Page 19 of Angel's Share

“Ma’am, Jameson Walker, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The extended hand, the wide easy smile, the accent always seemed to charm folks. Or maybe it was the compassion and sincerity wrapped around every word Jamie spoke. “I know it’s been some time, but I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” She withdrew her hand and folded her arms back across her chest. Her voice was polite but neutral, an underlying chill that was so unlike her that Aidan almost did a double take. “Are you with the FBI too?”

“No, ma’am. I coach basketball. But I used to be an agent, and I help out on cases from time to time.” Aidan didn’t think Isabella knew about Jamie’s involvement in Tom’s case. There’d been no trial afterward, only the aftermath. And she hadn’t recognized Jamie’s name. While her son had been keeping tabs on Aidan, it seemed Isabella really had tried to move on and leave the past behind. The realization hurt, but if it was what she’d needed, Aidan couldn’t begrudge her. He’d done the same. And this morning, that disconnect could work in their favor.

Aidan gestured toward the table. “We think Jamie may be able to help with Angel’s case, if you’re willing to listen.” Her dark gaze bore into his; Aidan didn’t look away. “Please, Izzy. We just want to get Angel out of this.” The stare down continued another few tension-filled moments until Izzy moved to the seat at the head of the table. Aidan claimed the chair to her right, Jamie on his other side. “Did Tricia explain to you why we’re meeting here instead of at the courthouse?”

“She said she may be able to get Angel a deal.”

“If he cooperates,” Aidan said. “He hasn’t told us who gave him the stolen goods to deliver or who he was supposed to deliver them to. Cargo theft is a top priority for the US Attorneys’ Office and for the Bureau, especially here in LA. Either piece of info will lead them to the targets they’re really after and get Angel out of the felony charge.”

“But he won’t talk.” She sighed and ran a hand over her head, nails raking through the curls. “Welcome to my hell.”

From Aidan’s other side, Jamie rose, grabbed one of the bottles of water, and set it beside Izzy. “Has he been closed off since his dad’s death?”

“Not exactly. It tore him up for sure, but he was better for a while after we moved here.” She cracked the bottle of water open and took a long swallow. “He came out to me as gay when he was ten. It was the first time I saw him really breathe since Tom died. Really smile.” She smiled too, confirming everything Aidan had ever known about her. Warm, loyal, accepting, she wanted whatever was best for her son, would accept him with open arms under any circumstances, same as she had her friends and Tom. It was a shame her family hadn’t returned the favor.

“But then your family turned their backs on you,” Jamie said, following his train of thought.

She nodded, then took another swallow before continuing. “We became tighter. The two of us were a unit. I had his back, and he had mine. But about a year ago, something changed. He said less, kept more to himself.”

“Were there changes at school too? Who he hangs out with there?”

“He has a small group of friends, other queer kids like him, but now that you mention it, I began seeing less of them. But I was also working more.” She fixed her gaze on the water bottle label as she cut through it with a nail. Her voice trembled when she spoke again. “I shouldn’t have?—”

Aidan covered her other hand. “Izzy, don’t blame yourself. You were working to give him a future.”

She continued to tear through the strip of paper but also didn’t move her other hand out from under Aidan’s. “I don’t want what happened, what his dad did, what my family did, to ever hold him back.”

“Any other changes in behavior?” Jamie asked.

“He stopped working on the truck.”

Aidan’s hand squeezed around hers. “The truck?”

“The one you found for Tom in La Honda.”

“His Christmas present, before . . .”

She turned the hand under Aidan’s over, clasping his back. “It was the only one of Tom’s I didn’t sell. It was the one worth the least...”

“Because it needed the most work.”

“Figured it would keep Angel busy the longest.”

There was a long moment of silence, a remembrance and a truce reached, before Izzy withdrew her hand. When she spoke again, some of the earlier chill had left her voice. “If you can help him, please do.”

“Would it be okay if I talked to him?” Jamie asked. “I lost my dad when I was a little younger than him, and I know a thing or two about cars.”

She stopped cutting through the paper. “You think he’ll tell you what you need to know?”

“I think I’m a new face, someone he can relate to, and maybe that gets us more information that can help get him a deal.”

She nodded. “Okay, thank you.”

“I’d like to get a list of those friends too,” Aidan said, then, anticipating her objection, added, “We won’t question anyone without letting you know, but we can see if they intersect with the other people involved in the case.”

“All right.”

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