I looked around the place again and decided it was time to call it. There was nothing here. The place didn’t need to be clean because there was nothing to find here.
“Place is a waste of time.” I shook my head. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything here.”
“Me neither. Place just looks like a normal person lives here. Sam, is there really no one you can contact? No one at all? Not even the Pentagon, or someone from somewhere?” Joe held my gaze and opened his palms.
“No, there’s no one, Joe.”
It was exactly as I explained to Olivia. I was terminated the minute I was arrested. No one would vouch for me if I was foolish enough to reveal the mission because it was a black op, and fuck, they were going to either leave me in the shit or leave me to find a way out.
“Your team, what do you really think happened?”
“I think I asked too many questions. I stumbled on something they never expected.” Not they. Or at least to my knowledge it wasn’t all of them.
That phone call with Xavier did it. I thought about it the other day. The conversation was all fine until I mentioned that Bradley told me about the chip and showed it to me.
Xavier thought at first that I must have done some fancy hacking to find out the chip was in Bradley’s house. That little piece of knowledge is exactly what did it and they realized they didn’t need me.
“I made taking the chip easy to do without me. Then when I went back to the warehouse and saw confirmation that I was working the wrong side. They dealt with me by doing this.”
Xavier knew me. He knew I would have headed to Bradley’s house, and he probably tracked me with my phone. He knew exactly when I came to after being hit with the bat, knew I was on my way to Bradley’s house, and knew how long it would take me to get there. The police and I were basically there at the same time, yet the story was being made out to sound like I was at Bradley’s for a while and that I went there in rage, kicking the door in.
That whole shit about an anonymous phone call and the cameras not working was them. No one knew what time I got to Bradley, and since everything I owned was in evidence being processed, from my car to my toothbrush, we didn’t have anything to work with.
I looked completely guilty.
“It was never a government mission. Never. Whoever Norton was or whatever his motives were, weren’t part of the government.” That was obvious, just to me, though, because I noticed the slight look of caution that flashed across Joe’s face.
The guy from forensics came in and wrinkled his nose when he saw me. The same look he’d sported this morning when we met. He reminded me of those science nerds from high school who were worse than the snobs. Not the kind the jocks picked on. This guy was the other kind. The type a little like Bradley, but more with the nerdish look, who thought they owned the world because they were smart.
Asshole. He was looking at me now like I was guilty.
“There’s nothing unusual here. Nothing worth my time looking into,” he stated.
“Thanks for coming, Bob.” Joe cut him off before he could continue.
“Captain, could I have a word please?” Bob cocked his head to the side.
“Sure.” Joe moved with him into the kitchen, leaving me.
I already knew what they were talking about. The asshole was probably elaborating on that waste of time comment of his and asking why we were going through so much damn trouble when it was clear I was guilty.
I looked to the door. The front door.
I could run, run away and deal with all this myself. I really could and there wouldn’t be a damn thing anyone could do about it.
I could fucking run away and find Xavier and the rest of the team and clear my name. But I couldn’t.
Running would not only put Joe’s job on the line, because he more than stuck his neck out for me, but I had Olivia to think about too.
I couldn’t hurt her like that. Not again.
There were a lot of things I had to fix here.
Joe came back and Bob left, but not before cutting me a sharp glance first.
I waited until I heard him go down the steps before I focused on Joe.
“Let me guess, he thinks this is all a waste of time, right?”
Joe looked uneasy. “Understand Sam, it looks like I’m just trying to help you out because I know you.”
“Are you? You think I’m making up the whole government unit story?” I ran my hand through my hair and stared at him.
“I’m doing my best to help you.”
Well, his avoidance of giving me a simple yes or no just gave me all I needed to know. “Joe, if you don’t believe me there’s no point in wasting time. I know you’re a busy man.”
“I’m a busy man indeed, Sam, but I’m a man of truth and justice and I believe in innocent until proven guilty. I admit, I’m giving a lot of allowance here because I know you, but I want to make sure I check everything out as best as possible.”
I understood perfectly. “I’m telling the truth, Joe, I am. I have no reason to lie. If you think I killed Bradley, there’s nothing I can do to change your mind. All I can do is tell you the truth. I guess Olivia probably thinks it’s a load of shit too.”
I turned and walked out. He caught up with me.
“Hey, you know by staying away from her you’re supposed to try to forget this idea of being with her.” He gave me that stern expression, showing he meant business.
“Don’t worry, I won’t pester her with my stories.”
“That’s not what I meant. I was actually being a little more specific. I mean… Sam, this is hard for me because I can see you two have very strong feelings for each other. You hurt her a lot when you left, and I can’t…”
When his voice trailed off my stomach clenched because I knew what he was going to say.
“When I go to prison you can’t risk her being hurt by that too,” I filled in. He didn’t believe my story. It was clear, and he was doing all this to humor me. Great. “I’ll stay away from her, but don’t expect me to stop caring. I won’t.”
