“Why don’t I have a few drinks brought up from downstairs? Then we can find a quiet place to sit and enjoy the evening.”
“You don’t want to dance?”
He ran his hand along her side, his lips so close to her ear that I could hear his words like he was standing right beside me. “There are many different ways to dance.”
James giggled like she was a teenager.
“Did I say something amusing?” Zaki asked, pulling back slightly.
“Sorry, I’m just… I laugh when I’m nervous.”
“You have absolutely nothing to be nervous about. I’m a gentleman.”
She nodded, taking his hand and allowing him to guide her through a set of doors at the back of the corridor that led into what appeared to be the former offices of the business that once existed in that building.
I shook my head, worried that she was once again in over her head. The last thing I wanted was to sit here and listen to some guy getting frisky with my partner. No matter how much she swore up and down she could handle herself, I still had my doubts. She hadn’t been terribly successful in pushing me off of her, had she?
The taste of her lips still haunted me, the reminder of it coming back to me at the oddest times. When I was lying in bed, trying to sleep. When I was cooking. When I was watching her over the camera feeds, wishing I hadn’t kissed her and created this tension between us that had limited all our conversations to what Cheryl was sending us both over text messages and emails.
I wanted to kiss her again. I wanted to feel her body against mine again. But it wouldn’t just be a one-time thing with James… At least that’s not what I would want it to be. Yet I couldn’t risk a woman getting under my skin like that. I’d sworn I’d be a bachelor for the rest of my life because I didn’t want some woman to depend on me the same way my mother once did. I wasn’t going to change my mind about that.
But that lingering thought just wouldn’t leave me alone!
James sat in a narrow little room on a convenient couch—did they bring all this furniture in themselves, or was it left by the former occupants?—a halted conversation taking place between visits from his security detail and a variety of other men who would pull him aside and whisper in his ear. He asked her about her classes, asked again how she’d ended up in San Antonio. He asked her why she wasn’t working and why he’d never seen her at the parties with a group of friends. He was verifying that no one would miss her if she were to disappear.
Another step forward.
When he started talking about taking her to breakfast, I was a little concerned that we’d already reached the point where he’d try to take her. I texted Ox, suggesting he might get a team in place, just in case. If he made a move to take her, we’d have to be ready to follow them and recover her—perhaps our clients’ son, too. It’d been two weeks now. The possibility that the boy was still in the country was growing slimmer and slimmer, but there was a chance. I was holding on to that.
Ox texted back, assuring me they’d be ready.
A car pulled up to the side of the warehouse, one of those long dark cars that are clearly chauffeur-driven and waiting for a wealthy passenger. A second later, Zaki whispered near her ear, “Let’s get out of here.”
I watched through the security cameras as James stood and allowed him to lead her out a back door and down to the back exit. They were in the car a second later, moving toward downtown. I jumped into the front seat of the SUV and followed, careful to stay several car lengths behind at all times. I let two or three cars get ahead of us, still listening to the conversation between the two of them over the earpiece she wore.
“Do you have a yacht?” she asked him. “Collin bragged about his, saying that if I stuck around with him he’d make sure I had one of my own someday.”
“Collin brags a lot. But, yes, I do have a yacht. It’s nice to take a little sail after a long few months, you know?”
“I bet! I’ve always wanted to go on a yacht!” She might as well have jumped up and down and clapped her hands for all the enthusiasm in her voice. “We didn’t have much money when I was a kid. The closest thing I ever got to a vacation was this one time we went camping with a neighbor. But we got rained out and ended up going home early.”
“Then Collin promised you the world.”
“He did. If only he wasn’t so…”
“Handsy?”
James giggled in this girly voice I’d never heard before. “Yeah, that’s the word!”
“A woman like you deserves a gentleman, not someone like Collin.”
“It certainly is better. I like that you haven’t tried to shove your tongue down my throat yet.” She giggled again. “Sorry. That was a little crude.”
“No, just honest.”
I could almost see the scene, the way he touched her as she talked. I could almost see the wheels turning in her head, too, as she struggled to figure out how to appear to be the innocent college freshman she was pretending to be. Must have been a problem for the tough-as-nails woman I knew.
The car pulled to a stop at the curb in front of an all-night diner. I drove past and turned around, parking across the street just in time to watch James helped from the back of the car by Zaki’s security guy. Zaki took her hand and led the way into the diner where they took a seat near the windows, making all my technology mostly unnecessary.
But I could still listen in.
“Are you lonely?” he asked after they ordered their food. “It must be hard, moving to a big city all by yourself with no friends, no family.
James shrugged. “I wasn’t really a social butterfly before coming here. It was just me and my mom. She was my best friend, my confidante… everything I needed.”
“It must have been difficult when she died.”
James nodded, brushing her hand over the top of her head, her short hair ruffled but still beautifully styled. “I was a little adrift when she was gone. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I guess going to school just seemed like the only logical answer.”
