“We need to talk,” Aidan said. Fuck building a damn wall! “Please.” He added at the last second.
“I don’t think…” Piper started.
“Pip,” said Sable, standing in the doorway.
Aidan had met her a few times when she would come into the bar with Piper. He liked Sable, but knew she was going through a rough time. Truthfully, he was surprised to see her here, since last he heard, Sable and Sapphire had a huge blow up and Sapphire banned her from the property.
“What?” Piper said, turning to her sister.
“Stop.” Sable gave Piper a look that Aidan didn’t understand as she leaned in to kiss Piper on the cheek. “Aidan, it’s good to see you.” And with that, Sable turned and left.
Aidan just stood there. He had no idea what to say or do. Again, all he wanted was Piper, but how could he get her to see that?
“Everyone,” Sapphire said, standing from her seat behind the large wooden desk. “Out.”
Thanks Sapphire! That’s helpful! Not.
As everyone started to leave the room, Sapphire elaborated, “Not you two. Both of you,” she pointed to Aidan and Piper, “Stay.”
Okay. Maybe it was helpful. Thanks Sapphire.
Aidan waited until everyone left, and Sapphire closed to door behind her, but not before leaving them with another set of demands, “Fix this. Both of you. Do not leave this room until you figure it out. Understood?” And with that, she closed the door without waiting for a reply.
“Typical Sapphire,” Piper mumbled.
“I’m beginning to see that,” Aidan said drily.
They both stood there, awkwardly. Aidan felt like a kid waiting to see the principal. His stomach was in knots. What if she didn’t want to hear what he had to say? What if she still told him to go fuck off? The more the silence stretched on, the worse it got until finally he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Piper, I’m so sorry,” Aidan spilled. “I was an idiot. I should have told you the truth. Even though I didn’t think I was lying, but apparently an intentional omission is the same as a lie? I guess.” Aidan continued to babble. “I should have been more open with you. I thought by not telling you, that I was protecting you, but that was a stupid thing to think, because I ended up doing the complete opposite. I put you in danger by not saying something.”
Aidan felt like an even bigger idiot. There he was rambling, and Piper was just staring at him. He wanted, no needed, her to say something. Anything. When she just continued to stare at him, Aidan felt his heart start to fall to his feet.
I lost her…
At thirty-two, he felt like curling in on himself, and crying. The ache in his chest started to grow.
“Please. Piper,” he choked out. “Say something. Anything.”
“You are a complete asshole,” Piper emphasized each word. “But, you are my asshole,” she sighed.
“Um,” Aidan tried not to laugh. “I can be in your asshole. I mean, I’m just saying.”
Piper’s eyes narrowed. “Okay. Okay. Okay.” Aidan held up his hands in surrender. “Or not.”
“Aidan,” Piper sighed. “I love you, but if you ever lie or withhold information from me again, I’m out. I know my worth. I know who I am as a woman. And I will not settle on halfass bullshit. I will either know you, and I mean all of you; or we can move on. The choice is yours.”
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know,” Aidan blurted out. “Well, everything I can tell, that is. Piper, there are some things that I just can’t.”
“I understand that,” Piper replied. “So, spill. Who is the real Aidan Wright?”
Aidan ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t even know where to start. But what he did know was, the real Aidan Wright was the man standing in front of her now.
“I’m the real Aidan,” he said. “Everything you see, everything you feel when you touch me. This is me. One-hundred percent, me.”
“Then fill in the gaps,” Piper replied.
Taking a deep breath, Aidan did as Piper requested. “I worked for the CIA for twelve years. Mainly doing undercover work. I can’t tell you about the assignments, I’m sorry.” Aidan wanted to tell her everything but couldn’t. A lot of the work he did was strictly off the books. “Three years ago, while I was in Turkey, we discovered there was a leak in the agency. The Turkish government found out about me.” Aidan watched Piper’s eyes widen and her hand go to her mouth. “It was a little tricky getting me out before they found my location, but we managed it just minutes before the apartment I was living in exploded.”
