by Cara Carnes
“The Judge, as in ‘go after the Quillery Edge and I’ll go after you’. That Judge?” She air quoted the message and studied his face, his bone structure. A lot of operatives were masters at disguise, but there was only so much they could do to hide bone structure. Still nothing memorable. “I’ve never met you.”
“What’s this about?” Dallas asked.
The security panel on the wall chimed as the door coming from the rear hallway opened. Reinforcements had arrived. She kept her gaze locked with the stranger’s as he smirked and crossed his arms in front of his body.
“There’s a hit on Viviana and Mary,” Jud replied. “A two-million-dollar one with a four-million-dollar rider that guarantees anyone with half a shot will come after them. I’m here to make sure they don’t succeed.”
The confident, smooth delivery settled around her like a warm blanket. His gaze remained on her, but he’d strike anyone in the room who got too close. How she knew that was more instinct than observation, a sixth sense she’d developed over the years in dealing with his kind.
“As you can see, The Arsenal has all my security requirements more than met,” she replied. “And I don’t need anyone fighting my battles.”
“I’m glad the Quillery Edge landed on their feet. Hell of a shit storm, lots of fallout. Buzzards are circling, too many for your new crew to handle alone, Viviana.”
“And you’re going to close the gap, one man?” She crossed her arms and allowed her doubt free reign.
“Get the hell out while you still can, man,” Dallas said. “We had an agreement, one I’ve upheld.”
“Why would you involve yourself in this? I don’t even know you.” Vi hated mysteries, especially those who set trained operatives like Dallas on edge.
“I suspected you’d reject my offer for assistance.” Jud reached behind him.
Dallas, Marshall and Nolan shoved her back. The latter drew a weapon. The stranger didn’t halt like a sane person would. He smiled, holding out a sheaf of folded papers toward her.
“For you. Let me help with your contract negotiations,” he paused with a smirk, as if she hadn’t picked up on an important, but amusing fact, “and I’ll help you with your other problem.”
Dallas grabbed the papers before she could. “We don’t need your kind of help.”
Jud prowled to the door. Stopped. Did a half turn of his head. “Let me help me out, Viviana, and I’ll hand deliver the bastard to you. Whether he’s breathing when I do is up to you.”
He left.
She stared at the door, her heartbeat thundering in her ears. She took the papers before Dallas could destroy them. He paced.
“Who was that?” Nolan asked.
“No one important.” Dallas whirled and pointed at the papers. “You aren’t in whatever his bullshit is.”
Curiosity drew her toward the papers. She unfolded them. Shock activated her brain, scraping off the dregs of exhaustion. What the hell?
Jian Chen. Who the hell was Jian Chen and why would Jud offer to hand deliver him?
Why would Jud offer anything at all?
“Who the heck was that?” Vi demanded.
“Leave it alone, Vi,” Marshall suggested. “We’ll discuss it tomorrow. Give him time.”
Right. Time. Great idea. She shoved the papers under her shirt and flip-flopped back to where she’d deposited her food. She snagged it all and headed out the door. The sooner she got back to Command, the quicker she could figure out who the heck that was. HERA would’ve already done facial recognition on him.
She exited the visitor’s building in time to see taillights turning onto the main road. Jud had left without argument. Weird. Most operatives were stubborn to a fault.
She added two items to her list of things to do before she slept. Find out who Jud was and investigate Jian Chen. Dread settled in a dull ache at her temples, through her neck and down her spine when she entered Command and she saw Mary’s pale expression. She dropped the food and grabbed her com. Her NYPD contact offered a chin lift, no smile.
“There was a problem,” she surmised.
“Adil Al-Abadi is dead. ME is doing an autopsy, but it’ll take a while. Two shots to the head. No evidence found on scene.”
Vi flopped in her chair and groaned. Could this day get any worse?
4
“And he just left?” Riley sat on the sofa.
Vi sighed and nodded. Bree and Rhea were curled beneath blankets on chairs bookending where Riley and Addy sat. “Where’s Mary?”
“She’s on her way,” Bree replied.
