Page 710 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“Ouch!”

This brought laughs from Stella and Sydney.

Sydney’s eyebrows knitted together. “I’m just having a hard time seeing you as an FBI agent. I mean, does the FBI really put people in positions like that?”

Sean chuckled. “Absolutely.”

“But how did they put you in a management position? Who else knows about you? Does Jake Roberts know? Is he involved?”

Sean laughed and held up his hand as a shield. “Whoa, one question at a time.”

She waited for him to continue.“Well, for starters, we have informants all over the place.” He raised an eyebrow at Sydney. “And no, I can’t tell you who they are.”

She laughed. “And Jake?”

Sean shrugged and made a motion like he was zipping his lips. “I’ll never tell.”

“Well, why not?”

“Oh, he wasn’t trafficking drugs if that’s what you’re asking. Other than that, that’s all I can say.”

Sydney huffed. “You’re impossible!”

“Anyway, back to the story. Our informant told us that drugs were being run from the sawmill, so the bureau approached the owners of Chamberland Mills about putting me in that position.” He paused. “It took me a while to figure out who the players were and to gain their trust.”

Sydney mulled this over. “Well, I’m really impressed with how you solved this case.”

“I never could have done it without you.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s been a growing concern for a few years about the large-scale meth operation in this area, but no one could find out who was really running it. Drugs are being run all over the Southeast from here. That’s what prompted the bureau to get involved. My contact was Buck Gibson, who then led me to Kendall. But Kendall was very careful to hide Walter’s identity, and even though he let me be a part of operations, I was still considered an outsider. Without you, we would’ve indicted Kendall eventually, but Walter would’ve gotten away. Then when I started reading Avery’s journal, I found out about Avery and his connection to Walter.”

Sydney’s face paled. “Wait a minute. What do you mean when you started reading Avery’s journal? How did you get hold of it?”

Sean searched Sydney’s face for a moment. “I stole it.”

Sydney’s mouth dropped. “You’re the one who broke into my house?”

He nodded.

She slammed her cup on the table and jumped to her feet. “How could you do that? Do you have any idea what that journal meant to me? You invaded my privacy!” Her voice grew soft. “You took the only tangible thing I had left of my dad.”

“I’m so sorry I hurt you,” Sean said.

Stella cocked her head. “No one knew about the journal. How did you know to go searching for it?”

“That’s a good question. I didn’t know about the journal … at first. I broke into Sydney’s house to learn more about her.” He looked up at Sydney. “When you first came to work at the mill, I knew there was more to the picture than met the eye. I mean, why would a girl like you leave Ft. Worth to come and work as a safety consultant in a sawmill in Alabama?”

“And just what is so bad about Alabama?” Stella asked.

He held up his hand in defense. “Nothing. I mean no disrespect. It’s just that something about the whole picture didn’t seem right. So I had Sydney checked out.”

“You what?” She glared at him.

Sean’s eyes met hers in a direct challenge. “Yes, I did.” He kept his voice level. “There was too much at stake to take any chances. When I found out who you really were, I had to learn the real reason why you came back to Stoney Creek. I broke into your house, not really knowing what I would find. That’s when I came across the secretary with the locked drawer.” He held up his hands. “It just goes to reason that anytime someone locks a drawer, I figure?—”

“There must be something of value in it,” Stella finished for him.

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