Each word was like a slap to the face, and Bree reached for the wall to steady her suddenly weak legs.
“Give me details,” Kade ordered.
“McClendon paid me ten grand to set up equipment in his son’s and Jamie Greer’s offices. I monitored the surveillance for a couple of months, and then he said my services were no longer needed. That happened weeks before the two of you were sent in there undercover.”
That wasn’t exactly comforting, but it was something.
If it was true.
Bree just didn’t know anymore.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone this before now?” Bree asked, and she held her breath.
“Because I knew it would look bad. And I also knew it didn’t have anything to do with the case. Like I said, this just muddies the waters. The whole time I was monitoring those phone taps and hidden cameras, I didn’t see anything illegal going on.”
Kade groaned softly and shook his head. “Are you telling me that during all of this, you didn’t hear anything about the FBI’s investigation of that clinic?”
“Not a word,” Coop insisted.
That was possible because the investigation had been kept close to the vest, but Coop still should have come forward when he finally had heard about it.
And that brought Bree to another question that she didn’t want to ask. But she had to.
“When did you learn about Kade’s and my undercover operation?”
Another stretch of silence. “Three days into it,” Coop answered.
Her legs got even shakier. “The day our cover was blown and someone tried to kill us.”
“I had nothing to do with that!” Coop snapped. “And I want all of this talk and accusations to go away. I’ve told my boss all about it, and it’s the end of it. Period.”
Maybe the official end as far as the FBI was concerned, but it gave Bree some major doubts. Still, she couldn’t believe that Coop would have known about her kidnapping and not tried to do something to stop it.
“Are you satisfied, Ryland?” The anger in Coop’s voice went up a notch.
“No,” Kade readily answered. “Not even close. If I find out you did something to endanger Bree and our daughter—”
“I didn’t,” Coop interrupted. “And everyone at the Bureau believes me. They know I’m a good agent.” He paused again. “Bree, I need to see you. We need to talk alone. Say the word, and I’ll drive out to see you right now.”
Yes, they did need to talk, but it couldn’t happen right now. “I’ll call you when I can,” she let him know.
Bree gave Kade a nod, and he pressed the end call button. They both stood there, silent, while Bree tried to absorb what she’d just learned. But that wasn’t possible.
“Coop’s the reason I have a badge,” she managed to say.
Kade just nodded and pulled her into his arms. Until he did that, Bree hadn’t known just how much she needed to be held.
This hurt, bad.
“Just wait until all the evidence is in, and we’ll see where this goes,” Kade said, and he pressed a kiss on her forehead. “It might not even lead back to Coop.”
She eased back, looked up at him. “Even if Coop isn’t dirty, he still should have said something about having worked for McClendon.”
Kade could only make a sound of agreement.
And Bree felt as if her world had fallen apart.
The soft sobbing sound left her mouth before she could stop it, and it caused Kade to pull her back into his arms.
“Shhh,” he whispered, his breath brushing over her face. “It’ll be okay.”
Bree wasn’t sure she believed that and looked up to tell him, but everything seemed to stop. Not the pain. That was still there. So was the ache at being separated from Leah. But the whirlwind of thoughts about Coop and the investigation came to a grinding halt. She was instantly aware of Kade. Of his arms. Of the way he made her feel.
Without thinking, she came up on her toes and kissed Kade.
He made a sound, too. A low rumble that came from deep within his throat, and he snapped her to him until her body was pressed against his.
And he kissed her right back.
But he did more than that. Oh, yeah. More. Kade took control of things. His mouth moved over hers, and he parted the seam of her lips with his tongue.
The taste of him roared through every inch of her. She’d known the attraction was there. Had felt it. But this was more. It was a burning fire that the kiss fanned until it seemed more like a need.
His fingers dived into her hair, anchoring her head so that he controlled the movement. He didn’t stop there. He turned her and put her back against the wall. And he put himself against her.
The sensations hit her hard. Not just the heat and the need, but the feel of his body on hers. It didn’t help when he took that kiss to her neck.
Bree fought to get in a different position so that she could feel more of him, and she got it finally. The alignment brought his sex against her, and the intimate contact along with his lips and tongue on her neck were making her insane. She was within seconds of dragging him to the floor so they could do this the right way.
Or the wrong way.
She caught his chin and lifted it, forcing eye contact. “Are we ready for this?” she asked.
It no doubt sounded like a joke, but there was nothing humorous in Kade’s eyes. That icy gray had turned fiery hot, and it was clear that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
“Ready?” he repeated as if it were painful just to ask the question. He dropped back an inch.
“Sex will complicate things,” she settled for saying.
He thought about that a few seconds. “Yeah.” And he put another inch of space between them.
Bree hated the loss of his touch and the heat, but she was also aware that both could return in a snap. What she felt for Kade wasn’t just going to disappear.
“When we have sex,” he said, “it probably shouldn’t happen on the foyer floor.”
For some reason that made her smile. “The place is optional,” she let him know. “But the timing isn’t.”
Almost reluctantly, he nodded. “Soon, then.” And he came back at her with a kiss that could melt metal.
