Page 8

PATRICK

“The pickup location is JFK airport,” Lock said, pointing to a man on the screen.

“His name is Peter Masterson. With the tracking Jack planted on Cash’s vehicle, we’ve been able to pinpoint where we suspect he’s been meeting up with other men he’s been working with.

Masterson is the primary target, considering his substantial financial holdings around the globe.

If we can get some insight into his dealings, we may be able to piece together what’s really going on. ”

“How are we taking him?” Chase asked.

“You’re not. The goal is a simple switch.

Patrick, you’ll take lead on this one. You’ll pose as an airline pilot on your way to your next flight.

Chase and Nick, you’ll cause the distraction and get Masterson to set down his briefcase.

Then Patrick will make the switch and continue on.

Find some stewardesses and blend in, if possible.

Once Patrick is in the clear, you get out of there and haul ass home. ”

“Do we have any idea if he’ll be carrying anything?” I asked.

“New York is his primary location. He’s flying into Canada, which he does regularly. Once a month. We think Ontario is the location where the Shadow Government works from.”

“Why Ontario?”

Lock shrugged. “Not sure yet. That would require us to have greater intel. That’s one of the things we’re hoping to gain from this.”

I raised my hand, grinning when Lock rolled his eyes. “Question, where exactly am I supposed to get a pilot’s uniform?”

“Scottie has you covered. He snatched one on his return trip from his last job.”

“Is it real? Can I fly with it?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Fly? As in, you want to commandeer a plane and take a joy ride?”

“Well, the ladies dig a man in uniform,” I grinned. A hard slap landed against my head and I turned, glaring at Chase. “What the hell was that for?”

“Aren’t you sleeping with Vira?”

“Yes, but we’re not exclusive.”

“Why not?”

“Because she doesn’t want it,” I shrugged. “Besides, where my dick lands is none of your business, and I have a feeling I’m about to have a hard takeoff.”

A round of groans filled the room at my lame reference. Whatever. I was about to become a pilot.

“This is gonna be great. The shades, the uniform…I’m gonna have ladies drooling all over me.”

“You’re going on a job, not a date,” Lock argued.

“Hey, I can still let the ladies look.”

“Just remember, you’re not in a strip club.”

“Hey, I take offense to that.”

“Why?” Chase asked.

“Because strippers are more than slabs of beef,” I said, narrowing my eyes at him.

Nick chuckled from across the table, running his hand through his grease-slicked hair. “Holy shit.”

“What?” I snapped.

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Nothing. I just didn’t know you used to moonlight as a stripper.”

My face burned as I realized how quickly he’d picked up on that when I had kept the secret hidden for so long. I should have kept my damn mouth shut.

“What’s your point?”

Chase burst out laughing, slapping his hand hard across my back. “Holy shit. A model and a stripper!”

“I am not a model!” Lock yelled.

“There is nothing wrong with stripping,” I argued. “Before I landed this job, I needed money.”

“Did you provide other services?” Chase asked curiously. “Or did you only take off your clothes?”

“I didn’t whore myself out,” I snapped.

Nick, still laughing, just couldn’t let it go. “Give us a show. Let’s see those moves.”

“There are no moves,” I argued, even though I had a hell of a lot of them.

“Does Fox know about this?” Lock asked.

“Why would he know? And why would it matter?”

“Well…” He looked around at the others. “It just seems like something that would be up his alley.” Then he frowned. “Or maybe not. Oklahoma doesn’t exactly have the kind of music you would need to…do your thing.”

It most definitely did not. In fact, there wasn’t a single musical I could think of where it would be appropriate to strip to. “Look, it’s in the past. I did it to get by. It’s not like I enjoyed it.”

“He’s right,” Lock argued, being a good boss.

“Let’s drop this. It’s not important right now.

We need to focus on work. This will be an easy extraction.

We have everything we need to pull this off and get in and out as quickly as possible.

” He frowned and turned to me. “You don’t happen to still have body oil, do you? ”

I tossed my pen at him, narrowly missing his eyes. He ducked, laughing his ass off. “What? It could be very helpful!” he shouted as I stood and marched out of the room. He chased after me, though. “I’m just saying, sometimes you get in a situation that’s sticky! Oil might help things along!”

I flipped him off and kept walking, pretending I was pissed when I was really laughing inside.

It was a known fact that everyone around here got in each other’s business, though they tried less and less to hide it over the years.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Rae already had a file on me with pictures from my days at the strip club.

Heading home, I was barely through the door when I spotted someone in my kitchen. And not just anyone. Fucking Edu. I slammed the door shut just to let him know I was home, but he didn’t even break stride as he snatched a beer and walked over to my couch and plopped down.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I snagged the beer out of his hands and took a seat in my recliner, glaring at him.

“Taking a page out of your book and being single for the day.”

“That’s not how it works. Why the fuck are you here instead of at home with your wife and kid?”

He sighed, dropping his head back on the couch. “Because I’m a fucking coward.”

“I highly doubt that,” I muttered. “The only time I’ve ever known you to be a coward was when you found out Harper was pregnant and—” I was about to take a swig of my beer, but paused. “Holy shit. Is Harper pregnant again?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. And thanks for the vote of confidence,” he muttered.

“Sorry, but you don’t have the best track record.”

He nodded, his eyes focused on the TV that wasn’t even playing. Something was going on, but the question was, why was he here instead of with someone from his team?

“So, I guess we’re just gonna sit here until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”

“My old man isn’t dead.”

