“And my team?” Logan’s tone only got harder and colder.
“Zora had them pull back.” Baruti held up his hands. “They’re none too happy about that order.”
“For the record,” Samuel interjected. His tone was every bit as frosty as Logan’s. “I don’t appreciate Kelsey being tapped for this and us left in the dark.”
She cringed. “I offered.”
“Welcome to my world,” Logan replied.
“Let’s take it down five levels, okay?” Baruti asked. “We are all learning how to play nice with each other. Can we agree that certain things about how this team is run frustrate all of us? Yeah?”
“Yes,” Logan growled out.
Samuel nodded.
Kelsey folded her hands and sat in silence.
Baruti glanced at each of them. “Okay, so if I may suggest? Let’s collectively put that frustration aside and get to work. Can we do that?”
Logan nodded.
“Yes,” Samuel agreed.
“Why the carpooling?” she asked.
“Because the drive over allowed us to brief Dixon’s lawyers on the threat to him so they can advise him better,” Samuel said without hesitation.
Logan shook his head. “Meaning, advise him to do what Zora wants him to do.”
“Correct.”
“And what is that?” Kelsey did wish she had paused to wash her hands again.
“Ideally?” Samuel tugged at his tie. “Senator Dixon would be placed in protective custody where we could watch him and ensure his safety until we get to the bottom of all this.”
Kelsey glanced between the two men. “You don’t sound like you think that’s going to happen.”
Baruti grimaced. “We don’t know for sure.”
“There was push-back from Dixon’s team,” Samuel said slowly.
Logan reached for the door. “Let’s get inside and talk to Dixon ourselves.”
Baruti caught her eye before she could get out.
“What?” she mouthed at him.
He simply wagged a finger at her and grinned.
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Men.
They were all horrible.
Kelsey got out of the SUV and trailed after the others. Her phone vibrated, giving her something to distract herself with.
It was a message from Felecia.
Hey, Zora wants you to be ready to go with the senator. Can I pack a bag for you?
Go with Dixon?
Kelsey’s head started to throb as she typed back. The man was going to be a permanent headache, she just knew it.
There’s a bag already packed in the closet. Just need to add stuff from the bathroom and a few work outfits. There should be travel cases under the sink. Thanks.
Well, that might happen.
Fantastic.
Kelsey nodded at the cops and moved past them, deeper into the house. She went upstairs and found Baruti, Samuel and Logan scowling at the now closed office doors.
“What did I miss?” she asked.
“They’re talking,” Logan replied.
“Oh. Okay. Um, I’m going to go clean up.” She edged sideways past them.
“Can you show me where the restroom is?” Baruti asked.
“Sure thing. Come on.” Kelsey turned and headed down the stairs to the spacious first floor bathroom.
Baruti stepped in ahead of her, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room. He quickly shut the door and whirled on her.
“What the fuck? I didn’t do it.” Kelsey held up her hands.
“Girl, you did something.” Baruti grinned at her.
Kelsey’s mind raced.
He knew.
He had to.
Could she play it off? Or confess?
She groaned.
Baruti had probably noticed something. Damn her luck. He was the one person she couldn’t pull one over on.
Kelsey turned to the vanity and pumped a handful of soap into her palm. “I have no idea what’s going on.”
“I saw the way Logan was glaring at me.” Baruti crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the marble top vanity behind her.
Kelsey glanced in the mirror at him, but couldn’t maintain eye contact. Baruti would see straight through her, and then her secret wouldn’t be a secret anymore.
“I fucking knew it.” Baruti pumped his fist.
“Will you stop it?” She sighed, exasperated with herself and him.
Someone tapped at the door.
“Samuel?” Baruti leaned forward and stared at the door.
The door opened and quick as lightning Samuel darted inside. What was this, a party?
“What are you two doing?” She turned, soap soaking her shirtsleeves, and gaped at the two.
“You and Logan?” Samuel asked.
“No,” she yelped. She cringed then repeated herself quieter this time. “No.”
“Well, something happened.” Samuel leaned against the vanity next to Baruti and they both stared at her.
Kelsey bought herself precious moments washing off the soap and scrubbing at dried blood, but there wasn’t much for her to think about. After all, what could she say?
The fact was if she wanted to tell anyone and have that information stay private, these two were her safest bet. Diha, Cat, Felecia? Those three were so head-over-heels in love that they couldn’t listen to reason.
Kelsey and Logan would never work out. Ever.
“Okay. Fine.” She reached for the hand towel and turned to face Baruti and Samuel. “I kissed the stuck up asshole, okay? Happy?”
“Oh...” Baruti’s brows rose, and he drew the one word out for ages.
Samuel grinned and smacked Baruti’s shoulder. “I told you.”
“I told you what?” Kelsey snapped.
“Samuel said the only reason you were so prickly was because someone had gotten under your skin,” Baruti said in the most obnoxious sing-song voice.
“Will you both just stop? Please?” She braced a hand on the vanity and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“You could be good for him. Loosen that guy up a bit,” Baruti said.
Kelsey dropped her hand and leveled a cold stare at Baruti. “And would that be what’s best for me?”
