The Yeah, Baby Series: Limited Edition 9 Book Set

by Fiona Davenport

  “You’ll have to ask Wes that question.” I was about to bite her head off when her next words had me dropping back onto the mattress. “Look, I just need you to let Wes know that Kat called to tell him that I’ll messenger his flight information and ticket to his house tonight.”

  “Flight information?”

  “Yes,” she confirmed. “Oh, and I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell him to pack for a long trip. Since I’ll be picking him up from the airport, the extra luggage shouldn’t be a problem. And he’ll need it since he’ll be gone for a while.”

  She didn’t give me the chance to respond, not that I even knew what I wanted to say. When the phone started beeping in my ear, I finally set it back in its holder. Weston had a lot of explaining to do when he got back from his meeting. I only hoped his answers didn’t include all the reasons why he had to go back on his word because he was leaving for another mission.

  9

  Weston

  “Justice,” I greeted the tall, dark haired man I’d admired for years. He wasn’t much older than me, but he’d been a legend when he was an active operative. A few years ago, when his wife, another operative, had gotten pregnant, he’d retired from field duty and I’d been one of the lucky ones to have him as their controller.

  “Sidewinder.” He shook my hand and smiled. “Maybe you should start calling me Alex, since rumor is that you won’t be in the field much longer.”

  We’d taken over someone’s office, and I sat facing him across the desk. “You must have rubbed off on me, man. Turns out, I’m a wife and kids kind of guy.”

  Alex’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’re getting married?” he asked with a grin. “And already planning for little kids? Wow, this is monumental.”

  “Not planning,” I clarified. “I have a son.”

  At my announcement, he looked confused. “How did I miss that? Damn, that was quite a secret to keep, especially considering CIA operatives can be as gossipy as those Beverly Hills Housewives.”

  I sighed. “I only just found out,” I confessed. A thought sparked. “Actually, I could really use your help with something.” I’d finally called Kat after two weeks of silence, irritated as fuck, and I didn’t even try to hide it this time. She’d said that IT had dug into the account and found no trace of any activity at all. I never had a reason not to trust Kat. If I had, she wouldn’t have been an effective handler. But lately, there was just something bothering me and my gut was telling me to keep looking into it.

  “Aspen, my fiancée.” Fuck, that felt good to say. “We met right before I left for my last mission. I set up a secure dummy email for her to reach me, then have the messages relayed to me through my handler. For a year, she tried to reach me and tell me that she was pregnant. I never got any of the messages and my handler says IT wasn’t able to find even a single trace of activity. My instincts are telling me that she missed something.”

  Alex’s frown had deepened as I spoke and he was tapping his finger against his mouth in thought. “This is Kat Petrov?” he asked. I nodded and he looked like he wanted to say something more, but instead he picked up his cell and dialed a number.

  After connecting with someone, he handed me the phone. “Tell Martin everything you know and he’ll get you some answers.”

  I almost sighed in complete relief. Martin was the absolute best when it came to anything concerning computers and technology. I told him everything about the situation and he agreed to look into it and call me when he had something. I hung up and tossed the phone back to Alex. “Thanks. I appreciate it. I know this is awfully personal to be appropriating CIA resources, especially Martin.”

  Alex waved off my concern. “If it were Evie, I’d be doing the exact same thing. Also…” he trailed off and stared at me, clearly contemplating whether to go on. “There is another reason I wanted Martin looking into it, but until we hear from him, I think it’s best to keep my suspicions to myself.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me, Justice?” I exploded, then immediately settled down and contritely apologized. “Damn, I’m sorry, Alex.”

  His eyes were narrowed in disapproval, but the understanding was still there. “Look, I know you, Weston. You’re one of the best agents I’ve ever worked with, but you and I both know you have a short fuse. And, when people threaten the women we love, that fuse is non-existent. If I tell you who I suspect, you’ll run straight at them and I’m not going to let you risk your career if I’m wrong.”

  I held in a frustrated growl and simply nodded my acceptance. “Thank you.”

