Page 7 of Justified Lies (TFH Team Bravo #3)

Four

“Oh, look, people to bug me,” Charity said as both he and Graeme walked into her lab.

Charity Callahan was the forensic genius for TFH.

The African American beauty was married to their FBI liaison, TJ Callahan.

She was just starting to show, which meant she must be about six or seven months pregnant.

As someone who was into everything superhero and pop culture, she tended to dress as if she were going to a comic con.

Today was no exception. She wore a maxi dress with what looked to be tiny Thor hammers all over it.

Seeing that her husband’s nickname was Hammer due to being named after the Norse superhero, it made sense.

“You know you wanted to see us,” Graeme said.

She rolled her eyes. “I would if I had anything, but I have nothing.”

“Are you telling me there is no forensic evidence from the murder?” Kap asked, frustration starting to brew.

They were less than twenty-four hours into the investigation, and it was starting to get annoying.

They knew who the victim was, but his former career had left their investigation in a mess.

As usual, the CIA refused to help out with any contacts from Green’s career. National Security. Assholes.

It was one of the things he hated the most about The Company. They put national security over everything, even the death of one of their former agents.

“Some fibers, carpet that is installed in millions of cars. It will help you nail any suspects you find, but it will not help you find them. Another thing, who said he was former CIA?”

Graeme and he shared a glance, then both looked back at Charity.

“What makes you think he wasn’t?” Graeme asked.

“His pay. He was still getting paid by them, full pay.”

“Everyone thought he left the CIA,” Kap said. “Even Eden.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, wow, how was that? I forgot to ask. Pregnancy brain.”

“It was fine.”

She opened her mouth, probably to ask another intrusive question—as most of TFH did all the time—but Graeme interrupted her.

“So, we have a dude people say quit the CIA, but he didn’t. He was here looking for your ex, who still has a target on her back.”

“Wait, what?”

“You have to know whoever took her brother was never caught. Everything was very hush-hush, and I couldn’t get all the information. TJ’s trying, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. The little bit I found indicated that both she and her brother were convinced someone from the CIA sold them out.”

She let the ramifications settle over them.

“You think Green was sent here to kill her?” Graeme asked.

She shrugged. “It’s a theory I have. Also, I find it odd that they haven’t sent anyone in to take over the case. Most of the time, the CIA would do that for an agent.”

“But everyone is saying he retired,” Graeme said.

“Plausible deniability,” Kap murmured.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“You think the CIA sent someone here to kill her?”

“Kill or threaten. I mean, it makes sense that Green would be able to get her unlisted Dillon Security number,” Charity said.

Graeme’s phone went off. He pulled it out and read the text.

“Dillon is ready to talk. Let’s go on over and see what they have to say.”

“Thanks, Charity,” Kap said.

“I’ll call if I find anything else, but the lack of evidence points to one organization we would all like to avoid.”

The Company. Kap knew she wasn’t wrong, but he’d learned a long time ago that avoiding the truth wasn’t always the best plan of attack.

It took them less than twenty minutes to arrive at Dillon Security. A cute brunette with a blinding smile showed them into Luc Warner’s office. Conner Dillon was nowhere to be found.

He knew the former SEAL ran the show for the most part. Dillon was semi-retired, living on the other side of the island with his romance author wife.

“Sorry, Conner couldn’t come in. He had a previous engagement he couldn’t get out of. Please have a seat.”

Both he and Graeme sat in the chairs in front of Warner’s desk.

He pulled out a few papers. “Here is an affidavit from Devon Stryker and his wife saying that Eden and El were with them when this was going on. They have included their contact information, because they both understood that they would need to talk to you personally.”

“And the phone?” Graeme asked.

“Do you have a search warrant?”

“Not yet.”

He sighed. “We have to wait on that, and we will not fight it. It’s just we have to make sure our clients know we didn’t hand it over without one. They wouldn’t trust us.”

He got that, but it didn’t make him feel any better. Every hour that passed had his anxiety rising. Kap didn’t understand why it was affecting him this way, but for some reason, he was worried more than usual about wrapping up the case.

“Have you noticed any issues in the last few weeks with Eden or El?” Kap asked.

