Cold Secrets (Cold Justice Book 7)

by Toni Anderson

  “I spoke to Alex Parker about looking into the phone company data.” His glance bounced off her.

  Did Alex tell him not to trust her? She could see from his guarded expression that Alex had.

  Anger had her teeth grinding. “Tell him to search for a secondary location. It’s possible that’s where they’re holed up now.” Ashley pushed the irritation away. She might not be too fond of Parker but it didn’t mean she wouldn’t use his resources.

  “Secondary location?” Lucas and Mallory asked together.

  Ashley frowned at them. “You said the woman took phone calls on a weekly basis?”

  The lines between Lucas’s brows added a nice dose of maturity. “Yeah. So?”

  “So they either turned off the signal blocker at a specific time every week, or Mae Kwon went somewhere else to conduct business, maybe another property in the city?”

  His expression changed. “Because she couldn’t have answered the phone in the brothel with the signal jammer in place. Why didn’t I think of that?” He looked pissed with himself and impressed with her. It wasn’t exactly rocket science, but details could get lost in the scope of a large investigation.

  “Did they have a specific time when they spoke?”

  “The madam in Raleigh always called Mae Kwon on a Sunday at eleven AM sharp,” Lucas told them.

  “No rest for the wicked,” Mallory said wryly.

  “The cell company is being slow providing her phone records, but if we traced any other numbers that called her we really might be able to untangle the whole network.” He fired off a text, presumably to Parker.

  Their food arrived and Ashley’s stomach growled. She waited for the server to mill pepper and Parmesan and then dove in, savoring the first bite which melted on her tongue and reminded her she’d skipped lunch in favor of work.

  When she looked up Lucas was watching again. For some reason it made her edgy.

  “Those explosives make me think they’d go somewhere else to make their phone calls,” she said, as much as a distraction as anything else. “Who’d risk some random signal setting off the C4? And I’d have several signal jammers in place for backup.”

  “No kidding,” Mallory muttered around her steak.

  Ashley focused on the case as she ate. “If Parker can locate which cell tower Mae Kwon used at that time on a Sunday, he might be able to find the other gang members’ cells by running a comparison with those active close to the brothel. We might be able to triangulate these to give us a more defined hunting ground. We need the phone company to come through on that warrant ASAP. These people will be slipping away as we speak.”

  Lucas gave her a look she couldn’t read then raised a brow at Mallory. They all knew Alex could get a head start on what they needed without the warrant even though it wasn’t strictly legal.

  Mallory eyed them both. “Fine,” she muttered after she’d swallowed a mouthful of steak. “I’ll ask him again. But the intrusion he’s working on isn’t your average private company.”

  Which meant one of the federal agencies.

  “Some of the other phone numbers might belong to some of the johns. We don’t know how they communicated or paid. If I can get a list of names we can start working through them.” His eyes narrowed. “I want to nail those bastards.”

  “Oh, yeah. Me, too,” Ashley agreed.

  “Me, three.” Mallory tapped her water glass against their beers. She was making healthy inroads into her steak.

  “When you get the phone records, send me that data as well,” Ashley said. “If I have time I’ll start culling names and numbers to investigate.”

  His eyes were unreadable as they rose to meet hers. “Okay. Thanks.”

  Mallory’s mouth stretched in a yawn. “Sorry. I’m going to be lucky to last through dinner.”

  “You okay?” Concern sharpened Lucas’s tone. “The baby?”

  “We just had a checkup and we’re both doing great.” Mallory’s smile looked a little worn at the edges. “But we seem to have developed narcolepsy.” She grimaced. “Nothing eight hours solid sleep won’t cure. The bad guys are going to have to wait until morning.”

  Lucas shook his head. “You always worked harder than anyone I know.”

  “That was personal.” Mallory stated quietly.

  “They’re all personal.” His gaze moved to Ashley. “Did you hear there was a sighting of the three fugitives down at the port?”