  “So,” Alex said, leaning back in the desk chair, clearly ready to move on. “Aspen lives here? In Atlanta.”

  I mirrored his position, seemingly relaxed, even though I was wound up tight. “We just bought a house in a neighborhood near where I grew up.”

  Alex raised a single brow and stared hard at me. “Bought a house? Fuck,” he sighed. “You’re really serious about Columbia being your last mission.”

  My spine snapped straight. “Columbia?” The assignment I just completed was in Europe. “I told Porter I was done before I came to Georgia. I turned in the papers three weeks ago.”

  A manila folder sat on the desk in front of Alex and he slowly tapped a finger on it. Then he opened it and flipped it around, pushing it towards me. I reached forward and picked up the sheaf of papers inside.

  On top was my transfer application, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I reached the requested date for re-assignment. It was six months away. What. The. Fuck. I shifted it to the back of the pile, revealing a mission assignment, with my fucking signature accepting the job. Next, was the job specifics.

  Six months.

  If I didn’t get out of this, I would lose Aspen.

  “Justice, please tell me you know this is bullshit.” My voice was vibrating with contained rage.

  “I do now, but I had no way of knowing that when the paperwork hit my desk.”

  The folder dropped to the floor, the papers scattering, and my hands balled into fists on my knees. “Alex, this needs to be fixed or I’ll be forced to resign,” I said tiredly. “Aspen and Carter come first. Always.”

  “And, your signature?” He sat back again, the finger now tapping his lip.

  I picked up the transfer form and studied it for a second. “It’s a damn good imitation, but something isn’t quite . . .” I pulled the form closer and then twisted the paper, making sure I was seeing it correctly. “Look at the curve of that letter. The person who copied it is left handed.”

  Alex took the paper and set it on the desk without glancing at it and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll take care of it.”

  My remaining fist unfurled slowly. “Thanks, Alex.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “For such a damn fine operative, you are surprisingly easy to read, Weston.”

  I glared at him. “Bullshit.”

  “You switched to calling me Justice every time you got angry.” He laughed again, and I just rolled my eyes. The relief sweeping through me was consuming my whole focus.

  “Kat was going to send the documents and your ticket to your house. Since you were already meeting with me, I left her a message not to worry about it. In case she didn’t get it and sent everything, disregard them, the transfer application too, since it was apparently bogus. But, make sure you shred all of it. You’ll report to Max Brentwood, starting Monday.”

  “Great. Thanks, Alex. I—” My house? “She sent everything to my house?” Panic started to set in, and my voice was slowly escalating into a roar. “Fuck!” The folder would be marked confidential, but I’d promised no secrets. I had no doubt Aspen would open the package and it would go off like a nuclear bomb.

  I grabbed up the papers from the floor and threw them on the desk before snatching up my coat and helmet. “I’ve got to go. Call me if you hear form Martin before I do.”

  Alex waved me off as his phone began ringing and he answered. I sprinted down the hall and out through securit
y, headed straight for my bike. I dialed Jenna’s number and cursed when it went to voicemail.

  “I need you to get to my house and take Carter home for a while, Jenna. It’s a fucking emergency.” I ended the call and put the phone in the pocket of my leather jacket. After donning my gear, I took off like a bat out of hell. I needed to beat those papers home.

  Coming to a screeching halt in my driveway, I parked my bike and breathed a huge sigh of relief to see Jenna’s BMW down the other side of the circle drive. I dashed up to the door and she was just stepping out, Carter in a carrier and a diaper bag over her shoulder.

  She looked wary as I approached. “What the hell did you do, Weston?” she hissed. “Your fiancée looks like she’s ready to break.”

  Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

  “I—don’t worry about it. Thank you for taking care of Carter. I’ll call you later.” I lifted the carrier from her and kissed my boy’s forehead as I walked them to her car. She’d picked up a car seat to have whenever she took Carter, so I snapped and buckled him into place, kissing him one more time before shutting the door.

