“We could help her.” Tori leaned forward.
“You won’t be able to find her.” A challenge.
“Are you sure about that?” She and her sister had lived their lives being hidden and on the run. If anyone could find Victor Sleigh’s daughter, Tori and Roni were it.
“Positive.”
“You think they’re going to kill you. Don’t you?” She rested her elbow on the table. He wasn’t stalling them. He was waiting. “You know how they’ll do it, too, don’t you?”
Victor glanced up at her. He’d known the risks, calculated his odds of winning and made a gamble. Too bad he’d lost.
“Why not help us? Stick it to the people you want brought down? We could make it worth your while. Maybe even protect you. You’re not dead yet. She’s not dead.”
For several moments they stared at each other, but he wasn’t budging.
They had to find the daughter.
Whoever she was, she was important. Tori felt it in her gut.
Victor’s silent challenge. His refusal to speak about anything else. It had to tie back to the daughter. She was key.
“Okay, if you don’t want to talk, at least tell us what happened out there. Who hired the hit team? Why try and kill your business partner?” This might be Tori’s only chance of getting information straight from the source. She wanted to reach across the table and shake it out of him.
“Michael Evers is not my business partner.” Victor’s voice dripped with disdain.
Okay, no love lost there.
“Then what is he?”
“A means to an end.” Victor shrugged.
He was talking.
“And the hit team?”
“None of my doing.”
“But you had them try to kill Evers.”
No answer.
Damn it.
“I think you and Evers work for the same person. You clearly don’t like Evers, which means this person you work for has to be bad enough and scary enough to keep everyone in line. But you saw an opportunity to merge Evers’s operation with yours and you took it. Right?”
“You’re very perceptive. No doubt from your father’s genes.”
A chill seeped into Tori’s body. Yes, people knew her secret. Dangerous ones. But they hadn’t killed her yet.
“Tell me I’m right.” She had to know.
Someone knocked on the door. Emery unfolded himself from the chair and crossed to the door. She could pick out Matt’s voice, but not what they were saying.
“Tori?” Emery straightened and glanced over his shoulder at her. He nodded toward the hall.
Damn. Their time was up already.
“Am I right, Victor?”
“Close enough.” Victor shrugged.
This was all the confirmation they were going to get. It killed her to get up without more answers. Maybe they could find the girl. She had to know more.
Tori took the file with her. It had little more than a precursory background check. She knew he was from Cuba, a couple places of residence there and previous charges, but that was about it. Chances were, the file would get a whole lot thicker before the day ended.
The door shut behind her, and Matt hustled them back the way they’d come.
“Shit, they’re already in the building,” he muttered, glancing at his phone. “This way.”
“What do we know about the daughter?” Tori asked.
“Not a lot,” Matt said. “Sofia Sleigh. Twenty-nine. No record. Worked as a tech analyst up until a year ago. Patrol said the house listed as her latest residence is boarded up. No one’s been there for years.”
“We need to find her. Was it just me, or was he telling us she was a clue? Or a key? Or something?”
“Sounded to me like he wanted us to leave her alone.” Matt waved his key card in front of a pad and let them out into a wide hallway.
“She has to mean something.” Tori glanced at Emery’s impassive face. Was she reading into things because of her father?
“Where’s everyone else?” Emery asked.
“Taqueria around the corner.” Matt led them downstairs, through doors and finally out a side exit into a little fenced-off yard with benches and tables. He gestured at a break in the fence. No sooner had the door closed behind them than his phone began to buzz. “Out here, across the lot, to your left, around the corner.”
“Thanks,” Tori said over her shoulder as she strode, or more accurately tried to not limp, her way along. The shoes were a size too small, but they covered her feet.
“I’ll try to update you later.” He swiped his key card and disappeared back inside the building.
Emery fell into step beside her, managing to make the borrowed clothes look as good as he did.
“Am I crazy? Or is the daughter involved somehow?”
“She could be, but that’s something to worry about later. I doubt she’s even in Miami.”
“How much trouble do you think we’ll be in?” she asked.
“CJ and me—a lot. You and the others? Not so bad. I think they expect trouble from you guys, but someone has to get it.”
“I’m sorry.” She winced. All of this—because of her.
“Hey.” He wrapped his hand around hers. “I wanted to be with you. Nothing anyone could have said or done would have changed that.”
She nodded. It might be the truth, but she didn’t want Emery to make sacrifices on account of her. But when you loved someone, well, the rules changed. There wasn’t much besides Roni’s safety that Tori would be willing to part with for him.
By the time they reached the open-air taqueria they were both drenched in sweat. The crew had taken over one corner of the patio with the other patrons giving them a wide berth. That was no surprise. Between Roni looking like a drowned rat, Gabriel nearly dead on his feet, and their overall greasy appearance, they were a rough group. They’d at least taken advantage of the opportunity to grab food and a drink. At least half had already been served while the others were polishing off the first basket of chips and salsa.
“Where’s CJ?” Emery asked, surveying the group.
