Page 67 of Elusive Promise

"I can take it."

He dabbed her wound with an antiseptic pad, hearing her swift intake of breath as he did so. But she remained perfectly still as he finished cleaning the cut and then put a large Band-Aid over the area. "You're good," he said, sitting back in his seat. "You might have a little scar."

"I can live with that. Thanks." Her gaze grew troubled as it met his. "I need to apologize to you, Jared."

"I'm not stopping you."

"I shouldn't have called the bureau without telling you first, without giving you a chance to interrogate Ben. To be perfectly candid, I wasn't thinking about you when I called Damon; I was only concerned about Jasmine. I didn't believe there was any way you and I were going to chase down the kidnappers without more help. It seemed irresponsible and dangerous to keep the information about Ben to ourselves."

"All I needed was ten more minutes."

"Maybe Jasmine needed those ten minutes more."

He hated that she had a point. "So, who's the guy you called?"

"Special Agent Damon Wolfe. He's not just a fellow agent; he's a friend. I went to Quantico with him. I trust him completely."

"Even though he took you to the safe house where you were attacked?"

"Yes. He felt sick about that."

He shook his head at her stubborn belief in her friend. "He's the most likely person to have betrayed you, Parisa. Look what just happened."

"I know Damon. He wouldn't do that. There's another leak at the bureau. But that doesn't matter now. We need to figure out what's next."

"What's next?" he asked in surprise. "You gave away our best lead. There's nonext."

"I don't believe that's true. We can check out the Stone Cellar—where Isaac Naru's friend works."

"I'm sure he'll run as soon as the feds show up, and they're probably already there. You gave Damon your phone with the information Ben gave us about the Cellar."

"Then they'll get him, and hopefully he'll be able to tell them where Isaac is."

"Let's hope so. Because there's no guarantee Ben will talk to the agents. It was different with you. He thought you would protect him. Now, he knows you won't."

"That's true, but I still think I made the right move, Jared. I'm sorry I didn't tell you first. But the bureau will be in a better position to track the calls to Ben's cell phone and determine who contacted him. Ben is the best connection to the kidnappers we have, and maybe the only person who can help find Jasmine before it's too late."

"Let's just hope the mole at your agency doesn't get to Ben before that can happen."

She stared back at him. "Damn."

"Yeah," he said, seeing the realization spread through her eyes.

"I need your phone. I have to tell Damon what just happened to us."

He reached into the bag and pulled out a prepaid phone. "I got you a new one in the drugstore." As she reached for it, he pulled it away. "On one condition—you make this call on speaker."

"Fine." She took the phone and punched in a number.

A male voice answered a moment later with a simple, brisk hello.

"Damon, it's me, Parisa. We have a problem. I was shot at after we left the restaurant."

"What? Are you serious? Are you all right?"

"Yes. There were two gunmen. They were in a white work van. I didn't get the license plate number." Parisa paused, glancing over at him.

He shook his head, wishing he had gotten a number or even a good view of the gunmen. All he'd noticed were two men in jeans and hoodies, probably thirties, but who knew?

---