Gray Wolf Security: Back Home

by Glenna Sinclair

  “Are you saying that if he’d had a recording of Wilson admitting to the crime, you would let him go?”

  “That would be helpful. But he didn’t record it and you were under duress at the time…my bosses are also aware of your relationship with Roberts, so they aren’t too inclined to take your word over Wilson’s. And Wilson claims he never even knew Ms. Boyles.”

  I could see the anger flash in Kari’s eyes. But she didn’t respond.

  “We have to play this by the book,” Mike said with some measure of regret in his voice. “What Roberts did puts a poor light on the entire task force. We have to deal with it swiftly, appropriately, or prosecuting Mahoney’s men will become a circus we cannot afford.”

  “It makes sense, Kari,” I said almost regretfully. “Roberts did mess up.”

  “He knows that. And he understands the consequences. But he saved my life.” Kari looked at me, pleaded with me. “I would be dead right now if he hadn’t figured out what Sam had done, if he hadn’t come to the warehouse where they had me. Michaels knew I worked for Gray Wolf, knew what I was doing in that motel. He was set to kill me before Tommy walked in.”

  “And I’m grateful he was there, but—”

  “But there’s nothing you can do,” she said, bitterness dripping from her tone. “What if this was Carrington, Joss? What if they’d arrested Carrington for kidnapping Ash? For running Mahoney’s business in Wyoming?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you really think they weren’t still talking about all of that up at MidKnight?”

  I lowered my head slightly, agreeing with her wholeheartedly. I would fight, too, if it was Carrington in the situation Roberts was in. But Carrington was blackmailed into doing what he did. Roberts knew the score and did it anyway.

  There had to be some accountability.

  “I’m sorry, Kari. We have to let the system do its thing.”

  “That’s bullshit!” She crossed the room and jammed her finger into Mike’s chest. “You’re ruining a good man. I hope you know that!”

  She stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard the walls vibrated.

  Mike didn’t move for a long time, just leaned there against the wall. When he finally spoke, his tone was broken.

  “I’m doing the best I can. But Mahoney…”

  “I know.”

  He pushed away from the wall and dropped a piece of paper on my desk. “I meant to give this to you earlier. We’ve got an appointment date and time.”

  He left without further comment. I picked up the paper, my heart clenching for a second when I realized what it was.

  My appointment to speak to Jack Mahoney.

  Chapter 23

  Kari

  “Watch your step,” I said, helping Tommy over the threshold of my apartment. “I don’t think I could get you off the ground if you fell.”

  “I’d just have to live there for a while.”

  “Maybe months.”

  “Years.”

  I giggled. “Years and years, never able to escape. You’d be completely at my mercy.”

  “That wouldn’t be so bad.”

  He twisted on his good leg and brushed his lips over my forehead. The earring was gone from his nose and his hair was already beginning to grow back. The Tommy I’d met and fallen for was coming back, and I couldn’t be happier.

  I helped him over to the couch, watching as he stretched out his injured leg. The doctor said he’d be sore for a while, but the wounds should heal fairly quickly. He was due to have his stitches removed in just a few days.

  He would have scars, but he was going to live. That’s what really mattered.

  I dropped onto the couch beside him and he pulled me into his arms, tugging my head down against his chest. I could hear his heartbeat, the steady sound soothing to my stressed mind.

  “We’re going to be okay, Kari.”

  “Not if you go to jail.”

  “I won’t go to jail. They’ll offer some sort of deal and I’ll take it.”

  “But you won’t be able to be an FBI agent anymore.” I shook my head. “It’s not fair.”

  “I’ll find something else to do. Maybe I’ll go into private security. It’s not like I haven’t had offers.”

  “You have?”

  He nodded. “There’s an agency in Houston, Texas that’s always looking for people.”

  “Houston.” I shrugged. “I could handle Houston.”

  He kissed the top of my head, his touch adoring. I sat up and stole a kiss from his full lips, my heart bursting with the joy that his touch drove through the entirety of my body.

  “I hate that you’re so okay with this.”

  He took my face between his hands. “I had nothing to lose when I first started down this path. All that mattered to me was getting that man off the streets. You have no idea how many times and how many ways I killed him in my imagination over the years. But when I got the chance…” He leaned close and kissed me again. “You saved me, Kari. It’s because of you that I’m not behind bars being charged with murder.”

  “But, Tommy—”

  “We have a future. I’m not going to jail. I might have to change careers, but that’s not the end of the world. And they have enough on Wilson because of the motel that he’ll be in jail for years.” He shrugged. “What’s done is done. I can finally let go of this darkness that’s followed me for so long and look to the future. Do you know how long it’s been since I could say that?”

  He brushed his thumb over my lips, then replaced his thumb with his lips. I moved into him and we kissed for a long time, our hands lazy in their exploration. I was happy with what he’d said, happy that he saw me as part of his future. But there was still this part of me that resented what the bureau was doing to him. He didn’t deserve the punishment they were leveling on him. There had to be something I could do.

