by Laura Kaye
Her gaze went distant for a moment, and then she shrugged. “At the funeral, I guess.”
“Until now?” Nick asked.
She nodded. “Well, yeah.”
Nick’s gaze landed on Marz, then Beckett. The man’s eyes were filled with gut-deep concern.
“Think you might want to get Easy and Shane down here,” Beckett said. His gut was right there with Nick’s.
Nodding, Nick whipped out his cell and fired off two texts.
In the tense silence that followed, Becca sighed. “Why can’t this just be what it seems to be?”
“It could,” Nick said. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. “Or not. And the chance it could fall into the ‘or not’ category is something we have to consider.”
Within a few minutes Shane, Sara, Easy, and Jenna had joined their group around Marz’s desk.
“What’s up?” Shane asked, a wariness in his voice.
Nick looked at Becca, and she replayed the message without him needing to ask.
“Well, ain’t that a good goddamn,” Easy said. Jenna laced her fingers with his, and Easy brought their joined hands up against his chest.
The men exchanged another loaded round of looks.
“You really think this is . . . what? Some kind of setup?” Becca asked, her hand sagging with the phone.
“Probably only one way to find out,” Beckett said, knowing Nick wasn’t going to like hearing that.
And the storm that rolled in across the other man’s expression confirmed Beckett’s suspicion. “You think she should call him?”
“Only way we learn anything,” Beckett said, careful to keep his tone neutral. This situation made him recall another from not that many weeks ago—the gangbanger who’d tried to nab Becca from the staff lounge at the hospital had contacted them through a reward flyer and offered information on Charlie’s whereabouts. But he’d only wanted to talk to Becca. In person. Nick had gone ballistic at the idea of her taking the meeting, even with them hidden around the location to protect her. And that had been before the two of them had gotten serious.
Nick met the gazes of each of the other men. “You all agree?”
Begrudging nods all around. No doubt the others felt his pain, since they were all involved in relationships now, too.
Thank fuck Beckett wasn’t.
Although, before that thought had fully formed in his head, his gaze slid to Kat. Arms crossed, expression concerned, eyes tracking everything that was being said—vocally and silently—in the conversation, she looked ready to jump in, ready to fight, fucking fierce.
What if it was her?
Ice slithered into Beckett’s gut. He clenched his muscles against the sensation, not liking it one goddamned bit. And not willing to examine it either.
“Son of a bitch,” Nick said, raking a hand through his hair.
“So, um, does that mean I should call him?” Becca asked, hugging herself.
A tense chuckle rose up from just about everyone. Not Nick, obviously, who looked at Becca and cupped her face in his hand. The way she leaned into his touch—almost like it was instinct to get closer to him—did some things to Beckett’s chest he didn’t particularly like. He felt . . . weirdly . . . envious. Of the ease of their connection. Of having a connection at all.
“I think you gotta have her call the guy, Nick,” Kat said, drawing Beckett’s gaze. “Especially if you think he represents some threat. Otherwise, how will you even know what you’re dealing with?” Her tone was firm but conciliatory.
After a long moment Nick nodded, though his gaze remained on Becca. “Okay. A call. Using a burner phone, so your location can’t be traced. And on speaker phone so we can hear the whole thing. That means I need someone on that door”—he pointed across the room—“so no one comes in mid-conversation. Everyone who stays in this room needs to say absolutely silent. If he asks, you can explain you’re on speaker because you’re driving.” He looked at Jeremy. “Where’s Eileen?”
“She was sleeping in my room when we came over,” he said, expression unusually serious.
Nick gave a single nod. “Good. Anyone with a phone, silence it now. Nothing compromises Becca in any of this.”
There was a flurry of activity as everyone checked their cells.
“I’ll make sure no one comes in,” Sara said.
“Not even if the building’s on fire, Sara. Okay?” Nick called as she started across the room.
“Not even. I promise.” She jogged to the door and disappeared into the hallway. Since the Ravens had been involved with rescuing Jenna from the Church Gang, they seemed to hold a special respect and affection for both the Dean sisters. So no question they’d listen to Sara if anyone tried to enter.
