by Linzi Baxter
“I like my coffee black.” I grabbed a mug off the counter and filled it up. After the first sip, I never wanted to leave. Coffee was one of the things I loved to order and make at home. In the dining room of my small house, I had a pantry for coffee. “Is there anything I can help with?”
“Nope, have a seat at the counter, and I will have your breakfast ready. I’m pretty sure we’ll have intruders soon.”
The apartments above Blackwood housed AA Security and Blackwood staff. John and Annabella had an apartment there too, but they’d left early this morning for their honeymoon. “Everyone is probably still sleeping.”
Abe smiled. “I highly doubted many of them are still asleep, and I think Antonio and Kat crashed in your brother’s apartment last night since the happy couple stayed at the hotel and were leaving for the airport from there. My boss can smell my coffee a mile away. I swear if I didn’t check my place for bugs, I might think he had a camera in here.”
I took another sip of coffee, debating if I should get up and hide the pot. “You check your home for bugs?”
Abe grabbed a plate from the cupboard. “This place has great security.” He waved his hands around. “But it also has nosy coworkers. I have nothing to hide, but sometimes I want to keep things private.”
A knock on Abe’s door sounded before it swung open, and Kat and Antonio walked in.
“I need a cup of that coffee,” Antonio grumbled as he walked straight to the coffee pot then poured two cups. “Damn, those look good. Can you feed us too? If Brock finds out we’re up, he’s going to give us our kids back. Do you know how hard it is hiding from three kids?”
Abe shook his head and pulled down two more plates. “We could’ve been having sex on the counter, boss.”
Antonio shrugged. “I’m sure it would be no different than when you walked in on Kat and me in my office.”
Kat set her cup down. “Or the time you walked in on us in the bathroom.”
Antonio smiled. “I forgot about that. I think the most recent was in the break room.”
Abe glared at his boss. “You see the problem with this. I can’t go anywhere in the office without the chance of seeing you guys having sex. The other day, you didn’t even close the door to your office. And now I can’t eat in the break room because you had sex on the only table.”
“When you have kids, you’ll understand,” Kat insisted. “The twins are walking now, and Ant always surprises me. We can’t have sex at the house, so where do you expect us to make love?”
“You could always close a door,” Abe offered. “Or take a vow of celibacy since you have three kids already.”
“You love our kids,” Antonio huffed as he filled his cup with the last of the coffee.
Abe walked over, pulled out the coffee beans, and started another pot. I contemplated grabbing the bag and putting it in my suitcase. Kat was eyeing the coffee beans as closely as I was.
“I do.” Abe smiled. “That doesn’t mean I think you should have more and don’t even think about stealing my coffee.”
Antonio walked over and rested his hip against the counter. “I’m not sure how you find the best coffee.” He put his cup down on the counter. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get the photos back.”
Abe cursed on the other side of the room. My ears started to buzz. The only photos he would be sorry about were the ones where I’d showed paparazzi my ass. “They didn’t post them, did they?”
“You were the only one they got photos of,” Kat pouted. “I thought someone would’ve gotten a picture of me. So then I could start my career in Hollywood. Since Antonio doesn’t like my current job.”
“You’re supposed to be working at the women’s center.” He pointed at his wife. “The assassin business is what I want you to quit.”
My fingers shook as I picked up my phone. “Why me?”
“Brock’s working on getting them taken down.”
“You knew?” I didn’t look up as I typed TMZ’s website address into my phone. A picture of my pink ass was the first story on the page. “Annabella Harper and John Walter tied the knot. John’s sister was rumored to suffer from agoraphobia but let her dress down.” I stopped reading the story. Abe’s eyes were on me. I knew he was waiting for me to have an attack. The picture was so awful, I didn’t even know what to do. My clients would see this.
I clicked the article to read more. It wasn’t just one picture; it was my whole fall and my ass sticking up in the air. “I’m never going to be able to leave the house again.”
Abe put a plate of food down in front of me. “In a day or two, nobody will remember the photos.”
But I would know they were on the internet. Once I had my computer I could take them down. As long as someone didn’t put them back up, I could scrub my name off the internet again. If I had to, I would hack TMZ and delete the photos from their servers. “Easy for you to say. Until I get them removed, every time someone Googles my name, a picture of my ass will show up.”
“But your ass is so good-looking,” Abe commented.
“He does have a good point, Addie,” Kat said.
Antonio grabbed a plate from Abe and handed it to Kat. “Addie, I’m sorry I said anything. I know you can get the photos down, but Brock is already working on it. He’s also going to buy the rights to the photos and give it to you. Don’t even think about saying you will pay for them. Our security was to keep the guests safe, and those two fuckers got through. Now, after he gets the photos back, I’m not sure I would want to be them. Since last night, they promised not to post the photos.”
I didn’t plan to pay for the photos. My idea was to hack the servers and get them back. “Of all the people, why me? Never mind. I know. They spotted me the second I walked out. The taller guy asked if I was John’s sister. When they brought up my phobia, it stunned me. Then he flashed me with his camera, and when I turned, I fell.”
