“I’ll find out when and where we can grab the woman, and I’ll contact Franco.”
“Don’t let him know about abducting the woman just yet. I don’t want to give him time to inform anyone in case he has a little change of heart. He is a bit weaker now that he’s pulled back from the criminal activity. He’s assisting Yorkshire out of fear. I want him to realize that if he snitches, then he dies.”
“Got it.”
* * * *
Oscar ran his hand along his jaw and exhaled. This was turning into a whole fucking mess, but the players were all revealing themselves. Even he was getting confused trying o keep his double agent activities in check. Now he had Brian digging into background information on the Mosely family and their business, Sons of Justice digging up information on Thylane and the hostage situation she had been in, and men working for Yorkshire looking into the same things. It was a fucking mess and poor Thylane. She was caught in the middle of this shit, and it wouldn’t be good if Yorkshire found out that she’d killed Logan and Connor, Yorkshire’s cousins, and not the feds.
He thought about somehow warning the only men who seemed to really be doing the right thing here, Sons of Justice and Cesar and his men, but he couldn’t. Not yet. His commanders were after Yorkshire, Hopper, Brian Orvin, and the snitches within the federal government that were aiding in this entire operation. Plus, the other players in this game. Who were they, and how could Oscar figure it out?
He needed to keep the tail on Thylane’s father and the inside person in the office. One call and he could find out who got her the job at Foley’s to begin with. He picked up the phone and dialed the number.
“Hey, I was going to contact you. Something is going on,” she said to him.
“What?”
“Not sure. I’m trying to be careful, but there have been some shipments going on and a Brook Mosely has been in and out of the office and looking and sounding on edge.”
“Look into it deeper but watch your ass.”
“Got it. I’ll call as soon as I have something concrete.”
Oscar tapped the pen against his lip and organized his thoughts and what he knew thus far. He’d lost a lot of good friends in that hit by Yorkshire and Hopper. He was thrilled that Logan and Connor had been killed by Thylane. Hell, he didn’t care who killed them, just that they were dead.
Chapter Eight
“What a waste of time that was. Their questions were bullshit,” Finlin said to Cesar as they walked out of the building where the federal agents had set up headquarters. Thylane was walking between them as they headed to Cesar’s truck.
They were going back and forth over the questioning. It was all stupid stuff, and when they brought up her father’s company, she was a little nervous but got through it. None of his dealings had anything to do with her. In fact, she was really considering getting out of working for the company and hoped that someone from Saggamore or somewhere else saw her mural. Even incomplete it was gorgeous and so realistic it drew your attention to many aspects of it.
“What did you think, Thylane?” Cesar asked her as they got into the truck.
“I think they’re lost. That they don’t have a grip on things and they’re grasping at straws. Everything is riding on this meeting tomorrow. If it doesn’t happen, or it gets screwed up, then Yorkshire wins. He takes off and the feds got nothing.”
“It’s true. I got the same feeling. I don’t like that Agent Ferrow,” Cesar said.
“Neither do I, and to be honest, that Plankin guy rubs me the wrong way, too,” Finlin said, and Cesar agreed as they got into Cesar’s truck.
“He hardly says anything,” she replied.
“It’s in his stares. The way he watches, listens, and how he kept his eyes on you,” Finlin said as Cesar drove down the road.
“I figured it was his way of monitoring my body language and eye movement. Aren’t there ways that trained interrogators can tell if a person is lying by their body language and things like that?” she asked.
Cesar glanced at her and smiled then looked at Finlin.
“She has a point. Maybe it was just your jealousy of other men looking at her. Perhaps officially staking a claim of guardianship could ease that?” Cesar pushed.
Finlin chuckled.
“We’re making it official, Cesar. Cole, Farrow, Luke, and J.T. are coming over along with Spartan, John, Cherokee, Brye, Hans, and Nolan, and we’re making it official with the commanders,” Finlin said and glanced back at her and gave her a wink. She smiled at him.
“Excellent, congratulations,” Cesar said, and Finlin looked straight ahead.
Her cell phone buzzed, and she glanced down at it. Cesar and Finlin both looked back a moment, but Cesar kept his eyes on the road.
“It’s Brazille,” she said, and he nodded, giving her the okay to answer it. “Hello?”
“What is going on? I heard that you are with Finlin and his team and that something went down at the pub.”
“Yes. It’s a long story.”
“Can we meet up?”
She looked at Finlin. “I don’t think so. Maybe tomorrow or something.” She leaned back.
“If she wants to come over when the others are there, then tell her to meet you at our place,” Finlin said to her, and she smiled and sat up.
“You can meet at their house. Do you know where it is?”
“Sure, what about security?” Brazille asked.
“I’ll call ahead and say she’s coming and allowed through,” Finlin said as if he’d heard Brazille talking.
“Finlin will give your name, and you’ll be all set.”
“Great. I’ll see you in an hour,” Brazille said, and Thylane ended the call and leaned back, smiling, instantly feeling better knowing that two of her friends, Cherokee and Brazille, would be at the house with her.
