Chapter 41
After the Storm
Caleb
I TAP AT the glass doors on my best friend’s deck.
Going around to the front door didn’t seem appropriate. Gemma and I are on the run. Hiding out. And need to take precautions, even here.
You never know who’s watching.
Lurking in the shadows.
Ready to strike.
Ben looks out at us and hurries to slide open the door. “Caleb, where the fuck have you been?”
“Around,” I tell him, casually, like I’d been on vacation.
We slap each other’s back in a semblance of a hug. When I pull away, I see a fiery redheaded woman standing behind him.
I can’t believe it.
He got the girl.
“I knocked, but . . .” I start to say but stop when Ben reaches for her hand. Way to go, man. With my grin wide, I ask, “How are you?”
She gives me a smile. “Good, really good.”
Beside me, I take Gemma’s hand.
I got the girl, too.
And it’s still hard to believe. Then again, it’s been a long week and I haven’t truly processed what happened. We stayed in that storage unit until I healed enough to walk. As a safety precaution, Gemma dyed her hair dark and I shaved my head. We needed to change our appearance before going out in public.
The first thing we did after leaving was ditch my jeep and then we picked up her father and brought him to a safe place. Now, we’re here, so I can finish what started so many years ago—with this man. A man who had no idea what he was getting himself into. A man whose life changed forever because of me.
Struck by the fact that maybe the change wasn’t as bad as I thought it was, I smile at him and say, “This is Gemma. Gemma, this is my best friend in the world, Ben Covington, and his girlfriend.” I pause for a brief moment, filled with so much happiness I can hardly speak.
He got the girl.
I got the girl.
We are both where we were supposed to be.
And it is about fucking time.
“This is my girlfriend, Bell,” he tells Gemma for me.
“Dumbass. I know her name,” I mutter.
Ben punches my arm. “I wasn’t sure. You’re just standing there like a log.”
“Hi, nice to meet you,” Bell says to Gemma, ignoring our antics.
“Nice to meet you both,” Gemma replies to Ben and Bell.
“We’re just making dinner. There’s plenty if you’d like to stay,” Bell offers.
I glance in the kitchen. “Ben’s famous stir-fry—I’d love to, but Serena and Jason are waiting dinner for us. I just wanted to stop by and say a quick hi and talk to Ben.”
Ben rocks back on his heels and tucks his hands in his pockets, obviously feeling uncomfortable.
He’s not incorrect to feel that way.
I’ve done him wrong way too many times, but not this time.
“Well, how about something to drink?” Bell asks us. She can see I need to talk to Ben in private and I appreciate the subtleness.
“I’d love a glass of water,” Gemma tells her.
“The same.” I smile, giving Ben a look that should let him know this isn’t bad news or the start of another crazy journey down a rabbit hole.
“Come with me,” Bell says to Gemma.
Once the girls head to the kitchen, I get serious. “Ben, man, have you seen the news?”
Ben leans against the wall. “Cruz, yeah, I saw it. Nice haircut, by the way.”
“Fuck you.” I grin.
The living room is vast and the TV is on mute, an episode of Friends playing and not the national news. “Do you think the cartel will collapse?” I ask because I trust his insight.
“Honestly, probably not.”
“Yeah, that’s my gut too, and why I’m here. I need that drive you took from me to nail whoever takes over.”
Ben glares at me. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Come on, man, I know you took it when I was here for Thanksgiving.”
As if surrendering, he raises his palms. “I don’t want any trouble.”
I place a hand on his shoulder. “This time you won’t have any. You have my word. I’m turning this in and then I’m out.”
Skepticism lines his face.
“Come on. I need this so I can be finished with the cartel. I mean it. I’m out.”
After a few moments, he gives me a slight nod. “Fine, but just so you know, I didn’t take it. It fell out of your backpack when you were here. I meant to ask you about it, but then you ghosted out before I could. I thought you gave it to Agent Bass?”
I run my hand over my scalp. “Look man, it’s a long story. Do you really want to hear it?”
Ben keeps staring at Bell, who’s in the kitchen.
At this point, I don’t feel keeping secrets makes a difference to the case. “I can give you the condensed version.”
Bell and Gemma return. After Bell hands me a water, Ben opens his arms, and she folds into them. With her head tight against his shoulder, he kisses her and then says to me, “You know what, I’m good with the way things are.”
I give him a nod. Good choice. No sense in bringing the past up now.
Bell looks up. “What’s going on?”
Ben smiles down at her and kisses the tip of her nose. “Nothing. Caleb was just looking for some advice, but I can’t really help him.”
Gemma sips her water. I stare at her and understand where Ben’s coming from. Some things aren’t worth the risk. This I know all too well.
“I’ll be right back,” Ben says.
While he’s gone, we make small talk. When he comes back into the room, he hands me the flash drive like it’s on fire. “Good luck, man.”
I take it, fingering it before slipping it in my pocket. There’s so little on here compared to what I would have gotten from Cruz’s computer, but it doesn’t seem that important anymore. “Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
“You better,” Ben barks.
We say our goodbyes and once Gemma and I leave through the front door, I sigh with relief.
Something is better than nothing.
Tomorrow, I’ll activate the beacon Rice gave me and go in to the office to debrief. I’ll give them the data I should have given them long ago. The flash drive. The real one, this time.
I wouldn’t say the op was a success, but I wouldn’t say it was a failure. Either way you look at it, the op is dead.
The kingpin is dead.
The way it ended really is cleaner.
I hope the team sees it the same way I do and that they understand why I won’t be returning to the FBI.
The abbreviated version of it anyway.
I can’t tell them everything. They can’t know about my brother or the data I withheld to save my nephew’s life. They can’t know that Gemma is Cleo. They can’t know about the necklace. They can’t know about a lot.
I’ve done things that go against the Oath I swore as to the Federal Bureau of Investigations.
Ghosting out is my only option.
By doing so I’ll be letting go of my vendetta.
I’ll be free.
And fuck, how I’m looking forward to it.