“What time was that?” Harris inquired.
“My flight was at eight in the morning,” George replied.
“George and I both were in Montana for my testimony. We spent the night in the hotel and got a pretty early flight out. When we pulled onto the street and saw my car parked in front of the house, we figured something was up.”
“Did you not leave it there?” Agent Harris asked.
“No. It was stolen when I was in Atlanta.”
“When?”
“February.”
“Wait—in February?” Harris raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, which is why George and I stopped in the middle of the road for a minute. I called my dad to see if they’d found my car. He said no, he hadn’t heard anything like that.” Stella leaned against the counter and sipped her coffee. “We both got out of his SUV after he parked it in the driveway. He walked to my car while I went into the house to get my spare set of keys. When I got to the door, I turned because Cooper ran up the driveway. He jumped up on me, which pushed me back a little and I ended up tripping over the box of clementines. And, well you know the rest.”
George moved to her side and put his arm around her.
“So you think your car being stolen and this threat are related,” Agent Harris said, writing and not lifting his head.
She nodded. “And…I was kidnapped in February by the undercover ATF agent. Jack, I believe you call him.”
Agent Harris’ head snapped up so fast he looked like a cartoon character. “What?!”
“I was drugged at a bar in Atlanta and taken by the undercover agent to one of the Florida Keys. I escaped.” Stella examined Harris’ face, which didn’t hide his disbelief.
“You escaped?” He was incredulous. “Why didn’t you call the authorities, Stella?” His eyes bore into her.
“And say what?” She ran her hand through her wet hair and looked at George. “I got away and really didn’t have any evidence to support the fact that I was kidnapped.”
“Except your broken nose,” George commented.
“Except my broken nose.” She nodded. “Jack Ryder, the ATF agent that was undercover in Montana is really Jamie, my former fiancé, who ‘died.’” She shrugged her shoulders, knowing how ridiculous it all sounded.
“Wait, what?” Agent Harris eyes narrowed at her. “Why am I just now hearing about this?” He sat back on the barstool, examining her.
“See, it’s almost laughable, right? Who’d believe me?”
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew Jack, let alone were engaged to him when I showed you his picture last year?” He was flipping his pen through all the fingers on his right hand without dropping it. She could tell it was something he did when he was contemplating something; it looked practiced and he wasn’t even thinking about the motion.
“Because his identity was top secret and I was told it couldn’t be revealed. It didn’t seem like it was an issue at the time. Also, I figured if the ATF wanted you to know, they would’ve told you.” She shrugged as if it were nothing, masking her concern.
“Why did he kidnap you?”
She looked down at her hands. “I honestly don’t know; some weird attempt to get me back. He said he was laying low because his cover was blown or something, and that he bought a house for ‘us’ and he wanted to tell me everything.” Her nails were ragged; she needed to file them.
Agent Harris threw his pen down at that and looked at Stella in disbelief.
George cleared his throat, walked over to where she was leaning on the counter, and squeezed her hand. “What does she need to do for you to believe her?”
“Record him admitting to it. You think you can do that?” He laughed.
“Sure. If you can find him,” Stella said confidently.
“What makes you think you can get him to talk to you again?” Harris asked, clearly not believing for a second that she’d be able to get Jamie to admit anything to her.
Stella loved to be underestimated.
“Because he’s arrogant and he underestimates me,” she answered. Just like you do.
“So, Stella. This is all very interesting, and the fact that you’re just now getting around to telling means you’re hiding something. You know I’ll find it.” Harris narrowed his eyes at her, examining her expression for any trace of extra information.
“You know what I know,” she lied easily. Stella was surprised the lie came so effortlessly; the words dropped from her mouth without thought or remorse.
“So based on the threat and the potential testimony you’ll be giving against a federal agent, we’ll need to move you to a safe house.” Harris sighed. “This will make things a little more difficult. We’ll have to work with the Marshals.”
She started shaking her head while he was talking. “No. I’m not going anywhere. I have a job and a…” She trailed off and looked at George. She beamed at him. “And a George.”
“Well, I can’t leave a witness here without protection; you die and I’m slaughtered.”
Stella stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.
“What do you propose?” George asked.
“Hmph.” Harris ran a hand over his hair, showing his discomfort. “First of all, I’m not sure I believe any of this, but if it were true, we could use you to lure him out.” He cocked his head at her in a question.
“I understand. Check it out with the ATF. Look at his pictures. See if they can locate him. You get me close to him and I’ll see if I can get you what you need. Just know I’m not going to any safe house. I won’t do it. Now,” Stella said, abruptly ending the meeting, “I have work to do since I took two days off for the trial. A brief on moral turpitude and some other shit that’s just hit the fan are calling my name.” She pushed herself from the counter and nodded to him as she walked upstairs. “Let me know what you decide!” she called.
George stayed with Agent Harris and showed him out, then he followed Stella up to the office. “What do you think?” he asked.
“I think I’m going to need to be very careful. I hope he can find Jamie.”
“He said the potential for another threat is enough that he can work protection on the house even if you’re refusing to go to a safe house.” George leaned against the doorframe and watched Stella sink into the office chair. “I’m really worried about this, Love.”
“I know, but we’ve got to get him on their radar somehow. If it’s by me, so be it.” She would do whatever she could to make sure Millie, George and Patrick weren’t hurt in this shit.
She started her computer and called Greg, who answered after one ring.
“How’d it go?”
“It went.” Stella took a deep breath. “I guess they detonated the bomb or something and they’re keeping my car as evidence. The insurance company already paid me when it was ‘stolen.’ Do I need to notify them about this?” She was rambling. Agent Harris had told her on the phone yesterday that if the bomb would’ve gone off there would’ve been causalities. It’d shaken her to the core.
“I’ll call and take care of it,” Greg assured her.
“Okay.” Her voice was shaky.
“Are they moving you to a safe house?”
She sighed. “No, they’re using me as bait for Jamie.”
“Stella. That’s not a reasonable thing to do,” Greg chided.
“I know, but this has to end, Greg. He threatened my family, the people I love more than anything, and he knows that. It may be me instead of them, but I’m okay with that. This will end and I am going to end it.”