He pulled away, leaving her breathless and making her rethink her decision to delay this, just as Kade’s phone buzzed again. She groaned because she thought it might be Coop, but this time it was Jamie.
As he’d done with Coop’s call, Kade took the call on speaker. “We read your note,” Kade greeted. “You have answers? Well, I’d like to hear them now.”
“Not yet,” Jamie answered, her voice strained with fear.
Or something.
Bree wasn’t about to take anything this woman said at face value.
“Meet me tomorrow morning, both of you,” Jamie explained. “Nine a.m. at the pond that’s in the park on the edge of town. If you bring anyone else with you, the meeting is off. You’ll never learn the truth.”
Bree got a very uneasy feeling about this.
Apparently, so did Kade. “What truth?” he demanded.
Jamie groaned softly. “The truth about what really happened to Bree after she was kidnapped.”
Chapter Eleven
Kade wasn’t at all sure this meeting should happen, and Jamie’s one condition had made him even more concerned.
They were supposed to come alone, or the meeting was off.
Kade understood Jamie’s fear—feigned or otherwise—but he had a greater need to keep Bree safe. That’s why he was taking precautions without violating Jamie’s come alone command.
He ended the call with Mason and glanced over at Bree on the passenger’s seat beside him. Her attention was fastened to the rearview mirror, no doubt making sure no one was following them. She also had her hand on the gun in the shoulder holster that he’d lent her.
After all, they could be driving into a trap, and he hadn’t wanted her unarmed. Since he couldn’t tuck her away safel
y, the next best thing was to use her agent’s training to get them out of this.
“Mason’s in place at the park,” Kade relayed to her. “He’s across from the pond and hidden in some trees. Jamie arrived a few minutes ago.”
“Good.” She paused. “Was Mason able to secure the area before Jamie got there?”
“More or less.” It was the less part that was giving Kade some second and third thoughts about this, and it wasn’t too late to turn his truck around and head back to the ranch.
But then, they wouldn’t be any closer to ending this investigation.
“Mason is armed with a rifle in case something goes wrong, and he has one of the ranch hands with him,” Kade explained. “But there are a lot of places to hide in that park. Jamie could already have someone in place.”
And by someone, he meant another hit man.
“You could wait at the sheriff’s office,” he suggested. After looking at her, he didn’t want her in danger. So much for relying on her training. “I’ll call Jamie and renegotiate another meeting place. A safer one.”
“She’ll just say no, and one restless night away from Leah has been enough. I want this to end.”
Yeah. He couldn’t disagree with that. Being away from Leah had sucked, but this meeting and Bree had also contributed to his lack of sleep.
Kade blamed himself for the Bree part.
The kissing session had left his body burning for her, and even though she’d slept in the guest room just up the hall from him, that brainless part of him below the waist hadn’t let him forget that Bree was nearby. Brainless had also reminded him repeatedly that if he pushed, he could have Bree in his bed.
But it was wrong to push.
Even if he wanted to badly.
No, this was one of those situations where he had to leave the decision making to his brain.
Kade kept driving, through town and past the sheriff’s office. Deputy Melissa Garza was inside and monitoring the lone security camera at the park. It wasn’t at the best angle, but if she saw someone approaching the pond area, she had instructions to call Mason.
Not a foolproof plan, but maybe they’d get lucky.
He took the turn into the park and was thankful to see it practically deserted. Probably because it was a weekday, and it was still a little too early for an outing. Kade drove to the pond that was on the back side of the twenty-acre area, and he parked as close to it as he could. He had no trouble spotting Jamie.
The woman was seated at a picnic table and was wearing a dark green pants outfit that blended in with the summer grass and the leafy trees. She had on her usual sunshades and a baseball cap—probably her attempt at a disguise. Hard to disguise that bright auburn hair. She stood the moment Kade and Bree stepped from his truck.
“You came,” she said on a rise of breath. Her skeptical tone let Kade know that she hadn’t expected him to follow through.
Or else she was acting.
“You didn’t give us much choice,” Bree informed her. Like Kade, she kept watch on their surroundings. And on Jamie. Bree kept studying the woman to make sure she didn’t draw a weapon on them.
“Let’s make this quick,” Kade told her right off the bat. “Give us the answers so we can get the hell out of here.”
Jamie nodded, swallowed hard. “I want to make a deal. Immunity from prosecution in exchange for information.”
Interesting. But somewhat predictable. Jamie was facing some jail time. “What information?”
But Jamie shook her head. “I need your word that you’ll help me work a deal with the D.A.”
Kade didn’t jump to answer but finally said, “Sure.” It was a lie. Maybe. If Jamie did help them end this, then he would see what he could do.
Jamie didn’t jump to answer, either, and she sank back down on the table’s bench. “About ten months ago I got a call from Tim Kirk, and he said there was a security problem that had to do with something going on at the clinic. He gave me an address to a house in the Hill Country, and when I got there, he was holding Bree captive. She’d been heavily drugged.”
Bree pulled in a quick breath, and Kade figured she’d be taking a lot of those in the next few minutes.
“Why didn’t you call the police or the FBI?” Bree asked.