  He’d saved me as much as I saved him. I owed him this.

  And that’s when a plan that had been niggling at the back of my mind made itself known fully. There was something I could do. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be more than worth it.

  I was going to fix this.

  Chapter 24

  Joss

  It was still early on a Wednesday morning. They’d been living at the compound for three weeks now and Carrington was going stir crazy. It was time to make some hard decisions and he wasn’t going to like it. But I didn’t see how we had any other choice.

  I stepped out of the SUV, my stomach clutching with each movement. The morning sickness wasn’t lessening as I slowly left the first trimester. I seemed to only be getting worse. I bit the inside of my cheek as Mike held my hand, helping me out of the vehicle.

  “You okay?”

  I nodded. “Thanks for allowing me this stop.”

  He shrugged. “It’s your day. I’m only along for the ride.”

  Carrington was standing in the doorway of the main house, his eyes narrowed enough that I could see it even from this distance.

  Jealousy didn’t look good on my husband.

  “This should only take a minute. Then we’ll get on the road.”

  “The plane is fueled and waiting. But they’ll wait as long as necessary.”

  “Thank you.”

  I crossed the yard and approached him, watching him watch me. His eyes flicked to Mike as he climbed back inside the chauffeured SUV.

  “The two of you attached at the hip now?”

  “He’s helping me with something.”

  “Something no one else could help with, I assume.”

  “In this case, you’re right.”

  I brushed past him and walked into the house, nostalgia hitting me like a brick as I glanced around the old offices of the original Gray Wolf. Rose was at her desk, a bright smile on her lips as she nodded a greeting. But she didn’t approach me, clearly aware of the tension radiating from my husband’s form. I crossed the room to the small kitchen and helped myself to the water Rose kept heated there, seeping a bag of mint tea in
a heavy coffee mug.

  “What did you want to talk about, Joss? The girls are going to be up soon and I’d rather they not see you here with that man.”

  Pain stabbed through me at his words, just as he’d known it would. I glanced at him, careful to keep my expression neutral.

  “You said I do too much alone, that I don’t keep you in the loop. So I thought I’d come by and let you know what’s going on.”

  “I told you, Ash keeps us informed.”

  “Yes, well, Ash doesn’t know everything.” I lifted the steaming mug to my face, drawing in a deep breath of the sweet scent. My stomach didn’t revolt, so I guessed it would handle the brew once it cooled enough to sip. “I’m going to see Jack Mahoney today.”

  Carrington jerked back like I’d poked him with the tip of a used match. “What the hell do you mean you’re going to see Mahoney?” he bellowed.

  I glanced over at Rose, saw her curiosity. “Please, keep it down.”

  Carrington moved closer to me, his hand on my arm forcing me back against the counter. “Are you insane?”

  “I want to confront him, to ask him to back off.”

  “Do you really think that’ll work?” He stared at me as though he thought I were insane. “The man’s a criminal! He doesn’t give a shit about what you think you might be able to threaten him with!”

  “I’m not going to threaten him. I just want him to tell me to my face why he’s doing this.”

  “Joss—”

  “I want you to pack up the girls while I’m gone. Tonight we’ll fly with them to Illinois.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t just make these decisions—”

  “I can because I’m their mother and I won’t allow them to be hurt.” I pulled myself to my full height—still a foot shorter than him—and leaned back to look him in the eye. “There was a woman gathering information on McKelty. She’s dead, but there will be others. They will come after her, Carrington, and I can’t allow that. I want the girls taken out of the equation so that you and I can deal with this threat.”

  “You and I?”

  “You said I work alone too much. I’m trying to make this better, trying to make us safe. If including you in this will make things better, will make us whole again, it’s what I want, too.”

  There were tears in my eyes and I hated it, hated that emotion was so hard to control. I could blame it on pregnancy hormones, but I knew that wasn’t it. I desperately loved this man. I only wanted things to be okay again.

  “Please, Carrington. I’m trying.”

  He nodded. “Okay.”

  “Yeah?”

  He nodded again, his hand coming up to cup the side of my face. “I miss my wife. I want things back to normal again.”

  I gasped, so relieved to hear those words that I couldn’t begin to express it.

  “Then you’ll have the girls ready?”

  “I will.”

  I leaned into his hand for a second, then pulled away, aware that if I didn’t, if I allowed myself to fall into his embrace, I would never be able to face what lay ahead for me on this day.

  “I’ll be back by seven. Be ready to go then.”

  I walked out without looking back, but I was brushing tears from my cheeks as I went. Mike stepped out of the SUV as I approached, his expression unreadable as he helped me inside. But I saw him glance back, saw the flash of jealousy in his eyes as he spotted Carrington once again watching us from the doorway.

  “Everything okay?”

  “I think it’s more than okay.”

  I just hoped it stayed that way.

  Chapter 25

  Kari

  The clang of the doors made me jump. I wrapped my arms around my chest, but had to release my embrace as the guard ran her metal detector over my body. This was the third time they’d done it, but they explained that it was necessary to search me at every level we descended into the prison. Something about increasing levels of security.