A powerful engine roared in the distance, making us both look. The sound got louder. It was a bike coming down the road.
A bike coming real fast, too fast, and faster. The biker was dressed in black leather.
“Joe.” I tapped his arm.
“I see him.” Joe continued to watch with me, brows furrowed, gaze narrowed with that suspicion I’d seen many times.
However, he was in cop mode.
Me on the other hand… Well, I saw something else. Something more than a suspicious biker breezing down a residential road.
It must have been my years of training and knowing how to spot trouble that primed me and sparked my instincts to attention, but as the biker got closer and reached for something on his back, I knew what it was well before I saw it.
A gun.
A fucking gun.
He aimed it at me. In the split second of his movement and revelation of intention, I pushed Joe out of the way, knocking him to the ground before the bullets started flying. Spraying the place up, sounding all around us, louder than the roar of the engine.
Chapter 6
Sam
The biker was long gone before we could lift our heads and get a reading on his plates. Going to the station and grabbing the CCTV for the area showed we would have gotten nothing anyway. The biker had no plates.
He or she came to do one thing and that was to take me out, and whoever was with me.
And how did they know I was there?
If I still had my phone I would have verged on the fact that maybe they must have tracked me, but I didn’t have my phone. So either they were still around the area and saw us, or…
It was the girl.
I’d use my last guess to bet it was her. It was too convenient. Or maybe it was both. She had to be working with someone to know and see when we got outside the house, and the moment to give the go ahead to take me down.
Boy was
I ever in the deepest shit of my life.
At least that little stunt made my story more believable.
Joe called in the officers patrolling the area and then we headed back to the station. That asshole Bob looked at me differently now because, even if they still believed that I killed Bradley, a drive-by shooting tended to suggest something else.
It screamed that someone wanted me dead. The next question was why?
The answer: the chip.
The chip of which I’d only told Joe about. Me walking around free was clearly not good for Xavier.
I sat in Joe’s office brainstorming. He came inside and sat on the edge of his desk.
Now he looked like he didn’t know what to say to me.
“Okay… This whole fiasco has gotten way above us,” Joe began. “And thanks. I haven’t said that yet. I wouldn’t be standing here if not for you.”
I shook my head. “They weren’t there for you. That was for me. That was a direct hit for me.”
“Sam, the fact this happened suggests they’re in the area. That girl could definitely be some sort of decoy.”
I nodded. “Well at least maybe you believe me now.”
Joe looked bashful and bit the inside of his lip. “I admit, I really was just going through the motions. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe you…”
“I had no evidence. It’s fine. I just need to get to the bottom of this.”
“We. We need to,” he corrected.
“Thank you.” I really did appreciate his support, but support was nothing if I had shit to work with and all these restrictions on me. “I want my name cleared, Joe, and that chip found.”
“That chip. That’s the key here. That’s why they want you out of the picture. Is it really that powerful?”
Maybe I hadn’t placed enough emphasis of the dangers of the chip when I first explained a few days ago. Or, maybe he thought I was talking out of my ass.
“Joe, it is. Just imagine it. It’s a hacker’s free for all. Being able to hack any system you want, anything. Anywhere, anytime, anyplace. I just don’t know what they want to hack, or what they want to do with it.”
Joe straightened up instantly. “That’s beyond power.”
“Nothing like it has ever been created.”
Joe sighed.
Four days had gone by with them having the chip in their possession.
Had they used it? I didn’t know. My first thoughts of what they wanted it for was money. Maybe they wanted to steal money, or sell it on the black market.
“Did you send in any more reports to the Department of Defense?”
That was the first thing I did when we got here. “I’ve had no response.”
It pissed me off that Joe and me could be in the morgue right now and the people who should be helping me were doing fuck all.
“So what will happen now?” Joe inclined his head to the side and lifted his shoulders.
“Joe I don’t even know who’s working for whom. In most cases protocol states sending in another team when missions go wrong. But that’s providing they know and agree my unit have gone rogue. I’ll never know.”
“Sam, we need something to put on record. The place was shot up, I have to record it. Either of us could have died.” He lifted his shoulders slightly.
“I don’t care what you put. I was used, I have a possible murder charge over my head, I have no alibi, no one to call on, all my distress calls have been fruitless and someone tried to kill me. I have no allegiance to anyone.” That was how I felt in a nutshell. It disgusted me how this whole thing had gone down. Disgusted me to no end.
Throw in the fact that I didn’t have Olivia, and I really didn’t care about anything else.
“I’ll think of something.” Joe nodded. “If those guys are still in the area, we have to find a way to get that chip back.”
“You can’t catch those guys, Joe. I don’t even know if I can.” Today showed me that. We’d looked everywhere and came up with nothing. “I just want my name cleared. That’s it.”
That and Olivia, who I couldn’t have.
