CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What is taking so long?” Piper pivoted and walked the other direction. She’d been pacing the length of the suite’s living room for the past two hours and the clock had just ticked past midnight. She was ready to demand a member of Bravo drive her to the police station and insist the police release Liam and Simon. “This is ridiculous. Simon defended himself and Liam protected me. They didn’t do anything wrong.”
Trent St. Claire stretched his legs out in front of him. “Police investigations take time. Don’t waste your energy.”
“Those are your teammates. You should be raising a ruckus to get them released.”
“First, Liam would have my hide if I ended up tossed in jail because he’s more concerned with your protection than his own comfort. Second, Matt and Cade are searching Gavin’s room before it’s cordoned off. Third, the lawyer will do more for Liam and Simon than I can. She knows the ins and outs of the law far better than I ever will. That woman is a shark and Fortress pays her a large retainer fee to be available 24/7 for their operatives. You can trust her to vigorously defend Liam and Simon.”
Piper scowled. “Did the Fortress lawyer have to be a woman?”
Bravo’s leader chuckled. “She’s happily married with two kids under five. She’s a threat to police plans for Liam and Simon, but no threat to you.”
Feeling catty, Piper held up her hands in surrender. “How soon will Matt and Cade return?”
“Anytime.”
Someone inserted a key card into the lock and opened the door. When Liam and Simon walked in, Piper breathed a sigh of relief.
She threw herself into Liam’s open arms and the tension riding her for the past seven hours disappeared. “Liam.”
“Are you okay, Sunshine?” he murmured against her ear.
“I am now. What about you? Did they hurt you or Simon?”
Liam shook his head. “Barrett and Kerrigan are slow but they’re good cops. We’re fine.” He cupped her face between his callused palms. “Thank you for doing as I asked and calling in my team.” He glanced at Trent. “Thanks for watching over Piper.”
“No problem. Matt and Cade are searching Gavin’s room.”
“Barrett and Kerrigan are returning to the resort soon to search his room.”
“Catch up later.” Simon frowned. “Piper, is the kitchen open this late?”
“No, but we ordered food from room service before they closed. The plates are in the oven.” She set the plates on the small table and retrieved the canned drinks and bottles of water the other operatives had purchased for them.
Liam seated Piper before seating himself and uncovering the meal. A large serving of lasagna filled the plate along with two foil-wrapped breadsticks. “This looks terrific. Thanks.”
The two men scarfed down the food and polished off a soft drink by the time Cade and Matt returned to the suite.
“Did you show them the dessert you ordered?” Matt asked Piper.
Simon’s eyes brightened. “Dessert?”
“One piece of strawberry cheesecake and one of chocolate cake.”
“I call dibs on the cheesecake.” He rubbed his hands together, anticipation on his face.
Liam laid a hand on Piper’s shoulder when she started to stand. “I’ll get them. Did you find anything we can use, Matt?”
The medic settled on a barstool at the breakfast bar. “Not me. Cade did, though.”
The EOD man’s gaze flickered to Piper then back to Liam. “Two passports. One a male with Gavin’s picture on it with a different name. The second one belonged to a woman with the name Sienna Chambers. Looks like old Gavin was planning to skip the country with a woman.”
Piper stiffened, her hand fisting on top of the table. She shouldn’t be surprised. Three years had passed since Piper had last seen him and Gavin always had a woman on his arm. “What does she look like?”
Maybe she knew the woman. If so, she may be able to answer questions. At the very least, Piper planned to warn her that her life was in danger. If Barone was protecting himself, he wouldn’t balk at hurting an innocent woman who had the misfortune of dating Gavin.
Cade pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and turned it around. “Do you recognize this woman?”
She glanced at the screen and froze. Piper thought Gavin would have moved on by now. Three years and he was still with her. Was it possible Gavin had found true love at last?
Her brows knitted. If he had, why jeopardize the relationship by pursuing other women while he was still dating her?
“Piper?” Liam covered her fist with his hand. “Do you know her?”
“It’s Brandy Strickland.”
“The friend Gavin cheated on you with?”
She nodded.
Matt gave a low whistle. “Cold.”
Piper flashed him a quick smile. “Frigid.”
“You haven’t seen Gavin in years.” Liam squeezed her hand. “Have you talked to Brandy since you broke up with Gavin?”
“No. While I still lived in my hometown, I stayed away from anyone I knew except for the people from my job. I deliberately kept my personal and work life separate. With my uncle’s questionable friendships, I didn’t want to chance a co-worker coming into contact with Hartman’s criminal element. Soon after breaking up with Gavin, I moved away from Alabama and started fresh in Knoxville. Two years later, I moved to Otter Creek.”
