Chapter Twenty-Two
AUDREY COULD HARDLY believe she’d just helped a CIA agent and two British mercenaries kidnap an American billionaire off the street while wanted for a double murder.
At the facility, they’d stripped Devon naked and left him on a bare concrete floor. He was chained to a wall with a black bag over his head. Some people would think it inhumane, and if he was innocent it would be, but he wasn’t. She knew it the way she knew big oil would never support the idea of climate change, the way a Trinity fan would never wear green and gold during the annual St. X-Trinity high school football match.
She shivered despite the layers the men had smothered her in. They were using an empty warehouse on the outskirts of the city, less than ten miles from where her parents lived. The cell phones had been handed to Parker and a geeky-looking dude who looked like he could probably program the space shuttle. The phones should give them plenty of information and evidence even if Devon refused to talk, but they still needed the name of his accomplice.
The urge to reach out to her family was almost overwhelming, but she wasn’t about to put this operation or these people in jeopardy. Suddenly she had a much better understanding of the way Patrick Killion lived his life.
“You okay?”
She looked up and there was Noah smiling down at her with his pretty gray eyes. The guy was gorgeous, but all she felt toward him was warm brotherly affection. Killion, she alternated between wanting to drown in the bathtub, jump his bones, or just look at him smile that cocky grin. It was stupid. She was in love with the guy. She’d told him she knew the score, but she’d been lying to them both. All she’d achieve with this weakness was getting her heart broken and hurting him. He didn’t deserve that. She didn’t want to be some crazed groupie hanging onto his leg as he tried to walk away.
Noah waved his hand in front of her face. “Audrey?”
She blinked. Smiled. “Yes, I’m fine thanks. Just worried.”
“It’s about to start.”
The muscles tightened in her chest. “Okay.”
“You wanna watch?” he asked, regarding her carefully.
Did she want to watch Patrick Killion interrogate her former lover? See both men for who they really were? Or would she rather keep her illusions? She pushed to her feet. “Let’s go.”
* * *
KILLION’S FOOTSTEPS ECHOED off the bare concrete floor as he walked into the room where they were holding Devon Brightman. Game time.
Interrogations often took months to divine useful information, but Killion didn’t have months. Another key to a good interrogation was knowledge. And he knew plenty about this asshole.
The blindfolded man stiffened as he approached. “What do you want?” His prisoner’s voice was angry but scared.
“Stand up.” Killion spoke with a heavy Spanish accent, but used English as he knew Brightman didn’t speak a word of the language except perhaps, “la cuenta, por favor.” The check, please.
“Fuck you.” Devon kicked out at him, but missed and landed on his ass.
It was freezing in here, and Killion’s breath froze on the exhale.
Devon was definitely feeling shocked, insecure, and stressed. He’d gone from CEO and heir to a pharmaceutical fortune to naked captive in a matter of hours. It was a by-the-book rendition according to the interrogation manual—aside from the fact it was completely and utterly unsanctioned.
“Where am I? What the hell do you want from me? Money? I’ll get you money. Get these fucking chains off me.”
“You think this is a kidnap and ransom job?”
Devon climbed to his feet, and Killion moved closer. Devon lashed out at him with his foot again and Killion flipped him so he landed with a thud on his back.
“You think you can mess with El cartel de Mano de Dios business and get away with it?” said Killion.
“Cartel? You’re fucking cartel?” Devon panted from the floor. He moved carefully as if his ribs hurt. “I want to talk to Raoul.”
Killion leaned down and hissed in Devon’s ear. “I don’t work for Raoul.” He backed away and paced. He wished he could see Devon’s expression, but he couldn’t afford to reveal his identity until he had what he needed.
Devon rolled onto his belly and then up onto all fours, following the sound of his footsteps warily. “Who then?” he demanded.
“The head of Mano de Dios.”
“Raoul is the fucking head of Mano de Dios, you imbecile!”
Killion waited for a few beats then surprised the guy by speaking directly into his ear. “Manuel Gómez.”
Devon scooted back until he hit the wall. “Manuel is in prison.”
“And he recently discovered that’s because of you, my friend. He’s not happy. In fact, he is very, very unhappy.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with Manuel being picked up,” Devon defended himself.
“Liar,” Killion whispered.
Devon flinched and hunched up against the wall. “That was all Raoul’s doing.”
“Raoul would never have the balls to betray his brother, not without help.” Killion argued.
