He grappled with sliding into his jeans as he accepted the call. “Hello.”
“Hey, it’s Mitch Granger.”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“I’m here at Hotel MacKenzie. Evidently only one elevator goes all the way to the penthouse floor, and it’s down for service.”
“I took that one out of commission for security reasons.” Josh tucked his gun in the waistband of his jeans as he headed back to the bedroom. Where the hell were his shoes?
Macki leaned over the side of the mattress and put her head next to Josh’s as he knelt down. Her breath against his ear stymied what little control he had left.
“What are you looking for?” she whispered.
He held the phone away from his mouth and answered quietly. “Shoes.”
“You didn’t have them on last night.” She shook her head as she brushed her fingers across his shoulders. “Are you coming back to bed anytime soon?”
He laughed then tweaked her nose before leaning over and kissing her soundly. “Afraid not. Duty calls.”
She turned over and cuddled back into her pillow.
“Hello? Hello?” Mitch’s voice brought Josh back to reality. “Anybody there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.” Josh started down the hall. “Come up the stairs. I’ll meet you at the fire door entry.”
“Already did. All fifteen damn flights of stairs. Me and the two heavier-than-hell bags I’m holding.” Mitch grunted loudly and to the point. “Now forget about the damn shoes and open the stairwell door.”
Josh ended the call on the way to the outer hallway. Once there, he opened the stairwell’s steel fire door and grabbed one of the bags from Mitch. One look at the smug expression on the man’s face said his team member had heard everything. He also looked like he’d spent a long, ragged night of travel to reach Riverfalls this early.
“No shirt. No shoes. Bet you got service, though.” Mitch smiled.
“Stop before you say another word.” The guys had always joked around, but Macki wasn’t a joke. As of last night, she was off-limits to every other man out there. “’Cause I swear I’ll put you on the floor.”
“What? Since when can’t I have a little fun with my agent buddy?” Mitch set the bag he’d carried inside by the kitchen counter then slapped Josh on the back. “Nobody ever said paybacks weren’t hell. Where’s your sense of humor this morning? You look like you’ve had a busy night.”
“Yeah, so do you.”
“I bet you had more fun, though.” Rubbing the back of his neck, Mitch scrunched the side of his mouth upward. Bruises on his cheek and chin looked fresh.
“I said don’t go there.” Josh lowered his tone for emphasis.
They knew each other’s unspoken leave-me-the-hell-alone statements. And their tells. They also ribbed each other about any and everything. Josh figured he’d done more than his share of innuendo where The Shades were concerned. Especially in Mitch’s love-’em-and-leave-’em direction. Technically, Josh was due a shot of payback aimed in his direction. But, not about Macki.
He detoured to his room, returning with shoes on his feet and a shirt in his hand. “Don’t think for one minute I believe you climbed all fifteen flights of stairs. You may be dense as concrete, but you still know how to take the elevator to the fourteenth floor, come through the unlocked stairwell door, and walk up one level.”
Mitch laughed as he reached into one of the bags and retrieved an instant ice pack then pressed it against his cheek.
For the next couple of minutes, Josh filled the coffeemaker with water and coffee grounds, then waited for it to brew. He needed caffeine. Good super-strong coffee and caffeine.
“I haven’t heard anything from Drake yet, so we’ve got time.” He nodded toward the hallway. “Second room on the left will be yours, if you want to clean up.”
“We’ve got a problem. But OPAQUE Tech is on it. Otherwise, there’s nothing new to report.” Mitch opened the refrigerator just like he lived there then pulled out a jug of orange juice. After flipping open a couple of cabinet doors, he found a glass and poured it full. Chugged it down and refilled.
Nothing to update explained why their boss hadn’t called back.
“What happened to your face?” Josh asked. “I just left you a few days ago.”
“Had a quick retrieval job come up. In. Out. Done.” Mitch shifted the ice bag to his chin. “Except one of the guys didn’t take to the idea of extraction.” He tossed the ice bag on the counter. “No big deal.”
