The Journey to Duskwood

Chapter 17

A/N: 

Another late and short update. Sorry y'all - finding the motivation to write has been such a chore. But I'm trying not to give up on this story!

TW: mention of suicide

~*~

  Jake and I sat on the floor of the small guest room belonging to Ira Milton for what felt like hours. We hardly spoke, but I learned more just from watching Jake work than I would have if he'd flat out told me what's going on.

  Apparently, Ira Milton became director of the FBI's security department about a year after Jake had gone into hiding. She had heard of what he had done and decided to look into things herself alongside a private investigator that was hired to look into corruption at the governmental level.

  Ira knew not much could be done to make a lasting impact and her efforts quickly became futile – because unlike the fictional novels, one group of people can't overturn corrupt governments on their own.

  However, her position did make it possible to uncover secret information that not even Jake had been able to access. Before long, a fairly large group of trustworthy people formed and continued investigating under the guise of FBI agents and other government workers. For three years, the undercover operation went on, and it seemed like the truth would finally be revealed.

  That never happened.

  Things soon became dangerous. The criminal organizations that "supplied ammunition," as Jake had put it before, were smart, careful, and did everything they could to stop the truth from getting out. The result was innumerable firings, arrests, black-listings, injuries, death threats, and even some deaths.

  Ira was almost completely cut off from society herself, forced into near isolation with the threat of her family being targeted. They made it nearly impossible for her to live life normally – she could no longer get a stable job, her credit was ruined, and her reputation was destroyed. She was able to find this house in the middle of nowhere – a town so small and outdated that no one knew of anything that was happening, not even about Jake who is internationally wanted.

  She lived life quietly and in the shadows until one day the idea to reach out to Jake struck her. It was, according to him, not an easy task as he had disconnected himself from nearly every avenue of communication with the world. But she managed to get a hold of him anonymously. Though I'm not sure how – Jake explained it, but he may as well had been speaking another language as none of what he said made any sense.

  For the last several months, Ira and Jake have been working together. From what I gathered, after a year of her leaving the FBI, she was mostly left alone by them – though the threats from the other organizations never stopped. But the threats were enough to keep Ira quiet.

  The goal is to expose what's happening behind closed doors, but it's become more difficult now that I'm involved. Jake has assured me it's just a slight bump in the pathway, but I can't help but feel it's much more than that.

"If all goes according to plan, we can expose this in about two months," Jake tells Ira. We moved from the bedroom to the kitchen for a small but tasty dinner.

Ira sends a brief but warm smile my way before turning to Jake. "Dear, I think it might be safer to wait until Flora is not being targeted."

  He doesn't verbally respond, but he does give Ira a pointed look. What he meant by it I have no clue. But I have the feeling that wasn't what Jake was wanting to hear from her.

  We finish the rest of the meal shortly after and return to the guest bedroom after tidying up.

  I reach for my bag, ready to grab a pair of black shorts and a shirt from it, but I'm pulled from behind before I can do so. My backside presses against Jake's front and his hold on my waist tightens.