  “We heard.” She noticed the slight increase in tension around his eyes. “You don’t think they’re there, do you?”

  “I think they’re smart enough to know the port is a huge warren that will tie up hundreds of law enforcement officers for days, giving them the chance to slip away via private jet or over the border to Canada. In the meantime there are fewer agents following other leads. The assholes have probably already moved most of their operations. Wait another few days and the only thing left will be the roaches.”

  Mallory pushed back her plate with a grimace. “On that note, I’m done. I’m going to call Alex and go to bed.” She gave Lucas a knowing look. “And, yes, I’ll tell him how urgent it is to get as much information as possible from Mae Kwon’s cell phone records.”

  “I’ll be up shortly,” Ashley told her, trying to eat faster. They were sharing a room.

  “No rush.” The speculative gleam in Mallory’s eyes as she glanced between Ashley and Lucas suggested she was playing matchmaker. The woman had more chance of learning to speak Latin in her sleep than finding Ashley a boyfriend.

  “I’ll try not to wake you,” she said wryly. They said goodnight and Ashley watched Mallory walk through the bar full of men without a single guy trying to grope her.

  Maybe they’d learned their lesson.

  Or maybe Ashley really did look like a hooker.

  She glanced down at her silk blouse with its low “v” neckline, which she’d teamed with a fitted black skirt. It wasn’t how she’d imagined a call girl would dress but maybe these guys had secretary fetishes.

  “Stop it.”

  She looked up in surprise. “What?”

  “Trying to find fault with yourself because some guy thinks he can get away with being inappropriate just because of the way you look.” Lucas took a pull on his beer.

  “You think I look like an easy target?”

  “I didn’t mean it like that.” His expression turned cynical. “He saw Asian features and figured meek and submissive. You just gave him a crash course in reasons not to believe in stereotypes.”

  She snorted. “I just reinforced the Ninja myth.”

  One of those intriguing half smiles touched his mouth. “You scared the shit out of him.”

  “Good.”

  He leaned back against the seat, contemplating his beer. “It was sexy as hell.”

  “Ugh.” She frowned. “Not good.”

  His eyes darkened as he turned the bottle with his long fingers. “Finding a woman sexy isn’t a sin as long as people keep their hands and thoughts to themselves. At least, until they know whether or not the thoughts are reciprocated.” His gaze lifted.

  Her heart squeezed. The air went thick and Ashley’s pulse raced. Oh, they were reciprocated, all right.

  There was no doubt from the look that passed between them that they were attracted to one another. It had been a long time since she’d been with anyone and part of her craved that connection. But now wasn’t the time. She wanted to prove herself on this case. Not prove how stupid she was. Time to go. She pushed her plate aside and pulled out her wallet.

  Lucas waved her money aside. “I’ll get it.”

  “But it’s work.”

  His smile widened. “This is the closest I’ve had to a date in months.”

  Even though he was joking, a flush heated her skin.

  His lips tightened. “I probably shouldn’t have said that, especially after what that dick pulled.” Raucous laughter split the air and the moment faded. He put some bills on the table.

 
; “Thanks.” She didn’t know what else to say so kept her mouth shut.

  “Let me walk you out.”

  She slid out of the booth and gathered her things. “You think I can’t handle myself?”

  “I know you can handle yourself. I’m just protecting those idiots.”

  She smiled, then lifted her chin and led the way past the men at the table. They grew silent as they watched her pass. She didn’t give them the satisfaction of looking their way.

  Thankfully no-one muttered obscenities, but that probably had something to do with her protective shadow. She and Lucas headed toward the same bank of elevators.

  “Which floor?” he asked.

  “Eight.” She watched him.

  He nodded. “Me, too.”

  The doors opened, and they stepped inside the empty car. Her skin suddenly felt hot, and it got harder to breathe as she watched each floor’s number light up. They exited the elevator and both headed left. She got to Room 815, but there was no light shining beneath the door. Damn. It looked like Mallory had already fallen asleep. Ashley hesitated. Maybe she should go work in the lounge…but those damn tractor guys were everywhere.

