An Act of Redemption: Order & Chaos Book 3

by Wolfe, Samantha

  And then the unthinkable happened. Graves flew to her feet and yanked her pistol out in one fluid motion, the barrel suddenly aimed at her partner's head. He stared up at her in open mouthed shock. We all did.

  "You...you don't understand." Her hand shook, and desperate fear clouded her eyes. "I...I didn't have a choice," she whispered as she glanced at Ford and me for a second. "I'm sorry. I had to record those videos of you." She focused on Warren again. "But I swear I didn't have anything to do with the one of Sarina."

  "You fucking bitch!" Warren shouted angrily.

  Reggie suddenly started barking at Warren's raised voice. Graves startled, and her nervous eyes flashed toward the dog. In that instant, Gareth acted. He lunged up off the sofa in a blur before she could even react, and had his gun pointed at the side of her head in a heartbeat. She stilled.

  "I suggest you lower your gun, detective," Gareth growled out threateningly, his eyes hard and angry. His demeanor was calm and determined. I had no doubt whatsoever that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot her if he had to. She must have sensed that too, because she lowered her gun instantly and Warren surged forward to take it from her. She didn't resist in any way, and slumped back down into her chair with a deep gut-wrenching sob.

  Now Gareth and Warren both had their guns trained on her, but she was oblivious as she buried her face in her hands and sobbed violently.

  "You better have a permit to carry that weapon, Caxton," Warren grumbled out, not taking his eyes off of Graves.

  "Do you want to see it now, or after we deal with your dirty partner?" Gareth snapped out snidely. Gareth had just saved the ungrateful prick's ass, and this was how he acted? Asshole. I still didn't like him.

  "Why did you do this?" Warren asked Graves in a confused angry tone.

  "My daughter," she blurted out despairingly. "I did it for my daughter." She looked up at her partner pleadingly. "He said he could get her to the top of the transplant list."

  What?" Warren asked as his face paled. He lowered his gun.

  "What transplant list?" Gareth asked demandingly as he dropped his arm to hold his gun at his side. His eyes still watched her closely.

  "A...a lung transplant," she explained. "Sophia has cystic fibrosis. If she doesn't get the transplant soon she...she won't make it." Graves started sobbing again.

  "Who did this?" Warren asked her as his face hardened.

  "Let me guess," Ford growled out snidely. "Was it Bennett?"

  She turned to Ford with a confused frown. She shook her head. "N...no. It's Holt, Edward Holt."

  Ford's body deflated in defeat next to me. I stared at her, the sudden inkling of something I should remember fluttering around in my head.

  "How do you know this Holt guy isn't blowing smoke up your ass?" Andy asked Graves with a skeptical frown.

  "He...he knew things." Graves explained. "Things about Sophia's medical history. He knew how far down the list she was, and the people I'd been talking to about it." She looked at Warren again with a helpless expression. "I had to do it. I'm sorry, but she's only thirteen. I didn't know he was going to hurt so many people," she looked at Ford apologetically, "or ruin their lives, but I...I didn't know what else to do."

  Ford was frowning at her, but his eyes had softened a little. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her too. I just knew in my gut that this was all still on Carter, but I feared he'd made sure nothing could be traced back to him. Then, with a jolt, I realized why that name had resonated with me.

  "Oh my God," I blurted out. All eyes turned toward me. "I've heard that name before." I looked up at Gareth. "That day I saw Carter, he was talking to an Edward Holt on his phone when I walked into his office. He has to work for Carter. It all has to be connected, right?"

  Warren's eyes widened, and he glanced at Gareth. "So this Bennett blackmail shit you've been feeding me is real?"

  "Very," Gareth told him smugly.

  Warren cursed under his breath with a chagrined expression. "We need to find this Holt fucker." He looked at his partner again. "Do you know where to find him?"

  "No," she said meekly. "He always contacted me. I'm sorry."

  Warren immediately holstered his own weapon, then tucked Graves' gun into his waistband. He pulled out his phone, and we watched in silence as he started barking out orders to whoever he called to look up an Edward Holt. After a few minutes of silence, he growled and thanked whoever he was talking to in a tone that was anything but grateful. "He's in the system, but the address listed doesn't exist. It's a fake. How the fuck does that happen?"

  "Did you leak all that shit to the press?" Andy suddenly asked Graves out of nowhere. Everyone but Gareth glanced at him in confusion. Gareth was narrowing his eyes at my brother thoughtfully.

  "No," Graves answered in bewilderment. "But I told Holt what was going on with the case." She gave her partner an apologetic look when he glared at her. "He insisted."

  Gareth met my brother's eyes. An understanding passed between them. "Hopkins," he suddenly snarled out with venom.

  Andy nodded. "She has to be getting her info from Holt. We can use her to flush him out."

