Relentless Chase 4 (Troubles Brewing)

by Posey Parks

  We said our goodbyes then I disconnected the call.

  Mr. Albright and I worked for the same firm. He worked in the criminal division and I worked from home in corporate law.

  Dressed in one of Samantha’s dresses and a pair of black stilettos, Mr. Albright and I waited for Sebastian. On the airplane we read through the news reports and scoured crime scene photos. Nice of him to allow me to assist on Sebastian’s case.

  The door opened, and we stood. The guard shoved Sebastian into the room. I wasn’t for sure if he hurt my husband or not, but his snarky attitude crawled under my skin.

  Someone blackened Sebastian’s eye. My first instinct was to caress his face then hunt down the bastard who hurt him. I held back. I was there as his attorney. Sebastian didn’t inform us of what happened. Only mentioned making a phone call. On the call. The word Eagle fell from Sebastian’s lips. My stomach twisted in knots. He was on the phone with his contact.

  My husband walked away from the CIA a year ago. He said he knew they’d call on him again. I didn’t want to believe they’d kill a woman to lure him back. What was I saying? The U.S. government could do anything they damn well pleased.

  “Baby, are you listening?”

  Sebastian’s deep voice brought me back from my memories. “I’m sorry.” I peered up at him.

  “How do you feel?”

  Standing with only a white towel wrapped around his waist, he ran his fingers through his wet dark locks. “I feel refreshed.”

  My eyes darted to his forearm. “You bandaged your arm. I could have done that for you.”

  He laid his head in my lap, clutching my hips. My fingers drifted through his hair.

  “I walked right into a set up. She is vile and vicious. She or one of her people peeled off that woman’s face all for some sort of payback. I don’t know that woman or what I’ve done to her.”

  “Do you think it’s blowback from one of your missions?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll have to sit and retrace my steps.”

  “Well, you better do it quick.”

  “I know.”

  “I hate you had to call Brandon,” he sighed.

  “I didn’t. Jacob did. Brandon said he was calling from a secure line and we set a plan in motion. He’s wearing prosthetics, so he’d go undetected.”

  “Smart.”

  “Sam and her family should arrive later tonight. Brandon hacked the street cameras, assessed the crime scene and picked up the rental car. He’ll meet us at Sam and Jacobs.”

  “Not happy we couldn’t handle this situation alone.”

  I massaged his shoulders. “We’re fortunate we don’t have to. And you help everyone.”

  “Yeah, you’re right.”

  “Look at me, Sebastian.”

  He repositioned himself in my lap, staring up at me. My heart skipped a beat. Even with that shiner on his face he was still sexy.

  “Baby, what happened in jail?”

  “My new enemy sent a man to kill me.”

  Chills swept up my back.

  “My cellmate may have cut me, but I knocked him out, and tied him up. The guard slammed his fist into my eye. At least I believe it was his fist. I kept my cool. I knew Mr. Albright was on his way. Thank god I did.” His fingers grazed my cheek. “I was so happy to see you, sweetheart.”

  My face heated under his touch.

  I glanced down at the tented towel. My core heated at the thought of my husband making love to me.

  I swallowed hard. “Baby, rest while you can. We have so much work to do.”

  He gripped the nape of my neck, lowering my lips to his.

  I pulled away, gasping for air. “Sebastian, one more thing.”

  “Yeah,” he breathed against my lips.

  “Do you think the CIA had anything to do with Ms. Skover’s murder?”

  “No, Randy said he’d allow me to walk away, but I’d have to perform another mission, eventually.” His eyes saddened.

  “Now he can send me on as many missions as he wants. My plan is to bury that fucking woman. Once I clear my name, I will negotiate with Randy for fewer missions.”

  I smiled. “Good.”

  “When did you plan to tell me about our new house?”

  He sat up, then laid on the pillow beside me. I leaned on my elbow, gazing into his tanned face.

  “Before the month ended. I wanted us living in the house by your birthday.”

