Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files Book 6) (6 page)

Jessie sat back against the couch, biting her tongue. Couldn’t he see that she was incapable of staying in the confines of this apartment? She watched as he walked to the counter and had a private conversation with Townes. It must have been the way Gavin was standing for it triggered a memory of her father being in the same position. Her father had been talking to Uncle John. She recalled that he was a very close friend of her father, for that was why she and her sister were allowed to use that familial title. She hadn’t thought of the man in years.

“Jessie?” She heard Gavin calling her name and she tried to focus on him, childhood memories surfacing one by one. “I have your letters. I’ll see to it that Lou gives them to your parents. I’ll be back in a few hours after your move.”

Jessie nodded while glancing Townes’ way. He’d gone back to reading the book he’d somehow brought with him. Her father’s library had many books. He and Uncle John would spend hours cooped up in there. She tried to recall the last time she saw him, but it was well before high school. As a matter of fact she couldn’t remember the last time her parents had mentioned him either.

Jessie caught sight of the door closing behind Gavin as he left. She didn’t leave her position on the couch for over an hour as she continued to think back. Sleeper agents had handlers. He or she would have had been able to have contact in a familiar setting, exchanging information without raising alarm to anyone who may have been watching. Getting caught would have meant life in prison. In reality, no matter how good of a lawyer Lou Moser was…her parents would spend the rest of their lives behind bars. She couldn’t allow that to happen, regardless of what their
initial intentions
had been. Now she understood why Gavin had structured his sentence the way he had. It had been his way of preparing her for what was going to happen. Only it wasn’t, if she had anything to do with it.

Townes was still reading, occasionally drinking the coffee he’d made earlier. He wasn’t going to be an easy mark for what she needed to do. Jessie had worked for CSA long enough to know how to impede the authorities from locating a target. She just happened to be that target, but she could damn well play their game for as long as it took to get things straightened out. Her objectives had now changed, which wasn’t a bad thing. Gavin
should
be focused on Ryland because there was no way that a full pardon would be forthcoming for that sociopath. In the meantime she had three hours before Gavin returned to figure out how to leave here without Townes knowing.

If Uncle John had been her parents’ handler, he could very well be the one person who could help them. He would have access to cash, documents, contacts, and Russian government officials who could return them to their home country. Jessie had never run into something quite like this and she would eventually need Gavin’s help. Until she went back to her childhood home and searched for any information in regards to Uncle John it was pointless to even bring Gavin into her plan. He would continue to make her stay hidden while doing everything himself, but he wouldn’t know what to look for in her father’s office—she would. She had been the baby of the family, the one who spent the most time with her father in his study. She needed to get back there before the courts decided to put her parents away for the rest of their lives.

Jessie could so see things the way Gavin did. She even assumed that he would think they deserved that punishment. Their original purpose for coming to the States was sinister in nature, but even he said they’d grown to love it here. People could change. She believed that, which was one of the reasons she’d never truly given up on Gavin.

“Is everything okay?”

Townes’ deep and raspy voice broke through her preoccupied thoughts, startling her out of her preparation. She wasn’t one to sit by idle on the sidelines and she certainly wasn’t going to stand to the side doing nothing while her parents went to prison. She’d need to hit the ATM here in the city and withdraw enough cash to see her through a round trip to Wisconsin. If her account was activated anywhere else, the CIA and technically CSA would be able to trace her movements. Gavin would be downright angry with her for taking matters into her own hands, but they were talking about her parents’ fate. He needed to worry about his own right now.

“Yes. I think I’m going to go and take a shower. It’ll help me relax.”

Townes nodded, going back to reading what looked like one of those hardback classics she was always seeing in the bookstore with the raised spine and guided lettering. She rose from the couch and made her way through the bedroom that Gavin had used as an office today and continued on through to the bathroom. She’d made sure to shut the bedroom door just in case she made any noise. Taking stock of what was available in the bathroom and then looking at the door, she walked back into the bedroom. She was definitely limited to what she could use and she would have to be quick about it. It was a good thing she had on her running shoes and that the temperature outside was relatedly decent.

Walking back into the bathroom, she started the water and then pulled the tab to start the shower. Sliding the curtain closed and stepping out, she reached around and made sure the locked was turned. It would give her extra time before Townes realized what she’d done. She quietly pulled the door shut and then made her way over to the balcony doors. Flipping the latch, she slid her only exit open and as the cool evening air washed over her and she stepped onto the balcony, doubts plagued the intelligence of her plan. Damn, twenty-two floors was a little higher than she’d anticipated.

Not wanting Townes to hear the traffic and the city noise from below, Jessie quickly closed the door. Taking the few steps to the railing, she gauged the distance to the terrace next door. It was three feet at the most and really didn’t even require much more than a small leap. She was grateful that the moon was almost full and gave off enough light or this would have been impossible to accomplish. If this had been ground level and she needed to step across something this wide it wouldn’t faze her one bit. This should be a piece of cake and as she stepped over the railing, she kept repeating to herself that this was for her parents.

She held on to the wrought iron with all her might, only releasing the bar with one hand to grab ahold of the neighbor’s handrail. It did cross her mind that the other balcony door might be locked, but she could always throw something through the window if need be or worst case, go to the next terrace. She made sure that as she stepped over, her foot was planted firmly on the cement. That nauseous feeling came back in waves as she looked down and saw how little the vehicles appeared from where she was. The lights were tiny dots while the people couldn’t be seen in the darkness.

