“Of course.” He pulled his hands into his lap. “When the case is closed, I’ll get you the other drawings unrelated to the case.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
Mendez unbuttoned his suit jacket before settling his hands on the chair arms. “I’m sorry I never told you what really happened to your parents that night.”
She promptly lifted her eyes to his dark ones, curious as to where he was going with this.
“I was assigned to the task force, along with Winters, back in New York. I personally met with your parents. Your father never told our team about the forger. He just said that he was in possession of the Daylight Ledger, and it would assist in taking down a lot of corrupt people in the U.S. government, from the top and on down. He wanted safety and protection for his family. Immunity. A chance to start over somewhere in the country.” From what she’d seen, Mendez was a buttoned-up guy when it came to emotions, so sharing his words probably wasn’t so easy for him. “He wanted to give you a stable home life. Plant roots. He said you’d always wanted that.”
She closed her eyes and drew the back of her hand over her mouth to hide the wobble in her lip. The tears just might fall if he continued.
“When your parents were killed, there was a thorough investigation to determine if there’d been a leak from my task force. We were all cleared, but evidently, not well.”
She forced her gaze to return to the director and did her best to remain steady. To not let the overwhelming emotions rope her in.
“There were concerns for your safety after your parents died. The Bureau and Central Intelligence Committee decided it’d be best to keep the truth about your parents’ motives hidden to prevent retaliation against you.” Mendez’s eyes grew soft, a look of remorse mixed with compassion on his face, letting Ana know, in his own way, that he was sorry. An apology for allowing her to believe for fifteen years her parents had died because of greed. “We’re still trying to determine exactly what Winters and Porter had planned this time around, aside from a payday in the Maldives, but . . . well, if Porter doesn’t make it, hopefully the team will get to Winters and force him to talk.”
The team. A.J. and his people. “They’ll come through.” They’d never let Winters slip through the cracks. No way. “Will you keep their secret?” she asked, worried about A.J. and his team. Their truth was a fragile thing. In the wrong hands, it would be dangerous. Deadly.
“I’m still not sure how I feel about what they do, but I also don’t think this case would have ended quite the way it did, had they not intervened.” His answer was honest, at least. She could use a little honesty after so much betrayal. “But I’ll support the team to the best of my abilities,” he said as his phone began ringing. “It’s Jessica Scott.”
She sat taller at the news, and he surprised her by placing the call on speaker.
“Director Mendez, I’m calling to confirm our people have Winters in custody.”
Ana’s hand struck her chest with quick intensity, and she bowed her head.
“We were considering keeping him in the Maldives a bit longer to get answers before our guys bring him back to the U.S.,” Jessica explained. “He’s already talking. A bit terrified the Russians will come after him since he failed.”
“Good. I want to know everything he has to say and as soon as possible.” Mendez looked to Ana with a tight nod of approval.
“We’ll have the money in the account here transferred to the Bureau. Be in touch soon.” Jessica quickly ended the call, and Ana pushed back from the table.
Was it really over?
“Have you thought about your plans?” Mendez stowed his phone and rose as well. “You know, it might be tough to continue in Counterintelligence, but we could use your expertise at Quantico.”
“Instruct?” She reached for the ruby pendant she had on, the one her dad had given her for her sixteenth birthday, and clutched it as she considered his offer.
“Maybe take some time—as long as you need—and then let me know what you think.” He circled the table and offered her a hand. “Nice work, Agent Quinn. Your parents would be proud.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Three months,” A.J. grumbled. “I can’t operate for three damn months.” And how the hell did Ana manage to pull off getting him in to see a doctor so fast, especially when he didn’t even live in D.C.?
“Don’t be mad at me.” Ana made one of those Eek! faces, laughter in her gorgeous green eyes. It was cute as hell.
He’d been wearing down the floors in the living room of her townhouse ever since they got back from learning the MRI results thirty minutes ago. “Concussion my ass,” he muttered, tossing a hand in the air. “What will the guys do without me?”
“They managed without Asher when he was on paternity leave. Luke, too. Owen,” she reminded him. “Liam.” She smiled. And it was that beautiful smile that stopped him from his panic-pacing before he came undone. “I can keep going.”
His shoulders fell, and he reached out to gently grasp her upper arms as an idea came to mind, which included a vision of their bodies tangled beneath the sheets. “Take three months off with me.”
“Okay.”
“I mean I know that . . .” He blinked. “Wait, ‘okay’?”
She smiled, her eyes glittering with what he believed to be love. “I don’t know what my plans are, and I could use a break, that’s for sure. Maybe we can have a little adventure together.” She pressed up on her toes and planted a kiss on his lips. “Let my hair down. Go on the run, but without anyone chasing us. Some naked times, of course.”
“Okay, okay,” he said with a nod. “I think I can make this three-month thing work.” He roped a hand around her back and pulled her tight to his chest. “Plus, we’ve got my sister’s wedding Sunday. Wyatt and Natasha’s wedding this month too.”
“About Ella’s wedding.” Ana pulled free of his grasp, went over to her couch, and plopped down, looking like she was about to pull the rug out from under him.
“What?” He wanted to go to her, but his body felt tethered to the ground. His nerves about to go haywire. “I told you I cleared everything up with my family.” The conversation had gone over better than he’d expected, and maybe his brother was still a bit angry at him, but having the media declare Ana as innocent had helped pave the way for their talk.
It was already Wednesday, so they had just enough time to wrap up whatever they needed to do in D.C. before leaving for Alabama. He was looking forward to seeing family and slowing down for a bit. Since they’d returned from Hungary, everything had happened so fast, from Mendez sharing the translated ledger with Ana to A.J.’s doctor appointment—and the speedy MRI results from earlier that day.
But that was how they rolled ever since he’d crashed into her life. He almost broke Luke’s record for falling in love with Eva, but Luke claimed A.J.’s ten-plus months of “pining” for Ana counted, so Luke remained the record holder.
Although, A.J. was fairly certain Chris fell in love at first sight with Rory, so maybe he had them all beat.