  I grinned. “I can’t wait to see the entire house.”

  “Soon.” He stretched his arms.

  “Sleep, Sebastian.”

  ∞

  Thirty minutes before our jet landed at the Los Angeles private airstrip Sebastian woke up and climbed into a pair of gray slacks and a white dress shirt. I peeked to my left. Buckled into the tan plush leather seat, he snoozed. Understandable, he had a rough night. I glared at our companies dropping stock on the laptop screen. My husband was the CEO of our corporation. Surely, he knew the blow back for being suspected of murder.

  Rubbing my forehead with two fingers I sighed. Whoever the bitch was, stuck it to us good. My husband would always be a rich man. His gift for computer hacking was his golden ticket. I didn’t care if we had to sell our homes and live in a smaller house. As long as we were together, we’d be all right. I slid my hand over his.

  “Mrs. Johansen, is there anything I can get for you?”

  I smirked. “Stacey, thanks for staying on a couple of hours extra. He needs to rest,” I whispered.

  “No problem at all.”

  “I’d like a glass of cranberry juice.”

  “Right away.”

  Sure, I could indulge in liquor, but now wasn’t the time. I needed to be sharp and ready to strike. Thank goodness, I could still practice law. Yup, we’d be just fine.

  Stacey returned placing my drink in the cup holder, then disappeared toward the back of the plane.

  I closed the laptop, swaying my hand over the machine. The purr of the slim computer seized. Pressing on was what we had to do. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, my eyelids slammed shut as I held the tears at bay.

  The material things in our life wasn’t what I was afraid of losing. Peeking at Sebastian again, a tear rolled down my cheek. I was afraid of losing my husband. That woman framed him for murder then made an attempt on his life not even twenty-four hours later. My head softly fell on his shoulder. I would eventually move past the return of danger in three months time.

  I hated we were here again. My fingers wrapped around his muscled arm. Together we’d take that bitch down.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  SEBASTIAN

  There was a shift in my wife’s demeanor. She clutched my hand as I drove toward our neighborhood. Her loving eyes danced over my body. The second she turned to the window her smile vanished and a sinister, cold darkness swept over her amber eyes. Sydney the Assassin was ready. My brows wrinkled and my jaw ticked. Eeriness washed over me. Sydney was out for blood. I knew my wife. She killed my ex for kidnapping our son. Our new threat wouldn’t see her coming. Sydney wouldn’t rest until the bitch was dead.

  “Denise, thank you for taking care of Caden.” I stood in the boom shelter, raising him to the sky, then lowered his face to my lips.

  “It was a pleasure. He’s such a good baby.”

  “Denise, likes you, Caden. I don’t think she’d tell us if you cried constantly.” His little face lit up and he cooed.

  “I’d love to watch him again.”

  We stepped onto the elevator.

  “I just might hold you to it. We have a little business to handle. Not sure how long it will take.”

  The elevator opened to the main floor.

  Denise touched his cheek. “I can’t wait.”

  Caden beamed, reaching for her hair. “Oh, no you don’t. You have a death grip on you little man.”

  We laughed.

  “Just page if you need me.”

  “Ok.”

  I walked into the kitchen. Brandon had s
everal laptops spread across the counter.

  “Hey, man! Thanks for coming to our rescue.”

  Holding Caden against my shoulder, I wrapped my free arm around Brandon’s shoulder.

  “It’s not a problem. We look out for each other.” He focused on the screen.

  I peeked at the opposite end of the counter at his discarded prosthetic mask.

  “Baby.”

  I heard from behind.

  Sydney stepped into view. “Place him in the carrier. He loves it. Only problem he’ll try to find mommy’s breasts.” She smiled.

  I placed Caden against her chest and strapped him in.

  “Did you bring breast milk?”

  “Yes, they’re in the fridge.”

  “I’ll warm up a bottle.”

