“That’s what I’m counting on. You and Knight still have to figure out what’s going on. You can’t help me if you’re being watched all the time. Figure it out and stop whatever’s happening so that you can get me out. I’ll be fine.”
He looked pissed, but he nodded. I hugged my family just as the elevators opened. “Not a word,” I hissed.
My boss came storming off the elevator. His face was red and he was pissed. I would say I was surprised that he was here, but the way he reacted to the information I brought him made it pretty clear that he needed me back where he could watch me and he needed to know what I knew. I looked back at my family and gave a reassuring smile. I wasn’t sure that I would ever see them again, but I knew that I had done the right thing, and they knew it too. Now, I just had to pray that Knight and Cap could figure all this out.
Chapter Thirty-One
Agent Dennick
I scowled at Agent Collins as she was taken into custody. This woman had caused me more trouble over the last few months than any other agent I ever had to deal with. She was a pain in the ass and I couldn’t keep her under control, which was why I had to fire her. She didn’t understand that there were powerful people out there, people that would make my life a living hell if I didn’t follow their suggestions. Senator Cortez had become a huge thorn in my side, one that I didn’t wish to dig in any deeper. Even though he was a new senator, he had connections already established when he took his seat.
The project that he was working on was wrong. I knew it. Hell, everyone involved knew it, but they had their objectives and if I wanted to keep my job, I would decide that I had the same objectives as the rest of them. I had one job, shut down anything that came through my channels related to him or anyone involved. But someone knew to contact Blake Collins. They knew she was tenacious and wouldn’t give up. Her moral high ground made me sick. You didn’t get things done in this world by always doing the right thing. You got things done by eliminating threats to you and your cause. So, no matter what I thought about what the senator had in store, I had to make sure that it happened.
“Where’s Michael Parker?” I asked the man in front of me. He stood there, arms crossed over his chest like he didn’t give a fuck about me or my badge. It pissed me off and made me want to slap some cuffs on him. But I also needed information.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are? This is a federal investigation and you’re interfering. I could have your ass thrown in jail.”
He smirked at me and it took everything I had not to punch him. “I’m Sebastian Reed, owner of this company. That’s who I know I am. You came for the woman and you have her. I haven’t done anything to interfere with what you’re doing.”
“And how did she just happen to be here?”
“She showed up on my doorstep, rambling about needing help. If you ask me, I thought she sounded a little off. I found out who she was and I called her family,” he said, nodding to the five men in the room, “and asked them to come. I didn’t tell them she was here, of course. I didn’t want them to worry.”
I turned to the men. They had already been questioned by other agents. I found it very interesting that they didn’t know where she was and hadn’t heard from her, but here they suddenly were.
“So, you didn’t know where she was three days ago, but now you’ve found her.”
“Pretty lucky,” one of them nodded. “When your agents showed up and started questioning us, we knew that something was wrong.”
“So, your sister is missing and this man calls, and you just come running, without knowing why or any other details. Why do I not believe that?”
“Believe what you want,” the father stepped forward. “Our girl was missing and someone called us, saying it was important. We didn’t want to waste your resources on something that might not pan out. Besides, it all worked out for the best. You showed up right after we did.”
I grinned slightly. “Yeah, funny how you didn’t share that little piece of information about a car she might be driving.”
“We didn’t even think about it until a day later.”
These guys had an answer for everything. “You should have called.”
“You got who you wanted,” the father scowled. “Do your investigation and let my little girl go.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I sneered. “I don’t have what I want, because she was with a man, a piece of shit that raped a woman while he was serving in the military. Is that who you want your daughter hanging around? He was with her and now he’s not. I’m not leaving here until I find out where he went.”
“Then you’re going to be here a while,” Reed said, “because he’s not here, and you can search every fucking inch of this place, but you’re not going to find him.”
My blood boiled. This couldn’t be happening. I needed that fucker. He was somehow tied to this, and there could be no loose ends. Even one person could blow this whole thing wide open, and I couldn’t afford that.
“Sir.” One of my agents appeared in the doorway, motioning me over.
I stalked over to him. “You’d better have something good.”
“Sir, an SUV was seen driving out of town about ten minutes ago.”
“And?”
“It’s the same type of SUV that this company uses. It could be nothing, but it’s our only lead right now.”
“Find it. I want you to follow it and if Parker is in there, you make damn sure that you get him. I want him sitting in a fucking jail cell by the end of the day.”
“Yes, sir.”
I walked back over to Sebastian Reed and put on my most evil face, but that fucker just chuckled at me. God, I really hated him. “I should put your ass in jail right now.”
“I’d like to see you try. I have excellent lawyers.”
“I’m sure you do. You’d better watch your back. I have Collins, and once I have my hands on Parker, I’ll have all the information I need. And then I’m coming for you.”
“You do that. I’ll have someone show you out.”
