Poison Kisses: Part 3

by Lisa Renee Jones

  Seth doesn’t give me time to answer him, interjecting with, “Franklin knew I was going after Amanda in San Francisco. He came after her when I went there for her.”

  “She triggered our alarms by taking that teaching job. I’m sure she triggered his, too.”

  “That’s exactly what I thought as well,” Seth replies. “But that means he knew to look for her. He knew she was hiding. How would he know that?”

  Bear considers that. “You think he was involved in setting up Amanda and her parents.” It’s not a question.

  “It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Seth says. “Three years ago, Amanda and her parents, who just happened to be three of four scientists that knew this toxin intimately, were labeled with the crime of espionage and put on a kill list.”

  “So we’re assuming he wanted them dead so they couldn’t work against him?” Bear asks. “Why not kidnap them and make them work for them?”

  “Because we’re agents,” Amanda says. “We’d kill ourselves before we’d help the enemy. And how would you stop us? You’re setting a toxin in front of us and telling us to work on it.”

  “Okay,” Bear says. “I can buy that, but only if I also assume that that he thought he was closer to perfecting the drug’s use than he was. Otherwise, I say he would keep you alive.”

  “Many things here don’t add up,” Seth interjects. “Are we really going to believe that Franklin suddenly planned a domestic terrorist event right when Amanda was found?”

  “That’s not how this went down,” Bear corrects. “I was brought in on the Franklin search months ago, with rumblings of a domestic terror event. I helped look for her.” He holds up a hand. “Let me make another point before I drop dead here, and I’m going to state what I think we are all smart enough to call the obvious. If we assume Franklin arranged the hits, then he had help from inside the agency. And just to be clear. I’m not that someone who helped him. I am, however, the someone who can help to protect you both. If I’m not fucking dead.”

  “You’re not about to die,” Seth tells him. “Just feel like shit and wish you were dead.”

  He looks between us. “It failed. I don’t want to die.”

  Amanda looks at the timer on her cellphone. “You have three minutes until it kicks in if I don’t give you the antidote.”

  Julie chooses that moment to show up and jump on the table in front of Bear. She then proceeds to rub her face on his face before walking to the center of the table and sitting down to sit and stare in judgment of me.

  “If that doesn’t tell you I’m a good guy,” Bear says, “then let me state my case. You’re about to go meet the Reynoldses, and as far as I can tell, I’m the only one you can trust to have your back. If I’m in the fetal positon, that isn’t going to exactly make me effective.”

  I’m convinced we should give the antidote to Bear, but I cast Seth a questioning look to ensure he doesn’t see guilt where I see innocence. Seth gives a barely perceivable nod, and I slide a small pill toward Bear. “Put that under your tongue.”

  Julie tries to grab the pill and Bear snatches it up, while I snatch Julie and set her on the floor. “To be clear,” Bear says, slipping his antidote into his mouth. “I still have your back, but don’t fucking poison me again or you will end my loyalty.” He glances between us. “I’m in this until we clear Amanda’s name, find out who is dirty, or was dirty, and catch Franklin. We can’t do A and B overnight. We can’t even be certain whoever was dirty in the past remained with the agency, but we have to assume they did. That means trouble.” He looks at me. “Seth and I could both have been used to lure you here to Franklin’s people.”

  “They tried to kill me in San Francisco.” I remind him.

  “Why wait if they can hit you sooner?” Bear argues, looking between us again. “Where did you leave it with Reynolds?”

  “We’re looking at properties with them today,” Seth says. “We hope, the Chavez properties.”

  “It could be a trap,” Bear warns. “In fact, it’s highly likely that it is a trap.”

  “Then I’ll kill everyone and we’ll search the warehouses,” Seth says, as nonchalant as if he’s talking about heading to Starbucks for coffee. “It’s not ideal,” he continues, “but if they already know who we are, we aren’t at risk of alerting Franklin if we take action. In that scenario, he already knows we’re here.”

  “Just kill everyone?” Bear asks incredulously. “You think that’s a plan?”

