“I’m afraid that’s over my head,” Frazier said. “Computers are my expertise, not people.”
Jessie looked up to see Maddox standing a few feet away, his hair still wet from the shower, damp patches on the dark blue Henley stretched over his massive chest.
“Seems like rotten people have a way of sniffing each other out,” Hawk said. “Like they give off the same foul odor.”
Frazier made a sound of agreement. “What should I do about Horton?”
“Do you trust De La Garza?” Bran asked. Frazier’s direct superior and the head of the civilian side of the plant.
“I believe so. But then I trusted Andy.”
“Go see De La Garza. I’ll call William Larkin and Special Agent Tripp at the CID. Enough people know, there’s no way to cover it up.”
“All right, then. That’s what I’ll do.” Frazier hung up the phone.
“Sort of like we’re going public,” Jessie said to the men standing around the dining table.
The calls set everything in motion. With De La Garza involved and the CID searching for Andrew Horton, things were moving even faster than before.
It was the end of the day when Special Agent Tripp phoned Jessie back. She put the call on speaker.
“Good news,” Tripp said. “Frazier gave us some intel that helped us go deeper into the bank in Cayman. Two more accounts showed up. One in the name of Andrew Horton and one in the name of Samuel Holloway.”
“No way!” Bran said. “Those idiots put money in the same bank they used to set up Colonel Kegan?”
“Arrogance knows no bounds,” Tripp said. “Horton opened all the accounts the same day. Neither he nor Holloway ever thought they’d be suspects. If it hadn’t been for Jessie, they never would have been.”
“So the accounts contained millions of dollars?” Jessie asked.
“That’s right. Whatever was left after paying whoever was involved. Holloway has been arrested. We haven’t found Andrew Horton, but it’s just a matter of time.”
“What about the rest of the missing chemical weapons?” Jessie asked.
“We’ll be pressing for answers. From what we can tell, the second batch of weapons was a little side deal that Horton was involved in, but Holloway knew nothing about.”
Jessie felt a rush of anger for her dad.
“We pick up Horton,” Tripp continued, “we’ll find out who bought the weapons. Once we know that, we can figure out where they are.”
By the time the call came to a close, Jessie’s excitement had faded and fatigue had taken its place. Too many long days and sleepless nights. Too much heartache.
“Tripp and Larkin are working the case,” she said wearily. “It feels like our part in it is over and it’s time for us to go home.” She didn’t look at Brandon. Bran didn’t look at her.
“No reason to stay in Colorado Springs,” he said. “Let’s pack up and get out of here.”
Jessie didn’t argue. The urge to go home was stronger than ever.
She wondered if her apartment would actually feel like home when Brandon wasn’t there.
THIRTY-SEVEN
Hawk turned in the rented Jeep at the Colorado Springs Airport and caught a direct flight back to Dallas. Bran loaded his and Jessie’s bags into her Honda, and they headed for Denver.
All morning Bran had listened to Jessie trying to convince him to leave with Maddox, but that was not going to happen. No matter the torture he felt being near her, he owed it to her brother to make sure she was safe.
He figured Weaver and Holloway were too busy trying to save their asses to still be much of a threat. But Detective Porter had called to confirm Ray Cummings’s fingerprints were found on the Valentine’s card, on the windowsill, and other places in Jessie’s apartment. The guy wasn’t even trying to hide the fact he was stalking her. Unfortunately, Cummings was in the wind.
Until he was back in jail, no way was Bran leaving Jessie alone.
They arrived at her apartment late in the day, and he spent the night on her couch. A miserable night thinking of Jessie in bed in the other room. He was used to having her curled up against him, used to her reaching out to him in the night, used to reaching for her. The sex was always incredible between them. He didn’t think Jessie would argue with that.
Funny how it had ended, with him wanting more and Jessie just wanting to be free of him. He ignored the ache in his chest.