Locked and Loaded

by Mandy Baxter

  Kieran gave Jensen a look as though the older man had already revealed too much. Charlie didn’t want him getting spooked. She wanted Faction Five and they needed Eagan to get it done. Taking them down would make her career.

  “You think I can trust him?” Kieran asked.

  “What could it hurt?” Jensen shrugged.

  Kieran let out an amused snort.

  Charlie wondered at Mason’s continued silent stoicism. He’d made his case, it seemed, and he wasn’t about to beg for any favors from either Kieran or his father. Charlie had reached the end of what she could offer as well. She was afraid to open her mouth. To say or do anything that might hurt rather than help them. The silence that settled over the table became thick with tension. Oppressive. Charlie wished she knew more about the history these three men shared, because she had a feeling she was missing a huge piece of the puzzle.

  “Why is the CIA watching me?” Kieran flashed a challenging grin.

  “I don’t work for the CIA,” Mason shot back. “How the fuck should I know?”

  The arrogant smile once again made an appearance on Kieran’s face. “A little uncertainty makes life more interesting, don’t you think, Mason?”

  Mason tensed, though his expression remained relaxed. She doubted he subscribed to Kieran’s philosophies.

  “I want money and a reputation I can be proud of,” Mason replied. “And I don’t want to wind up here after I get it.”

  A dark cloud passed over Jensen’s features. Regret, perhaps? “Make him prove himself, Kieran.”

  Kieran’s gaze sparked. “A test?”

  Well, shit. It was probably foolish to have thought that Kieran would just take them at their word and welcome them with open arms.

  Jensen looked at Kieran and his lips thinned. “Yeah.”

  Kieran laughed. Too bad Charlie didn’t find their situation quite as funny. “I haven’t had this much goddamned fun since we were kids. A game,” he said with excitement. “Whaddya say, Mason? You up for a little challenge?”

  Mason let out a grumbling sound that conveyed just how excited he was about Kieran’s proposal. “Whatever you want. I don’t give a shit. Let’s just get on with it and quit hemming and hawing, yeah?”

  “Abso-fucking-lutely.” Kieran pushed his chair out and stood. “You’ll hear from me tomorrow.” He chuckled again. “This is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.”

  Charlie’s stomach sank. This couldn’t possibly be good. Mason glanced up at Kieran, his jaw squared. He didn’t say a single word, just locked gazes with the other man.

  “Charlie.” Kieran reached out and took her hand. “See you soon, I hope.”

  “Definitely,” Charlie replied with a pleasant smile.

  “I’ll be back to see you soon, old man,” Kieran said to Mason’s father. “Take it easy.”

  Jensen responded with an affectionate smile. “Always.”

  As he turned to leave, Charlie let out a shaky breath. This little family reunion couldn’t be over fast enough for her peace of mind.

  Chapter Six

  Unspent adrenaline pooled in Mason’s limbs. He was twitchy as fuck and nothing short of a five-mile run was going to work the excess energy out of his system. Hell, even that might not be enough. Beside him, the click clack of Charlie’s heels as she walked drilled into his head with the force of a jackhammer. The urge to snatch them off her feet and chuck the damn things was almost too much to resist. An exasperated sigh escaped from between Charlie’s lips. The fact that she even had the nerve to act put-out caused Mason’s temper to crest. She’d damned near fucked them both over today. Hell, there wasn’t even a guarantee that Kieran had bought any of it.

  They exited the prison and the click clack, click clack increased in tempo as Charlie tried to keep up with him. Mason strode across the parking lot, his breath heaving in his chest as he swallowed down the anger that threatened to surface. He wasn’t as mad at her as he was at his own damned self for letting not only Kieran, but his hurtful past, get under his skin.

  “Do you want to tell me exactly what in the hell you thought you were doing today, Mason?”

  Mason’s hands balled into fists at his sides and he clenched his jaw until his molars ground. He turned to face Charlie and met her wild blue gaze.

