“What is that noise?” I groaned as I slapped my hand against the coffee table.

My head was rocking, and the room spun as I attempted to sit up. I clapped the lights to dim and my eyes landed on the culprit making all the crazy noise.

My phone.

It was sitting on the mantle on the opposite side of the room and ringing off the damn hook. I managed to push up from the couch and haphazardly tumbled my way over to it. I blinked a couple times before Lexie’s name came into focus on the screen. My eyes lifted to the clock beside me which read a quarter ‘til four in the morning which made the fact that Lexie’s name was the incoming call on my cell phone even more odd.

“Gavin,” I mumbled.

“There’s someone in the apartment,” Lexie’s distraught whisper came through the line.

“Of course, there’s someone in the apartment, Lexie. It’s the agents. Go to bed.”

“Gavin, I’m not kidding. Something jolted me awake, so I sat up in bed when I heard what sounds like a scuffle and low voices to follow.”

She officially had my attention.

“Where are you now?” I headed into the kitchen and poured myself a large glass of water and popped four ibuprofens.

“I’m hiding in the crawl space above the dresser.” The terror in her voice was sobering.

I tried to dial one of the agents on three-way calling but he didn’t pick up.

“Lexie, I need you to be very quiet. I’m on my way, okay?”

“Please don’t hang up, Gavin. Please!”

“I won’t. I’ll be on the line the entire time.” My fingers flew across the screen of my phone as I typed out a message to Gribbins, knowing he’d hear his notifications at any time of night.

“I’m so scared.” Lexie began to cry. I knew if I didn’t calm her down they would easily hear her.

“Take a deep breath, and let it out slowly, Lexie. I know you’re scared, but I’m on my way to you.”

“O—okay.”

I listened to her take a few deep breaths and begin to calm herself. “Good, you’re doing great.”

“They're just outside the bedroom.” She paused. “I think they’re coming in here.” Lexie was frantic as the sounds of the door clicking open followed by muffled men’s voices filled the background.

I couldn’t understand what they were saying and was afraid to have Lexie repeat it back to me for fear of them hearing her. “Be as quiet as possible. You don’t have to let me know you’re still on the line because I can hear you breathing. Just please hold it together, Lexie.”

My foot pressed even harder on the gas pedal as the engine roared and I flew down back roads, knowing they would be a helluva lot faster to get down than trying the main roads at this hour. Las Vegas came to life at night. I also knew I was putting my life at risk, and probably my career, for driving after tying one on hours prior. But Lexie’s life was at stake and I knew Gribbins would do his damndest to get me out of a situation if I ended up in one.

“Lexie, I’m still here. Just stay calm and quiet for me.”

“Oh, God," Lexie's breathless voice faded away as odd sounds filled the phone, followed by her blood curdling screams.

“Nice hiding place, you little bitch,” a deep male voice with a Russian accent growled.

He must’ve been holding the phone.

“No…Please…” Lexie was hysterically begging, but I wasn’t sure if it was for her freedom or something else. I hated not being there. I was less than five miles away but it might as well have been a thousand.

Her screams filed the line once more before she fell silent as another man spoke up, “Clover’s been hiding this one. Boss will be happy to know—”

The line went dead.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I slammed my hand against the steering wheel and pushed the gas pedal to the floor.

The speedometer was maxed out as I took a small curve, fish tailing the entire way, hoping and praying I wouldn’t crash. Someone up above had to be watching over me because my truck lined out and I came to a stop outside the apartment complex, tossing the truck into park and retrieving my personal gun from the console. I quickly ascended the stairs to the fourth floor with my gun in tow. It was unbelievably quiet in the complex; the FBI had bought the building years back to ensure the safety of informants, and only a few were rented for everyday people to reside in and make the atmosphere as normal as possible.

The door to the fourth floor was propped open as I slowly slipped through it. Her apartment door was open as well. As I reached the threshold I held my gun high, ready to take a shot if need be. Two agents' bodies were laid out on the kitchen floor, with another two in the living room. I cleared both rooms, followed by the bathroom, and then the bedroom. No one was there. Lexie had officially been taken, another woman lost on what should’ve been my watch.

I’d failed her. Like I’d failed Blair.

“Son of a bitch!” I kicked the wall as I left the bedroom.

“Show me your hands!” Gribbins' voice was firm in the darkness, his flashlight beaming directly into my eyes.

“It’s me, Gavin.” I held my hands up in surrender with my gun hooked on my finger.

The lights in the apartment came to life and Gribbins took in the sight around us. “What the hell happened here?”

“Lexie called me, freaking out about some men being in the apartment, I told her it was probably the agents. She was hysterical and said it wasn’t. Two men with Russian accents apparently found her, killed the four guys we had on duty, and took her. I was on the phone through the majority of it. One of the guys mentioned how happy their boss was going to be, and something about Clover had been hiding Lexie. I didn’t hear the full conversation because her phone disconnected. I’m sure it’s been destroyed.”

