Deadly Rumors

by Cheris Hodges

  “Resting,” Zach said. “How are you?”

  Zoe nodded and smiled. “I’m good. Ready to go home.”

  “You have no idea what it means to be observed for twenty-four hours, do you?” Zach asked. “My head is still hurting, so I know yours is, too.”

  Zach and Zoe rubbed their foreheads at the same time. Carver chuckled. “Never saw the twin thing up close and personal,” he said.

  “If you hurt my sister, you’re going to get more than you bargained for, understand?”

  Carver shook his head. “I’m not in the business of hurting the woman I love.”

  “I’m holding you to that,” Zach said. “If you don’t take care of my sister, you will regret it.”

  “Still threatening a federal agent, huh?” Zoe quipped.

  “Still not a threat. It’s a promise.” Zach smiled as he left the room and figured that he could possibly give Carver a chance. He could tell from the way that man looked at Zoe that he really did love her.

  Chapter 33

  Three months later

  Lewis walked into the federal court building in Charlotte. He couldn’t believe he was going to face trial because of Zoe Harrington—again.

  This time, though, he was going to make her wish she’d never met him. He thought Singletary would’ve been able to get her, but that loser was all talk. No wonder he trafficked young girls; he couldn’t handle adults. How in the hell did he let Zoe get the best of him?

  “Martinez, let’s go,” said the deputy.

  “My lawyer said I was supposed to get a change of clothes.” Lewis folded his arms across his chest.

  “You can change in the courtroom. Let’s move,” he said as he crossed over to Lewis and grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t touch me!” Lewis snatched his arm away. “I know my rights. I used to be a cop.”

  “You’re a long way from that now, aren’t you?” The deputy prodded Lewis to move. He shuffled along and wanted nothing more than to chop that deputy in the throat. But he’d wait until the time was right. Lewis wasn’t going to prison, and he was going to get his revenge on Zoe Harrington.

  * * *

  Zoe sat in the prosecutor’s office, waiting. She’d been in Charlotte for three months, healing and prepping for Lewis’s trial. Zach and Carver had been annoying and helpful.

  Zach wouldn’t allow Zoe to sleep more than three hours a night without waking her up to make sure she wasn’t suffering from any concussion effects. Then Carver would come over to make sure she was eating, and if he wasn’t satisfied with her meal choices, he’d go out and buy her what he thought she should eat. Usually something with bacon on it, and Zoe hated bacon.

  “You know what,” Chante said one day after Zoe passed her grilled-cheese-and-bacon sandwich to her. “I think you are the luckiest woman in the world.”

  “And why would you say something that crazy? Between your husband and Carver, I’m the most annoyed woman in the world.”

  “You need to stop acting like you don’t light up when Carver walks in this house.” Chante poured a little more coffee in Zoe’s already full mug.

  “I know you can’t have coffee, but, Chante, I would like to sleep this week.”

  “Come on, you know I live vicariously through your mug. And don’t try and change the subject, Zoe. You’re just as stubborn as your brother.”

  “You really hurt my feelings, Chante,” Zoe quipped. “Carver is great, but—”

  “No buts. That man loves you. I mean, he takes Zach’s abuse to be by your side.”

  “My brother is trying to end up in a federal prison the way he threatens that man.” Zoe laughed and checked her watch. “And it’s about time they come in here to harass me.”

  “Ooh, your niece just kicked because she wants Carver to be her uncle.”

  “You’re doing the most, sis. Carver isn’t the uncle type.”

  As if they’d heard Zoe, Carver and Zach walked into the house and, surprisingly, they were laughing and talking as if they liked each other. Chante nudged her sister-in-law and rose to her feet.

  “Thanks for the sandwich, Zoe. I’m going to get some juice.”

  Carver turned to Zoe. “You’re not eating?” He sat down beside her and Zach followed Chante into the kitchen. “Are you feeling all right?”

  Zoe stretched her hands above her head. “Yes, I’m fine. A little nervous about this trial, though. The defense is going to be brutal.”

