Page 10 of Free to Judge (Amaryllis Heritage #2)

CHAPTER NINE

“I can’t believe you fucking jackasses couldn’t avoid dragging my daughter into your op!

” Keene roars, his voice slamming into the room like a sledgehammer.

Jon and I aren’t simply being harangued by every member of Hudson Investigations’ executive team; we’re being ground into the carpet like worthless insects instead of the elite agents we are.

In the room with us are Caleb—Jon’s father—and Liam. Via teleconference, Keene brought in Calhoun Sullivan.

Cal is one of the five owners of Hudson and oversees the command of the Missing Persons division personally.

He outranks Jon and gives two fucks for the fact he deals with the heir apparent.

From the moment we met, I’ve had mad respect for him.

Now, his seething anger and crushing disappointment weigh on me like an unyielding anchor dragging me to a suffocating depth.

Jon, as if his Ivy League education never covered the nuances of diplomacy, explodes, “I thought someone would’ve handled it before it got so far!” His voice cuts through the tension.

Caleb fixes a venomous glare on his son. “How? Kalie went off assaulting a ‘private’ citizen for no damn reason.”

“That’s not how the court of public opinion will see it,” Jon shoots back.

“It’s how the law sees it!” Keene barks, jabbing a pointed finger in my direction. “Declan was merely walking through a lobby—a state building, mind you. He ran into your cousin, my daughter, who decided to disconnect her brain. Then she swung at him—”

“Still don’t get how that’s on me,” Jon grumbles, head dropping in defeat as if carrying the weight of his imagined culpability.

“Because you ought to have predicted her reaction,” Caleb interjects in a level, cold tone.

Jon’s slump makes it painfully clear he’s accepting blame for something that wasn’t his fault. It forces a single burning question out of me: “How?”

All eyes zero in. I press, “How? He de-escalated the situation the best he could. We had our cover. So, how on earth was Jon supposed to do anything more?”

Keene’s lips press into a tight, angry line, “Because she vocalized her displeasure about anyone involved in Laura’s case—including and up to causing bodily harm if given the chance.”

“When did this happen?” Cal questions.

“Not long after Laura’s involvement. Why?”

“The timelines don’t add up on my end,” Cal declares bluntly.

But I’m stuck on Kalie’s intentions. “She’s that unpredictable?” I’m aghast.

Before Keene can finish the job his daughter started, Caleb relents enough to explain, “When you know people’s triggers, you avoid them. We all share the same one.” Seeing my bafflement, he continues, “Family first. There’s nothing any of us wouldn’t do for our own blood.”

“Still…,” I murmur, caught between disbelief and frustration.

Cal chimes in, “Enough, all of you. Kalie’s safe. We have a bigger problem.”

“What now?” I snap, exasperation lacing my voice.

There’s the frantic clicking of keys on Cal’s side before our phones erupt in pings. “Sam found a way to put a speed bump on their human trafficking highway because of the contracts Dec’s been having them sign. Their newest target is an enormous problem.”

This is exactly why I went undercover all those grueling years—this plus the desperate need to hunt down Tanya’s killers. The tantalizing taste of a big payout is nearly palpable. I process Cal’s words fully before demanding, “Who is it?”

“Open the file I just sent you. It’s a catalog of who they’re targeting for their next order. From what Sam discovered, the list has been in the works for months,” Cal growls.

That’s when I uncover an acquisition order for the firebrand who tried to demolish my face earlier today. Caleb inhales sharply, even as Keene’s virulent curses slice through the air.

“This doesn’t make sense,” Jon growls, a raw blend of confusion and fury. “Why in the hell would they want someone like Kalie?”

Cal remains icy and pragmatic. “Two reasons. The first is because the Byrnes suspect we’ve somehow got someone on the inside. They’re trying to make a statement.”

“Al went after my fiancée, Cal. Of course we’re going to try,” Liam reminds him.

Alfredo Tiberi, once a trusted member of Hudson Investigations, was taken out when Laura Lockwood was kidnapped.

He let blood overrule his loyalty to this organization and has paid for those crimes.

Now, he spends umpteen hours of the week begging me to rescue him from the festering cesspool of his own rotting mind and criminal incompetence.

I listen to him bitch before billing the Tiberis for the waste of my time.

Cal coolly counters, “They expected us to retaliate. But that’s not the real reason they’re going after Kalie. It’s because of who she belongs to.”

