Slater's Revenge

by Claudia Shelton

  “This isn’t a joke!” Josh stood, invading her space as images of past leverage scenes he’d broken up snapped to the forefront of his mind. He’d die before he let Macki face that kind of end. “These men are ruthless. If they can’t convince someone to do what they want for money, they use people they care about as leverage.”

  Her eyes widened. “So leverage is—”

  “Leverage is a person’s weakness. The one thing in their life that means more than anything else.” He’d always tried like hell to not care about anyone or anything that might be used against him.

  He swallowed back the truth that his weakness stood in front of him. All he could hope was that no one else ever figured that out. Because Josh could never afford to give in. Ever.

  She took a few steps, sighed. “So, the leverage can be an addiction, your reputation, a debt?”

  “Could be. The most effective leverage is what pulls at the heart of the target.” He wouldn’t lie to her. “A person.”

  From what he’d been able to find out, Macki kept to herself a lot, but everyone had their weakness. What was hers? Maybe she didn’t even know she had one. To save her, he’d have to figure that out. Sure, she cared about her uncle, but CT would look for something stronger to hold over her. For now, he needed to drive home the point at hand.

  He flexed his fist. “Coercion Ten will use kidnapping, torture, blackmail, anything that gets them what they want. Most times, the real target will break. They’ll do anything to save their loved one. If they don’t, Coercion Ten will kill the family member before they finish off the target.”

  With each step he took toward her, she backed away. Finally, her back hit the wall. Josh bracketed her with his arms. They were close, so close his body ached with need.

  He’d said enough, should probably back off and shut up. His heart pounded with each beat. Emotion smothered him in a gut-wrenching grip. One kiss. It would be so easy. One sweet, fire-breathing kiss, and he’d be content to die with her taste on his lips. He brushed her hair from the bump on her forehead.

  “Oh, Macki…”

  His temples pulsed in recognition as the fact he shouldn’t have taken this assignment hit him like a flash of lightning. Right now…this instant…he should break away. Run and never look back because the one thing he couldn’t allow on any mission had happened—he cared. For her.

  He leaned his forehead against hers. “I’m not going to let any of that happen to you. I promise. No matter what it takes. No matter what I have to do. You will survive.”

  Her essence charged its way through his body. Her hair invited his fingers. Her skin rested against his, soft and smooth and silky. How could she still have that effect on him? If he weren’t damn careful, Coercion Ten would not only take Drake down, they’d skewer him, too.

  Eyes glistening, she sidestepped from his touch. “Maybe you misread the name. Or…or it’s one of the other people in the world with the same name. I’m simply a hotel owner. Why would they want me?”

  Josh nodded toward the monitor. “Maybe we should get Drake back on the system.”

  “No. You answer my question. Why would they want me?”

  “There are only two people left in the family of the man who formed OPAQUE. Drake was his brother-in-law. You are the daughter.”

  Disbelief. Shock. Gradually her expression changed, until she finally stared into his eyes. “My dad?”

  “Yes. Your father formed OPAQUE a few years before his death. The Feds had contacted him with the idea of a covert, off-the-record organization to do things they couldn’t. Seeing that he was tired of corrupt politicians and lawmen, he agreed.”

  She paced back and forth across the room as her breathing intensified. Josh had been gone too long to know if this meant she was about to disagree with him or was accepting the idea. At least she was still in the room.

  “You’re wrong.” She stopped pacing. “My dad was a captain with Riverfalls Police when he died.”

  “Yes, but even more, he was the covert director of OPAQUE. And he was damn good at that job. Smart. Brave. Tenacious.” Josh’s gut hurt with the pain he knew his words would cause. “With each takedown of corruption, OPAQUE grew in stature. Didn’t take long till there was a bounty on the leader’s name. Nobody knows who gave up your dad’s name, but somebody must have.”

  Macki’s shoulders slumped. “What makes you say that?”

  “That’s why they killed him.”

  Jerking her hand to her heart, her eyes darted back and forth, unfocused and searching. “Killed him? In the plane crash?”

