Thick Fog (Alexis Parker Book 18)

by G. K. Parks

  I’d never heard anyone make the argument for putting more pharmaceuticals in the hands of people, but it was possible. Anything was.

  “I don’t know, just something to consider,” Moretti said. He looked at the screen. “I’ll need everything you have on Tom Collins, the real Tom Collins. We’ll put him under investigation, figure out what’s what, and if he’s harboring a fugitive.”

  Amir clicked a few buttons, and the printer whirred to life. Moretti scooped the pages off the tray, memorizing the guy’s driver’s license photo, vehicle registration information, and address.

  “After you left,” Amir said, “I ran the burner phone’s records.”

  “My burner phone?”

  “It’s clean. The first time it was used was when Steele called you in the hospital. After he called the second time, I pulled the number and traced the burner he’s using. It didn’t take much effort to access his phone records.”

  “I don’t want to hear any more until I get a warrant,” Moretti said. “I need to call this in anyway. Parker, you good here?”

  “What about the phone?” I asked. “Do you still want it?”

  The lieutenant sighed. “Keep me informed. The next time he reaches out, I’m your first call. Not the Feds. Me. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “All right,” Moretti said, though he was far from pleased, “forward the information on it to me, along with the basic info on Steele’s phone. I don’t want the records. I’ll get those from the phone company just as soon as a judge signs the order. But I want everything else.”

  “Okay,” Amir said.

  “Should you discover anything solid in the next few minutes that you think I need to know without knowing the specifics, I’ll be in the lobby. If not, I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning at the precinct, Parker. Don’t be late.”

  “Lucca might join us. That is, if he drags his ass out of bed in the morning. Kendall asked him to help Davis debrief Lawson. And knowing Lucca, he’ll have to write his report afterward. I’m not sure he’ll be up bright and early.”

  “Whatever, just as long as he shares, I don’t care.” Moretti nodded at Amir.

  As soon as Moretti left the lab, I took a seat in one of the empty rolling chairs and rubbed my hands together, surprised to find they had stopped shaking after everything that happened in the club. Obviously, my body was too exhausted to bother with the residual shakes that usually accompanied situations like this. “You were just about to tell me something,” I nudged.

  “Steele’s burner texted Agent Lawson several times over the course of the last four days. From the intimate language used, I’d say the FBI tech has some explaining to do.” Amir held out the sheet, and I skimmed the messages.

  “Lawson said he was catfished.” I pointed to Steele’s flirtatious texts. “This backs his story.” I checked the dates and times. “Steele texted Lawson before Jablonsky was attacked.”

  “Does that change your timeline?” Amir asked. “I thought it might.”

  “Not necessarily.” I didn’t know exactly what to make of it. Did Steele plan for Lawson to be his first victim but grew impatient? “Did you share this with Lucca?”

  “He happened to be standing here while I was reading it,” Amir said. “He probably saw it.”

  “Good.” That meant my former partner was operating with all the facts. It’d make it easier for him to debrief Lawson and get an accurate statement. “What about the rest of these calls?” Two dozen different numbers were listed on the page. “Who are these people?”

  “Connections.” Amir clicked a button, and the row of monitors on the wall filled with photos and bios. “The top two screens show members of the KXDs. The two screens below them are suspected gang members. The third screen over is a cartel hitman. The rest we’re still working on.”

  “But you were able to identify every number?”

  “Except for these three.” He pointed to the highlighted numbers on the last screen. “Those are unregistered. I can’t get the data on them. The only information I have is when Steele called. From the call duration, they didn’t speak long. Less than a minute each time. It’s not much to go on.”

  “What does it mean?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “What about those two screens?” I pointed to the ones in the middle.

  “Businesses,” Amir said. “He ordered pizza. Called for a taxi. That third one is a dry cleaner. The one below that is a laundromat. And the last six are various Stop N’ Shops.”

  “He has an obsession with those stores.” The bag he put over my head had the same logo as the bag he used on Lawson and Cooper. “We need to find out why.” I pointed to the businesses. “Print that out. I’ll give it to Moretti.”

  Amir printed off the page, and I went down to the lobby. The KXDs had used laundromats and other businesses to conceal their illegal activities and labs. Even though these locations hadn’t been explored during the initial investigation, it was possible Bard’s empire had been larger than any of us realized. Perhaps Steele wanted to get things going again. Maybe that’s why Bard gave him resources and his blessing. Or that was just another of my hairbrained theories.

  While I updated Moretti, a familiar town car stopped in front of the building and Martin stepped out with his personal bodyguard, Bruiser, in tow. A Cross Security vehicle pulled up behind them, and two of the guards got out. Martin didn’t even act like he noticed. At this point, he was probably used to having an entourage of armed men following him around.

  “Parker,” Moretti waved his hand in front of my face, “you good?”

  “Yeah, just distracted.”

  He followed my gaze to the man entering the lobby. “All right. I’ll get some people started on this. We have a mess of interviews to get through too. If I need you, I’ll call you. You do the same. But after these last few days, I hope it’ll be a quiet night.”

  “Me too.”

  Moretti stopped Martin a few steps before he reached me. “Make sure she gets some sleep.”

