Page 33 of Axel (Reed Hawthorne Security #6)

Axel

I nervously watch as Savvy enters the restaurant. I want to be with her, but we both agreed if Peter sees me, he’ll run. And rightfully so, because I want to knock some sense into that man.

Trip really came through and was able to locate Peter.

Peter ditched his car and credit cards, which was smart. But then he decided to hide at his grandparents’ place. Not smart.

Savvy called the house phone and was able to reach him this morning.

He agreed to meet with her. She said she had questions.

I’ll bet he has questions, too, and hopes to lock her into something he can use on his podcast. The joke’s on him.

We arrived an hour before Peter, and I set up a few cameras inside.

The reason I chose this restaurant is that it has all sorts of décor along the windowsills, which makes great camera hiding spots.

I can watch and listen to each camera from my laptop.

The best part is that all of it will be recorded.

And to ensure they have to sit at that table, I called in a few favors, and right now, Lightning’s girlfriend, Alicia, and Thunder’s girlfriend, Madison, are sitting at one table.

At another table is Piper with her back to the entrance in case he recognizes her, and she is sitting with Willow, her friend and Durango’s girlfriend.

And yes, this small café only has three tables. All other seating is at the counter.

Ten minutes before the meeting, Peter pulls up. I’d bet money he planned to set up some cameras of his own.

He steps into the café, and I watch him through the glass window. He stops. I turn up the volume on my laptop.

“Wow, crowded,” Peter says.

“Have a seat,” Savvy says.

He glances around and finally sits.

“Do you mind if I record our conversation?” Savvy asks. She’s holding her phone up.

Peter puts his phone in the middle of the table. “Sure. I’ll do the same.”

Good, she has his permission on camera.

“Have you been in hiding?” Savvy asks.

“Why do you ask?”

She shrugs. “I know what it’s like.”

I smile. She’s doing great. Making him feel comfortable.

Peter chuckles. “Yeah, I guess you do. I have been hiding out, but you will still be able to reach me.”

“I did. I really needed to talk to you.”

“About the cartel?” Peter asks.

“Not exactly. I want to know why you are spreading lies about me?” Savvy asks .

“I’m not lying.”

Okay, Peter is staying calm. I was worried he’d walk out when hit with too direct a question.

“Yes, you are. I never worked with or for the cartel! They were trying to kill me!”

Peter leans forward. “Why?”

“I’ll tell you everything, but first, I need to know why you are making up stories and going after Reed and his employees,” Savvy says.

“Again, I’m not making up stories, but I’ll tell you why I’m doing this podcast.”

I lean forward. Is he going to admit he’s Stacy’s brother?

A waiter stops by the table, and they order coffee. Once he leaves, Peter grabs a napkin and plays with it.

“Last year, when I first started the podcast, I made friends with an FBI agent. A couple of months ago, I went to visit him again, and I overheard someone in the office talking about Reed Hawthorne Security and the cartel. It doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots.”

Their coffee is brought out, and Peter grabs some sugar packets and pours them in.

“Connect what dots?” Savvy asks.

“That Reed used his connection with the cartel to frame Stacy.”

Savvy takes a sip of her coffee. “I don’t get how you came to that conclusion. Did the agent say Reed used them?”

“No, not directly. The other agent said she would ask the Reed Hawthorne Security group to help. My ears perked up, naturally. ”

“Naturally?”

“Of course. I was already investigating them in relation to Stacy Hawthorne.”

“Why her? Why not some other topic?” Savvy asks.

Peter shrugs. “She reached out to me, and I thought her case was compelling.”

Compelling my ass.

“Huh, that’s not what I thought you’d say,” Savvy says.

“And what did you think I’d say?”

Savvy takes a sip of coffee and then slowly puts the cup down, making Peter wait. “I thought you’d say you are pursuing this because she’s your sister.”

Peter stills.

“And you’d do anything for your sister,” Savvy continues.

Peter cracks his neck.

“It’s true. Stacy is my sister. But I believe her. She told me Reed set her up. Then I heard this agent wanting to use RHS to help with some cartel issue, so I did my research.”

“How are you two doing? Need anything else?” a waiter asks.

“No, we’re good,” Savvy says. She takes another sip of coffee. “Explain this to me. You were investigating what happened to Stacy, and then you moved to me working with the cartel. Why?”

Peter sighs. “I thought you listened to the podcast?”

“I did.”

He holds out his hands as if to say, “That’s it.” Savvy repeats the same gesture back to him.

“Okay, I also overheard the FBI was investigating a man named Bob Kuffel. I looked him up and found he had two people working for him, you, and someone else. I dug deeper and found you were friends with the sister of a man who works for Reed.”

Savvy crosses her arms. “How did you find out I was friends with Maria?”

Peter grins. “I followed you.”

Savvy sits up taller.

“Don’t worry, it was only to see who you know.”

Damn, this guy has no idea how creepy he really is.

