A Secret to Shatter by Katie O’Connor

Chapter Twenty-Five

Honey preferred to meet her supervisor, Cameron, at her apartment, out of sight. He claimed a strange man seen entering her home would stir up gossip. Reluctantly, she agreed to meet him at Tammy’s. He’d show up while she was on shift and she’d take a moment to talk to him and slip him the jump drive with her compiled information. Information they had deemed too dangerous to risk a leak by transferring it any other way.

Morning shift was swamped. They had a full house for the entire morning. It was approaching the end of July and summer tourist season was in full swing. Honey only recognized a few of her customers. Most were strangers. She was beginning to think Cameron was a no-show, when he finally strolled through the door, a pretty brunette on his arm.

Honey did a double-take. The young lady with him wasn’t his wife. The woman couldn’t be more than twenty-five. Thirty tops. Had he left his wife? When had they last talked about something personal? She regretted that a friendship begun during her government training had turned from a strong friendship to less than personal. She really did think of his as a surrogate father. Perhaps it wasn’t too late to rebuild their relationship.

She greeted him like any stranger. “Hi there. Seat yourself wherever you can. There’s a table in the back.” She waved toward the corner. “I’ll be right with you.” She grabbed a couple menus and followed them.

“Welcome to Tammy’s. Would you like coffee?” She gestured with the pot.

“I’d love one,” the young lady said. “You should probably have decaf. You’re too high strung already today.” Her voice was filled with concern.

“I’ll have half-caf. Split the difference. Plenty of cream, please.” Cameron looked around. “How you doing, Honey?”

“I’m good. You? Are you going to introduce me?” she asked making no bones about fishing for information.

“He never does. He drags me around the country, at his beck and call, and never introduces me. I’m Alexandria Zindle, call me Draya.” She paused. “His daughter.”

Honey smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you, Draya. You father has told me nothing about you.” She chuckled.

“And yet, he’s told me everything about you. You’re his best asset. Even if you’ve fallen off the wagon and met a man.”

“Zip it, Draya.” He mock glared at her. “I’m too old for your crap, and for this job. I need to retire.”

He’d been threatening to retire the entire time Honey had known him. All in jest. But this time, he sounded serious.

“I’ll just go get a fresh pot of decaf while you look at the menu.” She wandered away, pouring coffee to customers who needed a refill. She was back at their table in five minutes.

“What would you like?”

“I’ll have the tuna melt and he’ll have a salad,” Draya piped in before Cameron could open his mouth.

“What do you recommend?” He asked. “What’s good here?”

“Everything is good at Tammy’s,” she said, meaning it. “I recommend the salad.”

“You would,” he mock growled. “I’ll have the steak sandwich, and a salad.” He crinkled up his nose at Draya, making her laugh.

“I’ll get that right away. I’ll chat when I come back.”

Fortunately, the restaurant was thinning out. Very few tables remained occupied. With luck, it would stay quiet for a while; giving them a chance to talk.

Fifteen minutes later, Honey slid into the booth beside Draya. “Is it okay to talk with her here?” She asked.

“Fine. She works for me. Unofficially for now. She knows the drill.”

An unsanctioned agent made Honey uneasy. “You sure? It’s not protocol.” She wasn’t accustomed to ignoring authority, but having Draya there made her uncomfortable.

“Told you so,” Draya taunted her father. “I told him that if you’re who he says you are, you won’t talk in front of me. I’m okay with sitting some place else. Please let me out. I’ll eat over there, out of earshot.”

“Thanks.” Honey waited until Draya was settled before talking. She slid the jump drive across the table. “I found four of them. Two are in what was a sleeper cell in Edmonton. I found their addresses through a back door into their computers. I’m always grateful for people’s lax computer security. These two should have known better. The other two I’m pretty sure are in Winnipeg, which is weird since nothing happened there.”

“Yet.”

“True enough. Anyway, here’s what I’ve got.” She went on to explain her findings over the last two months, specifically in the last week since the attacks. There were some points of question, but she explained her research and her logic. “It’s all documented on the drive. If you get someone to their addresses within the next twenty-four hours, you should catch them. There’s no indication they’re going anywhere. The fact that the attacks aren’t in the news anymore is probably making them comfortable and complacent. They likely think they’ve gotten away scot-free. How did you manage it?”

