“You’re right,” he said, grinning. “Can’t seem to help myself when you’re around. Low-hanging fruit and all that.”
“Well, try,” she told him and opened the water bottle. “Here’s something I’ve always wondered...how did you manage to convince the owner to give you three apartments so you could make these changes?”
“I own the building. As long as I got the right permits, the city let me do whatever I want.”
“You own the building?”
“Yeah? Didn’t I mention that before?”
“No.”
He chuckled as if it were no big deal and said, “Well, now you know. I own the building. It’s the best way to control who your neighbors are.”
Wasn’t that the truth. If she’d been in charge of her apartment complex, she never would’ve allowed dogs. Her immediate neighbor had a small, yappy purse dog that barked at all hours of the night. Before Jane had invested in earplugs, she’d wanted to commit a crime that PETA would’ve persecuted her for. She’d even gone so far as to measure the width of the trash chute and, yep, a small dog would totally fit through the opening. “I suppose so,” she admitted with a shrug before slanting a curious gaze at him. “And how exactly did you afford this building?”
“Smart investments. I bought it years ago when housing values were still manageable. Cosmetically, it was in bad shape, but the bones were good, so I did the work myself, with some help from Miko when he could manage it. Once we were finished, I was judicious about who I rented to. All in all, it’s worked out pretty well.”
She whistled with appreciation. “I should say so. Holden, I never thought I’d say this about anything involving you, but I’m jealous.”
“I don’t blame you. Your apartment sucks.”
Her cheeks heated and she wrinkled her nose at him. “Yeah, well, not everyone is independently wealthy, as you apparently are.”
“Not wealthy, I just have an eye for good investments.”
“I guess so. A bachelor pad like this probably bags plenty of chicks. I imagine the hardest part is getting them to leave.”
“I suppose it could be, but I don’t bring chicks here.”
She tried not to let his admission floor her. Had she been the only woman he’d brought here? She’d thought for sure he’d use this place to get plenty of tail. “Really? So all of this grand architecture and stylish decor is just for your benefit?”
“Pretty much. Your home should be your sanctuary. When I come home, I don’t want other people crowding my space. You know what I mean? When I walk through my front door, I try to leave everything else behind. And if I started bringing chicks here, it would change the energy of the place. Plus, I don’t like women knowing where I live. It gets messy.”
“So why’d you bring me here?” She shouldn’t have asked, but she had and there was no taking it back.
His gaze darkened. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?”
She swallowed. Maybe not. She nodded anyway. “Yeah.”
“Because you were special. I know you don’t believe me, but I don’t go around telling women that I love them unless I mean it.”
A strange, sizzling burn skidded across her chest, and she had to suck back the gasp from the unexpected pain. Why did he have to go throwing the L word around? It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him or she hadn’t felt something in return, but she’d known that if she didn’t end things, it would’ve ended messily later. “Well, I guess that’s ancient history,” she returned briskly, forcing a smile. “I think we both dodged a bullet. I don’t think either one of us is cut out for the until death do us part thing. It would’ve been a nightmare in the end.”
“I guess we’ll never know.” A shadow passed over his face and she suffered the knowledge that she’d hurt him, probably more so than she’d realized at the time. However, as evidenced by the way her dad had reacted to Holden’s little sit-down-and-chat, she really had saved him years of misery. “And now the conversation just got too angsty,” he announced, breaking the silence between them as he pulled the envelope from his satchel. “Let’s put a pin in all that ‘ancient history,’ as you call it and see what’s in this envelope,” he suggested, redirecting. He had a point—they weren’t here to gab like girlfriends; they were here to open that envelope. Jane took a long drink of water as Holden used his Leatherman pocket knife to slice open the envelope. He dumped the contents carefully onto his granite countertop.
