Page 70 of Olivia

Jackson mulled over that while he continued to watch the footage, but he didn’t come up with a good answer until a knock at the door stole his attention.

Aaron walked in without waiting for a response. “Can I have my office back now?”

“You can,” Jackson said, standing. “Thank you for this, I owe you.”

Aaron nodded, eyeing him. “I know you’re not going to tell me, but I can’t think of a single good reason why Anna White, the girlfriend ofDiaz Smith, would be meeting with a cop.”

“She’s not meeting with a cop. She was meeting with Jamie,” Jackson said. He felt a pang of guilt for concealing the true nature of the meeting, but the less Aaron knew the better.

Aaron looked at him long and hard. “Whatever you’re planning, don’t do it. I’ve never met the guy, but everyone knows him. Everyone who lives in Oradale hears stories. Anna White is Diaz Smith’s girlfriend—she’s not any different than he is.”

Jackson didn’t believe that, but it didn’t matter what Aaron believed. It only mattered that she would work with him. She was motivated, for her own reasons, but that was good enough.

Jackson grabbed his keys, putting his hand on Aaron’s shoulder. “Let’s have dinner in a few weeks’ time. It was good to see you,” Jackson said.

Aaron nodded slowly.

Jackson was in the hallway when he heard Aaron’s voice. “When you dance with the devil, the danger is not what you can see, Jackson, it’s what you can't see.”

Aaron’s words echoed in his mind as he drove to the Prism Hotel. He pulled into valet, passed his keys to the attendant, and took a deep breath as he walked through the glass doors heading in the direction of the bar. It was early for whiskey, but he’d earned it today. Regardless, this meeting wasn’t optional.

The bar was empty when he walked in, save for a couple at a table and the bartender. Jackson took a seat toward the back of the bar, out of hearing reach of the couple—not that they seemed to be paying any attention to anything but each other, which stirred up an unexpected feeling. Jackson had always been happy dating—he’d never found a reason to settle down—but as he looked at the couple, he realized he was missing something... or someone.

He shook his head, returning his attention to the reason he was there. “Whiskey, on the rocks, please.”

The bartender nodded, then turned his back and grabbed a bottle from the mirrored shelving. The mirrored trend many bars used was particularly helpful for someone like him—someone who needed to watch his back. Besides, bars were particularly good meeting places, because a guy sitting alone in a bar didn’t raise eyebrows.

With every minute that ticked past, Jackson grew more nervous, but he refused to show it. He made sure he wasn’t unconsciously rubbing his thigh or jaw or any other kind of tell, because the man he was meeting would be watching him. He would be assessing him right now, from some hidden corner of the hotel, to make sure Jackson was coping with the pressure. To make sure Jackson wasn’t going to crack.

Jackson kept his eyes on the bar, using the mirrors to his advantage.

Five more painful minutes passed before the man slid onto the bar stool beside him.

“I’ll have whatever he’s drinking,” he said to the bartender.

Jackson looked at him. He’d only seen him once before, when John had interviewed him during the FBI recruitment process.

“I’m glad to see you’re still alive and well,” John said.

Jackson gave a small smile. “Alive and well,” he said. “And you?”

John’s eyes lightened. “Very good now that I hear you managed to recruit a new team member. To be honest, I didn’t think you could do it, but you proved me wrong.”

“It’s good to be the underdog,” Jackson said with a grin.

John chuckled. “That it is. Although your challenge is just beginning. Although you pulled that off, you’re only at the base of the mountain. My advice is to get whatever information you can and get it fast. Every day that passes is a risk for her, and for you. Diaz is not your typical gangster, he’s cunning and slippery. A snake.”

Jackson felt the air squeeze from his lungs. That was twice in as many hours that he felt like he’d been given a warning. Aaron’s words were still fresh in his mind, and now John’s were layering on them.

Jackson knew he couldn’t back off now, though. He had a sense, a feeling, an intuition, that everything was about to come full circle.

“Speaking of snakes,” John continued, “Dominic and Diaz were seen leaving St. Peter’s Cathedral this morning. Do you have any idea what that’s about?”

Jackson raised an eyebrow. “None. I wouldn’t have picked either for the religious type. Who else was inside the church?”

“We didn’t enter; we can’t risk tipping them off. We have two teams watching who have left the cathedral since, but they haven’t seen anyone of interest. But when it comes to Dominic in particular, we know so little about him. We need to know everything Anna knows about him. She’s closer to Diaz than anyone—she must know something.”

Jackson simply nodded, but if Anna had been telling the truth earlier, she truly thought they were estranged. So Anna wasn’t going to be able to give them anything. Although, Jackson thought, pausing... maybe the fact they were thought to be estranged told them something important. The brothers were hiding something and it worked to their benefit to make everyone believe they were estranged.

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