McKenna’s screen had three applications running. One box was the cloud service with the pictures. One box looked like a messenger service displaying the text string Reggie had started. And the third was live-streaming Reggie. And he indeed looked irate.
“Is it just me, or is it totally creepy that it looks like Reggie is watching us?” I shuddered.
“It is,” McKenna agreed. “He’s looking at his screen, scrolling through the images. Look at the other box, you can watch what he’s doing.”
Thankfully Reggie was no longer in the folder with the pictures of me. He was now scrolling through images of an older man with gray streaking his dark hair.
“That’s Gary Earle,” McKenna told the room.
Reggie stopped on an image and my heart thudded in my chest.
“Gross.” I diverted my eyes.
I didn’t need to see Gary Earle getting a blow job from a girl who appeared to be very young. Not that I could see the girl’s face clearly with it buried in his crotch.
“How much you wanna bet that is not Gary’s wife?” Jameson snarled.
Oh, boy. He was pissed.
“Reggie’s about to make a bad play,” Nixon warned as the image of Gary and the girl popped up on the message string.
“Fuck. This is not good,” Chasin said.
“Maybe it is.” Nix stood back and crossed his arms over his chest. “After that, Gary just might do the dirty work for us.”
The room fell silent as we waited for Gary’s response.
Gary: Wrong move.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“That means there’s a war coming. Reggie’s a dumb fuck and took it too far. Now we know how he got Gary Earle to invest in his business. Bet there’s more of that kind of shit in those files,” Weston said.
I didn’t know what war meant, and I didn’t think I wanted to know. I just wanted this done and Reggie out of my life. However that came to be, I didn’t care.
27
Jameson
Jameson had completely detached from the situation. It was the only way for him to function at that point. In his mind, the pictures and videos were no longer of him and the woman he loved, they were strangers. He’d locked down every emotion in an effort to keep himself from committing murder.
Jameson wanted nothing more than to strangle Reggie Coleman with his bare hands and spit on his lifeless body.
The devastation in Kennedy’s eyes had been too much for him. He knew if he didn’t shut down he’d do something that would land him in prison for the rest of his life, and Kennedy would be lost to him forever.
A few months ago, he would’ve acted on impulse and damn the consequences, now he had too much to lose. He finally had a future and he wouldn’t jeopardize it, not even for sweet vengeance.
“Now’s the time to make the call.” Nix nodded to McKenna’s laptop. “Reggie’s pissed and backed into a corner. He needs to feel like he’s in control, and having Kennedy push him right now, will piss him off more. He’ll want her to know he’s superior.”
Kennedy pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and the sight of her shaky hands had Jameson grinding his molars.
“I’ll make the call from upstairs. You’ll be listening, right?”
“You give me permission to tap your phone, right?” McKenna smiled.
“Yes.” Kennedy nodded.
“Perfect. We’re ready.”
“Come with me?” Kennedy turned to Jameson. For the first time, her request for support did nothing to calm his fury.
They made their way upstairs and he closed his office door behind them. Kennedy sat behind his desk and looked up with worried eyes.
“I’m really nervous. I don’t want to screw this up.”
Jameson snapped out of his funk and walked to her side. He crouched in front of her. Taking both of her hands in his, he rubbed some of the chill from her skin.
“You’re gonna do great. Just be yourself. And you can’t screw up, babe. Reggie’s fucked and you have the upper hand. Remember that. He can’t hurt you, he can’t take your land, he’s a pissant that’s getting ready to go down.”
“The pictures—”
“Are meaningless. McKenna will have them destroyed within seconds if he does anything with them.”
“You’re right.” Kennedy sat up straight and steel infused her spine. “Fuck him. I have nothing to be afraid of.”
Kennedy picked up her phone, dialed Reggie, and put the call on speaker.
“Kennedy Lane. Have you finally come to your senses?” Reggie answered, but some of his bravado was missing.
“I’m willing to negotiate.”
“No—”
“Reggie, your offer is bullshit and we both know it. I checked around and I have a buyer that’s willing to pay fair market value, which, as you know, is two hundred thousand more than your offer,” Kennedy expertly lied.
“You’re full of shit. No one will touch your land.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because they won’t.”
“Is that right? So, kinda like when Mrs. Nickels couldn’t find anyone to rent her land so she was forced to sell it to your weasel ass? Like that, Reggie?”
“Exactly like that. And I’d watch your attitude, before I take another fifty K off the table,” Reggie seethed.
Jameson nodded his encouragement. Kennedy was doing great getting him angrier by the second.
“Unfortunately for you, I’m not an old woman with no options. I knew you’d make it so I couldn’t sell to anyone in Kent County so I contacted a few agents in Baltimore. And guess what? They found someone who wants to buy it immediately.”
“I’m warning you—”
“Warning me? You’re hardly in the position to warn me, you idiot. I hold all the cards. And now I’m thinking, if you want to purchase my land, not only will you pay me market value, you’ll tack on an extra fifty K for my troubles. After all, I now have that much in medical expenses, thanks to you.”
“Watch who you’re calling an idiot, bitch, or next time you’ll have more than a bump on your head.”