His smile quickly vanished, and he seemed to consider her question.
“You’ve got a point,” Samuel agreed.
Baruti hooked his thumbs in his pockets and regarded her with a curious expression. “What do you have against him?”
His question felt like a trap. What was he getting at?
“Logan is...serious.” She grabbed the hand towel and busied herself using that. “He’s not the kind of man you scratch an itch with. We kissed, so to him that probably means we’re engaged.”
Kelsey couldn’t help rolling her eyes at that antiquated idea. It fit him though. Logan was just old fashioned like that. Or something.
“You mean he’s the settling down type?” Samuel asked.
Baruti elbowed his partner. “You two have something in common then.”
Samuel frowned and pushed Baruti’s elbow away without further comment.
He did have a point. Both Logan and Samuel were very serious about everything. She’d listened to Baruti rib Samuel about his dating life, or lack of it, enough to get a feel for his personality.
Samuel had worked hard to get where he was. From a lower, middle class Atlanta family all the way to the Academy. Samuel had to work twice as hard to be considered half as good on account of something as silly as skin color. He seemed to put that same thought and consideration into every aspect of life.
It sounded exhausting to her.
On the other hand, if Logan was similar, he could have weighted her and found her wanting. Could be, she wasn’t what he wanted for himself and so he’d decided to move forward as if that possibility hadn’t opened up.
Kelsey wanted that revelation to be comforting to her. She craved the sense of relief it should brin
g. So why was she so disappointed? What was wrong with her? Deep down did she want Logan for more than this irritating attraction? What if he didn’t feel the same?
Doing nothing hadn’t worked. The kiss only complicated things further. She feared whatever action or inaction she chose would have consequences she wasn’t prepared for.
Was she willing to do nothing and walk away from him despite the deep sense of loss already opening inside of her?
Relationships weren’t her area of expertise. Even her own family hadn’t excelled at them. Was she setting herself up for failure? Or regret?
9.
Friday. Senator Dixon’s Home. Annapolis, Maryland.
Logan was about ready to drag Dixon out of his office, throw him in the back of the Jeep and just go. Whatever the senator’s problems were, they could be figured out once he was secure.
Honestly, staying here was a mistake.
And where the hell was Kelsey and the FBI duo?
Logan glanced over the railing.
They’d been downstairs quite a while.
Were they discussing matters behind his back?
Logan grit his teeth.
Kelsey knew to be careful, but these two were people she trusted. Logan wasn’t certain she would be as cautious given their close relationship. Should he warn her? Remind her?
No.
Kelsey was well aware of the safety precautions they needed to take.
One of the doors opened. It was the woman. Logan didn’t remember which was who, though, he should have.
“The senator is ready for you now,” she said.
Fantastic.
Where were the others?
Footsteps on the stairs had him gritting his teeth. Baruti and Kelsey came up with Samuel following behind. Logan stared at Kelsey’s profile, yet she didn’t glance at him. It was Baruti who caught his eye.
“They’re ready for us,” Logan said.
Baruti grinned. “Perfect.”
Logan gestured at the door.
Kelsey glanced at him then. It was a quick look. So fast he’d have missed it if he weren’t staring at her.
Was it his imagination or did her mask fall for that split second?
Her eyes. The way she looked at him. Every damn time it stirred things inside of him, he’d rather let sleep.
Kelsey stepped into the office. Logan hung back, allowing the other two to enter before him. He needed that moment to breathe. To refocus. This thing between them could wait.
He glanced down at the bloodstains on the carpet. They partially faded into the burgundy color, obscuring where Robert had nearly lost his life.
Logan could do with a reminder that even though they were all pretending to be on the same side in that room, there was a good chance they weren’t. The senator had his agenda. The lawyer and fixer theirs. Even between Logan, Kelsey, and the two FBI agents, there could be multiple goals. And that was before the possibility that one of them could be the mole was factored in.
No, Logan needed to keep his mind on the case for now.
He took a deep breath, then followed the others into the senator’s office.
Senator Dixon sat in one of the arm chairs. His lawyer, a silvery haired man with shrewd eyes, sat behind the desk. The other two had pulled up chairs on either side of the desk, presenting a unified trifecta.
Wonderful.
“Evening, Senator Dixon,” Samuel said and nodded at the others. “I’m Special Agent Samuel—”
“We know who you are,” Dixon’s lawyer waved his hand.
“Sit, please?” Dixon gestured at the sofa.
Kelsey sat on the farthest end, closest to the desk. Baruti took up most of the middle, given his larger-than-life size while his partner perched on the armrest.
Logan came to a stop, crossed his arms over his chest and remained standing. He was about done playing nice with these people.
“So, you have something you’d like to say to us?” Logan focused on the lawyer.
“My client would like to thank you and Miss. Young for your speedy response. Without your aid, the senator and Mr. Brown could be dead right now. That does not, however, begin to explain what the two of you are doing in the employ of my client.”
“We believed your client to be in danger,” Logan said before remembering there were two FBI agents right there to handle this situation.
“Why were we not made aware of this threat?” the lawyer asked.