Vi looked around the small bungalow-style house. Everyone had pitched in over the past couple of weeks. Who knew you could get a house built so quickly? Apparently the Masons could do anything they put their minds to.
Home.
She shook the sentiment off. Mary may have found a home, but Vi hadn’t settled. Her stuff remained strewn about the small two-bedroom home she now shared with Addy.
“So who is Jian Chen?” Rhea asked.
“I was about to fire up HERA and find out,” Vi replied as she reached for the laptop.
“To hell with Jian. I want to know who the hot guy was,” Bree said.
“Uh, yeah. I’m with her,” Riley replied.
Vi had to admit the idea had merit. Fortunately HERA was a brilliant multi-tasker. “Jud. Or, The Judge.”
“Like that’s a lot to go on,” Addy commented.
“We’ve gotten loads with less,” Rhea said. “Besides, HERA caught his image, right?”
“Yeah, so we already have a full name and everything.” Bree leaned back and chomped on her chocolate chip cookie.
Vi was about to call up HERA’s security reports when the front door opened. Mary bustled in with a huge smile on her face, a smile that faltered when her gaze settled on Vi. Damn. Her stomach lurched. They’d had a heart-to-heart, but her BFF was still worried. Dylan offered a supportive smile. Vi was sure it was more for Mary than her, but she took it nonetheless.
“I heard about New York. That sucks, but we’ll get another lead,” Dylan said as he sat and Mary settled beside him. “I had a chat with Dallas before we came over here. I figured you all would be digging into our visitor today. He’s politely asking you all to back off.”
“Not happening,” Vi replied.
“Some things are best left alone,” Dylan said.
“Like hell they are. We’re mired in chaos right now because of Hive and Peter and Martin Driggs. The last thing we need is some unknown walking onto this compound and making demands of our time like he owns us. No one bandies my name about without me knowing the person. It’s that simple.” Vi called up HERA and accessed the images from earlier.
“He wasn’t making demands of your time,” Bree argued. “He was offering to help keep you and Mary safe from the contract. That’s loads sexier.”
Only Bree would find a man putting himself between a woman and a bullet sexy. Her friend had a thing for alpha males in a big way, one Vi typically didn’t share, but she had to admit the fierce protectiveness radiating from Jud earlier was…interesting.
Okay, it was hot, but she didn’t have time for hot. She had a best friend and a new team to keep safe. Vi sat, grabbed her laptop and got to work, but hit a roadblock faster than expected.
“Weird,” she commented.
“What’s weird?” Riley asked.
“HERA couldn’t identify Jud.” She stared at the “Not Found” prompt, one she’d rarely seen. “He’s not in any of the databases.”
“None of them?” Bree asked.
“None.”
“Dallas knew him,” Mary said. “They worked together, that much was obvious.”
Right. She was all too aware of the missing years in Dallas’s file, the years she’d been unable to fill in despite her best attempts. He’d been in the SEALs then went off grid. So Jud was a big question mark for the time being. She’d leave it be for tonight. She was too tired to tackle a deep hack to find info on Jud. HERA may not
have found anything, but everybody had some kind of trail out there.
Which shifted her focus on what she could easily research. Who the heck was Jian Chen and why did Jud think she’d care?
She thumbed through the rest of the papers and froze. Jian Chen’s background, specialty. She passed it over to Mary.
“Okay, so this is the best lead we’ve gotten so far.” She held up a photograph of an unknown man and Peter Rugers. “Okay, so this is definitely a credible lead.”
“One that just walked into the front door,” Addy muttered. “Convenient.”
Vi agreed. She didn’t like convenient. Ever. “Still, it’s more than we’ve had, and I’m not passing it up. If Jian knew Peter and Jud knew Jian…”
“Then Jud knew Peter,” Rhea finished. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not,” Mary said. “All the more reason for us to get some answers from our mysterious new friend.”
“Dallas doesn’t want you mixed up with Jud. I got the message on that one loud and clear when he called me,” Addy commented. “He ordered me to sit on you in case Dylan didn’t handle you.”
“Wow, Vi, you need to take a look at this.”
