Chapter Three

Most people she knew hated paperwork. Not Taylor. She thrived on it.

Here in her cramped but tidy cubicle in the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force area, surrounded by her spreadsheets and data, she was in her happy place. Here, she was in her safe zone, comforted by the knowledge that her work was valued and making a difference in the war on drugs.

Because at the end of the day, money really did make the world go around, especially for drug cartels.

Her computer screen showed various financial statements and offshore bank account transactions for several shell corporations thought to belong to members of the Venenos cartel. Unlike many of the previous cases she’d worked on, this time they ranged from banks in Dubai, the UAE, Caymans and of course Switzerland. A lot of ground to cover, but she was making steady progress along with the two other analysts working under her.

Movement in her peripheral vision had her glancing across the office floor. A big grin split her face when she saw Charlie coming toward her. “Hey, what brings you to this side of the compound?” Normally Charlie was busy in the next building over with her Computer Forensic Examiner colleagues.

Charlie walked through the center aisle and stopped at Taylor’s cubicle. “Wanted to thank you again for all your help yesterday. Couldn’t have done it without you, even with Piper there.”

“No problem.” She cast a glance around to make sure no one was listening in and lowered her voice just in case. “Everything all right with Jamie?”

“Yes, he texted me just after midnight to say he and the others were on their way back. Well, to Florida. They’re due home early tonight.”

“Glad to hear it.” She reached for the bottle of water on her desk.

“Apparently Logan was injured though.”

Taylor’s hand froze around the bottle, her gaze shooting to Charlie’s. “Is he okay?” He hadn’t been shot, had he?

“Hurt his knee pretty bad.”

“Oh no…” If the injury was serious enough to put him on disability, it would kill him to lose his place on the team. He’d only been on it a short time. “Did Jamie say what happened?”

“No, but I’ll find out tonight. I’m sure he’ll be fine. And anyway, I came over to bring you this in person.” She held out a thick file marked Top Secret.

“What is it?” Taylor asked as she took it, intrigued.

“What you’ve been waiting for. Just came back from the cryptologists.”

She blinked at her in surprise. “They cracked it?”

“Apparently.”

Not wasting any time, Taylor set it down and flipped it open. Sure enough, there were the files Charlie had managed to transmit to her during the op to expose Veneno cartel money launderer Dean Baker in The Hamptons.

Charlie’s team only had a few files to work with. Except instead of gibberish, the pages now contained what appeared to be bank names, account numbers, fund transfers and names. Odd names.

“Yesss,” she murmured under her breath. This was the biggest break she’d had in the case yet.

Charlie chuckled. “Thought you’d like that.”

“Oh, I really do.” The strange names listed were likely either code or aliases—cartels had a thing for using weird monikers—and probably set up using fake IDs. Still, at least it was something substantial for her to dig her teeth into, compared to what she’d been working with up to this point. “I’ll get started on this right away.”

“I’d expect nothing less of you,” Charlie said, her voice teasing.

Taylor couldn’t help but grin. Charlie was one of the few people she’d met since moving to D.C. who really seemed to get her, and didn’t mind her idiosyncrasies. It was probably why they’d bonded so quickly, because Taylor didn’t have many friends—never had—and none of them as close as Charlie. Relationships were complicated, and given the chaos she’d come from, she liked all aspects of her life to be orderly and safe.

Okay, she liked it boring. But she had her reasons.

“We’re going to have a low key dinner at our place tonight, if the guys get home at a decent hour. You wanna come?” Charlie asked.

It was so early on in Charlie and Jamie’s relationship, Taylor would feel like a fifth wheel. “Nah, y’all should have the place to yourselves for the night. It’s technically your first full night in your new place together.”

Charlie sighed. “That’s not gonna happen. Easton will be over for sure, and probably my middle brother. Maybe Logan too, if he’s feeling up to it.”

The possibility of Logan being there only made Taylor not want to go more. She’d be seeing him soon enough anyway—assuming he actually did want to meet up for dinner after he got back. “No. Thanks for the invite, but I’ll probably be working late tonight anyway.”

