by Victoria Sue
Vance’s lips twisted. “Sorry for what exactly?” Sorry for treating Vance like shit? Sorry for not feeling the same way as he did?
“You didn’t deserve what I said.”
Didn’t he? “Did you lie?”
Sam’s lips parted, but Vance didn’t hear a denial.
“Look, it’s okay—”
“No.” Sam took a shuddering breath. “It really isn’t.”
“You can’t help how you feel. You can’t help how I feel.” And he couldn’t. Maybe it was for the best. “Let’s get this case done, and I’ll ask Talon to get us different partners.”
Sam took a step back. “No.” He shook his head. “I don’t want that.”
“No?” Vance said, for the first time not caring what someone else wanted but what he did. “Pity. Because as soon as this is over, I will ask Talon, and he’ll agree.”
“But—” Sam started to protest, but Vance just stepped around him and walked out of the door. Technically he had the biggest backbone of anyone he knew. It was about time he started using it.
Chapter Eleven
“THIS IS such a bad idea.” Daniel turned off the engine when they pulled into the driveway.
“You’ve told me,” Vance sighed and climbed out. “You told Talon, and you might have mentioned it once or five times to Gregory as well.”
Gregory had let them all go immediately. And the barbeque wasn’t going to happen. At least not for Vance anyway, and Daniel wasn’t going to leave him. Gael and Talon had immediately offered to stop by for the evening, but Vance had been given his cover story, and he wanted to make sure he had the details straight. The kicker was his story wasn’t all that different. He was still him, but a buy had been witnessed by Jackson, ostensibly when they had been watching the apartment, and he had turned him in. It had to be the new kid because half of Tampa knew that the thought of Vance being ratted out by a cop was ludicrous, and they didn’t have time to set up anything elaborate. This way, because the offense happened here, no one needed to bring in anyone from Baton Rouge.
Vance was praying some miracle happened and everything was wrapped up in the twenty-four hours he had until his mom and dad came home. Normally, Gregory had explained, this sort of operation was on a need-to-know basis, and patrol sergeants would never have access. Unfortunately, that left two problems called Jacob and Chris, to say nothing of Eric and his dad. Gregory was between a rock and a hard place. All of Tampa knew his brothers would put a bomb under the justice department to get Vance released, and likewise if they didn’t, then no one would believe the charges were real. Vance didn’t see any way his dad and brothers couldn’t be told, and God help anyone who tried to keep it from his mom.
Gregory liked the idea of sending Vance in immediately and making the rushed job seem like the cops were deliberately keeping it on the quiet because they didn’t want a city-wide revolt of their own police force. He thought it would work both ways.
They could also use the excuse that Baton Rouge had given Vance the ideas and the opportunity. And the sad fact was that even with Vance’s family’s reputation, he was still enhanced. And therefore it was easier to assume his reputation wasn’t as stellar as his family’s.
Vance gazed at Daniel as he stepped into his mom’s kitchen and, for the first time that day, took in his brother properly. Daniel’s hair had blond streaks, which Jacob had teased him unmercifully about. Still no gray, though, but he looked… older than his thirty years, and definitely since the last time Vance had seen him. No, not older. Weary, yes, and the humor he constantly poked at seemed a little forced. Vance’s eyes narrowed.
“What happened?”
Daniel huffed and opened the fridge. “You’re as bad as Mom.”
Vance chuckled. “Uh-huh, which means distracting me with a nonanswer isn’t gonna work.”
Daniel pulled out a couple of beers and headed for the huge table they all sat around. “I need a change.”
Vance let the comment settle, but when it became clear Daniel wasn’t going to elaborate, he pushed. “A change of work, city, girlfriend, boyfriend?”
Daniel was bi. He had dated girls through high school, but in college had met a cute guy named Alfie who seemed to squeak in surprise every time he saw Vance, and reminded Vance of a doll his niece, Sophie, had as a baby that cried when you pressed her belly. Daniel and Alfie had been together for over a year before college ended and they’d gone their separate ways. As far as Vance knew, Daniel hadn’t been steady with anyone else.