“A few palms were greased at certain key points on the information highway. The usual.”

“It saddens me that it is so easy to stifle facts.” She shrugged. “In this case, it worked out. But I still consider censorship a problem.” She understood the need to keep things quiet but it smacked of censorship.

“You and me both. I really am tired of this business. I think I’m going to retire. Maybe I’ll settle down here. This seems like a nice quiet town.”

“It is, if you like nosy neighbors, gossip, and strong community spirit. You should check it out while you’re here.”

“Next time. I’ve got to get this information back. I recommend you stay active. Don’t let on you suspect anything.”

She saluted. “Yes, boss.” As if she didn’t know better than to keep her suspicions to herself.

“Am I interrupting anything?”

She looked up. She hadn’t seen Ira arrive. “Ira. Hi. This is my boss and good friend, Cameron Zindle. Cameron, this is Ira Castillo. Honorably discharged from the Canadian Army.” The last bit of information would enable Cameron to research Ira, and vet him to allow her to reveal the true nature of her job.

“Her fiancé,” Ira lied.

“You neglected to mention being engaged,” Cameron groused.

“We’re not. We’re dating.”

“We’d be engaged if I had my way,” Ira countered.

Honey glared at him. What was he playing at? Engaged? He hadn’t even said I love you, and he was claiming they were engaged. He was up to something. Was he jealous or just trying to find out more about her work?

“Good luck with that,” Cameron chuckled. “She’s one stubborn lady. If she says you’re not engaged, you’re not. You better try harder if you want to catch this one. She’s steadfastly single but worth the chase. Mark my words.”

“What am I? A prize to be caught?” She rose to her feet and inched past Ira. “I’m back to work. Catch you all later.” To her surprise, Ira slid into the seat she’d vacated and struck up a conversation with Cameron.

* * *

Ira glancedover his shoulder at Honey as she strolled away as if she didn’t have a care in the world. He suspected the attitude was a façade.

“You look familiar, Zindle. Do I know you from somewhere? You in the service?”

“I am.” He folded his hands together on top of the table and leaned back.

This wasn’t going to be easy. Zindle wasn’t going to give anything away. “What division?”

“How’d you get those cuts and bruises?” Zindle countered.

“Fight with my brother.”

“Serious?”

“Nope. Difference of opinion.” None of Zindle’s damn business.

“Over a woman?”

“Nope.”

“Move over farm boy.”

Ira stood to make room for the new arrival. “And you are?”

“Alexandria Zindle. He’s my father. We’re here on vacation. Who are you?”

Ira introduced himself as a former soldier and Honey’s fiancé.

“Alleged fiancé,” Zindle added.

“I’m not going to quibble over titles. I’m with Honey. We’re dating. Seriously. The news last week upset her. She was freaked out and had to call you. I want to know why. What’s going on? She claims you’re like a father to her.”

“She was worried I might have been injured. I’m often at the legislature. We have an office there. You needn’t worry about me, or my relationship with Honey.”

“I’ll worry about whatever I want to.” Ira narrowed his eyes. “If you do anything to hurt her, or cause her to be hurt, I’ll find you and hurt you.”

Alexandria gasped.

“And I’ll do the same to you. She’s like a daughter to me. As dear to me as Draya. You hurt Honey and you won’t live to regret it. Mark my words, boy.”

Ira nodded his understanding. Impasse. “What division are you with? Army? Navy?”

“That, my boy, is none of your damned business. Now, if you’ll leave my daughter and I alone, we’d like to finish our lunch so we can get back on the road. We have a vacation to finish.”

He rose and said goodbye. Something was fishy here. Vacation, his butt. Zindle was her boss and he was military. He had admitted it. Which meant, in some fashion or another, Honey was working with or for the military. But how? She said she worked on the internet. Doing what? Meeting Zindle had added questions without providing any answers, making Ira uncomfortable and more than a little wary.