  Josh nodded, staying quiet, giving her time.

  “That…that means they killed my mother, too.”

  Josh nodded again.

  “You have proof?”

  “OPAQUE has proof.”

  She swiped her fingers under her eyes. “You can’t imagine how hard this is to fathom.”

  Wrong. He knew for a gut-wrenching fact just how fucked up life could get. How good could change to evil in half a second. He knew. Knew more than he hoped he ever had to tell her.

  “It was Uncle Drake who came to Lieutenant Grey’s house the evening of the crash.” Her voice was melancholy. “In fact, if it hadn’t been for the tickets Lieutenant Grey got for the game, I’d have been on the same flight as my parents. Instead, my dad let me stay for the game and spend the night at Peggy’s house.” She barely whispered. “Remember?”

  The best Josh could do was bite the inside of his cheek. Yeah, he remembered the day, the game, their walk, their kiss, until finally—

  “Josh.” She nudged his arm. “Where are you?”

  “Just thinking about something I need to make sure to do.” Another lie. He was good at covering what needed to be covered. “Go on with what you were saying.”

  “Uncle Drake sat right there in Lieutenant Grey’s house and said…said that the Cessna carrying my parents had crashed. Called it an accident.” She gasped on a sob she fought to control then raised her eyes to face him. “He lied? All these years, Drake has lied to me?”

  “Sometimes a lie is better than the truth,” Josh replied, unrepentant. “Safer.”

  “For who? Him? Me?” She staggered as if she’d been sucker-punched.

  He needed to get this finished. “Bottom line. Your dad formed OPAQUE. Eventually, your mother joined him in the work. And together they died for OPAQUE.”

  She didn’t move except to narrow her eyes as if she could make him take back the words. “Bottom line? That’s what you want to call this? The plane went down. It crashed. People died. Murdered.” She drew in a breath through her nose. “Murder isn’t a bottom line, Josh. And it damn sure isn’t an accident. Murder is a crime with a victim. Two victims, in this case.”

  He nodded.

  “What if OPAQUE’s wrong? That’s it…OPAQUE’s wrong…you’re wrong…Drake’s wrong…” Mackenzie glanced around the room, focusing on nothing. Back into her chin-up control mode, she shook her head. “My dad wasn’t some hero type who tried to save the world. And my mother ran this hotel after my grandpa passed away. She baked cookies for the women’s shelter.”

  He leaned against the windowsill, letting her doubts fuel her anger until it burned itself out. Sooner or later, she’d realize her undercover work for vice, and her father’s for OPAQUE, weren’t so different in ideology.

  “My mother would never have approved of that danger to the family.” Mackenzie set her jaw as she narrowed her eyes. “She’d never—”

  “Your mother more than approved.” Josh leaned forward. “She helped with some of the behind-the-scenes investigating work and—”

  “Stop. Please stop.” Macki covered her chin with her hand. “I need a little time…to come to grips with this. Understand?”

  He longed to take her in his arms and tell her how much he understood what she was going through, but that wasn’t going to happen. Because when she learned of his father’s involvement, there’d be nothing good left between them. “You�
��re right. We need to take a break.”

  Feet shuffling, she walked calmly out the guest room door, picking up the cold cup of coffee on the way. He’d give her time before he added anything else to the mix, so he pulled Drake up on the system.

  “How’d it go?” his boss asked.

  Blowing out a long sigh, Josh shrugged his shoulders. “She’ll be okay.”

  “You? How are you?” Drake pushed forth with his all-business tone. “I was thinking, you may not have to tell her everything.”

  Nice thought, but since life never seemed to give him anything easy, Josh doubted this situation would prove any different. Nothing had gone exactly as he’d planned on this assignment so far.

  Of course, things could have been worse. The tech stuff had synced on the first try. Macki had gotten off with a small wound. His barely healed ribs hadn’t broken from a more-than-rough slam to the pavement. Plus, the layout of the penthouse was an open-floor plan straight from the kitchen to the living room to the balcony. The formal dining room off to the side was open to the great room. Made for a good line of sight to see intruders. Even better for setting up a perimeter, if the situation deteriorated. So, yeah, things could have been worse.