“Oh my God!” Piper exclaimed. “Did y’all find the leak? Please, tell me you did?”
“We did,” Aidan confirmed. “But not before a lot of innocent people died. I didn’t tell you because, well… I don’t know. I just wanted to keep that away from you. But, I understand now that I wasn’t doing you any favors. You should know because if that part of my life ever returns to the present, you need to be able to properly assess and handle the situation. And I know you can and will. I am really sorry I didn’t tell you; and I am sorrier that you had to find out the way you did.”
Aidan stood there and waited for Piper to respond. It seemed since they started this conversation, he had been doing a lot of waiting. Piper needed to process it all. He understood that. It wasn’t every day that you find out your boyfriend used to be a spy.
“Thank you for telling me,” Piper finally spoke.
Aidan didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent. He held his breath as she moved towards him. Placing her hands on his chest, he knew she had to be able to feel his heart beating like a bass drum against his sternum. When she leaned forward to kiss him, he thought he would fall to his knees. This woman. Piper Kimber did that to him. With just a touch, she could either ignite or shatter his soul.
When did that happen? When did I turn into a pussy?
“How do you do that?” he asked.
“Do what?”
“How can your touch have the ability to affect me like it does?”
“How does it affect you?”
“It’s weird,” Aidan shook his head. “Your touch. It can make or break me.” Aidan didn’t know what to think. Confusion was an epic emotion. “I was just thinking, I have no idea when I became such a pussy.”
“A pussy?” Piper laughed. “I wouldn’t call you that at all.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“I’d say it was a normal reaction to the touch of a person you love. I’d say that if my touch didn’t affect you that way, then I wasn’t the girl for you.”
“Oh, you are definitely my girl,” Aidan grinned, pulling Piper against him. “And do you know what I would like to do to my girl right now?”
“Um, not in my damn office!” Sapphire said through the door.
Aidan’s eyes widened as they made contact with Piper’s. The look on her face had to be a reflection of his own. The two burst into a fit of laughter as Sapphire opened the door with a hand covering her own eyes.
“Please tell me your winky is put away,” she said. “Because the only bumping of uglies this room is ever going to see will be between Tank and I.”
“Gawd!” Piper drawled. “Way to ruin it, Steph. Last thing I needed was an image of you and Tank bumping uglies.”
“Just for reference,” Tank interjected. “I think your sister’s…”
“Don’t!” Piper yelled, hands going to cover her ears. “La, La, La. I can’t hear you.”
The room erupted into more laughter. Aidan loved seeing this side of Piper. She was always so serious. To see her joking around with her family, it did something to him. It made him love her even more.
Chapter Seventeen
Piper
“On a serious note,” Sapphire said, still giggling.
“I was serious,” Tank said, wrapping his arms around her. “Your pussy…”
“Shut up!” Piper yelled again. “Yuck! TMI. I repeat, shut up!”
Lawd! Wha
t has this world come to?
Piper loved her family, but there were just some things a sister did not want to know about another. Shaking her head, Piper walked back over to Sapphire’s desk and with Aidan beside her, began looking over files again.
“We have to find a starting point,” Piper said to the room. “The faster we get this done, the sooner we can get on with life and bring those girls home.”
“I spoke with Sledge,” Tank said. “Like I said earlier he and the guys will be here in the morning, but he also called Banjo. So that is one step in the directions of answers.”
“I also called my old handler,” Aidan chimed in.
“Is that a good idea?” Piper asked, concerned.
She didn’t want him putting himself in danger. Not even for this case.
“I trust Sasha,” Aidan replied. “She’s good people.”
“Okay,” Piper nodded.
Ring, Ring. Ring, Ring.
Aidan and Tank’s phone went off simultaneously. Both pulling them out of their pockets, answered the calls.
“It’s Sasha,” Aidan said to the group. “Someone is accessing data and files for the case. An IP address that does not belong to law enforcement.”
