Dangerous Secrets

by Sidney Bristol

  He’d lost family and friends. More than once, but he could still recall that first time. The senator was lucky his sister was the only person who’d been taken from him. He had the luxury of living in a safe world with laws that protected his family. Kawa and his people didn’t have that.

  “Let’s go,” Kawa announced.

  He’d known that the battle for independence would take him places he wasn’t prepared for. Today was another one of those lines. He was forced into this by powers bigger than himself, but he wouldn’t sit back and be powerless.

  CARSON CRADLED THE cordless phone in her hands. This was a phone call she’d hoped she wouldn’t have to make. Her whole goal had been to handle this. Their parents had taken on a massive load when they adopted Carson and Frankie. They shouldn’t be drug into this, too. But they had. Because the FBI had seen Frankie as an easy target. A troubled kid they could manipulate.

  Carson dialed the house number. It was early enough everyone would still be at home. Mom was going to balk at not going to work. She was very proud that she rarely missed a day. Dad was practically retired. He was still working through December, but his entire office had already shifted his responsibilities so most of the time he didn’t have anything to do. They were calling this his home stretch. It was the company’s way of showing him how important he’d been over his thirty year career there.

  She pressed the phone to her ear and closed her eyes.

  How many times had she called home because she was in trouble?

  As a teenager she’d caused hell for a few years before some switch inside her head flipped and she realized these people weren’t going to hurt her. They didn’t want anything from her except love.

  The floor creaked and soft footsteps came closer. The sofa cushions dipped and a strong arm wrapped around her shoulders.

  Ryan was still there.

  “Hello?” Mom drew the word out in her sing-song way. Her early morning cheer had often grated on Carson’s nerves in the beginning. Now she found it comforting.

  “Hi, mom.”

  “Carson? Honey? What’s wrong?”

  “Is Dad and Frankie there?”

  “He’s about to take her...somewhere. Why?”

  “Can you put them on speaker?”

  “Sure. What’s going on?”

  “It’ll be easier if I tell you all at once.”

  Something rustled over the line and Mom’s voice grew muffled.

  Ryan stroked her back. Except for them, the house was quiet. Everyone had left to run errands or move to the next step in the process.

  “Here we go,” Mom muttered.

  “Give that to me.” Frankie sighed and something clicked. “Carson?”

  “Hey, Frankie. Dad. Mom.” Carson’s voice wavered.

  “What is it?” Frankie’s voice was strained. She had to know a call like this wasn’t good.

  “I don’t have a lot of time to explain. Something’s happened and there’s some dangerous men that have threatened me. The police are worried that they’ll go after—” Her throat closed up to the point that she couldn’t squeak the next words out. Ryan squeezed her, wrapping her in comfort. “They’re worried they’ll go after you. They want to put us all in protective custody. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

  “What?” Dad said.

  She could picture him standing there, blinking at Mom, his mouth hung open. He was such a good man that evil in the world genuinely shocked him.

  “It’s not Carson’s fault. It’s mine,” Frankie said.

  “Girls—what is going on?” Mom was quicker on the uptake. She’d always swerved with their crazy and headed them off.

  “She’s not telling you everything. It’s really my fault.” Frankie’s foot-stamp could be felt from where Carson sat.

  “What’s your fault?” Mom asked.

  “Mom?” Carson needed them out of the house soon.

  “You—hold on. Frankie?” Mom’s tone was stern. She wanted to hear it all, or she’d balk. It was her Latina temper coming out.

  “Remember when I went to the festival with Libby and her parents? They let us go to a few of the shows by ourselves. We slipped into one of them through the back because we’re under eighteen. Half an hour later Libby’s in the bathroom and these two old dudes with badges came up to me. They took me to a back room and went through my stuff. Said I had a fake ID and drugs that weren’t mine. I didn’t have those. They weren’t mine. I called Carson because I was scared and they said she could make it all go away.”

