Edge of Danger

by Katie Reus

  “What the hell are you trying to say?” Tucker demanded, a simmer of rage beginning to surface. He didn’t like the thinly veiled accusations Burkhart was making.

  “I’m saying that unless you cooperate, I’m going to make Karen’s life very difficult. She doesn’t look like a victim. No, she looks like a woman who helped to aid and abet a fugitive from the law. A fugitive accused of being a terrorist, of treason. She’s going to end up in a hole—”

  Tucker slammed his fist on the hard metal table. It was bolted to the floor and didn’t move, but the sound echoed throughout the room. He couldn’t know if Burkhart was bluffing him or not. His gut told him this was complete bullshit, but if he was wrong and it wasn’t—he couldn’t afford to let Karen suffer because of him. “My men and I took Karen and you know it. I didn’t force her, but I clearly coerced her. Anything she did while with me was under duress. She’s innocent of any wrongdoing. So why don’t you tell me what the hell you’re playing at?” His fingers curled against his palm.

  “Tell me where your men are and she won’t be locked up.” The man’s voice was icy, unforgiving.

  If the man was acting he was damn good at it. From everything Tucker knew about Burkhart, he couldn’t believe the guy would do that to one of his own. But he couldn’t take the chance. The bastard might as well have dangled him over a cliff and given him a choice. He didn’t want to betray his men, but the four of them had dragged Karen into this. He couldn’t let her pay for their decisions. If she’d been different from what he’d expected after they took her, he might have actually considered hanging her out to dry, but he couldn’t do that to Karen. Not only did he care for her way more than he’d expected, but she was a patriot just like him. She loved her country and wanted to help the people in it. He wouldn’t let her hang for him. “Fine.”

  Burkhart blinked once, surprise flickering in his gaze and vanishing so quickly Tucker might have imagined it. “What?”

  “Let me contact my guys. I’ll get them to come in.” He couldn’t force them, but if he laid out the details, they’d turn themselves in. They wouldn’t want her in trouble any more than he did.

  “People don’t often surprise me, Mr. Pankov.” His mouth curved up, though it didn’t exactly look like a smile. It was more a predator-like grin.

  “You were baiting me.” He didn’t bother phrasing it as a question and was glad his gut instinct had been right about the man.

  “Yes . . . Turn audio and video back on,” Burkhart ordered.

  “You’re an asshole.” Nonetheless, relief flooded Tucker that Burkhart wasn’t going to hold Karen responsible for anything.

  Burkhart grunted. “I’ve been called worse. Now, there’s a lot we need to discuss. The men who came after your team, then you and Karen, are all from the same Army platoon. They’ve been out a decade and done contract work for various companies since, but that’s the original link.” He opened his folder and slid a piece of paper over.

  It had pictures of six men, along with their names and standard info like DOB listed underneath them. Tucker recognized three of them; one from his house, one who attacked him and Karen at the intersection, and the guy who was still alive. He pointed to the picture of the man who’d broken into his home. “This is the guy who came after me originally. What’s up with him?” he asked, pointing to the last picture. “He talked yet?”

  Burkhart shook his head. “Letting him stew while we gather more intel.”

  Tucker nodded, understanding. It was pointless to go at someone unless you had an idea of what you were looking for. “Why are you helping me?” he asked even though he suspected. Sure, Burkhart owed Tucker from the Tasev op, but Burkhart wasn’t a man to do anything he didn’t absolutely want to. He wouldn’t be where he was otherwise.

  “Kill audio and visual,” Burkhart said. A moment later he continued, his jaw set tight. “Max would have expected me to, the evidence screams setup to me, and . . . the Leopard contacted me. He confirmed that you four have no ties to any Shiâ organization, especially not the one you’re purported to be involved with. His particular group is scrambling, pissed that someone is trying to push these acts onto them.”

