Chapter 12
—Your instinct is your best friend.—
Leighton locked the door behind Lucy as she left, resisting the urge to follow after her. He didn’t like any of this. He didn’t want her involved in any of this. And it was his fault she was. If she’d never seen him leaving the hotel with Maria, he might have been able to salvage something between them. Made sure she stayed far away from all this.
“She’s a smart cookie,” Skye said, coming down the stairs. The entire crew was at this house. It wasn’t their safe house but another one they’d rented as a backup not far from where they were all staying.
He turned around to face her. “I know. But that doesn’t mean I have to like her going into danger.”
“She’s just having dinner with her uncle. One that was planned. Besides, we’ll have her back.”
He nodded once, not exactly mollified but feeling slightly better. Under normal circumstances, one of them would have tried to infiltrate Kuznetsov’s New Orleans home or Marco’s and plant a tracker themselves. But Kuznetsov knew some of their faces, and if he figured out Brooks was involved in this, it put all of them in danger.
The way Leighton felt about Lucy was confusing as hell. “I need to make a phone call,” he said abruptly, heading up the stairs. He needed privacy to make this call.
He called Hazel using FaceTime instead of a simple phone call because he wanted to see Hazel’s face when he asked her what he needed to. He’d known her for a long time and there was something to be said for witnessing a physical reaction.
Hazel answered on the third ring. “Hey,” she said, half-smiling at him. She looked exhausted, her short hair pulled back in a little tail. She had on a plain blue T-shirt and her badge was hooked around her neck on a chain.
“You working right now?”
“I’m always working. Until we close this case I’m basically not sleeping. Thank you again for saving Maria.”
“Is she okay?” he asked.
“I think she will be. As soon as this shit is done, I’m going to figure out some things for them, but they’re okay where they are now.”
“Let me know if you need help in that area.” Because the crew would have no problem relocating her. Though if Kuznetsov was taken down, it might not matter. They might be able to go back to their lives.
She smiled again and shook her head. “Look, is this important? Because if not, I really do have a lot of work to do.”
“Are you guys close to bringing him down?” He didn’t need to specify who.
She simply nodded.
“As in the next day or two?”
She nodded again.
“Did you know that he killed Lucy’s parents?” he asked bluntly.
Surprise at the question flickered in Hazel’s eyes even as a teeny bit of guilt bled through. “Where did you hear that?”
“That’s not an answer. You’re deflecting. So I’ll take that as a yes.” Annoyance sparked inside him.
She rubbed a hand over her face, sighed. “You didn’t need to know.”
“I think I get to decide what I need and what I don’t need, especially when I’m doing you a favor.”
“What does it matter? I needed you to save Maria and you did. His niece’s background isn’t important.”
Well it was important to Leighton. “You know she’s not dirty, right? She’s not like her uncle.” Not even close.
“I do know that. But I also know that sometimes innocent people get caught in the crossfire.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
She lifted a shoulder and rubbed a hand over her face again. When she did, the phone moved slightly and he realized she must be in a hotel room. He knew the Bureau had put the agents up somewhere but she hadn’t been able to tell him where because of security protocols. Though if he wanted to find out, he was certain Gage could figure it out.
“I’m just saying that if we can’t get everything we need, there’s been talk about putting pressure on her to bring her uncle down.”
And telling her that Kuznetsov was the one who killed her parents would be the leverage the Feds needed to turn her. Yeah, Leighton definitely didn’t like the sound of that. But he wasn’t going to show any of his cards now. He simply nodded. Hazel had confirmed what he needed to know about Lucy’s parents. “Good luck bringing him down.”
“Thanks,” she said with that half-smile again. “I’ll talk to you later.”
When he was done, he headed back downstairs to find everybody gathered in the dining room. Soon they’d leave, but in shifts to make sure they weren’t followed. “I just got off the phone with Hazel,” he said. “She confirmed that Kuznetsov killed Lucy’s parents. I don’t have any details other than what’s in the file Gage’s friend gave him. She also said that there’s been talk of using Lucy to bring her uncle down. Putting pressure on her if necessary.”
