Guarding Faith

by Nicole Flockton

  “Whatever, but Faith’s caught up in some shit that can’t be discussed down here. Let’s go to my room.” He tossed this room key to Robot. “It’s room 1610. I’m gonna go get Faith. She won’t be happy that I got you guys involved. She barely tolerated my part. My arm is tingling telling me things are going to heat up pretty fucking quickly.”

  His teammates stood and nodded. “We’re in this with you,” Italy said and slapped on his back as they all made their way to the bank of elevators.

  They all piled in when the doors slid open. Greg pressed the button for the two floors they were travelling to, eighteen for him, sixteen for the others.

  No one said much as they traversed up, they all understood that an elevator wasn’t the place to have a conversation. A phone chimed and Red reached into his back pocket and pulled his cell out. And he just as quickly put it back when he glanced at the screen.

  “You don’t want to read the message in front of us?” teased Joker. “Come on, we’re all friends here.”

  “Fuck off, Joker,” Red grumbled back, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  Interesting. Who texted Red? Why didn’t he want to look at the message? Fuck, he was getting as bad as the rest of the team. He was doing exactly what he’d accused the others of doing, gossiping like a group of teenage girls. He just hadn’t been caught doing it out loud yet.

  The door opened on the sixteenth floor and his teammates filed out. “I’ll see you in five,” he said. “Oh and don’t even think about taking anything from the mini bar.”

  As if his threat would make any difference. Knowing his teammates, they’d open the twenty dollar can of peanuts along with every can of soda just because he told them not to.

  He glanced at his watch when the doors shut. It had been over an hour since he’d seen Faith. Plenty of time for her to get back to the hotel, follow up with who she needed to speak to. She’d be more than ready for a break. He hoped that she would be okay about his team turning up. It had been the last thing he’d expected, but he shouldn’t have been surprised, he would do the same for any one of them.

  They’d hauled his ass out of some hairy situations and he’d done the same for them. He’d been with Joker when he’d been shot and had got him safely to the chopper.

  Faith’s room was halfway along the corridor. He paused before knocking on the door. He did still have a key to her room. She’d given it to him after what had happened with Brad, but he didn’t want to use it. Didn’t want to barge in on her, no matter how much he wanted to hold her and reassure himself that she was safe.

  The feeling of unease had ratcheted up a few notches since he’d arrived at the hotel. He hoped for the first time in his life his instincts were wrong, and she was ensconced securely in her room.

  He rapped on the wood, his knock echoing around the hallway. Moments passed and he didn’t hear a muffled voice coming from the other side of the door. He knocked again while he pulled his wallet out and took out the keycard to her room.

  He slid the card in and the green light flashed up, opening the door he walked in. Silence surrounded him and the room looked exactly like it had when he’d walked out with Brad. The blinds were still drawn and covers thrown back. Walking over to the small desk he saw Faith’s laptop was shut and felt it was cold to the touch.

  His gut churned with conviction—Faith hadn’t made it back to her room.

  “Where the hell are you Faith?” he muttered to the empty room. Could she have gone back to Eddy? Or maybe she’d gone to Eddy’s room to make her calls.

  Striding out of the room, he headed to the stairwell. Eddy’s room was two floors up, he’d get there quicker than waiting for the elevator.

  A few moments later he was standing outside another hotel room, hoping against all hope that his woman was in there. If she wasn’t then the game had changed and instead of being a stand back and watch game, it had become an action one.

  Resisting the urge to pound the door down, he controlled his breathing and calmly knocked. He didn’t have to wait long before the door opened up. “Greg, what are you doing here?”

  “Is Faith with you?” He had no time for pleasantries, he needed answers and he needed them now.

  “No, I was just about to call her to see where she is so we can meet up. Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Faith’s not in her room, I was just there. It doesn’t look like she returned here when she said she was after we last saw her. Is there some other place she would go?” he asked, trying not to let his agitation show.