  A sharp sense of relief slid through him. “He’s okay, then?” Tucker hadn’t spoken to Ali Nazari recently; none of his guys had. Not since directly after Max’s murder. Brooks had reached out to him at great risk. Now Nazari would have to contact them if he needed anything, and the risk was simply too great for his undercover op. Since Burkhart had been part of Max’s extraction plan for Ali if he ever needed it, Tucker wasn’t surprised his friend had reached out to Burkhart.

  “Yes.”

  When it was clear Burkhart was going to request audio and visual to be turned back on again, Tucker flattened a palm on the cool metal table. “Wait. My parents?”

  “They’re fine as far as I know. The DEA has a wiretap for all their phones, but they’re not at their house.”

  Tucker tried not to let his relief show as he nodded once. “Thank you.” He knew where they’d gone and they should be fine until this storm passed. Even if the DEA located them, they’d just be brought in for bullshit questioning anyway. But he didn’t want his family to have to deal with anything like that.

  After Burkhart ordered the security cameras to be turned back on, he pulled out another file and slid it over. They had a hell of a lot to discuss and it was clear Burkhart planned to be hands-on with everything.

  Karen glanced at the time on her computer screen, then inwardly cursed herself. She had to stop staring at the time while she worked. It was beyond pathetic. But she knew that Wesley was in talking with Tucker, and the not knowing anything was making her crazy.

  They’d been in there over an hour. She wondered why Wesley hadn’t pulled her in yet. She’d certainly expected him to.

  Shaking those thoughts away, she focused on her screen at a soft dinging sound. Highlights lit up different lines on three different bank statements for three of the six men they were investigating. Even though the six men had all been in the same Army platoon years ago, since then they’d had a multitude of different jobs, mostly in contract work. Some appeared to be hired mercenaries—at least their pay scale would indicate that, though proving it would be difficult. They’d never all worked for the same company either. Two had worked for the same one at one time, but there wasn’t any other overlap for the rest of them.

  Or so she’d thought.

  The same bank account had paid three of the men but while they’d been working for different contract companies. She pulled up the payee information and started digging into the company’s profile.

  When she discovered it was an umbrella for multiple companies, including one that had a couple of contracts with the U.S. government, she gritted her teeth and picked up her phone. Elliott was on the same floor, but he was currently holed up in an office. He liked to work in silence sometimes and Wesley let him. Though she could multitask, she needed his help while she ripped apart the financial aspects of these files.

  He picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”

  “Can you find out anything and everything on a man named Thad Hillenbrand? Owns a corporation called H-Brand Security.” She was familiar enough with the name. “I think it’s a parent for a lot of other companies. So far I’ve linked three of the suspects as having worked for one of his companies.”

  “On it,” he said before disconnecting.

  There was no guarantee the owner was behind anything, but as she started peeling back more layers she realized that the six men were all linked not only through the Army, but through companies owned by Hillenbrand. A man who at first glance appeared to have a solid, reputable company. But she found some credit card purchases for what she knew was a thinly veiled front for an escort company. People of a certain tax bracket in D.C. knew exactly who to go to when they needed high-priced escorts, and the way the company operated was slick. The client wasn’t paying for sex, supposedly. Still, not exactly a nail in
his coffin. He certainly wouldn’t be the first man to use prostitutes. Especially not in a place like D.C. Should have been smart enough not to use his credit card, though.

  As she sifted through more information, she discovered one too many offshore accounts and a connection for all six men. The unlisted offshore accounts—which weren’t as hidden as he thought they were—could just mean he was evading paying all his taxes, but . . . she didn’t think so. It was as if the man had a small army right at his disposal. She couldn’t believe it was a coincidence that the six men who’d come after Tucker, his guys, and her were all linked to H-Brand Security. She shot off her information to Elliott, Selene, and Wesley.

  She started to get up, ready to go find Wesley in person, but something else kept scraping at her subconscious. She pulled up the file of the nine-man rifle squad the six men associated with H-Brand Security had been part of.

