“Of course he would say that,” Dillon stated. “He’s wanted by more than the CIA.”
She frowned. Rick had alluded to something like that, too. “What do you mean?”
He laughed. “Come on, Bethany. What do you think he’s been doing all this time? He must have been working for someone. Probably weapons traders, if I had my guess. If he’s back in the States and someone is trying to kill him, he probably betrayed them, too.”
“But why did they wait until I arrived to take those shots?” she asked. “Were they following me? Did I lead the shooter to him?”
Dillon gave a disgruntled sigh. “I doubt anyone in the CIA was following you around on the off chance you found a presumed-dead army ranger.”
When he said it, it sounded so implausible that she blushed even thinking it.
“And who else would know about your investigation? I don’t mean to put you down, Bethany, because you did it, you found Marcus Allen. But your investigation into this matter has been like a wild-goose chase. No one in the Agency or any other government agency gave your conclusions any merit. Certainly there was no one here waiting around to see if you found him.”
He was only stating what she already knew to be true. It was silly to even think differently. Marcus was a target and had been for a while. He’d probably gone into hiding to begin with because someone was after him and thus had been dodging bullets for years. That certainly made more sense than that she’d led someone to him. She grimaced to think she’d let him plant doubt in her mind.
“Of course. You’re right.”
“Tell me where you are,” Dillon said. “I’ll hop a flight and be there in a few hours to help you bring him in.”
“That’s not necessary. I’ve already made arrangements. He’s being held in the local jail and Rick has arranged for the US Marshals to escort us back to Langley tomorrow morning.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind making the trip.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll see you when I return.”
“Okay...have a safe trip,” he said. “I’ll see you when you get back. We’ll celebrate this victory. Steaks on the grill at my place. Sound good?”
“That sounds nice.”
“Seriously, Bethany. Good job.”
She felt her face redden. She and Dillon had become very close over the past year. He’d indicated he wanted more than to be just friends but she’d put him off several times. She just didn’t believe she was ready for that even though deep down she knew he was a great guy.
He was handsome and charming and one of the more successful agents in the terrorism division. They were well matched and she knew the job often caused trouble in marriages, but marrying a fellow agent meant being with someone who understood the job. And he was the one who continually encouraged Bethany to return to the field.
She hung up with Dillon, still pondering the state of their relationship. She’d spent months putting him off because of her obsession with finding Marcus. Now that’s she’d done it, was it time to give Dillon the attention he deserved?
She sighed.
The truth was that she’d never felt the spark with Dillon that she’d felt with Marcus. She knew it was silly to feel this way. Dillon was perfect for her.
She reddened again, remembering that what she’d felt for Marcus had been fabricated. It hadn’t been real, only a con she’d fallen for.
That was enough. It was time to stop focusing on Marcus. She took some satisfaction in knowing she’d been right...that she’d been vindicated. Now her life of living in limbo was over. Though, what did that mean exactly? She’d spent so much time and energy hunting for Marcus that it had consumed her life for the past two years. It would take a while to adjust to her new normal.
Blowing out a breath, she grabbed her keys and headed out to her SUV. She wasn’t going to sleep tonight because she was too keyed up. She might as well go over the evidence obtained from the rooftop. Because if someone else was after Marcus, as she suspected, they would have a fight on their hands to keep him out of harm’s way.
* * *
When Bethany parked her SUV in the parking lot of the police station and got out, she was immediately approached by Marie and Milo.
“Why did you have Marcus arrested?” Marie demanded. “He wasn’t the one shooting. He was helping people get to safety.”
Bethany could see their deep concern for their employee. He’d obviously made an impression on them, but then, he was good at getting people to trust him then running out on them. She decided they needed to know who it was they were putting such faith in.
“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, but he’s not the man you think he is.”
“He told us all about his past...or rather that he didn’t know his past.”
Bethany narrowed her eyes at them. “He told you he didn’t know who he was yet you hired him, anyway?”
Milo nodded. “He needed help. That was obvious. We met him when he first arrived in town. He attended a service at our church. He seemed lost and alone, but a decent fellow. At first we gave him small jobs around the diner but he kept going above and beyond what was asked of him. We soon realized he was a decent, hard worker, and wanted to know more about him, so we had him over to supper.” He took a breath. “That’s when he told us about the amnesia and how he was looking for answers about his life. We encouraged him to stay here in town and let us help him.”
“And you truly believe he can’t remember his past?”
“Sure. Why would he lie about something like that?”
“When you said you knew him, I was thrilled,” Marie stated. “I couldn’t wait to tell him. Now I’m regretting that a little bit. I had no idea you would arrest him.”
“You said yourself you had no idea who he was or what he’d done. You can’t be too shocked to discover he was on the run.”
“No, ma’am. No idea,” Milo reiterated. “That boy was trying to be found by someone. He contacted the news station in Dallas, hoping they could spread his story around but the producers wouldn’t help him. Apparently, it didn’t make good news. He also had the local PD fingerprint him and run his prints, but they came back without a match.”
Bethany wasn’t surprised about the fingerprints. Military files weren’t usually included in local print searches. Those were generally limited to the criminal databases. But she was shocked to hear Marcus had made attempts to try to be identified. What sort of game was he playing?
“So am I the first who’s come looking for him? Have there been other instances like the one today?”
“Not a one. As far as we know, he’d never been to Little Falls before. He just ended up here. We never expected this. Marcus arrived in town seven months ago and nothing like this has happened. Are you sure the person who was doing the shooting was after him?”
“Who else would he be after?”
“Well, you’re CIA, aren’t you? Don’t you people have enemies?”
Bethany wanted to quickly reassure Marie that this shooting had nothing to do with her, but she tamped down the thought before she voiced it and said instead, “We’re investigating all possibilities.” She hadn’t done field work except for her time spent tracking Marcus since the night of the ambush. She’d immediately requested and been granted a desk analysis job. It wasn’t unusual for agents to opt out of field work for a brief time, but her reprieve had turned into a permanent position a long time ago. No one except Dillon had brought up the idea of her going out into the field in over