  We finally arrived at the room where the visit would take place. The guard held out the digital recorder I’d had to get special permission to bring into the prison. Thank God a former squad member worked as a guard here! He reminded me that I had to have his permission before I could turn it on.

  “You’ll be alone in the room with him, but he’ll be shackled to the floor. Just make sure you keep a reasonable distance from him.”

  “I will.”

  “And if you need help,” he gestured to a red button on the wall, “get to that and the entire prison will come down on your head. Otherwise, just knock on the door. I’ll be just down the hall.”

  “Thank you.”

  The guard opened the door and gestured for me to go inside. “It’s your funeral.”

  I jumped again when the door slammed. I looked around the room, noting the c-bolts in the floor that the prisoners were shackled to. The table was like a standard picnic table but narrower, the benches made of some sort of metallic material. It, too, was bolted to the floor. There was no other furniture in the room, no cameras. This was where prisoners met with their lawyers, so there was nothing in this room that would allow for a recording that might put lawyer-client privilege in danger.

  I stood against the cool concrete wall and waited. I didn’t have to wait long.

  “Well, well, Ms. Summers,” Sam Wilson said as he was led into the room. He leered at me as they locked his feet to the floor, locking his hands with the same bolts, but allowing much more freedom of movement in them. My skin crawled as I watched, the only one in this room aware of what I was about to do.

  Was it too late to slip out and vomit in the nearest toilet?

  The guard pulled on the chains, pointedly showing me that he was secure. Then he nodded and left the room.

  “To what do I owe this sweet privilege, Ms. Summers?”

  “Surely you know why I’m here, Sam.” I reluctantly took a seat across from him, aware that we were close enough that my knees would brush his if I sat directly in front of him. “And the name is Reyes, not Summers.”

  “Reyes. Pretty.”

  I shrugged, wondering what he would think if he knew I’d gone by the surname Doe for most of my childhood. The whole town knew my mom, but they only knew her by her first name, Sylvie. No one knew her last name. That was part of the reason why I’d elected to take the name of my final foster parents despite the fact that they couldn’t have been less interested in having me around. They were just good Christians doing their Christian duty by taking in the less fortunate, but God forbid I should eat their food or require clothing to cover my nakedness.

  I spent more of my time at Daniel’s house during those days. The state should have paid his parents instead of the Reyeses.

  “I want to talk to you about Lisa Boyles.”

  Sam groaned. “Aren’t there more interesting things to talk about?”

  He smiled again, his hands reaching under the table to touch my knee. I gritted my teeth, then shifted, pressing my knees against his.

  “You give me what I want, I’ll give you what you want.”

  His eyes widened. “Is that right?”

  “Anything we can get away with in here.”

  He studied me for a long minute, then sat back a little to really regard me. “This must be pretty important to you.”

  “It is. Do we have a deal?”

  He shrugged.

  “Will you allow me to record what you say?” I set the digital recorder on the table where he could see it. “You have to give verbal permission.”

  He was quiet for a long minute, but then his hand move over my bare knee, slipping under my skirt as far as the shackles would allow. Thank goodness that was only about halfway up.

  “Okay.”

  I turned on the recorder. “This is Kari Reyes, operative with Gray Wolf Security. I’m with Sam Wilson.”

  I gestured to him to speak.

  “I agree to making the recording that will follow this statement.”

  My
eyebrows rose. He’d clearly been through this before.

  “Lisa Boyles was a manager at Colony Nights in Miami when you and your crew took it over in 2006, correct?”

  Sam nodded, leaning forward to attempt to get his hands further under my skirt. Although they didn’t go much further, he seemed content with just touching my skin.

  “I was a member of the Mahoney Cartel beginning in 1995. It was my job to act as a sort of bouncer at various establishments Mr. Mahoney felt were relevant to the organization. In 2006, he sent us to Miami to take over this club he’d recently purchased. He wanted to use the place as a front for laundering money made through illegal drug trafficking in the area.” He paused for a moment, smiling as his hand slipped down under my knee. “We normally closed the place for a couple of weeks and hired all-new staff, people we could trust. But Colony Nights was making good money, so Mahoney instructed us to keep the place open using the current employees until trusted personnel could be sent down from Connecticut.”

  “Lisa Boyles was one of those employees?”

  “She was. The manager. Probably the reason the club was doing so well.”

  Sam moved his hand up over my knee, tracing a path over my upper thigh. I desperately wanted to brush his hands away, but I wanted to keep him talking. This was too important.

  “I think Mahoney might have been content to keep her on, pay her to turn a blind eye to our activities, but he didn’t meet her. He didn’t realize what a straight lace she really was.” Sam grunted as his fingertips brushed something he thought was the hem of my panties. It wasn’t, but whatever made him happy. “About a month after we moved in, she confronted me in front of my colleagues for having a little fun with this little redheaded waitress in the storeroom.” He stopped, studying my hair for a second. “You actually look a little like her.”

  “If you could keep on topic, Mr. Wilson.”