  He needed to start thinking of this mission like any other assignment. What was working. What wasn’t. How to fix what was needed.

  “Make sure you get me the equipment we talked about.” He flipped the usual requests through his mind’s-eye view of the case. “Send me your files on Riverfalls cops, city officials, anyone who’s still around from the time of the plane crash.”

  “You got it.”

  “And give me some background on Detective Cummings.”

  Drake cleared his throat. “Cummings? Why?”

  “Just covering my bases.”

  “Well, in that case, you probably want info on Blake Ransom, too.”

  “How does Blake fit into this?” Josh asked.

  Drake paused. “Ask Macki. All I know is her and Blake lived together at the penthouse for a while.”

  Like a subject sitting for a portrait, Josh kept his eyes trained on his boss, his body language status quo, and his expression blank. Inside, he wanted to splash ice cold water on his face to keep from throwing up.

  Finally, he glanced in the direction Macki had gone, sighed, and looked back at his boss’s image on the screen. “I hope you know what you’re doing sending me here.”

  “Like I said, don’t get sidetracked with personal feelings.”

  Josh laughed. “You know me. Nothing’s personal.”

  He ended the connection. Feelings? That was a joke if he’d ever heard one. His emotions had died a few days after the plane crash. The day of his dad’s supposed suicide. The day Drake Lawrence told him to never blame himself. That none of what had happened had been his fault. If it hadn’t been for Drake’s guidance and kindness that first year, Josh had no idea where he might have ended up.

  The next day, he’d pushed Mackenzie away, left Riverfalls far behind, and learned to live without her. Guess the past had caught up with him. Maybe it would provide the final clue in the plane crash. If this led to the son of a bitch who sat at the top of the CT ladder, then whatever he had to do would be worth it in the end.

  He glanced at the doorway. Moment by moment, he’d tell her everything she needed to know to stay alive. No matter how much the past might rip him apart. If the truth hadn’t come out by the time he was ready to leave town, he’d at least tell her why he was leaving this time.

  Would he also tell her why he’d left last time? Maybe. Maybe not. He’d know for sure when he heard the words come out of his mouth. Or when he closed the door behind him on the way out of her life forever.

  …

  Mackenzie retreated to the comfort of her kitchen. She never ate much. Yet, there was something about the kitchen that always made life’s pitfalls seem less threatening. Her phone chirped as Josh walked into the room.

  He moved to the wall of windows in the living room and pulled the drawstring. “I closed the curtains for a reason.”

  “It’s my place and I like the drapes open.” She grabbed her phone.

  “Well, your safety is my assignment. Keep them shut.”

  “Fine.” Her phone chirped again and she opened an incoming message. “Will this never end?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s another text from my admirer…and I quote.” She shook her head. “You looked so hot in that pink outfit last night. Always did. Sorry you got hurt. Don’t fight so hard next time. Let Slater do the fighting.”

  “Interesting.” Josh grinned.

  Learning his nuances were tough, and quite frankly, she didn’t have time for any of this. “I don’t see what’s so funny. The damn pervert even knows your name. I’ll just block him.”

  “No. Leave the line open.” He jerked the phone out of her hand.

  “Why?”

  “This isn’t a pervert as you call him. This is Coercion Ten. They do like their games.” Placing the phone back in front of her on the counter, he smirked. “And, from last night’s message I got at the hospital, they’ve been waiting for me to arrive.”

  A chill tingled down her arms. What kind of an organization planned that far ahead? They had to have been watching her for years, long enough to know about the pink outfit. And Josh…how would they know he’d come back to protect her? How? Unless…unless, their plan had been percolating for a decade. That meant her life had been an open book for this group. From every move she’d made right down to what she wore. She shivered, and the chill had nothing to do with being cold.

  “We need to talk,” Josh said.

  “Maybe later.” She opened the refrigerator then methodically retrieved every vegetable in the salad drawer, stacking them on the counter one at a time. Her way of confronting the worst was to be precise, concentrate on the details of another task.