“Wow, someone was saving for a rainy day,” she observed as money, at least twenty thousand dollars, dropped to the counter along with several passports and driver’s licenses. Jane grabbed the first passport closest to her. “This isn’t your brother’s name,” she said, showing Holden the fake ID. “None of these are. Why would he need multiple aliases?”
He frowned. “I don’t know.” Holden pushed the cash out of the way and grabbed the IDs. “Three different identities, none of which I’ve ever heard of.” He read the addresses. “Mexico, Switzerland, London. What were you into, Miko?” he muttered. “What the hell were you doing?”
Wasn’t it painfully obvious? “Holden, he was getting ready to run because he knew he’d been caught. For whatever reason, he decided to kill himself instead.” Jane would have to be the bad guy. She tacked on, “I’m sorry,” because she did feel the tiniest bit of regret that she’d been right all along. She wasn’t an ogre. Holden had obviously loved his brother. “Give it some time,” she suggested. “With some distance...you’ll start to feel better.”
Holden shook his head, that stubborn look returning to his expression. “No, my brother would never leave me behind. You can argue all you want, but I know he wouldn’t. It’s that twin thing I told you about earlier.”
She smothered a sound of frustration. “How many more clues do you need that prove your brother was guilty?” she asked. “Look, I know how hard this must be. And honestly, I was kind of hoping we might find a different answer, but the facts seem pretty clear.”
His dark chuckle made her groan. Holden braced himself on the counter, leaning toward her. “They’re clear, are they? I’m sure they’re very clear for you. We both know this investigation is not high on your priority list. I know how this looks for you. I’m not stupid. And I know I’m asking a lot for you to trust me, and sometimes we don’t even like each other, but when I tell you there’s more to this story, you’re just going to have to believe me and help me get to the bottom of this.”
“Why? Like you said, tearing apart my own investigation isn’t high on my to-do list.”
“Because your type A brain won’t let the possibility that you screwed up pass you by. It’ll eat at you until you find the answers, even if you don’t like the answers you find.”
He knew her pretty well. She’d like to say it was because working in the same office, rubbing shoulders—wanted or not—would do that if paired with an observant person, but Holden knew her in a way she wanted to forget because it hurt to remember. Of course, she couldn’t let him know that. “Your point?” she shot back.
“My point is you know if you push past the obvious, you’ll see what I see. There’s more to this story than we’ve been told. And you want to get to the bottom of it.”
“Yeah? Why?”
“Do I have to spell it out?”
“No,” she allowed with a sigh, hating he had her figured out when he was constantly surprising her. “If it turns out you’re right, cracking open the true case will look good for my résumé and help give you closure about your brother. I get it!” Jane glared, hating he was right. “I said I’d give you the week. My word is good. But we better find more than just an envelope full of cash and some fake IDs as your proof Miko wasn’t a traitor.”
“A week is all I’m asking for.”
She was taking a big risk with Holden. It felt as if she were standing on the edge of a really big fall—and Holden was the one leading her straight to the cliff.
Chapter 7
Holden s
tared at the IDs Miko had stashed in the pool table. London, Switzerland, Mexico—all three places were common refuges for people who wanted to disappear. He lined the IDs in a row on the counter, letting his brain work through the tangle of questions. Next his focus moved to the cash. Twenty thousand was a lot of money, but it wasn’t enough to live off of for long, which meant Miko likely had money stashed elsewhere. How to find the money was the question. He couldn’t go through his usual channels; he had to go underground. He knew of a guy—through his friend Nathan Isaacs—but it wasn’t a strong connection. And frankly, the guy had nearly got killed the last time he had helped out on a high-stakes mission. The memory of that mission was enough to make Holden shake his head with a dark chuckle. Most people would freak out if they knew the kind of games the government played with everyday lives. Just ask Jake Isaacs, Nathan’s younger brother, who was still recovering from a dose of MCX-209, an experimental drug that’d temporarily wiped out his memories. The drug should’ve been destroyed and all of the research on it thrown into an incinerator, but everything pertaining to MCX-209 was under the lock and key of the Defense Intelligence Agency—including the doctor who’d created the drug, Dr. Kat Odgers. But as much as Holden didn’t want to involve another civilian, he didn’t see another choice. He called up his friend Nathan and hoped for the best.
