Face the Music

Chapter 21

My jaw dropped open. John Brennan looked at Ella in confusion. Collins was speechless - certainly a first for him. Ella let out a huge huff of air.

"Dwayne Kole changed his name to Randy Tomlinson. He and my father never lost contact," Ella said. My mind was reeling. I remembered Lisa telling me about Dwayne Kole...

His last known address was in Philly in the early 2000's. After that I have literally nothing on him. It's like he just disappeared.

Of course it was like he disappeared. Dwayne Kole stopped existing after he changed his name to Randy Tomlinson.

"That explains how he's involved, I guess," Collins said.

"If that isn't the understatement of the year then I don't know what is," Brennan said sharply. "This is some pretty damn important information." He turned on Ella, who was still staring at me skeptically. "Any reason why you didn't tell my agents this before?" He was angry, and his voice was full of accusation. "Were you trying to protect your father? Maybe you're trying to throw us off the case, is that it?"

"John..." I complained. He'd been a great agent at one time, but he'd been away from the field for too long, and he was losing his ability to distinguish fact from lies.

"Listen," Ella said, stalking a few steps towards Brennan. "My father is a horrible person. He took everything I had and now he's trying to get me too. Obviously you're a delusional moron if you think I'd do anything to help him. He ruined my life and I'm ready to ruin his. Let me help you," she said, in a way that wasn't a suggestion. Ella was acting like the boss of the CIA director, after she'd called him a delusional moron. I wasn't sure if I should be horrified or proud.

There was a long moment of incredibly awkward silence. No one knew how to react. Ella glared at Brennan, whose face was turning a very angry shade of red. Collins and I stood frozen, waiting for our boss's head to explode. Much to the surprise of both of us, Brennan said,

"Okay."

***

I sat in the corner of Ella's cottage, pouting. My heartrate hadn't slowed since Brennan had agreed to let Ella help us, and a knot of anxiety sat like a rock in the pit of my stomach. I tried not to think about everything that could go horribly wrong, or the immense danger that Ella wasn't prepared to handle.

"I could let it slip to Joel that I'm Loretto's daughter," Ella suggested.

"Absolutely not." I said.

"But it would-"

"Ben's right," Collins interupted her protest. "It's too risky. Joel's so stupid he might just knock you out then and there, and then we'd be up shit creek without a paddle."

"Fine," she said. "What if Ben drops a hint to Joel about me?"

Brennan shook his head. "Joel would probably get some buddies to put Ben in the hospital before he could get close enough to say anything about you."

"Plus Joel would never believe me," I added.

We sat in thoughtful silence.

"Press conference?" Collins suggested.

"Hell no!" I exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" asked Ella.

"It's something we've used in the past to draw out whoever we're looking for," I filled her in. "We'd publish something in the paper. Some catchy article title like "Drug lord's daughter comes forward" or something that would get attention, and then we'd arrange a public press conference. Ideally, Loretto would feel comfortable enough to come forward, or he'd send his goons for you because they could blend into the large gathering of people. They'd most likely stage a diversion and while everyone's distracted, grab you without anyone noticing."