  “Wait—two cops arrested you and questioned you? Alone?” Mom’s hackles were up now.

  “It wasn’t my stuff. I swear,” Frankie pleaded.

  “We know,” Dad muttered. Carson could see him hugging Frankie.

  She was the last person who’d get involved with drugs. The fake ID was a possibility, but Carson had always thought the drugs were planted.

  Ryan nudged her and tapped his watch.

  “Mom? Dad? I have to go, but—the cops, the good ones, are going to be there soon to pick you up. Please, pack a bag and go with them? I can explain everything when I see you.”

  Carson pleaded with them a bit more before everyone agreed to play it safe for now. Mom was riled up. Someone had harassed her babies. Dad would get angry later. He was a slow build fire once he’d thought it all through.

  She hung up the phone and buried her face in her hands.

  Ryan stroked her back.

  “You never mentioned they arrested Frankie for planted evidence.”

  “Yeah. Sorry. It’s just—we were more afraid of the deportation threat.”

  “Carson, this is serious. Walker and his partner could get fired for questioning a minor. Why not go to the police with that?”

  “Because.” She straightened and glared at him. “If I did that and then they seriously looked at Frankie—what if that sped up deportation? Yes, okay, now I know it was stupid to believe them. I should have, I don’t know, gone to a lawyer or something? I just didn’t know, Ryan. I didn’t know.”

  “It’s okay.” He pulled her to him. “We need to keep track of these things for after. I want to nail their asses to the wall.”

  She shouldn’t take comfort in violence, but Ryan’s vicious sentiment was sweet.

  “Come on, let’s go pack up. We’ve got a couple hours before we meet to go to the safe house. I think you should rest.”

  “Rest? Is that what you’re calling it now?” She chuckled and let him pull her to her feet.

  Things weren’t okay, but they might be. Because of Ryan. Without his guidance and strength she wouldn’t be here.

  Chapter 14

  Ryan glanced up and down the street at the corner coffee stand. The meeting spot was too open for his tastes. Anyone driving on the road could see them sitting here plain as day. They hadn’t gotten to pick how and where she was taken into custody. If he had to bet, there were a few plain-clothes police spotters watching them now. That didn’t make him less nervous, knowing the guys were also out there did.

  He pushed the cup of coffee toward Carson. She’d barely eaten her breakfast or touched her cup. Ever since she’d gotten off the phone with her parents she’d been in a sort of daze, staring off into nothing.

  Stress did odd things to people. Not everyone responded the same. He was used to women crying and men going straight to angry when their lives were threatened. The silence was the worst. He couldn’t let her shut down on him. They were going to get through this.

  “Talk to me,” he said.

  “About?”

  “I don’t know.” What’s something they hadn’t talked about? Something to get her mind off this moment? “Have you talked to Jessica? That’s her name, right?”

  “She’s good. I think.”

  “Does she know...?”

  “I told her we hung out, that it got intimate. It was a little weird.” Her gaze shifted to his face, but she wasn’t quite focused on him. “What do you think my parents
are going to say when we get there?”

  “They’re going to realize that you love them and you were stuck in a tight spot. You made the choice to protect them to the best of your ability.”

  Now if the plain clothes cops would just get here.

  The plan was for an SUV to pick up her family and bring them to this coffee stand at a busy intersection. They’d enter a dry cleaner, go through to the market next door and leave in an unmarked van to a safe house where they’d spend several days going stir crazy.

  Ryan didn’t like being out of the action, but he didn’t trust Detective Blew or this Agent Walker to put Carson’s safety first. That was why Ryan had to stick close to her rather than go hunt the terrorists down. He couldn’t trust anyone.

  So far he hadn’t heard from Zain, which was to be expected. Ryan was a little concerned about going solo on this. It wasn’t like Carson had hired them. Yesterday their team had seen someone in distress and did what they were good at, rescuing people. Now that Carson was safe, how much support could Ryan get if it came down to it? Aegis Group didn’t work for free. They did good where and when they could, but they were still out to pay their bills. He couldn’t ask his friends to stick their neck out for him.