Then a picture flashes on the screen. It’s the reason I contacted Hudson Investigations all those years ago—the man who’s been well-fed from illegal coffers since his son cut him off from the family ones when he assumed conservatorship of them many years ago when he ran after his implied complicity in setting his daughter up for a nightmare.

After all, Jack Marshall still needed a source of income.

Now, we’re working to bring him down as part of the sweep targeting the Byrnes—his second cousins. Cal’s voice penetrates. “Keep the intel to the list of people I send to you. They’re the ones I’ve vetted and who you can trust. No one else.”

His words hit hard, like a ruthless sucker punch. Every risk we’ve taken now compounds. A heavy silence smothers the room, quashing our tempers like a raging inferno doused by a torrent. Keene finally asks, “So, what do we do?”

“First, you find a way to keep Kalie safe.”

“Because now she’s not just Keene’s; she humiliated someone under their protection,” Liam surmises.

“Exactly that,” Cal declares, nodding in my direction.

I immediately grasp the gravity of his words.

The Byrnes don’t give a damn about the Tiberis.

What they care about is their immaculate reputation and how it reflects on them.

They could not care less if the family who called in a marker for legal defense ends up rotting in prison—though the intel I’m gathering is going to set both their houses on fire.

No, what they care about is the appearance of control and prestige.

Kalie, despite her perfect pedigree, defiled that.

With a sigh, I ask, “How do we do that?”

Jon doesn’t hesitate. “We tell her the truth. No bullshit, no secrets.”

Caleb winces. “Yeah. Learn from my mistakes.”

I can hardly conceive Caleb acted that recklessly. “You didn’t tell your daughter she was being stalked?”

Liam flings him a look of utter disgust. “Tell me about it.”

“In my defense, I thought I was shielding her.” His voice carries the weight of a man who almost lost everything and is doing what he can to repair his relationship all these months later.

I’d call him out for his severe lack of rationality, but here I am in a more convoluted mess for a person who’s already gone. Liam shoots me a look of frustrated understanding. He knows about Tanya, about our relationship, about what she meant to me.

And what a fucking waste it was to lose her.

Cal’s voice breaks into our internal monologues. “We’re running out of time. Every passing hour, the trail gets colder. And every second, more women vanish.”

His undeniable words suppress Tanya’s ghost from taking over my thoughts.

Instead, it’s the knowledge of having to come clean to Kalie Marshall that has guilt churning in my stomach.

Turning to Keene, I state my demands. “Despite what your daughter thinks of me, I should be the one to explain things to her,” I state evenly, steely determination in every syllable.

“I don’t give a damn about your opinion nor Kalie’s right now. I only care about catching those sons of bitches before we end up trying to bring back my daughter’s corpse. Or is basic comprehension something you forgot somewhere between Quantico and working for the Byrnes?” he sneers.

Jon grabs his phone and begins making plans. “Kalie is booked solid the next few days.”

“You can’t track her every moment of the day,” Keene worries.

“I can.” Silence descends on the room. Jon goes on, “While you all have been bickering, I sent her a link to a calendar invite that had an embedded tracker in it.”

Cal mutters, “Thank God someone in that room is thinking straight. Good job, Jon.”

“Thanks, boss.”

Caleb wraps up with Cal before pivoting back to me. “Jon will shadow you as much as possible, but you know there are going to be moments when you’re blind in the field. Your prime directive is still to take down the human trafficking ring. Not to protect Kalie, not to dismantle the Byrnes’ empire.”

I protest, “But…”

“Leave that to us,” Liam placates me. “She won’t be alone. She’ll have her own detail.”

“Still…” I hesitate.

“Still, nothing,” Keene snaps with surgical ruthlessness. “You have a job to do. Now do it.”

I’m aware that my intimate knowledge of this criminal enterprise is a prized weapon. I’m well-versed in the seedy underworld and its revolting inhabitants—having dwelled in their cesspool of twisted ambitions.

Now this family expects me to ignore that expertise while they guard their own. They’re not asking me to sideline my personal vendetta. No, in fact, they’re telling me the exact opposite.

Stay the course.

It’s easier to concede to their decision and if it so happens I’m in a position to protect Kalie, I’ll take my chances. “I’m in.”

Jon claps me on the shoulder, his grip firm. “Then let’s get to work—starting with figuring out how you’re going to spin not pressing charges.”

The deathly look Keene fixes on me makes my insides clench. “May God rest your soul if you can’t figure that out,” he mutters with a venomous finality.