did this?”
“The police said kids.”
“And why don’t you believe them?”
“Because, Jason, they cut up my cat. They gutted him and left him on the couch. It was horrible. And then the next day, someone slashed one of my tires at the paper.
“But you don’t know specifically who.”
“We have problems with street gangs in Portland like every big city in the U.S. I think some of the City staff are somehow connected. There are some city-sponsored women’s shelters created by the Mayor and his task force. But they may not be so innocent as far as how they handle teen runaways and battered women. They have a lot of young immigrant girls. And my research has led me to believe there are organized crime figures involved. They might have compromised certain city officials, too. My editor says the Mayor has asked that I stop publishing the stories, that it sheds a negative light on their good works. He also said it might be dangerous—to me.”
“He actually said that?”
“He told my editor he got an anonymous call. It was a warning.”
“That’s an understatement. You have police involved, right?”
“Only for the burglary. They filed it primarily as an animal cruelty case since nothing was taken. That’s all. I didn’t offer anything about the investigation I was doing. I guess they didn’t put it together, so not really. Not yet at least.”
“Kiley, this is absurd. You can’t take this on all by yourself.”
“I’ve got the backing of the paper on this. The power of the press and public opinion will definitely be on my side after I’m finished. I just want to lay out the evidence so the public sees everything. If I go to the officials, they’ll find some way to bury it. I know they will. But if I get the public on their cases, we have a much better shot at exposing them and hopefully getting them rooted out.”
“This is your plan?”
“Well yes, that’s my plan.”
“Fuck.”
“Hey, that’s not nice.”
“Somebody’s gotta tell you the truth. How the heck did you get involved in this story?”
She sucked in air, proud that she’d been trusted with this very important assignment. “My editor gave it to me for a series on runaway girls in the Portland area, except that the more I looked into things, the wider my search became. The story started out about a young illegal immigrant disappearing. But now we’re looking at ten missing girls. Only four of them have been found. I’ve got to wrap this up, finish my story, and then lie low for a while.”
“You think? Like forever.”
“I hope not.”
“So that’s what you do. You’re an investigative journalist?”
“Yes.”
“And you thought, when I met you at the beach, what? I was one of the bad guys, like a hit man?”
She avoided his stare.
“Look at me, Kiley. Is that what you thought? I mean you were that scared?”
“Well, yes. Jason, I’m probably blowing it out of proportion. But my mind just isn’t letting me relax, so I’ve been seeing bad guys everywhere. I finally had to leave Portland and go somewhere I felt safe.”
He shook his head.
“Unbelievable,” he mumbled. “You’re wrong, Kiley. There are no safe places. I’ve seen firsthand what these cabals do. I’ve seen what lengths they’ll go to keep anyone from interrupting their operation. You do not want to be messing with them. Trust me on that.”
Kiley sat back. A whole new set of questions started flashing in her mind.
She began slowly, needing to unpack her concerns, one question at a time. It was rather backwards, she realized. Here she’d slept with the man, and now she wanted to know who he was. Her Aunt Itoldyouso was having a temper tantrum inside her brain.
Kiley, what have you done?
“I know you’re not a Rugby player. What exactly is it you do, then?”
“I’m a Navy SEAL.”
Chapter 7
By early afternoon, and they’d basically stayed in bed nearly the whole time, even while she was peppering him with questions about his SEAL training. He was careful to reveal just enough to satisfy her and not lead to more questions. Jason knew he was overdue with the check-in and Andy’s house would be wondering where he was. They didn’t realize he was a mere six or seven houses down from them.
His concern for Kiley’s safety bothered him so much that he needed to make a call to his LPO, Kyle Lansdowne, but out of earshot of Kiley. Although it frustrated Team guys from time to time, they all knew they were prohibited from