  Armed with the three other men’s names and other personal identifiers, she discovered that one had died in Afghanistan, one was married with three kids and teaching high school history in Florida, and the third was still in the Army.

  She started running social media accounts and bank records on the teacher, then focused on the third guy. A man named Toby Austin. As she started scanning his information, she realized that he was stationed at the same base the missing drone had been stolen from.

  A flood of adrenaline surged through her, making her hands shake in excitement and nerves. If these men were connected to the stolen drone, it meant that Hillenbrand had to be connected to everything: the drone, the setup of Tucker and his guys, Max’s murder, the Botanic Garden bombing. The question of why still remained unanswered, but holy hell, this was an incredible lead. A thread they didn’t have before. She was going to exploit every angle and find out just what kind of access Toby Austin had—her eyes widened as a recent news article popped up on her screen with Austin’s name in it.

  Her heart beat an erratic tattoo in her chest. She had to find Wesley now.

  She shoved up from her seat, energy humming through her. Seemingly out of nowhere Elliott appeared at her workstation looking just as excited as she felt. He was tall, lanky, and often easily excitable, as she could tell he was now. His dark eyes glittered.

  “All six guys definitely have ties to H-Brand,” she said. “And I think I found something huge. What’d you find?”

  Instead of answering, he grabbed her upper arm gently and tugged. “Come on. We need to see Wesley now.”

  Hurrying out of the central command center, they made their way down a maze of hallways until they reached a room with two armed guards standing outside.

  “He’s still talking to the suspect,” one of the men said to her when they reached the door.

  “Please interrupt him,” she said before Elliott got cranky. “He’ll want to hear what we have to say.”

  The man tapped his earpiece. “I’ve got Karen and Elliott out here to speak to you.” A pause, and then he nodded at them and opened the door.

  Inside she found Wesley sitting in a chair opposite Tucker. Her gaze automatically went to Tucker, but then she focused on Wesley. Her boss had his jacket hooked on the back of his chair and they had files spread out between them. She wasn’t surprised by the flood of relief that spread through her to see Tucker again. It was as if she could finally breathe again, knowing he was okay. All that could wait, though.

  Before she could speak, Elliott started talking at machine-gun-fire rate. “Karen found a link between the suspects. A man named Thad Hillenbrand.”

  “Owns H-Brand Security, has government contracts overseas,” Tucker said. Wesley nodded, as if he already knew this.

  Karen raised her eyebrows, but Elliott continued. “She discovered that all six men work—or worked—for Hillenbrand. All under different company names, but he’s the one paying their salaries. And I just found a link between him and a man named Daniel Vane. The DEA guy on your list.”

  Wesley stood, his expression intense, but he was definitely pleased with the news. Tucker, however, looked pissed. Vane was on his list as a suspect, so she understood his anger.

  But this was the link they’d been looking for. Now that they’d found it, they could move forward with clearing Tucker’s name and discovering why he and his guys had been set up.

  “There’s more,” Karen continued, with that unmistakable hum she got when they were about to break open an investigation. “I ran the names of the three other men who were part of that same rifle platoon. One’s dead, the other’s a teacher, maybe involved, but from preliminary reports I don’t think so. I ran the information of the third guy, a man named Toby Austin. He was stationed at the same base the drone was taken from.” She sure as hell wouldn’t need to explain which drone either. “As a mechanic, he had direct access to that drone.”

  “You said was stationed?” Tucker asked quickly.

  “Yeah. ‘Was’ because he’s dead. I haven’t had a chance to read any official reports, but I just pulled up a local news article that he supposedly committed suicide two nights ago.”

  “All this is connected—the drone, the setup of you DEA guys,” Elliott said almost absently, just mirroring what everyone else in the room was thinking.

  “Karen, run down the rest of the intel on the teacher. Eliminate him or we bring him in to be questioned. I’m going to contact the base and get every scrap of information on Austin. Elliott . . .” Wesley continued barking orders.