“Who has time for a personal life in the Bureau?” Daniel took a pull from his beer. Vance studied his brother. The comment had been lightly delivered, but he wasn’t convinced. Daniel noticed him looking.
“And is the lack of that what’s eating at you?”
Daniel pursed his lips. “I guess. No—I don’t know.” Daniel was silent for a few minutes before glancing around the kitchen. “Do you think they’ll ever move? Dad could retire in five years if he wanted to.”
Vance followed his gaze and stared at the kitchen in the home they had lived in for twenty years. Like every neighborhood, it had its good and its bad areas, but when his mom and dad moved here, other cops and families followed and the whole place had a nice vibe.
“You fancy a steak?” Daniel asked.
Vance chuckled and stood up. “I’ll check the freezer.” He wasn’t gonna push Daniel to tell him yet, and they quickly worked together to get supper ready. The steaks were fabulous, and Vance felt almost guilty they hadn’t invited anyone else.
“I swear,” Vance groaned. “No one grills steaks like you do.”
Daniel took a pull from his second beer and waved the bottle at him. “So spill, what’s going on with you and Sam?”
“Tell me why you’re here with far too much for a weekend stay, first.” Vance wasn’t blind. Daniel had walked in with two cases, and that was way more than he would need for a few days.
Daniel took another sip. “I offered my resignation and settled for a leave of absence instead.”
“No way.” Vance immediately put his beer down and leaned forward. Daniel loved his job. “Daniel, what the hell happened?”
“Long case. We finally got the warrant we needed to put the malware on Playpen.”
“Playpen?” Where had he heard of that?
Daniel nodded. “It’s the biggest site for child pornography and we thought we shut it down in 2015, but last year it was resurrected. We needed to be patient because we couldn’t go and blithely use the same sort of malware we used last time.”
“They planted a virus, didn’t they?” Vance frowned. “I remember Gael raving about it.” Something about the malware forcing his computer to reveal his true internet protocol address.
“They did. To be honest, if I’d have known Gael then, we would have asked for his help, but the subpoena was granted before we met.”
“So what’s taken so long?”
“We had to keep the site running to catch everyone.” Brittle words. Daniel was making an attempt at stating facts, but Vance knew every syllable had a sharp edge.
Vance swallowed. “When you say we—”
“I mean I—” Daniel stopped sharply, then bit out, “I personally facilitated the downloading of over twenty-three thousand images.”
Vance opened his mouth, but Daniel rushed on. “There were videos,” he whispered. “Little girls and boys being violated while someone gave them a stuffed bear to hold or a doll. Like that would atone for losing their childhoods. Their lives.” He paused. “And there was sound.”
He picked up his beer and downed it in one go.
“But you got them all?”
Daniel nodded. “But it doesn’t help.”
“You saved lives, Daniel,” Vance said. “It was a huge kidnap ring.”
“We didn’t save enough,” he whispered. “We couldn’t shut it down right away because they would have just set up something else, but….” He stopped as if unable to explain the justificatio
n even to himself.
Vance remembered. One of the heart-wrenching stories had been of a four-year-old taken three days after the FBI had assumed control of the site. Her mother was inconsolable and blamed the FBI for not acting immediately. It had been an impossible choice, and neither the FBI themselves nor the local police had any clue where the little girl was until images had appeared ten days later, and by that time it was too late, and she had never been found. They wouldn’t have been able to do anything fast enough, but no amount of logic could ever shore up that avalanche of grief, either from the family or the agents themselves.
“I spent weeks going through every image to try and trace them.”
“Then I’m not surprised you need a break.”
“And indirectly I’ve been involved with the DiMarzie case.”