  “Zoe, you don’t have a thing to worry about.” Carver kissed her on the cheek. “But you still need to eat.”

  “What I need is to get out of this house. Clearly, I don’t have a concussion anymore, and you and Zach are driving me crazy. I need to work out, go for a run and burn off pent-up energy.”

  “Then let’s get out of here while your brother isn’t watching. I know how you can burn off that energy, babe.”

  “I bet you do.” She leaned in and kissed him, slow and deep.

  “Aww, damn it,” Zach said. “This is not what I want to see when I walk in my living room.”

  “Then turn around and walk away,” Zoe said. Carver rose to his feet and offered his hand to Zoe.

  “Come on. We’re going to take this party somewhere else.” Carver winked at Zoe and they dashed out of the house.

  “Ms. Harrington, sorry to keep you waiting.”

  Zoe’s head snapped up and locked eyes with the federal prosecutor. “It’s all right. So, are we going to go over my testimony now?”

  “Well,” the prosecutor began as she crossed over to her desk and took a seat. “Lewis is thinking about a plea deal.”

  “What?”

  “I got a call from his attorney a few hours ago. We’re working on the details.”

  “You’re joking, right?” Zoe shook her head. “If he’s not spending the rest of his life in prison, then why are we here?”

  “I like to let victims know what’s going on with their cases. Zoe, Lewis could help us dismantle Singletary’s organization.”

  “Singletary is dead. You kill the head, the snake dies.”

  “What about those girls in other parts of the country who don’t know the head has been killed? There are other pimps out there that are a part of this organization.”

  “And you think Lewis has insight into this?” Zoe laughed. “The only thing those two had in common was me.”

  “Zoe, we’re trying to save girls who have been abused and raped. It would’ve been a lot easier if Singletary could speak.”

  “Are you blaming me for this deal with the devil?” Zoe rose to her feet, knocking her chair backward. “I had to save my life because you guys didn’t do your fucking job!”

  “Calm down.”

  “Whatever,” Zoe said as she headed for the door. When she exited the office and saw Carver standing in the hall waiting for her, she calmed down instantly. Flinging herself into his arms, she felt comforted as soon as he wrapped his strong arms around her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Lewis is copping a plea and that woman acts as if it’s my fault.”

  Carver frowned. “What the hell? How is this your fault?”

  “Maybe I should’ve let Singletary cut me up.”

  “Hell no, you shouldn’t have, and if they are too weak to put . . . Let’s go, Zoe.”

  “No. I want to sit in the courtroom and watch this son of a bitch say he’s guilty.”

  “Sure that’s what you want to do?”

  She nodded. “How did things go in DC?”

  * * *

  Carver didn’t want to tell Zoe about his meeting with the FBI. The Shadow Team had been called into headquarters.

  As the four of them walked into the J. Edgar Hoover Building, Sarah sighed.

  “This should be fun.”

  “It’s not like we haven’t been here before,” Raymond said.

  Kenneth nodded. “Yeah, remember the Thomas affair.”

  Carver chuckled. “Think we’re going to get more than a slap on
the wrist this time.” And Carver knew that he was going to have to fall on his sword. He needed to take responsibility for bringing the team together to protect Zoe.

  Raymond noted his silence and turned to him. “Carver, don’t go in here and do something stupid.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Sarah and Kenneth exchanged knowing looks. “If you think we’re going to let you go down alone, you’re wrong,” Sarah said.

  “I’m thinking about retirement,” Carver replied.

  Raymond rolled his eyes. “Guess you have an engagement ring in your pocket to take to Zoe, huh?”

  “Simmer down,” Sarah said as they stepped on the elevator. “If you’re giving up your job for Zoe, then you better make sure she’s worth it.”

  “She’s worth it,” Carver said with a smile. The elevator doors opened and they headed for the office of the Special Agent in Charge. His secretary led them to a conference room where their boss sat at the head of a long table.

  “Here we go,” Raymond said as they took their seats around the table.

  “Look at the four of you. Squad goals, right?” Timothy Clarke said as he folded his arms across his chest. “And they say our intelligence agencies don’t work together.”

