much of the time making preparations, making sure their cars were parked out of sight, checking their equipment. While Jessie retrieved a small bag Bran had assembled and set it down on the kitchen table, she could hear him moving around in Mara’s garage. She wondered what he was doing out there, but she had too much on her mind to worry about it.
At one point in the afternoon, she went back to check on Mara, found her sitting in a chair staring into the tiny patio outside the bedroom window. Jessie stopped in the doorway, angry, but curious to know more about the woman.
“You and my father,” she began, “You really must have had him fooled.”
Mara’s dark, troubled eyes swung in her direction. “That’s not how it was. Falling in love with James wasn’t something I planned. It was an accident.”
“An accident,” Jessie scoffed.
“That’s right. At first I was just repaying a debt. But in order to win your father’s trust, I needed to get to know him. I needed for him to know me.” Tears welled in her eyes and she glanced away.
“Then something happened,” she said. “The more time I spent with James, the more I came to respect him, the more I admired him, and little by little I fell in love with him. The best day of my life was when James asked me to marry him.”
Jessie’s chest felt tight. “Even though he proposed, it wasn’t really you he was asking, was it? It was the woman you were pretending to be.”
Mara wearily shook her head. “I left that other woman behind many years ago. I thought once my debt was paid, I would be free. Instead, I lost the only man who ever mattered to me.”
Jessie studied Mara’s haunted features. It was impossible not to be moved. “My father never mentioned you to me. Why should I believe you?”
“At this point, I don’t suppose it matters, but I’ll tell you this. James and I were planning a trip to Denver. Your father wanted you to meet me. He wanted us to spend some time together before he told you our plans.”
Something shifted inside her, a distant memory of a visit her father had mentioned. She didn’t want to believe Mara was telling the truth. But she did.
“My father wasn’t a fool,” she said. “If he loved you, he must have been seen the person you are inside. I’m sorry for the way this turned out. I’m sorry for both of you.”
Turning away, she walked back out into the hall. After her mother’s death, her father had been desperately lonely. Perhaps in his final days, he had found some comfort in the arms of the beautiful woman who so clearly loved him.
She swallowed past the painful tightness in her throat and continued toward the kitchen. When her cell phone rang, the screen showed General Holloway’s contact information.
She held the phone to her ear. “This is Jessie.”
“I got a call this morning from Agent Tripp at the CID,” he said. “Wayne Coffman is dead. Found murdered in his cell this morning. I’m sorry this didn’t work out the way you hoped, but I figured you’d want to know.”
Her hand trembled. The only person who could help them get to the man who had orchestrated her father’s death was dead. Without Tank, there was no way to pressure Edgar Weaver, which meant no way to catch the men who had murdered James Kegan. Her throat ached. “Thank you for calling, General.”
Holloway hung up and Jessie sank down in one of the kitchen chairs.
“What is it?” Bran asked as he came in from the garage.
“Tank’s dead. Found murdered in his cell this morning.” Her eyes filled. “All that work and it’s a complete dead end.”
Bran caught her shoulders and drew her up out of the chair. He kissed her quick and hard. “We’ll figure it out. Find another way to get the proof we need. Right now we’ve got to focus on what we need to do right here.” He gently shook her. “You gonna be okay?”
She looked up at him and dragged in a shaky breath. “I’m okay.”
The men went back to work, getting ready for the confrontation, then arming themselves with multiple weapons. At 7:45 p.m., Bran and Jessie disappeared into the bedroom while Hunt took up a position outside to be sure no uninvited guests tagged along.
The plan was for Mara to invite Ahmed into the condo, the unknown factor being whether she would keep