The poor misguided Mason men thought they could handle her. It was almost cute. She took the papers Mary offered and ignored Addy. She knew good and well finding Peter’s backers was her top priority.
Disgust soured her stomach as she read through a sheet she’d accidentally bypassed, one toward the front. Jian trafficked kids. She’d dedicated a considerable chunk of her personal time battling pedophiles on line, consulting with authorities whenever possible. She didn’t let those sick monsters slither away, which meant Jian was now in her cross hairs for more than one reason.
“Son of a bitch,” she spat. “Whoever this Jud is, he’s got a lot of nerve.”
“What?” Riley asked.
“Jian’s overseeing an auction of a five-year-old Russian boy named Mico in four days.” She opened her web crawling program and typed in the data at the bottom of the sheet. “I’ve never found this spot.”
“Spot?” Bree asked.
“In the Deep Web,” Mary answered as she nestled in beside Vi to watch the screen. “Crap, it’s legit, isn’t it?”
Dread settled in a dull throb in her head, behind her eyes. She waited a few minutes for her program to do its thing and ferret out what information it could, which was sadly far less than it normally was. The operation Jian led was deep and heavily secure. “Yeah, it’s legit. He traffics children, women, weapons and other exotic collectibles.”
“And HERA would be a hell of an auction item,” Dylan growled. “Gather what you can about Jian and how to move once we get back from the application testing tomorrow.”
Ugh. Vi had almost forgotten that was tomorrow. The Arsenal needed more boots on the ground and more brains behind the screens. She and Mary couldn’t handle everything alone, and Cord was needed more in the field. They needed more operatives and back office personnel. She and Mary both detested the idea of noobs mucking around in HERA, but what choice did they have?
She thumbed through the final pages she’d gotten from Jud, which appeared to be investigative notes into Mico’s abduction and Jian’s operation. She scanned the data, which was well organized. The investigation had been methodical and extremely detailed. Excellent notes with dates, times, locations. Names. If this was Jud’s work, she was suitably impressed—which left her even more determined to find out who the heck he was and, more importantly, how he knew her.
Operative?
More than likely.
But whose?
Dallas was the key. Specifically, his dark years, the ones not in his service record. Where had he been? Did Mary know? If Dylan mentioned his little brother’s background, her friend likely wouldn’t offer up the details, not without permission. If Vi wanted answers there was only one surefire way to get them.
“Fire up a truck, Riley.”
Riley grinned. Eyes gleaming, she stood. “Where are we going?”
“On a man hunt.”
“You’re not going alone,” Dylan stated.
“I’ll go with them,” Addy offered. “We’re only going into Resino. He’s likely at the bed and breakfast or Bubba’s. I’ll call for backup if needed.”
“Dallas doesn’t want you mixed up with him, Vi.”
She looked up at Dylan as she stood. “I know, but we need answers more than he needs his secrets.”
“It’s not about him keeping secrets. He says Jud is dangerous.”
Which meant he was probably far, far worse than dangerous. They nibbled on danger for dessert. “I’m not doing this alone. This is a team mission. The lead’s good, Dylan.”
Dylan looked at her, then over at Mary, who nodded. He chuckled and swiped his hand through his hair. “You two are going to keep us hopping.”
“You know it,” Vi responded. “You wouldn’t have us any other way.”
“Eyes on your plate, bud.” Jud forked some beans into his mouth.
Resino residents were too curious for their own good. The small eatery was more bar than restaurant this late at night, and busier than Jud expected. Although the grill was closed, Bubba had graciously pulled out some leftovers. He ignored the pointed looks they’d gotten from the locals when they sat at the only vacant table earlier.
“I can’t believe the Quillery Edge would be in such a remote place. There’s not even any WiFi.” Jacob motioned to the laptop open on the table. “It’s gonna be a slow connection at the bed and breakfast.”
Jud was a bit surprised a town as small as Resino even had a bed and breakfast. It was a short walk, about half a mile down the road nearer the town square. So far Resino was what he’d expected for small town Texas. He’d paid for two nights. If he didn’t hear back from Viviana by then, he’d move on. He wasn’t the type to sit on his ass and wait on anyone, though, which was why he’d continue chasing down leads while he waited.
