Page 29 of Special Agent Isabella

“Would that have anything to do with you wanting to be FBI?”

“I guess. I know I wanted to make the world a better place for folks like my poor mother. Immigrants who had a tough time.”

“And there’s a lot of them.”

“Sure are. Then I met the love of my life, Sergeant Hank Bolden, Abbie’s father. He had a huge influence on my way of thinking. The idealistic man had just returned from his second deployment to Afghanistan. We fell in love and got married in a whirlwind, and when the forces requested he return, he did so, expecting it to be the final time. Except, they called on him again, wanting him to take on one last tour to help in their withdrawal. Sadly, he agreed.”

“That’s when he went missing?”

“They’re pretty sure he died in one of the road bombs, but they couldn’t find any forensic evidence after the explosion and fire. They declared him dead along with three others who were in the same vehicle.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, my friend. It must have been terrible.”

“It was… is, but I have Abbie, and my job takes up a lot of my energy.”

Wanting to change the narrative, Tanner hated seeing the pain on his old friend’s face. It etched so deeply; he felt his empathy increase until he could barely think straight.

Returning to their earlier conversation, Tanner said, “It must seem impossible for you sometimes, having to fight this constant battle about whether you belong or not.” Tanner guided her into the building they now approached.

“Hard, yes. Impossible… never. Every time I face animosity, it makes me feel like the final goal is more important. When I see those hateful words about me and my poor little girl, I hear the pain that must be festering in people’s minds. I wonder, is it a cry for help when they put such vitriol into anonymous words… do they feel ashamed or righteous?”

“Probably both.”

Stacy shook her head. Her face filled with sadness. “I always believed that truth would prevail. That the majority of folks were intrinsically good.”

“Do you still feel that way?”

She stopped before entering her office and looked into his eyes, hers beseeching. “I’m trying to end all the negative crap that’s pounding away at me. I need you to help me fight it off. Promise me.”

Jesus, he didn’t know if he believed any of that himself. Over the years, he’d lost his own starry eyeglasses and witnessed so much of the rotten side of humanity. He hesitated and then focused onherneeds. “I promise.”

ChapterTwenty-Five

Bella had a great time with Abbie that day. Between constructing the rest of the airport, practicing their sparring, and playing hairdresser with the kid, the hours flew past. Once Abbie’s eyes became too heavy to force open, she admitted to feeling sleepy.

Bella coaxed her into taking a nap on the office sofa. “I’ll watch over you. I promise. I’ll ask the kitchen to bring lunch in here and you can have yours when you’re ready, okay?”

“Okay.” Abbie’s tired voice held a smile in its depths. Her tiny hands pillowed her head, buried under the masses of blonde curls.

Once Bella knew Abbie was in dreamland, she found the housekeeper and ordered lunch to be brought to where Abbie slept. On the way back to the office, she went to the living room area where she could see the crowds through the big windows.

Shouting their garbage and flinging around their posters and placards, she wondered how so many had the time to devote to such a stupid and wasteful pastime.

Their biggest problem seemed to be that half the group believed in the governor and were there as support. And the others were the opposite. They hated what she stood for and wanted her gone. They were the ones with the bullhorns, the loud raucous shouts, and the tedious hatred for anything different than what they believed.

Sickened to see grown adults wasting their time outside rather than working at making a difference in a way that might matter, she headed to where Abbie still lay asleep.

When her cellphone rang, she checked the number and saw it was Demi on the other end of the line.

With her mouth full, she quickly chewed her sandwich and then answered. “Hey pal, what’s up?”

“What’s wrong with your voice?”

“I was eating. Trouble there?”

“Why is it that every time I call, you automatically assume there’s a problem?”

“Uhh… because there always is?”

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