“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Come inside.”
I stepped in the apartment. “How do you always know when something’s wrong?”
“How long have I been your father?”
“Don’t remind me,” I said. “I’ve got a problem, and I thought you might be able to help me solve it.”
“What’s that, dear?”
“I need to sneak into a building unrecognized.”
He tilted his head to the side as he studied me. “You sure everything is okay? You can talk to me.”
“I know, Dad. Everything’s fine. It’s just… for my job.”
I hated lying to him, but he didn’t need to know the FBI was after me. Some things were better left unsaid.
“Well, you need a good disguise,” he said.
“Like a mask or something? Maybe a wig?”
He laughed. “If you want to look conspicuous, that will work. But if you want to blend in, you’ll need to do better than that. Lucky for you, I can help.”
Now I tilted my head. “When did you become such an expert at disguise?”
“It’s been helpful in my career.”
“As a traveling salesman?”
“Yes, dear, as a traveling salesman.”
We made eye contact for a few seconds. I looked away first, not ready to push him about his past. Right now, I just needed to get to Warren and convince him to agree to being in my story on the smuggling operation.
A few minutes later, Dad had me sitting on the toilet seat as he straightened a blond wig on my head. “Let’s accentuate your eyebrows and make you look foreign,” he said.
“No!” I objected.
He stepped back and peered down at me. “No?”
“I mean, it’s fine. As long as I look different.”
“That’s better,” he said, going back to work.
“How did you learn this?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Oh, don’t worry about that right now, dear. Let’s just finish your make-up.”
Forty-two minutes later, I looked like an entirely different person. When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I didn’t recognize the woman staring back at me.
“Well?” Dad asked.
I smiled. “This will work.”
“Go get your story,” he said. “Don’t be like me. I failed your mother, and—”
“Stop it, Dad! Seriously. You’re the best man I know. The only one I know who could pull off both roles for me growing up.” When he frowned, I put my hand on his arm and rubbed it gently. “Dad, I’m serious. I love you.”
“I love you too. Now go before you get emotional and smear your mascara.”
“Makeup tips from my salesman father. Gotta love it.”
He smiled meekly before walking away. Shortly thereafter, I heard the garage door slam and knew he’d snuck off to have a cigarette.
I stood there for a minute, thinking about how Kim was overreacting in thinking he was a spy.
Not my dad.
* * *
Lucky me, I thought as I nodded my head at the doorman. He winked but said nothing.
Did he know? Would he let me go upstairs and then rat me out to the feds?
Calm down, I told myself. How could he even know they’re looking into me?
When I made it to the elevator, I hit the button, pacing back and forth impatiently while waiting.
The second it arrived, I dashed inside and pressed the button for Warren’s penthouse suite. I remembered the federal agents busting in on us, but I didn’t care. With his help, I would be able to run my story and make what we’d gone through public. If I pulled it off, it would receive immeasurable attention and we would finally get some protection.
At the top floor, I got out and knocked on the door in the private foyer.
He answered, his eyes widening as soon as he saw me. “What are you doing here? Come inside.”
“I couldn’t wait to talk to you. I’ve found out some stuff on Jacoby that you need to hear. My story’s almost done.”
“Are you crazy?” he asked, killing my mood.
“What do you mean?”
“You can’t run this story! It’s too dangerous!”
“Think about it,” I said, putting my hand on his thick arm. “If we go public, they can’t disappear us. At least not as easily.”
He shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
“Well, to be honest, I don’t really need your information or to even source you in the story,” I fought back, not believing how quickly he was shutting down my idea.
“Other journalists will look into it and see I was at the Savage Soldier base in Afghanistan during the same time period. Are you willing to ruin my life like that?”
“Ruin your life? What about me?! Are you not interested in a life for both of us?”
He took a deep breath, taking a few steps away before stopping and turning. “No.”
“No, what?” I asked, following him.
“I’m not helping you with this. I’ll go to the feds and tell them it was all me.”
“Don’t be an idiot.”
“Name-calling? Really? Are you twelve or something?”
“You can be such an asshole sometimes, you know that?”
“And you can be a…” He grimaced, not finishing the thought.
“Fuck you, Warren. I came all the way over here to share the good news with you, and you’re not interested in anything other than controlling what I do.”
“Come on, Rose. I’m trying to protect us the best way I know how. Don’t be like that.”
“Like what? Someone who stands up for herself? Maybe I should hook you up with Kim instead.”
“I love you,” he said, putting a strong hand on my waist.
We made eye contact.
“Prove it,” I said.
He sighed, removed his hand, and looked away. “You should go. We don’t want them to catch you here. They probably followed you.”
“I don’t have my phone on me, and I took some evasive measures.”
“Yeah, I noticed the wig.”