He’d sworn to keep her breathing, which didn’t require her permission or knowledge. He operated within the shadows easier than the light of day anyway. His first order of business was busting Jian’s ring up. The bastard pushed Jud to take the contract on the Quillery Edge. Jud was about to push back. Hard.
But that left Danny in trouble, which was unacceptable.
There was always an answer. Jud would find it.
“We’ll get some shuteye tonight, then get to work. I’ve got a couple leads I could use your help with.” He took a sip of his beer and waited for his nephew’s eruption. He’d been fairly subdued and quiet so far, but that’d only last so long given the fact he’d been within spitting distance of his idols and hadn’t met them.
“What was she like? What’d she say?” Jacob’s voice lowered. “I can’t believe you just walked out. Did you mention Dad?”
No. The much-needed reality check about Danny was barreling around the corner, but he’d hold it off for the next day. That’d be soon enough to crush his nephew’s hopes. He hoped to hell they weren’t dumb enough to kill Danny, but if Marla was involved the chances of him being recovered were slim. She was a psychopathic bitch on a power trip who had a hard-on for making Jud hurt whenever she could—mainly because she’d never gotten him to heel like the other operatives.
“I should have waited until morning. She had every right to toss my ass out. It was a disrespectful, crap play, one I’m betting lots of people they worked with at Hive have done.” He looked over at the bar, where Bubba watched them while he wiped down the bar.
“You should have made her look at the papers,” Jacob argued.
“I’m not a fan of making a woman do anything she doesn’t want.”
“We don’t have time to be polite, Uncle Jud.” Jacob slammed his drink glass on the table. “Dad needs help.”
He’d kept Jacob from that world as much as possible, the one where he exerted his will on others. Eliminated those who stepped too far out of line. Now that Jacob had gra
duated from MIT and was aiming for Quillery Edge notoriety within the same arena, Jud had adopted a side mission—keep his nephew in the light, like The Arsenal.
“We give respect if we want to earn it. More importantly, we practice patience. That’s the most critical asset for this type of work.”
“Waiting around sucks,” Jacob replied. “At least the food’s good.”
Sullen described his nephew’s attitude. He’d expected an open-arms welcome into The Arsenal. Jud shouldn’t have brought him along, but leaving him alone wasn’t exactly an option since he didn’t know who all was in play.
Whispered murmurs drew his attention. The long-haired blonde from The Arsenal’s reception area entered, drawing everyone’s attention. Everyone’s except his, which latched onto Viviana and Mary. Jacob gasped. Jud grabbed some napkins and wiped his hands as the procession of women headed their direction. The redhead carried herself like a soldier. Her gaze swept the room. Another blonde and brunette closed off the group.
“Sorry, you and your boy are gonna have to move. House rules. This is the Mason table. Riley’s here, so you’ve gotta move.” Bubba’s voice boomed from beside Jud. “I’ll make room for you and the boy at the bar. Best I can do.”
“It’s fine, Bubba. We’re here to see him anyway,” the blonde replied. She looked down at Jud, then over at Jacob. “Hi, I’m Riley Mason. I was working reception when you came in.”
Right. He remained silent, watching Vi take a seat beside Jacob. Mary sat on Jacob’s opposite side. Jacob’s gaze swept from one to another. Mouth open, eyes wide, face bright, he sat. Stunned.
“You want a beer? Something to drink?” Bubba asked the group as they sat.
“Bottle, shots. Glasses.” The redhead sat beside Jud.
“Beers all around, Bubba. Thanks.” Riley dragged a chair over and sat at the edge of the table. “So…”
“Who’s Jian and how do you know him? Who told you about this operation? How do you know Peter?” Viviana asked.
Straight to the point. No bullshit. His kind of woman. She tapped a folder for emphasis, one much fatter than he’d expected. She’d done some homework before hunting him down. That was a good sign. He looked over at Jacob, who’d yet to move. He hoped the kid remembered to breathe.