“Seriously. I went to see Manuel about my distribution ideas, but he rejected my offer. Said I wasn’t capable of coming through with everything I’d promised—which was bullshit, obviously. Told me if I teamed up with anyone else he’d gut me. I believed him. The guy scared the shit out of me. Then Raoul drove me back to where I was staying. On the way he told me not to be too hasty about my next decision. A month later Manuel and his cronies were picked up by the cops, and Raoul was king of the cartel.”
“You want me to believe that Raoul did this on his own?” Killion pushed.
“Damn straight. He called me up after Manuel was extradited, said we wouldn’t have any trouble now that Manuel had been taken care of. But none of it was my idea.” He laughed, but it came out sickly and nervous. “Manuel only just figured out Raoul betrayed him?”
“Because they’re family, pendejo. That means something to some people.” Killion had what he needed to exchange for Audrey’s safety. He dropped the Spanish accent. “I’m going to remove your hood, Devon.” He spoke calmly, just an operative now doing his job. “If you try to kick me, or spit on me I’ll replace the hood and have your legs shackled, too. You gonna behave yourself?” he asked sternly.
Devon froze, confused by the new American voice. Then he nodded with a swift jerky motion.
Killion undid the ties at the back of the canvas bag. He pulled it off and then moved back out of reach. Devon blinked rapidly, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light and his squalid surroundings.
“You,” he said in shock.
“Yeah, thanks for posting my face on the Internet, you prick. It made the decision to finally pick you up that much easier.”
Killion could see Devon rapidly running their previous conversation over in his mind, trying to figure out what he’d given away.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re going to be taken to a secure facility in an undisclosed location—”
“What? You can’t be serious. I know my rights.”
“In the US maybe.” Killion laughed, planting his hands on his hips.
Devon’s gaze swung wildly around. “Where am I?”
“That’s classified.”
The chains rattled noisily as Devon lurched to his feet. “You can’t do this. Do you know who I am?”
Killion gave him a look. “You’re a suspected terrorist, and I can do whatever the fuck I want to with a suspected terrorist.” He leaned closer to Devon’s face. Smirked. “It’s my specialty.”
Confusion twisted Devon’s features. “I’m not a terrorist.”
“You were in league with Burger so it’s close enough.” Killion cocked a brow and checked his watch as if he had somewhere else to be.
“I was never in league with that bastard.” Spittle flew from Devon’s lips. “The guy was into some vigilante shit. He offered my dad in on it after Rebecca died. Dad refused because he was such a pious asshole. I wanted in, but Burger laughed at me, called me a dumb kid.” Devon tried to shrug nonchalantly, but his eyes were red-rimmed, and he was so cold his teeth chattered uncontrollably. “I bugged his laptop. I’ve got recordings in my safe deposit box. All the dirty shit he was up to, but I wasn’t involved.”
Killion gave him a shrug like he didn’t care even though Devon was giving him everything he wanted. “And then you had him killed.”
Devon eyes darted nervously, and he licked his lips, obviously deciding he’d said too much. “I want a lawyer.”
“Yeah, I’ll get back to you on that.”
“What time is it?”
“Time doesn’t matter. Not for you. Not anymore.” Killion smiled grimly, then added, “A more pertinent question would have been what day is it, but that doesn’t matter either. Anyway, I just came to wish you adios, I have a new mission. Thanks for getting rid of the VP. Saved us the trouble.” He took a few steps toward the exit.
“But I didn’t do—”
“Hey, bud, save it.” Killion shook his head and smiled. He might be playing this all wrong, but Devon looked ready to piss his pants—had he been wearing any. “You’re not listening. We got enough off your laptop to pick up your accomplice. She cut a deal while you were out of it, told us everything. Good looking woman by the way.” That was a guess based on descriptions of the maid who’d infiltrated Burger’s house. “And I already figured out you killed your sister and daddy.” He raised one brow. “Nice touch bagging the biologist after the funeral though. Hit ’em while they’re vulnerable. And then setting her up for Burger’s murder? Brilliant.”
Devon’s expression grew bitter. “Audrey has been a pain in my ass for years, but I got some satisfaction from screwing her over.”
“Whatever floats your boat.” Killion remained impassive when all he really wanted was to wrap both hands around Brightman’s throat and squeeze hard for sixty seconds.
“She’s a know-it-all bitch. I wanted her to suffer.”
Killion took another step away to stop himself from punching the self-absorbed asshole in the face. He still needed the assassin’s name. “Well Audrey’s in WitSec now. So much for the frog gig, huh? And you have a plane to catch.”
“Wait,” Devon said frantically. “You’re not going to take a statement?”
