Page 81 of Elusive Promise

Years of being secretive and deceptive made her want to say no, to keep the call private, but she and Jared were in this together, and she trusted him even more now that he'd opened up to her. It almost surprised her to realize the depth of that trust.

His gaze sought hers. "Is it that tough of a decision?"

"No, it's not a difficult decision at all. We'll call Damon together."

A smile entered his eyes. "Good. But…"

"There's abut?" she asked warily.

"You can't tell him who I am."

"He already knows your name." She stopped abruptly. "Is Jared MacIntyre really your name? Because he ran a check on you after we first met, and you did not come up as CIA."

"Jared is my first name."

"And I suppose I don't need to know your real last name."

"It doesn't matter at the moment. He thinks I'm a journalist?"

"Yes. Your cover is still intact."

"Good. I don't need the CIA getting involved, and I'm not just saying that because I'm worried about getting fired. I don't want them to throw up barriers that not even the bureau can get over."

"I get it. But at some point, someone from the agency is going to figure out you're still involved in the case."

"By then, I hope to have found April's killers."

"I'd ask if finding April's killers is worth losing everything, but I already know the answer."

He met her gaze. "It is worth it."

"There's a chance you could end up with no justice and no job."

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen."

"I don't know if I can help save your job, but I will definitely do my best to find April's killers."

She punched in Damon's number, then set the phone on the table, as Jared sat down across from her.

"Hello?" Damon said a moment later, his voice hushed.

"It's Parisa. Is it okay to talk?"

"One minute." Silence followed his answer, and then he came back on the phone. "We're good now. Are you all right?"

"Yes. What's happening with Ben? Did he start talking?"

"No. But Raj Kumar is speaking to him now. We're hoping he might be able to persuade Ben to say something of value."

"I hope so. Are Ben's parents still there?"

"They left when Raj showed up. They wouldn't even speak to him."

"Raj must be really confused and feeling so betrayed by both Ben and his father right now. Maybe it was a mistake for me to turn Ben into the bureau so quickly," she muttered. "I might have been able to get more out of him."

"You did the right thing. He probably would have shut down with you, too."

She wasn't so sure about that, and judging by the expression on Jared's face, his thoughts were running close to hers.

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