“And how did you know who works for Reed? That wasn’t public information,” Savvy says.

She’s right, it wasn’t. Reed doesn’t share our information, and when we are on assignment, we go by our call names. So, how did this guy get all of that information?

“Stacy gave me all the names I would need to investigate, including everyone working at RHS. Anyway, once I made the connection back to RHS, I knew Reed and all you guys would be helping this Bob and the cartel and not the FBI.” Peter leans back and smiles.

“Why would you think they would help Bob?”

He leans forward. “Because I overheard their meeting.”

“Whose meeting?” Savvy asks.

I feel like we are going in circles.

“Reed and a couple of the guys at the security office.” Peter grins.

How did he overhear? Reed had the office searched for bugs and found nothing.

“The FBI agent asked Reed and his employees to check in with the cartel. After she left, they discussed doing just that. Obviously, they are working with the cartel if they can check in with them.”

My head falls onto the steering wheel. You have got to be kidding. He was eavesdropping? We were joking around. Durango was being sarcastic! I’m both angry that he listened to a very private conversation and that he made assumptions that could ruin people’s lives, reputations, and businesses.

“How could you possibly have overheard their conversation?” Savvy asks.

Peter leans forward. “I have a device in my car. As long as I’m close…” He shrugs.

“Also, I confirmed everything when I talked to Agent Myers. He said the cartel busted into the house you were all at, and your boyfriend barely subdued the guy, but instead, he punched Myers. Man, Myers was pissed!”

Myers? That’s who his informant is? That son of a bitch. And he’s spreading lies, too? Barely subdued? I stopped Bennett from killing Savvy.

Myers claimed he lured Bennett there to help with some bigger investigation.

But what if Myers was working with the cartel himself?

Bennett was yelling that Myers set him up.

If Bennett was pointing fingers at Myers, then Myers would need to either discredit Bennett or find someone else he could pin any cartel business on.

Now Bennett is dead, and Peter is publicly claiming RHS and all of us are connected to the cartel.

“Dammit!” I slam the steering wheel. Why didn’t I see this earlier?

I’d also be willing to bet Myers told this guy whatever he thought would tie Reed to the cartel and make it all a nice, neat package. It wouldn’t matter if there wasn’t real evidence. In the court of public opinion, many would believe Peter.

“As far as you being involved, I figured if your boyfriend was, you likely were, too.” Peter slides his coffee cup to the edge of the table and raises his hand to get the waiter’s attention.

Once the coffee is refilled, the waiter leaves.

“You got it all wrong,” Savvy says. “And you’re hurting a man’s business over lies.”

“No, you have it wrong. There is an innocent woman in prison. That’s what matters.”

“You believe Stacy is innocent?” Savvy asks.

“I do. Don’t you?”

Savvy sighs. “I don’t really know much about her. But I do know that Reed is a good man. And I can tell you, Agent Myers is an asshole. If you are getting any information from him, don’t trust it.”

Peter laughs. “Well, I guess we will have to disagree then. I have to go.” He grabs his phone and stands up.

“Wait,” Savvy says as she grabs her phone and puts it into her purse.

Hopefully, Peter will believe she stopped recording.

“What’s in it for you? You know if you can get Stacy free?”

“You mean beyond brotherly love?”

“Yeah, what is she offering you?”

Peter leans down. “Half. Half of everything she gets. Millions when she gets the inheritance she was wrongly denied. So, yeah, I’m not going to stop until she’s free.”

“Even if she’s not innocent?”

“Off the record? It doesn’t matter. I can get her free and make millions. Why wouldn’t I do it?” He stands back up, smiling. “Speaking of that, you’ll love tonight’s episode. It’s going to be explosive.”

Peter walks out the door, whistling. As he gets to his car, a woman approaches him. I smile as I watch him get served Reed’s lawsuit. The woman gets back into her vehicle and leaves as Peter reads the papers. He crumples them in his hands and throws them into his back seat..

I sent a text to Reed, letting him know it worked. Then I head into the café.

“Can you believe him?” Savvy asks.

I collect the cameras I’d hidden, toss a twenty-dollar bill on the table, and nod to the door. Damn asshole didn’t even leave money for coffee. Figures.

Savvy follows me to the car. We get in and sit for a moment.

“You did a great job. We have what we need to show he’s biased. Between that and his lies from the last season, it should be enough to discredit him,” I say.

She shakes her head. “I don’t know. He’s putting out another podcast tonight. Why tonight? In his last season, he released one a week. Now he’s going to release his third this week? What could he possibly have that would be ‘explosive?’ His word.”

“I don’t know, but I better warn Reed,” I say as I text him about that .

“There has to be something we can do,” she says.

“Hope Reed wins in court,” I say.

“Yeah, but until then, the lawsuit might spur him on to put out more of his brand of truth.”

She’s right. He might try to rush out everything he has before a court can stop him. Which means we can’t simply hope for justice; we have to beat him at his own game.