by Dana Volney
“I’m not a snitch.”
Or a good liar. Great. Eddie was going to find out, and any leverage she had to get him back on her team was gone.
“And by your account, you’re also not a murderer, but my evidence suggests otherwise. So you might want to do us all a favor here and think really hard.”
“What evidence do you have?” Eddie swiveled in his seat, eyeing the folder on her lap.
“Fingerprints, eyewitnesses putting Leo at Marty’s apartment at the time of death, and a disturbance reported of two men fighting that night.”
“What was the cause of death?” Eddie continued, clearly not fazed by the “evidence” against his brother.
“Blunt force trauma,” she lied. More than likely, Marty had met his maker due to a heart attack, but she wouldn’t know for another couple of days. If she told Eddie the truth, he’d know something was up.
“This is all circumstantial at best.”
“But enough to arrest Mr. Dever and search his home for the weapon and conduct our investigation.”
“You mean railroad him.” Eddie’s stare focused in on her firmly and crept into places she didn’t want his green eyes to affect.
She kept her face hard. She wasn’t going to give him an inch. The man was handsome and then some. But his favorable gene sequence wasn’t going to make her do her job poorly.
“I do not.” She shook her head once, not letting herself blink or break their moment. She had to keep the upper hand.
“Oh, holy shit,” Leo’s panic broke their silent fight. “Now you’re going to really frame me, and that wasn’t our—”
“Mr. Dever.” She raised her voice to cover anything he might say that she didn’t want Eddie to hear. “If you are being framed, then I suggest you work with us to take down your employer so that you can be a free man.” Hopefully, he got her double meaning. His freedom, after all, was why he’d come to her in the first place. He wanted to move south or something like that.
“It’s now or never. She isn’t going to let this go.” Eddie nodded her way, his blonde hair swaying with the movement.
Good. Finally, everyone was coming to their senses.
“I don’t know what you want from me. I just do what I’m told.”
“Any information, any detail, even if it’s small, on illegal activity.”
Eddie stood, pushed back his chair, which creaked on the hard flooring, stepped beside Leo, and starting whispering in his ear. Leo’s eyes widened momentarily; then resignation fell over his face. Eddie took his seat. Whatever he’d said, he wasn’t showing it on his perfectly tanned face.
“There’s something going down this weekend. Pretty big. I’ve heard some things.” Leo could barely meet her gaze. She pressed her lips together. This is something she should’ve heard about way before having him in custody under false pretenses. “Word is that Redburn wants in the counterfeiting business.”
She could work with that. Those charges carried some heavy weight.
“There’s a meet that’s supposed to happen this weekend. The couple is flying in from wherever and staying downtown. We don’t know what they look like, but they are staying in the hotel next to where they’re all meeting for dinner. Me and another guy were supposed to tail them after dinner and keep an eye out to make sure things are legit.”
“How was the meet set up?” she asked. She didn’t believe him, at least not until he produced details on this new, reputable information.
“No clue. But this is a big deal to Mr. Redburn.”
“Does this couple make the counterfeit funds, or are they the go-between?” she asked.
“Dunno.”
“What are their names?”
Leo shrugged, and she took a deep breath, pausing so that she didn’t reach across the desk and choke him. “Where’s the dinner?”
“Alonzo’s.”
“The Westin then.” That was the only hotel next door to the posh Italian restaurant.
“When is this all supposed to happen?”
“Tonight.”
Her stomach flipped. Starting an undercover operation tonight wasn’t on the list of things that she was prepared to do today. Or ever.
Except this was her opportunity. Leo had been holding back and his tab was now paid.
The full wattage of Eddie’s bright green eyes sized her up. “Is there any way you’re going to let this whole task force thing go?”
Eddie was coming around. She could see it as he searched her gaze. With both of them on their game, they could handle the op. She could have Redburn tied up with a pretty red bow for the DA by Monday. Her mouth practically salivated at the notion.
“Not likely.” She was never going to let it go. By her math, she had three days to make a case—find something, get evidence, anything that could lead to a charge and conviction—or she was dead in the water. Professionally speaking. And emotionally.
“Can you hold off on charging Leo until I can look into this more?”
She shook her head and concentrated on not smiling. Eddie was about to give in. Not one bone in her body was remorseful. Robert deserved justice more than Eddie deserved the immediate truth.
“I’ll do this with you. Investigate Redburn and friends, go undercover with you, but you have to do something for me in return.”
She arched a brow. Screaming I’ll do anything you want probably wasn’t the best way to play it cool right now. Although, giving his last brilliant idea was a lip-lock to impress her boss, his demands might not be what you’d call impossible.
“I want to put this schmuck in a safe house with a law enforcement official of my choosing.” He jerked his thumb toward Leo. “Just while we—I—investigate on his behalf and we’re under the covers.”
“Undercover.”
He nodded.
“That’s not gonna happen. We’re not moving Leo.” How would she even swing that? Well, technically Leo wasn’t under arrest, and both her superior and the DA knew that she’d pulled him out to protect him, so, sure, why not?
“Then I’m out. Catch Redburn on your own.”
