“Want one in the other knee?” she asked.
This time, he stayed down, his jaw still visibly clenched in pain. Jo backed up a few more feet, then swung the weapon toward JD.
“Move away from her and show me your hands,” she called out to him.
Any fight the man had was long gone. He lowered his wife to the ground and scooted away from her. He eyed Jo as he raised his arms. His wet tears glistened in the pale light, his lip trembling.
Jo kept Kline and JD in her line of sight as she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed 911. Then, as she continued to keep a careful eye on both men, she texted Dack with a codeword they’d agreed upon to let him know she was okay, and that she would contact him as soon as she could.
***
Once the police arrived at the scene, Jo told them to contact Special Agent Kelsey Camacho. That drew some cautious looks, but a uniformed officer did as she requested. As more law enforcement and emergency personnel showed up, Jo was whisked away from Kline and JD, and she didn’t see what law enforcement did with either man. She spent a long time talking to a detective, relaying everything that had happened. Once Kelsey arrived at the scene, Jo went over everything again. She wasn’t surprised when Kelsey wanted to take her to federal offices for even more questioning. Now Jo was sitting in a big conference room with the agent. Out a large window, pale light shone on the horizon as Kelsey contemplated her.
“That was good work,” she said.
Jo stared at a bottle of water on an oval table and shook her head. “Lydia’s dead. That shouldn’t have happened.”
Kelsey nodded slowly, sadly. “Yes. I’m sorry about that. You did everything you could.”
She knew she had, but that knowledge didn’t make her feel any better. She looked at Kelsey.
“Kline and JD?”
“Neither of them is talking,” Kelsey said. She blew out a long breath. “We might get JD to crack, though. He’s devastated about Lydia’s death, says that nothing matters without her. He’s lawyered up, though, so we’ll see what happens.”
“What about the evidence against him? What was on the USB drive?”
Kelsey gnawed her lip. “Someone worked on that right away, and they were able to get into it.”
Jo didn’t like that the agent was delaying with an answer. “And?”
“It wasn’t Trent Fontenot’s. The drive had stuff of JD’s on it, information that would help his political career.”
Jo stared at her. Then all her weariness slammed into her, and she did something unexpected. She laughed. Kelsey raised her eyebrows and waited until Jo stopped.
“I’m sorry,” Jo said. “I don’t believe it. Everything I risked going undercover for you, and Lydia’s death . . . and I didn’t get any proof of JD’s illegal activities.”
Kelsey held up a hand. “I wouldn’t say that. The way things went down, we were able to get a search warrant for the Babineaux mansion. We’re searching the place with a fine-tooth comb, and you don’t know what we’ll find. There may be something that will incriminate him or Kline. And now that our investigation is out in the open, there’ll be more people to talk to. We’ll find somebody who will help us pin those murders from years ago on him, or on Kline.”
“What about Trent Fontenot’s murder?”
“Kline and JD deny any involvement in that, but we’re working on them. One may cave and turn on the other. I’d bet on it.”
Jo wouldn’t, but she didn’t say so. Kline was too smart, too tough. Part of what made him so good at his job was that he would never turn on a boss. If he did, he’d never work in his profession again. JD likely wouldn’t talk either, because he’d know that if he did, Kline would kill him. Jo could only hope that they’d both made mistakes somewhere, and that Kelsey and her team would uncover evidence to incriminate the two men.
Jo took a sip of water and waited on Kelsey. She went over her questions again, picking at Jo’s memory, trying to see if she had forgotten anything. Sunlight was blazing into the room when Kelsey finished. Jo had a question of her own.
“Has anybody been asking about me?” She meant Dale and any of his people.
Kelsey shook her head. “We’ve been monitoring channels, and you’re okay.”
For now, Jo thought. She needed to get away from Dallas and what had happened as soon as possible.
“I’ll have someone drive you to your apartment so you can pick up your things,” Kelsey told Jo. “Where do you want to go after that?”
“Back to the Amyfinehouse,” Jo said.
“We can do that.” Kelsey studied her for a moment. “You did good work. You handled yourself well.”
“Thanks,” Jo said, without much enthusiasm.
Kelsey smiled at her. “Any chance we could get you to work with us?”
Jo didn’t hesitate. “No.” She didn’t explain why, just left it at that.
“I had to try.” The woman smiled again. She thanked Jo once more, then got up. Jo followed her down a maze of hallways, where another agent waited to take her back to her hotel. Kelsey held out a hand, and Jo shook it.
“You sure I can’t change your mind about joining us?” Kelsey asked.
Jo shook her head. “I’ll let you handle the bad guys.”
Kelsey laughed softly as Jo turned and went with the other agent. He took her to her temporary apartment, and she took a few minutes to gather her belongings as he watched carefully. Then he drove her to the Amyfinehouse hotel. The SUV waited in front as she walked inside and went up to the desk.
“May I help you?” a front-desk woman asked her.
Jo glanced over her shoulder. The SUV was gone. She turned back to the woman.
“No. I’m sorry I bothered you.”