“Um,” Tank raised his hand. “It’s Sledge. He just said Banjo called him and said the same thing.”
“So, Sasha is tracking Banjo; and Banjo is tracking Sasha?” Piper asked.
Piper listened as Aidan reported back to Sasha that it was probably Banjo, a friend of the Devil’s Henchmen MC. As he finished explaining the situation, Aidan quickly pulled the phone from his ear. Everyone in the room could hear Sasha throwing a temper tantrum on the other end.
Was this chick really going to talk to Aidan like that?
Not a damn chance!
Pulling the phone from his hand, Piper put it to her ear. “Are you fucking finished now?” Piper asked, barely controlling her own temper. “Listen Sasha, I am only going to say this once. If you ever speak to my man like that again, I will track you down and beat your fucking ass. Do I make myself clear? I don’t give a flying fuck how you spoke to him in the past, but you will not speak like that shit now. Understood?” Piper didn’t even give her time to respond before she continued to speak. “Furthermore, if you cannot work as a team player, then your assistance will not be needed. Decide, and let Aidan know. Thank you and have a lovely day!” Hanging up the phone she handed it back to Aidan.
“Well,” Sapphire said. “That was interesting.”
“Bitch got me fuckin bent if she thinks it’s okay to speak to him like that,” Piper told the room. “Fuck that shit.”
“I think,” Aidan said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “That was the sexiest damn thing I have ever seen. Can we take a ten-minute break?”
“All you need is ten minutes?” Tank laughed. “Boy!”
“After that?” Aidan asked. “Yep!”
Shaking her head, Piper pulled away from him. “Behave,” she scolded.
“How can I when you go all protective and territorial?” Aidan smiled. “That was seriously hot as fuck, woman!”
“Lawd, help me,” Piper sighed. “Anyway, what do we have?”
“Well, I have a text from Sasha,” Aidan laughed.
“And?” Piper asked.
“She says, and I quote.” Aidan made the sign with his fingers. “Please tell your girlfriend that I am sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect. I would still like to help with the case. Give my private number to the other person helping you guys so he and I can maybe tag team and figure out a plan to cover more area and searches rather than both of us looking into the same areas.”
“Hmm,” Piper mumbled. “Find out if Banjo is okay with that,” she said to Tank. “If he is, send her the number.”
“Okay, now that that is done,” Sapphire clapped her hands together. “Let’s get down to work.”
The group got to work looking and relooking over files. They spent the remainder of the evening combing through every document and answering phone calls from Banjo or Sasha. Everyone worked late into the night and were back at it first thing in the morning.
* * *
Frustration had grown high within the group. It seemed in the weeks since Piper’s apartment was torched, they had gotten nowhere in the investigation. Repeatedly, they would find leads, track them down, and come up empty handed. The cycle just wouldn’t stop and there seemed to be no end in sight.
“We have to be fucking missing something!” Sapphire slapped a hand on the desk.
“There is nothing,” Tank replied. “We have gone over every scene virtually and in person. Some of them are months old. Anything that may have once been there is long gone, Sapphire.”
“Children do not just vanish, Tank,” Sapphire said between clenched teeth.
“Nobody said they did,” Tank replied, just as irritated.
“Enough!” Piper demanded. “Calm the fuck down. This shit is not helping. We can only get as far on the intel we have. That’s it. No more, no less. So, stop the bitch sessions or I will do this by my fucking self!”
It seemed that the entire group took a second to collect themselves and take a deep breath. Piper understood everyone’s anger. She did. But it was not going to solve anything. It was not going to get them any closer to solving this case.
“I’m sorry,” Sapphire finally said. “After going to see Ms. Lemmon the other day, and seeing her face, literally feeling her pain… this case has really gotten to me. I can’t image the fear Mom felt when I was missing.”
“Oh, baby,” Tank sighed, pulling Sapphire into his arms.