I frowned. “Why do we have to do this to ourselves?”
“I don’t know,” he said and then repeated, “You should go.”
“Fine. I’ll talk to you when I talk to you, I guess.”
As I rode the elevator downstairs, anger boiled inside me, ready to burst. The poor doorman must have thought I was a bitch as I left the building in a rage.
Fuck men, and especially fuck Warren, I thought bitterly.
CHAPTER 35
Warren
I went to see an attorney the next day. The prick had the nerve to ask what I’d been smoking before I came in. His eyebrows came together in confusion once he realized I wasn’t kidding.
“If you’re being investigated under the Patriot Act, I’m not sure I want anything to do with you. Why didn’t you work with the feds?”
“We were. They came after us a few hours later. I imagine someone higher up told them to go after us and is trying to cover for the ones still doing the shit.”
He shook his head. “I’m afraid my hourly rates—”
“Fuck your hourly rates,” I said, cutting him off. “Can you help me or not?”
“If you have the money, I can help you.”
“I have the fucking money.”
“Good, good,” he said, actually rubbing his hands together.
Could I trust this guy to keep me and Rose safe?
After I told him the rest of the details concerning Rose, his expression filled with fear and loathing.
“Do not, under any circumstances, go anywhere near that story, on the record or off.”
“That’s what I told her, but now I’m not so sure…”
“Don’t think with your dick.”
“Excuse me?”
“Calm down. I’m not going to sugarcoat things just because you’re paying so much.”
“What are your rates again?”
“Four…”
He studied my reaction. “Fifty per hour.”
“Fine. You’re the only one who didn’t kick me out of their office today.”
“I bet. For now, I recommend you go home and lie low. If you’re not working, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“Right.” I stood and looked down at him as he sat behind his expensive mahogany desk. “I’ll call you when I learn something new.”
“See my receptionist out front to put down a retainer.”
“Ten grand work?”
His eyes widened. “I thought you said you weren’t involved in this smuggling operation?”
“I was in the past, but I’m not anymore. Don’t you listen? This is my life we’re talking about here.”
He shrugged. “You unloaded a lot of information for a first meeting,” he said, rubbing his moustache.
I headed to the door of his office, ready to pay and prepare for whatever awaited me next. Between the feds, Melvin, Rose, and everyone else, there was no telling what would happen, but I wanted to be ready.
After swiping my Visa Black Card in the lobby of his office in a rubdown strip mall, I headed to catch the Staten Island Ferry back to the city.
CHAPTER 36
Warren
I headed straight to her apartment, still hoping I could talk her out of doing the story. If the feds tried to stop me, they could talk to my attorney.
During my trip to her place, I replayed things in my head. I had thought it best for her to trash the story, but maybe I was wrong now that I finally understood her point-of-view.
Once I admitted to myself she was right, it all made sense. The story going public would direct a lot of attention toward us and consequently provide some level of protection. At most, it would keep us from disappearing into a holding cell in some bunker unnoticed.
By the time I reached her building, I had my mind made up. The feds could fuck themselves for all I cared. I had served my country and I deserved my freedom of speech.
I knew I would likely end up prosecuted or losing my military pension, but as long as I had Rose by my side, nothing else mattered.
I walked straight up to the front door of her building and pressed the buzzer for her apartment.
“Yes?”
“It’s me,” I said.
“What are you doing here?”
The door buzzed and clicked. I opened it and went inside. On the way up to her floor in the elevator, I thought again about my decision to be honest with her about what I’d been a part of during my time serving in Afghanistan.
My mind and my heart battled the whole way up. When I stepped out of the elevator, doubts hit me hard.
Was I making yet another mistake?
I pushed the self-doubt aside and made my way to her apartment. A concerned look on her face, she stood in the doorway, waiting as I approached.
“What are you doing here?” she hissed, stepping back into her apartment.
“We’ve got to talk. I don’t like the way our last conversation ended.” I walked in and closed the door behind me.
“Me either,” she said.
“Wow. You’ve really been working.” I glanced at all the papers scattered around her living room.
“You don’t know the half of it. It’s been crazy, but it’s all coming together.”
I took a deep breath. “I’ve given it a lot of thought…I’ll allow you to use me as a named source.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” I put a hand on her waist. “If we’re serious about our relationship moving forward, we need to work together.”
“Are you sure you’re sure?”
“Yes. What do you need me to do?”
“Answer some questions and let me connect the dots. You need to read what I’ve written so far.” She pointed to her laptop on coffee table in her living room.
I walked over and sat down. After scrolling up to the top of the long article, I read what she had compiled so far. The words on the screen moved me emotionally—something I wasn’t accustomed to. As I read, she sat down on the couch next to me, our legs touching.
“Damn,” I muttered.
“It gets worse. I told you it went high up,” she said.