“I’ll grab a phone,” Beckett said, rounding Marz’s desk to the boxes of supplies, weapons, and ammunition that lined the wall on the other side. He grabbed one and set it up. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to Becca.
She nodded. “Thanks. So, am I setting up a meeting with him or not? Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t be thinking twice about doing so. Will it seem weird if I don’t?”
“No weirder than him popping in out of the blue for a visit.” Nick sighed and looked around the group. “But, let’s just play this out. If you did meet with him, it would need to be somewhere high traffic where there was no chance of him grabbing you—”
“Nick.” Becca’s eyes went wide. “Do you seriously think—”
Kat put her arm around Becca’s waist. “Let him plan for the worst. It’ll put everyone’s mind at ease.”
“I agree,” Charlie said, frowning. “Don’t forget someone tried to grab you before.”
Becca’s shoulders sagged. “I know. Okay.”
Jeremy put his hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “Places that would be normal for Becca would be around her house or around where she works, right? Around the hospital might be too risky, though, because of what happened to her there. So, is there anywhere around where you lived, Becca?”
“There’s a coffee shop on Eastern Avenue right across from Patterson Park that’s like a four-block walk from my house. It’s usually busy and there are always people working in there on the free WiFi.” She looked at Nick. “Know where I mean? Cute place on the corner?”
“Yeah,” Nick said with a troubled sigh. “Something like that could work. Let’s do this, then, before it gets much later.”
Beckett rose and stepped closer, wanting to hear what Kaine had to say. Most of the others followed suit as everyone closed ranks around Becca.
“Here we go,” Becca said, pressing the Call button. Her hand shook, just a little.
Ring. Ring.
“Hello?” came an old, familiar voice.
“Hi, General Kaine. It’s Becca Merritt. I hope it’s not too late,” she said, looking at Nick. He gave her a nod of encouragement.
“Becca. No, no, of course not. I’m glad you were able to get back to me. I know it was last minute.”
“Well, it was a nice surprise to hear from you, sir,” she said. “Are you home for a visit?”
“Yeah. Every so often they like to haul me into the Pentagon and make sure this old man’s still kickin’.” Beckett scrutinized Kaine’s words, his tone, his pauses and emphases, searching for anything that might give them insight into the man’s intentions. But the guy was cool as a cucumber.
Becca laughed, and it sounded mostly genuine. “You’re hardly an old man, sir.”
“Well, look, I flew into BWI this afternoon, so I’m at a hotel out by the airport tonight. I’ve got a meeting in D.C. at noon, but I wondered if you had time for a visit around that.”
Becca locked eyes with Nick and nodded. “I’d love that. Would you be up for meeting for coffee in Baltimore in the morning before you head to D.C.?”
“That’ll work. Feel like I owe it to Frank to check in on you. And Charlie. How is your brother, anyway?”
“Oh, uh . . .” She looked at
Nick, who shook his head. “Honestly, we’re not as close anymore.” She grimaced, uncertainty clear in her expression, and then she gave Charlie an apologetic look.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. So, where should we meet?”
As Becca laid out the coffee shop idea and they discussed a time, the exchange about Charlie—brief as it was—bugged Beckett. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but his gut was throwing up a red flag his brain hadn’t yet identified.
And then the call was over.
The minute Becca hit End, it was like the room collectively breathed again for the first time since she’d begun the call.
“I didn’t mean that,” she said, looking at Charlie.
He shook his head. “I know. Don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t sure what to say about Charlie. Did I do okay?” she asked.
“You did great, Sunshine. You handled that fine.” Nick pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her hair.
“I’ll go let Sara know we’re done,” Shane said, taking off across the room.
“Well, what’s everybody thinking?” Marz asked, looking around.
Beckett waited to hear what the others thought, because he still hadn’t put a finger on what was bugging him. Maybe he was looking for a problem where none existed?
