by Violet Paige
I clicked on the VPN icon and waited for the private connection to take place. I was going to hunt this bastard down.
It didn’t matter to me anymore if one hack turned into one hundred. I had to unlock the chains I had placed on myself. I needed to be free of ethics and standards. I needed the dark web now.
I wasn’t surprised when the phone number associated with Ethan Howard’s text came back as a burner phone number. I was going to have to dig deeper and discover where the phone had been purchased. But I could do it. It might take a few hours, but it would be a starting point. One location could lead to another. I was going to find him.
Another thirty minutes passed. I ventured through the suite to the door, opening it with a swift tug.
“Where is Agent Hart?” I asked.
“Ma’am, his status hasn’t changed. He is unavailable.”
I didn’t like the answer anymore the second time I received it.
“When will it change?” I pried. “When will he be available?”
“We aren’t able to say.”
“I still need to see him.”
I scowled at him. It was the meanest look I had. I didn’t know that it affected him. He was trained well beyond my level. I might be able to intimidate someone online, but the suit gave him an extra layer of armor I couldn’t break through.
“Will it be tonight?” I pushed it. I needed something. I needed AJ back.
“Agent Hart is serving the Bureau. That’s all you need to know.”
“Serving the Bureau my ass.”
I slammed the door closed before I said something worse I couldn’t take back. It felt good to be the one to shut them out. I knew AJ wanted to be here. He’d rather be here than stuck in a room being interrogated or listening to high-level intel. He had proved that. The words he spoke at the farmhouse were still there.
Because this is where you are, Syd.
I couldn’t shake them. I probably never would. There were the kind of words that healed the divide we faced. Words that bound us together again.
I trudged to my laptop, but felt the rumble in my stomach. I hadn’t eaten a full meal yet. It seemed like something kept us from ordering or picking up food. We had managed coffee and alcohol, but if I was going to work all night I needed something in my stomach.
I picked up the hotel phone and called for room service. I placed an order for AJ. I wanted to believe he could walk through the door at any second.
“Yes, I said two teas,” I repeated to the waitress.
I still remembered how he liked his cheeseburger cooked. And that he needed an extra side of ketchup for his steak fries.
There were so many little things I would always remember. How he swore he could win any Johnny Cash karaoke contest. How he hated musicals and groaned when I watched them. But how he surprised me anyway with tickets to Miss Saigon. How he always lost his socks’ matches and ran around trying to find them before work. How he never missed watching a Carolina basketball game, or believed the team would only win if he sat in the same spot on the sofa. I’d spent so much of my time trying to push those tiny memories away. Forgetting. Erasing them. I tried to do something impossible.
While I waited for room service I dove back into the channel I had set up to track the fake Ethan. I needed a route that would trace the model number on the burner phone. With that I could detect where it had been bought and sold.
Working the net came back to my quickly. Easily. As if I’d never left. I rushed through my first sequence and on to the next. It was as if there was lightning in my fingertips. I didn’t want to lose my momentum when I heard the call for room service through the door.
I grumbled, but answered it.
“I’m assuming you’ll let me eat.” I glared at the agent.
“I should check the cart,” he answered, turning to the waiter. “Please stand back.”
He lifted the tray and waved the curtain under the top shelf to the side. He patted underneath and checked the wheels. He then used an electronic wand with a miniature screen to scan the cart a second time. It beeped and a light blinked green.
“All clear,” he reported.
I moved out of the way to let the waiter steer the cart inside the suite. The smell of the burgers made my stomach rumble more. I was tempted to tear into one now. The waiter placed the silver trays on the dining room table. I handed him a large bill and thanked him. It had to be intimidating to deliver food through armed guards. He deserved something extra.
When the suite was empty again, I unveiled one of the platters. Hotel food had never looked so good. I sat across from AJ’s empty seat wondering what the FBI had done with him.
Chapter Nineteen
I shot straight up in bed when I heard the door to the bedroom close. I was startled I hadn’t heard it open first or heard footsteps in the suite. I couldn’t shake the panic I felt. I should have been more alert. I should have been prepared.
“AJ.” I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him standing in the doorway. I had fallen asleep in my clothes. I felt the side of my face, imprinted from the crease in the pillow.
“Hey, babe.” He struggled to keep his eyes open and there were blueish circles under his lashes.
“What time is it?” I ran my hands through my hair, trying to wake myself.
“You should go back to sleep. It’s late. Or early, however you want to look at it.”
The lights were on in the room. I don’t know how I fell asleep, other than at some point my body gave up fighting. I wanted to tell him what I had discovered. I had my first lead on the stalker. But the way he looked made me doubt he could process a single thing I said to him. What had the FBI done?
“Are you all right?” I pushed off the mattress to walk toward him. “You look terrible.”
“I’m exhausted. It was a long day. How are you? You got food. I saw the trays in the kitchen.”
