Rachel Dylan - Incriminating Evidence

“Thank you, Luke,” Jessica said. “I think it’s an admirable decision you made to go against your family and get into law enforcement. And since I’m the target here, I’m happy to have your help.”

Luke nodded. “If there’s anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Brodie took a step toward Luke. “I understand that you think you’re helping the situation here, but from now on it would probably be better if you let the FBI handle it.” Brodie handed Luke his business card. “You can call me if you have any pertinent information to relay.”

Zach was relieved that Brodie had stepped up. Zach didn’t like how Luke had taken a special interest in Jessica.

“I can see myself out,” Luke said. It was clear he wasn’t interested in engaging in any arguments.

After Luke walked out of the room, silence remained until Brodie spoke up. “Even if he is law enforcement, I don’t like the fact that Will Lang divulged the location of the safe house to him. Unfortunately, we don’t have a better alternative right now. I’m going to have extra security posted outside just in case there is any further breach of protocol. We already had an on-call team, so I’ll have them come over now.” Brodie pulled out his phone to text the team.

Zach nodded. “I think that’s a good idea. Then we can reevaluate our options tomorrow.” Zach could tell by the frown on Jessica’s face that she was still bothered by the Luke situation. He turned toward her. “I’m sorry if that seemed rude with how we handled Luke, but we aren’t in a position to be taking chances right now.”

She looked up at him. “You have absolutely no evidence that Luke isn’t one of the good guys. He took a risk just by coming here to try to help me. So I think all of you should just cut the poor guy some slack and back off. He’s not the enemy we’re facing. Let’s not forget that.”

Zach looked at his watch. “I’m sorry to have upset you, but we’re trying to do the job to the best of our ability.”

“I understand that,” she said softly.

“I know you must be hungry.” He made an effort to change the subject and defuse the tense situation. “We’ve got an agent bringing food in about half an hour.”

“That would be great. Now that you mention it, I’m starving.”

“Jessica, I think you have your marching orders,” Ian chimed in. “The plan will be to start the trial on schedule. You’re well on your way with all the prep work you’ve done. Let’s push through and get this thing done.”

“That won’t be an issue, Ian,” she said. “Thanks for bringing me a laptop to work on.”

Jessica would be able to access her files and prepare her case from the remote location. Zach’s main concern was what was going to happen once the trial started. He felt that he could keep her out of danger in the cocoon that was the safe house, but outside of it was another story.

“If you need anything, you know where to find me,” Ian said. Then he turned and looked at Zach. “I’m entrusting her security to you.”

“I understand,” Zach said.

Brodie stayed with them until he got the confirmation that the protective detail had arrived. “I’ll head out, too,” Brodie said. “Everything should be all set here.”

Between the complex high-tech security system and the extra security posted outside, Zach was confident they were well protected. Much better than he would’ve felt at Jessica’s apartment. This was the first time he’d ever done this type of work, but he was catching on quickly and having Brodie’s confidence in him helped build his own.

It wasn’t long before one of the agents delivered their dinner, a combination of Thai food that he and Jessica had no trouble putting away quickly. As they sat at the kitchen table after the meal, he took a moment to assess how she was doing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Besides the headache that won’t seem to go away, I’m doing all right.”

It was obvious to him that she was still in pain. “Maybe a good night’s rest will help.”

“Tomorrow’s Thursday. I need to get in a full day of work. The trial starts Monday.”

“What can I do to help?”

She pushed her hair behind her ear and leaned back in the chair. “As long as you’re focused on making sure no one attacks us, I can handle the legal work.”

“I’ve got the security element covered.”

“Good. Now I have to figure out how to make this case against Simon with only the limited video deposition testimony from Denise. And if the judge disallows the recorded testimony, then I’m really in a world of hurt.”

“You always need a backup plan.” Something they had drilled into his head from day one at Quantico.

“In an ideal world, but unfortunately my backup plan is flimsy and purely circumstantial evidence. Any defense attorney who knows what he’s doing will tear that apart. And Mateo Tyson is one of the best. It’s tough preparing for a battle that you feel like you don’t have the ammunition to fight. And knowing that the reason for that is because the Hernandez family got rid of my main witness. It seems so wrong to me, but I can’t bring up the fact at trial that my star witness was murdered. The judge won’t allow that because it’s too prejudicial to the defense. I won’t be able to explain to the jury why the witness isn’t testifying in person.”

He could see that she was at a low point, and it bothered him that he couldn’t just fix the situation. “You can’t feel defeated before you even start. There’s always a way, Jessica. You just have to find it.”

“Aren’t you the optimist?”

“I believe that half of our battles in life take place in the mind. If you psych yourself out, you’ll set yourself up for failure. You have to believe that a jury will convict Simon. If you walk in there with your tail between your legs, the jury will sense your lack of confidence from day one. I don’t want to see that happen.”

She leaned back in her chair again. “I understand your point, but I think it’s better to be realistic. I’m going to do my absolute best to get a conviction, but I have to go to trial with the evidence I have. I can’t change it. No amount of positive thinking will bring Denise back. The type of testimony she could’ve provided as one of the top accountants for the Hernandez family would’ve been invaluable. She had access to all the financial records.” She paused. “She was a nice woman. A brave woman who was taking a stand against them. She most certainly didn’t deserve this. If only I could’ve done more to protect her.”

“I’m sorry.” He thought for a minute. “Why wasn’t she under some sort of security detail?”

Jessica looked down and then back up at him. “I tried to talk her into it. But she refused. I don’t think she thought that they’d actually hurt her. Scare her maybe, but not this. It’s awful. I should’ve been more insistent with her. If I hadn’t given up on trying to convince her to take the security detail, then she’d still be here.”

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