  “I hope you fix it, big brother,” Jenna warned. “Because I’m keeping them.” Then she disappeared inside her car and drove off.

  Obviously, the papers had arrived, so I didn’t rush to the door. In fact, the badass motherfucker who normally controlled my brain went running for the hills. The coward was left behind.

  Fuck that, I thought, shoving the weak pussy out of the way and marching into the house. There was no fucking way anything would come between me and my family.

  10

  Weston

  I found Aspen curled up on the couch, her feet up and her head resting on her bent knees. Her shoulders were shaking lightly and when I heard a quiet sniff, my heart nearly split in two. My eyes darted to the coffee table and I spied an open folder, no doubt stamped confidential on the outside.

  “Aspen,” I called to her so I wouldn’t scare the fuck out of her. She froze, then lifted her head and frantically wiped at her eyes.

  “Don’t you think I deserved to hear about it from you, Weston?” she whispered raggedly. “Or to be at least consulted before you ditch your kid and his mother for six freaking months.”

  I sighed and sat down next to her on the couch, irritated when she scooted farther away from me. My brows furrowed and all of my plans to do this with patience must have been lost in the wind during my ride home. Gripping her arms, I lifted her and slammed her sexy little bottom onto my lap. She gasped and tried to wiggle away, but I banded my arms around her and kept her locked in place.

  “Aspen Kennedy, calm your ass down and let me fucking explain,” I barked. She stilled but lifted her eyes and glared at me.

  “Explain what? Your ‘Kat’ called to tell you about your assignment. Oh, and by the way, she’s picking you up at the airport. Should I assume you’ll have separate beds?” She almost shrieked the last words, but tears were pouring down her face and the hiccups ruined the effect. I decided not to dignify the comment about separate beds with an answer.

  “It’s a good thing she called too, or I might never have known. You certainly didn’t tell me and foolishly, I trusted you. I wouldn’t have even thought to open the package if she hadn’t spilled your secret.”

  I thought about what she’d said for a second. “Wait, you found out from Kat? Kat Petrov? My handler?”

  Aspen nodded and sniffed again. My arms tightened, in case she attempted to wiggle away again.

  I was going to kill that bitch. I’d overlooked so much bullshit with that woman and I was done. This incident was bringing a lot of her inappropriate behavior into glaring focus.

  Carefully keeping Aspen in place with one arm, I grasped her chin and forced her to look at me. “My signature was forged, beautiful. My paperwork for termination of fieldwork should already have gone into effect.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Forged? You work for the damn CIA, Weston!”

  I opened my mouth to respond when I was cut off by the sound of my phone. Normally, I would completely ignore it, but it could be Martin or Alex. Giving Aspen a severe look, I released her chin and dug in my pocket. I cursed in relief when I saw it was Alex.

  “Tell me you’ve fucking got something for me,” I snarled.

  “Martin got into the email server and all of the messages were successfully delivered and read, then deleted. But, they didn’t know how to completely wipe the evidence, not against someone like Martin.”

  “Who?” I roared, my grip on the phone practically crushing. I kept my other arm firm, but gentle, so I wouldn’t hurt Aspen.

  “It was only accessed by one person and Martin traced the encrypted IP to another agent in D.C. It was Kat.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Something in his tone was needling me and really pissing me the fuck off. I moved Aspen gently off of my lap before jumping to my feet. I stalked across the room, wanting to be far away from her if I lost control of my tightly leashed temper.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” I seethed.

  He blew out a breath. “Not for sure. Kat has moved departments a few times. No one has complained on the record, but her file has some subtle notations.”

  I glanced back at Aspen, who was watching me pace, her mocha eyes wide and confused. I tried to soften what I knew must be a frightening expression on my face.

  “Justice, I don’t have time for bullshit games. Spell it out.” I started pacing, one hand diving into my hair and yanking on the strands.

  “They are all small things that point to obsessive tendencies, adding that to a common notation about being overly-friendly…” he trailed off, his conclusion implied.

  “How the hell is she still with the agency, Justice? What fucking idiot would clear her on her psych eval?”

