Love & Redemption

by Chantel Rhondeau

  “Of course he did.” Shelley jumped the remaining distance to the chair, figuring she may as well be comfortable. She fought off her grimace of pain, not wanting to show Paul any weakness, and sat down. “So, what is it you want to talk about?”

  “You. In particular, how you can save your life.” Paul crossed his hands over his belly and kicked his feet out in front of him, entirely at ease. He obviously knew Shelley had no way to overpower him and didn’t offer any apprehension that she might try. “My scientists have been doing a lot of research, figuring out things. They’ve already discovered how to make the diamonds into a small, concentrated weapon, and they are fast on their way to creating a superior spy device.”

  Determined to show no weakness, Shelley shrugged. “Why do I care? Besides wanting to stop you, I mean.”

  Paul laughed. “Just as I remember. You don’t shut your mouth even when it could save your life.”

  “You’re either going to kill me or not. You know everything about me, having tricked me for an entire year into working for you. I doubt anything I say would surprise you. What do you want?”

  “I want you to come back to work for me.”

  “What?” Shock couldn’t begin to describe how she felt. She shook her head. “What makes you think I would?”

  “Because I can offer you a lot more than a gig as a waitress and a lonely, unfulfilled life.”

  She’d be stupid not to at least hear him out. If nothing else, it would buy more time. “What’s your offer?”

  He leaned forward, patting her good knee. Shelley did her best not to shudder at his touch.

  “You and I are a lot alike,” he said. “Both thinking our country was the best, fighting hard to protect it.” His expression grew shrewd and his eyes narrowed. “Both of us thrown away by fathers who used us.”

  Shelley’s mouth went dry. How did he know that? No one was supposed to know anything about Rick.

  Paul waved that away, as though that revelation wasn’t important. “The biggest thing we have in common is being crushed by someone who promised to love us. For you, it’s every man who’s ever made you a promise. For me, Nadia. I thought we’d be together forever, and she chose Jason Steele.”

  Shelley remembered that name. “Isn’t Jason Steele the agent you forced Nick to kill?” She didn’t mention the fact that Nick hadn’t really killed him, just helped him flee the country.

  Paul nodded. “And when Nadia found out, she broke my heart all over again.”

  “And that’s why you’re killing people, plotting against the government? Over a woman?” That seemed extreme, even for a man like Paul who enjoyed having so much power and not much conscious to go with it.

  “The government is to blame for everything, Shelley, all my misery. The board members of S.A.T.O., when it was a government operation, thought it best we have no ties, no emotional attachments.” Paul shrugged. “That’s the real reason Nadia left me. I know it is. She would have to be kept secret, and I was always in danger from enemies.”

  Shelley licked her lips. “What happened to Nadia?”

  He chuckled. “I didn’t kill her, if that’s what you think.”

  Well, that was good to know. He at least had a little integrity.

  “I couldn’t,” he continued. “She ran away and I haven’t been able to find her. She did me a favor, really.”

  Shelley’s stomach twisted at the casual way he acted about the supposed love of his life. He would kill her, given a chance. So much for integrity. She had to keep him talking. “What favor did she do for you?”

  “She showed me the truth. No one cares about anyone in this life, Shelley. No matter the promises, the whispers of love in the dark, we’re on our own.” His eyes tightened around the corners as he squinted at a point above her shoulder. “Why not do whatever you can to enjoy it while you live? Money, exotic vacations.” He grinned. “Fame in certain circles. I have it all. And I’m getting revenge on our government for all the years of servitude and injustice.”

  “Injustice? For you? Don’t make me laugh.” Shelley glared at Paul. “You were put in a position of great trust and responsibility. Counted on to protect our country and our leaders. You turned on everyone.”

  Paul stood swiftly. Shelley didn’t cringe away, though she feared he’d hit her. Surprisingly, he stepped behind his own chair, pacing the room but keeping an eye on her.

  “I held that position for a lot of years, happily training agents, saving lives, uncovering any plot to assassinate a President or a terrorist attack against our citizens.” He clasped his hands behind his back. “That may have gotten me a nice paycheck, but little else. I went to the board and begged them to find a replacement for me. Then I could have been with Nadia, you see?”