The bedroom door opened and Macki stepped into the room. Wrapped in a barely closed sheet, she rubbed her fingers across her eyes as she glanced in Josh’s direction. “Do you want me to make breakfast for us?”
Mitch set his glass on the counter and grinned. “Well that’s mighty nice of you, ma’am. ’Cause I for one am famished.”
She jerked her head up. Her hands seized the sheet in a vise grip, clutching the material against her body. “Who…when… I thought you were Facetiming.”
“Nope.” Stepping in front of her, Josh shot her one of his raised eyebrow looks while steering her to the bedroom door. “Get dressed. Then we’ll discuss breakfast.”
He pulled the door closed behind her and turned back around.
Mitch shot him one of his What the hell do you think you’re doing looks, then grabbed the smaller of his bags and headed down the hall. “Why don’t I go clean up? I’ll check in with Tech, too.”
Josh nodded. This was not the way he’d planned to start the day.
Five minutes later, they’d all gathered back in the kitchen.
“This is OPAQUE Agent Mitch Granger. He’s the man your uncle sent to protect Roxy.” Josh walked over and put his arm across Macki’s shoulder. “And this is Mackenzie Baudin. The boss’s niece.”
“Ma’am.” Mitch poured himself another glass of orange juice.
“Agent Granger. I’m glad you got here so fast. Call me Mackenzie,” she said.
“Since we’ve got a lot of work to do, why don’t I order up breakfast?” Josh moved toward the house phone.
“Sounds good to me.” Mitch glanced around the open space of the living room and kitchen, no doubt taking in the security systems Josh had already installed.
“Me, too. Make mine blueberry waffles and bacon. Remind them to call when they start up the last flight of stairs, so we can let them in.” She glanced at the empty juice container on the counter. “Have them send up a couple jugs of orange juice, also.”
“Thank you.” Mitch slicked back his almost-black-as-crude-oil hair then pulled out his laptop. “Let’s work while we wait. ’Cause, like I told Josh, we’ve got a problem.”
…
Macki forced herself to take another bite of her favorite breakfast. Today, the perfectly made blueberry waffles tasted like cardboard, but she knew she had to eat. From the looks of it, this could turn into a very long day.
Seated or standing around the kitchen island, she, Josh, and Mitch ate as they tried to piece Roxy’s puzzle together. And there were a lot of missing pieces.
“No daughter?” Macki felt the pinch between her eyebrows. “That doesn’t make sense. You said OPAQUE tracked down the birth certificate. So, of course Roxy has a daughter. I mean, why would she make something like that up?”
Mitch pushed his plate away. “I’m just saying the trail from the hospital is cold. And if OPAQUE can’t find it, then there’s no trail to be found.”
“Adoption? Death?”
“Both of which would have a paper trail. There is none.”
There had to be another lead. “What about the money Roxy used to send the girl? I went to the bank with her one day. I actually saw her wire the money to another account.”
Mitch held up his index finger. “There’s the rub. She sends money at least every other month. Always has. It goes to an account in Arizona. The first of each month, there’s an automatic withdrawal that gets sent to a bank in California.”
Macki braced
her elbow on the counter. “Ooooooooh, Roxy. What’s going on?”
The agent swigged down a gulp of coffee. Pointed again. “There’s more. Every three months, the account in California gets swept, leaving only enough to not incur bank charges. And that money goes to an offshore account in the Cayman Islands.”
“Let me guess. That account is owned by some dummy corporation.” Mackie had helped the FBI take down just such a group when she was a cop. Following the trail was difficult, occasionally impossible without months of investigation. Right now, they didn’t have much time.
“You got it.” Mitch finished his coffee.
Instead of tossing questions into the conversation, Josh seemed to just be listening. She could almost see the wheels turning.
“Get Roxy on the speaker phone.” Josh still hadn’t moved.
Macki dialed the woman’s number.