He nodded to someone behind me and then turned, effectively saying he had already forgotten about me. I ground my teeth as I headed down in the elevator with the hulking man beside me. It was like they were all on steroids.
The elevator doors opened and he walked out, sweeping his arm toward my car. “So, you just follow the drive back to the east, that’s your right, and head for that big sign that says EXIT. That means-”
“I know what the fuck an exit means.”
He held up his arms and looked at me in mock surprise. “I’m just trying to help. You look like you don’t get out very much.”
I ground my teeth, biting back the retort on the tip of my tongue. It wouldn’t do any good to engage a neanderthal like this.
“So, anyway, you follow the road through the exit, and then you head for the gate. You don’t have to do anything. They know to open that big thing- the gate, and let you out.” I turned to leave and he shouted after me. “I like your suit! It makes you look very….distinguished.”
I turned and stormed back to him. “What’s your name?”
“Sinner,” he grinned cockily.
“Sinner, someday you’ll learn to keep your mouth shut before it gets you into trouble.”
“Shit, trouble is my middle name. I happen to like trouble. It’s a lot of fun.” He leaned in and lowered his voice like he was telling me a secret. “That’s when you do things for pleasure, enjoyment. Know what I’m saying?”
“You’d better watch it. You might have too much fun one day, and then I’ll be coming for you. It might be sooner than you think.”
He nodded, smiling the whole time. “I’ll be ready, but you should know, my version of fun involves guns and massive explosions.”
He fucking winked at me and turned the other way, leaving me absolutely fuming. I stormed off to my car and got inside. My phone rang before I could leave, and t
his was a call that I couldn’t let go unanswered.
“Cortez,” I answered crisply.
“Do you have them?”
“We have Collins. Parker wasn’t there, but we think we have a lead on him.”
“Get to him. If you don’t take care of this, you’ll find yourself looking for a new job. Understand?”
“Perfectly.”
“Don’t fuck this up.”
He hung up without another word. I fisted my phone tight, wishing I could just break the fucking thing and walk away. I would get that fucker and finish this job, and then I was going to find a way to separate myself from the senator once and for all.
A text came in and I pulled my phone out to check it. I needed some fucking good news right now.
We’ve got Parker. Chopper is waiting for you.
My phone pinged again with an address just outside of town. I grinned to myself. I was less than a half hour from having all this shit wrapped up.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Cap
I watched the fucker walk away, but forced myself not to move yet. I had to wait until he was out of here. Blake had been right to make me step down. There was shit that I still needed to take care of, and while the FBI only had arrest warrants right now, when they realized that Blake didn’t have the journal on her and neither did Parker, they would be coming back with search warrants, and we needed to be ready for that.
The doors slid closed and I watched the security monitor as the agents made their way out to the parking garage. Sinner was fucking with Dennick. Just what I needed. He got in his car and a few minutes later was pulling out of the driveway. I burst into action, pulling out my cell and barking out orders.
“Becky, conference room, now! Tell everyone.”
“What’s going on?” Blake’s father asked.
“I’m sorry. I hate to push you out, but we have shit to take care of.”
“We can help,” Todd insisted.
“You can’t. I wish you could, and I know this is your sister, but I promise we’ll do everything we can for her. But right now, we have to make sure that when those agents come back, they have nothing to find. Otherwise I can’t help her.”
“You expect us to just leave?”
“Look, if you stay here, then everything she said was for nothing. You’re supposed to be here only because I was worried about her. If you stay, it looks like we’re working together. Believe me, they’re going to come back, and when they do, they’ll be looking for anything they can use against her. They’ll try and slap you with interfering in a federal investigation. Will your sister hold out against that?”
“They can’t do shit to her. All they can do is hold her,” Matt argued.
I shook my head. These guys just didn’t get it. “Do you really think that’s true? You have too much faith in government if you think they won’t use any tactic necessary to get the information they need. You don’t know the shit your sister stepped in, but there are powerful people involved, and I don’t even know the full extent of it yet.”
“But they-”
“Look, she did something and they hunted her down with a fucking blackhawk helicopter. Not just anyone can get their hands on one of those. That tells me that whoever is after her will go to any lengths to make sure that she doesn’t talk and they get what they’re looking for.”
“Cap, what’s going on?” Becky asked, rushing into the room.
“Guys, I need you to leave now. I’m serious, don’t wait around. Get home and go on with your lives.”
“We can’t just walk away from her,” Todd argued.
“Fine. Rob!” I shouted as he hurried down the hall. “Get a burner phone.”
He nodded and raced back to the IT room.
“I’ll give you a phone that you use only to talk to me. I’ll call you with updates as to what’s going on. Under no circumstances do you use it for anything else. If something happens, if the feds show up again, you call me immediately.”
Rob rushed in the room and handed me the phone. I gave it to the dad, but held onto it. “Promise me. This isn’t just about your daughter. A lot of people have their lives on the line right now.”