  At Shelley’s nod of understanding, he went on, “They said I knew the deal when I signed up. I wasn’t allowed to quit or have a life of my own. Ever. They recommended I take a vacation and find myself a nice hooker in some other country to get my mind off her.”

  The obvious grief Paul held surprised Shelley, but she couldn’t be swayed by that. It was no reason to turn on the entire country and start killing innocents. Paul took jobs now that no respectable American ever would. He killed for money, and obviously planned to do worse if the bracelets worked out. Heck, all he would have to do is sell the secret of the aerosolized MG-37 to the United States’ enemies, and that could change the tide in any battle.

  “You still shouldn’t hurt others,” she said softly. “Why not take all the money you’ve saved and run? You could have turned your back on their orders and left with Nadia.”

  “I tried.” He turned full to face her. “That’s when she chose Jason Steele. I suppose because he was younger and had stopped myself and Amir Abdul from killing President Sharp. They ruined everything.” His upper lip curled. “But at least I blamed the President’s attack on them. Jason is dead now, and Nadia will be on the run for the rest of her life.”

  Shelley was unable to mask her swift intake of breath. She’d been lead to believe that Jason made a mistake that allowed Amir Abdul access to the President because of his blinding love for a woman. Knowing that it was Paul, not Jason, shouldn’t have surprised her, but it did.

  Paul’s hands balled into fists. “And, Shelley, these so-called innocents you’re worried about let this kind of stuff happen. They don’t care. Not about me and certainly not about a whore like you.”

  “They don’t know,” Shelley protested, and pointed to Emma. “Can you honestly say she did anything wrong?”

  Paul sat back down. “She was just a means to get to you. In war, there are always truly innocent casualties.”

  Shelley took a deep breath, staring at the ground. “Casualties? Then you plan to kill her?”

  “The cost of obtaining you, my dear.”

  “Since you know you aren’t getting the diamonds, what is it you want?” Maybe she could strike a deal to save Emma’s life. She didn’t have any other option, it seemed.

  “I want you to come back to work for me, Shelley, but it’s even more than that. You will be a double agent. No one would ever suspect you, after all. Now that you are in Nick’s confidences, he’ll tell you anything we need to know.”

  Did he really think she’d do that? “What do I get?”

  “First off, I won’t kill your parents.”

  Yep, he definitely knew about them. She focused on keeping her face emotionless. “You said it yourself, they threw me away. I don’t care about them. What else you got?” Hopefully that would protect them.

  “You have nothing to go back to.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Even as we speak, your boyfriend is getting it on with someone else. Someone named Jenessa.”

  Jen and Gavin? Shelley tried not to laugh in his face. That was so blatantly a lie, but if she could convince Paul she was on his side, she’d get free. He said he wanted her to be a double agent. That meant he planned to send her back to Nick. Still, she couldn’t overplay her
hand. He wouldn’t believe she’d change her mind quickly.

  “I don’t believe you. Gavin wouldn’t do that to me. He loves me.”

  “Take a listen for yourself. This is a recording of the conversation Stephen had with Nick a short while ago.”

  Paul hit play and Stephen’s voice said, ‘Let me talk to Gavin. I bet he has a different answer. He’ll want Shelley back.’

  ‘Gavin’s busy.’ Nick’s gruff voice practically growled the words. He was obviously pissed by whatever happened earlier in the conversation. Stephen probably threatened Carlie again.

  ‘Too busy for his girlfriend?’ Stephen asked. ‘She must not mean much to him.’

  ‘Maybe she doesn’t,’ Nick said. ‘He’s busy with Jenessa. I can’t interrupt them.’

  Paul hit stop, his eyes filled with what Shelley could only assume was fake compassion. “You see? Not even Nick thinks you matter to Gavin now. He escaped and completely forgot about you.”

  Shelley looked at her hands, blinking quickly. “You think he’s sleeping with her?”