  “Will do,” Martin promised. As soon as the police lieutenant was gone, Martin quirked an eyebrow at me. “What was that about?”

  “Who knows? What are you doing here?”

  “I have to talk to Lucien. I need his help.”

  Twenty-five

  “You made sure this was okay?” I sounded like a broken record.

  “Yes, sweetheart. The FBI wanted to move him anyway after what happened at the hospital today. This will be safer,” Martin said. He looked at Cross. “Without your medical team, this wouldn’t be possible. Thank you, Lucien.”

  Cross nodded. “Anything I can do. You know that.”

  I stared at my boss, wondering who this imposter was. “Are you sure you have everything Mark could possibly need?”

  “And more.” Cross offered a smile, a rare sight, at least when it came to our interactions. “Transport will move him from the hospital to one of my safe houses. We already have it outfitted with a hospital bed and monitors. The FBI has been notified. They will supply their own protection detail. Should any complications arise, a twenty-four hour nurse will be right there, along with two doctors trained in multiple disciplines and prepared to provide any emergency life-saving care he might require.”

  “The safe house isn’t that far from the hospital. We could get him back there in a matter of minutes, if need be,” Martin said. “In the meantime, the FBI will keep a dummy detail in the SDU and a decoy in Mark’s hospital room in case Steele tries again.”

  “You really think that’ll stop Steele?” I asked.

  “I’ll assign a team to keep watch on the building. After what just happened, we have a more accurate picture of who Francisco Steele is and how he operates,” Cross said.

  “What just happened?” Martin asked.

  “I’ll tell you later,” I mumbled, turning my attention to Cross. “Are you sure about this? You practically told Moretti to go screw himself. Now you’
re volunteering to assist the FBI. That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Alex,” Martin scolded.

  “No, she’s right,” Cross said. “I have been giving you mixed signals.”

  “You always do,” I said.

  Cross hid his chuckle in a cough and cleared his throat. “When this first happened, I offered you my services. That includes this. But helping you isn’t the same as helping the police.”

  “I’m consulting for them on this case.”

  “And I will enjoy seeing the looks on their faces when they get a Cross Security invoice for the work you’ve done, but I will not volunteer my services to them. Everything goes through you. Whatever you want to give them is your business. And whatever you need from me is your business. It isn’t theirs.”

  “So I’m a go-between?”

  “That’s my only condition,” Cross said. “That is what I wanted to speak to you about earlier.”

  “How does that work? FBI agents and Cross Security are guarding Jablonsky. The two have to communicate if Steele discovers the location,” I said.

  “Should that be the case, we will defer to law enforcement and assist in a limited capacity,” Cross clarified.

  “Like at the club when you let Steele walk?” I asked.

  “We didn’t let him walk. He got away. There’s a difference. The teams were there to protect and assist you. They scouted the exterior but failed to identify a threat. Steele wasn’t armed, not in the traditional sense, and he didn’t look like the photos we have on file.”

  I never saw him. “What does he look like now?”

  Cross reached for the phone. “Justin, bring in a printout from the dance floor.”

  A moment later, Cross’s assistant came in with said item in hand. Steele had shaved, just like O’Connell predicted. He wore a tight black t-shirt that said “Security” in yellow on the back. He looked like a club bouncer.

  “After he left the club, he changed clothes. On those crowded streets, we lost sight, and by the time we made him again, he had already gotten into the car.”

  “Why did your team wait so long? They could have grabbed him after the bag trick. By then, it must have been quite obvious who he was and what he wanted.”

  “I promised to protect you, and we rendered aid to Agent Lawson. My people stayed inside with you. That’s their job. The other team was outside waiting, but his wardrobe change slowed them down. I assure you, that won’t happen again.”

  I tamped down my internal grumbling. I could argue with Cross until I was blue in the face, but it was a waste of time. Lawson survived. So did I. Those were the two most important factors.

  “Steele has to be stopped,” I said.

  “I agree,” Cross conceded. “As I’ve said several times already, I’m willing to help.”

  Martin stared at him. “You protect Alex at all costs. That’s what we agreed to.”

  “I didn’t agree to that,” I piped up, but neither man looked at me.

  “Once Jablonsky is under your roof, so to speak, you will do whatever it takes to protect him too. Is that understood?” Martin asked. “Or do I need to take my business elsewhere?”

  “It will be handled to your satisfaction,” Cross promised. “Nothing has changed, with the possible exception of law enforcement forcing my security team to back down.”

  “All right,” Martin said, “let me make a few calls and get the ball rolling.” He pressed his lips against my temple before stepping out of Cross’s office.

  “You can’t protect me,” I said.

  “The hell I can’t,” Cross retorted. “History will not repeat itself here, especially in regards to my client’s wishes.”

  “Client?”

  Cross cleared his throat again and busied himself with straightening his desk. “Yes, client.”

  “You finally signed Martin,” I said bitterly. “Congratulations.”

