Page 6 of Resolution

“Go on, Cassidy. If we can help, we want to do that.”

Cassidy nodded, looking back at Raven as he chewed a bite of scrambled eggs. He swallowed and then continued. “Mike and I know a little bit about your situation from Sarah Connor and what happened between you and those rogue CIA operatives, Cassanova, Bishop, and Mendez before they were taken into custody that night. But we’ll need a comprehensive background on the case and how you first came into contact with him.”

“And how all this ties into our murder victim, Dave Reynolds,” Mike added.

“It’s kind of a long story, Mike,” I said.

Both detectives sent me a knowing look.

I sighed, picking up my fork. “Okay, here goes.”

We told them everything we knew as we ate. When we’d gone over everything we could and our plates were clean, Cassidy sat back.

“Wow, man, that’s quite a story,” Mike said. “So, let me ask you some questions about it.”

“Whatever you need, Mike,” Raven said.

“Okay. So, from what I understand, you and Miguel got a call from Greg Aston, Tawny Flores’ attorney, who told you that she’d been left a very valuable ruby which had gone missing.”

“And that he said the recovery might be dangerous which is why he wanted us to carry guns,” Raven clarified.

“Right,” Mike said, referring to his notes. He looked up. “And that’s when you two saw John Sutter at the restaurant.”

“I spotted him,” I said.

“Right.”

“He ran. We chased him, but he jumped into a car and sped away,” I said.

“Okay, so you then went to your client’s house to see the safe,” Cassidy said.

“Yes, then afterward we went to talk to the guy in charge of their security where we first encountered the man we now know as John Mendez in the stairwell,” I said. “He told us that he wanted us to find the ruby and give it to him. He threatened us with a gun.”

“And gave us the burner phone with explosives in it,” Raven added.

“Got it,” Cassidy said. “And later you made contact with Rosina Cassanova at the Getty, who threatened you again.”

“Yes, and then we confirmed that Sutter had been kidnapped in Afghanistan,” I said. “We’d gone years thinking he’d been lost out there in the desert during a sandstorm but when Judy hacked into Langley, she pulled up a message sent by someone in the rogue CIA cell.”

Cassidy nodded. “Which is when you went to Mark Evans and gave him the phone that John Mendez had given you.”

“We went to Mac first. He was at the FBI with Jarrett and Thayne, and Jarrett suggested we talk to his dad, so we did,” I said. “And afterward, I went to Vonne. He showed me the letter from Daniel, the kid John Sutter had been protecting…along with his mother.”

“Which is when you two started putting the pieces together about what had happened to him,” Mike said.

I nodded. “After John found me at Vonne’s house, everything started falling into place.”

“So, you convinced him to go to the ATF with you, and that’s when you all decided to actually bring us into the picture,” Cassidy said with a frown.

Guilt flooded my insides. “I’m really sorry we didn’t bring you guys into this at the very beginning. As soon as John Mendez pulled a gun on us in the stairwell, we should have called.”

“Yeah, you should have, but that’s water under the bridge,” Cassidy said. “We understand how fast everything happened after that.” He sat back in the padded booth and picked up his coffee cup, taking a sip and wincing at the cold brew. He set it down and glanced over at Mike. “Anything else?”

Mike shut his notepad. “So, you never talked to Dave Reynolds?”

“No,” Raven said. “We meant to call him about the investigation, but it was never the right time. I did leave a message, though.”

Mike nodded. “Honestly, do you think the lawyer is involved in this somehow? Could he have stolen the ruby, or could your client be involved?”

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