Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9)

by Crystal Perkins

  “She doesn’t love you.”

  “She does,” he says, jumping from his chair and leaning over the desk. “She just needs to keep her company going. She likes her lifestyle, and she wouldn’t want to have to leave me for someone else who could provide for her.”

  “Are you listening to what you’re saying?”

  I know I shouldn’t poke the bear, but this is nuts. I’m pretty sure he’s riding the crazy train along with his woman, but maybe I can appeal to whatever part of his brain is still functioning. Or at least keep him on his toes until I get word that I can take him down.

  “You don’t need to understand, but you should. Wouldn’t you do anything to get Blake Armstrong? Oh wait, you tried that in high school, and that didn’t work. Do you still have your yellow prom dress?”

  “Insulting me isn’t really going to help you here.”

  “Ah, so you do have it.”

  I do, but that’s none of his business. “Actually, no. There was no reason for me to keep that dress. It belonged to a girl who thought her identity was contingent on a boy who humiliated her. As a woman, I know I don’t need a man to define me. Would I like one—Blake—yes, but I can live a very happy life without him. So to answer your question, no, I would not do anything to get him.”

  “This guy is really a piece of work, and I’m sorry you’re stuck with him. His boss is taken care of, but we haven’t gotten the other guys yet. Ainsley and Scott also found something weird on his company’s server that they want to check out further. Just hang in there,” Reina says.

  “You may not need Blake, but you need a man. I saw the way you dressed last night. If I’d invited you up to my room last night, you would’ve gone with me.”

  I stop myself from laughing, even though that’s really what I feel like doing. “No. I wouldn’t have. I thought it would be nice to catch up with an old friend, but that’s it. Did I dress up? Yes, but that was for me. I was having a rough day, and I wanted to feel pretty.”

  “You looked hot. You look hot right now, too. If I wasn’t engaged, I’d make a play for you.”

  Which the little asshole basically just did by saying that. He wants me, and I could use that to my advantage, but I really don’t want to. He’s unstable, and I’m pregnant. Just one of those things in this situation would be bad, but together they could be deadly for one of us. Or both.

  Chapter 17

  Blake

  I’m supposed to be at the high school right now, but Reina called and asked me to have my assistant director cover today’s practice. She also had me send the tutors home. Jeanne and I are just sitting here, waiting for someone to tell us what’s going on. Audrey’s phone is going straight to voicemail, and that has me worried, too.

  The door opens, and Jeanne freaks out. “Oh my God! You’re Scott Griffin.”

  “I am, and you are Jeanne.”

  He holds out a tattoo covered arm, and shakes her hand, and then nods at me, before smiling at my daughter once again. I see her sway a little, and I think that means she just swooned. Oh hell no.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “We need Jeanne’s help, and since I’m the least useful with a gun, they sent me.”

  “I’ll help you with whatever you need,” Jeanne tells him.

  I roll my eyes, and pull her behind me. “You don’t even know what he wants help with. What do you need her for?”

  “We need to know what kind of online challenge tests you did.”

  “Oh, sure. I can tell you.”

  I sit back and try to listen to their conversation, but honestly, it’s all over my head. Scott types into his tablet as they talk, and also talks into the Bluetooth like thing he put in his ear. After about twenty minutes, he yells “gotcha” and high fives Jeanne.

  “You’re done? Did you find who was after her?”

  “Yes, and we already knew.”

  “What? Why didn’t Audrey tell us you figured it out.”

  He looks nervous then, pulling his lip ring into his mouth, and rocking back on his feet. He finally scratches the back of his head and answers. “The guy who was kind of in charge is in her office with her now, trying to get her to give up Jeanne. She’s been stalling him while we took his girlfriend, and looked for the muscle. We got them, but found something weird in the computer files at the company he works for.”

  “That’s why you needed to know about the challenges?” Jeanne asks.

  “Yes. Your info helped me find out who they were really trying to hack into. The company they were going to have you try and hack.”

  “Who is it?”