  “Sebastian, baby, I can manage. You and Brandon need to work y’all magic. I’ll cook dinner too.”

  My lips fell upon hers. “Thanks, sweetheart.”

  I stared at her as she crossed the room. Fuck, I was a lucky man. Now that we’ve established there was a threat Sydney didn’t appear panicked anymore. She wanted her life back to normal. No doubt with this team working together we would bring the woman to her knees. Our company was bleeding money. Our PR person would have to make a statement soon or we’d lose everything.

  “Thanks for setting up the computers, Brandon.”

  My cell buzzed constantly since leaving Seattle. My brother Seth, mom, and dad, kept texting and calling. I ignored the messages for now.

  “No problem. Bring me up to speed. I need to know everything you uncovered. Then we can move forward to catch her ass.”

  I sat in the bar chair and explained everything I uncovered so far.

  He ran his hand over his gruff face. “She knew approaching you a second time would raise a red flag. She needed to draw you out.” His thick Boston accent poured over his words.

  “Yeah, because she had Ms. Skover’s corpse rotting.”

  “Dude, are you sure you don’t know who she is?”

  “No. I’ve never seen her before. She knows her way around a computer. She deleted Ms. Skover’s face off the internet. She knew I’d want to see what she looked like. And I’m sure that’s why she cut off her face.”

  “Well one thing’s for sure. She or her goon is a psychopath. Shit, to pace back and forth with the stench of a dead corpse nearby is sick. You took something from her. That much is clear. There is no other reason why someone would frame you for murder then try to kill you. She needs to make you pay. Bet she didn’t think you’d get out so easy.”

  “Probably not. But her personal sabotage still hit me where it hurt. My image and my wallet. I’m sure she’s somewhere smiling right now.”

  He nodded, pecking away on the keys. “Let me show you what I found. I couldn’t find any footage on the neighbors’ cameras directly across from the house or the next-door neighbor. But what I did find was this camera leaving on the side street. We need to hack every camera in that vehicle’s vicinity. We need Jacob’s help. Also, facial recognition. If we can’t find her on the DMV or Social Security database…” He exhaled. “That could only mean one thing.”

  “What?”

  “She changed her identity.”

  Sydney peeked over her shoulder, standing over a pot, stirring noodles.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  “I don’t know…I have this nagging feeling it has something to do with Stephanie. Is there any way you can dig into her life undetected?”

  “I doubt it has anything to do with her, Syd.”

  Her forehead creased.

  I sighed. “But I will pull apart Stephanie’s life starting at birth.”

  Her lips curled at the ends. “Thank you.”

  “No problem, baby.”

  She returned her attention to the pasta.

  “Brandon, how’s Zoey?”

  “She’s good. I left her at her grandmothers in South Carolina.”

  “I miss her. Sydney glanced over her shoulder. “Happy everything is going well. Can’t wait to see her again.”

  “She misses you guys too. Zoey wanted to come, but we had just arrived at her grandmothers.”

  “I understand.” She smiled. “Caden is a sleep. I need to lay him in the crib. I’ll be right back.”

  “Ok.” My fingers moved over the keys at top speed.

  ∞

  “Hey, guys!” Jacob’s deep voice bounced off the walls.

  He stood behind us gripping our shoulders.

  “Looks like you guys have everything under control. You don’t need me.”

  Brandon’s gray eyes darkened. “We need you this moment.”

  “Just joking, cousin.”

  Brandon and I brought Jacob up to speed. Twenty minutes later, empty soda cans and dirty plates littered the counter.

  Samantha and Sydney appeared clearing the debris from the countertop.

  “What did you guys find?” Samantha asked, staring over Jacob’s shoulder.

  “We traced her path back to L.A. She flew private. Means she has serious cash-flow.”

  “Did they tell you my theory?” Sydney asked, leaning against the back counter, arms folded.

  He glanced between us then back at his computer screen. “Yup, they did. We aren’t ruling out your theory. We need to adapt to the way she moves. Then we’ll dig deeper.”

