by Brynne Asher
Bella and I would be D-E-A-D if I gave a shit about his car, so I ignore that and wave my phone at him. “Appreciate it. You saved me a shit-ton of paperwork over a lost cell.”
“Don’t turn that on until you hit the highway tomorrow,” Crew warns.
“You know, we don’t usually work together in this capacity, but I’m not an idiot,” I bite.
“This is all fascinating,” Bella interjects. “But can we please move on to Randolph and Marie Kasey?”
Crew holds up a hand. “Hang on. We’re getting to that because this shit is a puzzle we’re still piecing together.”
Grady steps up to the table. “Here’s the most interesting thing about the last twenty-four hours. As soon as Randolph touched down in Virginia, he texted Sisson.”
I feel my own expression fall. “What the fuck?”
Grady flips open the phone book of a file and hands me the top piece of paper. “Here’s the transcript. They’re arranging funds to be wired overseas. We’re still trying to figure out who the recipient is and what’s being done with the money. But your gal,” Grady points to me, “and your guy,” he points to Bella who reaches out to grab my hand, “are in cahoots.” He continues to look at Bella. “Told you I’m a betting man, but I wouldn’t’ve taken that wager.”
I take the paper and Bella leans in to scan it too.
It’s true. And we’re talking a lot of fucking money—more than any senator should have at any given time if he’s serving his country, as he should be. This is where his kickbacks are going. But what is he supporting and what the fuck does Sisson have to do with it?
“Right,” Jarvis agrees and I look up. He’s standing there with his arms crossed. “This is enough to make my head spin. It’s so much easier putting a bullet through someone’s head.”
“This is all fun and games when it’s a mystery on the back of a cereal box we’re trying to solve with a sugar-coated magic ring. But this shit is real and not what we do.” Grady levels his glare on me. Gone is the fun guy who picked us up from the airport. “You might be the CIA but what we’re doing isn’t sanctioned by the Agency or anyone else. We didn’t sign up for this. We’ve got families to think about—wives, kids,” he throws Jarvis a glance. “Even my sister—who I still can’t believe is a part of this life—is now in the mix. What I’m asking is, what do we do when we get to the end of the maze?”
My jaw goes hard. I don’t take my eyes off him but I do put my arm around Bella and pull her front to my side.
Ozzy stands silent.
“Fuck,” Asa mutters.
Jarvis takes a step forward and his tone comes out with a warning. “Grady—”
“No, Jarvis,” Grady stops him and turns to Crew. “What do we do then?”
Crew looks down at the table where his index finger traces the woodgrain, as if it’ll lead him to the answer. His chest expands and he nods, as if finding the meaning of life in the complex lines of its history. Leaning forward, hands flat to the wood, he lets his head hang before lifting it and piercing everyone around the room with his dark eyes.
Those eyes finally settle on the woman I plan to marry and make a mother to Abbott and my future children.
You know, in time.
“Bella, you’ve done a lot for me. Dedicated and always coming through for me when I need you.” Crew looks to Grady and then to Jarvis. “She helped get to Gracie and saved your ass. She’s one of us. So when we get to the end, we finish it,” Crew says. “That, we know how to do. I’m not in the business of waiting on the justice system or letting politics or the media fuck things up. We’ll do what we always do. I’ll sleep better at night—we all will. We’ll do it for Bella and Carson and Red and Abbott. It’s what we’ve always done.”
“Fuck, yeah we will,” Asa agrees and looks to me and Bella. An almost evil smile plays on his lips as he hikes a brow. “Welcome to Crew’s fucked-up family.”
Chapter 24
Up Your Game
Bella
“I’m sleep deprived, haven’t worn makeup since we brought Aimée home, and am up to my ears in laundry,” she says without looking at me as she questions me about everything. “I don’t have the energy to be subtle,”
“Please, Addy, let me help with something.”
Crew’s wife, Addy, turns from where she’s standing at her kitchen sink loading the dishwasher. I have asked countless times to help. Food, dishes, change a nappy—though I’d have to figure that one out. She insists she’s simply happy I’m here since she hasn’t had the chance to dote over me like Gracie and Keelie have. She sits me down at her farmhouse table which is longer than an eight-day week and pours me a glass of wine.
“Are you kidding?” She sways as she talks, patting the baby on its bum where the little one snoozes, wrapped inside something that looks like a kangaroo pouch tied to Addy’s chest. “I’m thrilled you came because I want to know all the things. Crew thinks a lot of you and considers you essential to his business. It seems some of the men knew about you and Carson before you were shot but the rest of us didn’t. So, tell me,” she keeps swaying but picks up her water to take a big drink, “everything.”
Again, this is the female talk I’m not at all familiar with. I pick up my glass of wine that’s smooth and going down much too easily after the last few days. “Are you sure I can’t fold a load of laundry? Sort your socks?”
She smiles. “Nice try, my new English friend. Look, I’ve done my best to get what I could out of Red and Abbott in the last two days. Red grunts and heads back outside to help Morris with whatever Morris will allow him to do. All Abbott has told me is that you talk funny and pulled up a map on her iPad to show me where you’re from. But, yesterday, she was teaching Vivi how to count to ten in French—which Crew is thrilled about.”