“Whatever, Reggie, your threats don’t bother me anymore. I’m used to them. And really, you’re like a little boy who cries wolf, always telling me I’ll be sorry but never following through.”
“I should’ve had him kill you,” Reggie growled.
Christ, she’d done it. They had enough to get their warrant.
“Well, you didn’t, dumbass, and now here I am telling you, you’ll come up with two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars more on your offer or I sell to someone else.”
“Tell me, Kennedy.” Reggie’s tone had taken an edge that sent chills up Jameson’s back. “Is the extra money worth your crippled mother’s life? You know how unsecure her house is. Think how easy it would be for me to slip back into her yard and take out more than her air conditioning.”
Kennedy started shaking and Jameson shook his head and motioned for her to keep going. Then he mouthed, “Holden,” hoping she’d understand her mother was safe.
“About that,” Kennedy’s voice started to wobble and Jameson tightened his grip on her hands. “You owe me the thousand dollars it cost me to repair that as well. You have thirty minutes to call me back or the offer’s off the table.”
“Don’t you—”
Kennedy disconnected the call, cutting off Reggie’s threat. Not that they needed it, he’d thoroughly fucked himself.
“You did great.” Jameson stood and pulled Kennedy up into his arms. “So proud of you, babe. So damn proud.”
“My mom,” she whispered.
“Holden’s there now. Your mom and Janice are both safe.”
Kennedy nodded against his chest and held on to him like he was her lifeline. Finally some of the tension started to ebb away.
They stood in silence, holding onto each other for a long time, Jameson content to give her all the time she needed to compose herself. On a heavy exhale she pulled away and look
ed up at him.
“Thank you. I wouldn’t’ve been able to do that without you.”
Jameson didn’t believe that, Kennedy was so much stronger than she gave herself credit for. But he’d take her appreciation and store it, right next to all the other times she’d made him feel like he was ten feet tall and could take on the world, so he could recall it when he needed.
The couple made their way downstairs and back to the conference room. Nixon was on the phone with a smile and he waved them in.
“Right. Thanks, Jonny. ‘Preciate your help on this.” Nixon disconnected the call and unnecessarily said, “That was Jonny.” He tossed his phone on the table and continued. “He’s personally walking the recording into the courthouse now and thinks he’ll have a search warrant within the hour. Once he has it in hand, he’s going to arrest Reggie, and McKenna can find.” Nixon used air quotes. “The cloud account and we’ll turn everything over to Jonny.”
“What about Gary?” Kennedy asked, her voice small and unsure. “He’s still after Jameson.”
Jameson pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Legally we can’t do anything about Gary,” McKenna told Kennedy with a frown. “Unless there’s something on that cloud server. But I’ve been through all of Reggie’s emails and there’s nothing in there. And we’ve yet to have access to his house and office. Hopefully, Reggie will have something that will compel Jonny to call in the Delaware authorities.”
“Getting Reggie behind bars is the most important thing. As soon as he’s there, McKenna can yank those pictures off the internet,” Chasin added.
Nixon’s phone rang and he quickly answered.
“That was fast,” Nix greeted. “Right. Perfect, thanks.” Then Nixon smiled. “Judge Price didn’t even need to hear the entire recording before he signed the warrant. Price also said, he’d heard the rumors for years and has been waiting to take down Reggie Coleman. Jonny has deputies outside of his office and his home waiting for the go-ahead. McKenna, do your thing.”
“What are my search parameters?” she asked, cracking her knuckles over her keyboard.
“Go crazy, baby. Whatever you can find.”
“Awesome.” She picked up her laptop and headed for the door. “Give me twenty minutes and you can call Jonny back.”
Nixon nodded and Chasin stepped out of her way as she passed.
“Do you think Jonny will look into all of his purchases over the years?” Weston asked.
“I’d assume so,” Nixon answered. “Why?”
“There’s a lot here that doesn’t add up. Someone at the bank is helping Reggie. I found two loans using nonexistent properties as collateral. Look at this loan document.” Weston handed it to Nix. “The address is 123 Baker Street. There’s no such address in Kent County. And Jonny’s going to want to look into his building inspections. Kennedy said something about Reggie building on marshland after no one else could get a permit. There have been several grievances filed by the homeowners of those condos. Planning and Zoning has ignored the complaints.”
“I’m almost afraid to see what Reggie has on the rest of that cloud. I can’t imagine what he’s blackmailing these people with.” Chasin shook his head in disgust. “He’d never get away with this shit in the city.”
Twenty minutes later, McKenna came back into the conference room looking haggard and thoroughly disgusted.
“I’m ready to talk to Jonny,” she announced.
“What’d you find?” Jameson asked.
But when McKenna’s gaze came to his, he was rethinking his question.
“We need to find that girl in the picture with Gary,” McKenna stated.
“Why?”
“She’s the key. Reggie’s a sick bastard.”
“We knew that, babe. What’d you find?” Nix waded in.
“Pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. And a few videos.” McKenna’s lips twisted. “The president of the bank. A loan officer at another bank. Peyton Marshall. A building inspector. A county commissioner. And three other men I haven’t been able to cross reference to get their names. All of them in various sex acts with the same girl.”