There were going to be a lot of men, soldiers, law enforcement there, plus she was making it official accepting the men’s guardianship. Her smile and excitement were dampened slightly as she thought about her father and her cousin Lauren, as well as her other cousins Avana and Tiana. What would they say? How would they feel about this? Lauren had been hurt so badly by Logan and Connor. Her father was overprotective about any of them with men because of that situation. What would he say?
Finlin looked back just as the truck pulled into the long road leading to the security gate.
“You okay?” he asked, squinting, and she nodded, despite not feeling okay, and looked out the window as his expression darkened.
She couldn’t lie to him, but she did, not wanting to discuss anything so personal in front of Cesar. She needed to be strong. These were all very capable, commanding men, and she wouldn’t come across as weak or insecure. She heard Finlin tell the guards at the security gate about Brazille, and then they headed to the house. As soon as they got out and went to the front door, it opened and Stack was there, pulling her into his arms and hugging her tight.
“It’s over, baby. Now we sit and wait for this asshole to be captured at that meeting.”
She squeezed him tight, instantly feeling those insecurities and fears disappear. Then he was releasing her to Pisces, who kissed her tenderly, ran a possessive hand along her ass, and squeezed her to him. When he let her go, Rusty pulled her close and kissed her neck, her cheek, and whispered into her ear.
“I need you so badly I ache, but now we have all these guests here.” He released her he slid a finger along the crack of her ass, and she felt her cheeks heat up. No one saw, but she was still embarrassed and turned on.
“Don’t look at me like that. So fucking sexy and innocent. You’re our woman, and everyone will know it,” he said to her.
Her father popped into her head again, and Rusty must have picked up on her change of expression, but then the other men arrived and were greeted. Cherokee approached, pulled Thylane into her arms to hug her hello, and the conversation was done for now. She would talk to them later, and perhaps call her father to him all about
her men and accepting their guardianship.
“I’m here for you, Thylane. I can’t believe what is happening, but I’m so happy that you have these four Sons of Justice soldiers to protect you and love you,” Cherokee said to her.
“I am, too. It’s been nuts.”
“I bet. Why don’t we sit and talk while the men do their thing and discuss the situation.”
“Sure, and Brazille will be here any minute.”
“Fantastic. I haven’t seen her in a few weeks. Last we talked she was interviewing for some entertainment manager position for a company near Ausberry.”
“Seriously? I thought she was happy at Lancaster’s Entertainment.”
“I know, me, too, but she hinted around about needing a change and then something with her boss. I’m not sure, and she didn’t expand on it.”
Another knock on the door and they turned to look, and there was Brazille standing between Cole and Farrow, with Luke and J.T. behind her. Her cheeks looked flushed, but Thylane picked up on the way the four men kept eyes on her, and when Finlin introduced them to Brazille, J.T. said they’d met outside and gave her that look.
“Oh boy, Brazille doesn’t know who those men are,” Cherokee whispered, and when Brazille walked over, looking stylish and sexy in her black tight jeans, high-heeled boots, and off-the-shoulder mid-drift blue sweater, Thylane hugged her hello and saw Cole and his team watching Brazille.
A few minutes later, as the three of them sat on the couch and talked, Cherokee brought up Brazille looking for a new job.
“So you definitely want to quit Lancaster’s?” Cherokee asked her and then took a sip from the water bottle Stack handed out to them.
Brazille exhaled and pushed her long brown hair behind her shoulder. “I’ need to get out of there. It isn’t a good environment.”
“Why? Did something happen?” Thylane asked her.
Brazille lowered her eyes and then exhaled.
“Oh boy, what happened?” Cherokee asked.
When Brazille looked up, she took a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about it or get into it. On the bright side, it looks like my interview went well the other day. I’m hoping I get offered the position in Ausberry.”
“In Ausberry? That’s more than an hour from here,” Thylane said.
“I know, but it isn’t a bad commute. My cousin Chanelle lives near there. Hey, enough about me. What the heck is going on here with you and the four hot soldiers?” Brazille asked, and Thylane knew she was changing the subject, so she told them everything that had happened the last two weeks and where the feds were now in the case.
“I hope they catch both men today at that meeting. More importantly, tell us how you wound up here and claimed in a twenty-four-hour period.” Brazille raised her eyebrows up and down.
Cherokee and Thylane chuckled, and then she whispered to them all about the men coming into her home, fearing she was in danger, and how the moment they were alone each man had kissed her and nothing else mattered but loving them and letting them fully into her heart and soul.
* * * *
“They aren’t coming. They’re a no-show. Someone found out and warned them,” Agent Roth said to Agent Ferrow.
Ferrow was pissed off. It was a wash, and those two fucking assholes were steps ahead. He needed to think. To come up with a way to catch them. Then his cell phone rang.
“Hello?” he answered as he waited in the back of the van, thinking today was the day he’d thought he would catch the two best catches of his career and made a name for himself like no other agent.
“We got word on a homicide about thirty minutes ago from the state police in Ausberry. A woman brutally beaten,” Agent Rogers said to him.
“And you’re calling me why, Rogers?” he snapped at him while looking out the window and realizing that as the hours passed, so did the hope that the meeting between Yorkshire and Hopper would be happening right here where he was.