  A dark SUV rolled up and stopped next to their table.

  “About damn time,” Ryan muttered.

  Carson’s hand tightened on his.

  A tall, graying man got out from behind the wheel, leaving the vehicle idling.

  That wasn’t a cop.

  The hair on the back of Ryan’s neck rose.

  This wasn’t the plan.

  “Miss Adair, I was hoping we wouldn’t meet like this,” the man drawled. He sounded like one of the small town highway patrolmen Ryan had to negotiate his way out of a ticket with when he was younger.

  A second man got out of the passenger seat and came to lean on the front of the vehicle. He put his hand on his hip, flipping his jacket back to reveal his sidearm. It wasn’t a casual gesture. It was calculated and intentional.

  Ryan didn’t scare that easily.

  “Where’s her family?” he asked.

  “Agent Walker—”

  “They’re not coming,” the man replied.

  Agent Walker.

  That meant the other was Agent Johnson.

  Now it all made sense.

  Carson gripped his hand tight.

  “What do you mean, they’re not coming?” Her voice wavered as she spoke.

  “I mean, the FBI has taken over this investigation and we are not offering protection for you or your mixed nut family.” Agent Walker planted his hands on his hips and peered over the top of his sunglasses at her.

  Ryan had squared off with men like him before.

  They thought they were more important. They lorded their power over others. They didn’t work for the general good, only their own sense of ego.

  Ryan hated those pricks. They went against everything Ryan had fought to protect.

  He pushed to his feet and stepped in front of the FBI agent.

  “Let me get this straight, you have a terrorist on the loose and you know this woman’s life is in danger, but you don’t want to do anything about it?” Ryan stared at the man. He was willing to bet Carson was bait. The FBI would sit back and wait for their targets to crawl out into the open to go after Carson while the FBI snapped the trap shut.

  “She was an unfortunate bystander in a murder. She’s not in any way part of our investigation. We have no reason to believe she’s in danger.” Agent Walker held up his hands.

  That was bullshit and reckless. This man was playing with the lives of others. It wasn’t right.

  Ryan took another step toward the agent, then another.

  Walker straightened.

  Carson’s phone began to ring.

  “You pulled their protection detail, didn’t you?” he asked.

  “You mean the unit sitting outside the Adair house wasting tax payer dollars? Of course I did,” Walker replied.

  “You’re a sick bastard, you know that?”

  “Just doing my job.” He tipped his chin up.

  Ryan wanted nothing more than to haul back and punch that brittle, old jaw.

  How many good people had he churned through? What had he cost in terms of life and blood in the name of serving a higher authority?

  This wasn’t justice, it wasn’t right and Ryan wasn’t going to allow this to go forward.

  “Ryan?” Carson’s voice wavered.

  Something was wrong.

  “Get the fuck out of here,” he said.

  Walker glanced over his shoulder at Carson.

  “You two have a good day, ya hear?” he said in a drawl before turning back to his SUV.

  Ryan didn’t wait for the man to climb into the vehicle. He went straight to Carson.

  Her face was drained of blood, her eyes wide. The phone was still pressed to her ear.

  “What is it?” He crossed to her side.

  She shook her head and covered her mouth with a hand.

  Ryan snatched his phone out of his pocket and hit dial. He hooked his hand under her arm and guided her to her feet, then to his Mustang.

  “Talk to me,” Gavin said through the phone.

  “I need you to trace whatever number just called Carson, and I need back-up. Now.”

  Shit was about to get real and the sharks were circling.

  CARSON DIDN’T LIKE being in the open like this. She wanted her family to get here so someone could whisk them away to safety. So she could beg for forgiveness. Anything was better than sitting here doing nothing.

  An SUV so dark blue it looked black pulled into the parking lot next to the coffee stand.

