by Rye Hart
I tossed and turned most of the night and finally woke up to the sound of Nicole cooking breakfast for Lily. She was going on and on about how Aunt Nikki stayed and how Aunt Nikki made the best scrambled eggs. I lay in bed, thankful she was getting Lily ready for school.
And I was even more grateful when she offered to take Lily to school.
I kissed my daughter and waved the two of them off. My eyes drifted over to Graham’s house, but it looked like no one was home. The only things in his driveway were the skid marks from last night, and all the lights in his house were turned off.
Though I could’ve sworn I saw a shadow looming in his bedroom window.
A car coming down the road took my attention away from him. I sighed when I saw it was Paul, and I watched as he pulled up into the driveway. Was he ever going to go away? Would I ever have a week where he simply left me alone?
“What do you want?” I asked.
“I wanted to come see how you were doing after last night,” Paul said.
“Did you call?”
He walked up onto my porch before his eyes fell to the empty kitchen.
“Lily not here?”
“Nicole took her to school,” I said.
“You’ve got a good friend in her,” he said.
“Why? You run a background check on her?”
“Cindy, I’m not the one you’re angry with.”
“Actually, yes. Part of me is angry with you. Why do you think you have the right to run my life?”
“Because Brad—”
I held up my hand to silence him. “Enough!” I bellowed. “I’m so sick and fucking tired of you invoking his name every five minutes. He’s not here anymore and I am dealing with that. Finally, I am dealing with it. Looking out for me and deciding who I will and won’t spend my time with are two totally different things, and it stops now, Paul.”
“As much as you hate it, there’s danger lurking around us right now. I just want to make sure you get to work okay today.”
“What, like follow me?” I asked. “No. I’ll send you a text when I get there.”
“I’m following you to work.”
“No, you’re not, and if you’re insistent on it, I’ll call the cops.”
“I’ll flash my badge, and they won’t think twice.”
“Then I’ll call the news station and tell them a CIA agent is in town abusing his power,” I said.
“Cindy—”
“I’m fine, Paul. Everything’s fine. Or at least it was until you started sticking your nose into everything. I know you promised Bradley you’d watch over us, but this goes way beyond that. You’re practically stalking me and keeping me from moving on with my life and I want you to stop. Now. It’s not doing me or Lily any good.”
“I’ll protect you no matter what I have to do,” Paul said. “And if you don’t want me to follow you to work, then I’ll stay here and keep an eye on things. Make sure no one’s watching you.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face in frustration. He simply wasn’t listening to me. “You won’t stay here or anywhere near here. Leave, Paul.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“Yes, you are,” I said. “Don’t make me go next door and get Graham.”
“What the hell is he gonna do?” he asked.
“Make me feel safe. Something you’ve never been capable of.”
My eyes locked onto Paul’s, and I watched his jaw twitch. He was angry. I could see it. But his behavior was getting out of control. No matter what threat he thought was looming, if I told him to get out of my house, he needed to leave. He had clearly crossed every boundary I’d set for myself and my daughter and I didn’t like it. He was becoming possessive and slightly unhinged. If I had to be afraid of anyone right now, I would have said it was Paul himself.
I was beyond determined to stand my ground with him and not show him any weakness he could try to exploit.
“Fine,” Paul finally said through gritted teeth. “I’m gone.”
“Good,” I said. “And don’t come back.”
CHAPTER 28
GRAHAM
“Okay, so here’s what I’ve got,” Daniel said. “According to my sources—and I really dug into them after that asshole approached you—Paul is with the CIA.”
“Guess they’ll let anyone in nowadays,” I said.
“But the Agency is most certainly not working with the mob in any fashion.”
“And your source is completely sure of this?” I asked.
“Completely. Whatever he told you, it must’ve been rehearsed. I cashed in some serious favors I’m not proud of to get my hands on confidential documents, and some of the shit’s still redacted. But the Agency never stopped their investigation. They were using the shit you were digging up in your spare time to get them closer to a takedown.”
“They were?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s all right there. Your name’s in the fucking file as one of the agents feeding them information,” he said.
“So how the fuck does Paul figure into all of this? He has to have some role if he knew what to tell me to get me to back off.”
“I had someone tap into some surveillance footage, and it’s rough. Paul’s plastered all over them. Shaking hands with the head of the Fresco crime family. He’s seen passing off black bags of what I can only assume is money. The CIA isn’t involved with the mob, but he sure the fuck is.”
“And we’re sure he’s not just an undercover in this?” I asked.
“No, he’s providing them protection. He’s a fucking double agent, Graham.”
Daniel slammed a thick folder of documents down in front of me. I opened the folder and scanned my eyes along the pages. Times to meet informants that didn’t make sense. The mysterious death of undercover agents that were still pending investigation. Evidence that would go missing the day before important trials.
“Holy shit, he’s protecting them,” I said.
“And those black bags? If you look at the body language closely, you’ll see he’s not passing them off. He’s receiving them. I’ve got my source trying to pull clearer videos of the transactions, but I guarantee you those are sacks full of money.”