He nodded in agreement. “Promise.”
I nodded to Rob and he took them to the elevator to bring them downstairs. Now I had to get all our shit together. Everyone had gathered in the room, waiting for me to fill them in.
“As a few of you know, Knight was working on something on the side. That’s kind of blown up in our faces and we need to lock everything down. Blake has been taken into custody by the FBI and Parker is gone. It’s very likely that he’ll get taken into custody also. Becky, I need you to transfer all files that we’ve been working on relating to this over to Cazzo’s house. Once it’s all transferred, cut the connection to his house and wipe our system of all this information. Cazzo, you take all hard copies to your house and lock it up tight. Everyone else, we need to make sure that there is not a single fucking thing the feds can come in here and site us for. I want every weapon secured as it should be. All files need to be locked up. I don’t want a fucking tea cup out of place around here. When the FBI finds out that they don’t have what they’re looking for with Blake, they’ll be back with a search warrant. Let’s not give them a single fucking reason to lock any more of us up. Believe me, they’re going to come at us hard. Let’s get to work.”
Everyone dispersed, hauling ass to make sure the company was in order. Knight walked over to me, waiting for everyone to leave.
“What do you think?”
He shook his head. “I think we need help on this. I have a guy inside the FBI. He helps me out from time to time. I can call him and ask him to help out.”
“And you trust him?”
He shot me a glare. “Do you really think I would trust just anyone?”
“You have to be sure on this. It’s not just you that you’re protecting right now.”
“He’s our best chance at finding out what’s going on inside the FBI. He shouldn’t come here though. I’ll set up a meet, but I think the first thing we need to do is find out what the fuck is in that journal that the FBI is so eager to get their hands on.”
“Agreed. Once we’re all locked up here, we’ll head over to Cazzo’s house.”
“Not everyone. Let’s keep this restricted to just a core group of guys. It’s safer if not everyone is involved. Once we know what’s going on, we can fill everyone in.”
I nodded. “We need to function like normal. If it looks like we’re trying to hide something, they’ll come at us harder. We continue with jobs and pretend it’s just another day at the office.”
“Sounds good.”
“What about the wives?”
He shook his head. “We have to go on as normal. It’ll look too suspicious if the FBI is watching.”
“You’re sure about that? What if the feds start approaching them? What if one of them is brought in for questioning?”
His eyes darkened and his fists clenched. “They won’t know anything. We’ll just have to deal with it for now.”
I hoped he was right on that. “If you’re sure you want to risk the wrath of our wives,” I said hesitantly.
“Look, the feds are gonna come at us first with a search warrant. There’s no point in even questioning anyone until they’ve searched for that journal.”
“God, I hope you’re right. I’m not really interested in seeing what happens if Maggie gets dragged in.”
Knight quirked his head to the side and in a rare instance, he fucking smiled. “I don’t know, that could be interesting.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Parker
I could hear the faint sound of chopper blades, but I couldn’t see where they were coming from. I drove faster, hoping that I could get to my destination before I was caught. Knight had set me all up, but I still needed to find out why she fucking did this to me. Then I would haul ass out of the safe house and get to Colorado to meet up wi
th Blake.
I pulled down the long drive and squealed to a stop. There was a guard outside the door that nodded to me. Knight must have let him know that I was coming. I shoved the door open and stormed through the house looking for Kiera.
“Kiera!”
I checked the kitchen and the bedroom, but she wasn’t there. I shoved open another door, but she wasn’t there either.
“Parker?”
I spun around and there she was, looking relaxed and comfy in her new little house. It pissed me off so much. Here she was, happy as can be in her little hideaway while I was out there fighting for everything I could get. All the anger that I felt since Knight had filled me in came pouring out of me.
“So, you remember me.”
She looked like I struck her and took a step back, like I would actually fucking hurt her. “Parker-”
“Why did you do it, Kiera? Why the fuck would you set me up like that?”
“I didn’t-”
“Bullshit! Don’t give me that crap. For three fucking years, I believed that you actually thought that I raped you. I felt sorry for you, thinking that you were suffering from PTSD from being raped, but all this time, you were just ashamed, right?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” she said, her voice wobbling.
“You always have a choice when it comes to doing what’s right. You could have chosen not to fuck me over, but you went against me, and I want to know why.”
“You don’t understand. He would have ruined me.”
“Like you ruined me? I can’t get a fucking job, Kiera. Everyone looks at me like I’m a piece of shit. I don’t have my benefits. My name is shit and I’ve lost the respect of the military, all because you thought of yourself. What the fuck did I ever do to you?” I shouted.
“You didn’t do anything,” she shouted back. “You were convenient, okay? Is that what you want to hear? You were the only one that wasn’t part of it.”
Parker: A Reed Security Romance Page 25