“Lethal injection,” he said. “Given to her under orders from Medros.”
Gabby gasped. And the incidental encounter of the old man on the street flickered through her mind again. He’d claimed she looked like his sister’s husband, Rogan. She’d been so floored by him calling her Helena, Gabby had forgotten that. He’d told the two men rushing him to the SUV something . . . I must see George now. That was it. Had her mother known them? Had the old stranger been talking about George Medros? Fallon, when pretending to be Bain’s partner and asking her about Rogan Gregos been sending her a warning, identifying himself as Rogan Gregos at the Handel security breach. But was this Rogan also the same man as the old stranger’s brother-in-law she supposedly favored? She’d thought it impossible but with the triple threat’s comments and all this, suddenly, it all seemed plausible. “I, um, I think I should call Justin Wade and have him listen in on this.”
Regret seeped into Plumber’s face and settled in the grooves alongside his mouth. “That isn’t necessary.”
“I think it is.”
“It’s not.”
“Why not?”
He forced himself to meet her gaze. “Because I am Justin Wade.”
She absorbed the shock without falling off the barstool. Honestly, after everything else, this revelation seemed like just one more thing. “Is that your real name, or another moniker you’ve adopted? You’re racking up quite a list of them.”
“It’s my real name and this is my real life, when I’m not working undercover—which I have been doing for some time.
A truth gobsmacked her. “Shadow Watcher was a cover.”
“Yes.”
Another truth slammed into her. “I didn’t find Troop Search and Rescue, you found me.”
“Actually, I replaced the original Shadow Watcher early on. When you made first contact with Troop Search and Rescue.”
“Why?”
“Because I was doing my job.”
“What exactly is your job?” she asked, reeling. “Does Justin Wade work for the FBI?”
“Indirectly,” he admitted. “I’m a security specialist, and my firm does contract work for many government entities. The FBI is one of them.”
“What company do you work for?”
“I’ll tell you, Gabby, but I’m only allowed to tell one person in my lifetime, so I’m trusting you not to share it.”
“I won’t.”
“I work for Silencers, Inc. As consultants, we do the jobs that are complicated, and others can’t do for a multitude of reasons.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “But I probably won’t be employed there much longer.”
The fried comment between him and Hunter came to mind, but Gabby didn’t dare to assume anything at this point. “Why not?”
“Because what I’m telling you will get me fired.”
She frowned. “What exactly are you telling me, Plumber?”
He washed down his tea, then refilled his glass from the pitcher. “It started when your father was a little boy. He had a good life back then. But he was friends with a kid in his neighborhood who wasn’t so lucky. His friend didn’t have the best parents and he had none of the opportunities your dad did. No educational chances—all that goes with rough parenting. That made him vulnerable, and your father knew it. So, he became the guy’s best friend. Your father had a devoted streak a mile wide, Gabby.”
“I had no idea of any of this.”
“I know.”
“Who was the boy he befriended?”
“Rogan Gregos.”
So the old man on the street had been mistaken about her, but he had associated her father and Rogan. Which did nothing to explain why Gabby and Rogan physically favored.
“Rogan Gregos was easy prey for Medros. He’s famous for exploiting vulnerable kids like Rogan. Medros has a daughter named Mia. She fell in love with Rogan. And Rogan saw marriage to Mia as his one shot for a better life. George Medros opposed; he wanted better for his daughter, but Mia insisted. So, Rogan married her, and they had two children.”
Gabby had a bad feeling about this. A terrible feeling. Her hand to her chest, she cringed. “Tell me I’m not one of their children.”
“No, you’re not.”
Plumber’s words should have been reassuring, but for some unspoken and as yet unexplained reason, they weren’t. Gabby intuitively held her breath, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“That’s where my firm came in. Actually,” he rubbed his chin. “It was a similar firm, owned by the father of the man who owns my firm. The father’s company was tasked with an infiltration operation inside Medros’s organization. The father’s company sent an operative in undercover. A female operative.” Plumber paused to give Gabby time to absorb that. “Rogan Gregos took one look at her and fell in love.”
“His daughter marrying a man he didn’t approve of, now in love with another woman.” Gabby said. “Not promising conditions for Rogan’s prospects of a long and healthy life.” Medros killed people left and right. Dishonoring his daughter? Only a fool would deliberately antagonize Medros like that. But love made fools of people…
Plumber gauged Gabby’s reaction, and then went on. “The operative sought Rogan’s confidence to gain the information she was after. But that wasn’t enough for Rogan. He tried luring her to him, charming her, but she wasn’t interested. She was a professional through and through. Everything I’ve found in her old files and reports was positive. Ethical and principled. A woman everyone seemed to admire.”
“So what happened to her?” Gabby asked.
Plumber’s face went blank. “Rogan Gregos raped her.”
Gabby rebelled. “No!”
“I’m afraid so,” Plumber said. “And a child was conceived.”
The truth rammed into Gabby and stole her breath. She gasped. “My mother? Helena? She was the operative . . . and the child conceived is me?”
“Yes.” Sorrow flooded Plumber’s eyes, softened his voice. “Rogan’s cousin by marriage, Mick Fallon, agreed to keep Rogan’s secret about the rape and the pregnancy, but he didn’t.”
“Blood is thicker than water.”
“True in this case.” Plumber looked down at his hands. “Fallon is the son of Mia’s brother. He went to his Aunt Mia and told her, hoping for her protection. She was still crazy in love with Rogan, so that wasn’t a bad plan. Fallon and Rogan were close, and Fallon was terrified Medros would find out about the baby and kill Rogan for shaming his daughter.”
Gabby fought to stay controlled. Conceived in a rape? How could she ever wrap her mind around that, much less her heart? “It didn’t work, did it? The plan failed.”
“No, it didn’t work,” Plumber said. “Mia went off the deep end, ran straight to her father and told him everything. Honestly, Mia hasn’t been right since then.”
Gabby didn’t know whether to cry or fly off in a rage. So many conflicting emotions swam through her that she couldn't sort them all. She opened her mouth to speak but her words made no sound. Swallowing hard, she took a second. Stuff it down. Suck it up and stuff it down. Then, she made another attempt. “What you’re telling me is Rogan Gregos is my real father.”