“That fucker’s getting kickbacks,” I said.
“In exchange for using CIA resources to protect their asses from getting caught. He was bobbing while you weaved, and I’m pretty sure he’s the one who set you up and had your family killed.”
I gripped the pictures so tightly that I punctured a hole in the corner.
“We have to take this to someone,” I said.
“Already on it. Though once I strike up this phone conversation, they’re going to trace it. We need to talk quickly,” he said.
“Whatever it fucking takes.”
We opened up my laptop and set it on the kitchen counter. There was a secured video feed that was ringing on the screen. A video popped up, and there was Buckley, my old boss.
With a host of people already tracing the damn video.
“Anderson, where are you?” Buckley asked.
“On the other side of the country,” I said. “But you’ll figure that out soon enough.”
“You just interjected into a private video feed with the President. What the fuck are you doing?” he asked.
“In a moment, a friend of mine is going to knock on that door back there. Open it and take the folder of information,” Daniel said.
“You’re giving me orders?” Buckley asked.
“Yes, we are,” I said.
There was a knock on the other end of the video, and I saw someone come in. A woman handed a folder of information to Buckley, and then she turned and winked at Daniel. I looked over at him and watched my friend shake his head, a cheeky ass grin spreading across his cheeks.
“Can you keep it in your pants for a few more minutes?” I asked.
“I can try,” Daniel said.
“Bend, Oregon. Interesting choice,” Buckley said. “The authorities have been alerte
d that an AWOL CIA agent with ties to drug trafficking and arms smuggling is on the outskirts of their city. Within five minutes, you’ll be arrested and jetted back to DC.”
“What in the ever-loving fuck are you talking about?” I asked incredulously.
“We know you were working with the mob. We figured out you were helping them smuggle drugs into the country for kickbacks. We’ve got photos of you shaking hands with the fucking head of it all,” Buckley said.
“You might want to open that folder in front of you then,” I said.
I could hear the police sirens in the distance. Tires were squealing, and Daniel was beginning to shift on his feet. This wasn’t good. They were getting too close for my liking. I watched as Buckley opened the file and pulled out a massive pile of information.
“Did you send it all to him?” I asked.
“I had to. It was the only way to convince him,” Daniel said. “Sir, in your hands is information on an agent named Paul Martin. Recruited five years ago fresh out of the military for multiple secret-level CIA—”
“I know who the man is. I recruited him,” Buckley said.
“Good, then this won’t take long. Graham isn’t the one receiving kickbacks for anything. In your hands is proof that Martin is using CIA resources to protect the criminals you’ve been chasing for well over three years in exchange for kickbacks they are giving him,” Daniel said.
“The Fresco family are paying him for his CIA connections,” I said.
The sirens were getting closer. They were roaring down the road and skidding onto my lawn. I looked out the window and saw the lights flashing. Men were drawing guns, and officers were racing for my porch.
“Martin said you were the reason for these assholes getting away. He had pictures of you shaking hands with this asshole,” Buckley said.
“Another friend of mine is standing outside in the hallway, ready to prove to you that the photos he handed you are photoshopped. You’re looking at the real photos. The timestamp at the corner shows when the deals took place and when that picture was pulled. Do his photographs have those timestamps on them?” Daniel asked.
Officers came tearing through my front door with guns pointed at our backs.
“Buckley, you know we’re right,” Daniel said. “Make the connections. The suits Paul wears. They’re too expensive for his salary. The redacted files show you guys were using Anderson’s information to get to this organization and then suddenly he runs away? How does that make any sense?”
The police were pulling my hands behind my back as a gun was pressed between my shoulder blades.
“You got rights you’re gonna read me?” I asked.
“Officer, stop,” Buckley said.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the gun fell from my back.
“Why the hell would I be a part of something that got my family killed, Robert?”
I looked up and into the video feed as my former boss heaved a heavy sigh.
“Shit. Notify the Bend police department. Tell them Graham isn’t their man. Paul is,” Buckley said.
“You can let go of him now,” Daniel said.
The officer dropped my hands, and I rolled my shoulders back. I knew it would take some time for Robert to piece all this shit together, but for now, we had him on our side. He kept scanning the documents as police officers were radioed back to their cars. Something about new information coming in about a wanted fugitive.
“Holy shit,” Robert said. “That son of a bitch.”
“It’s bad,” Daniel said. “He’s been doing it for years.”
“And right under our fucking noses. Graham, I’m sorry. The two of you did a great job. If you guys were still here, you’d be promoted,” Buckley said.
“No thanks. I’m fine where I am,” I said.
“We’ll handle it from here,” Buckley said.
“I’m sure you will,” Daniel said.
“Anderson, you got a pension waiting for you. This will clear your name, and those benefits will be released to you. You planning on sticking around Bend for a spell?”
“Don’t see myself going anywhere else,” I said.