“Hey, Holden, everything okay?” Nathan said as soon as he answered. In spite of the three-hour time difference, Nathan didn’t sound sleepy. Insomnia was something most vets came home with, and Nathan was no different. Miko and Nathan had been tight, serving in the same unit and later working for I.D. as snipers. They’d shared a bond, similar to what Holden and Miko had shared, and Holden trusted Nathan. “I heard about the decision to strip Miko of his honors. That’s rough, man. Just know that Miko was not the sum of his medals but the integrity of his heart. Keep that close and it doesn’t matter what the Powers That Be take from him.”
Holden closed his eyes, riding out the sting. “Thanks, man. But that’s not why I’m calling.”
“No? What’s up?”
“I have a real small window to prove that Miko didn’t do the things he’s been accused of.”
“Really? How did you manage that?”
“Luck and being as stubborn as a mule. But listen, this is what I need your help with—do you still have contact information for that computer guy? You know the one that made the virus that disabled the Zephyr system at the compound?”
“James Cotton? Yeah, I have his digits. But Jaci will have a fit if she finds out we’re dragging her friend back into danger. She stresses over all this ‘spy stuff,’ as she calls it.”
Jaci and Nathan had certainly been through the ringer together during the I.D. investigation. Aside from Nathan almost dying, a thug had broken Jaci’s finger in order to prove a point to Nathan. At the time, Jaci had been lucky only her finger had been broken—it could’ve been so much worse.
“I don’t blame her. People die and sometimes there’s no answers when they get involved with fringe government. All I can do is make my case. The guy will either say yes or he’ll say no, right?”
“True enough. Chances are James will say yes because he lives for a challenge, and for all his smarts doesn’t seem to have the good sense God gave a goose. Can you tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure what there is to tell, but I found three IDs and passports in a hidden location and I need to know if Miko was stashing money in other countries. The only way to find that out is to go through backdoor channels. I’m assuming your guy can do that, right?”
“James can do things that are so highly illegal I don’t even know how he’s still walking the streets.”
Holden laughed. “Excellent. That’s just the kind of guy I need.”
“In all seriousness, do you really think you have some solid evidence that could save Miko’s reputation?”
Holden heard the hope in Nathan’s voice and he understood that yearning because he felt it, too. “I sure as hell hope so. It’s weak, but it’s all I have to go on. I just have this feeling that if I chase it down, I’ll be able to find what I’m looking for.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Not just yet. I don’t want to drag you into this. You’ve been through enough.”
“It’s all in the past. Nothing but good things to look forward to now. You know, you might give Jake and his girl a call. They are up in Washington, too, doing that top-secret defense intelligence stuff. They might be able to open some doors for you that otherwise might stay closed. That is, if things with James don’t work out.”
“I appreciate it, man. How’s Jake feeling?”
“He’s not one hundred percent, but he’s doing damn good considering what he went through. He still has gaps in his memory. He’s getting better, though. He might even recover fully. Unfortunately, only time will tell.”
“That drug was scary shit. I wish they would’ve just dropped all the research into the ocean. Or down a deep, dark hole. That kind of stuff shouldn’t be in anyone’s hands. Not even our government’s.”
“Amen, brother.”
Holden thanked Nathan and ended the call. A few moments later, his phone chirped with the contact information he needed. He logged the name into his phone and then called Cotton, aka Ghost.
* * *
“Yeah?” James answered. “Who’s this?”
“Hey, James, not sure if you remember me, but my name’s Holden Archangelo—”
“Yeah, I remember you. Your brother, Miko, used to run with Nathan Isaacs.”
“You have a good memory.”
