Victoria knew how rare it was to find a man—or anyone—these days who was willing to be so upfront with feelings after what could be compared to a one-night stand. The fact that he was so unequivocally declaring himself to her erased the last lingering bit of her anxiety, and she smiled at him—really smiled this time. “God, you’re needy,” she teased, the affection in her eyes belying her words.
Barrett chuckled. “I’m just smart. I know an opportunity when I see one, and I grab it and hold on.”
“Oh, I know you grab and hold on,” she said, earning herself a laugh and a kiss, as he got up and crossed the room—very naked—to grab his phone from the jeans he had discarded just hours before.
Barrett began to flip through his missed messages and calls, and Victoria got up from the bed, hugging her arms to her, as she padded towards his bathroom. She turned on the shower and stepped beneath the spray, needing the hot water to wake her up the rest of the way. It was sensual, using his body wash that smelled like him and rubbing it all over her skin, and she was still lathering up when she heard Barrett on the phone.
His voice was far away, and she couldn’t quite pick up on the words. Part of her wanted to listen, but she didn’t know exactly what her role was now. She had offered to back off and stay away from the meeting so that they didn’t risk further accusations that the Rockwell’s were playing fast and loose with the Rockwell Clan secret, and she’d meant that. She’d also meant it when she said that she would give him time to sort things out before she took any action, and of course, Victoria believed his story wholeheartedly now.
But the body that was stored in the freezer in his garage weighed on her mind. It was true that the body had been used as a pawn to destroy Barrett’s life, but the woman was also still a person—and she and her family deserved answers. Even if those answers were that she was a randomly chosen victim who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Maybe she could find a way to separate the body from Barrett so that she could find Annie somewhere else and give her husband and the police department answers about what had happened to her—without involving Barrett or any of the Rockwell’s. It meant violating every protocol there was. She’d have to move the body, and fabricate a story, and pretend to discover it, and lie to everyone she worked with. But she had already broken protocol over and over again during the past twenty-four hours, and breaking it again might be the only way to bring peace to Annie’s family.
Assuming the body was Annie.
Victoria turned off the water after rinsing off and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a folded towel off a nearby shelf and wrapping it around herself. She put some toothpaste on her finger and scrubbed at her teeth and dragged a comb through her hair. When she walked back out into the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, Barrett was on the phone, sitting on his bed.
When he saw her, his eyes widened, and he stood up, starting to come towards her. But she smiled and wagged a finger at him, indicating that there was no more time for playing just now. They had to stay focused.
While he talked and she purposefully didn’t listen, she went back to the closet where he had found her the clothes that she had worn yesterday. It took some rifling around, but she managed to find black pants and a green blouse that both fit her reasonably well, and she pulled them on right there in the hallway. Her bra was now destroyed, as were her panties, so there was nothing beneath the blouse …or the pants. But with a little luck, nobody would notice. Her full breasts were firm, and they stood high all on their own, so she didn’t mind walking around without a bra—at least not for a while. She at least looked professional enough that she could go into the precinct if she needed to, or if she had to meet with Barrett’s friends.
When she turned around from buttoning her blouse, she found Barrett standing behind her in the hallway, watching her. She smiled slightly, and he smiled back, walking over to her and dropping a kiss on her lips.
“All clean?”
“Yes,” she said, leaning against him. “You sounded very official on the phone.”
“I was talking to my friends at the agency,” he said, sliding his arms around her waist. “They’re going to meet me out there about an hour before everyone else arrives. Victoria …I want you to come with me.”
Surprised, Victoria leaned back. “I thought we had decided …”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “You offered, and you had a good point, and that might be the most logical decision—for you to keep your distance right now, I mean. But I don’t care about the logical decision. I want you with me.”
In spite of herself, Victoria was touched. But she was also responsible. Or at least …she usually was, even if she hadn’t been all that responsible a few hours ago. “Barrett, I really appreciate the sentiment, but you need to do the best thing for you right now. Not for me or for …us.”
“I am,” he said. “I promise. But we need to get going. Go find something to eat in the kitchen—I don’t want you going without food. I’m going to jump in the shower, too, and then we’ll be on our way.”
She bit her lip. “What about Annie?”
“Annie,” he said, frowning. Then his face grew more somber. “Oh. Annie.”
“I don’t like that she’s still just lying there,” Victoria said. “I know that there’s not much we can do, but it feels like we should do something. I’d like to see if we can move the body somewhere else—where it’ll get found separately from you, and the police can give that family some resolution.”
Barrett dragged a hand along his jaw. “I want resolution for them, too,” he said. “I really do. She was an innocent party in all of this, and if I’m right and my …sister is behind all of this, I want her to pay. She will pay. How, I don’t know yet—because we can’t have law enforcement asking too many questions.”