  “We’re not millennials,” Raymond said.

  “If you-all keep hacking our servers, you won’t be government agents either.” He slammed his hand on the table.

  “That’s my bad,” Sarah said.

  Clarke raised his eyebrow at her. “You expect me to believe you did all of this by yourself?”

  Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “You’re going to believe what you want to believe. I just want to know why we’re all gathered here today.”

  He narrowed his eyes at the group. “We’re here today because you four decided to go rogue and ruin a case that we’d been working for two years. Our main suspect in two murders and a sex trafficking ring is dead instead of being taken into custody and giving us the information we need to save his victims.”

  “So, Zoe Harrington was supposed to die so that you could question Singletary?” Carver snapped.

  “Did I say that? But you took away our right to question him and his right to a fair trial.”

  “He tried to kill that woman. She defended herself.”

  “Agent Banks, you are too personally involved with this case to even be speaking to me right now.”

  Carver leaned back in his chair. “Then why in the hell am I here? Why are we all here?”

  “Good question,” Kenneth said. “Because in two weeks, we got more on Singletary than you got in two years. You should be thanking us.”

  Clarke laughed and shook his head. “You people have some fucking nerve. You’re lucky to still have a job. Things are about to change around here and you-all are going to fall in line. Smallwood may have been okay with insubordination and the like, but I don’t play that shit.”

  “Are we done here or not?” Carver asked, his voice nearly a growl.

  “Not until I say so.”

  Sarah tapped Carver’s shoulder. “Chill out.”

  “Here’s the deal,” Clarke said. “This little crew is disbanded. I know that you-all have been working together on cases. That’s it. The end. Stay in your corner. If I hear about any covert operations involving any one of you, all of you are fired.”

  “How about you stop taking out how you feel about me on my friends?” Carver said. “You want me gone, grow some balls and fire me.”

  Raymond groaned and shook his head. Kenneth palmed his face and turned away from Clarke.

  “Well, Banks, if you want to tender your resignation—go right ahead.”

  “How about I just retire?” Carver rose to his feet, opened his jacket, and dropped an envelope on the table. “I’m out.”

  “What is this?” Clarke said as he stood. “Banks . . .”

  “I’ve put in my papers for retirement. So, like I said, I’m out.” Carver pointed to his friends. “They had nothing to do with this botched investigation. You want to talk about rogue agents. What about the people who are and have been on Singletary’s payroll for years? Wendy wasn’t the only one, and you’re going to have to find them. On your own.” Slamming out of the office, Carver knew he was going to stand by Zoe, no matter what.

  “Carver,” Zoe said, snapping her fingers in front of his face. “What’s going on?”

  “Was just thinking about that meeting. I retired today.”

  “What?”

  He nodded. “After all that’s happened, I can’t continue to work for the Bureau. I know there are other people who were working for Singletary, and I’m not going to take the risk that I might have one of them on my team and—”

  “You didn’t do this for me, did you?”

  Carver stroked her cheek. “So what if I did.”

  “You’re crazy,” she said.

  “I’m crazy in love with you, Zoe.” His eyes fell on the faint scar on her cheek. “I wasn’t there when you needed me, and that’s never going to happen again.”

  “I love you, Carver.”

  He leaned in and captured her lips in a hot kiss. Zoe melted against his massive chest as his hands roamed her back. Pulling away from him, Zoe smiled.

  “Kiss me like that again and we’re not going to make it into the courtroom.”

  Carver smirked at his woman. “You say that as if it’s a bad thing.”

  “Come on, horn dog,” she quipped as she took his hand.

  Chapter 34

  Lewis walked into the courtroom, knowing that he was going to have one shot to escape. His guard had stopped to talk to another deputy after he led Lewis to the defense table. Lewis noticed the guard had been distracted when they walked into the courtroom. But he hadn’t uncuffed him yet.

  Sighing, he urged himself to be patient. Once his hands were free, he just needed to be fast enough to get the gun, fire off a shot, and get out of the courtroom. Lewis figured if he grabbed a civilian on his way out, he would have a chance to make it out of the building alive. He wasn’t going to prison, especially not over Zoe Harrington.