  Paul’s hand landed on her good knee again, patting it in a consoling manner. “Face it, we’re all on our own. You can’t trust anyone, and love doesn’t exist. Money and power, those are the only things that matter. I can give you both.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Insurance fraud, attempted murder, conspiracy.” Nick slammed his hand against Brent’s desk. “Those are just the crimes I know about. Tell us where they took her and maybe you can avoid some of the charges.”

  Brent fought the handcuffs holding him to the chair. Finally giving up, he settled for glaring at his brother-in-law. “I can’t believe you did this to me, Ken. We’re family.”

  Ken’s face turned bright red and he visibly shook. “If I didn’t need you to find Emma, I’d shoot you in the head. I’m an officer of the law, you piece of shit. You won’t get away with this.”

  “Yeah, you’re such an upstanding citizen,” Brent scoffed. “Does Terry know about all your little indiscretions? Maybe I’ll tell her. She’ll divorce you and take everything you’ve worked for.”

  Ken lunged at Brent, punching him in the face.

  Gavin didn’t make a move to stop him, even though he was closest. For all he cared, Ken could beat Brent to a pulp—anything to make him talk.

  “Enough.” Nick’s voice was low, but Ken landed one more punch and then stepped back, hearing the warning in it. Nick turned back to Brent, ignoring the man’s bloody face. “Tell us where this farm is you told them about. Where are they?”

  Brent shook his head, but his eyes flicked to the file cabinet briefly. “I won’t tell you anything. This is illegal, what you’re doing here. You won’t turn me in, because I’ll tell everyone about this. Let me go.”

  “There’s something in the files,” Gavin said. “Something I must have missed.”

  Brent shook his head, eyes wide. “No there isn’t. You think I’m dumb enough to keep records in my office?”

  Jenessa nodded. “Yep. You are. Just like those email files.” She walked to the cabinets and Gavin followed. “Look inside every folder, every piece of paper. It’s got to be something easy to overlook.”

  Gavin started at the opposite end as her, taking the files out one by one and going through each separate paper. Even if it took them all night to search, there had to be something there.

  Don’t lose hope, Shelley. I’m coming for you.

  ***

  Shelley squeezed out a few tears, wiping them away forcefully before meeting Paul’s eyes again. “There has to be a misunderstanding.”

  Paul made a tsking sound, continuing to pat her. “No mistake. You heard it yourself. Even Nick sounded upset and shocked.”

  Shelley bit her lip and turned to look over her shoulder at Emma. Either the girl really had slept through the entire conversation, or she was smart enough to fake it so Paul wouldn’t notice her. She turned back to her old boss. “What about Emma? Even if Gavin’s a dirty dog, just like all those other men, she’s done nothing wrong. I can’t have you hurt her.”

  Paul shrugged. “Fine. I won’t.”

  “Fine?” Shelley couldn’t cover her surprise. “I thought you’d put up more of a fight. After all, you took her on as a job, apparently.”

  “Her dad sickens me.” Paul’s nose wrinkled as though smelling something rotten. “He hired me to murder his daughter so he’d get money. I don’t have to honor that.”

  Shelley bet Paul didn’t feel the need to honor much, but in this case, it helped her. “So, if I agree to this, what’s the plan?”

  “If you agree?”

  She widened her eyes, feigning surprise. “You don’t expect me to just turn my back on everything and everyone based on one phone call. I need time to think.”

  Even though she wanted to get Emma out of here as quickly as possible, she knew she couldn’t tell Paul she already changed her mind and was ready to rejoin S.A.T.O. She had to be convincing, or he might kill them now and find another way to get what he wanted.

  Paul grinned, evidently pleased by her response. “Your feistiness is what will make you such a great S.A.T.O. agent, now that you know the change in our mission. You can get in close to targets, make them fall in love with you, break their hearts, and take whatever it is the job calls for. You can charm anyone, at least for a while.”

  “You’re too kind.” She raised her eyebrows. “Nothing like damning me with faint praise.”

  “I didn’t mean to imply you aren’t charming, but you have to admit you aren’t the steadiest of people.” His pleased smile invited her to agree with him. “I see that as a plus in this business. I need you.”