  She froze, staring at the vehicle.

  Her stomach knotted up.

  Carson knew that SUV.

  “About damn time,” Ryan muttered.

  She gripped him tighter and opened her mouth, but couldn’t make words come out.

  That wasn’t the police.

  Agent Walker got out of the driver’s seat, his partner no doubt remaining behind and out of sight. He fastened the top button of his jacket before ambling toward them.

  Where was her sister? What about their parents?

  She could feel the security of Ryan’s plan slipping away from her.

  Agent Walker wasn’t going to give up his goals without a fight.

  “Miss Adair, I was hoping we wouldn’t meet like this.” He came to a stop at the other side of their circular table.

  Ryan’s hand spasmed around hers.

  “Where’s her family?” Ryan’s suspicion dripped from each word. It wasn’t just her.

  Carson leaned forward. Maybe she could get him to see reason? “Agent Walker—”

  “They’re not coming,” he said over her.

  “What do you mean, they’re not coming?” She’d done everything he asked of her and more. Even when she knew it wasn’t right, she’d done it. And this was how he treated her? How he played with her family?

  The terrorist wouldn’t be after her if it weren’t for Agent Walker. He was the true threat to her family and their safety.

  “I mean,” he spoke slowly, as if she were a small child and didn’t understand the situation, “the FBI has taken over this investigation and we are not offering protection for you or your mixed nut family.”

  Mixed family?

  Carson glared.

  Her sister was black. Her mother was Hispanic. She and her dad were white. They were a colorful bunch. So what?

  Ryan pushed to his feet.

  Agent Walker had never come out and spoken his prejudice, but it was always there. Just under the surface. Knowing what she knew now, that Frankie was never in danger of being deported, Carson couldn’t help but hate the man.

  Ryan placed himself between Carson and Agent Walker. Both of Ryan’s hands were clenched to the point that his knuckles were white.

  “Let me get this straight, you have a terrorist on the loose and you k
now this woman’s life is in danger, but you don’t want to do anything about it?” Ryan’s voice vibrated with rage.

  “She was an unfortunate bystander in a murder. She’s not in any way part of our investigation.” Of course Agent Walker would act blameless. He wasn’t.

  Carson’s phone it up with Frankie’s face. She had this tilt and her lips were curled into an annoyed, forced smile.

  Shit.

  Carson snatched the phone up. “Hello? Frankie, I am so sorry.”

  “Frankie is indisposed,” a man with a thick accent said.

  That voice...

  She’d heard that voice before.

  She could see him, staring at Ben like a bug right before he’d ordered the murder.

  “W-where’s my sister?” Carson gripped the edge of the table and shut out the drama happening a few steps away. “Ryan?”

  “Your sister is fine.”

  “My parents?”

  “They’re here, too.”

  “What is it?” Ryan was there at her side.

  She shook her head.

  “I’m going to speak very slowly and I need for you to listen. Your family is unhurt. They are my guests, and will not be hurt because you and I are friends. Friends help each other. Right? Carson?”

  “R-right.”

  Ryan urged her to her feet then guided her toward his car. He was already on the phone talking to someone else, but it was too late.

  “Keep him talking,” he whispered.

  “What-what do you want me to do?” Carson had seen enough TV dramas to understand what Ryan wanted.

  “I want what is mine. Nothing more,” Kawa replied.

  Ryan opened the passenger door for her and handed her in.

  “That’s going to take time. Ben made it sound easy.” She glanced up at Ryan who gave her a thumbs up before closing her door.

  “We don’t have time.” Kawa’s voice went cold.

  “It’s not an instant process like normal.”

  “You’re a smart, resourceful girl.”

  “That doesn’t matter to a system with rules in place. I can’t just break a banking system. I’m an accountant, not a hacker.”

  “We all have friends.”

  Ryan got behind the wheel and turned toward her. “Speaker?”