Page 58 of Operation: Reckless Angel

His flight arrived on time, and he was happy that Jackson had made great time and was already at the airport. Roth deplaned and was picked up curbside by Jackson in the rented SUV. He also text messaged Briana, and she confirmed that she was waiting at the hotel.

“So Shepherd told me to try to keep Briana Woods out of our investigation as much as possible, but I don’t think that’s going to be easy. It’s her case and trust me when I say she’s a force that doesn’t get corralled easily,” Roth said. “But I had an idea.”

Jackson laughed. “Yeah, I heard about the Iowa Op when you met her from Lambchop. You’re welcome.”

“For?”

“For being the first to get involved with someone associated with one of our cases and thus making it allowable for the rest of you.”

“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Roth said.

“Yeah, Lambchop and Mother told me about you having her lip-locked when they brought the brother into the house and don’t bother telling me it was only a distraction. You requested to be her contact and keep tabs on her and her brother.”

“Yes, I did because I knew they weren’t going to stop their activities. And after talking with BT and Evie on New Year's Day, I’m glad they haven’t stopped. Women in trouble need the service she provides.”

“And your idea to keep her out of it is?” Jackson asked.

“That we’re holding her in reserve for the right moment to make the accusation when the husband will be arrested. He’s seen her and talked with her on several occasions. She’s burned. We need back up and monitoring of our activities. We need her to dissect the intel we collect. If Shepherd will let us hook her up with the Digital Team so she feels a part of the investigation, I think we can keep her far out of it by having her stationed at the hotel.”

Jackson grimaced. “Oh, Shepherd isn’t going to like this.”

“He allowed it with Brielle, even allowed her to go onsite as a non-employee of the agency. She was told about us, knew who we were. Hell, the same could be said about Sienna and Kaylee. Briana nearly joined the CIA. She passed all their security checks.”

“That was five years ago,” Jackson said. “From what it looks like she’s been doing since, that wouldn’t be the case today.”

“I think we can trust her.”

“Did you talk with Shepherd about this yet?”

“No, I only thought of it on the plane.”

“Don’t mention it to him yet. Let me meet the lady and see if I agree,” Jackson said.

“She’s a former Army MP. Trust me, she may have been using CIA resources to help these women over the last five years, but she still believes in doing the right thing.”

“I’m not arguing that what she’s been doing isn’t the right thing for the women she’s helping. And there’s no doubt in my mind many of them would be dead if she hadn’t been doing it. But we need to be sure we can trust her with the knowledge of who we are.” He pulled into the parking lot of the hotel. “I’m going to push her and see what shakes out. Don’t get defensive or intercede on her behalf. I need to see her true colors.”

Roth didn’t like it, but he understood. “Got it.”

Jackson parked and the two of them entered the lobby of the hotel. Roth glanced around and finally found Briana comfortably seated in a corner on a sofa with her laptop open. He approached her as Jackson went to the desk to check in.

“Hi,” he greeted when he reached her. She looked up at him. He wished she would have hopped up and embraced him, but she didn’t move. “How was your drive?”

“Slow but uneventful,” she replied. “How was your flight?”

He sat on the couch close beside her. “Fine. We’re going to get him and nail him to the wall for murdering his wife,” he whispered. He flashed her a grin. “I like that we’re going to be working together. Thank you for trusting me enough to call me.”

Briana’s heart swelled in her chest. Damn, that was the last thing she needed to hear from him. She didn’t want to like him as much as she did. He was kind of the enemy, and she knew it wasn’t smart to let him get too close. “You’re welcome. Thank you for coming.”

“My partner’s checking in. He’s going to need to verify we can trust you. Go with it, if you know what I mean,” he counseled.

She understood. She nodded and flashed him her own smile. “As an MP, I was the one doing the interrogating.”

“Jackson was a Ranger, highly decorated. He’s been doing this a lot longer than me, knows his shit. He’s also fair and a good guy. You can trust him.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” she said as the man at the counter headed in their direction. She put her laptop away and stood just as he reached them.

“Briana, my partner, Jackson,” Roth introduced.

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