Yeah, true, but he still wanted to know details—even if he was being a nosy bastard. “How do you know you can trust him?”
“Because I can. Conrad and I go way back. We sort of dated but I knew it wasn’t going to pan out and I cut him loose. I’m just not the kind of woman who dreams of the domestic scene and that was more than Conrad could deal with. It was really a mercy on my part to end it.”
“Ahh, so he had a crush on you and you crushed his dreams—and you think you can trust him? What if he’s been waiting all this time to stab you in the back?”
“You are paranoid,” she said, sighing. “I’m starting to think that psych eval wasn’t that wrong. Listen, relax. I can trust Connie and if you trust me, you’ll believe that I wouldn’t put either of us in harm’s way.”
“Connie?” he mocked. “That’s a girl’s name.”
Scarlett graced him with a narrowed stare. “You’re being a dick. Connie is his nickname. Only those close to him call him that.”
“And you’re that kind of close.”
“What is your problem, Xander? He’s helping us, just be grateful.”
He was being a dick but he couldn’t quite stop. Maybe it was the stress of the situation or the fact that he didn’t like the idea of Scarlett getting naked with someone else but he was getting grouchier by the minute.
“I need food. Real food. Not that processed shit we’ve been shoveling down our gullets.”
“What do you suggest? We can’t exactly walk into a nice restaurant and order a fat, juicy steak and our motel doesn’t serve up room service.”
“I’ll pick a steakhouse, place the order and then you can pick it up to go. You’re not on the run. There’s no reason why anyone would be looking for you.”
Scarlett nodded, accepting his solution. “Good point. I could go for some real food, too. A medium-rare steak would go down nicely.”
Food always helped defuse tension. “I’ll make the call.”
An hour later, they were heading back to their motel with two steak dinners.
Just as they were ready to dig in, Scarlett’s burner phone went off. It was Zak checking in.
The conversation was short and to the point and when it was over, she shared her intel.
“Zak found some interesting things about Wakefield,” she said, tucking into her steak, talking between bites. “The environmental fines and sanctions are public record but there are a few things that aren’t.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“Like the fact that someone you might recognize holds a majority share of Wakefield Industries.” She waited a beat before sharing, “Mark Bettis.”
Xander chewed on that for a minute. “The secretary of defense?”
“The very same.”
“How’d Zak come up with that information?”
“Bettis flies under the radar by routing his business affairs through various shell companies, legal but barely so. Now, on the surface, I’d say there’s no law against Bettis owning shares in a company but it does beg the question why he chooses to do so under the cover of smoke and mirrors. The simplest answer is that he has something to hide, right?”
“Yeah, if you subscribe to the if-it-walks-like-a-duck theory,” Xander said. “But just playing devil’s advocate, why would Bettis risk his career by having a no-name senator blown up? I mean, seems kinda overkill, even if he had a beef with McQuarry.”
Scarlett nodded. “True. But what if Bettis was the high-ranking official Holbert was talking about?”
Xander wasn’t sure if he could buy that. “I don’t know. That’s pretty far-fetched. If that were true, there’d be no way Bettis could keep an affair like that quiet. As much as I’d love to chase that lead...it seems too out there to be real.”
Scarlett wiped her mouth and swigged her beer, allowing for a noncommittal, “Maybe,” but added, “We can’t afford to leave anything to chance. I say we dig into Bettis and see what shakes out.”
Seemed risky, given Bettis’s position. “Poking into the affairs of the secretary of defense is like walking with a tambourine into the cave where a known grizzly bear is hibernating. I’m not sure that’s smart.”
Scarlett rose to toss her trash. “Don’t be a pussy, Xander. All operations come with risk. I’ve never seen you so reluctant to jump into the fray. This is your life on the line. Frankly, I’ve seen you more gung ho for operations with lesser chances for success and you didn’t even have a personal stake in the outcome.”
He couldn’t argue that point. Maybe he was feeling the pressure of knowing that it wasn’t just his life hanging in the balance. He didn’t want to screw with Scarlett’s life but he supposed that ship had already sailed.
“Yeah, well, the stakes are higher,” he said, leaning back in his chair, covertly watching Scarlett as she changed efficiently from her street clothes to casual. They’d all seen each other naked at one point or another. Sometimes out in the field, there was little time for something as trivial as modesty. But unlike the rest of the team, Scarlett and Xander had that one night together that essentially changed everything, even if they tried to pretend that it hadn’t.
Now that his physical hunger was sated, a different kind of hunger rattled his bones. Scarlett was under his skin in the worst way.
But Scarlett looked as approachable as a wet cat. He knew his TL well. She was still thinking about those pills and why he’d kept it a secret. His explanation might’ve held water at first but she was too smart to be fooled for long.
The question was...how long did he have before his time was up?
Chapter 11
The following morning, Scarlett rose early and went for a run to clear her head. Ignoring her physical needs created a restlessness that only responded to punishing workouts.
Given the fact that she was ripped from head to toe probably gave one pretty good insight as to how frustrating her sex life had become.