  “What in the hell was I doing?” he asked with incredulity. “What in the hell were you doing, Charlie?”

  “I came to kick your ass off my task force,” she spat. “You were supposed to meet your dad and Eagan the day after tomorrow. I told you I was putting my trust in you and you went behind my back—”

  Her angry words barely registered. “Do you realize what you’ve done by following me here today?” Did she have no clue the danger she’d put herself in? “You’re in this now, Charlie. You’re not just sitting at your desk, micromanaging everyone. You’re on Kieran’s radar. He’s going to expect to see you. I told you that I would only be a part of this operation if I worked alone. And now, thanks to you, I have a partner.”

  “Wait.” Charlie stopped dead in her tracks. “What do you mean a partner?”

  Mason’s rueful laughter echoed around them. She really didn’t understand the weight of her actions at all. “Partner,” Mason stressed. “As in, not one but two. Both Kieran and my father assume that we’re working together now. What’s going to happen if suddenly you’re no longer in the picture?”

  Charlie’s mouth gathered into the pucker that Mason found so distracting. His gaze wandered to her full lips for the barest moment. The last thing he wanted was for Kieran to find Charlie even marginally interesting, and without even trying she’d piqued his interest. Not good. Mason wanted to work alone because he didn’t want the responsibility of someone else’s safety thrust on him. He’d had enough of that working with CBP. And now he was going to have to watch Charlie like a goddamned hawk. Kieran had always been a competitive son of a bitch. He’d pursue Charlie just to prove that he could get her.

  “I didn’t think—”

  “No.” Mason let out a derisive snort. “You sure as hell didn’t.”

  “Fine. I screwed up.” Charlie blew out a gust of breath that stirred the wisps of hair that dangled over her right eye. “But you changed the day! What was I supposed to think, Mason?”

  “You were supposed to think that I knew what I was doing and stay the hell out of it!”

  Charlie’s eyes widened. “This is my task force!”’

  Mason raked his fingers through his hair before brushing it all forward with a forceful flick of his wrists. He didn’t think it was possible to be any more aggravated than he was right now. He rounded on Charlie, stepped right up to her until his chest nearly brushed hers. “How long does it take Kieran to prepare for a job?” Charlie bucked her chin up a notch but didn’t respond. “What’s his favorite wine? Bourbon? What city does he want to retire to when he’s finally had enough of the game? Do you know how he got started? What his favorite cons are? Which ones he still likes to run?” Mason waited a moment and still Charlie didn’t utter a word. “Well? Do you?”

  “No.” The word slipped tightly from between her pursed lips. “But you do?”

  “You’re damn right I do.”

  Charlie scoffed. “How is it that you know more about him than all of the agencies on the task force combined?”

  “Kieran and I grew up together.” Mason reached up to fiddle with his hair. Charlie agitated the hell out of him. “He lived with us for eight years. He visited my dad every month for years after he went to prison. He’s my goddamned brother.”

  Her jaw went slack. Mason had only known Charlie for a few days, but already he enjoyed stunning her into silence. Every bomb dropped cracked away at the giant chip on her shoulder. If she only knew just how far over her head she’d gotten herself today …

  “I had no idea that Kieran was so enmeshed with your family. You were the wrong choice for this operation.”

  It was Mason’s turn to scoff. “I was the only choice.”
Charlie drew in a deep breath but Mason didn’t give her a chance to speak. “Did you drive here?”

  Her brow furrowed as a burst of incredulous laughter escaped her full lips. “Of course I drove. Do you think I jogged from downtown?”

  “We’ll come back and get your car later.” He grabbed her by the elbow and led her along none too gently.

  “Excuse me?” Her outrage was a little misplaced considering she’d been the one to throw the monkey wrench into his plans. “I’m not leaving my car here.”