Since I didn’t know anything about his old man, I didn’t know what to think of that. “Okay.”

“Harper thinks he is.”

I nodded. “I’m still not following.”

“I never…She knows I didn’t have the best relationship with my old man, but she doesn’t know the half of it.”

“The half being?”

He sighed, running a hand over his face. “I really fucking need a drink for this.”

I got up and strode over to the fridge, grabbing a beer for him. When I returned, he looked even more worked up than before. “Shoot.”

He took the beer, nodding in appreciation. “When I was eighteen, I walked in on my father stabbing my mother to death.”

My eyebrows rose in surprise, but I waited for him to continue.

“I grabbed the first thing I could find and bashed his skull in. Blood was all over the place, and I fled. I’d already joined the military and I was supposed to head to boot. I knew if the police showed up, my military career was over, and any chance I had of getting away was over.”

“Sounds like he deserved it.”

He nodded, fiddling with the label on his beer. “I never told Harper any of that. Not…I didn’t want her to be scared of me.”

“And that’s why you freaked out when you found out she was pregnant.”

“Not because of the fact that I hadn’t told her, but that I would become like him. I should have fucking told her a long time ago.”

“Why didn’t you? You know she loves you. Hell, that woman would walk through fire for you.”

He let out a humorless laugh, resting his head back on the couch again. “She would, but…what the fuck does that say about me?”

I really didn’t fucking know, and I wasn’t sure I was the man to give him advice. I had my own fucked up shit to deal with. Well, I’d never actually dealt with any of it. I’d let it slide, covering my hatred with humor and good times.

“So, what’s the problem? What’s bringing all this shit up again?”

“He called me. I haven’t spoken to the man since the police showed up at his house to find my mom dead. An intruder broke in and stabbed her. That’s what he told the police. He said they’d bashed his head in while he was trying to protect my mother. And they fucking believed him.”

“Wait, if the police showed up, why didn’t you just tell them what really happened?”

“Because the old man said he would tell them who really fucking bashed his head in if I said anything.” He laughed, shaking his head.

“I was a kid. I was about to leave and escape my life, and I could see it all going up in smoke. They’d take away my career.

They’d throw me in a cell. I just wanted to escape. ”

“What about your mom?” I asked before I could think about censoring my words. “Didn’t she deserve justice?”

“Maybe,” he said quietly. “But she gave just as good as she got. She egged him on until he attacked her. It was their thing.”

A truly fucked up childhood. He’d survived by the skin of his teeth, escaping to the only place where he could get lost and blend in. Maybe he was right to let it go. I wasn’t one to judge.

“He threatened me right there on the fucking steps of my childhood home,” he continued, staring off into space.

“Said if I told the police what really happened, I’d lose everything.

He’d make sure of it. And I didn’t know what to do, so I went along with his story.

And the minute the police left, I fled and never looked back.

” His eyes met mine. “But he’s still out there.

Married to some new family and living life as if he’s the victim.

He has a wife and kid, you know. And they don’t have a fucking clue they’re living with a murderer. ”

I ran my fingers through my hair, blowing out a breath as I took that in. “Man, whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it.”

He nodded, but his eyes weren’t focused. “Let them continue to live with a man who killed his first wife. What if he does something to them?”

“He hasn’t yet, right?”

“I don’t know. For all I know, he abuses them too. What if she can’t get away? What if I let this go and then he fucking kills her, too? What about that kid?”

“Edu—”

“If they die, that’s on me.”

“So, we’ll remove them. We’ll get them out.”

“How? She might not want to leave.”

“Or maybe she does. Maybe she’s desperate for a way out,” I urged. “We should at least look into it.”

“Fuck,” he said, scrubbing a hand down his face. “That means telling Harper.”

“Do you really think she wouldn’t understand?”

“I don’t know.” His voice was quiet. He really fucking thought she would leave him.

“Why me?” I asked. “Why did you come to me instead of Lock? Or hell, Brock or Scottie?”

He stayed quiet for a moment, his gaze still roaming around space. “You’re single.”

“And?”

“I don’t know, man.” His eyes finally drifted to mine. “Would you risk it all? Would you tell her if it meant you lost everything?”

“Yes,” I said without thinking. “Because I know Harper. She’s fucking over the moon for you. There’s no fucking way she would leave you. Maybe someone else would walk away, but Harper’s not one of them.”

“I walked away from her. I swore—” He swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes closed. “Do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Can you look into him? I can’t do it.”

“Of course.”

He sat up, staring at me intently. “This doesn’t go through anyone else. Not even Rae. I know she could find things faster, but I don’t want anyone else knowing.”

“She wouldn’t judge you.”

“No, but she would keep digging, and then she’d know what I did.”

I didn’t know why he was so worried about people finding out about him nearly killing his father. No one would blame him. Hell, I’d probably lose my shit and kill my old man, too, if I walked in on him murdering my mother. But that still didn’t explain why he wouldn’t talk to Lock about this.

He shoved to his feet and headed for the door, but I stopped him before he could walk out.

“Tell me one thing.” He stiffened at my words. “Why won’t you talk to Lock about this?”

He glanced over his shoulder at me, his eyes dark and filled with self-loathing. “He doesn’t know he’s alive.”

In other words, Lock didn’t know Edu had kept his mouth shut when his old man threatened him. “I’ll keep it to myself.”

“Thanks.”

“They’d all be on your side,” I called out as he pulled the door open. “Not a single fucking person around here would judge you.”

“But I do,” he said as he walked out.