30
Enrique stood up. “But before you do I have to bring in Commander Trump. We need to tell him everything.”
“Everything?”
“Don’t worry, Jakowski. I’ve got your back. That’s what partners do. Our mission—if that’s what you want to call it—is over. So there’s no reason not to tell him everything we know. And besides, honesty is definitely the best policy this time around. They do believe you killed him.”
“I didn’t—”
“I know that. We’ll get this mess cleaned up. Don’t worry.”
“I didn’t want to tell him anything until you got here. He would think I was nuts.” She grinned. “Maybe I am.”
Enrique winked at her as he opened the door. “You’re not, Jakowski.”
Moments later, a tall blond man walked in. He held out his hand to Jamie. “I’m Commander Donald Trump. And you are?”
“Jamie Jakowski. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, but I thought it was better to wait for Enrique—Agent Rodriquez to get here.”
“So, are we ready to un-complicate matters?”
“We’ll do our best.” Enrique pulled out a chair for Jamie.
Grateful, she sat down. Her knees were shaky and she didn’t feel well at all. They must have given her more drugs than just the ether. “If I tried to tell you the story without Agent Rodriquez you might have trouble believing me,” Jamie said.
“That bad, huh?”
“Not bad. What was the word you used? Complicated.” Fatigue, and probably as an aftermath of the drugs, fog had descended in her brain. She needed to be alert and clear about what happened. “If it’s OK with you, I’ll start at the beginning and tell you what I know about the dead man in that shack.”
“Let’s start with his name.”
“He’s Ryan Mattson from Columbus, Ohio. “
“Why did you kill him?”
“I didn—”
“We aren’t going there, Commander.” Enrique interrupted. “There’s no reason to be antagonistic. Jamie didn’t kill him.”
“So you say. I have a dead body and an uncooperative witness, or possibly even the perp. Don’t tell me—”
“Look Commander, let Jamie tell her story first, and then you can ask questions.” Enrique’s voice remained calm. “She said she didn’t kill Ryan Mattson, and I believe her. You asked me before if Jamie works for the FBI. She works as a consultant with the FBI from time to time.”
The two men stared at each other locked in a battle of wills.
This is why she preferred to work alone. Although this time, she was glad to have Enrique defending her. Still, the men were giving her a bigger headache.
“You won’t find her name on any employee roll.” Enrique continued. “We’re working an active case that’s led us here. Jamie was working undercover. That’s why she didn’t want to tell you her name. It had nothing to do with being guilty.”
“And I’m supposed to take your word for it.”
“I am an FBI agent. I have no reason to lie.”
“Through the window it looked like there might be a reason.”
“That was my fault, Commander,” Jamie said. “I’m under the influence of something. I generally don’t cry like that. I’m still feeling foggy.”
Trump looked at her. “Then maybe you should go to the hospital and get checked out first.” The first sign of concern from him. Perhaps, he was more reasonable than she’d first thought.
“I don’t think it will be any clearer later.”
“Are you ready to listen to her?” Enrique interrupted.
“Fine. Go ahead.” Trump nodded at her.
“Suzanne Zinkleman is a police officer in Sunberry, Ohio. Two years ago, her husband kidnapped her son and disappeared. He’s wanted on embezzling charges and kidnapping. For the past two years the FBI couldn’t find her ex-husband or her son, so I decided to look for them myself.” Jamie paused.
“My bosses decided I should keep Jamie company.” Enrique picked up the tale. “They have the utmost trust in her, but her focus was the son. Mine is Zinkleman. I was told to accompany her, but let her do her thing her way. If we located them I would take over at that point and arrest Zinkleman.”
“And I would reunite my friend with her son. It wasn’t all that complicated, at first.”
Jamie gave a quick rundown of how she’d met Ryan. “Enrique and I arranged to meet at the diner. As I opened the door of my motel room to leave, Ryan was there. Before I could react, he pushed me back inside the room. He put a cloth over my nose and mouth and I passed out. He was much smarter than I gave him credit for. I can’t believe he found me. Anyway, I woke up in a cabin.”
“The cabin where we found his body,” Trump said.
“No, that wasn’t the cabin I was in. I’m absolutely sure about that. The cabin I was in had two twin beds with comforters on them. Ryan was on a king size bed with a sheet. It wasn’t the same place.”
“Are you sure you aren’t confused? The drugs?”
“I’m absolutely sure it’s not the same place.”
“So, what happened then?”
“He was really angry at me and kept asking who I worked for. When I told him I wasn’t a cop he told me I must work for the bad guys. He was angry, but he was scared, too. “
“Maybe there’s more people involved in this than we first thought.” Enrique mused.
“You mean the embezzlement?” Jamie looked at him.
“Yeah, why else would Ryan think you were working for someone else if Zinkleman was the only player?”
“So, how’d you get loose?” Trump asked.
“I didn’t. Someone knocked on the door. Before he went to answer it, he knocked me out again. I woke up in a ditch and started walking. The last time I saw Ryan he was putting a cloth on my face. And he was alive.”
“How’d the blood get there?” Trump pointed at her blood-soaked shirt.
“I have no idea.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. The first time I saw that other cabin was with your officer.”
Trump looked at Enrique. “I’ll need to make a few phone calls to verify what you’ve told me. Do you have any contact numbers?”
“Sure do.” He rattled off names and numbers. After Commander Trump left, Enrique turned to Jamie. “Don’t worry, we’ll get this figured out in a bit, and then you’ll be free to go.” Enrique laid a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “And the first thing we do will be to take you to the hospital.”
“I don’t need the hospital. I need to sleep.”
“We’ll see.” He stood and left the room.
She was alone. With her failure.
Ryan dead, and Andrew and Michael Zinkleman gone.
How would she be able to look Zink in the eye?