  “That bitch,” he muttered.

  “You say something?” the guard asked.

  “No, sir. These cuffs are just a little tight.” He held up his hands and wiggled them.

  “Give me a second,” the guard said, and walked over to another deputy. Lewis gritted his teeth, wanting to bang his fist against the table. But he knew he needed to remain calm. A few seconds later, the deputy walked over to him and unlocked the handcuffs.

  “Thanks.” Lewis smiled at the deputy and noticed where the man kept his gun—on his right hip. When his attorney approached the table, the deputy moved to his left. Once again, Lewis was all smiles because the gun was in reach.

  “All right, Lewis,” his lawyer began. “We’re just going to enter your plea and see if we can get you released on bail. Now, that’s probably not going to happen.”

  Lewis nodded. Bail didn’t mean anything to him because he was going to get out of this courthouse for free.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Lewis started coughing and leaned forward as if he was having stomach pains.

  “Guard,” the lawyer exclaimed. When the guard walked over to the table, Lewis bent over deeper so that he was closer to the gun. As the deputy tried to help, Lewis grabbed the gun and shot the deputy in the stomach. Horrified screams filled the courtroom. Lewis pointed the gun at his lawyer. “Move!”

  She held her hands up and shifted out of his way. Lewis faced the two guards who were moving in his direction. “I will kill everything in here,” Lewis exclaimed. He fired another shot, in the air this time. The guards stopped moving and Lewis backed out of the courtroom.

  Once he made it to the hallway, Lewis saw Zoe and Carver heading in his direction. Lewis turned around and pointed the gun at Zoe. “This day just keeps getting better. Bitch, get over here!”

  “Put the gun down, Le
wis. You’re not going to make it out of here alive,” Zoe said as she held her hands up.

  “Neither are you!” Lewis pulled the trigger and in a flash, Carver threw himself in front of Zoe, taking a bullet in the shoulder and falling to the ground. Lewis started to run. Zoe launched herself into him, knocking Lewis to the ground. She wrestled the gun out of his hand, then punched him in the face until two deputies pulled her off him. Zoe kicked at Lewis as two other deputies handcuffed him.

  “You son of a bitch. I hope I get the chance to flip the switch when they electrocute your ass!” Zoe pulled away from the deputies and rushed to Carver’s side. The sight of his blood on the white tile floor made her knees weak.

  “Ma’am,” a deputy said, “step aside, we have to get to him.”

  “Please,” Zoe murmured as she touched Carver’s cheek. “Don’t leave me.”

  Chapter 35

  Carver’s mind was in the war zone. He’d taken fire, but how was his squad? He tried to sit up, but a hand across his chest forced him to stay on his back.

  “Mr. Banks, we’re heading to Carolinas Medical Center. You’ve been shot and lost quite a bit of blood.”

  He felt a soft hand squeeze his and he opened his eyes. Seeing Zoe by his side, Carver’s mind snapped to the present. The worry lines on her face and her red-rimmed eyes broke his heart. He tried to open his mouth, but something stopped him from talking. Carver tried to reach up and pull the tube from his mouth, but another hand stopped him.

  “Sir, we’re going to have to strap you down if you keep trying to pull your tubes out.”

  He blinked, then focused on Zoe as she stroked his forehead. “Calm down. Please, let them help you.”

  Carver nodded, then closed his eyes, and instead of darkness, he saw a white light.

  * * *

  “Crashing! He’s crashing!” the lead EMT exclaimed.

  “No, no!” Zoe screamed. “Please, God, don’t let him die.” Another EMT pushed Zoe aside and started lifesaving procedures on Carver. It hit Zoe like Thor’s mythological hammer that she was watching Carver die. The EMTs broke out the electronic paddle to start his heart again. Her mind raced, replaying all of the mean things she’d said to him, every moment when she’d downplayed her feelings just to save face. Wasted moments that she could never get back, and now he was . . .