Abe took a sip of his coffee before sitting down next to me. “If you want, we can pull the video feed from the hotel and go after them. They were trespassing.”
The one fucker had touched me. I didn’t want to deal with it. Getting the photos off the internet was all I wanted. Abe and John both would be mad if they saw the guy grab my arm.
“Brock already pulled the video footage,” Antonio huffed. “If he doesn’t give us what we want, Brock plans to press charges. And he will go after Doug for what he did to Cindy.”
Abe frowned. “It was the same guy from the club?”
“Yes.” Antonio pointed to me. “He grabbed Addie around the arm and got in her face. I think he was pissed about Brock kicking him out.”
“You didn’t tell me he touched you,” Abe growled.
“It wasn’t anything. I was more embarrassed about showing the world my underwear.”
Kat shook her head. “I saw the video, and it wasn’t anything. You know one word, and I will take those two fuckers out. Addie, you’re part of the family, and we’re here for you, and if that means getting Betsy out of storage, I can take care of it for you.”
Antonio huffed. “I highly doubt your gun is in storage.”
“Did Cindy tell this guy about the wedding?”
John and Annabella kept their circle close. Most guests were close to John and Annabella and would not have said anything to the press.
“Yes, he was going to be her date for the night. Since he was dumped and kicked out, Doug thought he would use this as a way to make money and pay back.” Antonio downed the rest of his coffee. “Brock is planning on making a visit to him today. He’ll make sure the photos all come down and never go back up.”
Kat walked over and placed a kiss on her husband's lips before putting her plate in the sink. “I think it’s time we grab the kids from Jessica, so they will agree to watch them again for us.”
The happy couple left the apartment. It was so easy to be around Abe’s friends and coworkers. Leaving today was going to be harder than I’d initially thought, and it’s not because I might ha
ve to get on an airplane. “What time was my flight supposed to leave?”
Abe grabbed my dishes and took them to the sink. “You’re not taking a flight home.”
“I have to get back.” My head spun with the things I had to get done. “I’m working on a case, and I need to get back.”
He pulled me into his arms. “I never said you weren’t going home. I said you’re not flying. Antonio gave me the week off, and I’m going to drive you back to Boston.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know, but I want to. Now go pack while I finish up here.”
Spending a few days in a car with Abe would make it hard to say goodbye at the end of the road trip, but I didn’t want our time together to end.
12
ABE
A ddie was a good road trip partner. Before leaving Fort Lauderdale, we stopped and filled up a couple bags with candy and snacks. We planned to drive twelve hours and make it to the Virginia border then stop overnight.
Neither of us were in a big hurry, so we planned to take the trip in strides. When we got tired, we would stop and stretch our legs. The first few hours, we listened to the comedy station on my satellite radio. After a while, Addie flipped it over to the country station. She was bouncing in the seat next to me on her computer. Brock called when we hit the Georgia border to tell us the photos were down. Addie wanted to double-check Brock’s work, so she was searching every keyword she could think of to make sure no more pictures of her ass were on the internet.
The skies darkened, and thunder struck. Addie jumped in the seat next to me. It was getting late, and we hadn’t stopped for a real meal.
“We’re ten miles from a stop. You ready to eat and call it a night?”
She looked up from her laptop. “Yes. I don’t like being out in the rain.” As if on cue, a bolt of lightning struck a tree near us, and the crack echoed immediately.
I reached over and grabbed her hand. There wasn’t much I could do for her while we were driving.
Addie’s phone trilled through my speakers. We’d hooked her phone up to Bluetooth earlier so she could play a playlist on her phone. “You want to answer it?”
When she nodded, I clicked the speaker button on the steering wheel.
Lena’s excited voice came over the speakers. “I figured out who owns the shell company—Stark Night’s!”
My head swiveled to Addie. John had mentioned something about her looking into the company. Brock was calling his contacts too, trying to work out who the owner of the shell company was.
Addie closed her laptop. “Who is it, and are we sure the source is reliable?”
“Of course my source is reliable,” Cruz huffed. “I used my contact at the CIA. One of his contacts in the field caught sight of an invoice. He remembered seeing the name. Then when he went to check it out again, all traces of the shipment had vanished.”
Brock had used Addie’s company a few times over the years, and had nothing but good things to say about her and her employees. What worried me was that they had a contact in the CIA. Zane and Antonio were working to clean up on the CIA, but too many were still corrupt and working for themselves rather than thinking about what was best for the country. “Cruz, can you send me the name of your CIA contact?”
“I’ve worked years to get a contact in the agency. I’m not sure about giving up his name…”
“I’m not going to out your guy, but I want to give his name to Zane Tucker and see if he’s trustworthy. The CIA has a bunch of agents that aren’t the best and we’ve had some issues. I promise it will never come back to you.”
Having the president’s brother working with us was a benefit sometimes. It was also a pain in the ass when the president showed up and needed AA Security to handle a mission because he couldn’t trust the CIA. The administration he’d inherited was a mess. Last I heard, Zack wasn’t even sure if he was going to run for another term.
“I’ll send the info over to Addie.” Cruz paused for a second. “Addie, how are you feeling?”
