Shallow Creek

“What did I tell you?” She twisted furiously in the front seat to confront him.  “What the hell did I tell you this morning?”

“You said I was free to go.”

“Don’t be a smartass.  I told you to leave this to us.  Do you want an obstruction of justice charge leveled against you?”

“No, ma’am,” Brendan said sullenly.  Getting chewed out by an angry DEA agent hadn’t been in his plan for the night.

Spee closed her eyes and consciously inhaled a few deep breaths.  When she opened her eyes, the seething fury had subsided, but only slightly.

“You seem to be on our team, Mr. Rhodes, but you’re really pissing me off here.  We’ve got a target under surveillance, and I can’t have you screwing any of this up by hanging around your brother.”  Brendan simply nodded, not wanting to commit to anything, especially not without a direct request.  Spee sighed before continuing.  “We’ve got inside information—”

“Casey, what are you doing?” the suit next to her demanded.

“What does it look like?”

“That you’re showing our hand to a person of interest.  The SAC won’t like this.”

Spee pointed at Brendan.  “You think he’s going to back down if I don’t explain we’ve got this under control?  If he wanted to help the other team, we wouldn’t have found him trapped in their basement.”

“We don’t know that,” the other guy snapped out in a harsh whisper.

“I can hear you, buddy,” Brendan said.  “I’m right here.”

“Shut up, kid.” The agent turned back to Spee.  “This is not a good idea.”

Spee dismissed him.  “Despite Special Agent Tyson’s disapproval, I know I can trust you, Mr. Rhodes.  And in return for not locking you up, I want you to go home and stay there for a few days.  Now might even be a good time to take a trip to the hill country or something.  I don’t know, and I don’t care.  I just don’t want to see your face again close to this investigation.”

“Okay.”

Spee shook her head.  “Please promise me I don’t have to worry about you anymore.”

“I’ve got some personal reasons for wanting to take this guy down.”

“Your sister?”  Spee asked.  Brendan nodded, more than a little surprised.  “Okay, let me tell you about my sister.”

Before she could say another word, Tyson huffed gruffly and stormed out of the car.  The man took a few steps and then leaned against the fence while fumbling with a cigarette and lighter.

“Just ignore him.  He’s had a bad day,” Spee said, watching him go.

“I thought you said the story about your sister was just part of your cover?”

“It was part of my cover with you, but not with everyone else,” she explained.  “It’s a long story.”

“A true story?”

“Yes, a true story. Natalie, my sister, was in fact shot dead during a mugging at the big Exxon on the edge of town.”  Her eyes adopted that faraway look that Brendan often saw in Marines recounting tragic tales from combat.  “She was only passing through.  Wrong place at the wrong time, and all that crap.  One witness said the shooter had extensive burn scars on their neck, chest, and arms, poking out from under a ski-mask and wife-beater.”

Silence stuffed the inside of the car, which still vibrated softly to the beat of the idling engine.  After a few moments of obvious introspection, Spee addressed Brendan again, her eyes on fire.

“That was six months ago.  A month ago, I realized the cops weren’t getting anywhere, so I used some vacation time to go see my parents in Indianapolis.”

“But you came here instead?”

“Yes.”

“Now the whole posse is here, so I’m guessing you found something out.”

Spee grit her teeth, flexing the gentle curve of her jaw.  “I found out who the shooter was.”

“Was?  Did you kill him?”

“No, Scott Fisher and one of his goons did that for me when they found out I was onto him.  His name was Josh Matthews.  You know him?”

“The name is familiar,” Brendan said, not really sure.  “But why kill him?”

“Because he led back to them.”

“He was part of the gang?”

Spee nodded.

“So what did you do that the police couldn’t?  To find this guy, I mean,” Brendan asked.

The agent turned around in her seat, now looking out through the windshield.  Her voice sounded lost in a distant place.  “I had to do some things I’m not proud of.” She idly rubbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.  “Maybe once this is all over, if you still care to know, I’ll tell you over a beer or six.”

Brendan had nothing to say to that.  Spee put her elbow on the window ledge and rested her head against her hand.  “I shot a video of Fisher killing Matthews and used that to convince him to become my CI.”

“CI?”

“Criminal informant,” Spee specified.  “I played the part of his girlfriend to get close enough to work a deal out.  A deal where he gave up your brother as the real boss.”

“That’s why I saw you at the bar.”