Cassie (The Mitchell/Healy Family #7)(24)
Special Agent Campbell was in charge of the investigation, and had been for quite some time. According to him they’d surveyed Rocky, also known as Rockefeller James, for around two years, gathering enough intel to be able to shut down his operation. Without someone on the inside, they’d been unable to establish timelines, mostly because Rocky kept everything to himself until the last minute. I knew how crucial I was for this case. However, he was giving me no choice. If I didn’t abide by his terms I could go to jail.
After agreeing to be his in, he brought in more files and surveillance photographs, stating it was only a part of the information they’d collected.
We’d been in there for several hours before I started to worry about Brant coming to work to look for me. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost seven, why?”
“My boyfriend picks me up from work. I get off at seven. If I’m not there he’s going to require an explanation. Unless you want me to tell him I was detained by the FBI, you better get me back.”
He stood up from the table and left the room, only to come back with my purse. “Call him. Tell him you’re covering for a friend until she can get there. Tell him she’s having car troubles.” Since he was adamant, I did what he said immediately without argument.
Brant answered on the first ring. “Hey, baby. Did you get off early. I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
I looked straight at the concerned agent as I purposely lied to my boyfriend. “No. It’s the opposite. Chloe is having trouble with her car. She got a flat tire. They’re taking their time fixing it, so she’s running late. I told the manager I’d stay until she could arrive.”
“Okay. I’m making you a special dinner tonight. The house is all ours for a change. I’m making your favorite, and I even splurged on that fancy wine you like drinking.”
I felt terrible for being a liar while he unsuspectingly prepared to impress me. I was essentially planning his demise while he was cooking dinner. I felt like a horrible person. “I can’t wait. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
“Sounds good.”
“See you soon.”
After making sure the call ended, I slid my phone back toward the agent. “You can’t keep me here much longer if you want my help.”
He tapped on the table top before standing up again. “We better get on the road. Traffic is a bitch this time of day.” He handed me my purse. “I put my name in your phone as Cam. If he sees it, tell him I’m an employee at the casino; a female. If you learn anything you’re to call me as soon as you’re able to. Remember, if I find out you’re withholding information, I’ll be forced to proceed with charges against you.”
I knew how important this was. “I get it. I know I’m in deep shit. I’ll do whatever you want as long as my family doesn’t find out about this. It’s important they think I’m doing fine. Can we go now?” I was tired of talking to this guy. He wasn’t going to protect me when Rocky was holding a gun to my head, or killing my boyfriend for allowing me into his home.
I think I made it obvious I didn’t like the agent. He was quiet as we walked toward the rear exit. A few times I looked over to see him clenching his jaw. It didn’t matter that he was calm and collected during the whole ordeal with me. He hadn’t cursed at me, or treated me like I was a junkie. He’d been professional, even kind at times. I understood this was his job. He was only doing what he thought would help with the case. I just hated the fact that I was his bait.
Once we were back to the unmarked cruiser, he opened the front passenger side door for me. I was surprised I didn’t have to sit in the back again. I waited until we’d left the precinct to speak. “Do you do this for all the women you arrest? Do you have a slew of informants at your beck and call?”
A voice was coming in through the radio asking for available agents in the area to respond to an incident. He reported that he was in the middle of transferring someone and couldn’t respond, before finally answering me. “No. But I’ve been watching women like you fall victims because of men for as long as I’ve been doing this job. You don’t want to know how many dead females I’ve had to respond to. Most of them are runaways. Their families don’t even know they’re living in Vegas.”
“I’m not a runaway. I made an adult decision to leave North Carolina.”
“Let me guess,” he sarcastically offered. “For the boyfriend?”
“Not just him. We’ve been together for a long time. My parents don’t care for him. I was sick of being in the middle.”
“Ms. Healy -.”
I interrupted. “Cassie.”
“Fine. Cassie, maybe they don’t care for him because he has a long rap sheet. The first thing I did was look into the new couple living with Mr. James. After what happened to his last housemates, I needed to know everything I could about you and your beau.”
“What do you mean? What happened to the people before us?” This was news to me, and to say I was concerned would have been an understatement.
“Your guess is as good as mine. One day they were there, and the next they weren’t. The girlfriend put out a missing person’s report, but we’ve yet to find a single clue as to his whereabouts.”