Jamie glanced around again. “Because Kirk was blackmailing me. I signed off on one of the questionable surrogate deals.”
“You mean an illegal deal,” Kade corrected.
“Yes,” Jamie said, her mouth tight now. “I didn’t want to go to jail, and I thought he was only going to hold Bree long enough to try to influence the investigation.”
“Influence?” Bree repeated. She cursed. “You let him inseminate me.”
“I also helped you!” But the burst of energy seemed to drain her, and Jamie groaned. She turned that shaded gaze in Kade’s direction. “I don’t know who was paying Kirk, but the plan was to force you to destroy all the evidence that could incriminate anyone. Including me.”
Ah, he got it now. “That’s why you went along with it.” So that there would be no evidence against her. But there was a problem. “The FBI doesn’t have all the possible evidence so there’s no way Bree or I could have destroyed it all. There are missing surveillance backups.”
Jamie shook her head. “I have the backups.”
Kade didn’t know who looked more shocked—Bree or him. Now, this was something he hadn’t expected to hear in the meeting.
“Where are they?” he demanded.
“Hidden safely away. They’re my insurance that Kirk’s boss won’t come after me. He knows there’s enough incriminating evidence on them to put him in jail for years. McClendon knows I have them, too.”
Well, that explained the threat McClendon had made at the sheriff’s office.
“McClendon knows you’re trying to cut a deal with us?” Bree asked her.
“I don’t think so.” But Jamie didn’t sound at all convinced of that. “McClendon threatens me a lot, but I’ve told him that if something happens to me, then those backups will find their way to the FBI.”
Kade gave that some thought. If what Jamie was saying was true, this gave McClendon motive for trying to use Bree. Of course, maybe those backups showed someone else engaged in criminal activity.
Like Coop.
Anthony.
Or even Jamie herself.
“You can give us a copy of the backups,” Kade suggested. “And that way you’d still have the originals to keep yourself safe.”
“The backups can’t be copied,” Jamie explained. “It’s the way McClendon set up the system. The backups have an embedded code to wipe them clean if anyone tries to burn a copy.”
Well, hell. Now Kade had to figure out a way to get the originals from Jamie. If the woman really had them, that is.
He wasn’t sure she was telling the truth. About this. Or about anything else.
“I wasn’t there when Kirk or whomever did the insemination on Bree,” Jamie went on. “I wasn’t there for the C-section, either. But later Kirk told me that the obstetrician had been killed.” Jamie shivered. “He even showed me a picture of a mutilated body and said the same thing would happen to me if I didn’t keep my mouth shut.”
Kade huffed. “You’re an accessory to murder.”
Jamie frantically shook her head. “No. I swear, I didn’t know until afterward, and that’s when I knew I had to do something. Kirk was saying they didn’t need Bree anymore, that the baby was leverage enough to get you to cooperate.”
Yes, and it might have worked. Kade would have done anything to protect Leah.
“So, how did you talk Kirk into keeping me instead of Leah?” Bree asked.
“I didn’t. Couldn’t,” Jamie corrected. “He ordered me to take the baby to a house in San Antonio where a nanny was waiting and when I returned he was going to kill you. Instead, I drove the baby to the Silver Creek hospital and left her there.”
Because Bree didn’t look too steady on her feet, Ka
de moved closer to her. Not too close, though, because he wanted them both to have room to draw their guns if something went wrong. There was still a chance of that happening. Whoever had hired Kirk wouldn’t want Jamie to spill this.
“Kirk couldn’t have been pleased about you not delivering the baby to San Antonio.” Kade made a circling motion for Jamie to continue.
Jamie touched her hand to her lips. Her fingers and mouth were trembling. “He wasn’t. I told him someone had run me off the road and kidnapped her. He was furious and said he had to see his boss immediately. I knew I had to get Bree out of there, too.”
“But you didn’t, not right away,” Bree reminded her. “Why?”
“Because Kirk kept watching me. He didn’t trust me after what happened with the baby. Then one night I slipped him a drug, and that’s when I went on the run with you. When I was sure I wasn’t being followed, I left you at that motel and then made the anonymous call so Kade could come and get you. Before Kirk did.”
Well, it had worked. So far. Bree and Leah were both alive, and the man partly responsible for what had happened—Kirk—was now dead.
Kade moved closer to Jamie, hoping it would make her nervous enough to tell them whatever else she was keeping from them. “Who was Kirk’s boss?”
“I don’t know.” She answered without hesitation. “Kirk used to call him, but I never heard him say the person’s name. I always assumed it was McClendon.”
Good assumption.
But it could be a bad one.
Kade glanced at Bree and realized she was no doubt thinking the same thing.
Bree cleared her throat. “Did Kirk do anything else to me?”
Jamie looked in her direction for a moment. “No. Nothing like rape or torture. He just kept you drugged as much as he could. More so after the C-section.”
Kade was relieved that other horrible things hadn’t been done to Bree, but Jamie was wrong about the torture. Being held captive while pregnant was the stuff of nightmares, and he figured those nightmares would be with Bree for the rest of her life.
And someone would pay for that.
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