Crew ended our briefing with the big bang of we’ll end this the way we always end this and that was that, but not before informing everyone dinner was to be at Whitetail and everyone in his fucked-up family was expected to attend.
I take a big gulp of my wine because I feel like I’m going to need it since everyone will arrive shortly. “Red doesn’t much care for me.”
“Really?” Addy stops swaying and her brows pinch. “I didn’t sense that. Why?”
I pull in a big breath and look out her window where Cole, Crew, and Jarvis are watching Abbott and Vivi play. “He doesn’t like me for his son. I’ve known this for some time. Cole doesn’t keep much from me and has always been honest about how his father feels. I didn’t even know Red and Abbott were living with him full time until he brought me home from the hospital. Abbott was cold as ice in the beginning, but she’s slowly thawing. I believe the French lessons are helping. Or maybe she’s giving up on hating me since Cole hasn’t made it a secret he wants me to stay.”
She starts swaying again when a squeak comes from the bundle tied to her middle. “Wait. You don’t want to stay? I thought once this was all over—and for the record, Crew has no doubt they’re going to fix your problem—you’d be around for good.”
I give her a small smile. “I’m not sure what I want anymore. I always assumed if I were lucky enough to clear my name, I’d stuff it in the faces of those who wronged me and return to Vauxhall.” I shake my head and pick up my glass. It seems a little vino helps when one is learning how to girl-talk. “But honestly, if I go back to work, my cover will be blown. My mug is already plastered internationally for being most wanted. I couldn’t work anyhow. But am I ready for this?” I motion around her kitchen and through the back window. “To settle down in one place for the rest of time? Even if it is with Cole.”
Addy glances at the clock before moving a chair next to mine, scooting close. I try not to frown when she reaches out to take my hand in hers. We literally just met, but I’m oddly okay with it.
Addy lowers her voice. “You don’t know my story but if Crew gives you his trust, that means everything to me. I spent my life running and pretending to be someone I’m not. There was
no end in sight. Looking over my shoulder became a way of life. No one should live that way.” She squeezes my hand. “Crew made it all go away. And the rest of these men helped. Trust me when I say, nothing is sweeter than living free—and doing it right here in the middle of nowhere is even better. It’s a dream. One I didn’t even know to hope for.”
I’m about to open my mouth—to say what, I have no clue—but we’re interrupted by voices from the front hall of Crew and Addy’s enormous home.
She gives me another squeeze before letting go. “Things continue to be exciting around here, Bella. Take it from me, don’t discount this life too quickly. You’ll be the only loser in the situation.”
“Yoo-hoo! I have cookies and cheesy potato casserole and paper plates. And not those thin, flimsy ones you can’t pile food on. I sprang for the thick ones because Morris said we were having barbecue and you don’t want some messy rib flopping on the floor. Now, where’s my baby?”
“See?” Addy laughs. “And this excitement has nothing to do with drive-by shootings, stalkers, or nasty mothers.”
I don’t hide my surprise but also don’t have a chance to ask what in the bloody hell that’s all about because an older woman appears at the threshold to the kitchen, weighed down with bags and dishes. “Welp, there she is. I’ve never had a British friend before!”
“Bella, this is Bev,” Addy says as she wrangles the baby out of her pouch. “She’s everyone’s grandma. Just go with it.”
Bev shoots me one of the most genuine smiles I’ve ever been awarded. “I can’t wait to listen to you talk, but first I need to put this stuff down and get my greedy hands on that baby.”
More voices echo through the old walls and my very first all-American barbecue dinner is off to a roaring start.
Cole and the rest of Crew’s men consumed their meals at the speed of light and returned to the compound. I tried to join them but Cole insisted I stay behind and relax.
Damn him.
The next time he demands I bloody relax, I will take him down. I don’t care who’s there to witness it.
Of course, I was going to ignore him but Maya filled my glass to the brim and sat down next to me since we haven’t had a chance to get to know each other yet. I happily guzzled the entire thing because girl talk pairs perfectly with a full-bodied, oaky Meritage.
The women who belong to Crew’s fucked-up family are lovely, kind, generous, open, and nosy as hell. I found it oddly easy to give them every bit of information they wanted. They’re just that nice and I’m just that tipsy.
Who knows, maybe I’m actually better at this female bonding thing than I thought. I’m sure it helps these particular women are lovely.
The sun has set and the woods have come to life with the constant song of the cicadas. It’s warm and humid but I’ve lived in the desert for so long, I love being hugged by the forest and its varying shades of green. The ladies have scattered to tend to their children and this is the first quiet moment I’ve had in days.
I lean my head back onto the lush patio chair and close my eyes.
“You’re back.”
I take a deep breath and pray for patience before I turn to him. Red has flopped into the chair next to me and I must have been too deep in my wine fog to hear him since Red is not stealth in anything he does. He’s a bull in a roomful of English teacups.
I don’t hesitate. “I’m sorry I took Cole away from you and Abbott. I know how you feel and tried to convince him I could go on my own. I don’t plan on it happening again.”