“We got everything we need for now. There’s no rush. Legal process for terrorism charges can be agonizingly slow, especially when the lawyers can’t track you down.”
“Tracey cut a deal?” Devon sounded incredulous.
“Tracey?” Killion laughed. “We both know Tracey isn’t her real name.” He was guessing, but he knew he was right. This was someone he knew personally, and he didn’t know any Traceys.
“June,” Devon’s face contorted with fury. “June Vanek.”
That bitch. “Hey, the one thing she didn’t tell us was how you two first met?”
“At work. She’s Dad’s head of security.” Devon looked defeated now, his voice low, obviously realizing he was totally fucked. “Somehow she figured out I was communicating with Raoul Gómez down in Colombia. I thought she was going to tell Dad, but instead she told me if I didn’t want to get caught I needed to invest in a shit load of burners. I dug into her past and found out about her CIA background, gave her a cut of the operation. After that all it took was a little male attention, and she’d do anything I wanted. She’s the one who killed people. This was all her idea.” And there was the bastard finally clinging to a lifeline.
Killion kept his expression neutral as he leaned closer to Devon. “She says you’re the one who set the cartel on Audrey.”
Devon held his stare. Swallowed noisily. “She wanted to kill Audrey as soon as Burger died, but I wouldn’t let her. I saved Audrey from Tracey.”
Killion’s fist piled into Devon’s face, and Brightman’s nose exploded all over the wall.
“That’s for Audrey by the way. And she says you were a lousy fuck on account of your small, limp, self-absorbed dick.”
While the guy was sprawled on the floor he stuck another needle in Devon’s naked white ass and pressed the plunger home.
* * *
AUDREY SAT QUIETLY on a dingy love seat in the corner of a small office they’d set up to watch the interrogation, but her mouth was full of sawdust, and her pulse was revving like that motorcycle Killion had put into storage down in Tennessee. Devon and this woman, June, had murdered a sitting vice president and tried to set Audrey up to take the fall. No wonder the CIA had come after her. Just thinking about it blew her mind. Rebecca and Gabriel would have been devastated by the extent of Devon’s treachery. She couldn’t believe she’d been so easily duped.
“I was hoping for at least a little good cop bad cop routine.” Logan joked as Killion came into the room. “Or some ‘you can’t handle the truth’ action.” He did his best Jack Nicholson impression.
“I’ll bear that in mind for next time I have an audience.” Killion stopped short when he saw her sitting there. “The things you just heard—”
“Yeah, we know. Everyone thinks Burger died of a heart attack and a cover-up looks bad to all the conspiracy nut jobs,” Logan told him.
“You have no idea,” Killion said. His eyes never left her, though he didn’t come any closer.
“It would take more than that brilliant display of bullshit to get anything out of me, mate.” Noah thumped Killion’s arm.
“You liked that?” Killion grinned.
“Fucking A. Especially the last bit.”
Killion’s smile vanished.
Part of her was in shock at how easily he’d manipulated Devon into his confession. Part of her was thrilled at how he’d stood up for her at the end.
Parker shouldered his way in the door with his laptop open. “This is our assassin.”
Audrey walked over to look at the screen.
Killion followed more slowly. “She’s the woman I told you about although she’s altered her appearance,” he told Parker. “She obviously changed her name to try and outrun her shitty reputation.” His expression grew more troubled, which Audrey didn’t understand. What had happened with Devon felt like a victory. Now it was turning sour. “She’s gonna come after me. She hates my guts, and I just ruined her life—again.”
Parker nodded. “I agree.”
Audrey couldn’t breathe. For some stupid reason she’d thought this would be over now.
“I already called Frazer.” Killion worked at a muscle in his shoulder. “He’s doing what needs to be done.”
They were still talking in code, but after what she’d heard that was just fine. She’d mourned Ted Burger along with the rest of the country and had been saddened by his death. But it didn’t sound like he’d been a very nice man.
“What happens next?” Audrey asked, breaking her silence.
Parker’s cell rang, and he put it to his ear. “Frazer says to turn on the news.”
Noah found the latest breaking news on his laptop and there was June Vanek’s picture front and center. The newscaster was declaring that police had discovered evidence pointing to Gabriel Brightman’s head of security and son both being the prime suspects in the man’s murder, and that Audrey Lockhart and Killion, although wanted for questioning, were no longer suspects.
She covered her mouth but must have let out a sob. Killion turned and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him, almost embarrassed by her need to touch this man. It felt so good to be wrapped in his arms. After a few seconds she stood on tiptoes and tried to kiss him. He pulled back.