“How’d she die?”
“Car accident.” James sighed, sitting back and lifting her water glass to take a sip. “It was so quick that…” She stopped, clearly becoming upset. I couldn’t see her face clearly, either through the window or on the camera pinned to her chest, but I could imagine the dark cloud that had crossed it. There was always this sadness that clung to James that I’d never known the source of. I’d always assumed it had something to do with her time in the military. We all came home with a sort of cloud hanging over us. But for it to come over her now made me wonder if I was wrong. I wondered if it was something more specific than just the horrors of military service overseas.
“One moment she was there, happy and laughing,” James quietly continued. “The next… I still can’t get my mind wrapped around how quickly a human life can be snuffed out.”
“I’m sorry,” Zaki said so quietly I almost didn’t pick it up.
James didn’t look up at him, didn’t seem to hear him at all. “We all think that we’re immortal even after seeing lives end. But when it happens to someone you love…”
“Jane? I didn’t mean to bring up something so raw.”
She was still looking down, staring at her hands, I think. A darkness had overcome her and she whispered something, but I couldn’t hear it and I was sure Zaki wasn’t even aware of it. Then she suddenly got up and excused herself with a mumbled apology, rushing off toward the public restrooms.
I could see the stalls and the sinks around her, but I didn’t see her face until she ran a little water into her hands and used it to pat her face. Then she studied her own reflection, giving me a good look at it, too.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she whispered under her breath. “Now is not the time.”
I should have said something, if only to remind her that she was on a job and I was in her ear, but it felt like such an intimate moment that I couldn’t make the words come out of my mouth. And then she s
aid something interesting.
“I’m sorry, Aaron. I’m doing the best that I can, but I just… too close to home.”
I thought for a moment that she was speaking to me, but then that name… You couldn’t confuse Aaron with Max.
Who was Aaron? What had he meant to her?
Staring at the haunted look in her eyes, I thought I had the answer to my own question. He meant everything. That was a hell of a lot to compete with.
Chapter 12
Ox
Depositions had started.
I’m sitting in an SUV, watching one of my operatives flirt with some Bahraini guy in a diner, and I’m thinking about a court case that should never have come this far. I was being sued over a little bit of pocket change and it was going to court because my lawyer had failed to appease the plaintiffs with half a dozen offers of settlement. And now the depositions had started.
This wasn’t going to end well.
How long would it be before I was arrested? I had been a little more hopeful when Luna Walsh had told me her father had declined to participate. I was hoping a few more of my father’s old cronies had decided to back out as well, or could be persuaded to do so before things went too far. But that didn’t happen. Five men, five of the seven who’d helped my father in one way or another to start Caballo, were suing me and the firm for failure to pay them their fair share of the firm’s profits. The thing was, the deal these men made with my father had died when he did. They had no leg to stand on except for lies my mother was telling everyone and a contract that I didn’t believe existed, or that was fake if it did. But me saying that they had no legal standing wasn’t enough. The lawyers all insisted this thing could only be resolved in court. But going to court would reveal other secrets that… well, secrets that could only lead to one outcome: me in jail.
Wasn’t it enough that she’d sent my twin brother to jail? Did she really have to send me, too?
“Who knew James could clean up so well?” Trey said, moving up against the back of my seat. “I don’t think I ever imagined she’d look quite like that in a dress!”
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Trey was relatively new at Caballo, but he was capable—when he remembered to keep his mouth shut. It was necessary, sometimes, to remind him to keep his personal opinions to himself.
But then I looked into the diner just in time to see James walking back to the table from the bathroom. She was wearing this skintight blue thing with cutouts along the sides that must have cost Caballo a fortune, but—oh, Lord!—was it worth it! I shouldn’t have been surprised because I knew James was an attractive woman, even with the tomboyish way in which she chose to dress under normal circumstances. But this was… What a sight! Damn, she was beautiful.
Akker cleared his throat. “We’re here to make sure she doesn’t end up getting mailed to Bahrain, remember? Let’s keep our minds on the game, guys.”
But Akker was staring out the window just as hard as the rest of us.
As we watched, another car pulled up outside the diner. Akker reached for his cell and quickly texted Max, checking to make sure this wasn’t trouble.
“The man is part of Ahsan’s security detail. The girl is Bernadette Mendes, the fifteen-year-old daughter of a local doctor. She’s been hanging out at these raves, and James met her in line for the bathroom.”
I nodded as we watched the girl walk into the diner and approach Ahsan and James alone. She said something to Ahsan and he immediately stood, moving some distance away from James. A moment later, he returned, appeared to be making his excuses, and then he was gone, climbing into the back of his car and disappearing along with the Mendes girl. James was left alone in the diner.
“I guess there won’t be any fun tonight,” Trey said.
“She’s calling a taxi,” Akker reported as he checked a message on his phone.