For a moment, no one answered.
“He was called into work,” Gabriel said, his brows lifted.
The Feds.
Had they known CJ was here? Or were they aware of his involvement? Either way, a weight settled in Tori’s stomach. They weren’t finished yet. Emery squeezed her hand and led her to where Roni sat.
“What’s our plan?” she asked.
The day was far from over.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tori felt only marginally better after a shower at her apartment and a meal she didn’t have to make. She’d have felt a lot better if she were with Emery, but it made no sense to go with him when all of her stuff was in the apartment she shared with Roni. It didn’t stop her from thinking about him every second they were apart.
How would a relationship work? Until this weekend, the crew had been very careful to not be seen with Emery in public. Could they keep a relationship a secret? How would she deal with that? What were they going to do?
A lot of Emery’s value to the team was his ability to move covertly in circles the rest of them were unconnected to. This weekend might have blown that cover. Hell, everyone in Miami might know they were FBI now if the wrong people talked. Their whole operation could be blown wide open. Things were changing, but all she wanted was Emery.
“Are you going to speak to me at all?” Roni asked. She drove them the longest way possible back to the Shop.
“Sorry, just thinking.”
“You’re making my head hurt with all the thinking. Talk to me.”
“I can’t believe Kathy’s gone.” That loss still hurt. She didn’t quite accept it, either.
Roni was quiet a moment before she whispered, “I know.”
“That and . . . what’s going to happen next?”
“We’ve been holding our breath, waiting for the shoe to drop for months. I don’t know if I�
��m glad something finally happened or what.”
“Exactly.” Tori sighed. Having a sister who knew her so well was a relief. There were many thoughts she didn’t have to enunciate because Roni already knew what she was thinking. At least, in all areas but one. “And Emery.”
“What about him?”
“How’s this going to work? Can it?”
“Lapochka, I think that man is motivated to make it work.” Roni chuckled.
“You think?” Tori grinned, warm fuzzies permeating her hard shell of worry.
“You jumped on a boat to save his ass. He’d be stupid to not keep a woman like you, but I’m biased.”
“Yeah, well, keep being biased. I need to hear that.” Emery had told her he loved her and she’d said what amounted to nothing. She loved him, but why was it so hard to tell him? Was it because she couldn’t shake the feeling that he deserved better than her?
“What is it with you and the silence? Has he been giving you lessons or something? Gah.”
“Sorry!” Tori chuckled. “I’m just—I think . . .”
“What?”
“He told me he loves me.”
“Shut up! When?”
“At the station.” Tori covered her face with her hands.
“What did you say?”
“I didn’t know what to say! I just . . . stood there. I mean, I tried to tell him that I think I love him but—what if everything dies down and it changes? You know what it’s like when everything is crazy and you get hot for someone?”
“Yeah, but we’re talking about the Walking Brain, here. You’ve been hot for him.”
“Yeah.” Her cheeks flushed at the truth of it. “I just . . . I want what’s best for him.”
“That’s when you know you really love someone. Take me and you. I dogged Emery, but it was only because I want someone who will be there for you like I am. Who’d take a bullet for you. I’ll admit, I was skeptical, but he’s won me over. I owe him one for looking out for you.”
“I’m not sure I’m good enough for him,” Tori blurted out.
“What?” Roni stared at Tori, face twisted up in a grimace.
“I know, that sounds crazy but . . . you don’t understand. His family, they might have been worse to him than Dad was to us.” At least their father had looked out for them in his own way, right up until the end.
“All the more reason to love him back. I’m not going to argue this with you. You either love him or you don’t.”
“I think I do.”
“Then what’s the big deal? Enjoy it.”
“I don’t know.”
“Tell me more about his family. What kind of fucked up are we talking about?”
“The turn-on-you kind.”
“Damn.”
“Part of me wants to go find them.”
“Don’t. Don’t go there. We’d never have allowed anyone to mess with Dad, and Emery won’t appreciate you trying to fix his family.”
“You’re right.” She slumped in her seat. “I just . . . I either want to make them pay for turning their backs on him, or make them realize how awesome he really is.”
“In our line of work, you can’t do that. Okay, so you could probably torch their place and get away with it, but it would be a bitch move. So don’t. It’s not like any of us have great home lives right now. We lean on each other. It’s what makes us tight. It also protects his family. Don’t knock the distance. It’s probably saved their lives already.”
Tori mulled that point over. She hadn’t thought of it like that, but she could understand it.
Roni sped down the final stretch toward the Shop. The massive warehouse sat dark, by all appearances. She pulled through the gate and into the lot before easing through the open door into the warehouse. Inside it was lit up and full of the most important people in their lives. Their chosen family.
From the looks of things, they were the last to arrive. She glanced over the cars, her heart aching a bit when she saw Emery’s Tesla plugged in and charging. A handful of hours apart and she felt like she’d lost an arm, or part of her heart. Everyone else was clustered around one of the main bays, chowing down on pizza, but Emery was missing.