  She bounced off the counter. “Great! Come on Samantha, let’s head to the shooting range.”

  Sydney’s lips pressed against my cheek. “Keep up the good work. We’re ready to move when you guys are.”

  Samantha wrapped her arms around Jacob’s neck and kissed his cheek.

  “I love holding a Glock.” Sam quipped as she and Sydney walked out of the kitchen.

  “Guys, I’ll dig into traffic cams the night you arrived at the hotel.” Jacob stated.

  I grinned. “Good idea. Backtrack her movements before she arrived also.”

  “I can do that.” His eyes returned to his screen.

  Four in the morning, I sat on the edge of the bed squeezing two fingers over my eyeballs. Brandon and Jacob had gone to bed an hour ago. I glanced at Sydney, snoring like a freight train. We had a rough two days. I peeled off my clothes leaving on just my boxers. My head hit the pillow as I slipped under the blanket. I pulled my snoring wife close, crushing my lips against her neck. I didn’t want to think about Sydney being right about the connection between Stephanie and the mystery woman. But what if she was?

  My fingers grazed her soft stomach. After this shit was over, I’d give my wife what she wanted. What we wanted. Another baby. There was no question I wanted another child with her. I needed to be sure my wife was ready. She’s the most amazing mother. I was honored she bore my child. Privileged she was mine, forever. I’d die for them. Protect them till my last breath.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  SEBASTIAN

  Five hours later, I showered, then ran over to our house to pick up clothes for Sydney, Caden, and me.

  Seth and I had a brief conversation on how to stop the bleeding of millions of dollars. He’d connect with our PR rep and make a statement. My mother would be a handful.

  Her phone rang a few times.

  “Caden!”

  “Hello, Mom. I am fine.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Home.”

  “I’m placing you on speaker.”

  “Caden, we’ve been worried sick,” dad growled.

  “I understand. It’s a massive problem that I am working out.”

  “Oh, massive, huh? Your dad and I will be there this evening.”

  I gripped my face and exhaled. “Mom…”

  “Nope. Not up for discussion.”

  “Ok, see you both later.”

  She disconnected the call.

  Mom was pissed. I’d wait to tell Sydney my parents would arrive later. I strolled across the street and through the front door.

  “Good morning, everyone.” I stepped into Samantha and Ja
cob’s kitchen. It was running like Grand Central station.

  Jacob and Brandon, hovered over their keyboards, combing surveillance. Sydney peeked up from feeding Caden. She ran over, kissed my lips and snatched the suitcase handle out of my grip. “Thank you.”

  Samantha smiled, chewing on a strip of bacon, holding the twins in her lap. Charlotte stood on the chair next to her shoving a tiara on Sam’s head.

  “Mommy you’re so pretty,” she laughed.

  Our family was the best.

  Jacob flew out of his chair. “Charlotte, baby, you can’t do that to Mommy’s hair.” He scooped her up into his arms. “You’ll tangle her hair. You don’t want that, right?”

  She smiled and shook her head. Charlotte placed the tiara on Jacob’s head. I snapped a pic.

  He pointed at me. “Dude, that picture better not leave your camera.”

  “Sebastian, let me see.” Sam stretched her hand toward me.

  She grabbed the cell and gazed at the pic. “Baby, you are hot,” she purred.

  He smirked. “You think?” He glanced over her shoulder.

  “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

  “I’ll upload the pic to your social media account. Your fans will love it, promise.”

  “Ok.” He sat Charlotte in her high chair. Bet that would keep her contained.

  “Jacob, and Brandon, where are we?”

  Samantha placed my cell in my palm.

  I stepped over gawking over Jacob’s shoulder.

  “Is that her location right now?”

  “Yup.”

  “Sebastian, we still don’t have a name on her.” Brandon exhaled. “This woman scrubbed her identity or…” He shrugged glancing at Sydney then back at me.