Alpha's Promise
Page 32
Brigid looked up. “Roscoe has something.”
“Damn it.” Angus made it through the desks in record time. “Is it Jack Daniels?”
Brigid craned her neck to see. “No. It’s red.” The dog had a drinking problem?
Angus glared at his dog. “Drop it. Now.” The command in his voice would’ve made Brigid drop anything she was carrying.
The dog sighed and spit out a gold-plated lipstick.
Brigid winced. “That looks expensive.”
The dog licked his lips.
Angus sighed. “I told everyone not to leave makeup around. He likes the taste.”
“No, you didn’t,” Brigid countered.
Angus pierced her with a look. “Well, I meant to. Roscoe, get back to the office. Now.”
The dog gave her a “what a butthead” type of look and turned to slink back to Angus’s office.
“You two, come with me.” Angus turned and headed back to the case room, no doubt expecting them to follow.
Raider motioned her ahead of him. Yeah. Like she’d return to that death trap of an elevator. Though it was preferable to dealing with Angus Force. The former FBI profiler now headed up this division of the HDD, and he seemed almost able to read people’s minds. Was he reading hers? Did he have one clue that she wasn’t who she was supposed to be? How much had he guessed? More importantly, why had he sent her to Boston?
She crossed into the case room to face a whiteboard across from a conference table. Several pictures of men, some in their early seventies and some only in their twenties, were taped evenly across the expanse. “New case?” she asked.
“Yes.” Angus gestured for them to sit. “Did anybody recognize you in Boston?”
It took her a second to realize he was talking to her and not to Raider. “Me?”
“Yes,” Angus said.
What the heck? “Why would anybody have recognized me?” she asked, her senses thrumming.
Raider eyed her and then Angus. “Nobody recognized her. My best suit, which you asked me to wear, did get some attention, however.”
Angus nodded. “I’ve already read the report.”
Curiosity took Brigid as she sat down with Raider beside her.
Angus moved around to the board. “New case kicked to us by the HDD. They think it’s crap, and I think it has merit. Either that, or somebody is messing with us.”
Raider stiffened just enough that Brigid could feel his tension. “How so?”
“While the Irish mob is no longer a serious threat in Boston, there are criminals, past associates of the mob, that have risen in the ranks and become dangerous recently,” Angus said, standing big and broad on the other side of the table.
Brigid perched in her seat, still not seeing what this had to do with her. She had no problem hacking into criminal networks, so perhaps that was why she’d been included on this Op?
“How so?” Raider asked, all business.
“Instead of working within the usual, or rather former, hierarchy of the mob, these guys are outsourcing work to incredibly skilled computer criminals,” Angus said.
“Like me,” Brigid said quietly.
Angus nodded. “Exactly. We have a line on a group using a site on the dark web. We think they’re running drugs, but we don’t know what else.”
The dark web was nearly impossible to hack. “I can’t just find a site without knowing where it is,” Brigid said. “The key to bringing down somebody on the dark web is—”
“Getting them to meet you in person,” Raider said. “Guess that’s my part of this op.”
“Partially,” Angus said, eying them both. “There’s more.”
Warning ticked through Brigid. Why, she didn’t know. But her instincts rose instantly, and she stiffened. “What?”
“We think this man might be one of the key players.” Angus turned and taped one more picture to the board.
Brigid stopped breathing. She stared at the picture. He had aged. His skin was leathery, his nose broken more than once, and his hair now all gray.
Raider glanced at her. “Who is that?”
“My father,” she whispered. The man she hadn’t seen or talked to in years. She coughed. “You’re crazy. He’s a farmer. Always has been.”
Angus winced. “No. He was involved with the Irish mob way back when. Then he supposedly got out, but now we think he’s back in.”
That couldn’t be true. No way. “That’s why you sent us to Boston? Those guys in the corner were mobsters?” Brigid gasped.
“Yep. Just wanted to see if you’d be recognized,” Angus said.
“Damn it,” Raider muttered. “You could’ve given me a heads up.”
Brigid tried to rein in her temper. “Of course nobody recognized me. You’re wrong about my father.”
“Prove it,” Angus said mildly. “You and Raider go talk to him and prove I’m wrong. But be prepared to discover I’m right.”
Brigid shook her head. “You want me to take an obvious government agent to my father’s farm and what? Just ask him if he’s involved in cybercrime?” No way. “Believe me. My dad wouldn’t talk to a Fed if he was dying.”
Angus’s smile didn’t provide reassurance. “No. You’re going home to reconcile with your father because you’ve finally found your way in life with the man next to you—one with possible criminal ties that we’re still working out. Who you want to introduce to your father before you marry.”
“Marry?” Brigid blurted, her mind spinning wildly. “Are you nuts?” She turned to Raider. “Tell him this won’t work.”
Raider hadn’t moved. “This is important, Force?”
“Crucial,” Angus affirmed. “There’s more going on here than drugs. I just know it.”
Raider turned and studied her with those deep, dark eyes. “Well, Irish. Looks like we’re engaged.” His smile sent butterflies winging through her abdomen. “This is going to be interesting. Now that you’re mine, I will finally figure you out.”
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti has worked as an art curator, Senate aide, lawyer, college professor, and a hearing examiner—only to culminate it all in stories about alpha males and the women who claim them. She writes dark paranormal romances and romantic suspense novels.
Growing up amid the glorious backdrops and winter wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest has given Rebecca fantastic scenery and adventures to weave into her stories. She resides in the wild north with her husband, children, and extended family who inspire her every day—or at the very least, give her plenty of characters to write about.
Please visit Rebecca at: www.rebeccazanetti.com
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