  "And then he leads us to Bennett," Gareth added with a devious smile.

  "Exactly," Andy said with an identical grin. Their eyes glittered with self-satisfaction.

  "She's desperate for an interview with Ford or me," I added. "We can lure her in with that." Gareth gave me an appreciative nod at my suggestion.

  "I don't know what 'we' you yahoos are talking about," Warren cut in with a glower, "but this is a police matter now. You're not luring anyone anywhere. We'll take care of this Hopkins bitch and give her the fear of God if she doesn't give him up. I'll have her ass slapped in cuffs for obstructing an investigation if she doesn't."

  "You need to make sure Sarina is okay, too," I added worriedly. That video was the hardest to watch out of all of them.

  Warren's face softened. "She looked fine yesterday when I questioned her again, but we'll make sure." He stepped away with his phone to his ear. Graves buried her face in her hands again and started weeping quietly.

  "Now what?" I asked Gareth in a fearful tone, afraid to hope this nightmare might actually end.

  "Now we wait," Gareth answered gravely as he slipped his gun back in its holster and sat down again.

  I nodded then grabbed Ford and Andy's hands in a death grip. I had a feeling this was going to be the longest wait of my life, and I needed the physical contact to steady myself. I just hoped to God that when the wait was over, Ford and I could finally have our lives and our future back.

  **********

  I let out a deep heavy sigh, and Ford's strong arm tightened around me. "I'm tired of waiting too, honey," he murmured in my ear before kissing my cheek. I leaned gratefully against him.

  We were sitting on the sofa of Gareth's second level sitting area alone with his large-screen TV on as a distraction that wasn't really working. I'd grown weary of my brother's ceaseless pacing downstairs earlier, and Gareth suggested we come up here if I needed to lay down. I think he'd noticed my irritated glances at Andy after an hour or so, and gave me an out before I went off on my brother. He started talking about Muay Thai and mixed martial arts to distract Andy. It worked, and they had been discussing some Thai martial arts movie star I'd never heard of named Tony Jaa when Ford and I fled upstairs.

  I did end up falling asleep for an hour or so, but it had been a restless nap that left me feeling fuzzy and out of sorts. Now it was mid afternoon, and we were cuddled together, finding solace in each other as we waited for any news from Warren and the police.

  I heard a phone suddenly start ringing downstairs. It was Gareth's phone, and Ford and I instantly flew to our feet and hurried down the stairs. As we stepped onto the first floor, Gareth glanced over and nodded from where he was pacing around the kitchen with a serious expression as he listened to whoever was calling. Andy came up next to us with a worried expectant expression as Ford and I approached Gareth. Ford gripped
my hand so tight it almost hurt, but I let him. His whole future rode on this phone call.

  "I understand," Gareth said and his lip twitched into a slight smirk. That had to be a good sign. My heart sang.

  It was an interminable wait as the long conversation continued with Gareth merely listening and periodically acknowledging what was said without giving away a single clue as to what was going on. Finally, he ended the call and faced us with a serious expression. My heart leapt into my chest.

  "Warren went to Hopkins, and she immediately gave up Holt," Gareth explained. "In fact, she was going to meet with him today at some coffee shop. She led the police right to him, and they tailed him to his home." Gareth's face split into a shit-eating grin. "The little fucker rolled over on Bennett immediately."

  "Thank fucking God," I blurted out.

  "The guy's a computer and security expert. He's been working for Bennett under the table for several years after being fired from his legitimate cyber security job at the Bennett Corporation. It was a ruse to change their working relationship into something that couldn't be traced directly to Bennett himself, so Holt could do Bennett's dirty work. His financial situation is suspect as well, with large deposits over the last few years from some off-shore accounts that he says he has proof lead back to Bennett. Apparently, he's been gathering incriminating evidence against Bennett to cover his ass for some time. He gave it all up to the police. He's probably aiming for some sort of deal for ratting out Bennett.

  "They picked up Tara and Sarina, and put them in protective custody. That video of Sarina was from eleven days ago. Apparently, Holt found her on the same fetish dating site you met her through, and set up a date for Bennett to meet her. Bennett used his charm to coerce her into letting him tie her up and have sex with him. He videoed her in some compromising positions, beat her, then threatened to hurt her again and leak the videos to the school she works at if she didn't make those rape accusations against you."

  Ford stiffened next to me. "That was before my mom signed the deal with your dad. He planned this all along. He was going to do this to me even if his deal with Purcell had gone through. What a fucking bastard," he growled out.

  "He hates to lose," I said, "with business or with women."

  "I just don't understand it." Ford shook his head in confusion.

  "What's to understand?" Andy chimed in. "The guy's bat-shit crazy. Nothing he does is going to make sense."