Luc shook his head. “They only ended up working together because Mix was already booked to work security for Task Force Honolulu. Devon wanted a man and a woman who could work for ten days in Japan. Both she and her brother are fluent in Japanese, which made them a good fit. Also, Eden knows the Strykers.”

Yeah, that made sense. There were rumors that Stryker had been trained by the CIA, and his wife was a former MI-6 agent. Kap understood that they would feel more comfortable with two former spies.

“Do you have any other questions?”

Graeme shook his head, but Kap could feel the frustration dripping from his partner’s reaction.

They didn’t need to be dragged all the way over here just for affidavits.

Those could have been sent over, which made Kap think there was more to this trip than they thought.

Warner wasn’t the type of man who would do a power play to show that he controlled the narrative.

“Conner wanted me to assure you that the moment you get a warrant, that phone will be yours.”

“We appreciate it.”

After they walked out of the building into the parking garage, he felt like he was missing something.”

“That was fucking weird,” Graeme said.

“Yeah. Why did we get called over?”

“It could be a situation where Conner wanted to play nice. He is always very worried about the company’s image.”

“Yeah, maybe. It just seemed like there was more to it.”

Graeme stopped beside his SUV. “Do you think they were trying to read us again?”

Kap drew in a deep breath, then let it out. “Yeah. Which means, they don’t know everything.”

They both climbed into the vehicle. “So, your woman hasn’t told them everything.”

“She’s not my woman,” he said with a little too much force.

The twitch of the Scot’s lips told Kap he had been screwing with him.

“You keep telling yourself that.”

He decided to ignore that. “So, we think they might have been trying to figure out what we knew? I fucking hate mind games.”

“Agreed, but” he said as he pulled out of the parking space, “at least we know they are worried about Eden and El.”

“They think they’re lying to them?”

He shrugged. “Or they just might be worried about them. Ex-CIA operative shows up dead. Makes me think they already know more, or suspect more, but they want us to figure it out without their help.”

Fucking mind games.

A long shooting day had left both Ian and Eden frustrated. They had one incident with an overzealous observer, who wouldn’t stop shouting their unhappiness with the scene. After that, the entire day seemed to drone on.

So, after that, she suggested picking something up and going over to her house to eat.

It wasn’t the first time they had done that.

They tended to do it a lot when they finished a job.

Most of their jobs involved around-the-clock security.

Since this one had an end time every day, it made it easier.

He offered to grab dinner from L&L Drive-Inn, which was right down the street from her house.

She’d tried to text her brother, but El wasn’t picking up.

It could mean one of many things, most of them not good.

The one good thing would be that he was sleeping the day away, but she knew better.

With Green’s death, their investigation was getting bigger.

She arrived home and noticed that his car wasn’t there. El spent most of his time on Kauai, where he had a house, so he tended to use a Dillon car when on Oahu. The calmer pace and, for some reason, the chickens seemed to keep his nightmares manageable.

Pushing her worry about her brother to the back of her mind, she decided to hurry and change her clothes. All day in her work clothes, and she was ready for some relaxation.

She was just stepping off the bottom step when there was a sharp knock at her door. After looking at her doorbell cam, she made her way to the door. Ian had a bag of food in one hand and a gym bag in the other. They all carried “go” bags in their cars. You never knew when things would go sideways.

“That smells amazing,” she said, taking the L & L bag from him. “You know where the bathroom is.”

He nodded and headed off to change. She’d barely eaten, even having access to the set food.

Her stomach had churned all day, leaving her slightly nauseous, so she had kept her snacking light.

She pulled out the containers of food, noting that he had bought an extra loco moco for her brother.

Her brother, who was nowhere to be found.

The one who would be royally pissed about her divulging their secrets.

But they had to trust someone. Someone other than each other and Lila/Sam. This case was spiraling out of control.

“That is damned better than wearing a suit,” Ian said as he strode into her kitchen wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

“Oh, Ian, sounds like you’re becoming accustomed to living in Hawai’i,” she said with a smile.

“Maybe,” he said, grabbing his container. “I don’t know how you just slipped into life here without flinching.”