  Even the worst person she knew saw her as an unstable slut. That didn’t matter. She was steadier now than in the past, steadier than Paul guessed. “What do I need to do?”

  ***

  “I found something.” Jenessa waved a paper above her head. “A map.”

  Gavin snuck a look at Brent before turning to Jenessa. The man looked mutinous. It must be important.

  Jenessa carried the paper to the seating area away from where Brent sat cuffed at the desk. “It’s definitely farmland, upstate New York.” She spread the map out, setting a single sheet of paper with a penciled drawing on top. “It was tucked into a file on Rose Tilden, though it just said nanny on the tag.”

  Gavin hadn’t even noticed that when he first went through the files. That was a time costly mistake, and he hoped Shelley wasn’t suffering more punishment for his oversight. At least they had a chance to find her, assuming the map was what they needed.

  They crowded around to look at it. Nick pushed the drawing aside, studying the point marked on the map itself.

  “I know that place,” Ken said, and Gavin’s heart leapt with excitement. He pointed at the stared mark. “Brent’s parents lived in that town, Masonville, back when they were still alive. It’s a very small town and their house was quite isolated. Kelley hated going out there because she couldn’t do any shopping.” Ken grabbed the paper and studied it. “Looks like instructions to an underground cellar on the property.”

  Nick turned to Brent. “Is this where they took Emma? You’re running out of time to cooperate, and we have a lot of evidence against you now.”

  If looks could kill, Nick would have fallen dead, but Brent could do nothing more than glare. To his detriment, he refused to talk. Gavin believed Nick would have helped him avoid some of the heavier charges if Brent cooperated. At least he’d get what was coming to him in prison. For conspiring to have his daughter killed, he deserved to suffer. Gavin knew even hardened murderers usually hated child abusers. If they found out what Brent did, they’d see to it that justice was served.

  Putting Brent out of his mind, Gavin looked at the map, realizing the town was quite far away. “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “I think it’s around four hours,” Ken answered.

  “Hmmm...” Nick grunted. “Maybe that’s
the reason Stephen gave a time limit of four hours. Being a smart ass and handing us a clue. This has to be the farm. I say we go here. At least it’s a place to start.”

  Gavin nodded his agreement. “We have no other options. Let’s go.”

  “Wait guys.” Jenessa swept her hand toward Brent. “What do we do with him?”

  “I’ve got officers I trust,” Ken answered. “We can leave him here. I’ll have them take him into custody. Let’s drive my car to Masonville. I can turn on the emergency lights and get us there faster.”

  “We need more than the four of us,” Nick said. “Saving Emma and Shelley is important, but I also want to catch any members of S.A.T.O. who are out there.”

  Ken glanced at the map again. “Towns here are pretty spread out. I think the county has a police force that handles the entire area. I’ll make some calls and have them meet us, and we can make a plan on how to proceed.”

  As much as Gavin wanted to hate Ken for the bastard he was, he had to admit the sergeant had come in handy. It turned out Shelley was right to trust him all along. His infidelity problems were between him and his wife. If he made it possible to save Shelley, Gavin might even grow to like him...at least a little.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Shelley feared Paul wouldn’t believe she was ready to work for him. Not yet. Part of her longed to agree to anything and get out of here, no matter the cost, but she had to be patient. It was hard to balance her normal snarkiness with her need to trick a man capable of seeing through a lot of bullshit.

  Paul’s plan seemed to involve her going back to Nick, feeding him a lot of misinformation about where Paul and the other S.A.T.O. members could be and what they were doing, all while gathering information and waiting for his master plot. Something involving her, the bracelets, and perhaps the President. That wasn’t clear yet. Shelley suspected Paul himself didn’t know, since he waited to see what his scientists could accomplish if they got the diamonds back.

  “If I do this, let’s talk about compensation. Besides you not killing parents I don’t give a shit about, what do I get?” She leveled a demanding stare at him, doing her best to act like the idea was growing on her, but she was selfish enough to make sure she got a good deal.