“I ordered something for you, but it’s cold now. I could try to call room service.” I doubted they were open, but it was worth an attempt. “Or I could reheat your plate in the oven. We might as well take advantage of that big kitchen.”
“No. No. Don’t go to the trouble.” He shook his head. He turned off one of the lamps. “I’m going to take a shower. I just want to climb in bed and sleep next to you. I want this damn day to be over.”
I was too tired to argue with him about all the things we needed to talk about. We were both in our own hazes. It wasn’t as if we could do anything about it in the middle of the night. I spotted the clock next to the bed. It was 4am.
“I just need five minutes. Just five.” He stumbled to the bathroom. I heard the toilet flush and the water in the shower run.
I trailed behind him, brushing my teeth and splashing my face with water from the sink.
I pulled the tank top over my head and slipped the gray pants off my ankles. I peeled the sheets back on the giant king bed and slid underneath, waiting for AJ. It wasn’t long before the bathroom door opened and he stopped at the end of the bed. He dropped the towel on the floor and climbed in next to me. The king-sized bed felt smaller with him in it.
I rolled toward him, smiling when I heard the rumble from his chest.
“Mmm, you smell good.” I nuzzled against his chest. I traced over his damp skin with my fingers. “Are you really ok?” I asked.
“Yes. I’m ok. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m sorry I was gone all night. I wanted to call but I left my phone in the suite.” He pulled me tighter, wrapping his arms against my back. My body aligned with his. My breasts rubbed against his chest, the friction just enough to make the buds harden with the movement.
“I know. I was about to call you when I found it on the bedside table.”
“Syd.” His palms rounded to my ass. He squeezed, tugging me against his hips. I felt how aroused he was. His pulsing shaft pressed into my belly.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” I feathered my fingers through his hair.
“I
just need you,” he answered.
I understood.
We didn’t need more words. He didn’t have to tell me how much he needed this. We would consume each other until we had no strength left.
He lifted my thigh over his leg. I rocked into him, locking our bodies together. He ran his cock through my wetness, coating himself with a deep groan. I held on, knowing the impact of how our bodies fused together. He pushed inside me and I whimpered with how fast it all happened. I was filled and awakened by the way my body adjusted to his. I was heated and burned by his roughness.
AJ’s lips were on my neck. On my nipples. He kissed my throat as he thrust in and out of my center. Our bodies tangled and twisted together. His cock penetrated the depths of my core with solid strokes. Strokes that took my breath away. Strokes that lit my blood on fire.
Our silent fucking was as intense as it was last night when I screamed his name. Maybe our quietness came because we knew there were agents outside the door. Or maybe we were just too tired to moan loudly. I didn’t know. I didn’t care. He was deep inside me and that was all that mattered.
His fingers curled to my ass, locking me in place to his hips. I clenched around him, awed by how powerfully our bodies created this magic. I felt the pulses surge from his cock. He sucked my nipple in his mouth. His teeth clamped down and I hissed, knowing I was about to come. I couldn’t barricade the pleasure from ripping through my limbs.
I panted harder and faster.
His fingers dug into my waist, coasting over my hips as his hand slid lower and guided my thighs wide. His grunts filled my ears. Our slick bodies moved in unison. He buried himself once more inside me and then we shattered. Our mouths met as we let the silent shockwaves consume us.
“I can’t move,” he whispered. “You feel too good.”
“I don’t want you to go anywhere,” I answered.
Was there a way to make him feel safe? To hold him long enough? Love him hard enough? I wanted him to know this relationship was still give and take. He could lean on me. He could count on me. I would be here no matter how dark things became. When we were together like this, we could block the darkness out. I did have the strength to shield him. That was something I had learned over the past five years. I didn’t believe in myself enough before, but wasn’t that same girl. The woman I had become could carry his burdens. I could fight to keep the darkness out of our bed.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked. “I’ll just listen.”
I sighed when he pressed deeper inside me, singing our skin together.
“Tomorrow, babe. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
He kissed my shoulder softly and we fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty
The next morning, we showered and ordered breakfast. It was hard to tell if we were in a hurry or trying to slow things down.
We sat on the balcony, drinking dark chicory. AJ wore aviators. I wrapped a sweater around my shoulders to protect against the chill.
“What time is Agent Canson supposed to arrive?” If I could delay the meeting any longer I would.
AJ glanced at his watch. “We have a few hours. His plane lands at 11am.”
The sun had barely risen over the city’s buildings. I settled into my chair. I knew what was supposed to happen next.
“Well, who goes first?” I asked.
He sighed. “There’s a lot to sort through. More information we need to talk about.” He looked better than when he had arrived in the middle of the night.
As tired as I was, I was excited to tell him about what I had discovered. “I have a lead,” I butted in before he could explain further. “On where the phone was purchased that sent the text.”
He pulled his shades forward. “How did you get that?”
I shrugged. “I was locked in this giant suite all night. I had to do something. Those thugs you call FBI agents wouldn’t let me go boutique shopping.”