  “No, we conduct all of our business either in her room or my room. Come in, let me try her cell.” Eddy stepped back and Greg walked past him.

  He went over to the window. Eddy’s room overlooked that parking lot. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

  What had he been hoping for? A message from Faith written on top of the cars? Now that wasn’t likely to happen.

  “There’s no answer.”

  Greg whirled around. “Something’s happened to her.”

  Eddy held up his hand. “Now you don’t know that. Maybe she’s gone to the spa.”

  Greg gazed at the other man as if he’d sprouted another head. “Do you hear yourself, Eddy? Has Faith ever gone to the spa while on assignment? Is this something you think she’d seriously do?”

  “I suppose not, but,” Eddy shrugged. “Sometimes you have to go off plan when presented with an unusual situation. She may have been asked by one of her fellow competitors to go get a manicure or some other thing women do at the spa. Faith would agree because she wouldn’t want to draw unwarranted attention to herself.”

  While Greg wanted to believe this was the case, everything inside of him was telling him a different story.

  “You can think that, but I know something has happened to her, I trust my instincts. They’ve never let me down and have saved my life more than once.” Greg headed to the door again. When he reached it, he turned back to Faith’s partner. “Let me know if you hear anything.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “My team’s here. I’m going to tell them my thoughts. Then we’ll find out if I have anything to worry about or not.”

  Eddy eyed him suspiciously. “How are you going to do that?”

  “The way we always do. Work together as a team and use our resources. If I find out anything, I’ll let you know.” He was about to walk out the door, but stopped again. “What kind of car is Faith driving?”

  “Silver Tahoe.”

  “Thanks.” The door shut behind Greg. Once again, he headed for the stairwell. The quicker he got to the team the better.

  They started ribbing him the minute he walked through the door.

  “You took your time?”

  “Do I need to do an inspection to see if there are any telltale signs that you were doing more than talking?”

  Only one person asked the right question. “Sit-rep, Cowboy?” asked Robot. His team lead walked toward him, his eyes serious and not filled with mirth like the other guys in the room.

  “Faith wasn’t in her room. Nor was she with her partner.”

  Robot’s eyebrow rose in question “Partner?”

  Greg scrubbed a hand down his face, he’d planned on Faith telling them about her job. But now, with her not being able to be located, it was up to him. “Faith’s an FBI agent.”

  Italy whistled low. “Never would’ve thought that. Why is she here?”

  “She’s undercover as a rodeo competitor. I don’t know everything about her case, but it’s to do with horses going missing, including her horse. A guy was given a key to her room and walked in before dawn. I got some information out of him. He said Faith gave him the key while she was in the bar, which she didn’t. But there are still too many unanswered questions. Then Faith was questioned by someone from Women’s Professional Rodeo Association accusing her of tampering with her horse so that she could get a faster time out of it.”

  “Did she?” asked Red.

&nb
sp; “Of course, she didn’t. The guy came into the room to plant the illegal substance in her drawer. I was with her all night, there’s no way she went out to give this guy a key. Not to mention tell him to implicate her. That makes no sense.”

  Silence descended over the room while the men absorbed what Greg said. He paced around the small space, wanting to jump into action. But this was what they did. They all listened and then thought before speaking and coming up with an action plan.

  “What’s your gut telling you?” Robot finally asked.

  “That she’s in danger. That something happened to her and all the pieces are somehow connected. Horses going missing, including Faith’s. Someone trying to set her up. I just don’t know how it’s all joined together.”

  T-Rex nodded. “All right then, let’s see what we can find out.”

  This is what made them a great team. Without a doubt they always trusted each other’s gut. So many times one or the other’s instincts got them out of trouble.

  “Should we call, Tex?” Joker asked. “You know that guy can find anyone. How many times has he helped us in the last couple years?”

  “Not to mention Wolf’s team. Cookie told me all about how Tex was able to locate Fiona when she’d had a PTSD attack. Just like how he found Brielle for me,” T-Rex commented.