She slid out of Roni’s Lancer and headed for the security office. She didn’t take an easy breath until she saw him. Emery stared at the screens, deep lines bracketing his mouth. He didn’t even appear to notice her, which was so completely normal.
Tori circled the desk and wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her cheek against the top of his head. For a second his muscles tensed, as if he really hadn’t noticed her until she touched him, then relaxed and his hand covered hers, squeezing it. So much for big, bad, super-spy sense. He was still her oblivious techie.
“You smell good,” he said.
“You noticed?”
“I always notice, but complete sentences, remember?” He twisted his head and smiled at her.
She kissed him, breathing in his scent, the feel of his skin, everything she’d missed in just a couple of hours.
“I’m here,” he said against her lips.
“I know, I just . . .” She rested her head against his. She needed to feel him. Touch him. Reassure herself she wasn’t dreaming.
Losing Kathy still wasn’t real, but she was beginning to feel the ache.
A car horn blasted and Aiden’s classic Charger rolled in.
“CJ’s here.” Emery squeezed her hand before standing.
They walked out to join the others, hand in hand. A few of them glanced their way, but for the most part no one commented on the sudden relationship.
CJ, Aiden, and Madison climbed out of his Charger, none of them looking too happy. The crew circled around, tension making her fidget. Tori could barely breathe.
“I’m off the case,” CJ said without preamble.
“What?” Tori gasped.
“No way.” Julian straightened.
Similar statements came from the others, completely caught off guard by such a drastic action.
“I expected it. After—after Kathy died, they were going to do it. Observation, evaluation, and all that bullshit.” CJ tossed a weak smile Julian’s way.
“You’ll come back, right?” Gabriel asked.
“No idea. They’re telling me to report to the shrink in Quantico by Thursday. I’ll keep you up-to-date, but don’t expect for me to find out much. They’re pissed, no surprise there, but I’m not being told shit.”
The coarse language surprised Tori. Usually CJ stayed pretty professional, but losing his wife and partner had probably unhinged him a bit. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him. The loss wasn’t just now, it would continue in a hundred little ways for a very long time.
“I’m sure more than ever that we were bait. I don’t know who Victor Sleigh works for or how he fits into this, but find out.” CJ stared around the bay, as if willing them to all promise to take on the order.
Julian rested his hand on CJ’s shoulder. Aiden joined them and the three men put their heads together, planning and scheming even now.
“What does this mean?” she asked Emery.
He merely shrugged and studied the two groups talking in hushed tones. His silence irked her, but she let him think.
“Hopefully CJ takes a vacation and comes back, right?” Tori knew that wasn’t the case. She’d been around the FBI long enough to know that when an agent screwed up badly, she never saw them again. It was more likely those poor souls were relegated to desk work than canned, but it was all about the same to her. Without movement, action, she’d go crazy.
Emery didn’t bother answering her naive question. His phone began vibrating so loud she could hear it. She watched him frown at the display before answering it with a curt, “Hello.” Emery glanced at the others, his brows rising at whatever the person on the other end of the line was saying. Finally, his gaze landed on her, and the frown had nothing to do with thinking.
“It’s for you.” He didn’t sound pleased
about that.
She took the phone and pressed it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Tori, it’s Matt.”
“Don’t say anything,” Emery whispered.
“I need you to listen very closely to me. Sleigh wants to talk, but he’s only going to talk to you. The Feds are leaving him here overnight in lockup until they can transport him. I can get you in to talk with him in an hour, just after mealtime. Got it?”
“O-okay.” She didn’t know what she might have said to Victor that would convince him to talk to her rather than anyone else. The actual FBI could help protect him far better than she, but if he would part with valuable information, she wasn’t about to argue the hows or whys.
“Let me speak to Emery,” Matt said.
Tori handed the phone to her boyfriend. Boyfriend? Was that what they were? Or was this something else?
Emery listened for a moment, nodding or making sounds of agreement. “Got it. See you then.” He ended the call, glancing over at the others, who were too involved in their conversations to pay them any mind.
“What’s the plan?” Tori kept her voice low.
“We need to go, now. My car should be charged.”
They circled the group, a few people giving them the side-eye for leaving, but no one stopped them. Let them think they were leaving to go make out or something.
It felt like a month since she’d last sat in the Tesla Roadster. In reality, a day? She closed her eyes, feeling all the bruises, bumps, and soreness as she settled in.
“What do we tell the others?” she asked. He steered the car out of the warehouse.
“Nothing until we know what he wants to tell us.”
She didn’t like that answer, but she also knew the FBI might pull the rug out from under them in a split second. With CJ leaving, everything was going to change. They drove in relative silence through Miami. It seemed wrong that the sun should shine and the sky be so clear on such an awful day. Rain and storms would be far more appropriate.
Emery parked a couple miles from the downtown police station where Victor Sleigh was being held. He stashed the Roadster in the back of a lot behind a Dumpster, but made no move to get out. At least not until a familiar, unmarked police SUV eased up behind them.
Shift Page 29