Easy shrugged one big shoulder. “Seemed . . . normal. Doesn’t mean the visit’s not damn coincidental, though.”
Shane and Sara hurried across the room, and a few Ravens came in behind them and gathered around the table in the far corner. Nick glanced from the bikers to Sara. “Any trouble?”
She smiled. Beckett hadn’t gotten to know her well, but based on everything he did know, she seemed tough as nails. Because, young as she was, she’d been through some shit and come out the other end standing. And she couldn’t have been sweeter or more easygoing. “Nope. They told me dirty jokes while we waited.”
Shane’s eyebrow arched. “Dirty funny or dirty inappropriate?”
Sara chuckled. “Funny. About the Harley-Davidson creator meeting God in heaven.” She waved her hand. “I won’t do it justice.”
“Oh, I know that one,” Jeremy said. “Ike told me . . .” Ike Young was a Raven who worked as a tattoo artist in Jeremy’s shop. It was Ike who had initially connected the team up with the Ravens. Now he was back at their compound outside of the city, protecting Jeremy’s receptionist and piercer, Jess, who they’d realized had slept with a guy with a Seneka tattoo. Recently. Another way-too-coincidental-to-be-coincidental development, particularly since a Seneka team had attacked the tattoo shop a few days afterward. All of which made her a potential target, so she and Ike had decided to split town until this mess was over. Whenever that was gonna be.
As Beckett listened to the chatter and the Ravens broke out in laughter across the room, thoughts started to fall into place. Thoughts that made him ask questions. “Uh, guys,” he said, interrupting Jeremy’s retelling of the joke. “Sorry, Jeremy, but some things are bugging the shit out of me.”
Nick’s gaze cut to Beckett’s face, eyes sharp, jaw set. “What?”
“What are you thinking, B?” Marz said, turning toward him in his seat.
“It’s weird to me that he flew into BWI. Totally possible, of course, but Reagan is right next door to the Pentagon, and Dulles is a much bigger international hub, assuming he came from overseas.” Beckett shrugged. “But what’s bothering me worse is him asking about Charlie.”
“Why?” Nick asked.
“Kaine said he owed it to Frank to check in on Becca. And Charlie. I’ll admit I was looking for something the whole time he spoke, but the way he said it made Charlie seem like an afterthought. Except then he went on to ask about him directly.”
“Yeah. And?” Nick asked, his gaze narrowed.
Beckett shifted his stance as he thought more about why that had bothered him. “Okay, let’s assume for a minute that Kaine is in on the conspiracy somehow.” Nods all around. “If he is, then that means he should know that Charlie got abducted and that someone rescued him from the Church Gang. But because we’ve kept Charlie under wraps, no one knows where he is.”
Marz’s eyes went wide. “And whoever Church was working with—Seneka, we presume—knows Charlie had information they needed.”
“How to access the Singapore bank account?” Charlie asked. “That was the key thing they kept asking about. Why this happened,” he said, holding up his bandaged hand.
Beckett nodded, all of this gelling in his head now. “Charlie didn’t know the account access information then. But they don’t know that.”
“The night we rescued him,” Nick said, “Church was meeting with someone one of their guys referred to as ‘company.’ About Charlie.”
“Probably a Seneka contact,” Marz said. “Hell, maybe this ‘company’ was actually—” He swallowed his words, like he’d realized he’d been about to say something he shouldn’t.
“Manny?” Emilie asked. She’d been sitting so quietly behind Beckett that he’d nearly forgotten she was there.
Marz turned toward her. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s the reality,” she said. “Really.” Emilie had told all of them over and over again not to tiptoe around the subject of her brother. But given the horrific way she’d found him—head blown off and lying in a gutter—just a few days before, it was hard not to remember her outpouring of grief and shock. Nobody wanted to pick at that wound any more than they absolutely had to.
“I doubt the point of bringing Charlie to Confessions would’ve been to hold him downstairs,” Sara said. “When that happened, it was almost always women. My sense was that Charlie was a delivery. That’s horrible to say, isn’t it? I’m sorry,” she said, looking at Charlie.