Victoria felt the hairs on her arm stand up for just a moment. She knew why he would say that, and it made sense, but as a dedicated police officer—albeit one who had made many, many concessions of late—she didn’t like the implication that the police needed to be manipulated. Even though she had also considered manipulating the police to find Annie’s body elsewhere. She realized that this was always going to be a problem for them, if there was a them for any length of time. He was always going to have things to hide from the police, and she was always going to be the police. That wasn’t a situation that would change once they got this one situation solved. This was his job, and he was as passionate about it as she was about hers.
“You look upset,” Barrett said, frowning down at her. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for them to get distracted figuring out the hypothetical relationship she wasn’t even sure they had yet. “Nothing. I …know you have things to do, Barrett, and I don’t want to keep you from them. But I think that what I need to do right now is stay with Annie.” She looked up at him warily. “Not go to your meeting.”
“Oh,” Barrett said, looking surprised as he stepped back. “Are you sure?”
Victoria nodded. “Yes. I really appreciate you including me, and I’m still very much invested in you and this and figuring it all out. But I don’t think I’ll be helpful there, and I know I can be helpful here. Helpful to her and her family.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I haven’t worked out the details yet,” she said, “but I’m going to get the body away from here, and I’m going to put it somewhere it can be safely found. I’m a detective. I know what will need to be at the scene. It helps you, too, because then you don’t have to worry about the framing situation at all. You can just deal with your family and Clan issues.”
Barrett still seemed disconcerted, but he didn’t push her any further. “If that’s what you want,” he said. “I trust you, Victoria. This should prove that. I’m leaving you alone here in my house with a body that’s connected to me.”
She touched his arm. “I know. Thank you.”
They loo
ked at each other for a long moment, both of them sensing that something had shifted since she had woken up warm and comfortable in his arms. He didn’t seem to be able to put his finger on what had shifted, but she knew. She felt like she was having to choose between her loyalty to her job and her budding relationship with him, and they were only a few hours into whatever this was. No matter what mental gymnastics she engaged in, she couldn’t get away from that fact. And she didn’t know what to do about that, because she did want to be with him. She did think that this was real between them.
But she couldn’t give up who she was, and neither could he.
So, she didn’t know where that left them, and as Barrett walked away to get in the shower, she let out a heavy sigh. What was it about her that made relationships so hard? Maybe she should take the hint after everything with Nathan. Maybe she should just focus on Olivia.
Maybe she should call Olivia. That always got her head back on straight. And then, after she’d wished her daughter a good morning, she could figure out how to stage a crime scene.
Chapter 26
Barrett
It felt strange, driving out to the bayou without Victoria sitting by his side. But he hadn’t wanted to push her. She had seemed to pull away from him there in the short time before he left, and he didn’t exactly know why, but he decided to take comfort in the sweetness of her kiss, as he’d said goodbye to her.
He’d told her that he trusted her, and he did. He didn’t blame her for feeling an obligation to the woman whose life had been taken as a result of some skeletons in the Rockwell family’s closet that he didn’t fully understand yet. All Barrett hoped was that she still wanted to move forward with their relationship, because he knew without a doubt that’s what he wanted.
For now, though, he had to focus on what was ahead of him. He was about to meet with his friends in preparation to speak with the whole of the Rockwell Clan—something that had never been done as far as he remembered. Although many within the Clan were tightly knit and met often, there were families on the periphery or individuals, even, who were associated with the Clan but who never really participated in the administrative or social side of things. They had never all been called together before, and he was positive that there were already many whispers going around, wondering what Norman Rockwell had called them all together to say.
Of course, everyone would suspect that it at least had something to do with Barrett, given that he had just been removed from his position as head of the agency. But he doubted that anyone would expect him to appear and speak—and he knew without a shadow of a doubt that no one expected him to bring up Adele.
When Barrett parked and walked into the bayou, where he would meet with his friends, he was completely focused on the task at hand. This was the beginning of the process of restoring faith in his reputation, and credibility, and his leadership, and he couldn’t mess it up. He couldn’t make a mistake.
Hannah was the first to approach him once he reached the clearing where the meeting would take place. She hugged him hard, and he was grateful for her steady kindness as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I had no idea,” she said, pulling back and looking up at him. “My parents never breathed a word about you having any siblings—never.”
“I know,” he said, pressing her arm. “None of us knew, Hannah. It’s not your fault. It’s not any of our faults. This is the older generations—they have to answer for what’s happened. And for not dealing with it right the first time. We’re not paying the price for what they did.”
Ryan walked over, with Jordan not far behind him. “Damn right we’re not,” Ryan said, clapping Barrett on the shoulder. “I’m ready. Let them bring it on—we’ve got your back.”
“I can’t believe that Norman was in on this with them,” Jordan said, shaking her head as she approached, her arms crossed over her chest. “How could he do this to you? Does he not realize that you’ve been kicked out of your job and your position?”
Barrett looked around at his friends. Quentin was there, too, although he tended to deal with his anger internally. He was standing there, his arms crossed over his chest and his face stern. All of them were behind Barrett entirely, and he had never been more grateful.
