Protecting Her(107)

This is all too much to take in. The lies. The secrets. I don’t know if I believe Jack. Or trust him.

“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” I ask. “You could’ve just made up those words on that piece of paper. Maybe YOU’RE the one who doesn’t want me to be with Pearce. Maybe you’re just trying to get rid of me.”

He huffs in anger. “I would NEVER do that! I know how much Pearce loves you. I know how happy you’ve made him. I’m doing this so that you two can be together again. If I’d let you get on that plane, you’d be dead. You saw the news footage. I saved your life, Rachel.”

I nod, realizing he’s right. I keep telling myself that video wasn’t real. But it was. I saw it with my own eyes.

Jack slides the cell phone back over to me. “I didn’t want to show you this, but since you don’t seem to believe me, you should probably see it. I recorded this last night. Leland Seymour was at Wingate’s party. I asked him if we could talk privately so we went up to his hotel suite and had some drinks.”

Jack presses the screen and another video appears. It shows Leland and Jack talking. They’re standing by a tall table that looks like a bar, with liquor bottles and glasses. They both have drinks in their hands.

“Why are you here?” Jack asks him. “You’re not supposed to be at this event.”

“You know I’ve always been a fan of Senator Wingate. I like his obstinate attitude. It’s refreshing.” Leland takes a swig of his drink.

“And yet it’s going to get him killed,” Jack says. “I assume that’s why you’re here.”

“You can only fight them for so long. You know that, Jack. As his handler, you should’ve warned him.”

“As his handler, someone should’ve told me the goddamn plan!”

“We couldn’t.” Leland takes another drink. “You’re too close to the target.”

“I’m not close to Wingate. I rarely even talk to him. I watch him from afar.”

“I’m not referring to Wingate.” Leland sets his glass down on the bar. “I’m referring to the other target.”

Jack pauses, then says, “Does this have to do with Pearce?”

Leland laughs. “Pearce. He’s completely naive. An ignorant optimist. Thinking he could marry that woman and get away with it.”

Jack is quiet, his expression blank. Then he says, “You’re right. Pearce never should’ve married her. I tried to tell him that many times, but he wouldn’t listen to me. He’s a goddamn fool. And now he’ll lose his life over it.”

“Not him. His wife.” Leland pulls a sheet of paper from his suit jacket and hands it to Jack. It looks like the piece of paper Jack showed me.

Jack puts his glass down and reads what’s written on the paper. “So this is Pearce’s punishment? It’s about damn time they did something. How long have they been planning this?”

“Since right after his fake wedding.”

“That was years ago. Why the hell did they wait so long?”

Leland picks up his drink. “That, my friend, is confidential. I’ve already told you more than I should. I trust you won’t use this information to betray us, Jack.” Leland stares at him, a slight grin on his face.

Jack walks to the door, the piece of paper still in his hand. “Goodnight, Leland.”

The video ends and Jack takes his phone back. “When I was questioning him, I had no idea about the plan they had for you. I recorded Leland just in case he told me something he shouldn’t, and surprisingly he did. But I thought he’d tell me about Wingate, not you.”

“They wanted to kill me this whole time?” I feel breathless as I say the words. I feel like my lungs keep constricting, leaving me struggling for air. “How was all this going on and I didn’t know about it?”

“They’re good at hiding their secrets, even among their own members. They hid it from me. They hid it from Pearce. I’m sure only a very small number of people knew this. Usually, an assignment like this would involve a committee of members because it’s much more complicated than a traditional assignment. And obviously, Leland Seymour was on that committee.”

“Why Leland? Why is he involved?”

“Leland is a member. He owns MDX Aerodynamics. They make airplane engines and parts. If the organization wants to rig a plane to go down, Leland is the one they talk to. He’s taken down planes in the past and I’m sure he took this one down as well.”