It took an extreme force of will to shove away her attraction to Xander and keep her head focused on the straight and narrow. Physical attraction, sexual lust—all that could be controlled with the right tools, but there was something about Xander that messed with her internal process.
It wasn’t the first time she’d had to crush an inappropriate attraction but with Xander, it was the first time she’d had to exert so much energy to prevent herself from giving into her baser desires.
Time to focus on the facts, not on how she wanted to devour that difficult man from his stubborn head to his calloused toes.
As she ran, Scarlett processed the information they’d gleaned so far.
On the surface, the two women that McQuarry had been associated with had turned out to be dead ends. Clara McQuarry was the stereotypical political housewife who’d long ago sold her own personal happiness in favor of wealth and prestige, while the little gold digger had only been in the relationship for whatever she could get while the getting was good.
While no one was innocent in this scenario, it galled her that it was men always thinking with their dicks that caused the most turmoil in the world.
But they still hadn’t figured out who the high-ranking official was that McQuarry had been banging on the super sly. Damn family values platforms were such a crock of shit. The ones who shouted the loudest about traditional values were usually the ones screwing the underage babysitter, visiting hookers or sucking a dick in a back alley.
Oh, sure, they cried great big crocodile tears when they were inevitably caught but no one bought that act anymore. It looked good on camera, though. Repent, ye sinner!
Scarlett swallowed a sudden lump in her throat and wiped at the sting in her eyes.
Why did her father’s voice suddenly jump from her memory?
Ahh, because he’d been a sanctimonious prick just like McQuarry. Spouting off scripture, condemning the actions of others for their ungodliness and
yet behind closed doors, he’d been the monster of her nightmares.
Scarlett pushed herself harder, sweat pouring down her back in spite of the chill in the morning air.
It’d taken a long time to push the memories away but there was something about this case that’d pulled everything right back to center.
Maybe it was the salacious hypocrisy that had gotten to her the most.
Or maybe it was the fear that no matter how far she ran from the memories of what that man had done to her, she’d never escape the urge to flinch whenever a man tried to get close.
Poor Connie had gotten the worst of her. She had no idea why he still cared, but she was grateful that he was a better man than she’d been a girlfriend.
In spite of Xander’s suspicion, she trusted Connie with her life.
The bigger question, the one she was still wrestling with, was did she trust Xander?
He was lying to her about something. She could feel it.
Could it be the pills? But why would he lie about an injury? The prescription was legit and he was nearly out of his pills so that issue was actually a non-issue, but Xander had definitely been twitchy when explaining.
Was he guilty of killing McQuarry? Did Xander have a private beef with McQuarry that he’d decided to settle that day in Tulsa?
Scarlett skidded to a stop, bending to dry heave for a minute. Exhausted and breathing hard, she straightened and wiped at her face with her sleeve. She could speculate all she wanted but until she came at Xander for the straight answer, she’d drive herself crazy with the millions of scenarios that could potentially be accurate.
They didn’t have time for bullshit.
And she couldn’t risk the mental breakdown.
So it came down to this—pin Xander down and demand the truth, or walk and let him deal with this mess on his own.
Scarlett had always operated more efficiently with a plan, even if the plan scared her.
She needed answers and she was going to get them, one way or another.
Spinning on her heel, she started the long trek back to the motel where hopefully Xander had drinkable coffee ready. Otherwise, she’d have to come at this situation in full-on bitch mode.
For his sake, Scarlett prayed Xander would do the smart thing.
* * *
Scarlett returned from her run, sweaty and looking like breakfast, but he could see from her expression that whatever she’d been hoping to exorcise was still riding shotgun in her mind.
Quietly, he slid the coffee he’d purchased toward her along with her preferred protein bar. She graced him with a brief smile and quickly stripped as she bit into the bar and washed it down with the coffee.
She used her shirt to wipe away the sweat and then said, “We need to talk” as she pulled a clean shirt over her head.
He’d known this conversation was coming but he still dreaded it. “Yeah? About?” he asked, pretending ignorance. “Ready to cash in that rain check?”
Scarlett ignored his play and said point-blank, “I know you’re lying to me about something. Come clean so we can move forward. We don’t have time for games.”
“What makes you think I’m lying?” he countered, not quite ready to show his hand. “Maybe you’re just being paranoid.”
Wrong move. “Don’t try to get in my head, Scott. My instincts have kept me and my team—which includes you, asshole—alive, so don’t try to make me question what my gut is telling me. Fess up or I’m walking.”
Damn, so much for dancing around the truth. Hell, Scarlett deserved the truth. But could he trust her with it? Scarlett was a hard-core rule-follower and if she knew...how could he trust that she wouldn’t just bail anyway?
“You’re weighing the pros and cons of spilling the beans,” she guessed accurately—sometimes the woman was scary—and Xander could only shake his head at the rock and the hard place he was wedged against. “Out with it, Scott. I’m done with the games.”