Closing her eyes briefly to ward off vertigo, she pictured her parents sitting in a small room with their lawyer wondering about their fate. It steadied her breathing and heartbeat, giving her the wherewithal to release one bar for another. She immediately lifted her left leg up and over the banister, not wanting to be out on the ledge a second longer than necessary. Her shoelace must have gotten caught on something because her momentum forward was abruptly stopped. Her balance was thrown off and she tightened her grip, bringing her body as close as she could to the railing. She stayed where she was, afraid that if she moved too quickly she’d find herself falling to her death.

“Fuck,” Jessie muttered, resting her forehead against the cool wrought iron as she fought the urge to release the railing as her palms started to perspire. She tried to move her foot, but whatever was snagged on the lace had gotten a good hold of it. Not wanting to let go with her left hand that was somehow managing to keep her on the banister, she used her right hand to see if she could release the snag. She was relatively sure she made it worse because her shoe wouldn’t budge an inch. “Damn it.”

Jessie opened her eyes and slowly lifted her head to try and see if she could find the reason she was caught, but not even the moonlight could shine enough light for her to see. Her left knee was over the railing whereas her foot was still exposed, but she was well and truly stuck unless she could get her upper body over. She’d rather take the chance on the safe side of the banister and shifted to the left. Her grip loosened and her shoulders and torso ended up falling too fast. Using her left hand to capture herself, she wasn’t able to keep her foot from twisting.

“Son of a bitch,” Jessie hissed, frantically using the toe of her right shoe to push against the back of her left heel. She finally felt it give way and her body landed on the cement with a thud. Unfortunately, as she scrambled around to get her shoe, it wasn’t there. It must have fallen to the ground. “Great…just great.”

Jessie’s ankle throbbed slightly but it was a hell of a lot better than where her running shoe was. Not wanting to waste time and have Townes come looking for her quite yet, she tested her weight on her foot. Walking was doable and she still needed to find out if the door to this unit was open. Her hand was still trembling from the adrenaline rush and as she tried to slide the door, she wanted to cry when it wouldn’t budge.

She hadn’t paid too close attention to the apartment complex that Gavin had brought her to, but she was willing to bet that the apartments close by had no tenants. He wouldn’t take the chance of someone seeing her, which meant all of these units were probably empty. Time was running out and she could feel the panic starting to claw at her stomach. Her life had been just fine yesterday and now it was in total upheaval without her consent. She could just imagine the fear her parents were experiencing and that thought gave her the momentum to push forward.

Jessie desperately looked around the patio for something to pry open the door or break the glass. The moonlight didn’t reveal anything and she did her best to prevent herself from hyperventilating. How much time had passed since she’d told Townes she was taking a shower? Five minutes? Fifteen minutes? As her eyes swept the terrace once more she caught a glimpse of metal against the bottom track of the sliding door. She quickly knelt, ignoring her tender ankle, and used her fingers to see if it would come loose. Sure enough, a little luck was finally on her side. It was a pipe of some sort that must have been left by some workers.

She figured she would have under ten seconds after she broke the glass to unlock the door and run as fast as she could through the apartment and out the front door before Townes realized what had happened. If she remembered clearly the elevator bank was to the right. She would go left in anticipation of a stairwell and hope like hell her ankle held up. On the count of three she swung the metal bar with all her might and glass shattered everywhere. There was no need to unlock the door for there was nothing left. She took off at a dead run, dropping the tool and grateful that there was no furniture to get in her way since it was so dark. She almost ran directly into the door, desperately trying to undo the deadbolt.

Once it was released Jessie threw the door open and winced at the thought that Townes would be standing directly in front of her. Thankfully the hallway was empty and she stuck to her plan. Turning left, she dashed down the corridor and frantically looked for the stairwell. It was the last door on the right hand side, but she only made it down one flight of stairs when she thought twice about trying to get down the other twenty-one. She exited on the twenty-first floor and ran as fast as she could with an injured ankle. Reaching the elevator bank, she continually pressed the button until the doors swooshed open.

It wasn’t until she was in the lobby and out the front door that Jessie allowed herself to breathe. As she rounded the corner and saw a strange look from a man walking his dog, she realized that she was still only wearing one shoe. She didn’t want to stop to take it off, so she kept walking until she finally reached her destination. It was time to disappear from sight.

Chapter Six

C
rest pulled inside the underground garage, driving to the far end of the south side. Taryn had already disconnected the video feed from the surveillance cameras and would continue to monitor it until given the signal to reactivate it. The CIA might know of his location, but they sure as hell didn’t know whom he was meeting with. He didn’t worry about the path the man that he was meeting had taken—his footprints were nearly invisible.

Parking his vehicle alongside a black town car, Crest noticed that the driver opened his door and then did the same for Schultz Jessalyn. The man wore one of his usual Ermenegildo Zegna suits, sans his typical long dress coat due to the weather. Crest found the cut of his own tailored Armani suits more to his taste and not so expressly European in their styling. The main reason Armani suited him was that he could still wear a shoulder holster with the wider cut his tailor gave him without severely altering the lines of its original design. Zegna rarely gave that much room away to his liking and a thirty-five hundred dollars suit was more than he cared to wear for daily business for relatively no gain in comfort or ease. This man with his black hair combed back stylishly was far past the vulgarity of carrying a personal weapon, reminding Crest of the person this meeting happened to be about. Shutting off his engine, he opened his door and slid out of the leather seat, taking a folder with him.