Page 37 of Special Agent Jennie

Chapter Twenty-eight

Jennie couldn’t believe that the man who’d manhandled her daughter could be the one she had a mugshot for, sitting on her desk. They were supposed to pick him up for questioning in the disappearance of a young Chinese girl whose father had put out an APB, notifying them of her disappearance.

Normally, they wouldn’t be involved in a case like this but her chief happened to be friends with the father, and so he had taken a personal interest. Which meant that Jennie and Reed were brought into the investigation and expected to find Lance Bosko and the girl.

Lisa had stiffened in Jennie’s arms after her unintentional announcement. Once the statement had left her mouth, she’d have given anything to have it back. It wasn’t in her nature to share her work with her family but seeing the familiarity between this Lance and her daughter had triggered her protective instinct. Now that she’d begun blabbing information better left unshared, she knew trying to extricate herself was going to prove difficult.

Lisa forced herself back to probe her mother’s face. “What do you mean, kidnapping? Lance and Kane are federal officers. Jesus, the guy’s pure gold. What the hell, Mom?”

Jennie knew Lisa had been unaware of her slip in giving away their connection to a government agency. A thrill shot through her at learning that Kane wasn’t the prick or loser she’d been led to believe. After reading Lisa’s notes she’d been sick to her stomach, trying to sort the lawless man of today from the moralistic boy she’d known when she still had faith in the goodness of people.

But… that still didn’t minimize the fact that his partner was dirty, wanted by the law, and could be arrested at any moment. Though no charges had been filed against him yet, he had been identified by the girl’s father and was their number one suspect.

“Don’t look at me that way, Lisa. He’s wanted for questioning in the disappearance of a young girl… a teenager. We have to follow up on this warrant, you know that.”

Pushing away from her mother, all signs of her earlier softness eroding under this new threat, Lisa wrapped her arms around her knees and winced when it pulled at her tummy. Anger exploded and very effectively closed her off from Jennie.

“Look, I’m sorry, baby. I can see you’ve had a hard night. Let me clean those bruises.” She gently reached out to softly touch the darkened swollen area on Lisa’s face. When Lisa pulled away, she saw the effort it took the girl. “What? Is your stomach hurt? Were you hit? Don’t look at me that way, I saw you flinch when you put pressure there. Are you going to explain what happened?”

“No. I told you; I can’t say anything. But I’m fine. Really.”

“Okay then, come on, I’ll help you to bed. It’s late.”

“I’m not moving until you tell me more about your case against Lance. What makes you think he’s guilty?”

“I received an arrest warrant with his name and photo. At the very least, he’s wanted for questioning.”

“Why didn’t you grab him tonight, when you saw him earlier?”

“It all happened so fast, and I was more concerned about you. I’ll find him tomorrow. By the way, do you have his cell number or address?”

“No. I wouldn’t give it to you even if I did. He’d never do anything to hurt anyone. You have to trust me, Mom.”

“Fine. I believe you. We’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“I need to know what happens.” Lisa stared her mother down, a habit she’d had since her kindergarten days, and wouldn’t budge until Jennie had promised to keep her in the loop. “Okay… okay.”

Lisa pulled her mother back around so she would see her expression. “You have to understand, Mom, Lance saved my bacon tonight. So, I need to know what this is all about. I can’t believe he’s guilty of breaking any laws. I won’t believe it.”

“Fine. Just don’t get your hopes up. The missing girl’s father – who, I might add, is an agent with the FBI in Jersey – is positive Bosko has been holding her against her will. But I’ll admit it’s a bit of a shit-show, so don’t flip out until I know more. Now, go to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Jennie didn’t tell Lisa the whole truth when it came to the story about this crime. Seems Lance had befriended the fifteen-year-old whose family lived in the same apartment building in New Jersey, and though her father had disapproved of their acquaintance, she’d continued to meet with Lance.

Then Bosko had gotten transferred to DC and not a week later, the girl called Melena had gone missing. Her father swore someone had to have arranged her disappearance and claimed that Lance had instigated the whole thing. He’d been on his way to collect his daughter but had gotten tied up in a situation at home. Domestic terrorists held a rally in the city and left more than twenty dead and hundreds wounded. Unable to leave, forced to work, he’d reached out to Jennie’s boss, his friend, to save his girl. Now it was up to Jennie and Reed to investigate and charge this Bosko guy… that’s if they found him guilty.

Earlier, she’d only had time to read through the file before they’d decided that two hours overtime had been enough and called it a day. Exhausted from their day’s eight hours of continuous callouts, she’d perused the papers and wondered about a girl who had so few friends at school that she’d come all the way to DC to escape her life. That didn’t ring true unless a romantic liaison brought her here. The thought disgusted her… a grown man fooling around with a young girl could be charged with statutory rape. Chrissakes, what kind of a guy does that?

Rethinking, calming her worst-case scenario notions, she understood many kids took off from their parents, but in her experience, the normal practice would be for them to bunk in with peers until the heat died down and then go crawling back to daddy to look after them.

Deciding to start their search in the morning, she’d come home and then saw the very person whose arrest warrant waited on her desk to be served. And her daughter had been familiar with him in such a way that shocked Jennie. Lisa didn’t go in for public gestures, her innate shyness had kept her from doing so.

Jesus, for Lisa’s sake, she hoped that this Lance character had an explanation. Because Melena’s father, Agent Henry Brunner, was out for blood and had his arrows aimed directly at Bosko.

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