Page 18 of Soldier, Tailor, Spy

Jake placed her trembling hand in his. “Yes. You heard me right. It was part of the investigation Oscar was conducting for the FBI.”

“Is that why he was killed in front of my home?” She licked her bottom lip. “Is that investigation the reason my family is irreparably damaged?”

“On the surface, yes,” Jake said. “It’s deeper, unfortunately.”

“Oh God, Jake,” she whimpered. “You’re going to tell me Oscar used me to get more intel on them, aren’t you? That’s why you’re talking to me, not Asher or Drew or even Noah.”

Smart cookie. That was the one thing about his ex-wife. No one got one over on her. However, Oscar and Mr. Yamamoto had. The casualties from one mission weren’t only the dead and buried, but the collateral damage as well. Ginger would have to make peace with the fact she allowed both men into her home—felt safe with both men—only to have her world come tumbling down around her.

“Yes,” he answered, not sugar coating it for her. “Yes, to all of it. From the information we have on Oscar at this moment, it appears he’d been following the Yamamoto Syndicate for several years. When he saw an opening—you—he took the chance.”

“Fuck. So, you’re saying I’m a mark?” She shook her head, biting her bottom lip. “That rotten bastard. I knew.Knew,there was something wrong! All this fucking time, Jake. All this time.” She pushed away from the table and stood. The chair smacked against the floor as she paced. “That rotten, worthless son of a bitch. I hope he fucking rots in hell. I hope the maggots and bugs feast on him and subconsciously he can feel every fucking bite even though he’s dead.” She waggled her finger at Jake. “If he wasn’t dead right now, I’d kill him myself!”

He shrugged. “Makes two of us.”

“Don’t you fucking patronize me, Jake O’Malley,” Ginger snapped.

He wasn’t. The minute they started delving into the file AJ gave the team, he wanted to dig the bastard up and kill Oscar himself. If he’d known then what he knew now, he’d have helped Ginger take Oscar out and sent the body to a pig farm for clean-up. No fuss. No muss. “Listen to me. I agree with you. I am still shocked by the whole situation. So, you and I need to continue this conversation calmly because if not, I might go find his fucking body, dig it up and feed it to some fucking pigs. Got me?”

Ginger stared at him, her mouth gapping. Her eyes wide. She shook her head and cleared her throat before sitting down. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. I want to help you as much as I can.”

“Thank you.” Jake took a deep, slow breath and released it before continuing. “I want to ask you some questions about your relationship with Oscar.” He held his hand up when she protested. “I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”

“O-kay,” she said. “What do you want to know?”

“When did you meet?” Jake asked, pulling out one of his steno pads.

“We met at a runway show. Mr. Yamamoto wanted to showcase my work, so I went to New... York...” She gasped. “Oh, oh no. Jake, do you think that was a-a drop off or an exchange?”

“More than likely, yes.” However, he knew what show she was talking about. Fawn had stayed with him at her house and told him all about the long hours Ginger worked to get every piece perfect for the show. It was also the first time she won an up-and-coming designer award for men’s fashion. “So, you went to the show. Did Oscar approach you there?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He said his boss brought him along so Oscar could see the ins and outs of the business the owner ran. He said he was an accountant for the firm who oversaw the daily business for his boss, but fashion just wasn’t his thing.”

“After?” Jake hedged.

“He gave me his card,” she replied. “I gave him mine, and we noticed we were almost neighbors. So, we made plans to get a drink together the following week.”

“We know that at some point you became partners, then married.”

She nodded again.

“Okay, so you’re married now, since I worked the gate at the community, I can fill in the stuff you can’t or wouldn’t know, like what times he came and left or the oddity of Mr. Yamamoto showing up, or sometimes Kiyoshi.” He made a few more notes, then looked at her. “I’m not sure how to ask this next question, because I knew our plan for more children and why, and I respected your feelings.”

“Declan,” she murmured, as if reading his mind. “Me too. I have tried to figure out everything for a long time, Jake. I might have said nothing, because I wasn’t sure how to phrase it, but...” Her brows furrowed in confusion. “It wasn’t right.”

“Tell me. Maybe you and I can figure it out together,” he said, encouraging her to untangle the web of deception Oscar weaved.

“We, you and me, didn’t want children after Fawn because of her health issues. I know some will see it as being selfish on my part. But, Fawn’s surgeries along with ASL classes, rehab appointments—I didn’t want another child to feel left out or unimportant because of Fawn needed us. I never wanted to be looked at asthatparent who forgot about her other children.”

They’d gone back and forth about her worries. Argued and fussed. In the end, Jake understand what Ginger was saying. He respected her decision and never pushed the issue. For them, in the long run, it’d been the best choice they’d made. By the time Fawn had turned seven, she’d had ten surgeries. Her right ear had been reconstructed from the inside out, to include an internal prosthetic system so she could hear minimally without the hearing aids. Then there were classroom modifications, assistive technologies, school paraprofessionals... Even sitting at the table with Ginger at the present moment, just thinking of everything they’d been through with Fawn, was exhausting.

“I agree,” he said, coaxing her. “So, what changed? Not that you owe me an explanation or anything. I just need to know for my notes so we can fill in the gaps.”

She shook her head. “It’s strange, Jake. Things weren’t adding up. Our relationship was on the rocks. He would come home, go into his office for hours on end. He stopped paying me or Fawn attention. When he paid me any mind, it was a quickie. Like, he was so pent up he had to fuck me to get off. Then he was normal again or, well, his version of normal. I was so fed up, I went to a lawyer and started divorce proceedings. I’d also gone to my doctor because it was time to change my birth control.”

“That’s when you found out?”

She inclined her chin. “It was impossible. How does someone who is on birth control and who is with someone who religiously uses condoms get pregnant?” The confusion marring her perfect features disturbed Jake the most. The uncertainty and the idea that Oscar had literally assaulted her turned his stomach.

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