  Karen was listening but shot Tucker a hopeful look. The half smile he gave her had butterflies erupting inside her. She knew they couldn’t talk much now, but she wanted him to know that she was fighting her butt off to clear his name. She couldn’t wait for all this to be over. Tucker was the type of man she could see having a real relationship with, and she wanted the chance to find out if this incendiary attraction between them could be more than just physical.

  Chapter 16

  Situation report (SITREP): an intermittent report of the current high-risk situation.

  Tucker glanced over at the sound of the conference room door opening. After Karen and her colleague had come to see Burkhart, he’d been put in another room to wait while they hunted down more leads.

  That had been almost two hours ago. He’d been feeling useless just sitting here, the energy inside him building each second that passed with nowhere to go.

  Seeing Karen step inside was a punch to his senses. Still wearing her running clothes, she’d pulled her hair up into a complicated twist thing and looked sexy as hell. She had a throwaway coffee cup in one hand and a small brown bag in another. All he wanted to do was kiss her senseless.

  “I brought you some food and coffee,” she said, a soft smile on her face as she rounded the table to his side.

  He automatically stood and took the stuff from her, setting it on the table. Seeing her now, he could think of nothing but last night and being inside her, how he was definitely taking her on that date once this mess was over. “Thanks. Are there cameras in here?”

  She shook her head and before she could audibly respond, he leaned down, slanting his mouth over hers, needing to taste her. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as she leaned into him, teasing her tongue against his as her hands slid higher and linked around the back of his neck.

  When she let out a soft moan, he forced himself to step back, knowing it could hurt her reputation if someone found them in here making out. That was the last thing he ever wanted to do. Breathing hard, he stared down at her, unable to think straight for a moment. He found his voice first. “Can you stay for a few minutes?”

  Her eyes grew heavy with desire. “Yeah. Come on, sit with me,” she said, pulling him by the hand down into one of the cushy chairs.

  Not caring about the food or coffee, he held both her hands in his, swiveling her chair so that they faced each other, wishing she was in his lap instead of her own chair. “You doing okay?”

  Her cheeks flushed slightly as she nodded. “I think I should ask you th
at.”

  “I mean with Burkhart. You’re not in trouble for anything, right?” Tucker knew what the man had told him, but he needed to hear it from her.

  “No, of course not. He wants me to talk to the agency psychologist and head home early, but after what we just discovered, that’s definitely not happening.”

  “Maybe you should go—”

  She snorted. “Seriously, Tucker? You think I’m going to go home and get any rest knowing you and your team are still suspects? That other agencies are out there hunting for you?”

  “I like it when you say my name,” he murmured. To his delight, her cheeks went crimson.

  She’d started to respond when the door opened. They both turned in their seats, their hands automatically pulling apart. He missed the feel of touching her immediately. Burkhart and Selene strode in, all business.

  “Have you told him anything?” Burkhart asked Karen.

  She shook her head. “Haven’t had a chance.”

  Burkhart moved farther into the conference room, but didn’t bother sitting, which told Tucker this was going to be quick. “I’ve got a team trying to locate Hillenbrand. He’s not at his office in D.C. or at his home, but he’s got a lot of places he could be. We’ve triangulated his cell to his main place of residence, but he’s not on location. If you’re willing, I want you to approach Vane at his house. We’ve got him under surveillance too and he’s alone. This will all be off the books.”

  Tucker pushed up, eager to hear everything. Karen stood too. If they wanted him to go after Vane, in any capacity, he was in. “What do you want me to do?”

  Burkhart didn’t seem surprised by his acquiescence. “Break in, incapacitate him, make it look like you’re on the run with nowhere to turn and you know—or at least suspect—that he’s behind setting you up. We need more on Hillenbrand and we need that damn drone. We need to know who else he’s working with and what their end game is. There are too many unknowns right now, and you’re our best bet for getting that out of him. You’ll be able to get him to talk faster than we will, especially if he thinks you’re willing to kill him unless he talks.”