  “Now.” His voice was no-nonsense, but not stern.

  He reached to grab the cutting board stacked behind the canisters, but she jerked it from his hands. That was all she needed—if he saw the scene baked into the plexiglass board, he’d make assumptions. Ask questions. This wasn’t the time to drag up their personal past. She laid the cutting board next to the mini-sink on the kitchen island then covered the scene with the vegetables.

  “Okay. You talk. I’ll make dinner,” she said.

  Josh leaned against the kitchen island’s dark granite top. “We’ve laid a heavy load on you. Is there anything you need clarified? Anything you want to ask?”

  Her insides twisted. One part of her wanted to make a flippant remark about blue cheese or ranch dressing. Her other side held her back. This was serious. Josh had come back to Riverfalls to protect her; she should give him the respect that went with laying your life on the line.

  “Let’s say I accept everything you and my uncle have said.” She diced the celery with precision into tiny chewable pieces, making sure not to cut too heavily into the board for fear of scratches. After all, she hadn’t had the board made to actually use, but rather as a bit more comfort in her kitchen. Comfort she didn’t want to explain to Josh.

  He picked up a stalk of celery and crunched into the crispness. Pushing the vegetables on the board aside, he started to turn the plexiglass. She nudged his hands away and re-covered the board.

  “My being a target still doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, it just seems strange that Coercion Ten would even care about me after all these years.” She rinsed the head of lettuce and set it on the cutting board. “I’m certainly not a covert agent like you. So why now?”

  He held her gaze. “They want to use you as leverage.”

  “Against someone?”

  “Yes.”

  “You?” Why had she bothered to ask that question? He certainly had no interest in her. He’d proved that years ago—she hacked the cutting knife through the onion—and every year since that, he’d stayed away.

  He laid his hand over hers. “C
alm down, Macki. The onion isn’t fighting back.”

  “Okay.” She laid down the knife, motioning that she was done. “Who could possibly care about me enough that I’d be their leverage?”

  “Drake Lawrence.”

  “My uncle?” She tilted her head in puzzlement.

  He scooped the vegetables into the salad bowl. “Before the plane crash, Drake had worked, on the side, with your dad in OPAQUE.”

  “Is that why he moved to Riverfalls from Chicago and joined the local police?”

  He nodded. “After the plane crash, Drake kept the secrets to himself. OPAQUE continued on with a new director, while your uncle took on the job of your unofficial guardian. Don’t hate him for keeping you in the dark. We all thought… I mean, he thought that was best.”

  She picked up on the we…I wording he’d stumbled over. Just how long had Josh been involved with OPAQUE? He’d been barely twenty-one when he’d left town. Had been in college. Had he finished? What else had he done, or had OPAQUE been his entire life?

  After grabbing a handful of cherry tomatoes, he popped one in his mouth then slid onto one of the counter stools. “Times have changed. Powerful people have grabbed hold of even more powerful people in the CT world. Once you graduated with your MBA, Drake figured you were secure in your life, so he decided to retire from the Riverfalls Police Department.”

  She quietly nodded, slipping the cutting board into the dishwasher. The conversation headed toward an end she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear. But if everything the two men said was true, then she came from a line of strength she’d never imagined. Strength that would help her face this conversation all the way to the end. She rolled her hand at Josh for him to continue.

  “For the past few months, your uncle’s been closing in on Coercion Ten’s head guy. The mastermind. The man who controls who lives. Who dies. The one who started CT years ago.”

  Josh exhaled long and longer, then inhaled deep and deeper. “I wasn’t hired by your uncle for this specific job. Drake’s been head of OPAQUE for quite a while now. And I’ve been with the agency even longer.”

  She braced her hands against the counter and lowered her head. Somehow, she’d already pieced this together from the beginning of the phone call until an hour ago in the guest bedroom. First her dad. Then her mother. Now her uncle. And Josh Slater…Protector Agent Joshua Slater. “Why isn’t Drake the one with the price on his head?”