“Three days. There’s a limit before I’ll be forced to put him in the system.” And to when she’d be forced to put up or shut up.
“The system?” Leo’s voice went up an octave.
She glanced his way; maybe he did believe she was going to charge him for Marty’s death.
“Deal,” Eddie said.
Deal, indeed. She stood. There was so much work to get done. They needed surveillance and wardrobe at the very least. “Sort out this safe house; I want all of the details, and be ready to go by three. We need to get there early to ensure a quick transition. And don’t forget about your gadgets.”
“My gadgets?”
“Yes. We’re going to need all of your tech if we’re going to catch him.”
Screw if. She wanted it to be when, but she harbored too much of her father’s practicality. In fact, she was always a realist. Except when it came to her vengeance on Warren Redburn. The man killed her brother. Whether she did it by the law or not, she’d had enough. Redburn didn’t deserve to be breathing fresh air, or any air, any longer.
She had three days and one partner under false pretenses to get to Redburn and ... suffocate him with his own pillow. Or arrest him. Whichever felt right in the moment.
Chapter Three
His brother was innocent, of that Eddie was sure. Eh, mostly. He’d seen his brother do some shit back in the day and could tell when he wasn’t being straight. And while they hadn’t exactly been in touch lately, there was no way Leo had become that good of a liar. Still, something was off. Eddie couldn’t put his finger on it, but he’d bet his next three paychecks that he’d not been fed all of the pieces.
And was it just Leo’s demeanor that bothered him or Hannah’s too?
She called his brother “Leo,” not Leonard, and didn’t seem to care that she was fighting a losing battle and her career trajectory was probably on the line.
/>
Warren Redburn was the best and worst type of criminal. He gave back to the community, built shelters and parks, and donated tons of money to charities, but the money was dirty from all types of illegal activity, from gambling and drugs to prostitution. Nasty stuff. The cops hadn’t been able to ever make anything stick. He kept his house in order, and anyone who fell out of rank was never heard from again. Ever.
Leo being linked to a murder in the organization wasn’t good. Even if Leo were innocent, it wouldn’t bode well that his brother had been in custody and investigated. He’d be considered a lose end by Redburn and officially on record at the FBI. First Eddie was going to have to prove Leo was innocent, or at least cast enough doubt, and then he had to get the kid as far away from Seattle as possible.
Eddie made his way back to Alex’s office, hoping to catch him for a time-sensitive request Alex wasn’t going to like.
The Wyn Security team was busy, and with two people down and Eddie on Winter’s shit list, Alex was the only other person in town who he trusted with his life. There’d been rumblings of Redburn’s reach going far and wide into law enforcement, and Eddie didn’t want Leo’s location to get out. He wasn’t even happy about telling Hannah. She definitely wasn’t on the Redburn payroll, but she’d probably tell someone up the chain, and who knew about them.
“Got another minute?” Eddie knocked twice on Alex’s open door, then helped himself to the chair across from the man.
“How’s your brother?”
“Lucky as always.”
“What’s your definition of unlucky then?” Alex chuckled and took a swig from a black coffee mug.
Eddie started to smile. It had already been one hell of a day, and it wasn’t nearly over, nor was the nightmare he was in. Not only did he have to help Eddie—and yes, he would use the word help because that’s what Mom had asked him to do twelve years ago, and he hadn’t listened then, but he was going to follow one of her dying requests now—he also had to aid Hannah with her half-cocked plan and decide whether he should quit Wyn Security because he’d let them all down.
“Oh, no, I know that look.” Alex shook his head and sat forward. “You know one of these days, I’m going to need something from you guys, and you’d better all show up.”
“I’d say we’ve all mutually benefited from our friendship.” Eddie made a point to glance around the swanky new office Alex spent his days in. The last time, when shit went bad for Felix and Arabella, the collars Alex secured as a result of helping out had been mighty impressive.
“I’m still not going to like what you’re going to ask, though.”
“I need you to chaperone my brother at a safe house while I investigate the murder he’s accused of and deal with this task force I’ve been assigned to.”
“I heard about Amelia. How’s she doing?”
Oh, he just bet Alex heard something. Probably had a full assessment of every wrong move Eddie made that night jotted in the notebook in his desk.
“Good. Keeping her blood inside her body.”
“I can have one of my guys do it.”
“It’s got to be you. You’re the only one available I trust. I can’t put it all together yet, but he’s involved in something bad, and I can’t focus on helping Hannah if I know he’s not safe.”
“Hannah?”
“Special Agent Malone.” Her soft, pink lips and pale pink nail polish fit her first name well, but her attitude was neither whimsical nor fun. It was serious and detrimental to Leo’s health.
“I see.” Alex grinned and leaned back in his chair.
“It’s not like that. How are you and Jane doing? She could join you. It’d be like a staycation, only with my brother.”
“We broke up.”
“Perfect. You need some guy time. Drink some beer. Play video games.”
“First of all, I actually liked Jane. Second, I can’t drink beer while I protect your brother, and third, I don’t play video games.”
“Well, you do now. You’ll have fun. I’ll set you up with the best of the best, and Leo will show you the ropes.”