“All right. I guess we’ll call it a night.” I studied James through the window for a moment. “Why don’t the two of you go back to the office? I’m going to go check in with Max and James, make sure everything’s good.”
I got out of the SUV without waiting for them to respond. I could feel Akker’s eyes on me. He knew a little of what was going on, but no one knew the weight of the entire truth. They trusted me, believed that I would keep the business afloat, continue providing them with jobs and work far into the future. The problem was, I wasn’t sure what the future held for Caballo. When the Winn family secrets began coming out… it could be a disaster for everyone.
I walked for a while, needing the time to clear my head. My thoughts kept going round and round, my fear mixing with the more practical side. I’d always known things couldn’t be kept hidden forever, but I hadn’t imagined it would all come out in this way. I guess it was my mother’s involvement that was really breaking my heart. Of all the people I expected to be behind my downfall, she was never even on the list. I guess after she let Oliver go to prison for her, I should have known better.
I walked for far longer than I intended. By the time I got a taxi and arrived at the apartment building where we had James and Max holed up, it was nearly dawn. I rode up in the elevator in silent contemplation, and approached the doors of the two apartments with some hesitation. Were they likely to be in bed? Or were they still up, debriefing each other on the night’s activities? I was seriously thinking about turning around and going home, taking my misery with me, when I heard a raised male voice.
Were they still arguing?
I knocked on the door and silence immediately returned. A second later, James was standing in the open doorway, still dressed in her little blue number.
“Hey,” she said softly, stepping back to allow me inside.
“You need to keep your voices down,” I said, addressing Max more than James. He was standing near the windows, his back to the room. “I could hear you outside the door.”
Neither answered me, just like a couple of teenagers who didn’t want to take the brunt of a parent’s punishment.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened tonight?” I asked after a moment or two.
James cleared her throat, shooting a look at Max. In turn, Max shot her a dark look before he began to answer.
“It looked like he was going to take her tonight, but then that girl showed up. She didn’t hear what the girl told Ahsan.”
“Do you think your cover is blown?” I asked.
James shook her head. “No. He never said anything that made me feel that way, and Bernie didn’t even look at me when she walked in.”
“Why that girl? What authority does she have to walk in there and get Ahsan?”
“I don’t know,” James said. “I thought she was just picking out girls to introduce to his people—like she did with me and Collin—but maybe she’s more involved than I thought.”
“Or she was delivering a message for Collin,” Max offered.
A look shot between the two of them again. I wasn’t sure what the source of the tension between them was, but I found it annoying, to say the least.
“Do you think we’re still on track?”
James nodded. “I do.”
“I don’t,” Max announced.
“You think her cover’s blown?”
He shook his head, glancing at James again. “But I think it’s getting too complicated for her. Too dangerous.”
“Why?”
Again those looks, but no new information. Neither had anything to say.
“Unless you can give me a good reason why I should end an operation that we’ve invested thousands of dollars’ worth of time and energy into and that’s now close to fruition, I won’t do it. So, tell me, Max, why do you think I should pull James out?”
Max’s expression was dark. He shot another look at James, clearly expecting her to come forward and say something, but she declined. He finally turned away, refusing to answer my question.
I gestured for James to back up into the kitchen where we could talk with some semblance of privacy. �
��What’s going on?”
“He thinks I’ve let this case get too personal.”
“Have you?”
“Of course not!”
There was a flicker in her eye as she pronounced her denial. I studied her, aware there was something going on, but I stood behind my earlier proclamation. We had too much invested in this case to end it now, before we had enough information to prosecute any of the players.
“We’re close, so close that I can see the end. If you can just hang on a few more days…”
“I’ll do whatever it takes.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I said, more grateful than she would ever know. “This case is important, not just to Caballo, but to the community. I knew I could trust you to do the right thing.”
“We’re close. My guess is he planned on taking me tonight, which means the next time I meet up with him, he’ll take us to wherever they’re keeping all these kids.”
“And he’ll expose the operation. I already have my contacts at the police department and the FBI up to date on what’s happening. They’re ready to back us up when the time comes.”
“Good.” She seemed relieved by that news.
“If things change…”
“I’m good.”
I nodded again, patting her on the back. “Stay alive. That’s all I ask.”
“They’ve tried to kill me before, but didn’t have much luck.”
I knew she was referring to her military service—which was impressive—and I had to agree. Impulsively, I leaned in and kissed the center of her forehead.
I found myself wondering why the hell I’d do something like that until I finally fell into an exhausted sleep hours later. At least it took my mind off my own problems.
Chapter 13
Max
I’d had a time of it, trying to sleep. I thought she was having the same trouble. Every time I rolled over and looked at the computer monitors that showed me what the cameras in her apartment saw, she was tossing and turning like me, or she was in the kitchen getting a water bottle. Girl went through an awful lot of water bottles.
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