Charlie set her hand on her hip and frowned at Taylor. “Oh, come on. If Easton comes then Piper will too, and if my middle brother comes then he might bring his girlfriend—and she’s even more of an introvert than you, even around us still. We drag her out of her shell as much as we can, so she’s slowly getting used to us all.”

Yes, the Colebrooks were a force to be reckoned with when they were all together. Overwhelming, actually, especially for someone as introverted as her. Taylor liked them all, but not enough to sit through an evening with a bunch of people she didn’t know, feeling totally out of place and wishing she was home with a cup of tea and her cat. “We’ll see.”

Her friend’s eyes narrowed. “When you say that, it always means no.”

“Well, I’ve got a lot of work to do now that you’ve given me the files.”

“Uh huh, and you not coming over has nothing to do with Logan possibly being there.” Charlie gave her a bland look that dared her to deny it.

The knowing tone was really damn annoying, even if she was dead on. There was something about Logan that pulled at her. Attraction, yes, but more than that. He was strong. Dedicated. Dependable. All the things she’d never found in a man. And he was terrifyingly masculine, in a way that every cell in her body responded to without her permission.

Yeah, and that probably means he’s too good to be true.

Well, there was that. “Actually, I’ve got plans. I’m supposed to meet up with someone tonight.”

Charlie’s eyebrows lifted. “Someone as in, a guy?”

“Yes, a guy.”

“What? Like a date? Who is he?”

“Just an old friend who called me out of the blue. He’s in town and wanted to meet up.” She was still a little nervous about it, to be honest. It had been so long since they’d seen each other, she dreaded sitting through an awkward dinner if things didn’t go well.

Charlie studied her for a long moment. “So…not a date,” she said, seeking clarification.

“No.”

“And you’re not going to tell me who it is?”

“No.” It was too complicated an explanation, and Dillon wasn’t the type of guy she wanted to introduce to anyone in her current life. He’d done things she didn’t want to talk about, let alone have anyone involved with the agency know.

Mostly, she didn’t want to open up that window to the past she was so ashamed of. Not even for Charlie.

“Well, damn. Can you come over for a bit after, then?”

Taylor chuckled. Charlie just wanted her to come over and spill all the details, which wasn’t going to happen. When it came to keeping secrets, Taylor was a human vault. “We’ll see.”

Charlie sighed in exasperation. “Fine. I’ll text you once I hear from Jamie. If they’re not coming home tonight, will you come over then? Spend some time with me after your dinner?”

She couldn’t say no to that. “Sure.”

Charlie shook her head, one side of her mouth quirking up in a half-smile. “Was it the idea of a group gathering that turned you off, or the possibility of Logan being there?”

“Neither.” Both. Although it was exhausting to constantly feel like she had to defend herself for being introverted.

She didn’t expect an extrovert like Charlie to understand it, but she wanted her friend to at least try to respect that for Taylor, being around a group of people for more than half an hour was tantamount to having the life force sucked right out of her.

So she preferred peace and quiet and her own company most of the time. Why couldn’t people accept that? Live and let live.

“Chicken,” Charlie accused softly, humor warming her eyes.

No, more like cautious. Hypothetically speaking, even if Logan was interested in her either in a physical or romantic way, that didn’t mean Taylor would reciprocate. She wasn’t sure she wanted to make room for a relationship in her life with any man—and she’d learned at a young age that men couldn’t be trusted anyway.

Still, there was something about Logan that told her she could trust him. Maybe because she’d seen him in action.

Thankfully Charlie let it go and squeezed her shoulder. “Good luck with the files. I’ll text you as soon as I know what’s going on tonight.”

“Sounds good.”

She’d only been working on the new file for a few minutes when her boss called her into his office. She closed the door behind her, gave him a polite smile. “Charlie Colebrook just dropped off the files from the cryptologists.”

Chris was at his computer and didn’t look up at her. “Oh, great. Have a seat, Taylor.”

A tingle of unease threaded its way up her spine at the seriousness in his tone, and how distracted he seemed. “Everything okay?” she asked as she sank into the chair opposite his desk.

“Yes. Headquarters sent over some security footage from Baker’s party. I need you to look at it and see if you can match any faces here to the IDs you pulled from the bank account info.”

