’s truck.
But that didn’t clear Nate from violating his suspension.
He was summoned to FBI headquarters late Saturday evening and wasn’t surprised to see ASAC Abigail Durant along with his boss, SSA Rachel Vaughn, sitting in Durant’s office.
“Close the door, Agent Dunning,” Durant said.
He did.
“You can sit.”
“I’d like to stand.” He always felt more comfortable standing at attention when giving an official statement. He didn’t quite know why, but it felt more authentic to him, and he felt far more comfortable—even though he was no longer in the military.
“Nate—” Rachel began.
“He can stand,” Durant said. “I read your statement. What did you not say?”
“I don’t understand the question. I gave all information pertaining to how DEA Agent Jensen and I located the house and Brad Donnelly.”
“Yes—I see that. You and Agent Jensen are clearly on the same page. Agent Jensen did the groundwork in identifying where the drugs came from, Agent Jensen located the house based on her sources and access to the DEA database, and Agent Jensen asked you to back her up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Even though you were suspended.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Why didn’t you call in a team earlier? You had clear and convincing evidence that Donny Valeria, who you identified as the shooter in the Mitts Vasquez homicide, was at that house. You should have called in SWAT and had them handle it.”
“We did call in SAPD as soon as we had eyes on Donny Valeria and they were putting together a team, but Agent Jensen and I felt that there was a more than a fifty percent chance that SSA Donnelly was on the property, and we wanted to keep an eye on the situation until SAPD SWAT could take over. As I stated in my report, I heard a scream from the property and I feared that someone was in immediate danger. I ordered Agent Jensen to call it in and I went to assess the danger.”
“Without backup.”
“A life was at risk.”
“You didn’t know that.”
“You didn’t hear the screams,” Nate said. He cleared his throat. “I apologize.” He’d overstepped, something he didn’t do. He was too well-trained to give more information than was asked, but Donnelly’s pain had been so clear Nate could have done nothing but what he had done.
Durant didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she wrote in his file, closed it, and looked back at him. “I’m suspending you for two weeks without pay,” she said. “I know you won’t care, nor will you care that this incident of disobeying orders will be on your permanent record. The next time, Agent Dunning, you will be up in front of the Office of Professional Responsibility.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am.”
“But this is only one part of this meeting. You were ordered to stay away from Agent Kincaid and the investigation into her husband.”
“Ma’am, I was ordered not to investigate, I was not ordered to avoid Agent Kincaid.”
“Are you telling me that this pursuit that you and Agent Jensen were on had nothing to do with Sean Rogan?”
“We were investigating the source of the drugs that were planted in my truck. Because of the timing, as I stated in my report, Agent Jensen and I believed that the drugs were connected in some way to