  “I can’t tell you that, but thank you again for helping.”

  “Are you going to get the guy in Audrey’s office now?” I ask, jumping into the conversation.

  “Um, no?”

  “No? Why the fuck not?”

  “Dad, you shouldn’t cuss.”

  Scott just laughs and ruffles her hair. “Baby girl, I live and breathe f-bombs. Well, except for when my boy’s around. My wife withholds sex when he cusses, so I’ve been making sure to behave around him.”

  “Now that we have that extra information about you we didn’t need, can you please answer my question?”

  “Maybe you should talk to Reina.”

  “She’s not here, and I’m asking you.”

  “Shit. Okay, Audrey knows the guy. They went to high school together.”

  “Jimmy?”

  “Yeah, that’s him. He showed up, and she’s been keeping him occupied in her office while we rounded everyone up.”

  “She took him to her office? Is that allowed?”

  “He means her fake office, the one that people who come to the Foundation see,” Jeanne says.

  “Yeah, that one. It’s boring as fuck, but does a good job of hiding what she really does. And yes, if she trusted someone, she could take them to her real office.”

  “Again, why doesn’t someone just go get him now?”

  “Well, he appears to be a little unstable, and we don’t want to endanger Audrey. Reina’s hoping she can talk him out of the office.”

  “Audrey can take care of herself. I know she can.”

  “Normally, yes, but not right now.”

  “What do you mean, not right now? Is she injured?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “You know,” Jeanne says, her eyes wide.

  “Uh, yeah. When she activated her distress signal yesterday, we could automatically hear everything she said. She knows we know, but everyone’s been waiting for her to officially tell us.”

  “Tell you what? Will someone please stop talking around me, and just tell me what’s going on?”

  The two of them look at each other, and Jeanne finally gives in to Scott’s pleading look. “Audrey’s pregnant, Dad. That’s why she couldn’t fight the men who came for me, and that’s why they’re worried about her getting hurt right now.”

  * * *

  Audrey

  “Audrey, we have everyone and Jeanne just helped Scott figure out what company they wanted her to get into. Scott said someone on the inside had to have been helping them, and that it could’ve been really bad if Jeanne had let Jimmy and his girlfriend inside their system. He’s notified the company, and they’re on lockdown while they investigate.”

  “What exactly were you going to use Jeanne for?”

  “We are going to have her help us get some info we need to beat the competition. Stop using past tense.”

  “You must realize by now that that’s not going to happen. You’re not going to have Jeanne.”

  “I am,” he roars, jumping over my desk and pushing my chair as far as It’ll go into the desk, while leaning over me.

  I look up at him, trying to figure out how to get out of here in once piece since he’s obviously about to go a little crazier when he understands that he’s not going to get what he wants. He inserts his USB drive into my computer and smiles for a few seconds, and then he’s frowning. He types k
eys and I watch as he starts to realize that he can’t break through.

  “It’s over, Jimmy. Step away from me, and we can both walk out of this office.”

  “It’s not over,” he says, grabbing the loose strands of my hair and pulling my head back as he pushes me even harder into the desk.

  It hurts, and for the first time in a very long time, I’m scared of being physically injured. If it was just me, I’d have been fighting already, but I have to think about my baby. I won’t risk the baby. I can take some pain, I’ve been trained to take it.

  “It is. You are not going to get into our system, and you can’t have Jeanne. Please just walk out of here, while you can.”

  “While I can?” he asks, pulling my hair harder. “Haven’t you noticed that I hold all the power here? I could call my men, and they’d be through your poor excuse for security in seconds. We could take down this whole building.”

  “Theo and Jake are outside your office. The rest of us are on the way. We’ve all been waiting for you to tell us, but you know we know about the baby. No one is going to jeopardize either one of you, so you tell us when you’re ready. This guy is getting crazier, though, so if you can’t calm him down soon, you need to let the boys in.”

