“Possibly. We’re looking at every angle, and this man had contact with Marc Conlon recently. It’s worth a shot, just in case.”
He handed the paper to Ledbetter and watched her eyes grow wide, and her face drain of color like someone dropped a black-and-white screen over her. Two seconds later her eyes rolled back in her head and she started to fall.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Fletcher tried to catch her and missed, and she hit the floor, surprisingly hard for such a small woman. Inez hurried back to them.
“Wow. That gives a whole new meaning to fainting dead away. I have never seen anyone go down like that before. What did you do?”
“What did I do? Thanks for the vote of confidence, Inez.”
Fletcher knelt down next to her, felt for a pulse. It was just a faint, she was already starting to come to. Inez got on her knees and pulled Ledbetter’s head into her lap.
“Little help here,” Fletcher called out. One of the young guns appeared in the door.
“Holy crap, is she okay?”
“Just fainted. Get her some water, will you?”
He looked at Inez, who was smoothing Loa’s hair back from her forehead with one hand and fanning her with the other, all while shushing her like she was a scared puppy.
“I think it’s safe to say she knows him,” Fletcher said drily.
*
Ledbetter was back among the living in a few minutes. They got her seated at the conference table, and she clutched the bottle of water, pale as a ghost, a look of sheer, unadulterated fright on her face.
Fletcher sat down next to her.
“Loa, who is he?”
She shook her head like a child who doesn’t want to rat on her friend, quick and with her eyes closed.
“Loa. You obviously know this man. That in and of itself makes him more than just another pretty face. Come on. Who is he?”
She kept her eyes closed and whispered, “He told me his name was Ryan. Ryan Carter.”
“How do you know him?”
She took a big, deep breath before she spoke again, then finally opened her eyes.
“He was my husband.”
Chapter 45
Dillon, Colorado
Dr. Samantha Owens
Sam was quiet as Xander drove them back up the mountain. She felt like they were going in circles, and had no idea if they were on the right path. If they were, why weren’t Fletcher and the rest of the JTTF here, combing these mountains? Unless they really did feel the man they’d arrested was responsible for the attack. She was getting really frustrated and didn’t know what to do next. She didn’t want to call him again and get another well done you, not until she was sure they were totally on to something. But she needed him to call out the troops, to get the CDC to Sal Gerhardt’s farm, and the FBI and Homeland here to deal with this. She was only one person, and there was no way she could handle all of this.
But she knew they were on to something. Something bigger than what they originally thought they were dealing with.
Clouds were gathering, blotting out the sun with unholy speed. Summer in the mountains: one second sunny, the next a torrential downpour. It fit her mood. She’d been all over the place today, exaltation and sorrow, jealousy and possessiveness.
She guessed that’s what love was supposed to be about, but wow, she wasn’t sure if she was ready for this again.
It scared her. She didn’t want to belong to someone again, to have him belong to her. Belonging meant there was a chance of loss, and she didn’t think she had the strength to go through it once more.
But she couldn’t deny that her feelings for Xander had gotten completely out of her control. They were wild and untamed and so strong it took her breath away.
And she knew he felt the same way. It was becoming unavoidable. They were rushing toward a huge brick wall, and it was going to be up to her to either slam on the brakes before they hit the barrier, or make herself malleable and willing, and let a door open that would allow them to pass through safely to the other side.
She wondered what had driven Loa Ledbetter. Was it love, or heartbreak? Was she running away from something, or toward it? The constant travel, the desire to live off the land, to disappear into other cultures, other lives. What was she looking for? Why would she take her only child into that world with her?
“Penny for your thoughts.”
She wrapped her hand around Xander’s. “I was just wondering why Loa Ledbetter felt so compelled to be on the move, to expose herself to so many different worlds. It seems exhausting.”
“I was thinking about that, too. She may have been on orders.”
“What do you mean?”
“I ran into people like her from time to time while I was in the Army. They were the ones with actionable information that we used to topple governments, or steal weapons caches.”
“A spy?”
“Of sorts. Versatile. More an information broker. She had the perfect cover if she was, her ‘research’ allowed her to travel the world, to go anywhere, with impunity. Some of the terms she uses in her book are ones I’d attribute to a broker. Or a spy.”