  “We are not adversaries, Alex. You said you don’t work for him. And obviously, he came to me to provide protection for you, much in the same way you asked me to provide protection for him. The difference is I didn’t make you sign a contract. You get these perks because you work for me.” He cocked his head from side to side. “More or less.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Too bad.” Cross waited, but I didn’t say anything else. “I am the best at what I do. My people are the best. That includes you. So you should be reassured nothing will happen to Mark Jablonsky or James Martin. You have my word on that. And James has my word nothing will happen to you.”

  “Your word better be good.” Turning on my heel, I left his office. As usual, my loyalties were pulled in too many directions – the police, FBI, Cross Security, Martin, Jablonsky, and even Lucca. I didn’t want to make enemies with any of them. We were in this together, but lines had been drawn. Kendall started it. Cross ended it. And I didn’t know where that left me.

  It took some time, but Martin made calls and arranged Mark’s move. Since Mark left him in charge with legal documentation, Kendall was willing to play ball on this. The cynical part of me figured it had to do with the numerous background checks and investigations that had been conducted over the years in regards to Martin due to our relationship and my status at the Bureau, but I could be wrong. Perhaps Kendall actually was a good man, the man I thought he was before he accused me of shooting Mark and refusing to read me in on the case. That was just protocol, but it stung. However, I couldn’t let a bruised ego and hurt feelings stand in the way of what was best for Mark. And Steele could get to him if he really wanted to. He could get to any of us. He proved it tonight.

  “Hey,” Martin said from my office door, “Mark’s been moved. I’m on my way over there. Are you coming?”

  I turned off the computer. For the last hour, I’d been staring at the list of businesses Steele had called, hoping to make heads or tails out of them. I wouldn’t put it past him to have dialed these numbers just to have us chase our tails, but Moretti was all over it. And since Lucca had seen most of this information, the OIO was too.

  “Yes.” I tucked the tracked burner phone into my desk drawer and pocketed the cloned phone. If Steele checked to see where I was, he’d get the address of the office building. Cross Security only took up three levels, which meant I could be anywhere inside the building. It’d take time for him to discover I wasn’t here.

  I followed Martin to the elevator. Cross had a car waiting for us in the garage with tinted windows. Steele would never recognize it, and if he was watching, he wouldn’t see us inside.

  “Every precaution,” I said.

  “Every precaution,” Martin repeated, wrapping an arm around me. Initially, I stiffened but eventually gave in and nestled against his shoulder. “You’re angry.”

  “I’m tired and irritable.” I ran my hand over his abs and around his side, hugging him. “Now’s not the time for this conversation.”

  “I love you.”

  “I know. That makes it more difficult to be angry.”

  “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

  “Girl’s gotta have a talent.”

  “You have plenty of talents. This doesn’t have to be one of them.”

  “But I’m so good at it.”

  He laughed for what felt like the first time in days. I closed my eyes and fell asleep until the car stopped. Martin nudged me, and I sat up. We were in an underground garage. I looked behind us at the gate. That would make it more difficult for Steele to gain access.

  We got out of the car and followed the two members of Cross Security to the elevator, where one of them inserted a keycard into the panel and pushed a button. Not bad, I surmised. When the doors opened, two FBI agents blocked our entry into the large, converted room, which looked like it could be its own miniature wing in the hospital.

  They checked our IDs and verified our identities with a fingerprint scanner, which meant Kendall wasn’t taking any chances. About damn time. He’d lost a former agent, nearly lost the best tech
the Bureau had, and things were still iffy when it came to his top supervisory special agent.

  “Go ahead.” The two agents stepped to the side, allowing us out of the elevator alcove and into the safe house.

  I looked around. Exposed beams and pipes ran along the ceiling. The floors needed to be redone, but the shiny white medical equipment and hospital bed distracted from such things.

  Mark’s room had been sectioned off. A few chairs and a small sofa had been placed in the vicinity, probably on Cross’s request to accommodate Martin. A nurse stood beside the bed, checking each of the lines and the readouts. Once she was convinced everything was hooked up properly, she recorded the information on her chart and stepped out of the room. The other end of the apartment had been partitioned off into separate bunk-like rooms for the two doctors. Additional accommodations were close by for the security team, and a full kitchen sat against the back wall.

  “Any idea how many of these places Cross has?” I asked Martin.

  “You work for him. Why don’t you ask?”

  “Because you’re his favorite.”

  Martin grinned. “I’m everyone’s favorite.”

  I rolled my eyes and spoke to the nurse about emergency situations and worst case scenarios. When I was done quizzing her on almost everything except a meteor strike or alien invasion, I ducked into Mark’s room, surprised to find it sans Martin.

  Poking my head out into the hallway, I found him going over the same things with the doctors that I’d just gone over with the nurse. Sometimes, it was scary how alike we were. Surely, that must be a sign we spent far too much time together.

  “Steele left me a present,” I said, taking a seat on the small sofa beside the bed. “He’s jerking me around. He nearly killed Lawson today.” I stared at Mark. “Any idea why he’d target Lawson?” I waited. “Yeah, that’s the same conclusion I reached too.” I sighed. “You need to have a talk with him. Lawson, not Steele. He’s online dating. You’d think an FBI tech would be smarter than that. And to top it off, he got catfished. How does that even happen? Online dating is scary enough, but to not run a background check on the woman, that’s just downright stupid.”