  Reina’s right. I’m just not sure what Jimmy will do when they come in with guns blazing. He’s not going to just give himself up. I know he has no weapons, but if his mind is still functioning at least a little, he could be resourceful. I’ve killed a person with a pen, and while I was trained, he’s also smart enough to figure it out. I just have to hope that he doesn’t.

  “One more thing, Aud. I just found out that Blake knows. He wouldn’t stop questioning why you couldn’t get yourself out of there, and so Jeanne told him. She didn’t want to, but it was going to be her or Scott, and it was better that it was her. Scott said Blake just collapsed in his chair and hasn’t spoken. I’m sorry.”

  Damn it. Can one thing go right today? Just one thing. That’s all I’m asking for. I need to end this now, and I know how to do it. I trust Jake with my life, and Theo seems like a good guy, too, so I just go for it.

  “We’ve got your men, and your girlfriend, too. You need to let me go, and you’ll still be able to walk out of this office.”

  “You’re bluffing.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Those men are highly trained. They wouldn’t let anyone take them. They’d use their kill pills first.”

  “They weren’t given time to get those pills out. We have them, and I promise you that when my boss is done with them, they’ll tell everything they know.”

  “Reina Corrigan? Some socialite bitch doesn’t scare me.”

  “She should.”

  “Well, she doesn’t. My girlfriend’s building security is much better than this joke of a place. No one’s getting to her. So please stop lying. I really don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You’re hurting me right now.”

  He actually lets go of my hair and backs away from me. I push my chair away from the desk, and breathe a little easier. “I’m sorry, Audrey. I just really need Jeanne, and I know you can give her to me. Why won’t you help me?”

  “She’s just a girl, Jimmy. I can’t let you kidnap her and make her do work for you against her will.”

  “Always so ethical, aren’t you? Wrong and right. Black and white. That’s all you see, isn’t it?”

  “No. I know the grey. For most of my life, I’ve lived in the grey.”

  “Oh yeah, you’re probably spinning lies to make your boss look good.”

  “Reina doesn’t need anything spun for her. She’s one of the best people I know.”

  “You talk about her like she’s perfect.”

  “She’s pretty close.”

  “Everyone has secrets and flaws.”

  “Yes, we do.”

  “Come work with me, Audrey. Give me Jeanne, and you can come work for us.”

  “I would never leave this job, but even if I would, there’s nothing left to go to. I’ve told you already, we’ve taken your girlfriend down.”

  “How did some charitable foundation take down mercenaries and highly trained security personnel? Tell me that, and maybe I’ll believe you.”

  I can do that. I can tell him, because if he makes it out of here alive, his mind will be wiped. “Have you ever heard of the Society?”

  “The Society? You mean that mythical group of women who supposedly right the wrongs of the world? Of course I’ve heard of them, but they aren’t real.”

  “We’re very real, Jimmy.”

  “You? No. That’s funny, Aud.”

  “I’m not laughing.”

  “Really? You’re part of the Society? I’m in the Society lair?”

  “Yes, and no. You’re in a public office at a private foundation. This room is not part of any ‘lair.’”

  “But it’s here right? This foundation is a front for it?”

  “Yes.”

  He starts laughing as he walks closer to me again. “Why would you tell me? I’ll expose you all. Give me Jeanne.”

  The door bangs open, and Reina’s standing there. “You’re not telling anyone, and you’ll never have Jeanne.”

  Jimmy grabs me suddenly, trying to use me as a shield. I do fight now, pushing him away. With one last burst of strength, he shoves me hard, causing me to trip. I hit my head on the desk, and start to feel myself losing consciousness. I hear yelling as I’m caught by strong arms. The last thing I hear is Reina reminding him that he said he wasn’t scared of her, and telling him he’s going to regret that, and then everything goes black.

  Chapter 18

  Audrey

  They woke me up every hour for the first 24 that I was here in the hospital ward. I know they had to check on me since I had a concussion, but I just wanted to sleep. Kendrick was the last one to come in, telling me the baby was fine, and that I was, too. After that, they let me sleep. I don’t know how long I was out, but I’m groggy now when I wake up.

