Sean almost told JT about Jesse, but decided to keep that information to himself, at least until he told Lucy. Right now, it was need to know … and JT didn’t need to know.
“I have to do it. I left Kane a message—I want to use him, but we need to be partners on this. I’ll pay RCK rates.”
“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that,” JT said. “I don’t have to remind you how many operations you covered at your own expense. Jet fuel isn’t cheap.”
“You know I don’t care about that.”
“We could solve all your problems if you come back.”
“I don’t have any problems, if you can give me cover.”
“Sean.” JT didn’t say anything else; he didn’t have to.
Sean sighed and rubbed his eyes. Sure, he and Duke had mended fences, but every time there was something critical, something where it might seem that Sean was going to the dark side, Duke assumed the worst. Sean couldn’t live like that anymore. “You know why I can’t.”
“Won’t. Not can’t.”
“That’s a conversation for another day. I wouldn’t ask for help if it wasn’t important.”
“You’re not telling me something.”
“True, but it’s not important to you right now. I’ll fully brief Kane.”
“Fair enough. I hope this girl is worth it.”
“I don’t give a shit about Madison McAllister Spade. And her husband sounds like an ass. It’s the kid, JT. He’s in danger and I can’t turn my back on him.”
“That I understand. Kane’s in Hidalgo right now, so he should get back to you quickly. He’s pissed at me because I won’t let him take any major assignments, so this will be a good transition for him before he gets back to the job.”
“I can’t promise it won’t be dangerous.”
“No one can promise we’ll live to see the sunrise in the morning. What else do you need?”
“A plane. I don’t have the contacts here that I do in Sacramento. I have a new plane on order, but it won’t be delivered until the week before I get married.”
“I never thought I’d hear you say those words—and without fear.”
“It’s Lucy. What can I say.”
“I’m glad I didn’t fall in love with Jack’s sister.” JT laughed and Sean, as usual, felt that little twinge of panic at the mention of Jack. The guy scared him. He shouldn’t—Jack and Kane were two peas in a pod. But Lucy wasn’t Kane’s baby sister. “I’m kidding you, buddy. Jack is a man of few words, but he used them to sing your praises after you took out Rollins and Tobias.”
Sean didn’t want to relive that nightmare, so he went back to the subject at hand. “In addition to the plane, I need some research.”
“You’ve never asked for research assistance. Jaye’s going to lord this over you for the rest of your life.”
“She’s good. I want to get out of here first thing in the morning—I’d go tonight, but I need to talk to Lucy first. I’m sending you the information Madison gave me already, plus the research I’ve started. I’m expecting more info. My gut tells me Carson Spade is laundering money, but I don’t have the time to trace who he’s working for and verify the data. The more I know, the better chance I have of finding him.”
“We’ll take care of it. Be careful, Sean.”
Sean hung up and glanced at the clock. It was nearly ten, and Lucy still wasn’t back. He sent her a message.
Have you eaten?
He pushed back from his desk and went down the hall to the kitchen. He looked through the refrigerator thinking about what he could put together. There wasn’t much. He had planned on doing the shopping tomorrow—he’d actually grown to like his weekly excursion to the grocery store.
His phone vibrated and he read Lucy’s message.
We ate in Laredo. Home in less than thirty. Love you.
Thirty minutes—that would put them in well after ten. He doubted either Lucy or Siobhan had eaten much of anything, not with everything that was going on. And he knew Lucy—when she was working, food was the last thing on her mind.
Eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms—he’d make omelets when they got back. Find a way to get Siobhan off into her room so he could talk to Lucy.
How was he going to explain this to her?
And then there was Noah … maybe he’d just drop Siobhan and Lucy off, and Sean wouldn’t have to talk to him.
Noah Armstrong was a bit of an enigma for Sean. They hadn’t liked each other when they first met nearly two years ago. That was certainly an understatement. Noah was the type of self-righteous, rule-of-law cop that Sean despised. Yet … Noah had bent when he needed to bend. He and Noah had learned to get along, largely because of Lucy. And, Sean had to admit, when he and Noah had worked together on an undercover case where Sean infiltrated a hacktivist group, Noah had come through big time.