Vance’s jaw dropped. “Shit, Daniel. I didn’t know that.” Alain DiMarzie was the ringleader of a group of pedophiles who had terrorized Washington for two years. He had been caught, unbelievably so, by a dry-cleaning ticket, which had led to a whole other persona and an address. A long, complicated operation had followed, including proving where the images had been uploaded from. Realization dawned. “You helped shut down the website.”
Daniel didn’t need to reply. He didn’t have to. Daniel was one of the Bureau’s best with computers, and Vance knew it had taken a lot of really clever and detailed work to trace the source of over seventeen thousand pictures that would make any decent person sick to their stomach. “How come you did both?”
“They were linked,” Daniel admitted. “Not surprising, but DiMarzie was a piece of garbage involved in the original group we didn’t get first time around.”
Vance tipped his own bottle to drink, but he put it down instead. “So you got everyone this time.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes.” But the fraction of a second’s hesitation told Vance Daniel wasn’t convinced.
“But you’re not sure, and that’s not helping you deal?”
“All the rest of the team are. I—”
“You have good instincts, Danny.”
Daniel’s expression softened at the childhood nickname. “I don’t know, and it makes no sense. DiMarzie tried to say he was acting on orders, but there isn’t any evidence of so much as an email proving that. He says he doesn’t know any names, and all financial transactions can be linked to dummy corporations DiMarzie has links to. He says he had a burner phone, but we can’t find it. If there is another guy, he’s a ghost. The team is convinced DiMarzie was just making the whole thing up. Smoke and mirrors.”
“But you aren’t?”
Daniel gazed at Vance. His bloodshot eyes were ringed by dark circles now more apparent when his smile didn’t camouflage them. “I told them I can’t do it anymore. Like I said, I typed out my resignation, but Matthews asked me to sit on it a couple of weeks.”
Daniel got up and went to the kitchen. In a moment he was back with two fresh beers. “First beer I’ve had since the case started. I didn’t trust myself not to need more.”
Vance took his.
“So, little brother”—Daniel smiled and sat down—“tell me how long you’ve been in love with your new partner?”
In love?
“I’m not,” Vance croaked out.
Daniel scoffed.
“Love is a very strong word,” Vance hedged. An impossibly big one. He regretted walking away almost immediately. He’d checked his phone a dozen times, which was ridiculous when he knew there wouldn’t be anything.
“Vance, for as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been an all-in type of guy. Nothing by half measures. I saw the look you gave him.”
Vance locked down his panic. “You did?”
“Yeah, but only because I know you. Don’t worry.” Daniel took a gulp of his beer. “He’s not interested?”
Vance shook his head. “He thinks it might be better if we’re just friends, especially working together.”
“That sounds difficult.”
“No, he looked after me. Got crazy defensive when the Baton Rouge dickwads wanted me for cheap labor.” Vance smiled. “Reminded me of you.”
Daniel snorted. “That’s because you’re just too damn nice, and ‘no’ isn’t in your vocabulary.”
“I’m not always nice. Mom and Dad aren’t gonna be happy with me when they get back.”
“Why?”
“Actually”—Vance pulled at the label on his bottle some—“I’m about ready to sign for my own place.”
Daniel smiled. “Dad would say it’s about time, and Mom would have us all living at home permanently if she could.”
Vance pulled some more at the label. “I’m just not sure.”
“About moving out?” Daniel’s eyebrows rose.
“No, that’s long overdue. The place itself.”
“Where is it?”
“Hamden Street, just off Nebraska,” Vance muttered.
“Uh-huh,” Daniel responded dryly. “Mom would have a cow.”
Vance nodded. He knew.
“It’s the insurance thing?”
“And getting a landlord to rent to an enhanced. Sawyer has a place near there. He hooked me up with the landlord.”
“I bet Dad could hook you up with a better one. Or—”
“Jacob, or Chris, or Mom even,” Vance finished.
Daniel leaned forward. “Vance, I understand. I really do, but there’s some times independence is the same as shooting yourself in the foot.”
Vance shrugged miserably.
“Bro, I can help. I have savings—”
Vance stiffened and shook his head.