“I don’t want to be in a gross safe house. I want a hotel. A nice one.”
“How about a nice safe house with a fully stocked fridge instead?” That was the best he could do on short notice—the Wyn Security safe house, which was technically an apartment, wasn’t being used right now.
Alex let out a groan. “Fine.” He paused, his stare hardening.
Dammit, the guy couldn’t be a better man even if he tried. Eddie knew what was coming. Alex was also a great detective and even savvier when it came to covering his own ass. Was this a bad idea? Was he putting Alex in danger? After the incident with Amelia, he shouldn’t trust his instincts as readily. Second-guessing himself in a conversation—benign. Second-guessing himself in the field—deadly.
“Do I need to watch out for him?” Alex continued. “Is he a runner? Do you think he’s innocent or guilty?”
Guilty people always had ticks, flinches, random eye movements, but dammit, Leo hadn’t slipped up once in that interrogation room. On the other hand, little brother was a survivor; he could very well be better at lying these days. Shit. Eddie wouldn’t swear on anything right now that Leo was telling the truth.
“I’m 90 percent certain he’s innocent. I don’t think he’ll try to run, but I wouldn’t put anything past him. You should keep a close eye. There’s only one entrance in the apartment and I’ll give you some tech to install so I can check in.”
“I want to say you’re going to owe me, but I’m going to eat my weight in steak this weekend, so we’ll probably be even.” His brow rose. “Make sure there’s steak.”
Eddie left with enough time to run to Wyn Security and his apartment to gather the bugs, ear communication systems, and other equipment he’d need to spy on his new target. He was going to give Hannah what she wanted, but not until he freed Leo first.
• • •
There was no room for error. Hannah tapped her index finger on her desk before reaching for her cell and calling Eddie. He was still in the building and heading back up with the poor schmuck who was going to watch a technically free man until Redburn was behind bars. She was going to have a lot of apologizing and ass kissing to do by the time this was all over.
A quick knock on her door stole her attention from the file she’d studied more than she cared to admit this year.
“Special Agent Hannah Malone, this is Lieutenant Alex Dreyer. He’s in charge of something or other here. Basically a big deal. You can trust him with Leo.”
Oh great, now I’m going to piss off a ranking official in the police department. Her deception had no bounds. But if this was what she had to do, so be it.
“Lieutenant.” She reached across her desk to shake his hand and was met with a curt smile and nod.
“He’s in the interview room. I’ll just have you sign off.” She stood, taking the file Eddie had stolen from Mr. Waters’s office with her. There was no way she was letting it out of her sight. “Stay for a moment?” she asked Eddie. “We have a few more things to discuss.”
“As you wish.”
She got Leo situated with his new handler and almost told the lieutenant the full story before remembering Eddie had called in a favor for this. She couldn’t take the chance of Eddie finding out.
Back in her office, she found Eddie sitting in the seat across from her desk, studying pictures on his laptop. His forearm flexed as he moved through the images and typed in another black box. A part of her sighed in relief. She needed him to treat the next couple days as a serious operation that was going to be successful—because everything she was, everything she had built, was on the line.
“What did you find?” She spoke softly to not startle him.
“Mr. and Mrs. Huntington.” He swiveled in his seat, his blonde hair swaying back and his eyes welcoming. “That’s who Redburn is going to meet. They are quite the loving couple.” He angled his screen as she moved closer t
o stand behind him.
“Where did you get those?”
“That’s not the important question here. What we should be wondering is if Redburn knows what these two look like.”
“Leo said they’d never met before, face-to-face, that is.”
“And we’re going to take his criminal word for it?”
“We don’t have much choice. If we intercept them first, threaten arrest, and get the information we need to assume their ID, we get to Redburn. That’s the goal. We have to try.” She moved to her chair and sat, not wanting to think about the illegal wiretapping, surveillance, and possible entrapment laws they were going to sidestep if their plan worked. They were pursuing this until they couldn’t.
“High risk, high reward. I like it, my little Atomic Fireball.”
Her brow lifted so high she could feel her forehead wrinkle. Why did he just call me a jawbreaker name?
“Do you have candy hidden in your pockets or put Jolly Ranchers in your body wash?” he persisted.
She shook her head. Either he was hungry, the Huntingtons had a candy fetish, or Eddie had the attention span of a goldfish.
“You smell like candy.” A sly smile turned one side of his lips up. “And I love candy.”
“The perfume bottle said nothing about it smelling like candy.”
“You do, and I’m going to name them off till I figure out exactly which one it is.”
“I’d rather you not.”
“Whatever you say, Almond Joy.”
Great, she’d recruited a tech genius who was a juvenile when he wasn’t focused on work. Yeah, this was going to work out really well.
“This is a genuine mission. Warren Redburn isn’t the kind of man who gives law enforcement opportunities to catch him. We have one. I’d rather you take it quite seriously.”
He closed his laptop and stood, towering over her. “You have my full attention. Whether you want it or not. Your mission is a means to an end for mine, and I won’t be forgetting that. Leo is my priority.”
“Redburn is our priority.”