“Hey, you’ve got foxy Roxy. What can I do for you?” Same tone. Same words. Same purr-like-a-kitten breaths.
“This is Mackenzie Baudin. I’ve got you on speaker phone.”
A long pause then even longer. “Who’s listening?”
Josh motioned for the phone to be put on the counter. “Do you recognize my voice?”
“Yes.”
“Well there’s me, Macki, and one of my associates who’s come to town to help you. But we need your help locating your daughter. From what we’ve found so far, she’s not showing up.”
“Then I…”
Mitch pointed at himself. “Roxy, you don’t know me yet, but I’m trying to put everything into place for you and your daughter…Sandy D. Street. Right?”
“Yes.”
“The birth certificate I got from Chicago didn’t list a father. Now, if you could give me that name, it would be a big help. Maybe she’s using that last name.” The agent held his hands up as if to stop any fuss. “I promise I won’t contact him. You’ve got my word.”
“No. I can’t give you that name. I-I—”
Macki motioned the others to be quiet. Roxy never stuttered. “What’s wrong, Roxy?”
The woman’s breathing became jerky, almost as if she was near tears. “I need to go. I can’t keep talking to you.”
“Just two more questions, I promise.” Mitch’s tone was calm and friendly. “Okay?”
“Hurry up before somebody traces this call.”
“Hang up, Roxy. We’ll call right back.” Josh ended the call. They waited thirty seconds, then Macki redialed.
The phone rang and rang and rang. All the while, she visualized D Street. The women. Roxy. Life. Death. Fear. Lots of fear.
Roxy must have been getting a bad vibe from whoever had her wrapped around their finger. Otherwise, she’d have never agreed to give Josh any information last night. And now she had to be scared out of her wits.
Phoning again and again, all Macki could do was pray Roxy would answer sooner or later.
Josh motioned for Macki to lay the phone on the counter. “If Roxy’s going to talk to us, it will be on her terms. All we can do is wait.”
The phone rang, and Roxy showed on the caller ID. Macki clicked the call to speaker as Mitch moved back to the counter.
“Talk fast, Mister Agent man.”
Mitch grabbed his pen and paper. “What number do you call when you talk to Sandy?”
“I’ve never talked to my daughter.” A pitiful noise came through the phone as Roxy sucked in a breath. “I never…even got to…hold her…”
Macki opened her mouth to ask for an explanation, but Josh motioned everyone to be quiet. To wait for Roxy.
The woman blew out a sigh. “I’d been powerful sick with that pregnancy. Almost died. So, the doctors knocked me out for a few days when she was born. By the time I came to, the adoption I’d agreed to beforehand had already happened, and she was gone.” Roxy cleared her throat. “I never even got to see my beautiful daughter.”
“Who told you to send her money?”
“Nobody. I just do.”
“Who set up the account for you?”
“Her father.”
“And how do you know she needs protection?”
“Her father told me. Listen, I’ve got to go. I can’t talk any longer.”
Time was of the essence if there was a trace, but the question had to be asked again. Macki asked, “Who’s the father, Roxy?”
“No.”
“Tell me who the father is, so I can find Sandy for you.” Mitch used a firm but understanding tone this time. “You know she’s in danger. And you love her. I know you want to hold her in your arms. Help me find her before it’s too late.” He paused. “Who’s the father?”
Roxy’s breathing echoed through the phone in loud puffs. “No. It’s better living the way I’ve been living than to chance her life anymore. It’ll all be there when I give you your information. I promise you that. Now find my daughter, Mister Agent man.”
Click. The line went dead.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Search the dark web, that’s all Josh had done for the past couple of hours since Macki, Mitch, and he had spoken with Roxy. They hadn’t got much from her except she was scared. And the father was the key to everything. Maybe even to CT.