  “Yeah,” Mason replied. “You are. You think Kieran just toddled off without a care in the world after this little reunion?” Charlie’s heels clicked triple time to keep up with Mason’s wide stride through the parking lot. God, that sound drilled right into his damn cranium. “He’s probably watching us. Or has someone watching us. Odds are we’ll be followed from here on out. Which means you can’t go home, either.”

  Her indignant tone cranked up by a decibel with every word. “What do you mean, I can’t go home?”

  Mason had to admit he liked her fire. “Do you want him to find out who you really are, Charlie? Because believe me, it won’t be hard.”

  “Oh my God.”

  She spoke the words under her breath, but Mason caught them just the same. He wasn’t helping the situation with his harsh words, rushing her across the parking lot. If Kieran was watching them—and he’d be a fool not to—their behavior would appear antagonistic at best. They were supposed to be partners. Trusting. Comfortable. Confident.

  Mason forced his pace to slow and he relaxed by small degrees. The hand that gripped Charlie’s elbow slid down her forearm before he released his hold. Her skin was like satin against his. Warm. Mason pushed the momentary distraction from his mind and continued toward his car. They were supposed to be business partners, nothing more.

  “My car’s over there.”

  “I can’t leave my car here,” Charlie insisted again. Her tone had lost a little of its fire. “How in the hell am I supposed to get back here to pick it up?”

  “We’ll figure that out later.” Mason pulled his keys out of his pocket and hit the fob to unlock the shiny yellow Camaro.

  Charlie’s mouth puckered into an amused half smile and she said, “Well, you’ve got the right car for the part you’re playing.”

  Fast and sexy, maybe. But hardly up to par for the world he was about to be immersed in. His Camaro was a dilapidated POS compared to the luxury vehicles Kieran and his crew rolled in.

  Mason pulled open the door at the same time Charlie opened hers and they climbed into their seats. He couldn’t even take the time for a few calming breaths inside the privacy of his own damn car. Kieran had eyes everywhere. He wouldn’t be able to truly relax until he was back at his place. Hell, maybe not even then.

  “Where are we going?”

  Back in time, he wished. To before he agreed to work for Carrera. Mason turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot. “My place. I need to decompress and figure out what my next move is going to be.”

  Charlie glanced his way. “Don’t you mean our next move?”

  “Is there any situation where you don’t find yourself compelled to be a total control freak? Like I said, you don’t know anything about Kieran. I do. And now I have to figure you into the equation in a way that won’t end up getting us both killed.”

  “I’m not an idiot, Mason.” Charlie’s melodramatic—not to mention offended—tone should have been annoying, but it was starting to grow on Mason. He’d never met a feistier woman.

  “No, but you’re not a criminal, either.”

  She cocked a challenging brow. “And you are?”

  He pinned her with his gaze. “Close enough.”

  *

  Charlie wondered at the sudden sadness in Mason’s tone. She’d researched his history with CBP and found Mason to be a stellar Customs agent. One of their best, in fact. She also knew that he’d applied to the U.S. Marshals Service twice in the past two years, and though all of his applications had been rejected, it wasn’t because he wasn’t cut out for the job. Unfortunately, his apparent attitude toward authority had stood in the way. Charlie had gotten a dose of that attitude today. But whereas Charlie had thought his insubordination was nothing more than arrogance, she realized that Mason simply didn’t trust anyone. And given his upbringing, she could hardly fault him for it. Still, she couldn’t let that excuse what had happened today.

  They drove in silence for twenty minutes or so. Charlie tried to compartmentalize everything that had happened since showing up at the prison and the realization that her entire operation was about to blow up in her face. She had to hope that it could somehow be salvaged. That by some miracle, Eagan bought everything they’d told him and he wouldn’t take off yet again. Carrera indicated that he was itching to arrest Eagan, but the rest of the task force knew that Faction Five was the real prize. And it rankled that they needed Eagan to get to the esoteric crime syndicate.