That got a whole lot of frowns from the crew. They knew how the Feds worked and didn’t like it any more than he did.
“If it comes down to it I want to make sure we’re all on the same page. We need to be her backup. If she needs an attorney or she needs us to blackmail someone into getting them to back off, I’m going to do it.” And he definitely wasn’t asking for permission. They’d gotten a ton of blackmail-worthy information from a job a while ago—one that inadvertently involved Kuznetsov himself.
“Agreed,” Skye said before anybody else could talk. “I like her. She could’ve just pretended all of this shit wasn’t real then gone back to her life. Instead she’s aware and horrified by her uncle.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Not that he really expected less, but he felt oddly protective of Lucy and he was going to do everything to make sure she came out of this okay.
* * *
Lucy had never been more nervous in her entire life than she was now. Even though she’d sworn she wouldn’t second-guess herself, as she stepped into the six-car garage at her uncle’s New Orleans home, she wondered if she was making a mistake. What if she got caught?
No. The little voice in her head told her to shut up and just do this. Ugh, when had her life gotten so complicated?
And why couldn’t she stop thinking about Leighton? She shouldn’t be attracted to him. She shouldn’t be thinking about him at all other than in terms of what she was doing here. Instead she found herself ridiculously attracted to him, fantasizing about him and his big, callused hands. Which told her she was seriously messed up in the head. Clearly she had damage.
Marco always parked his car in the garage when he was here, so she was peeking inside to see if it was there. God, she loathed the man. She shouldn’t be doing this, shouldn’t even be contemplating it. But maybe it would help Leighton and his people to find Marco faster. So…she was going to plant the tracker they’d put on her, on Marco’s car.
Leighton would probably get all sexy and surly looking if he knew what she was doing.
Stop thinking about him. It wasn’t as if there were security cameras inside the garage. On the outside of it, yes, but not in here. She knew, because she’d been in the small security room before.
Sure enough, Marco’s car was in the garage, which very likely meant he was here. Gage and Leighton had said that he took a driver everywhere and maybe that was true. But she’d only ever seen him drive the Audi to her uncle’s place. Of course, her interactions with him were few and far between, thankfully. Whenever her uncle was in town, he was so busy with him, she rarely saw Marco, and only here.
Before she could question herself again, she took the tracker out of her purse and hurried across the garage.
With damp palms, Lucy fastened it to the underside of one of the wheel wells. Moving quickly, she hurried back across the garage, hoping to be basically invisible until she found her uncle. Her heart was a wild, staccato beat in her chest, but she’d done it. Now she just needed to tell Leighton.
As she swung the door open, she bit back a gasp as she nearly ran into Gervasi, one of her uncle’s employees. He was big, Russian and intimidating.
“What are you doing?” He frowned, sweeping her from head to toe in an assessing gaze.
She returned his frown with one of her own, making sure she played the haughty niece to perfection. “Excuse me? Am I not allowed in my uncle’s garage?”
His eyes widened slightly and he took a step back. “No, no. That’s not what I meant.”
She smiled politely and passed him, dismissing him with an annoyed little sniff even though that wasn’t remotely her personality. Her heart pounded wildly as she walked away from him. She’d taken a risk tonight and hoped it paid off.
Fear bloomed deep inside her chest as she wondered what would happen if Marco found the tracker. Or what if her uncle found out she’d placed it on Marco’s vehicle? All questions she couldn’t answer. Not to mention that not many people had access to this garage and now there was a witness who’d seen her leaving it. Damn it, maybe she should have thought this through more.
Heart pounding, she forced a smile as she stepped into the kitchen. Her uncle was where he’d told her he’d be. He hadn’t wanted to eat in the formal dining room, but at the center island in the expansive kitchen instead. Which was fine with her.
She smiled brightly and crossed the tile to him, her heels clicking loudly. She kissed him on both cheeks as he smiled down at her, his pale blue eyes unreadable. His blond hair was cut short like usual and he wore a custom-made suit. Just like usual. He seemed normal enough.
“You’re looking well,” he said, the faintest hint of an accent in his voice. He’d worked very hard to lose that accent when it pleased him.