  “Problem?” asked Lucas.

  “Nothing,” she said quietly. Then she relented when he stood there staring at her. “I wanted to review some surveillance footage before I went to bed, but I don’t want to wake Mallory. She needs her rest.”

  “You can use the sitting area in my room if you want.”

  “You have a suite?”

  “I knew I’d be here a while.” He shrugged. “I’m going to have a drink and do some work anyway. You’re welcome to join me.”

  She hesitated.

  “No ass-grabbing.” His lips curved in rueful acknowledgement. “I promise.”

  * * *

  Lucas should have been exhausted after a sleepless night, but he was wired. So maybe inviting a beautiful woman back to his hotel room wasn’t the smartest idea he’d ever had. But he was a gentleman and a professional and he wasn’t about to hit on a fellow agent when they had a case to solve. Especially not this case. Especially not this agent.

  He removed the “Do Not Disturb” sign off his door and waved her inside. “Excuse the mess. I don’t let Housekeeping inside unless I’m here.”

  The bedroom door was open and the bed was unmade from the last time he’d slept in it. He went over and closed the door. This was business. Not pleasure.

  “Have a seat. There’s a power outlet in that lamp.” He pointed to an easy chair near the fireplace, away from the temptation of the sofa. “Want a drink?”

  “I think I’ve earned a bourbon if you’ve got it. What’s this?” Ashley Chen walked across the room and stared at a board he’d constructed with pictures of the people he knew to be involved. He liked to see everything laid out visually. Three big question marks denoted the men who’d escaped the brothel.

  She pointed to one of the pictures. “That’s Mia Stromberg and her parents?”

  He nodded. “They’ve been placed in protective custody. So far they’re cooperating.”

  She eyed him sharply. “You think that’s going to change?”

  He pulled out a bottle of Jack and two glasses. “They want to go home, and they’re wealthy enough to afford decent security.”

  “So, what’s the problem?”

  “Maybe nothing.” He pointed to the picture of the demolished buildings that had once formed part of downtown. “Maybe everything.” He hesitated. “I can’t help wondering if Mia was specifically targeted. I mean, how much easier would it have been to abduct a kid who lived on the streets? Instead, they take the child whose parents are multimillionaires?”

  “The parents let her walk to school alone?”

  He shook his head. “Normally the nanny walked her, but she admitted after the kidnapping that Mia often ran ahead without her. The nanny said she always walked all the way to the school but when she didn’t see Mia, she assumed the kid was already safe inside.”

  “You think they stalked Mia. Figured out when she’d be most vulnerable?”

  “Maybe it was just bad luck. Or maybe they intended to ransom her, but decided to earn a little extra cash selling her body in the meantime.” Lucas’s stomach turned as he remembered Mae Kwon holding out her hand for his money while a little girl shivered under the covers.

  He wasn’t sorry that woman was dead. But he did regret they’d lost a valuable source of information.

  “It is suspicious,” she agreed. “It’s also possible they opportunistically grabbed her off the street when they saw she was alone.” Ashley pressed her lips together.

  Lucas looked away from her mouth. Earlier she’d worn red lipstick but most of that had worn off. Right now she looked younger than she should, considering she was in the BAU.

  Thanks to television shows like Criminal Minds, many people applied to the FBI hoping to get into the Behavioral Analysis Unit, but only a select few succeeded. Those who did were rapier sharp, fiercely dedicated and driven by the need to stop evil people from doing bad things. He preferred being a field agent for the variety of jobs he got to work on. Plus, he didn’t like being surrounded by a constant string of corpses. He liked helping ordinary people get justice, and he liked putting the bad guys away.