The unease faded away. “Sure.” She scooted her chair closer to his desk and he turned the monitor to face her.

“I’ve reviewed the files you compiled from the IDs, but it’s always good to have a second set of eyes to look with me. There are rumors of some of the higher-up Veneno members being present.”

Taylor didn’t say anything as he loaded the video. The feed began from a camera overlooking a pool/patio area at Baker’s luxurious summer house in Sagaponack. Since Baker was dead, shot by his pilot, his property had been seized by the government, along with all his other assets.

The entire patio was filled with men in suits and tuxes, and women in classy cocktail dresses. Taylor spotted Baker right away, wearing a white tux so he stood out in the crowd, his dark blond hair carefully styled. On the outside, he looked like the rich, successful businessman he’d presented to the world. How many people at the party knew what he really was?

“There.” Chris stopped the video and touched a fingertip to a man standing off to the left side of the patio, near what looked like a bar area. “Does he look familiar?”

He opened a folder on his desk and began flipping through it, then pulled out a piece of paper and turned it toward her. “Headquarters lists this guy’s real name as Javier Quinta. Better known in the narco world as El Jaguar, enforcer for one of the Veneno bosses, and known for his sadistic methods when he kills.”

“Yeah, that’s him. I’ve got him listed on a different ID though, under another name. I’ll trace his accounts as soon as I get back to my desk.” She grabbed a pen and paper from his desk and jotted down notes. “And what about this guy right here?” She pointed to someone standing a few yards behind Quinta. “He looks familiar too.”

Chris flipped through more pages, then smirked. “Good eye. It’s him.” He held up another sheet, listing a lawyer suspected to work for the cartel.

Taylor made more notes, a wave of excitement racing through her. Her job wasn’t normally this exhilarating. Usually she just chased down money trails and talked to a lot of bankers while working on the case. This was way better and made for a nice change of pace. Who’d have ever thought that she would enjoy a break from normal routine?

They reviewed all the footage from that camera, then the feed switched to another one, capturing a view of some kind of garden courtyard just off the patio.

“There’s Charlie,” she said, pointing as her friend walked through the camera’s field of vision in the cocktail dress she had helped Charlie pick out that morning. Little had they known that Charlie and Jamie would both be fighting for their lives a few short hours later.

“This guy. He look familiar? He’s a sicario for one of the Veneno lieutenants.”

She looked up, her heart seeming to freeze when she spotted the man beside the one her boss indicated. Even without having seen him for so many years, she recognized him instantly.

Dressed in a black tux with a drink in his hand, he appeared to be surveying everything going on in front of him. His sandy-brown hair was a little longer in front than the back than how he used to wear it, his jaw more angular. But the rest of him was all power and hard edges now and he radiated an authority that was impossible to miss.

She couldn’t answer, her gaze locked on him, stomach sinking. It doesn’t prove he’s involved with the cartel. Just because he’s there doesn’t automatically make him guilty.

She desperately wanted him to be innocent.

“Taylor?”

She glanced up at Chris, who was watching her intently. She was still in shock, hardly able to believe what she’d just seen.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, fine.” She put on a smile and forced her attention back to the man he’d pointed out, but her mind was now racing, the blood rushing in her ears.

Chris was way too perceptive, however. “Do you know him?”

“No.” Not the man he meant, and she wasn’t going to volunteer anything more about the other. Not yet.

You just lied to a DEA agent. Your boss.

She shoved aside the guilt and worry about what future repercussions might come from this, refusing to say anything. The reaction to shield the man on screen was instinctive and automatic, something she couldn’t control. She didn’t understand it, she only knew that her immediate reaction was to protect him, out of an ingrained sense of loyalty.

Dillon Wainright. The boy she’d always thought of as her knight in shining armor…before he’d allowed himself to be poisoned by the darkness surrounding him. Now here she was, faced with irrefutable proof that he was at least socially linked to Dean Baker, and a Veneno enforcer.

Her stomach gathered into a tight ball of dread at the possible implications. Because she’d promised to meet him in only a few hours from now.