by Lexi Blake
“Did Reva specialize in anything?” Charlotte asked.
Hutch nodded. “She was an animal activist. She liked to prove that some of the makeup companies who said they weren’t testing on animals were merely allowing third parties to do it for them.”
“So she used to hack corporations?” Kim started to put some things together. “Here in the US?”
“Nah, she was somewhere in Europe at the time. She was from the States, but she was living over in Germany when I knew her. We bonded because we both came from military families and had knocked around the globe a lot,” Hutch explained.
All of her alarms were starting to go off. “Did she ever do side projects? Hire out her skills?”
“We all did. I stopped when I went to work for Ten. But the rest of the People all had side hustles. Most of them worked in IT, but they weren’t necessarily above doing some shady shit for cash.” Hutch’s eyes brightened. “Hey, you know it was about ten years ago that Reva got out. She told me she had a big job and she was cutting all her ties and doing the family thing.”
Tag stared down, his dad face definitely on display. “And she was in Europe and she liked to hack corporations like pharmaceutical companies.”
Hutch nodded again. “Yep.”
“And she got a big job ten years ago and someone magically put her name in front of Solo.” Tag seemed determined to lead his puppy to water.
“Yeah, it’s weird, huh?” Hutch asked.
It was a good thing Hutch was cute. “All right. We need to find her and figure out what she knows about the original Kronberg job. I can tell you right now that Levi would have had to go outside the Agency to fake those records.”
“We’re talking about the records Tucker stole from Kronberg? The ones we found in Paris seven years ago?” Adam had his tablet out and he was using a pen to write some notes on it.
Charlotte had perked up, too. “The ones that supposedly proved Solo was working with Hope McDonald? Yeah, I always wondered how he managed that. He was good with a computer, but he wasn’t that good.”
“Levi always hired out his IT work. Normally he would have used someone like Hutch when he was working for the Agency. But he wouldn’t want anyone to know about this. And he’s a smooth talker. A hacktivist looking to make some cash would be perfect because he would have something over her.” When she thought about it, using someone connected to the People’s Revolution would be perfect. Anyone working for a group like that would be vulnerable.
Hutch’s jaw dropped slightly. “Hey, do you guys think Reva might have done that job for Levi?”
Tag groaned and looked to his wife. “Are you sure about sending him?”
Charlotte waved him off. “Noelle is smart enough for both of them. Now, let’s talk about why and who would have sent this to you. How did you get the note and do you still have it?”
“Of course. It’s one of the only things I brought with me from Malta. It showed up the same day Levi did.” When she wasn’t going over all the ways living with Beck for three months was a mistake, she was thinking about this.
“How was it delivered?” Tag asked.
“Courier. I’ve got the envelope. It’s in my purse in the office Charlotte showed me.” She’d dropped it off at the desk she’d been assigned. “I’ll go grab it. I assume you can try to hunt down who sent it to me.”
Adam nodded. “And I’ll also try to figure out where Reva is hanging her hat these days. Hutch, I know you’re supposed to protect the identities of your former friends.”
Hutch had stood, and he was focused now. “If she worked for Levi and someone knows it, she’s in danger. She’s got a family. We need to find her and move her somewhere safe.”
“Good, then we have a plan.” Kim wished she was more eager to get on the case. At one point in her life she would have felt adrenaline running through her veins, but now she worried. “I’ll go grab it.”
She opened the door and stopped because Jax was standing at Tag’s assistant’s desk.
“Can you let Solo know I was looking for her?” Jax asked Tasha.
Tasha simply gestured behind her. “She’s out.”
Jax turned and smiled. “Hey, uhm, I hope you don’t mind but Beck thought you might like some company.”
She turned and tears filled her eyes because Ariel and River were walking down the hallway. River was laughing at something Ariel had said.
The two true friends she’d made in all her life. Her feet felt rooted to the floor. Why were they here?
Ariel’s head turned and she caught sight of Kim and stopped, her hand going over her heart for a second before she jogged down the hall and held her arms out. “Oh, Kim, I missed you. I missed you so much.”
It took a moment for her to bring her arms up and hug Ariel back.
“River’s nervous. She’s worried you won’t want to see her,” Ariel whispered. “She forgave you years ago and we talk about you all the time.”
Kim glanced back at River, who was standing there looking like she wasn’t sure what to do. Now Kim let the tears flow. She held out a hand, offering River a place in their circle.
River ran and joined them, her arms going around them.
“I missed you both so much,” Kim said.
For a moment, she was content.
* * * *
Beck turned down Pearl Street and started making his way to Woodall Rodgers. From there it was five minutes to Sanctum and Kai’s office.
That was the only reason he’d offered to drive his brother back. It was simply easier for him to do it since he had a session with Kai. It had nothing to do with the fact that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about what had been said in that conference room.
“Roman seemed to like the kids’ club.” Ezra was lying in the back seat, staring up at the roof of the car. “He didn’t even notice when I left.”
The words were said with a forlorn sigh.
