Page 20 of Just Hide

“Nutritious food?”

“Chicken sandwich and diet Coke.”

“Guess that’ll do. Nutritious enough in my book.” There was a hint of humor in her tone.

Speaking to Jacenta, Cami felt a sudden need to tell her about her predicament, the background to Ethan's death, and the complications with Liam, and to get Jacenta's advice on it.

The problem was that she didn't know how to start. It seemed like an impossible thing to do, and it was risky too.

But suddenly, as she mulled it over in her mind, she figured out a starting point she could use.

"Listen, can I share something with you, something confidential?" she blurted out.

There was a pause.

"Yes, you can," Jacenta said, but her voice was wary.

Taking a deep breath, she began to speak, without knowing if she was doing the right or wrong thing or if this would land her in even more trouble.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

"What I want to speak to you about—well, it’s about Ethan, and about me, too, I guess," Cami said breathlessly.

"Go on?" Jacenta's voice was sharp now, and Cami thought she detected a note of uncertainty there.

"Ethan was trying to investigate something before he was shot," Cami stammered out. "I don't know what it was. I only learned afterward."

"Officially? Or unofficially?"

"Unofficially," Cami said. "I don't think he told anyone. Not even me. But he was also helping me with … with a side issue of mine, a problem I wanted to look at. He went into that bar, and he recognized someone, and that same someone must have recognized him. And then, he said we had to leave in a hurry. It was suddenly super-urgent that we got out of there. He didn’t even have time to explain it all, except that he recognized someone there—the same someone I was hoping to find out about—and said that person was bad news. He was getting us as far away from that club as he could and then the next moment, he was shot."

There was a long, considering silence. Cami opened her bottle of diet Coke and took a gulp, her mouth suddenly dry.

"Do you know who followed you?" Jacenta asked.

"No," Cami said."I don't know who the shooter was. I know who I was there to find out about, and he was the same person that Ethan recognized. But it wasn't the shooter."

There was another long pause. She was sure Jacenta was thinking carefully about what she'd said and why. Jacenta wouldn't just take her words at face value. Cami knew she'd go deeper and think about why she'd said them. And what she hadn't said.

"I see you're not naming names," Jacenta said. "And I think I see why. You're clearly not sure if anyone in the FBI is connected with this. And by that, I mean anyone currently employed within the FBI."

Cami's eyes widened. Jacenta was as sharp as a tack, and she'd hit on the exact crux of the matter that was making it so difficult for Cami to talk about. And she'd done it without even pressuring Cami to name names. Cami's respect for her parole officer, already high, leaped even further.

"That's exactly correct," she admitted.

“Well, I understand your caution," Jacenta said. "You don't know who to trust, and you don't want to endanger yourself or anyone else. I want to know what you know, but I won't press you to tell me anymore right now. However, I think when you’re ready, when you’re surer, you need to tell me. Or tell Connor. And don’t wait too long."

"Thank you," Cami said, her thoughts suddenly veering to Kieran. She didn't want to put him at risk, either.

"What I will say, though, is that for the time being, you need to decide." Now Jacenta's voice was firm, and Cami listened carefully. "There's a fine line between taking something into your own hands in your spare time to do some research and deliberately turning your back on the FBI mandate and rules. I'm sure you know, because you've seen, how acting on your own can get you into big trouble. Make sure it doesn’t happen at a level where it will be serious, and even criminal, if you're found out."

"Yes, I understand," Cami said in a low voice. Again, Jacenta was getting right to the uncomfortable core of the issue.

"However," she then said, "I'm the first to admit that rot can exist, even within an organization like the FBI, and that you don't want to risk yourself, or anyone else, especially given what's happened. And that you're not sure who you can trust."

"That's right," Cami said.

Jacenta sighed. "All I can say is that you need to keep very aware of the consequences of acting on your own. As your parole officer, I need to emphasize to you that any action regarded as criminal will be taken very seriously. And I need to strongly discourage you from taking any such action and to strongly encourage you to share this."

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