Page 42 of Barbed Wire and Burglary
She watched him, mystified. “Meaning?”
He leaned his forearms on the table. “In military terms,it’s when you send a smaller group, like Special Forces, ahead of a much larger group of soldiers to prepare an area for their arrival. They perform reconnaissance to identify potential threats and scout out the best routes and positions for future encampments.”
“Reconnaissance,” she repeated thoughtfully, seeking out her brother’s gaze. “Some of the tasks we perform at Diamondback could easily count as reconnaissance.”
“Agreed.” He looked troubled. “As part of our security systems testing strategy, we first assess the area surrounding the jewelry store. We study entry points, traffic flows, and potential getaway routes in the event of a break-in. If that’s not reconnaissance, I don’t know what is.”
A.J. drummed his fingers on the table. “Definitely counts as reconnaissance.”
“Yes, but there’s a problem with the timeline.” Aurora mentally pieced it together. “We report everything back to Uncle Cary in real time, and it eventually makes it into our official report to the JSA, but that usually doesn’t happen until weeks later.” She paused to let that sink in before adding, “Afterthe cluster of jewelry heists has taken place.”
Aaron looked as glum as she felt. “That makes Uncle Cary look as guilty as sin.”
“I wouldn’t jump to conclusions yet,” she cautioned. “Only a few days ago, you two were staring daggers at each other, and now look at us.”
“Good point.” Aaron gave her an approving look. He was looking a lot better this evening. Stronger. Healthier.
“What do you think, A.J.?” She wanted to hear his thoughts, even if he didn’t agree with her.
“What I think,” he mused, frowning, “is that there’snothing typical about this case. It’s different. We’re going to have to dig deeper.”
“Let’s review what we’re sure about and take it from there,” she urged.
Her suggestion received a round of head nods.
Okay.“Let’s see…I think the three of us can agree that Aaron and I have been serving as an advance party of sorts. Though it was never our intention, the information we provide to Uncle Cary—and eventually to the JSA—is being used by the jewel thieves to plan their entry points and escape routes. What we don’t yet know is who is intercepting the information, how they’re doing it, or what exactly they’re going to such lengths to retrieve.”
“I say this calls for a road trip!” A.J. waggled his eyebrows at her. “Time to pay a visit to Diamondback’s home office.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” Her brother snapped his fingers as if something else had just occurred to him. “This discussion reminds me of something our parents said before they disappeared. At the time, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but it does now.”
Aurora tensed, almost certain she wasn’t going to like what he said next.
“It was actually our mother who brought it up.” His expression turned gloomy. “While embarking on a new assignment, she said it sometimes felt like the work she and Dad were doing was nothing more than a warm-up before the main attraction. Dad agreed with her and said the number of crimes they prevented no longer outweighed the ones they failed to prevent. He sounded pretty discouraged about it.”
Reminiscing about their parents was painful. Aurora drew a shaky breath. “What if,” she said slowly, “theyfigured out what was going on? What if the company they’d built from the ground up had somehow been hijacked by criminals, twisting their hard work into aiding and abetting crime instead of deterring it?”
A.J. reached for her hand and covered it with his. “I’ve run across criminals willing to kill for a lot less.”
Aurora froze, unable to meet her brother’s eye. He wasn’t ready to accept that their parents were gone, but A.J. didn’t know that. It wasn’t something she’d been able to discuss in much detail with A.J., since most of what they did at Diamondback was so hush-hush.
The silence in the room stretched to the awkward point, and Aaron mumbled something about needing to make a pit stop. He stood and pushed back his chair.
After he left the room, she dismally turned to A.J. “He’s still clinging to the hope that our parents will be found alive.” Way down deep she didn’t believe it, but her brother did.
The shadow that crossed his features told her he didn’t believe it either.
“He’s so obsessed with finding them,” she continued softly, “that he hasn’t gotten the closure he needs, hasn’t grieved, and hasn’t moved on.” It was heartbreaking to watch him remain stuck in emotional limbo, but it wasn’t something she had any control over.
“Grief is a strange beast that everyone grapples with in their own way.” A.J. toyed with her fingers. “I wish I had more wisdom to offer on the topic, but I don’t.”
She knew he was speaking from experience.
“Please know this,” he continued. “I’m sorry for the tragedy you and your brother are dealing with. I’m here for you if you need anything. I’m here for him, too.”
“Thank you.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry for your loss as well.” She wasn’t sure if she’d ever told him that.
He bowed his head over their joined hands. “As a man of faith, I trust that my late wife was here for the time she was meant to be here. As we all are.The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”He quoted the age-old passage from the Book of Job with reverence.