“He didn’t notice me, either. He was having too much fun with the Taggart boys and Jesse’s youngest.” It had been good to see Roman laughing. Jesse and Phoebe’s youngest was Roman’s age, a cute kid with a ready smile named Jeremy. They were fast friends, and Roman seemed to be fitting in.
“It’s nice to see him with other kids. He always seemed lonely back home.” Ezra was the one who sounded lonely.
“When do you think you’ll go back? I mean, you work for the church, right?”
“Unless they figure out I lied about my name and all the other stuff, and then I’ll probably get kicked out.” Ezra sighed. “Obviously there are some people who know, but it’s one of those things that only works if it’s not out in the open. If it gets out, then the press runs with the story and they’ll have to let me go. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t have the church. Prison at least would give me purpose.”
He wasn’t sure how all of this had worked. “Aren’t you supposed to confess your sins? Did you forget about that part?”
“I confessed. I confessed to a priest in Italy. Every single one of my sins. This was after rehab. I’d decided I wanted to give seminary a try. The father told me that sometimes the path God leads us down is winding, but we get where we need to go. He said a name isn’t as important as what was in my heart if serving God and my fellow man in this way is what I wanted to do.”
Beck was quiet for a moment as he made the turn that led to the freeway. “Is this what you want to do? It’s possible I might be able to get your name back. I think we should talk to a lawyer about the possibility of immunity if you testify about what really happened with your team.”
“To what end? Do you honestly think I would make it to a courtroom? Or that there would even be a trial?”
He’d thought a lot about this since the moment he’d realized his brother was alive. “I think Congress would be interested in what the Agency was doing. They’re likely still doing it, and they got a bunch of Marines killed.”
“Ah, but they picked us carefully, didn’t they?” E
zra pointed out the main problem. “It’s exactly why we were selected for the team. Because once the secrets come out, we wouldn’t be credible witnesses. I gave up on justice long ago, and honestly, some of the men who died had families. Let their children believe they were heroes.”
He made the turn and accelerated to enter the highway. “You think I should let sleeping dogs lie, don’t you?”
He wasn’t sure he could. Levi Green had cost him so much, but it was about more than vengeance. It was about safety. No matter what Levi said, he would come after them again. And who knew how many others Levi had hurt in his never-ending quest to climb to the top of the ladder.
“Not at all. I think you should do what you need to do to protect Kim and your son.” Through the rearview mirror he could see that Ezra had turned and gone up on one elbow, resting his head there. “I think you should take down Levi Green. Then you’ll confess to me and I’ll offer you penance.”
“You’re supposed to tell me to turn myself in,” he pointed out.
Ezra merely sighed. “I’ll confess, too. I’ve found my European brothers are very understanding. Especially the Italians. I’ve listened to mafia confessions. You cannot unhear those.”
He really wanted to ask about it. It was easy to slip back into their roles. Ezra could tell a great story. He’d been the go-to guy at all sleepovers to make up something scary. And he could embellish a wild night out with style. The desire to find a bar, order a beer and some wings, and ask his brother to spill about the last few years of his life tempted him, but he forced the thought aside. This wasn’t some game they were playing. Ezra was a different person. He’d lived a whole life in the time they’d been apart, and he didn’t recognize parts of the man. If things had been normal, perhaps he would have watched his brother change over time.
Or Ezra would have died of a drug overdose and his brother would have been lost forever.
He couldn’t possibly know what would have happened. That’s what Kai would tell him. He would say a bunch of crap about forces that shaped a person, but the truth was his brother was here and he had a decision to make.
He could simply hope that Ezra went back to Malta, and half a world’s distance would do its work. Ezra would have his world and Beck could have his. They didn’t have to truly be brothers. They would be two guys who’d once shared a mom.
The truth was he didn’t need Ezra anymore. Ezra had always been the fun brother. People flocked to be around him because he was brighter than the rest of the world. Beck had gone with him, had rolled with Ezra’s friends. Now he had friends of his own. Now he had his own family, one he’d cobbled together over the years, formed despite the pain of losing Ezra and Kim.
Ezra had Kim and Roman, and Beck was taking them back because they were his. Because Ezra had stolen them from him.
He wasn’t going to feel guilty about shipping his brother back to Europe. Ezra had made his bed and he would lie in it.
“Do you want me to tell you about what Roman was like as a baby?” Ezra asked the question softly, as though he wasn’t sure he’d wanted to make the offer at all.
He was about to point out that he wouldn’t have to be told stories about his son if Ezra hadn’t helped Kim keep him hidden when he noticed the blue and red lights come on behind him.
He glanced down at his speedometer. He wasn’t speeding. He turned on his blinker and moved over to let the police car speed by.
“What’s going on?” Ezra asked.
The cruiser didn’t speed by. It followed him.
Fuck. “We’re getting pulled over by the police. Is there any way you can hide in the floorboard?”
“Do you know how tall I am?” Ezra asked. “Also, I still think he could see if he looked through the back windows. That might cause some questions.”
He started to move to the side of the highway. “All right. I need you to ease up and try to get your seat belt on. I’m not sure why he’s pulling me over, but I’m going to take whatever ticket he gives me and then we’ll get to Sanctum as quickly as possible.”
