“One of his favorites?” Liam repeated, rage clear on his face. “I’d love to get my hands on that—.”
“We’re going to find her,” I interrupted, reassuring Liam.
He’d never met Kelsey, but he was attached to her all the same. And honestly, I couldn’t blame him for his anger. I’d joined the FBI’s Human Trafficking Task Force because I wanted to protect good people, and take down bad ones, and traffickers are the worst of the worst. The traffickers that we dealt with were the scum of the earth, as bad as the devil himself, and the thought of anyone being abused by those twisted fuckers was enough to make you sick. It’s a big reason why compartmentalizing is so important in our job. Without that ability, we’d go insane.
Liam’s jaw tensed, but he stayed quiet, so Nolan moved onto the second order of business.
“Secondly, Liam conducted an interview with a witness yesterday, that he’d like some input on,” Nolan said.
“Thanks, Nolan,” Liam said before turning his attention to the rest of us. “We recently got a tip from an economic diplomat with the Finnish embassy in DC. She said that part of her job is to help create partnerships between Finnish and American companies. In this instance, she was meeting with a cruise company, Paradise Cruises, in an effort to partner them with a Finnish cruise-ship building company. While she was at the Paradise Cruise’s office for the meeting, she overheard two employees discussing using trafficked people as labor on their ships.”
“That’s really interesting. The Modern Slavery Act has helped somewhat in reducing trafficking on cruise ships. Especially the bigger companies. But I’ve never heard of Paradise Cruises,” Ally said.
Gabe interrupted, sounding disgusted. “Cruise ships can get away with a lot while they’re in international waters. The conditions on some of those ships are horrifying. I’m not convinced the Act has made any difference.”
“Do you believe her?” Ally asked Liam.
“I’m not sure,” Liam answered. “You’re correct that there is a history and a precedent of human labor trafficking on cruise ships. For that reason, I’m inclined to believe the witness. But I felt like something was off about the interview, and I can’t put my finger on what. Honestly, she was kind of bitchy. ”
“What’s the name of the witness?” Kate asked.
“Kassidy O’Neill,” Liam answered.
Alarm bells began ringing in my head when I heard the name, but I wasn’t sure why. “Well, my first question is, how is she a Finnish diplomat with the last name of O’Neill? That’s an Irish name,” I pointed out.
“Based on our background check, her mother is Finnish, and her father is American, possibly with an Irish heritage, based on the name,” Liam said as he handed me a copy of the witness’s Driver’s License, along with a couple of other photos of her. I studied her closely, from her red hair, to her pale skin and her expressive eyes. All of her features screamed Irish, so I assumed her father must have strong genes. When I looked at Kassidy as a whole, though, her features tugged on a memory that was just out of my reach.
“She looks familiar,” I said aloud.
“Well, you have dated at least half of the female population in DC,” Wes joked.
I had a reputation as a ladies’ man, but it was more rumor than anything. I knew that many people mistook my friendliness and sense of humor for flirting. And I wouldn’t deny that I’d gotten around in my younger years. But I hadn’t been that guy in a long time. Now, it was just easier to go along with the ruse, and use the rumors to my advantage. With age, and especially after everything I’d seen over the years, I found myself wanting to settle down, craving peace and quiet like I never did before. And always having a pretend “date” waiting in the wings made it easier to get out of invitations to parties I didn’t want to attend, dates I didn’t want to go on, and other expectations people had. Nolan was the only one on the team who seemed to realize the truth, and his perceptiveness and understanding were a couple of the biggest reasons why he and I were such good friends. He knew that if I had to choose between going to a club or hanging out at home with my friends, watching a football game on TV, I’d pick the football game every time.
“No, that’s not it,” I said, brushing off Wes’s joke as I searched my memory. With a flash of realization, I used my fingers to cover up Kassidy’s hair, and I studied her face. Finally, the pieces clicked together, shock and pleasure crashing through me. The woman had visited me in my dreams for the past few years, but I’d assumed I’d never see her again. We hadn’t exchanged contact information before, which was something I would always regret. “I met her in Afghanistan, years ago. Her hair threw me off, since she wore a hijab then.”
“How did you meet her in Afghanistan?” Liam asked, looking puzzled.
“It was one of my deployments as a Green Beret,” I said, trying to remember the details. “The ODA I was attached to did some training with the Finnish Embassy and military, mostly sharing information. They wanted to know more about our Afghan partner forces, in an effort to align with them as well. Kassidy was one of the diplomats who attended.”
“I’m surprised you’re able to remember her. You must’ve met a ton of people during your deployments,” Kate said.
“Typically, I’d agree with you,” I told her. “But while we were at the Finnish Embassy, a bomb was set off nearby, close enough to shake the building and cause the electricity to go out. My team stayed to help until the lights came back on and the embassy was secure. Kassidy stepped up to help when most of her coworkers were panicking. She and I spent most of those two days together, keeping everyone hydrated, and fed, and safe. I remember admiring how calm and level-headed and kind she was, and thinking that she and I made a good team.”
“I wouldn’t use any of those words to describe the Kassidy I met with,” Liam said. “Are you sure it’s the same person?”
“It has to be,” I said. Everything matched up. It had to be her, but I didn’t understand Liam’s reaction to her. Did she have a bad day? Was Liam having a bad day? Was it more than that?
“Well, that kind of throws a wrench in things,” Liam said, interrupting my thoughts. “I was hoping you’d be willing to do a second interview with her, since you’re our human lie detector. I’m worried she’s hiding or lying about something. She’s a tough one to figure out.”
“That doesn’t sound like the Kassidy I met,” I said, doubt creeping in. “I can still interview her, though. Maybe if she recognizes me, she’ll be more comfortable opening up.”
“Can you be objective, though?” Nolan asked.
“Definitely,” I said, and I meant it.
Internally, though, I didn’t want to be objective. I couldn’t imagine my Kassidy doing anything egregious, including lying to the FBI. Honestly, I’d learned over time that you can tell a lot about someone’s character based on how they react to crises. Other than Nolan’s girlfriend Harper, when the human trafficking shelter she worked at was attacked a few months ago, I’d seen few people—even fellow soldiers— react as well in an emergency as Kassidy had that day at the embassy.