“Did you guys stay in touch over the years?”
“Here and there. We all went on with our lives. But we touched base maybe once a year or so. I was surprised when Joe moved back to Texas. I thought it was risky. But he told me about his wife’s mother getting sick and how she wanted to be close to take care of her. You know, Joe never touched the fifty million dollars. He just left it alone in various hidden accounts for over thirty years. Not until he pulled from it to help you start your company.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. He said he just couldn’t handle the sad look in his daughter’s eyes every time you left for the airport for another business trip.”
That revelation took me off guard. Joe had never used the money for himself. He’d only touched it when Taylor and I were in need.
I moved the conversation forward. “So why did the three of you gather in DC two weeks ago?”
“Joe unexpectedly reached out to Ethan and me. And he wanted to talk only in person. So we all agreed to meet. Joe told us he’d run into a businessman from Mexico at a governor’s gala back in Austin who looked vaguely familiar. Then he realized the man was the son of their former client from thirty-five years ago. Joe said he remembered that the guy had actually been inside the office with them the day that he and his father had tried to break off their legal relationship and received the death threats.”
“Miguel Cortez, head of Grande Distributors.”
“Correct.”
“Did he recognize Joe?”
“Joe wasn’t sure, but that was his fear. The guy kept looking at him funny, as if he did, and started asking a lot of questions. Joe got out of the conversation as quickly as he could and then left the gala right away. But he was really uneasy about the whole thing. He wanted to tell us what had happened and put us both on high alert.”
“How did Al Del Luca get involved?”
“Al and I go way back. Spent a lot of years in the field together. Even though I left the CIA to start a new life and have a real family years ago, I kept up with guys like Al. So I reached out and asked him for his help. To look into things for us and see if we should actually be concerned about Miguel Cortez.”
“Did he find anything?”
“Yes. Al called me a few days later, said he’d been to Mexico City and had done some surveillance. He said Miguel Cortez was convinced Joe was actually Daniel Gibson. I texted Joe right away, but it was too late. That’s when you called me and gave me the horrible news.” She sighed. “I told Joe not to go to Mexico.”
I shook my head, felt a fresh wave of guilt push through me. “He tried to pull out of it at the last minute. It’s my fault that he still came with us. I guilted him into it.”
“You can’t blame yourself. You didn’t know. After I spoke with you that first time on the phone, I was still concerned about your family. So I asked Al to hang around you guys for a bit. Both Ethan and I had planned to stay way below the radar for a while. I wanted to make sure there was nothing that tied us back to Joe. But I didn’t realize how far you’d go with all of this.”
“Wait a second? Are you telling me I led them to Ethan?”
Greta finished off her drink, giving me the answer. I sat all the way back in my seat, pressed my hands to my face, feeling like a thousand pounds of weight had just pressed down on me.
“That’s just great,” I sighed.
“As you know,” Greta continued, “the man who Al Del Luca shot out on the sidewalk tonight worked for the CNI. So he was well versed in surveillance. He may have been monitoring your phones.”
“I can’t believe I’m the reason Ethan is dead.”
“Again, you can’t blame yourself, Alex. I should’ve jumped in sooner.”
“Still . . . maybe I will have that drink.”
I stood, walked over to the antique bar cabinet, and poured myself a glass of whatever Greta was drinking. Then I took a big swig of it. “So what happens to that guy out there who Del Luca shot? Won’t the police start asking questions?”
“We have a way of working these things out.”
“We meaning the CIA?”
“Yes. Al will also make sure you stay off their radar.”
“This is unbelievable. Do you think my family is still in danger?”
“I can’t say for sure whether Miguel Cortez will continue to pursue this now that his nephew is dead. We know that Joe didn’t tell them where to find the money because he didn’t know. Ethan always kept it on the move as a secondary point of protection for Joe.”