Lunging forward, she tried to hide herself beneath the water, despite being well aware that the water was completely clear and hiding nothing more than just how much the distortion could fade. Her eyes widened as the men rushed toward her, all pointing guns and shouting at her from all directions.
“FBI. Put your hands up and walk slowly out of the water!” they screeched.
For a moment, she froze again, not comprehending what was happening. Was she trespassing on federal land? Had she inadvertently wandered off the acreage belonging to the ranch and ended up somewhere she shouldn’t be?
“Hands up!” one of them screamed at her.
Her hands shot up, aware of just how many guns were pointing at her from all directions. She could shift and run. It would bewilder them, but then there was a good chance of getting shot out of sheer panic and she risked exposing the entire clan to scrutiny they had managed to evade here for centuries.
“Come on out, ma’am,” one of the female agents said in a thick southern drawl.
“I don’t have a suit on,” Kay said pitifully, looking around at the surrounding men.
The woman looked around and spotted Kay’s clothes on the bank. She retrieved them and walked back toward her.
“Turn around. All of you!” she barked at the men.
They all turned around without hesitation. Kay couldn’t be sure if the woman was their superior or if they just knew the trouble they’d bring down upon themselves if they didn’t honor the request.
“Okay. Come on out and get dressed,” she said, patting down the clothes as she began walking toward her from the water.
She usually let herself dry off in the sun, but lacked that luxury today. Slipping into her jeans and t-shirt, she was well aware that the white material was now wet and not hiding anything.
“Here, put this around you,” the woman told her, fishing out a thin rain jacket from the pack she was carrying. Kay slipped into it and thanked her.
“She dressed now?” one of the officers asked.
“Yeah. You can all turn around again.”
Kay counted them as they began spinning back around to face her. She counted thirteen of them in all. Why did it take thirteen men and one woman to arrest someone for trespassing on federal land?
“What’s this all about?” Kay asked finally.
One of the men took a step toward her and introduced himself. “I’m Special Agent Tony Roberts,” he told her.
Kay looked up at the tall, athletic-looking man. His sandy hair and pale blue eyes were somehow soothing. His voice calming in a way she found unusual for a man in his profession.
“We need to talk to you about Bradley Ryan.”
“My husband?”
“He’s not your husband.”
“What?”
“He’s not your husband. We know all about your fake marriage.”
Kay found herself annoyed by this. Was there anyone that didn’t know about her new identification and fake marriage? She was definitely complaining to the agency that set all this up about their lack of discretion. It didn’t work very well to get a new ID if both your enemies and the authorities were aware of it.
“What do you want from me?”
“Cooperation. Do as we say, and you’ll come out of this without a spot on your record and possibly even an identity that won’t be broadcast to the public.”
“I don’t know what this is all about, but neither Bradley nor I have done anything wrong.”
“We’ll decide that. Today is just an introduction. Meet us here and we’ll discuss things further. If you don’t show up, we’ll come find you. Obviously, don’t mention this to your so-called husband.”
“A massage parlor?” she said, looking at the card he handed her.
“It’s secure. We can talk there without being discovered.”
“I really don’t think I have anything to tell you.”
“We’ll decide that. Be there at ten or become a part of the problem.”
With that, he made a swirling motion with his hands and agents began to retreat into the nearby woods, all except the woman, who stood looking at her expectantly. Kay was too bewildered to comprehend.
“Jacket? I don’t think you want to go back home with FBI printed on the back of that raincoat.”
“Oh. Sorry. Thank you for letting me wear it,” Kay said, taking off the jacket and handing it to her.
“No problem. Listen, Kay or Kelly, whichever you prefer now. I know this sounds like a real shitshow, but it’s nothing compared to the one you’ll be facing if you don’t at least sit down with them. Just show up and see what we have to say. How it goes after that will be up to you.”
“I doubt it.”
“You can trust us.”
“Right,” Kay replied, sticking the card in her back pocket and heading back home.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to do with all this, about all this, but one thing was certain. There was no way she wasn’t telling Bradley about this. It occurred to her that they knew this too, but what was their game? Whatever it was, she needed him to help her sort it out in her head and decide what to do.