“Looks like to clear your name we’re going to have to find them.”
“I know. I don’t like it, but I know. I need a lead of some sorts. I need something to work with.”
“Maybe something else will come up. What do you think they’ll use the chip for?”
“I have no idea. Those guys are money hungry. It could be anything. Literally anything.”
“Well, if that chip can do what you’re saying I don’t think we’ll have to wait too long to see if something happens.” He raised his brows.
“They’ll use it to hack somewhere,”
“Sam, based on what happened today, I’m going to put in a request to do further investigation on Bradley’s murder. I’m sure everyone can agree that you were targeted today. There is no question on whether or not the goal was to kill you, and me too.”
“Thank you.” At least that was something positive.
“I’ll have the team continue their search for Xavier and the other guys. I think that’s all we can do right now.”
“Is it okay if I work with them? I know I’m a suspect, but I have to do something.” Or else I’d go crazy.
“That’s fine. I’ll introduce you to Lark tomorrow. He’s our in-house PI.” A serious expression washed over Joe’s face. “Sam, I’d really appreciate if you didn’t mention today’s incident to Olivia. I keep her out of my work. Anything like this happens, I keep her out. Today was dangerously close to what happened to Coop.”
I nodded understanding completely. “I’m staying away, remember.”
He looked uncomfortable at my answer but a little tap at the door stole his next words.
“Hope I’m not interrupting,” came her voice.
Her voice filled me before the vision of her did.
I turned to see Olivia standing at the door Joe left open. She looked beautiful in a blue summer dress that looked striking against her skin. And that hair. She’d left it down and swooped it to the side, allowing the long tendrils to drift down to her waist.
She glanced at me, then back to Joe.
Realizing I was just gawking at her, I looked away.
I really hoped she hadn’t been standing there long. Long enough to hear me agree to more secrets. Not that it mattered. I was staying away. And even if Joe hadn’t told me to, it was a good idea anyway.
She was right: I basically took her forgiveness lightly and placed no value on it when I kept my line of work from her.
“Early again?” Joe asked her.
“I took the week off, thought we could grab lunch.”
“Oh, sure.” Joe stood. “Well, Sam and—”
“Just us,” she cut in.
I held my hands up. “I’ll stay here. Right here, like a pet on a leash.”
She walked out and left us. Joe returned his attention to me. “I’m sorry, Sam.”
“Nothing to be sorry for.”
It was me who was sorry. For everything.
* * *
Olivia
* * *
It was weird. Through my whole lunch meeting with Dad, I kept the conversation to anything besides Sam. Dad tried to ask me how I was, but I averted the questions.
Today I just wanted normal, and normal for me was seeing my father and catching up on the general things we would talk about.
It just felt completely unnatural, and like we had something hanging over our heads that we should talk about and weren’t.
I still hadn’t worked out what I wanted to do. For the moment, I was staying out of it. Staying right out of it and keeping my head above water. My past mistake saw me trying to be the one to fix everything. I couldn’t do it anymore and this was one thing I definitely couldn’t help with.
I slept as much as I needed to last night. Had my lunch with Dad and then went home where I spent the last few hours watching re-runs of Fashion Police. The plan was to block everything that was goin
g on right out. Even if it killed me. That meant no answer to any of Jada’s or Marcus’ phone calls.
And at eight p.m., when my doorbell rang, I knew I should have ignored that, too, except I didn’t know who would be coming to see me at this time of night if not for something serious.
My stomached flipped over when I stared through the little peephole and saw Marcus standing on the doorstep.
I contemplated whether or not I should let him in and decided on seeing him because it really was starting to look bad that I’d been off work for as long as I was, and when I’d gone in I’d barely been there.
He gave me that courteous smile when I opened the door.
“Hi, I’m really sorry to come by. I confess, I’m worried about you.” He held me in place with the worry he spoke of.
“Thanks for coming, come in.” I ushered him inside and wondered which way this evening would go. I couldn’t lie and it was going to be difficult to tell the truth.
He came in and we went to the living room, where we sat.
“What’s going on, Olivia? You’re acting really strange. I can brush it under the rug, but people are starting to talk. You just got this position. I know Bradley was your client, and it’s okay to be upset by his death, but damn, I just want to know if there’s more you aren’t saying.”
I was going to have to tell him something. Definitely. It wasn’t fair to treat him this way. “There’s a few things.”
“What are they? Last week you said something was up, but you were dealing with it? What is going on?”
“God,” I winced. I really wasn’t ready for this.
“This is off the record, Olivia. It’s me coming here as a friend. Come on,” he chuckled. “It would be bad practice to come here because of work.”
“Marcus, what I have to tell you will have some effect one way or another,” I confessed.
“Girl, please, don’t keep me in suspense.”
“Okay… You know the guy from Stephens? The business development manager?”
“Yeah.”
“I know him. I mean, I knew him a long time ago.”
Yours Truly Page 4