  He handed her a tumbler of liquor and took a drink from his own glass. The burn in his throat eased some of the tension that had been stuck there slowly strangling him. It had been an intense few days. If not for the fact he’d pursued the perps down those tunnels he’d be dead, too. So would Mia and Becca. He hadn’t even begun processing his own close call with death, but after going to war he’d learned to take every day as a gift. He knocked back the whole glass and poured himself another.

  “What did the parents say about the nanny?”

  He screwed the cap back on the bottle. “They spent a lot of time assuring the woman it wasn’t her fault.”

  Her brows skipped up. “You ran background checks on her?”

  “On all the staff.” He nodded. “As soon as the kid was reported missing we monitored the woman’s communications and financials. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “They might have been threatening a loved one.” Ashley ran her eyes over the picture he had of the housekeeper. “Where’s she from?”

  “Ohio.”

  Her grin lit up her face, and he found himself smiling back. She had softly tilted eyes, and hair that looked like raw silk. He wanted to run his fingers through it and find out if it felt as good as it looked. She was tall and slender, didn’t look tough enough to survive self-defense training in the academy, but obviously she had.

  He wasn’t surprised she’d attracted attention in the bar, he was just pissed it had been the wrong kind of attention. But she’d handled it.

  He hadn’t lied earlier. He’d been so busy with work he hadn’t dated in months. Ever since they’d discovered the serial killer Edward Meacher operating in Lucas’s backyard, he’d been working non-stop. That investigation was stalled—there were no clues as to who’d killed the sadist and no one was sorry the man was dead. Over New Year’s, Lucas had worked a homicide on the Outer Banks and then a bank heist where the teller had been shot dead after she’d tripped the silent alarm. Now this. It was only February but he’d already had a busy year.

  “Who are these three?” Agent Chen pointed to three head shots he’d nabbed from Boston PD’s mug shot files that afternoon.

  “Members of the fire gang they brought in for me to look at today.”

  “Safe to assume they’re not our guys?” She swirled her drink and took a sip.

  He forced himself to put more space between them. The fact Alex Parker had asked him to keep an eye on the woman made him feel uncomfortable. But he’d known Alex for a lot of years and the guy had good instincts.

  “They weren’t the right guys.” He pointed at the lawyer. “This guy turned up to represent them. He’s a real shark.”

  Ashley gestured at another phot
ograph. “Who’s that?”

  “The interpreter.”

  Ashley stared at him strangely for a moment. “Doesn’t she work for the cops?”

  He nodded.

  Her head tilted to one side. “You don’t trust anyone, do you?”

  That was a little too close to the truth. “It’s not my job to trust people. It’s my job to catch criminals.”

  A line appeared between her brows. “Did you sit with a police sketch artist to get likenesses of the three men you saw?”

  “Sure, but the results weren’t great. Apparently I’m not good with faces.”

  Her shoulders stiffened. “Because all Asians look alike?”

  “To an untrained eye? Maybe. Yeah.” He watched her chin go up. “Personally I don’t know the difference between Korean, Japanese or Chinese faces. I didn’t even know there were different types of eyelids until the police artist asked me about it earlier. And the differences between individuals are more subtle.” He shrugged, trying to rein in his frustration. “I had trouble getting what’s in my head across to the artist. That’s on me.”

  “Are you sure you’d recognize them again if you saw them?”

  He eyed her sharply. “I’d recognize them anywhere.”

  The lamplight highlighted the blue-black hue of her hair. The satin blouse she wore was conservative but it dipped low and drifted over her breasts and slender waist in a way that left little to the imagination. He dragged his eyes back to hers and that spark of awareness flashed between them again. Invisible energy that only the two of them could sense.

  “I should probably go,” she said suddenly.

  He didn’t trust his voice, so he didn’t answer.

  She walked toward him and he forced himself not to move. She was only a few inches shorter than he was which was a change from the women he usually dated. Her hands rested on his chest as she eased up to kiss him. Her mouth was soft and sweet, and tasted like bourbon.

  He wanted to unwrap that shirt from her body and drag her off to bed. But it didn’t matter how long it had been, this was a really bad idea.