“I think you’re going to want to take a look at the photos. It’s got Yorkshire’s name all over it.”
“Yorkshire killed her?” he asked.
“Yes, and probably after they had sex. The initial visual doesn’t show any bruising around the vaginal or thigh area. The M.E. thinks it was consensual sex, and for whatever reason, Yorkshire beat her then killed her.”
The wheels in Ferrow’s head were spinning. He needed to come up with a way to get Thylane to be bait for Yorkshire. Perhaps he was so frustrated with not knowing where Thylane had disappeared to that Yorkshire canceled the meeting and then hooked up with the woman he killed to get rid of his need to fuck and claim and then kill because he was such a sick fuck. How could he make this look like Thylane wasn’t in danger so he could manipulate her into helping to catch Yorkshire or, at least, get her away from those four soldiers, Finlin and his crew? How?
“Okay, we’re fucked here either way. This meeting is not happening.”
“What? Why?”
“Got no idea except that maybe Yorkshire canceled feeling the pressure from me, us. He also seems obsessed with Thylane, and she may be our only means to getting him to come out from hiding so we can catch him.”
“But he killed this woman. Beat the hell out of her and cut her up. Thylane is innocent in all this.”
“We won’t let him get close enough to take her or hurt her. We just need her to be bait. I’m going to call Cesar and tell him about this woman before he finds out other ways. I’m going to bend the truth a little and say she was Yorkshire’s mistress and that he has a woman in Ireland. They’ll let their guard down and let her get back to a normal way of living, and then we’ll contact her. Get her alone and work our angle to get her to cooperate.”
“I don’t know about this,” Roger said.
“It isn’t your job to know. It’s mine.” He ended the call and then looked at Roth.
“What did you get on those shipments out of Thylane’s father’s company and the meetings with that Soyer guy?” he asked him.
“I’m waiting on information from Plankin. He’s on top of it and should be sending me stuff soon,” Rogers said, and then his cell phone rang. “It’s him.” Rogers put it on speaker.
“Go ahead, what do you have? Ferrow and I are listening.”
As Ferrow heard about the shipments out of the country and to Ireland, he knew that there was a definite connection and that Thylane’s father was doing something illegal. He didn’t know what yet, but he didn’t care. He wanted Yorkshire and Hopper in custody or dead. This would be enough to get Thylane to cooperate. He would threaten her and her family. Threaten to put her father, her cousins, and others behind bars if she didn’t cooperate and do as he said. He smiled. He would get what he wanted, and he would be the top agent of all time.
“I’ll make the call to Cesar,” he said.
“What about this meeting and not knowing where Yorkshire and Hopper really are?” Rogers asked.
“We’ll tell a little fib. Say they left the country. That we have word they took off separately an hour ago and are now working with agents in Ireland to catch them when they get there.”
“Jesus, this isn’t smart. What if it all goes wrong? Thylane could wind up dead and who knows who else?” Rogers asked.
“It’s the price to pay for greatness and for bringing down a terrorist and anti-American asshole crook. Collateral damage is necessary in this field of work, Rogers. Don’t you get that by now?” He made the call to Cesar.
* * * *
They were talking in the other room so that Thylane and the women wouldn’t hear them.
“So you say her father’s company made some shipments overseas to Ireland no less? What the fuck?” Finlin asked J.T.
“I know. It seems suspicious, but what we found out was that the shipments made a stop in Dallas first,” Ferrow added.
“Why Dallas and where?” Cesar asked them.
“A warehouse belonging to a guy who owns a company that does business with Brook Mosely’s compan
y. A guy by the name of Charlie Soyer.”
“And what do you have on him?” Stack asked.
“Nothing yet, aside from the fact that he met with Thylane’s father, Brook, several times in the past week,” J.T. said.
“Do we know what was in the shipment?” Finlin asked.
“Still working on that. It’s tough because the shipments are overseas. We have our connections trying to track them down so we can find out. In the meantime, we’ve been trying to find out more about this guy, Charlie Soyer. I got nothing so far,” J.T. told them.
“Shit, what if her father is somehow involved in this? We all know about that incident with her uncle working with Merritt Hopper. Maybe there’s a connection there and her dad is still under Hopper’s thumb and this guy Soyer is, too,” Cesar said to them.
“Maybe, but if that’s the case, Thylane knows nothing about it, but her father would. Maybe we need to go talk to him,” Finlin said.
“Don’t think that will go over too well with Thylane. Has she even told her father about you guys?” Luke asked.
“No. It’s new, and the last twenty-four hours have been nuts,” Pisces said.
“This meeting better go as planned. At least if we know that Yorkshire and Hopper are caught, then we don’t need to worry about this other shit. We’ll focus on Thylane and this new relationship,” Rusty said, and they all agreed.
“We hope so, too. You guys are really lucky to have found a woman to claim and care for. This isn’t over yet though,” J.T said.
Cesar’s cell phone rang.
* * * *
Cesar spoke into the phone and nodded and asked questions, and then he ended the call.
Sons of Justice 6: A Painter Walks into an Irish Pub (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever) Page 15