He grinned. “So you hacked?”
“I had to look for him. I couldn’t just sit here, AJ. I had to do something.”
“It’s not an accusation. I’m glad you started taking control. You agree with me that it wasn’t Ethan Howard?”
“I wish I had realized it from the beginning. I think I was so hung up on having a clue about my mom that I saw Cindy in the text and just ran with it. It was so obvious when I listened to the conversation with Ethan. Besides that, he just didn’t seem like that kind of person. He’s very private.”
“I don’t know the man, but I listened and putting that with what you told me about him it didn’t add up. So tell me, what did you find?”
This was the part I was proud of. It had taken several hours, but I had tracked down the store. “The phone was purchased at a home goods store in Richmond, Virginia.”
“You can buy phones at the same place you buy pillows?”
I took a sip of coffee. “Sometimes there are electronic gadgets by the front register. You’d be surprised what you can find up there. Anyway, the phone was in Richmond.”
“Do you know anyone who lives there or used to live there?” he asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “Not that I know of.”
“Of course, I-95 runs right through the city. Anyone could have stopped on their way in or out of the city.”
I twisted my lips together. “You don’t think it’s much of a lead.”
“I didn’t say that, babe. It’s something. We know one more location the stalker has traveled through. That is something we didn’t have before now. I’m glad you did it.”
I smiled slightly. “You are?”
“I am.”
We drank our coffee, listening to cars pass below us. I thought I heard the bell on one of the trolleys.
“What happened to you last night? What took so long? Those agents are complete dicks. They wouldn’t tell me anything. I had no idea if you were even still in the hotel. They said it was classified.”
I saw the way he gritted his teeth when I asked the question.
“Let’s just say I got my ass handed to me.”
“What? Why?” My cup rattled on the saucer.
“I haven’t exactly followed protocol.”
“So what happened? Are you in trouble? Are they going to take you off the case?” I was attacked by a new kind of nervousness. “They can’t do that. You were just trying to keep me safe. You saved my life. They know that, right?”
“Hey, hey. It didn’t get that far. I can stay on. I have to stay on because of Project Compass.”
The knots in my stomach slackened. “Thank God. I can’t do this without you. I wouldn’t help them for one second if they tried to take you off the case. They need to know that. It’s a package deal and nothing else.” I felt justified in my defiance.
I noticed he wasn’t saying much.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” I realized nothing he said came near to details of a classified meeting. Also, there was no reason to keep him until 4am just to lecture him on FBI procedures.
“You’re leaving something out.”
“Syd…”
“Oh God, what is it?” Nothing good was going to come out of his mouth.
“You might change your mind about wanting me to stay on the case.”
I blinked. “I would never do that. I need you. We’re in this together.”
“Babe, I have new intelligence. The classified meeting that went into the night…” His gaze drifted away and then back. “It’s going to change things.”
“I don’t care. We are a team. You and me. No matter what happens. No matter what creepy stalker guy is after me. No matter what Jack tries to do next. The Project Compass problem. None of it matters. This is the team.”
I realized when we had dated five years ago I thought AJ and I were a team. A team like other couples. Rooting for each other at work. Listening to each other’s family problems. Trading off movie choices and which restaurants we ordered take out from. I cheered when his team played soccer, even in the
snow. He went to my work events as the perfect polished date. That was how I defined team. Now we were a team in a way that few partnerships ever knew existed. We relied on each other. We protected each other. We shared information. Together we were going to identify my stalker and take him down. We were on a higher level of closeness—one I never would have imagined five years ago. One we never could have achieved any other way than to be tossed into the darkness together.
“Will you hear me out? Hear everything I have to say?” AJ pressed. “This is important.”
“Of course I will. I already promised I won’t leave again. Ever.” My pulse raced. I didn’t like his tone. I didn’t like the tenseness gripping his face. Something was wrong.
“I always intended to tell you.”
“Tell me what?” I leaned closer to the edge of the patio chair.
“It doesn’t change anything that has happened this week. Do you believe that? I need you to know that before I say anything else. Do you believe me?”
My brows knitted together. I couldn’t imagine what this was about. No one had experienced what we had. Nothing could change how I felt about him. We had forgiven each other for so much. There was nothing the FBI could reveal that would change my love for AJ. I had always loved AJ.
“Of course I do. Everything is different this time. I know it is. You know it is.”
He exhaled. “Please, Syd. Just don’t run.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I wanted to see his eyes. It always made me feel better when I could look into the sea of midnight I loved so much.
“Can you take off your sunglasses before you start? Please? Just look at me.”
AJ reached for the side of his face.
“Agent Hart! Agent Hart! We have to get you out of here now. Move, move, move!”
I screamed when I heard the agents barreling through our suite. I stared at AJ, panicked and frozen. He jumped from the seat.
Within seconds his arm was around my shoulder shuttling me through the bedroom. We ran through the suite, surrounded by FBI agents carrying guns.