OPAQUE had picked through every lead they could find. Roxy’s daughter had simply vanished from the hospital. No adoption papers. No tax record exemptions. No social security card for a child named Sandy D. Street born on that date, or any date close to that. Thinking the new parents might have changed her name entirely, the group checked by birth date, city, hospital with just the first name. Nothing.
By mid-afternoon the three of them had to admit they were getting nowhere fast. They dialed up Drake in Miami’s OPAQUE office. The day-old stubble on the boss’s cheeks said he’d had a long night and day, also. Josh, Macki, and Mitch took up spots around the guest bedroom in her penthouse, each with their own screen panel for the conversation.
“What do you want me to do?” Mitch asked.
Drake shook his head. “I want you out on D Street. See what you can find. Make contact with Roxy and let her know we’re trying. Maybe she’ll say something of value.”
Macki’s phone chirped with a text message. “What the…?” She keyed a response.
“What’s that about?” Josh kept his seat in the oversize corner chair.
“The Planning and Zoning Committee of the city council has called a special emergency meeting at five thirty today. They want everyone to attend.”
“Isn’t that kind of short notice?”
She rounded her eyes and nodded emphatically. “That’s just what I told them. I also told them I’m tied up. I’ll send someone in my place.” Her phone chirped again. She shook her head after reading the message. “Now they say the mayor insists everyone be there. Guess I’ll have to go.”
Josh leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Does this strike anyone else as strange?”
“Happens sometimes.” Macki shrugged. “Besides, everyone got the message.”
“How do you know?” Josh came over to stand beside her.
“See the To line? That’s everybody’s name who’s on the committee.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Somebody already got into your texts before I arrived. And after that whole thing with the laptop and police access last night…” He plopped back in the corner chair. “Hell, maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
Mitch took up the room, pacing. “Go with your gut, man. It’s never failed you.”
“I agree.” Drake braced his elbows on the desk in front of him. “Macki, text one of the members directly. Make that two. Ask if they got that message.”
She keyed in the text and sent it off. One councilman answered in about twenty seconds. The other’s response chimed in a few seconds later. “Looks like they got the same message.”
Nobody seemed ready to commit to yes or no on her going. Then everyone began talking at once.
Drake finally got the group’s attention.
“Here’s the plan. I’m heading to Chicago to talk to my FBI contacts face-to-face. Depending on what I find out, I’ll head on down to Riverfalls or wherever the info takes me.”
Josh glanced in his partner’s direction. “I’ll be point on Macki while she’s at the committee meeting. And I don’t plan to let her out of my sight.”
“I’ll back you up until the meeting is finished,” Mitch said. “After that I’ll head to D Street.”
“Sir, have we got any other backup in the area that we can trust?”
“Yeah, Reese Trenton.”
“CIA Trenton?”
“The same. I’d planned to meet him in Chicago, but I’ve already got him headed in your direction. If you see him, he’s not really there.” The boss paused. “Under no circumstances is he there. Got it?”
“Got it,” the three said in unison.
“Good. Sounds like everything’s covered for the moment.” Drake was already on his feet, turning to leave.
Josh saw the moment concern inched across Macki’s face. Not fear. Not anger. Not confusion. But an odd expression he’d never seen on her.
“Before we go, I’ve got something to say.” She laid down the security screen she was holding and turned in his direction. “I don’t know if Josh got a chance to relay the warning Tessa gave him from Coercion Ten last night. The one that targeted Josh, Drake, and me.”
“He told me,” Drake said.
She brushed her palms against her jeans as she nervously fidgeted. What had her so upset?
Drake sat back down, listening to his niece. “What’s on your mind, Macki?”
Raising her head till her gaze met Josh’s, she bit her lip even tighter. “Did he tell you that they specifically said Josh would be the first to go down?”
“No, he left that part out.”
Josh shook his head at her. “That wasn’t an important detail.”
“Well, it’s important to me.” She didn’t move from her spot. “You’re important to me.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I never said you couldn’t. No doubt, you’ve handled a million situations a hell of a lot more dangerous than this.”
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