“Comes with being a genius. I’m assuming this isn’t a call to go get drinks or something. What do you need hacked?”
He appreciated the man’s straightforward attack. Holden wasn’t interested in chitchat either, so he got right to the point. “I need you to trace some money. My brother may have stashed cash in three different countries and I need to know why and how much.”
“You’re government grade, so why don’t you do it yourself?” he asked, then added, “Unless you can’t because you’re doing this on the down low.”
“Bingo. Think you can handle this?”
“Oh, I have no doubt I can handle it. The real question is, should I? The last time I had a play date with you cats, I nearly got my balls shot off and frankly, I’m fairly attached to that part of my anatomy.”
“Fair enough. I can’t guarantee your safety, and there’s a chance my brother was hiding from seriously bad people. However, something tells me you can’t help but hunger for a challenge.”
“Nice pitch. So what I’m hearing is danger, high level of threat and virtually zero benefit for me aside from the street cred in my personal circles. I don’t know, maybe I’m getting old, but that’s not enough.”
“You drive a hard bargain.”
“Or maybe I just wised up.”
“What’s it going to take, then?”
“Well, my car got blown up the last go around and I’m still taking the bus.”
“You want me to buy you a car?” Holden asked, incredulous at the guy’s nerve.
“Seems only fair.”
“The Isaacs brothers ought to be the ones buying you a car. That was their op that got your ride blown to bits.”
“Yeah, well, Jaci is my best friend and that just seems wrong to demand that from her and her husband, and Jake, well, he’s not quite right in the head, so how nice would it look if I was shaking down a guy with special needs?”
“Jake is hardly special needs. The guy could take you out with his bare hands and a piece of twine.”
“MacGyver style, I get it. Still, doesn’t seem right. Besides, they don’t need my help—you do. And to be honest, I don’t even know you, so why should I risk my neck for a stranger?”
Valid points. “All right. How about twenty grand? That ought to be enough scratch to buy you a car.”
“Twenty Gs? Yeah, that�
��ll work,” he said, whistling. “I accept your offer. Wire the cash and then I’ll contact you.”
“Look at you, all eager and shit. No,” he said, countering firmly. “Here’s how it’s going down. I will wire half of the cash now and half on delivery of the information. Got it?”
“I respect that. You have a deal.”
Holden gave a minute shake of his head, silently laughing at the guy’s tough-guy routine when he knew for a fact James Cotton was no marine. But hey, Holden respected his grab for some personal gain. People had to eat. “Expect the wire by the end of the day. And then I expect results within forty-eight hours. Got it?”
“Forty-eight hours? I’m not a magician.”
“Well, if you want to be paid, you ought to start learning some new tricks.”
“You government types are all the same—expecting the delivery of the moon and then demanding it within an impossible time frame.”
“Hey, forty-eight was generous. My original offer was going to be twenty-four.” At that he clicked off, smirking. From what he knew of James, the guy had an ego. With any luck, he’d beat that deadline with time to spare just so he could gloat. And that was fine by Holden. He wanted—no, he needed—answers now.
* * *
Jane sipped her wine and settled into the bathtub, giving in to a rare luxury. She never indulged in such a girlie thing, but her muscles ached and her brain was cluttered, and she was just ready to chill out for once.
Steam heated the room into a humid sauna. She didn’t mind. She liked the heat. Living in Washington, she suffered through the horrid winters just so she could get to the humid summers. Maybe someday she’d move to Florida. No, scratch that—she didn’t like alligators. Maybe Georgia or some other place in the South. She liked to fantasize about leaving D.C., but in truth, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere. Her home was here, where she was firmly rooted. Her father and brothers would have a fit if she tried to move. She was the one who took care of the mundane details of their father’s life, and neither of her brothers were going to take on that job. Nope. As her father liked to drill into his kids, everyone had a detail, a task, and only weaklings and pathetic losers shirked their responsibilities onto others. Like her mother.
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