  “A damn good one in that scenario,” Seth says. “We know that we’re at risk here. We can’t play damn footsie with the Reynoldses like you want us to. We need to get in and out quickly. Ideally, today goes well, and we search those warehouses tonight.”

  “I told you,” Bear says. “It’s Fort-fucking-Knox.”

  “Which is why we need to know who that security guard is and use him to get inside. Did you run his plates?” Seth asks Bear.

  “Roberto Martinez,” he says. “Ex-con with a nasty record. We have eyes on his last known address, but he’s not there.”

  “That’s not a person you have guarding your warehouse,” I comment. “Not unless that warehouse is running a shady business. That to me confirms that we need to search those warehouses now, not later.”

  “Who is the ‘we’ you referenced?” Seth asks.

  “As you know,” Bear says, “domestic terrorism is FBI territory. We’re working with two of their men and using their resources.”

  “Do you trust them?” I ask.

  “More than I trust the CIA right now,” Bear says.

  “Then make them find Martinez,” Seth says. “I’ll use him to get us past security at the warehouses. If we can’t find him, we have to find someone else in that role and that is time we don’t have. If we can go into those warehouses tonight, and be done with the Reynoldses today, that’s ideal.” He eyes his watch. “The Reynoldses are coming here to meet us in the lobby in fifteen minutes. We need to wrap this up.”

  “I need to get out of here and be ready to follow you.”

  He starts to get up and a realization hits me. I’ve been so obsessed with that photo of my mother that I missed the obvious. “There was no picture of my father. Why?”

  Bear settles back into his seat. “The agency refused my request for that kill order. Which wasn’t a surprise. The only way I got my hands on those documents was through someone who owed me a huge favor inside the agency. And she said there was no photo of your father on file.” He looks at Seth. “And I convinced her to destroy the order with your name on it.”

  “Because of me,” I assume.

  “Yes,” Bear confirms. “Because of you.”

  “Can your friend help us in any other way?” Seth asks.

  He gives a negative shake of his head. “My favors are up and she wasn’t happy about this one.”

  “Push her,” Seth says. “Hundreds of thousands of lives are on the line.”

  “What if my father is alive?” I ask, my mind focused on that one point right now.

  “The file has him marked as deceased,” Bear says. “But even if he was taken alive, as you pointed out, he’d have killed himself, right?”

  “Yes,” I say, but some part of me isn’t sure of anything with my father. “Yes. He would. He should.”

  “Should?” Seth asks. “What are you thinking?”

  “He would,” I amend. “But maybe my father escaped and went into ghost protocol mode.”

  “Ghost protocol?” Bear asks.

  “Convincing the world he’s dead,” Seth supplies.

  “In which case,” I continue, “he might know something we don’t know. And he’s an expert with this toxin. He could help with an antidote.”

  “If he’s been gone for three years,” Bear says, “we aren’t going to find him just because we want to find him.”

  “But has anyone even looked?” Seth asks.

  “If they think he’s dead, why would they?” I add.

  “All right,
” Bear says. “So we look for him, but who do we trust that can dig out this for us? Because I don’t trust anyone right now.”

  “I have someone,” Seth says. “And as much as I don’t want anyone else involved in this, when we can’t trust anyone else, and lives are on the line, it’s that time.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket.

  “Before you make that call,” Bear says. “Who are we talking about here?”

  “A former Fed that I contracted to do work for me, most recently at Brandon Enterprises. He’s good. His entire team is good.” He punches the call button and after several beats, says, “Nick. Listen and listen fast. I need you on a case yesterday. It’s a CIA/FBI joint domestic terrorism case with a lot of damn lives on the line and we’re dealing with a dirty CIA insider.” He listens a minute. “Right.” He glances at me and Bear. “I knew we could count on you. I need a team of a half dozen of your best here in Dallas now, potentially involved in an operation tonight. Someone who can kill any security system I need killed, in the mix. And in the meantime, I need to find three people. One is an easy pickup. An ex-con who knows things I need to know by tonight. The other two will not be so easy to pick up. But right now, I’m meeting some people who I might need to kill. You know, I have my priorities and all.” He glances at Bear. “I need to connect you with an agent named Bear and have him fill you in on everything else. I’ll text you his number.” He listens a minute. “Right. I’ll be in touch.” Seth ends the call and looks at Bear. “He’ll call you. Have him look into the FBI contacts involved in this. He’ll know if they have any hint of dirt in their makeup.”

