Page 69 of Elusive Promise

"Because he's former FBI. He was an agent for over twenty years, one of the best. His son, Jamie, was in my training group at Quantico. The first week, they put us in teams of six. We did all of our training assignments together. We interviewed each other, analyzed each other, put ourselves through lie detector tests, stripped ourselves bare of our secrets, and became really, really close. But a few weeks before graduation, we were on a training mission, a hostage situation in a high-rise building. During the extraction of the hostages, Jamie fell and died. No one really knew what happened. Jamie was out of sight from all of us when he fell. In the end, the investigators determined that it was human error. Vincent was not happy with that conclusion, but there was a very thorough review of every detail. And Jamie was known for taking risks. He was fearless and probably a little overconfident. But he shouldn't have died. I know we've all felt guilty and wondered if we could have done something differently."

"I'm sorry, Parisa," Jared said quietly.

"It was tragic."

"So, why are you suspicious of his father now?"

"Vincent has kept in touch with all of us since Jamie's death, having us over for a memorial celebration every single year for the last four years. We thought it was because we were the last links to his son. But at the most recent celebration, I thought Vincent was acting strangely. He seemed more obsessed with the details of the accident than ever before. He kept asking me questions about it. And I started to feel really uncomfortable. I didn't think much about it after I left, but in the past year things have been happening to our remaining group of five that we can't quite explain. Three of my friends have had to run for their lives, and during each situation, there has been some problem at the bureau, some leak, some information disseminated that should have been kept secret. It's nothing particularly noticeable. There's usually a way to rationalize it. But some of my former classmates are starting to think that Vincent might be responsible, that he might be trying to get back at us by messing up our assignments."

"That sounds a little out there," he commented.

"I thought so, too, but when you look at the pattern of what's going on, it starts to make more sense. Anyway, when I saw him at the party, I was surprised. But then he explained he's Westley's godfather, and it made perfect sense that he would be there."

"But now you're wondering if he's the one leaking your whereabouts at every turn."

"He doesn't work at the bureau, but he has a lot of friends in the New York field office who do work there, including Deputy Director Peter Hunt. As Westley's godfather, it's not surprising to anyone that Vincent would be spending time in the office trying to help with the investigation. But it does make me wonder."

"Okay. What about Damon Wolfe? What's his story?"

"Damon was in my Quantico group. He's part of the original six, and I trust him completely. He's not selling me out. He had his own problems with the bureau less than a year ago. He almost died. After his case was resolved, they cleaned house in the New York office, but maybe a new mole has sprung up or has been there all along."

"Let's say you're right. Vincent is looking to get some sort of payback where you're concerned. When did he put his plan into motion?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before or after the attack at the consulate? Was Vincent behind your invitation to the party? If he was, that would mean he knew the kidnapping was coming."

"That's interesting. Maybe he did want me at the party. Maybe he set that up." She considered that scenario for a second. "It would tie in with the fact that I never asked for an invitation, but the family thought I did. But how would he have known I'd go upstairs with Jasmine? Unless, he's the one who told Jasmine I wanted to talk to her privately. That actually makes sense, too. But what doesn't make sense is Vincent's motivation to hurt his godson. I can't see why he'd pick Westley's engagement party to get revenge on me."

"I can't, either. Unless we're completely off base on who is behind the kidnapping. We've been focused in on Bezikstan and the rebel group that was involved in Paris."

"Because of Ben's involvement," she pointed out. "He's the link."

"But that diamond would be worth a lot to many people. Even Anika had a theory about Westley wanting the diamond," he reminded her.

"True. And Vincent probably has connections who would be able to help him unload it," she said slowly, pondering that possibility. "Vincent and Westley could have been working together to steal the diamond. Westley could have convinced Hutchinson to hire the shady security company."

"Or Westley could have told Hutchinson to ask Vincent who to hire. With Rowland's FBI connections, that might have made sense."

"But those guards died because of those toxic fumes. Would Vincent kill other people to get to me?"

"Maybe you were just the icing on the cake. He might have been willing to kill to get his hands on a fifty-million-dollar diamond, and getting you involved was just a bonus."

"And the fumes might not have been meant to be that deadly." She paused. "Vincent did speak to me about the value of the diamond at the party. He also mentioned the curse, which is fairly irrelevant, although I suppose people might think the diamond is cursed after what happened to Jasmine." She glanced at Jared. "But let's back up and say that Vincent had nothing to do with the theft. How else could he be involved?"

"Well, getting back at you could simply be a crime of opportunity. Vincent figured you were already a target, because you were the only witness to the kidnapping. If you died, everyone would assume the kidnappers had taken you out. But that assumes the fact that Vincent wants to kill you. It seems that your other friends are very much still alive, no matter what else they've gone through."

"Which is why we don't know what's going on. Are we that good at surviving, or is Vincent that bad at killing us? Or is there some other plan in the works, and this is all just a warmup, a form of personal torment?" She sighed. "I don't think I can come up with an answer with the facts I currently have."

"Probably not."

"And I'm more concerned about Jasmine than myself. I'm also worried about you. Today, you were clearly seen with me, Jared. And I did give your name to Damon when I first spoke to him yesterday, which seems like a million years ago now. He ran your name through our database; there's a record of that. Because of me, you're probably not as invisible as you thought you were."

He shrugged. "I'm not concerned about that."

"You should be. You could have been shot today."

"But I wasn't."

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