  Robot walked over to the desk in the corner, sat and pulled the hotel notepad in front of him. “All right, before we contact Tex, let’s get everything Cowboy knows down and see if we can find a connection that will help him.”

  As he looked at the men congregated in the small hotel room, Greg was more than glad that Red had contacted them.

  Confidence built inside of him. They’d get to Faith before it was too late.

  Faith blinked rapidly, her head aching with every downward swipe of her eyelids. Her brain had turned from functioning cells to matter made out of hay.

  What had happened to her?

  Lifting her head she looked around the space. The four wooden slatted walls reminded her of a stall. The aroma of horse manure penetrated the haze clouding her senses. Beneath her lay a bed of straw.

  Hell, she was in a horse’s stall. Had she fallen off Ginger and hit her head, knocking herself out?

  No, Ginger was missing. She remembered that.

  Struggling to sit up she was nudged gently by a soft, wet nose. Okay, so she wasn’t alone and had a horse keeping her company.

  “Ahh finally you wake up. I didn’t expect you to be out so long.”

  Faith looked up, biting back a groan of pain at the action. “Tiffany, what the hell is going on?”

  Tiffany laughed, and not the friendly variety. Hers had sinister written all over it. “Eliminating the competition.”

  Faith struggled to her feet and swayed. Her head swam as if she’d had ten bottles of champagne. Her stomach joined the swaying and swallowed against the rising bile in her throat. Last thing she was going to do was give Tiffany the satisfaction of seeing her toss her cookies.

  The horse in the stable whinnied and stamped a leg. Fortunately it wasn’t a leg closest to Faith, but even in her hazy mind, the sound seemed familiar. As if she’d heard it on numerous occasions.

  She turned to the animal. “Ginger! Are you okay, girl?” Faith ran a hand down her flanks, the muscles rippling beneath her head.

  “This is so touching. I’d almost think she was your horse if I didn’t know the truth.”

  As much as she tried to keep her reaction to a minimum, Faith couldn’t stop her spine from stiffening at Tiffany’s words. Keeping a hand on Ginger she faced the other woman again. Tiffany was peering over the stall door, looking smug and pleased with herself.

  “What do you mean by that? Ginger is my horse.” She’d been trained to bluff her way out of many tight situations and she was certainly in one now.

  Tiffany laughed that horrid laugh again. “Please, you can quit the act. I know who you really are. We know that you’re not a rodeo competitor. If you tell us the truth we might be nice.” She paused and tapped her fingers on the top of the wood. “Or not.”

  Slowly fragments of what happened before everything went black, filtered into her mind. Another voice had spoken before she’d passed out.

  Randy.

  Holy shit. Were Randy and Tiffany were involved with the horse smuggling ring? Or was it simply a case of what Tiffany had said when she’d regained consciousness? Tiffany saw her as competition and she wanted Faith out of the way. The last scenario would make sense if Tiffany hadn’t said she was aware Faith wasn’t a competitor.

  Did they know she was an FBI agent?

  Her stomach churned again at the thought. The team was primarily interested in the horse smuggling ring. But there had also been chatter that the organization they were chasing wasn’t only interested in farming off horses. They were also interested in selling women to sex traders.

  Everything got a little more serious now. What she needed to do was to get the other woman to talk. But she had no way of recording their conversation. Ginger would hardly be a reliable witness.

  “Who are you and Randy working for, Tiffany?” Her mind clearing with every second, but she deliberately kept her voice low and with a slight slur so as not to give that away. If she let Tiffany believe she was still out of it, it could work in her favor.

  “Randy? What makes you think he’s involved?” She flicked the blonde strands of her hair over her shoulder in an I don’t give a fuck way.

  “Because I heard you say his name before I passed out.”