“Can you run her through facial rec?” Jameson inquired.
“Tried but there’s no clear shot of her face, due to the…sex acts,” McKenna spit out.
“Fuck,” Nix clipped. “Do you think she’s underage?”
“I think she’s young, but with the makeup and boob job, it’s hard to tell. Take a look. I isolated an image.”
McKenna placed her laptop on the table and pulled up a picture of a very young-looking blonde. Her face was in semi-profile, with her chin tilted up, and her mouth was open, looking like she was mid-moan. Thankfully, the image was from the neck up, Jameson did not want to see anymore of the woman—he could imagine she was taking someone’s dick, pretending to like it, and doing it naked.
“Son of a bitch. She may not be a minor but she’s no more than early twenties,” Nixon sneered. “Come here, McKenna.”
Nixon waited for his woman to get within reaching distance and he tagged her around the waist and tucked her close. “Sorry you had to see that shit.”
“As long as Reggie goes down, it was worth it. Jonny needs to see this so I can wipe the cloud server,” McKenna mumbled against Nixon’s chest.
“I’ll call him,” Jameson offered and pulled his phone from his back pocket while keeping Kennedy pressed to his side.
Jonny picked up in two rings.
“Spenser.”
“Jonny, it’s Jameson. McKenna’s got something for you. Do you want us to meet you at the station or do you want to come here?”
“She can’t email it?”
“No.”
“I’ll come to you. Reggie’s in custody and I don’t want to take the chance of him seeing any of you. He’s shoutin’ and carryin’ on, typical dumbass shit diggin’ his hole deeper. Can it wait an hour?”
“No. You want this information. Plan on some more charges and you’ll wanna brace yourself, Jonny—the information McKenna found is going to make a lot of people in this county uncomfortable.”
“Christ. Just when we were starting to recover from Dillinger.”
“This may be worse than Dillinger’s bullshit.”
“I’ll be there in five. I’m already on my way.”
Jameson hung up and told the rest of the team Jonny Spenser would be there soon.
“You want me to run and get you a coffee, babe?” Jameson asked Kennedy.
“No!” Kennedy’s hand fisted Jameson’s tee and held fast.
“Reggie’s in custody and even if he wasn’t, you’re safe here.”
“But you’re not. Please don’t leave.”
Jameson’s eyes drifted closed and the knowledge that she was worried about his well-being burned a trail of happiness. How the fuck he could feel any sort of contentment on a day like today was beyond him.
But that was pure Kennedy—sorceress. It was all a part of her appeal and charm. She could tame the beast that lived inside of him with a touch and soft word.
28
Kennedy
I’d known Jonny for a long time. He was a hell-raiser in high school and I’m pretty sure everyone was shocked when he chose a career in law enforcement. He wasn’t bad in high school, per se, but he pushed the limit on good old fashion teenage fun.
But in all the years I’d known him, I’d never seen him angry or lose control.
Until he saw the pictures Reggie had of me.
Nixon had to step in front of him to prevent him from leaving the office and going off half-cocked.
After Nixon and Jameson had taken Jonny upstairs for a word in private, Jonny’d come back down no less pissed, but he seemed to have a grip on his anger.
Before he left with the flash drive McKenna had made for him, and a stack of files the team had put together over the weeks, he stood toe-to-toe with me. His eyes bore into mine and he promised he’d m
ake things right for me.
Then he left.
Jameson promptly declared we were leaving and I was done for the day. Chasin followed us out the door and when Jameson started for his house, I told him I wanted to go to mine.
I wasn’t hiding again.
As soon as we’d walked in, I went straight for the living room and easily found the wireless camera. Jameson stopped me from throwing it on the floor and stomping it into a bazillion pieces. Instead, he put on a pair of blue latex gloves and placed it in an evidence bag and did the same to the one in my bedroom.
Then we spent the next hour searching my house from top to bottom, not finding anything else. Chasin had called McKenna and she confirmed there had only been the two cameras. But two was bad enough.
With the cameras outside in Jameson’s truck waiting for Jonny to send a deputy to pick them up, I went about cleaning.
Jameson and Chasin sat at my kitchen table and worked, leaving me to my endeavors. I needed to do something with all my pent-up anger and energy and I didn’t think Jameson would agree to let me use sex as a way to work it out. And I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to have sex or undress in my house, or anywhere else again, for that matter.
Both bathrooms were spotless. I washed, folded, and put away all my clothes. I polished and dusted the living room. My kitchen floor was so clean you could eat off it. I was in search of more to do when Jameson grabbed my bicep, halting me as I walked by him.
“Enough, Kennedy.”
“But—”
“You’ve been at it for hours. No more. Come sit with us.”
“I can’t sit. How ‘bout I make dinner?”
“Nope. Chasin already called in food and Weston’s picking it up on his way over.”
“Holden still at my mom’s?”
“Yep. And everything is fine, just like it was thirty minutes ago when you called and talked to her.”
I knew I was being crazy about my mom but she literally couldn’t run away if someone broke into her house. And I was so worried with everything going on she’d be overly stressed and have another stroke.
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