Any Way You Want Me - By Jamie Sobrato Page 0,57
his former colleagues at the FBI think she was guilty of hacking? Likely because they were under pressure to produce some suspects in a world where the smart criminals were incredibly hard to catch. It was so easy to go incognito on the Internet, ten criminals got away for every one the FBI’s cyber crime unit caught.
Alex had learned to accept that frustration as part of the job, but not everyone could.
And then there was Ty Connelly. Alex’s subconscious kept circling back to him, wondering how he fit into the case. Ty had headed up the witch hunt against Yasmine. There was something about the whole situation that Alex was missing, some piece of the puzzle he couldn’t find.
He had to talk to Ty. He couldn’t put his finger on any one reason, but if nothing else, he’d turn over his notes on Yasmine’s case to the agent and let him see for himself how wrong he’d been about her. He picked up the phone and dialed the number to the FBI office that he still knew by heart, and a few minutes later he had an afternoon meeting set up at a restaurant that was midway between their two locations.
He drove to the meeting filled with a dull ache, both relieved and unnerved that he’d gotten nowhere with the case. When he reached the North Beach restaurant, he found Ty already waiting for him inside. They shook hands, exchanged greetings, then sat across from each other.
“I ordered you a cup of coffee. Hope that’s okay,” Ty said, nodding at the full cup on the table.
“Thanks, man.”
“So what’s been going on with you?”
Alex probably should have finessed the situation, engaged in a little small talk before going straight to business, but instead, he pushed the file on Yasmine across the table to Ty. “This is what’s been going on with me.”
Alex sipped the black coffee and then set the cup down as Ty scanned the notes.
Around them, the noise from the late lunch crowd in the restaurant created a comfortable din that ensured no one else was likely to hear their conversation, and the scents of coffee and unidentifiable foods filled the air. Instead of staring at Ty, who looked a little heavier than the last time he’d seen him, and a little more unkempt, Alex took note of the other customers in the restaurant. They were almost uniformly well-dressed, upwardly mobile pretty people.
“I thought you’d given this up, man,” Ty finally said when he finished reading.
Alex shrugged. “I gave up the job, but that doesn’t mean all my business was finished. I had this one loose end to tie up, and now I’m done.”
“That’s not the way it works, and you know it.”
“There’s an exception to every rule. I know this case better than anyone, and simply handing over my files incomplete would have been irresponsible.”
Ty flipped back to the photo of Yasmine on the first page and eyed it appreciatively, then shot Alex a look. “Is that really why you kept pursuing this case?”
“My reasons don’t matter. What matters is, I figured out Yasmine Talbot has had no recent contact with The Underground. I think it’s possible someone’s trying to frame her—could be someone within the FBI.”
He watched Ty’s reaction, looking for something—anything.
“Damn. That’s a serious accusation. Where’s your proof?” Ty said, appropriately skeptical.
“That’s the thing. There isn’t any solid proof, and I don’t know what anyone’s motive would be. It’s just a hunch, and I thought if I was going to take anything as shaky as a hunch to someone, it should be you.”
“Thanks for bringing this to me. I’ll look into it.” He tucked the papers into his briefcase. “How’s civilian life treating you?”
“It’s not bad. I don’t miss being an agent like I thought I would.”
And, he realized for the first time that it was true. He hadn’t missed a minute of the bureaucracy, the endless paperwork, the constant battle for staffing and funding.
“You got the right idea, man. The private sector is where it’s at. Let me know if you’re ever looking for a business partner.”
“You? Leave the Bureau?”
Ty sipped his coffee, then sighed. “What can I say? I’m getting tired of all the crap. You can’t serve twenty years without feeling a little burned out.”
“I hear you.”
“So you and this Yasmine chick—you finally hook up? Is that how you got your information?”
There was the question Alex had hoped like hell to avoid.
“I’m not going to lie. We were involved for a short while.”
“Now