Her father had been the same way, though he’d never lost it. Her mother, a Cuban immigrant, had never lost hers either. Lucy shut the lid on thoughts of her parents right now, however.
“I should, I utilize the spa at the hotel any chance I get,” she said teasingly.
He glanced over at his personal chef. “You may leave us now,” he said flatly. His tone was so different than the one he used with her or with his daughter. There was no warmth, no civility even. With his son he was nominally warmer, but not by much.
In fact, she realized that he was only ever gentle with her or Liliana. She wondered so many things about him now. If the files she’d read were true. Her stomach was twisted up inside but she was going to force herself to eat tonight no matter what.
“Would you like a glass of wine?” He headed over to the crawfish étouffée and rice the chef had prepared where a bottle of Beaujolais waited.
“I would like a glass but since I’m driving, I’ll pass tonight.” She was already jittery enough, she didn’t need to add alcohol to her system.
But he waved his hand once in the air. “One will be fine.” And that was that.
When he made his mind up about something, it was always seen as settled. She’d never really pushed back either.
“You’ll be happy to know that the investigation has been officially closed.” Her uncle pulled down two bowls from one of the cabinets and started scooping out the étouffée onto rice.
“It is?” That seemed fast.
“Yes. Atkins was working alone. Thought he could make some extra cash on the side.” Her uncle shook his head as if disgusted by the idea. “He is a fool. And he will never work in this town again. Not that it matters. It seems he has left town,” he added on.
Lucy knew that was untrue and there was no reason for her uncle to lie to her—unless he was covering something up. “Good. I hate the idea of something like that in our hotel. It’s disgusting,” she added, watching to see if he reacted at all.
But he didn’t. Instead, he served food into the bowls and motioned for her to sit at the island. “Sit, sit. I know you’ve been working hard.”
“No harder than you,” she said in what she hoped was a teasing manner but her movements felt stiff and brittle. If he noticed, he didn’t let on.
She forced herself to take a deep breath. She could do this. Her uncle wasn’t going to hurt her regardless. Right? A week ago she would have known the answer to that, but now she wasn’t sure of anything.
“We’ve also figured out the issue with the security system. It’s just a glitch, something that should have been fixed during the last security update.”
“Seriously?” She took the wine glass he held out for her. Even if she didn’t want any alcohol in her system, the red wine was honey smooth.
“Yes. And I’ve already fired the IT people who should have caught this issue before now. So there should be no more issues.”
“Good.”
“So, Marco seems to think you know that Mr. Johnson more than you let on. Is there something I should know?”
“Marco knows nothing,” she snapped out. “I don’t understand why you let him run all over The Sapphire. He’s annoying.”
Her uncle lifted an eyebrow in true surprise. Probably because she’d never let on how much Marco’s presence bothered her. “You don’t care for him?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Not really. He’s bossy, arrogant and he gets in my way. He talks to me as if I’m missing brain cells.” And the fool liked to call her princess on occasion.
Her uncle reached out and patted her hand once. The gesture felt condescending. “He means well.”
The hell he did. Instead of returning to the topic of Marco, she said, “So have you thought more about Christmas?” Lucy knew this was the only topic guaranteed to take her uncle’s mind off Marco and “Spencer Johnson.”
His mouth pulled into a thin line as he speared a piece of salmon with his fork. “I thought this topic was closed.”
“No. It’s not. Liliana wants to come home for Christmas. Or to stay with me. And I’m not going to tell my cousin that she can’t be here for the holidays. A cousin who is more like a sister to me.”
“We’ll see, we’ll see.”
She knew exactly what his “we’ll see” meant but at this point she was just making conversation to keep him distracted from other topics she most definitely didn’t want to talk about.
As soon as she left, she needed to call Leighton and tell him she’d placed the tracker. He might be mad at first, but what was done, was done. She wasn’t sure if it would do any good, but seeing Marco’s vehicle in the garage told her that he was definitely here. And he was staying out of sight, clearly. Because normally he always came around whenever she was with her uncle. So he must be avoiding her. Maybe she was reaching, but her instinct told her that he was likely avoiding her after the other night.