“Why don’t you take me there tomorrow? Let’s see the place.”
Vance just looked at him.
“Fuck,” Daniel swore. “You’re gonna be busy tomorrow.”
“Narcotics will be here around dawn.”
“It’s a good thing Mom isn’t here.”
“You know better than that,” Vance chided. “I would insist they take me somewhere else if it wasn’t just me and you.” He fiddled some more with the beer label. “Gregory promised me in and out before the neighbors wake up, but it has to be here to search the house.” He nodded to the envelope. “I have things to hide, and Gael has arranged for them to ‘find’ something on my laptop and in another bank account.” Vance felt dirty, even though he knew it wasn’t true. “Payments starting from after we got to Baton Rouge.”
Daniel looked miserable, so Vance tried to change the subject. “You gonna come into the field office, or are you on leave for real?”
Daniel grinned. “I might come just to keep you all out of trouble. Besides which”—he stood up—“from the sounds of things, an extra pair of hands would help.”
That did make Vance laugh.
They both watched the game in an easy silence, even if Daniel called it a night halfway through and Vance turned it off soon after, not being able to muster up much enthusiasm for it. The house seemed oddly silent. They were both on edge, worried about the morning. He wondered why he shouldn’t be glad of that, all the way upstairs and after he got to his room and into a bed that his dad had had extended for him. And probably reinforced. Why he should be regretting not sleeping on one where his feet hung off, he had no clue.
Talon had found other things—separate things—for them to do all afternoon, which was just as well because Vance was wrestling with wanting to be everything to Sam and knowing he was fooling himself. He wanted to call Sam and promise they would just be partners and he was okay with that. Except it would be a lie.
Vance felt his phone buzz and saw the text from Gael. It had been a prearranged one to indicate everything was in place. All the rest of the team were expressly forbidden to contact him, as his phone would be seized in the morning as well.
Vance smiled when he saw it. Gael’s opinion was that the Rays had been robbed of an easy victory and that he would see him tomorrow at Jacob’s.
Vance really wished that were true.<
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THE HUGE crash as his dad’s newly sanded and painted front door was smashed in sounded like a bomb had exploded. Vance leaped to his feet and was three steps toward his bedroom door when it burst open, and Vance had a minute for a WTF moment to recognize Mac Carmichael and that the entire ENu team surrounded him, all pointing the IM injection rifles at him with one notable exception. His heart jumped in alarm at Daniel’s startled cry.
Carmichael had his Sig Sauer 9mm firmly pointed at Vance’s face. He wasn’t even pretending he had any intention of not using deadly force. “I’ve waited nearly two fucking years for this,” Carmichael spat out. “Hands on your fucking head and hit the ground.” Carmichael lifted his boot as if he was going to kick Vance, and Vance jerked away.
And that was the only excuse they needed to fire all five injection rifles at point-blank range. He had a moment to register Daniel’s second outraged shout from the other room and wanted to yell a warning to be careful, but his tongue was way too thick to wrap around any words.
He didn’t remember his knees giving way or hitting the ground. He was out long before that.
Chapter Twelve
WHY WASN’T he happy about getting his bed back? Sam groaned, turned over, and thumped the pillow into submission. Because he was a shit. A dishonest shit, a worse partner, and Vance didn’t deserve it. He peered over at the bedside table when he heard his phone buzz and dance around briefly before he picked it up. Three forty-five a.m. but he’d been awake anyway.
When he saw the message from Talon, he was out of bed before he finished reading it. Talon had sent an SOS to the team, and they were wanted in immediately. It couldn’t have been the raid on Vance’s. That was scheduled to happen at five. He texted his confirmation and resisted the urge to ask any more. He drove straight to the field office and saw Adam just climbing out of Eli’s car and hurried over. He hadn’t—he didn’t think—ever had an entire conversation with either of them.
“Do you know what’s going on?” He wondered if the op had been canceled. Not that he could ask in a parking lot, and knew immediately it had been a dumbass question.
