They had pulled up outside a park with rolling green lawns and kids play swings, which were empty. Silence filled the car after Ryan turned it off.
Where to start and what to ask? ‘Well…what’s this about?’ Jaz asked fiddling with the hem on her skirt. ‘I’ve had this feeling that you’ve been avoiding me.’ She made herself look him in the eye, no matter how scared she was of his reply.
Ryan cleared his throat. ‘In a way I have. I’m sorry, Jaz but I just had to sort a few things out before I could talk to you about them.’
‘Well, I’m here and I’m listening. What’s been going on, Ryan? You’ve been so up and down. And what’s with you and Pax?’
His eyes were a conflict of emotions, and she was struggling to read them.
‘I’ve been talking to my boss about you. MTG Agencies was started by Louis Montenegro many years ago. He was very rich and had connections with the government. He put his plan of running a secret agency that would work to keep drug dealers, terrorists and general bad people out of our country to the government, and MTG Agencies was born. They have a base in most states, so you can see how big it has become. Louis has since passed on but his family has continued what he started. His son, Louis Jnr, has just stepped aside to let his own son James take over some of the reins. That’s who I’ve been talking with. James is in Perth for a few weeks.’
‘Wow, that’s some story. It’s nice to know some people want to look out for others, you know. So what has Pax got to do with all this?’
‘Well, Pax wasn’t too happy knowing you and I had met. See Pax knows all about me, and when I told him I wanted to recruit you he wasn’t impressed.’
‘How come Pax knows about you? How can he…’ Jaz saw the look on Ryan’s face and the penny dropped. ‘Oh. Pax is one of you?’ Ryan confirmed it with a nod of his head. ‘No way. Really?’
‘Yes, really. Pax has been involved with MTG Agencies way longer than I have.’
Jaz rubbed her temple as she tried to understand. ‘All this time Pax has been an agent? Has he been out…’ Jaz couldn’t bring herself to say ‘killing people’. Not Pax, her big cuddly, cinnamon smelling adopted grandad.
Ryan laughed. ‘No Jaz. Pax is more an office type. He gets us documents, new IDs, alibis and anything computer-related. He can make a whole person appear on the net under a fake name and make it believable. It comes in handy when you are trying to infiltrate a gang.’
‘So Pax is like the computer geek of agents?’ She let out her breath. ‘It all begins to make sense. How Anna was able to print us those fake IDs using stuff she found at Pax’s place.’
Ryan signed. ‘Yes, Anna is a bit too clever for her own good. Maybe she’d like to work with Pax one day. What do you think?’
‘I think you better stop threatening to poach all my friends into your secret stuff,’ she said gruffly.
‘Fair enough.’
They sat in silence for a while. Jaz having so many questions but not sure which one to ask first. ‘So every time Pax has taken off, he’s been off doing stuff for you guys?’
Ryan nodded.
‘Is he ever in danger?’
‘No, not usually. Most of the time he will make up documents and leave them at our drop points for us to collect.’
‘That’s good to know.’ Jaz picked at her fingernails. ‘But you’re always in danger, aren’t you?’
‘Sometimes, yes. At the moment it’s not so bad, but sometimes if we get a lead on a drug cartel I go in undercover to try and infiltrate and it can go wrong.’
‘Like with Chris?’
Ryan swallowed hard. No answer was necessary.
Jaz wondered what things Ryan had to do to get inside these gangs. To prove he was one of them. Did he kill people? Did he use the drugs? She had no idea what it would be like. She only had movies to go off. She had always thought movies were make-believe but now wondered just how much of it was a variation of the truth.
‘So Pax wasn’t happy that you’d asked me to join?’
‘No. Of course he wasn’t. In his eyes, you’re his little granddaughter. To him it’s like I just handed over a gun to a ten-year-old. I can see where he’s coming from, I’d hate for someone to have recruited my sister. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I hadn’t recognised the potential you have. I’m trying to think of all the people you can save, Jaz. To me, that’s the bigger picture.’
‘It sounds like a noble job, an important job. But it comes with high risk. I just don’t know if I can do it.’ Jaz wrung her hands. She wanted to join, to be like Ryan but would she be digging her own grave? ‘Have many agents died?’