“They made tens of billions of dollars…”
“You can kind of see why they’ve kept the war going for over ten years now, huh?”
I shook my head, furious at myself. “How could I have been involved in this? The money was good, but we’re talking a couple hundred thousand dollars in return for risking my life over there! And these guys walk away with billions?”
Rose rubbed my back, instantly calming me.
I inhaled deeply. “That day I saved you in Afghanistan…”
She moved her hand away. “Yeah?”
I frowned as the truth got ready to surface. “It wasn’t just me who saved you,” I said with some difficulty.
“What do you mean?”
I swallowed. “There was this old Afghan guy who helped me.”
Rose’s eyes narrowed. “Go on.”
“He hid me and you while the Taliban searched for us. If it wasn’t for him, neither of us would have walked out that day. I didn’t tell you because I really wanted to impress you.”
I stared into her eyes, searching for forgiveness.
Rose nodded. “Yeah, I could tell you had one thing on your mind, but I’m an adult. I made a decision. The right one. I think I know the old man you’re talking about. Before they dragged me away, he offered to help, but I didn’t trust him.”
I grimaced. “I should have gotten his name.”
“You and me both.” She sighed. “Let’s get back to work. Who knows how much time we have.”
Over the next two hours, she questioned me about the smuggling operation, including all the people I knew were involved. When she got into the zone afterwards, typing away on her laptop, I went to her bedroom to lie down and rest my eyes.
Minutes later, I was fast asleep.
CHAPTER 37
Rose
With the story posted online at DC News Heroes—the only website that was willing to work with me—I crawled into bed, exhausted. I fell asleep the moment I closed my eyes.
Suddenly my phone rang, waking me up. Confused, I reached to answer it. “Hello?”
“Hello,” a heavily accented male voice said.
“Who is this?”
I sat up, rubbing my eyes with the back of my left hand while I held my phone in the other.
“This is Argun Manju,” he said cheerily.
“Who? How did you get this number?”
“Please go slower. One question at a time.”
“Who are you?” I stood up and walked over to my laptop on the small desk in my bedroom. Warren continued snoring from the bed, oblivious.
“You refused my water and did not trust me in Samangan.”
“How did you get my number?” I reiterated.
“My nephew is on the internet site called Facebook, and he found your name. The rest, he said, was easy-peasy.”
“Why are you calling me?” I asked, growing scared.
“I saw your article and I have information you might want.”
“Yeah?”
“The hesitation again!”
“Look, this is awfully strange. I’m being careful.”
“You didn’t trust me before and look what happened. Will you trust me now?”
“Okay…” I replied, hesitantly, not sure what else to say.
“Good. Your friend, Warren, gave you wrong information.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some of the names he gave were wrong, and I can prove it.”
“Prove it how?”
“It’s not safe to discuss on the phone, as you know. You must come to Afghanistan.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Trust me,” he interrupted. “You can find me in Samangan. You know where.”
The call ended. I stared at the phon
e a moment, stunned. After waking up the laptop, I checked my email and saw thirty-two new messages, all about my story.
It had only been up for two hours, but thanks to the internet, it had spread far and wide.
I turned to look at Warren again, debating whether to wake him.
CHAPTER 38
Rose
As I watched him sleep, Warren opened his eyes, perhaps sensing me watching him.
He smiled and patted the mattress. “Come rest,” he said.
I laid down beside him in my pajamas.
“You’re a bit overdressed,” he teased, putting his hand on my stomach.
“We need to talk,” I said seriously.
He rolled over, propping himself up with his elbow. “What’s wrong?”
“That man you were talking about earlier?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“He just called me.”
Warren blinked. “What? How?”
“He saw my article online after I posted it an hour or so ago. It didn’t take him long to find me.”
“Yeah, I guess it would be afternoon over there right now. Early evening, maybe.”
“He said you got some of the names wrong and that he can get the feds off your back by proving our innocence.”
“But I’m not innocent. I already told you I was involved.”
“Yeah, but he said he could help us. We have to go see him.”
“Whoa, hold on a minute. That’s crazy. We don’t know this guy or even what information he supposedly has for us. Sounds like a trap to me.”
“I didn’t trust him before, and it blew up in my face. I don’t want to make the same mistake again, Warren.”
He sat up. I placed my hand on his back, wanting to make love to him in that moment and make all of our worries fade away.
“Let’s do this then,” he said. “I can pay for us to fly there in the next few days. It’s not going to be easy.”
I sat up, my arm draped around his back. “Believe me, I remember my last trip to Afghanistan. This might be our only chance to clear your name.”
“If your story keeps spreading, I’ll have to do something. All eyes will be on me. We’ll have to make sure they’re seeing the full story.”
Lawless Hero_A Bad Boy Military Romance Page 13