  Bear nods and stands. “Be careful today,” he says, before turning and heading for the door, but I’ve already tuned him out, my mind slipping back in time. A year before I took the field job. I’d gone home for the night, but I couldn’t sleep. I’d headed back to the lab I’d assumed to be empty, but the lights were on in my father’s office.

  Having no desire to see my father, I turn to quietly leave again, but my mother’s voice lifts in the air, a hint of anger in the tone. “What are you doing, Howard?”

  I tiptoe closer, and flatten on the wall as my father replies, “Investing in our future.”

  “Gambling away our money in dangerous investments.”

  “Looking for an exit to the agency.”

  “This isn’t the way.”

  “Amanda?”

  I blink and find Seth staring at me. “What is it?”

  “My father might have gotten into trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  “I don’t know.” I replay the memory to him. “What do you think?”

  “Did you ask your mother about it?”

  “No,” I say, “but I regret that now.”

  “You have nothing else to go on?”

  “No. And I regret that as well. I should have dug around. I knew something was wrong.”

  Seth taps the desk. “Amanda—”

  “I know what you’re going to say. Maybe he was dirty. And maybe it’s time I admit that maybe he was dirty. Agreed. Maybe he was, and if he is alive, and he’s helping Franklin, that’s bad. That’s really bad. Because if anyone can stabilize that toxin in water, it’s my father.” I push to my feet. “We need to go.”

  Seth rounds the desk and snags my fingers, pulling me to him, his hands shackling my waist. “He may not be involved.” He takes one look at my face and says, “You really think he is.”

  “My mother told me to consider gut feelings and facts together. That they collectively tell the story. Fact: there was no photo of my father’s body. My gut feeling: He’s alive. He’s involved. I should have trusted my gut about you and spared us three years apart. I’m not making that mistake again. Too many lives are on the line.”

  “And your gut tells you your father is dirty.”

  “Yes, which means, if this hypothesis is correct, and he’s dirty, then directly or indirectly, he killed my mother and played a role in the attempts to kill me. That translates to: I’m going to kill him.”

  Seth cups my face and tilts my gaze to his. “I know you, and despite that hypothesis insertion, you’ve decided your father is involved. And I’m here with you to ride that out if it proves true. But there are many factors here, and players as well. Don’t get hyper-focused on your father. That could be a deadly mistake.” He doesn’t wait for a reply. “Let’s get downstairs.” He kisses me and releases me, and I press my hands to the table.

  He’s right, I think, drawing a deep breath. Seth is right. Hyper-focus is deadly but underestimating a man as smart as my father could be, too. A tale my mother didn’t live to tell.

  Chapter Five

  I grab my purse and jacket while Seth grabs his jacket, and we head downstairs where the Reynoldses are waiting. John Reynolds is quick to offer Seth his hand, while Karen Reynolds greets me with a big hug, her blonde hair in my face. The embrace is about as fake as every hug my father ever gave me, but at least he didn’t smell like he had rolled in a bottle of bad perfume.

  John Reynolds is not much better in the greeting offered to me. He too pulls me into a hug, and it’s a little too friendly. He holds onto me, his hand flattening on my back, pressing my breasts into his chest. Seth notices too, stepping beside us, his hands on both of our shoulders.

  John gets the message, releasing me as Seth slides his arm around my waist. “What’s the plan?” Seth asks, and while his tone is even, the flex of his fingers tells me he’s ready to lose our bet and kill John now.

  John settles his arm over Karen’s shoulders, her turquoise-blue blouse more about her ample cleavage than accenting her jeans. “What’s more important?” John asks. “A home or a warehouse?”

