Deadly Promises (Tracers #2.5)(25)

Giving the FBI agent what she hoped was a stony stare, CeCe said, “I know about Jeremy. He told me he boosted cars as a teenager and that he did his time. Don’t turn him into some bad guy just because of that.”

“Boosting cars?” Denton’s eyebrows shot up. He belly laughed for a minute then stopped chuckling and stared at her. His eyebrows lowered in a sober glance. “You’re serious?”

“Of course I am.” Her stomach flipped over at the incredulous look in his eyes.

“Jeremy Sunn has a rap sheet as long as my leg.” Denton was clearly not joking now.

“Jeremy has a record, like an adult criminal record?”

“Hell, yes. Not a secret since it’s public record.”

What? She couldn’t catch her breath. Had Jeremy lied to her the same way her stepfather had lied to her mother when he omitted a few simple facts, such as that he ran illegal operations? Sure, her stepfather turned out to be a wonderful man who had adored her mother, but he still married her mother without telling her what he did for a living.

CeCe’s mother had loved her stepfather but warned CeCe to not make the same mistake. She apologized for exposing a child to this life even if the DeMitri men had always taken good care of them. Her mother had made her promise to start fresh in a new place. Away from illegal operations.

I fell in love with a criminal? Pain squeezed her heart. CeCe wanted to pitch a screaming fit, but now was not the time.

She had to talk to Vinny and find out if he knew anything about all of this. For now, her brother’s tutorials on law enforcement kicked in. “Are you charging me with anything?”

“Not yet.”

“What about…” She had to consider the implication of asking about Jeremy.

Denton’s gaze sharpened, but he said nothing, playing the silent bit, which was supposed to make her blather everything she knew. He had a long wait coming.

She shouldn’t care what happened to Jeremy, but he wouldn’t have been in this spot if she hadn’t invited him over to dinner and he hadn’t protected her. He’d stepped into danger without a second thought last night, which had made her wonder for just a moment if he’d had law enforcement experience.

Actually, he had. From the wrong side of the badge.

And, blast it all, she had to find out what they were going to do with Jeremy because she loved him and couldn’t just turn off her feelings. He was the man she’d wanted to spend the rest of her life with up until a few minutes ago.

She’d deal with this new revelation once they got out of here. Jeremy had questions to answer.

“What about Jeremy?” she finally asked.

After a slow rise and fall of a deep breath, Denton answered her. “We’re booking Sunn on felony possession of a firearm.”

She stood up. “You can’t do that. He didn’t do anything wrong.” Other than get involved with her and crush her dreams.

“Oh, yes, I can. This conviction could send him back to prison. And if we don’t get that memory card with the photos, not even your stepfather and his sons in Canada will be safe from the underworld genocide planned by two powerful mob families, Miss Cecelia Caprice DeMitri.”

JEREMY SLOUCHED IN the interrogation room’s metal chair, giving the feds on the other side of the two-way mirror his usual don’t-give-a-shit expression.

The feds had come after CeCe for the firearm permit when they knew Jeremy had been the one with the weapon. That had been an excuse to bring her down here until he admitted having the gun. Why bring her down once they got what they wanted?

Something didn’t make sense, but Jeremy couldn’t put his finger on it.

Denton had surprised him when he told Jeremy the guy who broke into CeCe’s home was Dorvan, a bone breaker. That’s when Jeremy realized he did know Dorvan, an enforcer who had teamed up with Starface several years ago. I’ll keep that little discovery to myself.

Starface and Jeremy had been in the same penitentiary four years back when Jeremy had gone undercover to find the person inside who was behind a string of witness deaths on the outside. He should have recognized Dorvan last night, but he’d seen the brute only once during the six weeks he’d spent locked up.

Why had Dorvan broken into CeCe’s house?

Denton tried to feed Jeremy some crap about CeCe knowing about photos on a memory card. What photos? Some pile of bullshit Dorvan was shoveling at the FBI?

Jeremy had a bad feeling Dorvan was trying to pull him into this mess, but he couldn’t figure out why. The feds were playing a game, acting as though CeCe had some secret identity and was hiding information the FBI needed. That was crap. She’d been living in Canada before she moved here. How could she possibly be involved in this mess? Dorvan had to be pissed Jeremy had busted him and was trying to use Jeremy’s prison record against him, claim some criminal association.

The FBI probably believed Dorvan and now they were trying to convince Jeremy that CeCe was involved to put pressure on him. But for what reason?

He refused to play their game. He stuck with what he knew, that CeCe worked for Double Take and practiced yoga at his gym.

Even if she was involved, which was impossible, Jeremy would never pass judgment without giving her a chance to explain first.

Too many people had done that to him over the years.

One of those who hadn’t was the director of BAD, Joe Q. Public. The minute Jeremy landed in jail for this, Joe would have him moved to another facility and Retter would spring Jeremy during the transfer. As long as Joe and Retter believed he had only been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plus, the rap sheet BAD had created over the past nine years was as much at fault as anything for sending him away.