“They think they know who the mole in the Marshals Service is.”
“Who?”
Dante gripped the worktable, leaning onto it. His heart stuttered. He wanted to know who the mole is, but God, it must be awful news for his father to look at him like that.
“You.”
Dante stood for a minute before his brow furrowed. He let the news sink in, but it didn’t make any sense at all. He stepped back from the table.
“Wait. What?”
“They think you’re the mole.”
“They can’t.”
“They do. You took the girl and disappeared. They think you were feeding Kaimi the information. When his two attacks didn’t succeed, you killed her off yourself.”
Dante stumbled backward. He felt numb. The nerves in his face and fingers seemed to have stopped feeding his brain information. God, they thought it was him. They thought he deceived them all. They thought he killed Laurie. Dante ran both hands through his hair. This couldn’t be happening. He started to pace.
“I’m sorry, son. They think it’s you. I wondered why Hilton hasn’t called. I doubt he will.”
“This is a disaster.” Dante came back to the table. He placed both hands on it to steady himself.
“It’s not a total disaster. You have Laurie. She’s safe. When you bring her back, they’ll know they were wrong.”
Dante nodded. His face contorted with anguish and he gripped the table harder. This whole situation was spinning out of his control. He felt his tenuous hold on it slipping away.
“This might even lure out the real mole—make him tip his hand now that the blame is all on you. This might work to our advantage.”
Dante, lost in thought, stared at the floor.
“The Marshals Service is doing their best to track you down, though right now they’re looking in New York.” Albert shook his head with a rueful smile.
“Why New York?” Dante asked.
“An informant in Kaimi’s organization heard that Kaimi planned to meet with the mole, but the mole had to cancel to leave for New York, so they think that’s where you are.”
“God damn it!” Dante walked away from the table, his hands balled into fists.
“What? Does that mean something to you?”
Dante stalked the floor of the barn below the loft, his father watching him closely. Anger coiled violently in his chest until he could stand it no more. He smashed his fist into the nearest support beam, which only succeed in making a satisfactory thud. Dante turned back to his father, shaking out his hand.
“Max.”
“Who is Max?”
“One of my men.” Dante ran his hands through his hair before he returned to the table. “Max was on my team. His parents live in New York. It must have been him.”
“Well, a lot of people go back and forth to New York, that doesn’t mean it was him.”
“No, I know it. I know it was Max. He acted strangely that entire assignment. I thought his unusual interest in Laurie was because of attraction. God, why was I so stupid? How did I not see it?”
“Traitors are not so easy to spot. It could still be anyone in the Marshals Service office. There’s not much we can do until the FBI catches either Kaimi or his informant. Then you’ll have your chance to clear your name.”
“I can’t believe they’d even suspect me. After everything I’ve done there.”
Dante stood over the table, one hand on his hip, and the other rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Not a moment for pride, Dante. After all, if you were them right now then you would suspect the same thing.”
Albert leaned over the table. He picked up a pencil and shaded in the area where the FBI suspected Kaimi was hiding. Dante watched a slow, sly smile creep across his father’s face.
“We just need to have a little bit of patience, and they’ll come out of hiding.”
Albert stood upright. He rolled up the piece of paper and put it back in the glass case.
“Let’s get back for super, shall we?”
“Yeah.” Dante shook out his anger.
“If your mother asks, you were helping me nail the new posts together for the upper field.”
Dante nodded with a grimace. Downcast and worried, he followed his father back to the house.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Fall descended on Nebraska. The days grew crisp. The leaves in the orchard turned a brilliant yellow and began to fall. The world turned to cracking at every turn, from the dried corn stalks underfoot, discarded after the harvest, to the wind whipping the bare branches of the trees.
Laurie and Dante settled into a comfortable life on the farm. They rose right after the sun, ate breakfast with Emma and Albert, and went over to the orchard. They harvested apples and pears all day, then came home for dinner. In the evenings, they would watch TV for a little while. Dante would often use his parent’s computer to surf the internet. Ultimately, they would fall in bed together at the end of the day exhausted.
Dante would have been at peace, but at the end of the week, Dante and Albert heard nothing from the CIA. Nothing at all. The silence stretched into another week.
Finally, Albert pulled Dante aside one Saturday while Emma taught Laurie how to can applesauce. They went out to the barn.
“What did they say?” Dante closed the door, his breath steaming the chilly air.
“The raid came up empty. They’re not done sifting through all of the information yet, but they’re not even sure Kaimi was ever there.”
“Great, perfect.” Dante ran his hands through his hair as he began to pace the cement floor of the barn.
“Patience, son. You have to—” Albert started.
“I know, Dad. I know. But it’s not your job that’s on the line.”
Albert, leaning over the table, looked up at his son. His expression was stern, his eyes impatient. Dante clenched his jaw. Then he heaved a sigh of frustration. He came back to the worktable and Albert continued.
“The agency has two other leads on Kaimi. An agent identified him here, in a house outside Honolulu. It seems Kaimi is still able to check-in on some of his business associates. They didn’t overhear where he is staying. They couldn’t get information out before he left. A citizen called in a tip that he may be here in Maui.”
Albert pointed to Kahului, at the neck of the island’s west end.
“With a boat at his disposal, he can get back and forth between Maui and Honolulu. It would only be a few hours between the two.” Dante frowned.
Albert scribbled a note in shorthand beside Maui. Then he shaded in the areas where Kaimi was spotted.
“Who was this business associate Kaimi met with?”
“Classified.” Albert continued to make notes on the map.
“Dad, I have a level three security clearance. I’ve had it for years.” Dante put his hands on his hips.
Albert smiled.
“I’m sure you do, but that doesn’t even begin to touch this.”
“If it’s relevant to Kaimi’s whereabouts—” Dante started.
“Then I’ll tell you, but as of right now, I’m not sure that it is.”
Dante’s face tensed. His jaw ached. Anger settled in the pit of his stomach, making it burn. He left the table and went back to pacing.
“When is the FBI going to move on the Kaimi tip?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Their putting surveillance in place now. They’ve had no real evidence he’s there, so they’re looking at all additional known associates in case he’s checking in on them.”
Dante nodded.
“Anything else?”
Albert shook his head.
“Not yet.”
Albert put the map back into the hidden safe. Dante went back to pacing. He tried to choke back his disappointment. There was nothing he could do to find Kaimi from here, and he knew it.
“Who are your contacts at the agency?”
Albert turned around from replacing the fake panel. He looked surprised.