  “I’m going to look into that. But, she never crossed the line until you, Weston. Several of her transfers were by her own request or because of seemingly unrelated incidents. Until you sit down and look at the whole puzzle.”

  I pinched the bridge of my nose and inhaled slowly. “Why do I sense that you are going somewhere with this explanation? Because I don’t really care why it happened. She better be done with the CIA or you can be sure I’ll be out the door without another thought.”

  “You’re right, I’ve got a point. When Martin dug into her life, he found some pretty disturbing things and they all had to do with you.”

  I stopped pacing and stared at the ceiling. “Excuse me?”

  “Every move she made was in your direction. Until finally, she was assigned as your handler. She googled you over 40,000 times in the last year. Your agency records are all stored on her hard drive. Work and personal.”

  “All of them?” I croaked. Those records would contain information about all of my assignments, things that, if they were leaked, would get me and my family killed.

  “Yes,” he answered gravely. “But, we’ve already sent cleaners to her apartment, confiscated all of her electronics, except her cell phone, and Martin is sure she has no backups.”

  Why wouldn’t they take her—motherfucker! “You don’t have her in custody?” I bellowed. Aspen flinched, and I immediately lowered my tone. I was scaring her. Shit.

  “You had better find her before I do, Justice. Because if I get there first, there is no telling what I’ll do to her.”

  “I’m going to pretend I wasn’t just a witness to you threatening someone,” he griped. “And, I’m not done, so shut the fuck up and listen.”

  I pressed my lips together in a ruler straight line, holding back any further comment.

  “She had pictures of Aspen, Weston. From over the last year. Pictures of Carter, clippings of his birth announcement. A fake hospital ID for obstetrics at the hospital where he was born. There are even transcripts of phone calls . . . Aspen’s phone was tapped.”

  Worlds could have collided causing mass destruction and I didn’t think it would have put the fear of God into me any more than kno
wing this psycho had been anywhere near my woman and our son.

  “I think you need to watch your family like a hawk right now, Weston,” Alex warned. “You know we’ll find her, but until we do—” The doorbell started ringing incessantly, and I barely noticed until Aspen stood to answer it.

  “No! Aspen, don’t!” She looked at me, completely lost as to what the hell was going on. “Just wait, beautiful. Let me see who it is.”

  I stalked to the front door and looked out the peep hole. It was Jenna. She was holding Carter tight against her and shifting restlessly. I swung the door open and she shoved Carter at me, keeping his blanket and holding the bunched material to her chest. “Jenna, what is—”

  Someone stepped around the corner of the house and edged slowly in our direction. The sun glinted off the round barrel of the pistol she was aiming at my sister. I felt Aspen’s presence behind me and with Kat’s focus on my sister, particularly the lump of fabric in her hands, I took a chance and quickly turned. I handed Carter to his mother, thankfully the boy was sleeping hard.

  “Take Carter, go to our room and stay there until I come and get you, okay? No one but me.”

  She hesitated, trying to peek around me. “Aspen, I know I’m on shaky ground with you, but I need you to trust me. More than ever. Can you please do this for me?”

  Her eyes were big and round as she stared into mine, then she nodded and hurried away. I took a deep breath and faced the situation outside. Kat was still creeping closer and hadn’t seemed to take stock of the situation yet. I put the phone to my ear and whispered, “Justice, you better get your people here ASAP before I kill her.” Then I hung up and looked down at my baby sister.

  “Jenna, why don’t you come inside—”

  “I think she should stay right there.” Kat stepped out of the shadows looking smug, as if she thought I hadn’t seen her until that moment.

  “She’s going to take care of our baby like a good aunt, while I get rid of that whore who had our little Weston Jr. She just couldn’t leave you alone, could she?” Kat finally met my eyes, her own dilated and wild. Shit. This woman had lost her fucking mind. “Message after fucking message! She wouldn’t SHUT UP!” Kat screamed and her left hand shook, her finger vibrating precariously close to the trigger of her gun.