“My grandfather decided to follow his son’s wishes,” Barrett said, answering Jordan. “He knows that he made a mistake, he’s sorry, and he’s helping me fix it. Any parent probably would have done the same for a child. We don’t know. We’re not parents.”
“I don’t understand how you can let that go,” Jordan muttered. But she didn’t press the point any further. Barrett wasn’t worried—Jordan had a bad temper, but she always pulled through in the end, and she would forgive Norman.
“Listen,” he said, addressing all of them. “I wanted to meet with you all here, early, because I don’t know what’s going to happen at this meeting or how people are going to respond to what I’m about to do. If things get out of control, I’m counting on you all to step in and make sure that everyone stays in line. Quentin—I want you on my parents. They’re going to be here. Make sure they don’t get up and leave.”
Quentin nodded, firmly. “I’m on it.”
“Ryan,” Barrett said, “I want you to stand up there with me while I’m speaking, as a sign of confidence from the operating agency.”
Ryan also nodded. “Right. I’m there.”
“Jordan and Hannah,” Barrett said, looking between the only two women he would trust with his life—although maybe there was a third now. “I want both of you to be in the crowd, dealing with conflicts as they arise. Try to diminish any uproar—try to calm any nerves. Be everywhere and see everything. That’s what you’re both good at, right?”
Both women nodded. “Absolutely,” Hannah said. “We’ll take care of it.”
And they all would, each of them. Barrett had no doubt.
“People are going to start arriving soon,” he said, looking around the trees. The morning sun was already bright and warm, beating down through the leaves, and the marshy ground beneath their feet was heating under its rays. Not far away there was a rustle of some creature in the bushes, but nothing appeared. It was the bayou that Barrett knew so well, and it was about to be the scene where he took the first step towards taking back his life.
“Let’s fade,” Barrett said. “Who has the extra clothes, in case someone has to shift?”
“I do,” Hannah said, pointing to the bag that she had set by a tree. “It’ll be on hand.”
“Good,” Barrett said, nodding. “Then …fade out, people.”
Immediately, all five of the Rockwell agents disappeared into the trees, fading easily into the brush and treading lightly to make themselves scarce. Barrett hid himself well away, not wanting anyone to spot him prior to his own reveal when he was ready to speak to the gathering his grandfather had called.
He had barely gotten himself situated when he heard the first voices approaching. It was a family of three—one that was not a common participant in the Rockwell Clan activities. After them, another family, and then a few individual Clan members approached. People began to file in towards the clearing, coming from all directions and gathering together. They murmured amongst themselves, wondering what could possibly require such an official, secret meeting so early in the morning.
Barrett watched them, looking at each face and wondering what their reactions would be when he stepped forward and spoke. He saw Hannah and Jordan fade back into the crowd once it had grown considerably, and they went about their tasks of settling nerves and reassuring people. When Barrett’s parents arrived, looking stern and wary, Quentin was almost immediately at their side, making sure that they didn’t go anywhere.
Finally, Barrett saw his grandfather arrive. When Norman Rockwell walked up to the crowd, it fell silent, and all the people turned towards him, waiting to hear what he had to say. Norman held up his hands, urging everyone to back up and gather in an orderly fashion, so that they could better listen.
And then he began to talk. He talked about Clan unity, and he talked about the mission the Clan had to protect the greater Baton Rouge area.
He talked about a lot of things, as they had agreed upon. What he was saying didn’t truly matter—it was just setting the stage until Barrett was ready to walk out and take the meeting over from him.
Ryan appeared by Barrett’s side. “Are you ready?” he asked quietly. “It’s time to do this.”
Barrett nodded, and he knew that it was true—he was ready. He was going to do what his father hadn’t been strong enough to do, and he was going to face the true flaws that lay within their family in order to prove that the flaws attributed to him were not true. It was time to prove that he could lead the Rockwell Clan every bit as well—no, better than—his father.
Chapter 27
Victoria
She was going to bring Izzie into her confidence.
Victoria wasn’t going to tell her partner everything, of course, but she was going to tell her that she needed help moving a body out of Barrett’s house. Izzie would trust Victoria if Victoria asked her to. Even more than Victoria, Izzie believed that sometimes justice wasn’t a straight line. Sometimes it was nuanced. Sometimes it was complicated. Sometimes it looked downright wrong to everyone else, but you knew it was the right thing.
She would tell Izzie that Barrett had been set up and that she was helping figure out what had happened to the woman in the freezer. But that the woman in the freezer could no longer be the woman in the freezer—she had to be moved.
Even though she knew that there was no way she could get the woman out of the house without help, it was still a hard decision to make—calling Izzie. She knew that Barrett would see it as a betrayal, and as much as she did trust her friend, a tiny part of her wondered if Izzie might not doubt her story and feel professionally compelled to report what was going on.
Rockwell Agency: Boxset Page 111