“I’m not playing games,” he assured her. “I respect you too much to play games.”
“So tell me the truth.”
“I’ve told you everything.”
“Bullshit.”
Sweat threatened to break along his hairline. He covered it by rubbing his hand through his hair, stalling. “This is a waste of time. I can’t have you chasing after me with some paranoid crap every time you get a hunch. If I seem a little twitchy, it’s because, oh, maybe, my whole life has been turned upside down and I’m trying to figure out how to save my ass before it’s too late. That might account for the fact that I seem distracted, or disingenuous, or whatever else you have cooked up in your head. I’ve said it plenty of times and it still holds true—you don’t have to stay. There’s the door.”
He was playing a damn risky game and he hated being dishonest with Scarlett but he didn’t have a choice. If Scarlett knew that he had a pill addiction that had caused him to black out the day of the bombing, she wouldn’t trust anything he had to say from that moment forward.
He’d already made a solemn vow to kick the habit as soon as he figured out who was trying to frame him for McQuarry’s death but until then, he had to shove that problem to the back of the line.
Scarlett would just have to deal with his answer or leave.
The tension between them thickened. Xander didn’t know if Scarlett would stay but he hoped to God she did. He needed her—and not just because she was a hell of an asset to have on his side—she helped keep the demons at bay.
Guilt was an insidious force to reckon with and some days he felt the grip on his neck so tightly he couldn’t breathe.
The people who’d died... He might as well have planted that bomb because he’d screwed up. Taken for granted what had seemed like an easy detail and had overdosed himself by being careless.
If he could relive that day and make different choices, he would. But that wasn’t an option so he was left with the actionable decisions available.
And that meant putting his nose back to the grindstone and finding the person who was truly responsible.
“So that’s it? Stay or go?” Scarlett shot back, her gaze hot.
“Making it pretty simple for you.”
“Yeah, right. Simple,” she growled and if looks could kill, Xander would have been spurting from his jugular. After a long moment, she exhaled with frustration but she wasn’t gathering her things to leave, so that was a good sign. “If I find out you’re lying to me, I’ll not only kick your ass but things between me and you will never be the same. You get me?”
Yeah, he got her. The message was loud and clear. Even if he found who had framed him, he was basically committing to the realization that his relationship with Scarlett would be irrevocably screwed.
But what choice did he have?
He shrugged with forced nonchalance. “Well, until then, let’s just focus on the case,” he suggested, rising to toss his cup. His hands were shaking. It was time for another pain pill but with Scarlett there watching him, he couldn’t exactly pop his meds without raising more suspicion.
However, luck was on his side because Scarlett announced she was going to shower and disappeared into the bathroom.
Xander waited a beat until he heard the water going and then he quickly swallowed two pills from his ever-shrinking stash. He’d have to do something really risky—find a dealer to purchase more.
Back home, he had his regular guy and they had an arrangement. He left the money in an envelope with a certain convenience store clerk and when he returned, the clerk had a package for him. It was all very cut-and-dried but expensive as all get-out. When you’re stuck purchasing meds on a per-pill basis...it got real pricey.
But he couldn’t get a refill on the meds through the regular channels. The doc had already suspected a problem and had cut him off when he’d blown through his usual prescription within the fi
rst two weeks of getting it refilled.
So, yeah, getting a prescription the legal way...not an option.
At first, he’d thought it was a positive thing—if he couldn’t get the meds, he couldn’t keep taking them—but then he’d found someone who sold them on the black market and, well, there went his decision to quit cold turkey.
He was the first to admit he’d played fast and loose with his meds. He supposed he still suffered the belief that he was invincible but that blackout had been a wake-up call in more ways than one.
If he thought Scarlett would understand, he’d gladly spill that truth but he knew in his gut that Scarlett would lose all respect for him and he couldn’t risk that right now.
Maybe not ever.
If he could kick this habit on his own, she never needed to know.
Chapter 12
Zak Ramsey and CJ Lawry were waiting in the debriefing room when Scarlett’s friend, Special Agent Conrad Griggs, walked in. Too keep up appearances, Laird Holstein was on another assignment for the time being, which had gone over like a turd in a punch bowl with Laird but he’d gone along with it for the sake of mission Double Down.
Scarlett had told them that Griggs was cool and on their side but it felt weird to have an FBI agent working behind the scenes with them.
Still, Zak trusted his TL so he went with it.
After brief introductions, Conrad said, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet the infamous Red Wolf team that Scarlett is so proud to lead. I’ve always admired the work you do and, if I’m being honest, a little bit envious of all the friggin’ cool shit you guys get to do.”
“We have the best guns, too,” CJ quipped without a hint of modesty.
Conrad, being a good sport, agreed. “Hands down, you win the cool award. Now I know why Scarlett never even considered joining the Bureau once Red Wolf started calling. Hell, are you guys hiring?” he joked.
Zak chuckled politely, knowing the agent was just making conversation. Scarlett was an excellent judge of character and judging by his first impression of Griggs, her track record still stood.
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