He had zero idea what he’d done to catch the officer’s attention, and he was paranoid enough to have his mind go a thousand different places.
But Levi didn’t know Ezra was alive. He couldn’t. Beck took a deep breath and came to a stop as Ezra eased up in the back and gingerly reached up to pull his seat belt down and click it into place.
“Follow my lead and don’t talk if you don’t have to.” Beck rolled the window down and put his hands on the steering wheel.
The officer stepped up. He wore mirrored aviators over his eyes. Beck made careful note of his badge number. “Sir, are you all right?”
“Of course,” he replied, sending the officer a surprised look. “Why would you ask? I wasn’t speeding. Why was I pulled over?”
“You were driving erratically.” The officer stared into the back seat, his hand on the gun at his side. “You swerved in your lane. And I didn’t notice you had a passenger. Are you in danger?”
“He’s a friend of mine,” Beck said quickly. “He had too much to drink at lunch and I’m giving him a ride home. I made him sit in the back because I didn’t want him to throw up in the front.”
“I feel so bad,” Ezra said in a way that didn’t make it sound like he was either drunk or feeling bad. “I need to get home and lie down.”
“You need to stay in your seat belt.” The officer relaxed slightly and took a step back. “All right then. I’ll let you off with a warning since I can see you’ve got a lot on your hands. You keep focused on the road. Stay safe.”
Beck didn’t move for a moment, watching the officer through the rearview mirror.
“That was okay,” Ezra said, letting out a long breath. “It could have gone way worse.”
His brother was out of practice, or perhaps he’d never had these particular instincts. “No. That went far worse than I expected. He didn’t have a reason to pull me over.”
“You can’t know that.”
The cruiser pulled away and Beck put the car in drive again. “I know I wasn’t driving erratically. I was perfectly steady. He had no reason to pull me over except he wanted to look in the car.”
“Maybe he caught sight of something odd in the back seat,” Ezra offered. “Why else would he want to look in the back?”
He touched the button on his dashboard that connected his phone. “Call Ian Taggart.” While it rang he replied to his brother. “Because he wanted to see if I’m driving you around.”
“Beck, no one knows I’m alive.”
The line picked up. “This is Taggart.”
“Ian, we have a problem.” He took the next exit and headed back to the office.
His session was going to have to wait.
Chapter Fourteen
Kim stood in the doorway watching her son sleep. He wasn’t twisting or turning. He’d pretty much dropped right off after she’d kissed his forehead and turned the lights out.
But then he’d had a big day. He’d been brimming with excitement when she’d picked him up at the kids’ club. He’d introduced her to a bunch of kids that he’d called his new friends, and she’d talked to Kenzie Taggart, who’d told her all about Roman’s day and explained that he’d really liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and how could he be six and not know what they are?
Dinner had been more of Roman talking about his new friends and the teachers and how some of the kids were going to a camp soon, and didn’t that sound like fun? Beck had listened intently and then asked about how her reunion with Ariel and River had gone. He’d been patient and attentive. After dinner he’d explained that he and Rob and Jax had made plans for the three ladies to have a spa and lunch day at a swanky hotel where they could spend their entire Sunday catching up and the men would handle all the childcare. The only reason they weren’t going on Saturday was Big Tag’s party, which he’d asked her to attend with him.
It was incredibly thoughtful and yet she could sense something si
mmering inside him, something dark and needy.
She turned, ready to go to the bedroom he’d assigned her to. It was comfortable, larger than her room in Malta, and it felt incredibly empty.
She wasn’t sure how long she would be able to hold out. How long would it be before she was the one knocking on his door looking for comfort?
She stopped because he was standing at the end of the hall. He’d changed out of the khaki slacks and button-down he’d worn to work. It was obvious he’d taken a shower because his hair was still wet, and all he was wearing was a pair of pajama bottoms.
One of the things she’d always found so fascinating about this man was how he morphed from blandly attractive office guy into the kind of alpha male that would make any woman’s heart skip a beat. It was like the khakis and loafers were some sort of armor he wore, and every layer he peeled back exposed the hard masculinity underneath.
“Is he asleep?”
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to answer that question. If she did, then she owed him time, time that would lead to his bed. Time that would lead to his hands on her and his mouth on her. His body against hers.
God, she wanted him. “Yes. Did you hear anything back from Tag?”
“He’s got a call in to his friend at the DPD.” Those pajama bottoms rode low, exposing his six pack and the notches at his hips. “Hopefully we’ll know something tomorrow. Also I talked to Rob and Jax. We’ll all be together on Saturday at the party. But we’re sending a bodyguard with y’all on Sunday.”
She nodded. She wasn’t going to fight him on protection, despite the fact that she and Ari could take care of themselves and River. At least Ari probably could. She needed to start training again. “All right. Thank you for the spa day. And for bringing Ari and River here. I loved seeing them again. I loved meeting their kids. Roman seemed to get along with Caden and Rio. They’re darling. And Dara is adorable.”
She’d sat and held Ariel’s baby while she slept, and it had reminded her so much of how she’d felt holding Roman.