  “Randy is inconsequential. I’m the one in charge and so I’m the one who will be asking questions.” She made a move to open the stall door, but Ginger kicked her front foot against her wood, the loud sound reverberating around the enclosure. Tiffany jumped back as if she’d been hit by an electric surge and Faith bit back a smile.

  “Good girl,” she murmured as she patted the horse again.

  “Of course, the fucking horse would be a supporter of yours. You have it all don’t you? Talent. Looks, and of course, the handsome sexy cowboy to go with it. But it was also your downfall. You let your guard down and made it so easy for me to come after you. Some FBI agent you are.” Tiffany sneered.

  Shit. She knows who I work for.

  Faith forced a laugh out. “Me an FBI agent, you’ve got to be kidding. What gave you that idea?”

  “Oh, puleeese, don’t try and fool me. I know everything. We know everything. Do you think we didn’t know the Feds were after us?” Tiffany waved her hand around. “This was all planned. We’re not stupid, you know. We’re aware that you and your trainer aren’t really who you say you are.”

  Faith’s mind whirled. Was it true? Had the smuggling ring known she and Eddy were agents the whole time? Or was it just here in Houston that they worked it out? She replayed everything she’d done. The way she’d acted over the last couple weeks. And the only difference from the other events she’d attended was Greg. Ever since she’d run into him in Virginia her mind had been only half on the job.

  If it was her inattention to detail that blew this case up, then instead of a promotion she’d be demoted and be tied to the most boring job the agency could come up with for the rest of her life.

  But part of her wasn’t sorry she’d hooked up with Greg. He’d always had her heart since she’d first met him as a teenage girl and he’d been full of swagger and teenage arrogance.

  “Don’t you have anything to say, Faith? Don’t you have some textbook denial that you’ve been trained to say?” The more Tiffany spoke the more hatred entered her voice.

  So much for thinking Tiffany was a friend. And here she thought Sadie was the one to watch. Tiffany had played her well.

  Faith shrugged. “You seem to know everything. What would be the point in denying or admitting it? You probably wouldn’t believe me anyway. But you know my presence is going to be missed. We’re both supposed to be competing soon.” She had no idea what the time was or how long she’d been out. Bu
t she had to believe Eddy had noticed she was missing.

  Greg definitely would’ve and he’s probably got his team on the job now to mount a rescue mission for you.

  Faith shushed the voice in her head. All the time she’d been talking to Tiffany she’d been tamping down the thoughts of Greg and his team coming to her rescue. During the night, when she’d been wrapped up in his arms, he’d told of how the team had worked together to save Erin, Suzie, Brielle and Antonia. At the time she’d been confident that she’d never need rescuing. She was a fucking FBI agent, she’d been trained to kill with her hands. But here she was, trapped in a horse stable with Ginger and an unhinged woman on the other side of the door.

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got it all under control.” Tiffany stated. “You not showing up won’t be suspicious, because you will have been scratched from tonight’s event in light of the horse tampering allegation against you.”

  Another piece of the puzzle locked into place, at least Faith now knew who’d been impersonating her and sucked poor Brad into her scheme. “You know what happens to people who get over-confident, Tiffany.”

  “What’s that?” she asked as she rolled her eyes.

  “They always get caught.”

  Tiffany laughed. “Not me. I’ve been doing this for a very long time. I know how to look after myself.”

  “I’d still be worried if I were you. You are going to get caught, mark my words.” Her inner thought about Greg coming to rescue her had taken root even though she hadn’t wanted it to.

  Tiffany lifted her wrist and checked the gold watched strapped around it. “Oh look, I need to go. Enjoy your accommodations, because trust me, the next ones won’t be so nice.”

  With a wave of her fingers she was off and Faith listened to her retreating footsteps.

  She rested her head against Ginger’s side. A pounding had taken up residence in her brain and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. But she couldn’t. She had to stay awake. “Please, Greg. Please come find me,” she whispered as she sank to the prickly straw.

  Chapter 14