  “A warehouse,” I say quickly. “Because I’m not buying a home here if it won’t work for my business.”

  “Time,” Seth says. “I have a business meeting that came up this evening.” He glances at his watch, flashing the Rolex imprint. “We have three hours and it’s possible we might need to fly to New York tomorrow.”

  “Darn,” Karen says. “There’s a house for sale in our neighborhood I wanted you two to see. We never have houses in our area come up for sale.”

  “Next time,” Seth says. “For now, let’s try to narrow down a warehouse spot.”

  John releases his wife and digs out a BMW key. “Let’s hop in my car and drive over to my top pick.”

  “We’ll follow you,” Seth says. “We need to get the lay of the land.” He reaches in his pocket and removes the 911 keys. “We’ll meet you at the exit to the hotel.”

  Neither John nor Karen look pleased, but they agree. “See you in a moment,” John says, turning around and walking toward the exit.

  Seth and I watch them depart. “What are you thinking?” I ask.

  “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if they know who you are, Princess, neither of them would have held you that close.”

  I glance over at him. “I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, that if they know who you are, he wouldn’t have held me that close.”

  “Good point,” Seth says, his arm sliding around my shoulders. “So, the sum of us to them is dollar signs.” He turns us toward the garage. “Let’s keep feeding them dollar signs.”

  * * *

  A few minutes later, we’re in the Porsche and on the highway behind the Reynoldses’ BMW when Seth hands me his phone. “Dial Nick back and put me on speaker.”

  I dial Nick and put him on speaker. “Holy fuck, man,” he says. “What the fuck are you into here?”

  “Nick,” Seth says. “I have Amanda with me.”

  “Oh fuck. Shit. Sorry, Amanda. Guy talk.”

  “Fuck you,” I say, “and now we’re past you thinking I’m a delicate flower. We don’t have to do that again.”

  He chuckles. “No. I guess we don’t.”

  “What do you need from her after talking to Bear?” Seth asks. “I assume you spoke to him?”

  “I did,�
� he says. “And on first check, your FBI contacts there are good guys. As for Franklin and Amanda’s father, Seth, we need to talk about Rick Morgan.”

  “No,” Seth says. “I don’t trust him.”

  “Who is Rick Morgan?”

  “Shane’s wife, Emily, has a brother who was a part of the Gemini hacking operation,” Seth explains. “The Geminis are bad news and Rick did them dirty, and in turn almost got his sister killed. He left her exposed and then hid inside the Russian hacking underground.”

  “I don’t like that word dirty,” I say. “And the guy isn’t even loyal to his sister.”

  “Exactly,” Seth replies.

  “I don’t disagree that he’s dangerous,” Nick says. “But he made a plea deal with the CIA to work for them. That means he can hack their systems, find a way to clear Amanda, and find out if her father really is alive. If he is, he’ll track him. Not to mention the fact that he’s our best bet to find Franklin, both in skill set and his Russian hacking connections. You don’t have a lot of time here to save lives, and not much longer before Amanda is driven back underground herself.”

  A muscle in Seth’s jaw ticks. “And you’ll motivate him how?”

  “Cash. We’ll need to offer him a lot of damn cash.”

  “How much?”

  “He hates the CIA from what I’ve heard,” Nick says. “A chance to best them and a hundred thousand that he’ll negotiate to two.”

  “He’s only been in their custody for a few weeks,” Seth says. “And he hates them. I don’t like how that feels.”

  “Predictable,” Nick says. “And predictable isn’t a bad thing.”

  Seth gives the steering wheel an agitated series of taps, and then asks, “How do we get to him?”

  “One of my guys is ex-CIA and close to his handler, who wants to join our team. We’ll go through him.”

  “Do it,” Seth says. “But I need him on this now.”

  “Consider it done. I’m texting my guy now. As for the rest of the story, our team is already headed to the airport. Expect them by early evening. We checked them into a room in your hotel, but one of my secondary hackers is already hijacking cameras and setting up remote surveillance there, on everyone and anyone we think might be involved.”