he started dating her, he put Lori in charge of his account. She saw all the dirty blood money coming in and ran to the FBI. He went to a lot of trouble to try to kill her. Silence her. But she survived, just barely. Turned state’s evidence and testified.”
A ringing started in her ears. She put her fingers to her temples.
Seven days. She’d only known Dutch seven days and as it turned out she didn’t know him at all. The concrete number gave her something to focus on. A meter by which to gauge what he was saying. No reason to believe him. No reason to believe her own judgment that screamed what he’d said might be true. “Then why isn’t my uncle in jail?”
“He’s clever, insulated himself with layers of protection. The Justice Department couldn’t go after him directly, so they went after the capital-investment company and shut down the major money-laundering arm of Los Chacales.”
“I would’ve heard about it in the news, Lori testifying in such a big case.”
“The DOJ tried to protect Lori’s identity by keeping her name out of the press and had a closed-door trial. But in your uncle’s attempt to kill Lori, the US Marshals building in San Diego was attacked. That was on the news.”
It had been all over the television and in the paper for days. The USMS building under siege.
That had been Uncle Emilio?
“Your uncle came into possession of sensitive information that was stolen from the US Marshals Service. He has the personal data of every individual in WITSEC here in California, as well as that of our marshals and their dependents. Your uncle is planning to auction the hard drive with information this weekend to the highest criminal bidder.”
Putting her hand to her mouth to muffle a gasp, Isabel turned away from him. The ringing in her head wouldn’t stop. Like something was there, some horrible realization, only it was too terrible, and she couldn’t wrap her head around it.
To do so would bring her whole world crashing down.
“I have to retrieve the hard drive before the auction,” Dutch said. “It can’t be sold.”
The auction. The bizarre, short-notice auction.
An exceptional item of great value. One-of-a kind. They’ll clear their schedules.
And she was organizing it.
Isabel was so furious she was sickened to her stomach. She was angry at Dutch. At her uncle. At every single person on the planet. But still she couldn’t accept this because then everything in her life would be a fabrication of one shade or another.
“I can’t believe I introduced you to him!” she said, storming around the living room. McQueen got up at Isabel’s raised voice as if waiting for instructions. “Put myself on the line. For what? So you could create these lies? Drive a wedge between us? Why are you doing this?”
“When I met him at the club, there was an assassination attempt on him.”
Isabel swiveled around, faced him, her arms falling to her sides, the breath knocked from her lungs.
“He’s in a turf war with the Guzman cartel.” Dutch stood and stepped closer to her.
McQueen moved between them, the dog’s back to Isabel, his eyes locked on Dutch.
“But I saved his life,” he said. “On pure instinct. Then he confided in me. Asked me to be your bodyguard because he’s worried that you’ll be in danger and he’s right. The queen of spades, the ace of spades, those were from the Guzman cartel. It was a message for your uncle. They’re going to try to kill you to hurt him. They sent him a similar message before the attack in the club.”
Isabel reeled, her thoughts a jumbled mess. How could she have been so easily duped by every person in her life?
Was Brenda the only one she could trust?
Isabel staggered away to the window that overlooked the building’s parking lot. Half a mile in the distance was the ocean. Black and murky and endless. It mirrored the tumult of emotion raging inside her.
“Think about what I’m saying, Isabel. His lifestyle. The armed bodyguards.” Dutch sighed, coming up slowly beside her. “The reason you were sent to boarding school was to create distance, to blind you from the truth.”
She didn’t want to acknowledge the legitimacy of his claims. She closed her eyes and pressed harder against her temples.
Dutch is a US marshal undercover.
“You lied to me!” The surge of pain eviscerated her. The stab of betrayal sliced deeper, past bone, down to marrow, hitting her soul. “Manipulated me.”