Piper smiled, a sad smile, but still a smile nonetheless. She understood what Sapphire meant. She too, had thought the same thing several times. Last week, Piper, Sapphire, and Scarlet revisited the families of the girls that were taken. Piper needed them to know that she had not given up. She explained that she was no longer with the Houston PD, but she hadn’t and wouldn’t stop working this case until their children were home safely. It had been a heartbreaking day on so many levels.
“We have to find them,” Sapphire muttered. “We just have to.”
“And we will,” Tank replied. “Each and every one of them. I promise, baby girl.”
* * *
Two week later…
Ring. Ring. Ring.
“Hey, Sasha,” Piper said, putting the phone on speaker.
“Hey, Piper,” she replied. “You got all the team around you?”
“Yeah,” Piper answered. “What’s up? You got something?” The team gathered around silently.
“It looks like there was a partial fingerprint left at the scene of Sapphire’s abduction that was never processed,” Sasha explained over the phone, jumping right to business. It was one of the things Piper liked about the girl.
“How was it never processed?” Piper asked. What the hell?
“Remember, back then it was nearly impossible to get a positive identification off a partial print,” Sasha continued. “Anyway, I ran it through CODIS and got a hit.”
“Really?” Sapphire asked. Piper could tell Sasha had every bit of her sister’s attention. This was the moment everyone was waiting for.
“Yes,” Sasha answered. “It belongs to a man named Harold Jenkins. He was an employee of Montgomery Enterprises.”
“Wait,” Piper interrupted. “As in, Chaz Montgomery?”
“The same,” Sasha confirmed.
“Mother fucker…”
“Do you guys know him?” Sasha asked.
“Yes,” Sledge answered. “My team killed him a while back.” At Sledge’s admission, the room went silent. Nobody moved, nobody said a word. Piper wasn’t even sure if anyone breathed.
“Um,” Sasha stuttered. “Okay.”
“It was a justified kill,” Sledge added. “And sanctioned.”
“Alright,” Sasha replied. “Anyway. From what Banjo and I have been able to gather, all of this leads back to Montgomery in one way or another. The
place where Sapphire was held, after Banjo did some extremely impressive hacking, he found that it was owned by Montgomery as well.”
“How has nobody linked any of this sooner?” Reaper asked. “I mean, if people are being kidnapped and held in facilities that all belong to the same person or company, how is that not noticed? Shit! Sapphire was kidnapped years ago!”
“Because these facilities are bought through offshore accounts,” Sasha tried to explain. “Ownership is buried under mounds of dirt and brick. Unless you specifically know to dig there, you won’t know that something isn’t right.”
“Okay,” Diesel chimed in. “So, time to go nuclear on Montgomery Enterprises until someone talks. Fuck it! I’m in, bitches! Let’s go.”
“Hold on,” Piper chuckled. “No nuclear.” When she saw Diesel start to pout, she added, “yet.”
“Fineee,” he grumbled.
Piper loved the guy. He was absolutely hilarious and if she were honest, it was probably his humor that had prevented the group from killing each other the past few days. When shit started to get to them, Diesel’s presence grew, and he spread laughter, calming the situation.
“Sasha, who is in charge of Montgomery Enterprises now?” Piper asked.
“Jackson Maxwell and Hamilton Crimwell are Co-CEO’s of the organization.”
“Track Maxwell, now!” Aidan demanded. “That son of a bitch!”
“I take it, you guys know him as well?” Sasha asked. Piper could hear her fingers clicking on the keyboard over the phone. At this point that was all she was listening to.
Jackson? Could he really be behind all of this? Was he even that smart?
Piper’s mind was reeling. So many questions. One trailing after the other. Jackson? Piper honestly would have never guessed he would be involved in something like this. Then she remembered the way he had looked at her when he left Cooper’s office after vandalizing her car. The sneer and the emptiness of his eyes. The way it had sent chills down her back. The look of hatred that had been directed at her.
“Maxwell boarded a flight to Andorra about four hours ago,” Sasha finally answered.
“Andorra?” Sapphire asked.
Piper: Iron Angels MC, Book Two Page 12
