Page 16 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

“Which leads me to believe it’s not the elder Yamamoto we should concentrate on, but the younger Yamamoto—Kiyoshi,” Thomas said. “I believe you have him and Itsuki Itadori.”

Ah, so those were the two assholes they’d taken into custody. Which begged the question. Why hadn’t Ginger said a word if she knew the man in the cell? Or could it be she didn’t? None of it made sense to Jake. Ginger didn’t lie. “There’s a third out there somewhere. He was on the motorcycle.”

Asher grunted. “Plates came back to a Sally Gordon, of Virginia Beach, which leaves me to suspect whoever drove it, stole it.”

Figured. Jake continued to flip through all the information Oscar had collected over the last four years, if not longer. From what he could tell, Yamamoto made in the neighborhood of sixteen to sixty million dollars a year, most of it was in illegal Yakuza deals. The rest came from his tailor shop. “I have to know the truth right now, Thomas. Do you believe your partner used Ginger to get a better look at Mr. Yamamoto?”

The air in the room grew still. The tension radiating off of everyone made the knot in his gut tighten exponentially. Jake already knew the answer. No one else had to tell him. Oscar went undercover for a mission. He fake-met Ginger, put himself in her way, made her fall for him, and then married her. Along the way, she got pregnant, and they became a “family.” He’d seen that shit so many times with CIA ops and government bullshit games. It made him sick. To Jake, it was assault, plain and simple. In his opinion, there was a difference between sleeping with a target to gain intel and shacking up with someone—playing house to get closer to a target.

Jake clenched his hand into a fist, willing himself to breathe through the fury licking at his insides. His Ginger had been used. She’d almost died because of Oscar’s bullshit, if he had to put the small number of pieces they had together. Oscar’s cover was blown. The only way that would have happened had to be because of Oscar’s negligence. He slipped up somewhere. Had to have. How else would he have been found out?

“Yes,” Thomas answered. “I can’t even tell you why he joined me as a partner, other than he appeared at my office shortly before the incidences in the cove began, with his reassignment papers.”

“None of this makes a lick of sense,” Alex drawled, joining them. “I drove by the shop this morning, like you asked, Asher. The business is shut up tighter than a bull’s asshole. A white bouquet of lilies is hanging on the door too.”

“Word would have gotten around about Ginger’s house being burned down. Media and friends would know where she worked and lived. Perhaps Mr. Yamamoto closed the shop to keep prying eyes from looking around.” Asher scrubbed his stubble covered chin. “Does it look like the FBI has been there yet?”

Alex shook his head. “Not even a hint of caution tape.”

“Well,that’snot suspicious,” Thomas murmured. “I would have thought after shifting through the remains of Ginger’s house they’d have gone there, considering one of our own died because of the people who own that business, and Oscar investigating it. An FBI forensic team should have been out there to poke around.”

“Especially since they gave you such a hard time with going into the remains of Ginger’s house,” Jake added.

“Also, because someone in the FBI knew what mission Oscar was on, even if you didn’t,” Murray stated. “I don’t like this, Asher. My spidey senses are working double time.”

“How do you feel about a recon job, Murray?” Asher hedged. “You’ll work in eight-hour shifts, and I’ll make sure you’re home before dark.”

“Sure,” Murray agreed. “Would be nice getting back in the field. Who’s my partner?”

“For this, since it’s so close to home, Alex. I think he could use the leg stretch too,” Asher teased. “As of this minute, we’re going to do what we do best. Dig. Investigate those who are supposed to be protecting civilians, not endangering them. I need everything, especially who assigned Oscar to Ginger and Mr. Yamamoto. I want to know how long he’s actually been working the case, I want his division commander’s name, and I want to know how high up the chain in the FBI this job went. We also need to get Kiyoshi and Itsuki to talk.”

When the meeting was over, Jake turned to Asher. “You want me to speak to Ginger about Oscar and what she knows about her boss.” He didn’t phrase it as a question. He did his job well. Besides being a firearms expert, he could also cypher information out of people without them even realizing he was doing it. Ginger would see his strategy coming from a mile away, but the minute she knew the man in the cell was the son of her boss—which he had a feeling she already knew—she might tell him everything.

“I think coming from you is the best bet.” Asher rubbed the back of his neck. “This shit puts us in a pinch, for sure.”

“Understood.” They were put into a sticky situation because of Oscar and, by proxy, Ginger. Besides being Thomas’ partner, Ginger was Oscar’s wife, and Jake’s ex-wife.Oh, the tangled webs we weave...“Is there someone who can watch the kids while we talk? Ginger is going to need to focus without having to worry about what Fawn hears or what Declan needs.” Plus, he wouldn’t allow her to use them as an excuse to not answer the questions.

“Yep. I already have a solution. Leave it to me.” Asher patted his shoulder on the way out. He glanced around the sound proof conference room and sighed. What a fucked up situation they were in. He loved Ginger to death and wished he could have apologized and made things up to her before now. Maybe then, at least, she wouldn’t have fallen into bed with a fucked up FBI agent like Oscar. After everything they’d been through, he wanted her to be happy. Now he wondered if she ever had been or ever would be.

“Great. I’ll let Ginger know.” He stood gingerly. His ass had been planted in a chair for too long and the healing wound at his side was telling him all about it.

“For what it’s worth,” Asher said, pausing Jake mid-stride, “I don’t think she had any clue what Oscar was up to.”

Neither did he. “She’d have quit if she knew the truth. For sure, never married Oscar either.”

Asher agreed. “She’s too smart for that shit. Oscar was good. I’ll give him that. He got us.”

Sounded like it. “This is why we should never get in bed with feds. They’re more fucked up than we are.”

His commander laughed. “Roger that.”

When the plans were in place and the children were gone, Jake had dinner brought to Ginger’s apartment. It was small, not really part of the family wing. Then again, like Asher said, there really wasn’t a family wing anymore. It was all rooms for those who needed to lay their head down after a mission. Not using his key card, Jake knocked. Ginger’s ire about him being able to get into her space reminded him he didn’t belong in her life. They were Fawn’s parents, nothing more. He didn’t have the right to barge into her space without her consent. Falling into old trappings had been easy, though. He could pretend nothing happened, and they were still married, but in the end, it would only harm Ginger.

Not help them.

Ginger opened the door and stared at him. The shadows in her emerald eyes tore at him. She was in mourning. Still in shock. Of everyone at the base, he could see the strain she tried to hide, along with her grief. Too much happened in less than a week’s time. Anyone else would have become a raving lunatic, rightfully so, yet not his Gingersnap. Ginger was built different. She used all those emotions, channeling them into whatever work she might design, creating beauty out of hurt.

“Hey,” he murmured. “Dinner’s on the way.”

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