“Thank you,” she said. She pushed away her confusion. “You told me you’d do it. You told me we’d get our lives back.”
Noah and Logan exchanged a look.
“Yup, I’m that good.” Killion smiled into her eyes, not blanking his features the way she hated when he was hiding something. She relaxed.
“But you’ll still need security until I can go talk to Manuel and make some arrangements,” he told her.
“Can I see my family?” She was desperate to see her parents, sister, and nephew. “My mother will be beside herself. I’m surprised she’s not in the hospital.”
“Sure.” Killion released her and stood back. “Noah and Logan can go with you. I have to wait for someone to take custody of Brightman. Cops can interview you at home. Frazer will arrange a US Attorney to be present. Don’t say a word without him. Don’t mention picking up Brightman or anything you overheard today.”
She nodded. “Are you going after this woman, June?”
Killion shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at the wall over her shoulder. “I doubt Vanek will hang around here.”
“But I thought you said she’d come after you?” Audrey said. His manner was decidedly off.
“She will eventually when she thinks the heat has died down. But the cops will pick her up long before that. I’ll have to lie low for a while, that’s all.”
“But I’ll see you again, right?” Her voice climbed a little higher. “Before you go on your next mission?”
“Ah…” He took a half step back and gave her a small too-bad-but-that’s-how-it-goes-sometimes shrug. “Probably not.”
A cold draft blew over her skin. She looked around at the other men’s faces. They were all staring awkwardly at their boots, obviously embarrassed for her. “You’re saying goodbye to me here? Like this?”
Logan went to open the door to leave.
“Stay. We’re nearly done.” Killion looked pained. “Don’t make a scene, Aud. You knew this was how it was going to be. It’s over. You said you got that when we started up in Jamaica. Now you get to go back to your frogs.” He laughed but it was a horrible grating sound. “But I’d avoid Colombia if I were you, even if I can get the cartel off your back.” His tone turned patronizing like she was a little slow on the uptake.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to figure out if he was joking about this giant public brushoff. He looked deadly serious though—a little bored, a little impatient, like he had more important things to do.
Her fingers clenched. Emotion swelled inside her, and her blood roared in her ears. God. He was serious. This was it. He was saying goodbye in front of his buddies as if she really were just another cog in the wheel. Tears started to burn, but she refused to let them fall. She was making a fool of herself.
“Come on, sweetheart.” Noah took her by the shoulders and started hustling her out the door.
“Keep your eyes peeled for that bitch, Vanek,” Killion shouted after them.
Logan gave him the finger. Audrey wanted to give him the finger too. She’d never told him she loved him. She’d never had a chance. But as her heart shattered into a million pieces inside her chest she was glad. One less awful humiliation to deal with.
* * *
“YOU OKAY?” PARKER asked when Killion slumped down to the love seat and put his head between his knees.
Fuck. “Yeah. Great.” If he didn’t count letting the best thing that had ever happened to him walk away thinking he was a fucking piece of shit. He wanted to smash something, preferably Devon Brightman’s face.
“I take it you did that for her sake?”
His lip curled in self-disgust as he looked up at the other man. “I’m not that noble. I can’t do the work I do with Audrey in tow.”
“If that’s the lie you need to tell yourself, go for it. We all do what we have to do to get by.” Parker’s phone rang before Killion had the chance to reply. “Cops are on their way. Let’s clear out.”
“What about Brightman?”
Parker showed him a live feed on his laptop. Someone had dressed Brightman in his clothes, laid him on a dirty looking mattress. They’d cleaned up the blood, removed the chains and hood, but left drug paraphernalia beside him. “We’ve got enough evidence for the locals to charge him with conspiracy to murder his father and Audrey, and I’m pretty sure they can probably try him for the murder of his sister, Rebecca, too. And that’s not even touching on the narcotics trafficking and other people he and Vanek killed to build their smuggling network.”
“What about me kidnapping him and forcing out a confession?” asked Killion.
“Never happened. The drugs we gave him will make him pretty spaced for a while. Come on, I have to figure out a way to get into his safe deposit box before the cops do.”
Killion grunted and stood. “Let’s get out of here then.” He kept his eyes on Parker’s back. He ignored the way his brain screamed at him to go after Audrey. She was a weakness he couldn’t afford. He had to catch Vanek, and then go arrange a little chat with Manuel Gómez inside Atwater. Audrey wasn’t in the clear yet. Not until he tied up all the loose ends. Noah and Logan could keep her safe. Him being an asshole made it easier for her to hate his guts, easier for her to move on. Then he’d have to figure out what the hell he did with his life next.