Operation: Midnight Rendezvous Part 7

"What we need is a plan," she said after a moment.

"I have a plan." He turned back to her, gave her a hard look. "It doesn't include you."

"Then change it so that it does."

"Jess, d.a.m.n it, it's dangerous."

She stared at him, wondering if he didn't want her involved because he was concerned about her safety or because he thought her incapable. "It's even more dangerous not to do anything." When he didn't speak, she went to him. "I've never been one for sticking my head in the sand. Madrid, I need to do this. Please. If I can help, let me help."

Growling beneath his breath, he went back to the table and sat. "I've been running everything that's happened through my head. Everything goes back to the Lighthouse Point PD."

She took the chair across from him. "I agree."

"They're hiding something."

"Something Angela found out about. Something she saw. Something Nicolas saw." She bit her lip. "Something involving that photo?"

Madrid's gaze latched on to hers. "If you were a cop and you had something to hide, where would you keep it?"

"The safest place I could think of." Jess felt a p.r.i.c.kly sensation on the back of her neck. "Safe deposit box. Home safe."

He shook his head. "The police station."

Her eyes widened as realization dawned. "You want to break in to the police station?"

He stared at her, saying nothing.

Jess choked out an incredulous laugh. "That's suicidal."

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

"It might be more expedient to just put a pistol to our heads."

"Too b.l.o.o.d.y." He smiled, but there was little humor to it.

"You're right about one thing," she said.

He arched a brow.

"Your brother got the better genes."

"The smarter ones, anyway." But then he sobered. "Jess, I think the Lighthouse Point PD is into this up to their crew cuts."

"Into what?"

He tapped the photo Angela had given her. "Whatever this is."

She stared at the photo for a moment, then at Madrid. "What about Angela's house?"

"What about it?"

"If she had stumbled onto something at the police department, surely she would have made notes or written something down."

"I thought of that. If the cops are in on this, they've probably already gone through everything. They probably have the house staked out."

"We're considering breaking in to the police station and you're worried about a little stakeout?" she asked dryly.

"I'm mainly worried about getting shot. In case you're not up on the science of a 9 mm piece of lead penetrating the human body at two hundred miles an hour, it can be fatal."

Even though he'd said it in a dry tone, she s.h.i.+vered.

"I'll find a way into Angela's house first." He leaned back in the chair, set it back on two rear legs.

"That sounded singular."

"It was."

"I lived in the apartment above Angela's garage for three weeks, Madrid. I know my way around."

"I can figure it out."

"I know a way in where you can't be seen from the street."

"I'm not going to have this conversation with you." He rose, but she reached out, grasped his arm and stood, as well.

He blinked at her, then something hot flashed in his eyes. Suddenly she was aware of how hard the muscles in his arm felt beneath her fingertips. How energy ran like electricity through his body and into hers. She felt it all the way to her bones.

She didn't want to acknowledge it, but her heart was pounding. A response that had nothing to do with sneaking into police stations and everything to do with the man standing so close she could feel the heat coming off his body.

She dropped her hand from his arm. "I know how to get in without being seen."

He contemplated her with cool dark eyes. "Okay. I'll bite."

"Only if we go in together."

"d.a.m.n it, Jess." Sighing, he sc.r.a.ped a hand over his jaw. Jess heard the chafe of his heavy beard, realized that he hadn't shaved. That his hair smelled of pine needles. That his muscles were like steel...

"Th-there's a cellar door on the north side of the house."

"I noticed it."

"Then you know there's a hedge that runs from the back fence to the door. The lock is broken on the cellar door."

"How do you know that?"

"Because Angela and I were doing some yard work one day and she was complaining about having to fix it."

"Can you get into the house through the bas.e.m.e.nt?"

Jess nodded. "There's no lock on the bas.e.m.e.nt door."

She could tell she had his attention now, so she kept going. "Angela kept a home office in a downstairs bedroom. There's a file cabinet there she kept locked."

"Do you know what's inside?"

"All I know is that one night I went in to say goodnight to her and she seemed...secretive about it."

He didn't look surprised and Jess got the feeling that there was more going on than she was being told. What was he hiding from her?

"I get the feeling none of this comes as a surprise to you," she said.

"I didn't know about the cellar door."

But you know why Angela kept a hidden file, a suspicious little voice added. "What aren't you telling me?"

"A lot."

She hadn't expected him to say that. She stared at him, her pulse ratcheting, her mind beginning to run through possibilities. "What?"

He motioned toward the chair. "Sit down."

Jess took the chair again, wondering what he was going to hit her with next.

"Angela was not a police officer," he said.

"What?"

"She was posing as a cop, but it was only an a.s.signment."

"What are you talking about? What kind of a.s.signment?"

"She was working undercover for the same agency I work for. It's called the MIDNIGHT Agency. We're federal. Part of the CIA."

"Angela was a federal agent?" She couldn't quite get her mind around the notion. "What was she doing in Lighthouse Point?"

"I don't know. Her mission was covert. But I think she was working on something big."

Jess's head reeled with the information. "Why can't you call the agency you work for and ask for their help?"

His gaze dropped to the tabletop. "When I found out about her death, I went to my superior and asked to be a.s.signed the case. He refused, citing the fact that I was too personally involved."

Another surprise tossed at her like a gla.s.s of ice water. "Are you?" she asked, wondering not for the first time about his relations.h.i.+p with Angela.

"No." He grimaced. "But my superior argued the point. Things got heated. I lost my temper."

"You quit?"

"I caught the first flight west to find her killer. No holds barred."

The way he said it made Jess s.h.i.+ver. She stared at him, the knowledge that two days ago he'd thought she was Angela's killer churning inside her.

He looked at her as if he'd read her thoughts. "I know you didn't kill her."

Relief swept through her with such power that for an instant she couldn't speak.

He continued. "You were at the wrong place at the wrong time. A corrupt police department used that to their advantage."

"To cover up a murder."

He nodded. "You're nothing more than a scapegoat."

"Do you think someone figured out Angela was a federal agent?"

Madrid shook his head. "I think someone realized she was on to their secret."

"What secret?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

Chapter Five.

Madrid hadn't wanted to involve his brother, but he needed a safe haven for Nicolas while he and Jess returned to Lighthouse Point. Father Matthew wasn't happy about the arrangement, but he was too good a man to refuse Madrid help, and he would never turn a child away from his church.

"How long will you be?" he asked.

"I don't know."

Father Matthew motioned with his eyes toward Jess. "What about her?"

Madrid risked a look at Jess. Sitting on the floor, she had her arm around Nicolas's thin shoulders and was holding a little purple hippo. Nicolas had gone into his own little world, but it didn't deter Jess from talking to him, from reaching out to him.

"She's coming with me."

Father Matthew's usually serene expression turned incredulous. "I don't have to tell you that's a bad idea, do I?"

"No."

"You don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to women and decision making."

Because Madrid couldn't dispute that, he said nothing.