Page 68 of Elusive Promise

"They chased us, but we were able to lose them," Parisa said.

"By we, I assume you're still with your mystery man."

"Yes. Look, Damon, someone at the bureau sent the gunmen to the restaurant to take me out. There's no other way they would have found me. There's a mole."

Damon blew out an angry breath. "I can't believe this."

"You need to protect Ben. If they're working this hard to shut me up, they'll be even more determined to make sure Ben doesn't talk."

"I understand," Damon said in clipped tones.

"Did you get any more information from Ben?"

"No. He asked for a lawyer as soon as we put him in the car. His parents showed up at the office a few minutes ago. They're advising him not to speak to us. We're going to bring the Kumars down and see if they can talk their good friends into taking another position. We also sent a team to the Stone Cellar, but we couldn't locate anyone who admitted a friendship with Isaac Naru. The owner told us one of the bartenders has been sick this week—Colin Jansen. That name familiar?"

"No."

"We'll track him down. The cops are going to sit on the Cellar and see if anyone of interest shows up there."

"Good."

"I need to get back to Ben. Are you going to have this number for a while?"

"I don't know. I'll check in with you in a few hours. You need to get Ben to talk about the Paris bombing, too. The events are probably connected." She paused, mouthing the wordSarain Jared's direction, a question in her eyes.

He gave her the go-ahead nod.

"There's something else," she said. "Sara Pillai is in New York. She came into the country under a fake ID, name of Melissa Holmes. She arrived on Friday morning at JFK. No trace of her since then. I'm guessing her stepbrother Isaac is here, too.

"You have better resources than I do," Damon said grimly.

She didn't comment on that. "Is Vincent still hanging around?"

"He has been here all day."

"Did he know you were meeting me?"

"Yes. I'd like to keep him out of this, but he and Director Hunt are good friends, and I can't go to the deputy director without proof of something."

"I know. Just make sure Ben stays alive long enough to talk."

"You stay alive, too. Take care of yourself, Parisa."

"Thanks."

"Who's Vincent?" Jared asked, as she set down the phone.

"That's a long story."

"At the moment, we've got nothing but time, so start talking."

Sixteen

Parisa drew in a breath, knowing that she needed to tell Jared everything, not just because he was in danger, too, but because he might be able to help her figure things out. He could be more objective, bring a new perspective.

"Vincent Rowland is Westley's godfather," she said. "He was at the party. I actually spoke to him right after I first caught you staring at me. You probably saw him."

"Sure. I remember him—older man, gray hair, looked like he was someone familiar with money and power." Jared's gaze narrowed. "Why did you ask Damon if he was hanging around the FBI offices?"

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