“Fine.” She sat forward in the seat next to me. “I’m not going to like the name you’re about to tell me, am I? It’s the one I left off the sheet, so I wouldn’t focus on it.”
Lena’s voice came back over the phone. “We’ve tried to find more info to see if it might be false, but they keep their servers locked down. The only way to get access is from the inside.”
“Someone please tell me who the company is,” I said.
Addie let out a sigh. “After I found my mother and we reconnected, I researched more about the man she’d married, and his kids. It was like a rabbit hole for me. Each day, I would spend hours looking into them, almost to a creepy level.”
“You don’t have to explain. She’s your mom.”
“Yes, and I think she married someone corrupt. Her new husband is the president at HUE Equipment.”
“The government stopped using that company years ago,” I pointed out.
HUE Equipment worked with the US government to build what they wanted and turned around and would also sell the equipment to terrorist organizations. They would also send any information on the equipment they produced, so the enemy might have an advantage.
The lightning flashed, and thunder echoed through the cabin. Addie took a deep breath. Her fingers gripped mine harder. We reached our exit, and I could see a Perkins off to the side.
Addie let out a breath. “The owner of the company left the country before the FBI could arrest him. Someone thinks he’s living in Russia, but the government never shut down the company. They only pulled the funding and stopped using the equipment. When I dug deeper into my new stepdad, I found a link. His dad is the man who owned the company. After his father fled the country, he took over.”
I pulled in and parked in front of the restaurant. “So, the only way to get the info is to go to the building?”
“Yes, Lena and I can head back down to DC if you want us to, or do you want us to drop this?” Cruz asked.
Addie glanced in my direction. “Do you mind making a stop in DC?”
“I think we need to come up with a plan before we go waltzing in and trying to find info,” I replied.
“Lena and I will do some research and send you everything we have by morning. And boss… I’m sad you got all the pictures down,” Cruz teased.
Laughter filled my truck speakers as Addie reached over and hit the end button. “Now, I’m going to have to check my employees’ computers to make sure they didn’t keep a copy of the photos.”
Her team members weren’t the only ones to keep the photo. “Do you want to eat here or take the food back with us?”
“Can we take it to the room?”
After we ordered, I ran in and grabbed the food from the restaurant while Addie did research on her computer.
“IS THERE something you want to watch? I’m sure Bravo is playing a reality show of some type.”
Addie flipped me off. “I’ve never been into reality TV. When I’m not working, I spend my time lost in a book or watching any documentary I can find. There was a good one on a few weeks back, The Men Who Built America.”
“You surprise me, Addie. I have to agree that it is an outstanding show. I bet you read dirty romance.”
“It’s the best kind. What do you do in your spare time?” Addie asked as she took another bite of her burger. We stopped at the liquor store, and I picked up a few bottles of wine. We’d already finished off one, and Addie was more talkative than she’d been since I’d met her.
“I’m a huge sports fan, and when there’s not a game on, I spend time at the range or the gym.”
The older I got, the harder I had to work to stay in shape. Antonio had built a full gym for us at AA Security, or I used the one in the Blackwood building. I was planning to find my own place soon. Living in the same building with my friends was fun, but I wanted my own space, and maybe someday, when I stopped traveling so much, I might consider getting a dog.
; Two boxes of muffins sat on the table between us. Perkins made some of the best muffins, and I couldn’t pass up the buy-three-get-three-free deal. Addie said I bought too much food, but she was helping me eat a big portion of it.
“You’re going to have to wheel me out of here if I have another bite of food,” Addie said as she finished her burger.
“You did well.” I unscrewed the cork of another bottle of wine and filled up our glasses. “I was thinking. When we get to DC, we should meet with my contact and see if there is another way to look into your stepfather.”
Addie glared at me.
“We don’t have enough information on your stepdad. I didn’t pack anything to go on a spy mission. The FBI won’t cut us out, and they can give us what we need.”
“I’ve never been one to go into the field, so I don’t know why it bothered me a second ago when you wanted to turn the case over.”
“You’re worried about your mom. I don’t want to turn the case over. All I want to do is get us some help so we don’t go in blind.” I hoped like hell my contact would help us out.
I took a sip of wine to wash down the last of my burger. The junk food in the car hadn’t held me over very well. We were on our last bottle of wine, and Addie was laid on the bed next to me, giggling at something John McClane said.
“You know this is a Christmas movie, right?” Addie giggled.
“No. It’s a goddamn Bruce Willis movie.”
Addie was getting tipsy. Her cheeks were rosy, and her eyes were bright. I didn’t drink often myself and the wine was getting to me. My words slurred a tiny bit. We weren’t going anywhere tonight though. I liked the sound of Addie’s laughter, she was calm and having fun with me.
“Just because it’s a Bruce Willis movie doesn’t mean it can’t be a Christmas movie,” Addie countered, her lip caught between her teeth.
I jumped out of bed, walked to the mini bar, and grabbed a couple bottles of tequila and two glasses. “How about we play a game? Every time someone says ‘McClane’, you take a shot, and every time someone says ‘Christmas’, I take a shot.”