Logan glanced at Samuel, who stared back at Logan. He nodded and Samuel smoothed a hand down his paisley printed tie.
“Mr. Bernstein? You were not advised of the threat because while our intel was credible, the senator was one of several possible targets. Due to the sensitive nature of this threat, we could not go public nor bring you in until we verified everything we knew.”
“And you’ve done that? Now?” Bernstein gestured to the floor to the right of the desk. “After two men were killed in this very room?”
To Samuel’s credit, he didn’t shrink away from those details. “The senator saw fit to hire his own security outside of what is available to him from the Secret Service. How many sitting senators need to do that?”
Dixon stared down at the carpet. He wasn’t putting on the charm anymore. This was the man behind the mask. And the shocked, wide-eyed stare he was giving his loafers was that of a man afraid.
For several long moments, no one said a word.
“What is it you would recommend, Special Agent?” the fixer woman asked.
“Protective custody,” Baruti said. “The senator and anyone close to him.”
Dixon’s head snapped up.
“No,” he blurted.
Baruti leveled kind eyes at the man. “Sir, it’s for your safety. While we have a list of threats, we still don’t know why they’re targeting you. Your security man, Butters? He wasn’t on our list. What if there are others like him? Sir, we need to get to the bottom of this for your safety.”
“List?” Bernstein echoed. “There’s a list? There are others?”
Shit.
The agents shifted uncomfortably.
“Yes,” Logan said. “Simply put, we have a list of aliases people who have been tasked with assassinating the senator might be using. Yesterday, one of those men was due to attend a meeting with Senator Dixon. He never made it to that meeting.”
“Because you apprehended him?” Bernstein asked.
“Because he tried to knife me,” Logan responded.
Dixon’s face went pale. “I can’t go into protective custody. I just can’t. We can re-screen all of our new hires. Get different security if I need it...”
“Sir?” Samuel glanced at his partner than back at Dixon. “That doesn’t address the issue at all.”
Dixon continued to stare to his left, not meeting the gaze of either FBI agent, not Kelsey, and sure as hell not Logan.
“Do you have any idea why Butters and these other men would come after you?” Samuel asked.
Dixon shook his head.
“What about being a pedophile?” Logan asked.
This time Dixon started. His whole body went rigid. He turned his head and gaped at Logan. “I would never.”
“Butters thinks you are. He believed it so much he broke in here and tried to kill you. What aren’t you telling us?” Logan asked.
Shut up.
He needed to keep his trap shut and let the agents deal with this.
Working for the Task Force was not like a typical Aegis Group job. Logan wasn’t due the same kind of answers he was accustomed to. But damn it, he was the one taking risks for this guy.
“We need a moment to discuss this,” Bernstein announced.
“Of course.” Samuel rose, giving the rest of them no other choice of action.
Logan turned and stalked out to the landing again.
Dixon wasn’t as clean cut as he wanted them to all believe. No one got targeted like this without reason. Logan doubted it was kids, unless there was some larg
er plan afoot they hadn’t yet discovered. Anything was possible.
“Did we have to bring up Butters?” Kelsey asked in a low voice once the office door was shut again.
“What did Butters say, exactly?” Samuel asked.
Logan stared at the doors. “He accused Dixon of being a pedophile.”
“It sounded...personal,” Kelsey added.
“Diha is working on those four right now. We should know more in a few hours,” Samuel said.
“Here’s what I’m thinking...” Baruti leaned in. “These four aren’t going to admit or agree to anything tonight. Let’s get them to allow Logan and Kelsey to stay here. Tomorrow Kelsey can step into Robert’s shoes. Make herself indispensable. Then we bring in the rest of Logan’s people to handle security once we get an agreement from Dixon’s people, they will work with us.”
Logan inwardly groaned.
It was all figured out way before now. He was just being brought in.
Typical Task Force.
Zora had probably seen this coming a mile away.
He shook his head and sighed.
“I’m not so sure Dixon’s going to take to me like Robert,” Kelsey said slowly. “I mean, especially now that he knows I’m FBI.”
“Do what you can,” Baruti said.
She glanced at Logan. “The girls already let me know this was a possibility. They’re getting some things from my place. Want them to pick up anything for you?”
Logan pulled out his phone. “I’ll message Ethan. Quicker that way.”
This wasn’t Logan’s show. He was here to carry out orders, not make decisions. If it were up to him, Dixon wouldn’t have a say in what happened next. He wasn’t the squeaky clean person they’d assumed he was in the beginning. The man had secrets. It was time to uncover them.
FRIDAY. SENATOR DIXON’S Home. Annapolis, Maryland.
Logan pulled his tie from around his neck and tossed it onto the queen sized bed.
Like most of the senator’s home, the decoration leaned toward wood, leather and shades of burgundy. The bedroom was spacious and boring. Judging by the Jack-and-Jill bath, this room and the next were likely intended to be rooms for the homeowner’s children.
He squinted at the clock.
It was beyond late.
He needed to lay his things out and get to bed. Tomorrow would be grueling. No doubt the senator’s lawyer and fixer would have decided on a course of action. Getting them to budge would be difficult yet necessary. Especially once they understood Butters motivation.
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