He puts his beer bottle to his lips for a pull before looking out to the rolling vines snaking over the land. “You stayin’ or goin’?”
“Pardon?”
His dark eyes are guarded but sharp. It takes me back to when Cole sought me out and begged me to come to the States with him, even if it meant hiding in plain sight. But I couldn’t give up working, wasn’t ready to hang up my dreams, or claim a new identity. He was hurt and I was still mourning the death of my career. Contracting with people like Crew privately was my only way of not giving up.
Cole wanted one thing—me. And as much as I wanted him, I held back.
I was selfish and stubborn and I knew it. I sent Cole away and started down the path of freeing myself. I knew I would never be able to give myself to him fully if I weren’t completely and totally free—mind, heart, soul, and in the eyes of the damned British government and western world.
It doesn’t surprise me when Red is impatient for an answer. “Well?”
“I want to stay.” I almost don’t recognize my own voice. It’s the first time I’ve allowed myself to believe it might be possible, let alone utter it aloud. “I love him.”
Red says nothing. He studies me like I’m a rusty piece of machinery he’s trying to decide to keep or throw out with the Tuesday trash.
“I’ve never loved anyone outside of my family,” I go on, laying my heart out for him even before I admit this to Cole. I’m not sure if it’s the wine or the last few days or the hope that’s been planted deep inside me, but for some reason, nothing feels more right than baring my soul at this moment. “It’s always been him. He challenges me, he believes in me, and he unnerves me. But he deserves more than only part of me. I love him too much to allow him to settle for anything less. It doesn’t help that I’m greedy, Red. I want my life back so I can live it to my fullest with him and with Abbott.”
He stares me down—thinking, pondering. I wish he could fix me and my problems the way he does old mixers or weed whackers. His beer keeps spinning around the bottle like a mini tornado. Not a word. I’m positive if I were a pile of rubble, he’d dump me.
“I’m done apologizing,” I tell him the truth. “I can’t tell you exactly what the future looks like but I plan to be in Cole’s life. I can’t imagine it any other way. He’s mine and I’m finally claiming him—”
“Loved Cole’s mama,” he interrupts. “Only woman in the world for me. A father wants a lot of things for his child but nothin’ more than that—for him to have what I had.”
“I’m sorry you’re not happy with me—”
“Didn’t say that, Bella.”
I frown.
“Do me a favor, love him the way his mama loved me. Because I already know how he feels about you and that’ll guarantee you the best life a woman can have. When you think he’s happy, up your game. Then do it again. Never stop trying to love him more. Because he’s doing it for you.”
Something comes over me, something I’m not accustomed to, but it seems to be happening too often lately. My eyes well and my throat thickens. I nod and reach over to give his forearm a squeeze. It’s all I can manage.
“Always wanted a daughter,” he mutters and stands, but before he leaves me to my frayed emotions, Red Carson does something sweet I never thought possible. He leans down and presses his lips to the top of my head. It feels reminiscent of my father or even my grandfather, but even more, it’s a seal of approval. It happens so quick I wonder if I imagined the whole thing because he clears his throat right before the patio door bangs shut.
I swipe the tear before it rolls off my chin and feel some tension ease.
Red has accepted me. For some reason, all our other problems seem to pale in comparison.
I’ll cherish this moment forever.
Chapter 25
Open Season
Cole
“Raji, if you fall off the face of the earth again, I’m gonna come over there and hunt you down myself. Pick up your fucking phone and call me back. I need a location on our world-traveling friends.”
I toss the phone on the dining table and rub my temples. I really need a new personal phone. I’m using Bella’s and she’s going to need it when I go back to work. Tomorrow should be interesting. Ozzy is going to follow me in. Once I get inside Langley, I’ll be fine.
I look back up to the monitors covering Crew’s dining room and punch a few keys on the laptop, watching my house light up. Crew had the foret
hought to wire them so we could make it look like someone was home. Aside from eating dinner at Crew and Addy’s and then going back to tuck Abbott in and read her a book, I’ve been here, listening to the wires and watching the monitors. My house is quiet, thank fuck, but the church is not. There’s been plenty of activity and my boss’s boss returned for another meeting. Most of it happened near the southwest corner of the complex. From the electromagnetic waves and multiple trips made to that area of the building, I’m betting it’s a storage room. And my guess, it’s not filled with bibles.
Raji hasn’t returned my calls since before we went to the Caribbean. Peterson is going to be the least of his problems if he doesn’t get his act together. Paid informants cannot be flakey.
At least not that flakey.
It appears my boss is not the only one unhappy their hit wasn’t carried out. I caught up on Randolph’s wire transcripts tonight. He’s downright pissed his former lover and Channel Five News reporter still has a heartbeat, even if it is being supported by medical equipment. He’s sweating more bullets than have been shot at us in the last few days.
I sent everyone home two hours ago. Crew’s men have been working on this shit day and night for Bella and me. I’m here and can give them a break, plus I wanted Bella to have tonight. She needs to fucking relax. From what I saw when I ran over to put Abbott to bed, she was doing just that. Though, my ulterior motive is for her to get to know this tribe. I need her to like them, maybe work with them, and want to be around the women so she’ll have even more reason to want to stay.