  “Why do you think Eagan wants to join them?” she asked. Mason quirked a brow. She’d been more or less thinking out loud, but maybe without the scrutinizing eyes of several heads of agencies on him, Mason would be more forthcoming with information. “Faction Five,” she added.

  “Honestly,” he said, “I’m not entirely sure. It’s not like him to get involved in something like this. Kieran prefers to work alone. There’s no accountability and no one to screw him over or trip him up. And the political aspect of smuggling never appealed to him. The warlords in the Congo are volatile, and Kieran always hated playing to their egos. I can’t imagine being under the thumb of some crazy-ass crime syndicate is going to appeal to him. Kieran is in this business for two reasons: the money and the excitement. The only thing I can figure is that smuggling has lost some of its luster for him and he’s looking for a different adrenaline rush.”

  “Is that why your dad did it?” Charlie asked. “For the rush?”

  Mason kept his gaze straight ahead as he negotiated the freeway traffic. “No. For him it was all about easy money.”

  “Easy?” Charlie laughed. She could never figure out why criminals thought the money they made was easy. From her perspective, circumventing the law to make a buck took a hell of a lot more elbow grease than a regular nine-to-five job. “I don’t think anything about what your dad did was easy.”

  “You’re probably right,” Mason said. “Maybe he just didn’t want to have to answer to anyone. Hell, maybe he liked the thrill like Kieran does. I really don’t know. He didn’t confide in me much. He knew I wasn’t going to follow in his footsteps and I guess he didn’t see the need to share any deep secrets with me.”

  The disappointment in his tone sliced through Charlie. Mason wanted his dad to be proud of him, and instead, he found him lacking. Charlie knew firsthand what that felt like. Oh, her dad played nice, but there was something hiding beneath the surface of the constant ribbing for taking a job as a federal prosecutor. He’d wanted more for her. He’d wanted her to join his practice, and her choice to go her own way had let him down.

  “What sort of test do you think Kieran is going to lay down for you?” It bothered Charlie, especially since they’d have to pull something together at a moment’s notice to make sure that Mason could perform whatever task Kieran set out for him without a single wrinkle.

  “Us,” Mason corrected. “I told you, you’re in this now. We’ll be working as a team from here on out.”

  Anxiety stabbed at Charlie’s chest, sending a rush of nervous energy through her bloodstream. If she was busy playing a part, who would run the task force? Carrera was the logical choice. He was already her go-to when she needed something. She had no idea how to play the game she’d thrown herself into. Her presence was bound to only make matters worse. “What will he have us do?”

  “Steal something,” Mason replied matter-of-factly. “Or fence something. Run a con on someone that will inevitably require me to forge something. And he’ll more th
an likely pay off a cop to catch us in the act and then let us go. So he’ll have something to lord over us if we try to fuck him over.”

  “Eagan has cops on his payroll?”

  He gave Charlie a look as though she were painfully naïve. She couldn’t even be bothered to care as she took in the beauty of his light eyes. The color really was like seafoam. Unusual. But breathtakingly beautiful.

  “Kieran’s well connected,” he said. “He’s got enough money to protect himself.”

  “Yeah, well, not for long.” Charlie settled back into her seat and folded her arms across her chest. She was going to bring that cocky bastard down if it killed her. “When we’re through with him, he’s going to wish you’d never walked back into his life.”

  Mason’s jaw squared. “Probably.”

  Another space of silence followed. Mason had seemed unaffected by the role he was playing in all of this, but after gaining more insight into his history with Eagan, she couldn’t imagine that he’d be able to remain completely detached. The two had been as close as brothers at one point. Could Mason follow through and use Eagan to bring the members of Faction Five to justice? The possibility for failure seemed so much greater now. But Charlie refused to lose.

  Mason glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “Tell me more about Faction Five.”

  The silence had begun to weigh her down, so Charlie was more than thankful to have something to talk about. “Like I said at the briefing, we don’t know very much about them aside from the fact that there are five managing members and they’re all well connected.”