“We found this in the stairwell.” An agent held a baggie in the air with Lexie’s crushed cell phone in it.

“Dammit,” I growled.

“Joel has to be involved with her kidnapping,” Gribbins said matter-of-factly.

“Why do you think that?”

“Something he said in one of the interviews tonight.”

“He’s finally talking?”

“Not exactly.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, “Then what do you mean?”

“He hadn’t spoken a word the entire time we’ve had him until the last round of tonight’s interrogations. He mentioned that we were about to become very unlucky. That’s all he said before falling silent once again.”

“What does it all mean?”

“Well, we know Lexie is the only person that ties Joel to the kidnapping of Blair. He must’ve known that too. So, we have to assume whoever Joel’s working for has Lexie.”

“And Blair.”

“Most likely.”

“Let me at him, Gribbins,” I practically begged.

“With Lexie missing all Joel has to do is request a lawyer and he’ll most likely walk within twenty-four hours. I can’t let you near him. He’ll know who you are, and it’ll blow not only your cover, but Blair’s as well.”

“What’s our next move then?”

“I go in.”

I scoffed. “You’ll blow your own cover. You were with me the night I won; Joel met the both of us.”

“I know, but he doesn’t have to know that you are aware of who I am.”

“I don’t think it’ll work.”

“It’s all we have,” Gribbins argued. “I’ll go in, make it seem as if we took those two men down, he has no way of contacting anyone to find out otherwise. Then I’ll mention this Clover person; see if it pulls anything from him. Maybe if we play these cards right, it’ll give us a firm lead and chance to lock Joel in a cell and throw away the key until trial.”

“If it’s our last move.”

“I feel that it is.” Gribbins cleared his throat and let out a heavy sigh. “Why don’t you head home, freshen up, and meet me back at the office. I have a lot to take care of here in the meantime. You can write your report of what happened once you get to the office.”

* * *

I laid my report on Gribbins' desk and slipped into the room adjacent to the interrogation room Joel was in. He couldn’t see me through the glass, but I could see him. That same fucking smug smile on his face as Gribbins stepped into the room and took a seat across from him. Neither of them speaking up at first, it was like a chess game where each opponent was gauging the other before one made a move.

Joel made his move.

“Well, who do we have here? I wouldn’t have pegged you for a Fed, more like a drunk.”

“Funny how things turn out, huh?” Gribbins countered.

“Yes, it sure is. So, your little buddy, Gavin, must be one of the guys trying to save the World then, huh?”

“No, he has no idea I’m FBI either.”

“Why do I feel like you’re lying?”

“Maybe because you’re paranoid?”

“Or you actually are lying.”

“Gavin’s just a friend. A friend of mine who has had some pretty shit luck, until he won that money at the casino, is all.”

“And you being there by his side when he collected was simply a coincidence then?”

“Call it what you want.”

Gribbins was trying his damndest to keep my cover under wraps, but Joel seemed to be smarter than that. I wanted to bust through that door and wring his neck, but in case he actually believed the tall tale Gribbins was giving him, I couldn’t.

“I know a snake when I see one.”

“And I know someone who doesn’t want to go down for someone else’s wrongdoings when I see them too.”

Joel laughed. “What’s with the early morning visit? Trouble in paradise?” He grinned widely.

Gribbins sat back in the metal chair and laughed a humorless laugh. “The joke's on you, and Clover.”

Joel’s face paled at the mention of Clover’s name. “I find that hard to believe.”

He wasn’t denying there was a Clover, and that he knew him.

“The two men that were sent in by your boss were murdered. We have phone records, names, and even dates of things that have happened and are planned to happen. The end is near, Joel, and if you want to be on the other side of this you need to throw in your towel while you have the chance.”

“I’m going to call your bluff yet again,” Joel leaned his cuffed hands onto the table. “Because what you’re saying, is so far from the truth of it all.”

“Call my bluff all you want. But the one thing that I can’t quite put my finger on is why did Clover send Russians in to do the job? Is he a Russian himself? Are they easier to hire for individual jobs? That’s the one thing that makes zero sense to me. Clover seems to be a smart guy, to have murdered all those victims and never leave behind an inkling of evidence as to who he is or why he did it. He doesn’t want recognition, but he wants something. Also, where do you fall into all of this? Are you his little follower riding on his coattails? Or are you just someone he can easily manipulate? Have you ever asked yourself those questions, Joel? If not, I bet you are now.”

Gribbins slapped a hand against the table, and Joel jumped. The questions Gribbins had laid out there were causing a ruckus in his mind. It was obvious in his eyes and by the look on his face. Maybe he had planted the seed that would cause Joel to go off the deep end. Hopefully sooner, rather than later.

“You have a good day enjoying lock up and thinking about what I said. I have people to take down.” Gribbins rose from the chair and headed to the door, leaving Joel sitting alone.

“Wait!” Joel shouted and Gribbins turned to face him.

“Want to talk?”

His eyes narrowed and a despicable grin curled the corners of his mouth, “I want a lawyer.”