  The nurse comes in when I press my call button, and then I have to endure all the usual vital checks before she gives me a pitcher of water to drink. I tell her I’m hungry, and she takes my breakfast order, too. These are normal things for any hospital, but here my pitcher of water is glass, and my breakfast will be gourmet, cooked to order by the chefs upstairs. Oh, and I’m in another satin sleepshirt courtesy of Stella, instead of a typical hospital gown. The perks of being a secret agent are endless. At least with the Society and Corrigan & Co. behind me.

  The nurse has only been gone a few minutes when there’s a knock at my door. I’m expecting Reina, but I’m not entirely surprised when Caleb walks in. “Hi Cal.”

  “You don’t look too surprised.”

  “Once everyone acknowledged what they heard through my comm unit, I knew you’d be paying me a visit. Tegan can relate to me even though our situations are different, and you’re here for Blake.”

  “Is it okay? I mean, I can come back if you’re not ready to talk to me.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “That’s what Teeg says when it’s not.”

  “This time it is,” I tell him with a laugh, and then a wince.

  “Aud?”

  “My head just hurts a little when I laugh, but I promise you I’m good.”

  “Okay. You said that you already know why I’m here?”

  “I do. I don’t need this talk, but I think you do. So go ahead and lay it on me.”

  He nods, takes a deep breath, and then begins to plead Blake’s case for him. “Guys are jerks. We don’t always mean to be, but we are. When I was sixteen, I was insecure, jealous, but most of all, stupid. I let my insecurities, and my pride—mostly my pride—guide me, and it hurt Tegan more than I can ever make up for. I hurt myself, too, but that’s my own fault. Teeg, what I did to her? That is something that I have to live with for my whole life.

  “And then when she came back into my life, I did it again. I called her names, said words I didn�
�t believe or mean, because again, I was insecure and prideful. That whole sticks and stones thing we say as kids is bullshit. Words hurt so much more than anything physical, and I hurt her again. Over and over, I’ve hurt the woman I love, and yet she’s forgiven me.”

  “You’ve forgiven her, too.”

  “I have. Audrey, I fell in love with Ethan the moment I knew he was mine. There was no hesitation, my heart just opened and let him all the way in.”

  “He’s an amazing kid.”

  “He is. Because of his mom, and all of you, not because of me. That hurts. It hurts me so much that I missed ten years of his life. People think I forgave Tegan too easily for that, and maybe I did, but I couldn’t dwell on what I’d lost. If I’d done that, I’d still be in a corner somewhere, curled into the fetal position. I lost those years with Ethan, but I also lost them with Tegan. All I could think about was that I didn’t want to lose the next ten or more with her. That’s more important to me than the past.

  “Would I have loved to have been with them, to have seen my boy be born and take his first steps? Hell yeah. But I get to watch him navigate high school in a few years, and fall in love for the first time. I get to see him grow into the man that I should’ve been. The man I’m trying to be now. My son will never use the words I did, against a man or a woman. He will have his faults, I’m sure, but they won’t be the same as mine, because he was raised during his formative years by all of you. I will never be able to thank you all enough for what you’ve done for Tegan and Ethan, but in my weakest moments, I wish I’d been there, too.”

  “I was always going to tell Blake.”

  “Good. I’ve heard that he’s great with his daughter, so I know he’ll want to be part of your child’s life, even if he’s not ‘with’ you.”

  “I know that too.”

  “Thanks for listening to me. You’re probably right—I needed that more than you did.”

  “You’re a very good man, Caleb. I’ve never seen Tegan happier than you’ve made her since you’ve been back together, and Ethan is thriving, too. I’m so happy for all of you.”

  He leans over and kisses my cheek. “Thanks for saying that, Audrey. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.” He rubs his hands together and smiles at me. “Now, let’s talk about what we’re each working on while you wait for your breakfast. Chemistry makes everything better, right?”