“You played a part in getting me out of there, Sara. No apologies necessary, ever,” he said.
Beckett nodded. “So, still playing this out, if Kaine was in on all this somehow, he’d know a lot of that. And he’d probably even know the same people who grabbed Charlie made a failed bid to get Becca, too. And now he’s here, wanting to meet with Becca and asking about Charlie.”
“So, if we were looking for bad intentions—and we are,” Nick said, “this could all really be about finding Charlie.”
“Can I just say that I really hate that I just followed all that and that it makes sense?” Becca asked, worry piercing her blue eyes.
Nods went around the group.
“Which means, we need to plan an op to put in place by oh eight hundred tomorrow morning,” Nick said. “Because I’m not taking any chances. With Becca or any of you.”
Chapter 10
Kat had been listening to Nick and the other men brainstorm plans for Becca’s meeting with their former base commander for nearly a half an hour. And here she’d been worried about her own ass for offering up confidential documents. When Becca was about to walk into the middle of a situation that could put her in actual danger.
That sure as hell put things in perspective, didn’t it?
“The real question is who goes along with Becca in case shit goes down,” Beckett said. “Because none of the five of us can. Kaine will recognize us in a heartbeat.”
Nick nodded, his expression growing darker and darker the more they planned this. And Kat felt for him. She really did. She wouldn’t like knowing the person she loved was in danger either. “Yeah.”
Looking around the room, she realized that every person there had gone through the same experience one way or another. Becca had nearly been kidnapped. Nick had been shot in the neck—the bullet had just grazed him, but still. Shane and Easy had been shot, too. The gauze covering the wound on Easy’s arm just peeked out of the sleeve of his tee. For their part, Sara and Jenna had both been targeted by the Church gang. Emilie had been carjacked by a dirty cop, and her brother had held Derek at gunpoint and beaten him with a bat. Kat’s gaze moved to her other brother. Not even Jeremy and Charlie had escaped the madness. Charlie had been abduc
ted and tortured, while Jeremy nearly died when a mortar took out part of his building.
That was a long fucking list of near misses.
“What about Vance?” Marz asked. “He works in plainclothes anyway, so he’d be able to pass as a customer.”
Beckett made a disapproving noise in his throat. “If Kaine’s dirty, he could have cops working with him. If any of them are on the scene, they’ll make Vance. Too risky.”
“Well, who the fuck does that leave, Beckett?” Nick asked.
“Whoa,” Marz said, holding out his hands. “Let’s just talk to Dare—”
“I’ll go,” Kat said, acting on instinct. Nearly a dozen pairs of eyes cut to her. Before anyone had the chance to argue, she pushed on. “I’m the only unknown quantity in the whole group. The Ravens have all participated in other parts of your mission here and therefore could be recognized. None of you can go. Vance can’t go. No other cops we can trust.” She planted her hands on her hips and nailed Nick with a stare—since he was likely the one she’d have to work hardest to win over. “That leaves me.”
“Kat . . .” Nick said, voice full of frustration.
“What about the older Vance?” Beckett said, his face set in a hard scowl. “He’s retired now. Even if there were other cops present, no reason to think he’d be there for any kind of work.”
Kat’s gaze narrowed at Beckett. “Please, do go right ahead and ignore what I said.”
Beckett’s gaze sliced into her. “I didn’t ignore it. I considered it and discarded it.”
Anger whipped around inside Kat’s chest. “And why would that be?”
“Maybe because Kaine’s a trained warrior and anyone who works for Seneka is a coldhearted mercenary. While a hard wind could blow you over,” he said, eyes blazing at her.
It was like a haze of red descended over Kat’s brain. She’d maybe never felt angrier in her life. “Are you kidding me right now? I can handle a weapon. I can hit. I’m practiced in jiujitsu. And I would never let anything happen to the woman my brother loves.”
“I could pin you in five goddamned seconds, Kat,” Beckett said.