“Good. I’ll need to get in touch with you to settle all this … shit,” Buckley said.
“Knock ‘em dead,” I said with a grin.
Then Daniel reached over and cut the call as the police officers pulled away from my house.
CHAPTER 29
CINDY
“I thought I told you not to come back,” I said to Paul as he stood on my porch.
“Cindy, you’re just not thinking clearly,” he said.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm the anger rising in me. “I’m thinking just fine Paul. I know what I want and it is for you to leave us alone.”
“But Cindy –”
I held up a hand to cut him off. “But nothing. I don’t know how much clearer I can make myself. I don’t want to cut you out of our lives completely, but you are making it very hard for me not to do just that.”
“I swear I’m only trying to protect you and Lily,” he said, raising his hands in mock surrender.
“I can protect my daughter just fine, thank you,” I said, my anger starting to show through in my tone.
“Listen Cindy, as long as that man is your neighbor, you aren’t safe. I’ve already told you what he’s done,” Paul said.
“Graham is not the problem. You are,” I said. “Paul, I think you’re mistaking the nature of our relationship. You’ve been getting a little obsessive recently, and it’s making me uncomfortable.”
“If checking in on you is obsessive, then I’ll own that,” he said.
“I was married to Bradley. You were his best friend. And now that he’s gone, your actions are coming off as if you might …”
I looked up into Paul’s eyes and sighed as I shook my head. My anger was not going to be what stopped his behavior, he’d just buck up against it. I needed to try to reason with him instead. I calmed my voice and tried a different tactic.
“It seems like you’re trying to start some sort of romantic relationship with me, but I don’t feel that way about you. I need you to understand that,” I said.
“I’m not following,” Paul said.
“Following me to work? Wanting to stay the night? Coming over all the time and offering to take Lily and me to lunch? Through an obsessive lens, it looks like you’re trying to take Bradley’s place. And that isn’t a place you will ever hold. I’m not into you that way. I never have been. You were my husband’s best friend, and I cherish you, but not in that way,” I said.
“Cindy, you don’t know what you’re saying. You're scared, and I get it.”
“No, I’m not scared. The only thing I’m scared of right now is you. I don’t trust you around me anymore. Around Lily. Your actions have grown overbearing, and if Bradley was here, he would be telling you the same thing.”
“You have no idea what Bradley would say,” he said.
“I do. I was married to him. I loved him dearly. Had a child with him. Saw a future with him. He would be worried about you, Paul, like I am.”
“You’re worried about me?” he asked.
“In a friendly way, yes. But this relationship you’re trying to forge between us? I don’t want it. I never have. It’s freaking me out, and you need to stop. Okay?”
I watched a fire spark in his eyes, and I took a step back from him. He charged me, his hands outstretched for my waist. He pinned me to my couch, and I tried to get him off me, kicking and yelling out for help.
“Stop it! Paul! What are you doing?”
“I was there through everything,” he said through clenched teeth.
He flipped me over on the couch as his hand slid up my side.
“I watched you fall in love with my best friend at the bar that night. After I sent you that drink instead of him,” Paul said.
“What?” I asked breathlessly. “Paul, get off me. Please, Lily is sleeping right down the hall.”
&
nbsp; I felt his knee press into my back, cutting off my ability to breathe as cold metal clicked around my wrists.
“What are you doing?” I asked with tears in my eyes.
“You were supposed to be mine that night, and he stole my thunder. He saw those beautiful green eyes of yours and those thick curves, and he dove in on what I had already claimed.”
“I’m not someone’s property, Paul! Stop it!”
He wrenched me up from the couch, and I stumbled onto my feet. Where the hell was he taking me? He shoved me out onto the porch, and I fell to the ground, skidding my cheek on the pavement.
“Paul, stop,” I said through my sobs. “Please. Lily. I can’t leave her here alone.”
“I watched you marry that man. I watched you have a child with that man. And when he died, I saw my chance, a chance to be with the woman who was rightfully mine in the first fucking place!”
“Graham! Help!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
“He can’t help you now,” Paul said. “He was arrested for his crimes earlier this morning.”
“I don’t believe you,” I said breathlessly. “I don’t believe a word of it!”
Paul opened the back of his car and tossed me into the back seat. I knocked my head against the seat and screamed out as he shut the door. I leaned up with my hands cuffed behind my back and kicked at the door. I tried to reach up and bang my heel on the glass, seeing if I could break it so someone could see me.
But the glass was fully tinted, and nighttime had fallen.
No one would be able to see me in this behemoth of a vehicle.
“Paul! Stop it! Lily’s in the house! What is wrong with you?” I asked.
“Lily will be taken care of. Don’t worry,” Paul said.
“If you lay a fucking finger on her, I will hunt you to the ends of the earth and rip you limb from limb!”
“It hurts that you think I would hurt your daughter. I love Lily. In time she’ll forget all about him, and I’ll be her new daddy.”
“You motherfucker. There isn’t a chance in hell I would let that happen!”