He pressed a soft kiss to her temple, then retrieved the desserts.
“How did the interrogation go with the cops?” Trent asked.
A snort from Simon. “About like you expected. Local law enforcement pulled our service records and learned enough to convince them we’re hired assassins out to make a name for ourselves. They think we used our military training to make bank and prove our prowess with weapons.”
“Do we need to call in a favor to throw them off your backs?”
Piper’s eyebrows rose. What kind of favor would convince the police that Liam and Simon weren’t murderers for hire?
Liam waved that suggestion aside as he swallowed his first bite of cake. “Not yet. Barrett and Kerrigan figured out we have high-powered friends and influence in the military and Washington, D.C.”
Okay, she couldn’t keep silent any longer. Curiosity was eating her up inside. “High-powered friends?”
Liam glanced at Trent and received a nod of approval before turning back to Piper. “Our unit rescued a state department official’s son from a terrorist group at the request of the president.”
Piper’s mouth gaped.
Cade sat on Piper’s other side. “The terrorists threatened to kill him if four extremely dangerous men weren’t released from a US prison and flown to Mexico. The men were responsible for multiple attacks against American civilians and troops abroad. The president would have refused the demand. He sent us to free the hostage before the terrorists carried out their threat. President Martin and the boy’s father are long-time friends. Since he couldn’t officially sanction a military mission, he contacted our boss at Fortress and requested Bravo.”
“Because of that mission, several high-powered politicians and government leaders basically gave us a blank marker to use when we need it,” Liam added.
Not if. When. “Why did your service records cause a stir? Did the detectives see mission details?” Civilian access to military files seemed to be a disaster in the making, especially since she suspected Liam and Simon weren’t simple grunts on the front lines.
“Our missions are classified because we were Special Forces.” Simon stuffed a bite of cheesecake into his mouth and sighed as he chewed. “Barrett and Kerrigan saw enough to realize we have elite training.”
“The detectives know Simon and I are comfortable with weapons and excellent shots. We have the training and experience to commit the shootings and murder.”
Simon flashed Liam a look. “You’re not on the hook for shooting the thugs.”
“Maybe not, but they’re looking at me in connection to Gavin’s death.” When Trent scowled, Liam held up his hand. “We asked Zane to provide security and traffic cam footage to prove I wasn’t near Gavin when he died.”
“You could have hired a shooter,” Piper pointed out.
“Why involve someone else in a job I could easily do myself?”
“Alibi?”
“Lousy alibi. I didn’t stop anywhere along the route between Copper Ridge and Otter Creek. I can’t prove where I was with a neutral witness. Although you rode with me, you’re personally involved with me. They’ll want proof. With security and traffic cam footage, Zane will provide irrefutable proof of our journey.”
“He can’t send the footage to the detectives. Wouldn’t that look suspicious?”
“He’s sending it to Stella. She’s former FBI with law enforcement credentials a mile long. Stella will share the information with the detectives.”
Trent nodded. “Smart.”
“We need to find Brandy.” Talking to Brandy again was not appealing on any level. If she knew something about Gavin’s situation, though, Piper would handle the awkward situation to obtain answers.
What if something had happened to Brandy, too? Although their friendship had fallen apart, Piper didn’t want Brandy hurt by the person who killed Gavin.
“Would Gavin hit on more women if Brandy was with him?” Liam asked.
Piper frowned. “Not if she was staying here at the resort. She could catch him in the act.”
“Brandy might be staying somewhere else,” Matt said. “Doesn’t make sense, though. If they planned to flee the country, wouldn’t she stay in the room with him so they could leave as soon as he hid the information?”
Piper straightened and glanced at Liam. How could she have forgotten? “The envelope. I forgot about it while I waited for you.”
He swallowed the last bite of cake and crouched by Piper’s side. “Let’s take a look.”
Liam unlaced her boot, slid it from her foot, and grabbed the white envelope. He handed her the envelope.
This was the moment where her belief in her uncle was confirmed or her foundation was torn away. With growing dread, Piper pulled out the piece of paper stuffed inside and unfolded the last message from Gavin.
As she scanned the contents, her heart sank. How could Gavin do this? Liam was right. Problems like these never had an easy solution. Now, instead of handing off the information to the feds, she would have to go into the lion’s den. Worse, Liam would never let her do this alone which meant he’d be in more danger than ever.