  "What about Tara?" Ford asked worriedly.

  "That was more cut and dry," Garth explained. "Holt figured out her connection to you on Facebook. Her mortgage was through a company Bennett had taken over. Holt got into the company's server and raised the interest rate on her adjustable loan before it was scheduled to go up. Then he contacted her and threatened to jack it up even more if she didn't accuse you too." He shook his head. "Her house would have been foreclosed on if she didn't. She would have lost everything."

  "So what about me?" Ford asked with a hopeful expression. "Is this nightmare over?"

  "Holt has proof of all of it, and both women corroborated his claims, so the charges against you are going to be dropped. It's over, Ford." A warm smile spread wide across Gareth's face.

  Ford's entire body eased, the hard tension he'd been carrying around all this time finally bleeding away. A sudden sob burst out of me as sweet relief flooded my body. He was free of this nightmare. It was over, and his life was his again. I turned and threw myself into his arms, crying happy tears as he held me so tight that I struggled to breath.

  "It's over," I said softly as I pressed my cheek against the hard muscles of his chest. "You're free, baby." I breathed in the heady masculine scent of Ford, knowing I'd never have to let him go.

  "I love you so much, honey," he murmured against my ear, his voice warm and filled with happiness.

  "I love you too," I whispered fiercely.

  "What about Bennett?" Andy asked worriedly. "He's not fucking getting away with this is he?"

  "Fuck no," Gareth snarled vehemently. "The authorities are on their way to arrest him right now. I almost wish I was a prosecutor, so I could nail his sorry ass myself." His eyes glittered fiercely.

  "Good," Andy sighed in relief then turned to hug Ford and me fiercely. I was squashed between the two men. "I'm so happy. Now you guys can focus on making me a niece or a nephew."

  "Andy!" I blurted out in horrified exasperation. I pushed him off of me with a glare. He gave me a roguish smirk that made me want to slap him. Ford let out a rumbling laugh, and I glared at him too. "It's not funny. We're not ready for a kid yet."

  "No, Jen," Ford said as his eyes softened, "but we will be."

  I shivered at the promise in his voice and the way he looked at me. My ire evaporated.

  "I hate to kick you guys out," Gareth announced as he looked at his phone and typed a text, "but I've got to go meet with my investigator." His eyes were fierce as he looked up. "I think it's only courteous to fire him in person. Don't you think?" He glanced at Andy. "Have you ever considered a change in careers? You got further in one day than he did this whole time. You'd make one hell of an investigator."

  "Nah," he replied with a smug grin. "Cars are my passion, brother. Being an evil genius is just a hobby."

  "An evil genius, huh?" Gareth asked with a wry smile.

  "Don't encourage him," I butted in. "It'll only make it worse."

  "I'm so unappreciated," Andy grumbled as his eyes danced in merriment.

  "And you're an idiot," I told him with a smirk.

  "Come on, Jen." Ford grinned and put an arm around my shoulders and another around my brother. "Come on, idiot. Let's get the hell out of here." We thanked Gareth then walked out with relief and happiness, and I for one felt lighter than ever before in my life.

  **********

  We parted ways with Andy, and Ford and I drove our cars to his apartment. We left my car there, and took off in Ford's F-100. We decided that spending another night at the lake house to celebrate was in order. Especially, since my rope was still up there. I couldn't wait to be in them and have Ford's complete and undivided attention. I shivered every time Ford looked at me on the drive there, his eyes brimming with lust and promise. We both needed it, to reconnect and let go of the stress from the last few weeks. We were really and truly free from Carter and the mess he'd tried to make of our lives. I hoped he rotted in prison.

  When we walked into the house, my stomach growled loudly. I realized that neither of us had eaten anything yet today.

  "I'm starving too, Jen," Ford said as headed toward the kitchen. I followed him closely and watched him peer inside the fridge. He grabbed a carton of eggs and held it out for me to see. "How does breakfast for dinner sound?"

  "Fantastic," I said with a soft affectionate smile. He'd never cooked for me before, and it was sweet.

  "Good," he smirked, "because that's pretty much all I can cook."

  I snorted out a laugh. "I'll go take a shower then. I feel dirty."

  "You will be when I'm done with you later," he gave me a devastatingly sexy grin. Heat rushed through my body. I was thinking I'd need a cold shower now so I wouldn't combust before we even ate.

  I stepped closer and ran my fingers along the waistband of Ford's jeans and met his smoldering eyes with my own. "I can't wait, big boy," I purred as I gently ran a fingernail over the denim covering his growing erection.

  He snatched my hand up and arched a brow at me. "Someone wants to be punished for being a cock-tease," he said in a low rumble that made me shiver.

  "Good thing I like being punished." I patted his cheek and walked away, wagging my ass for all I was worth. The low growl he let out behind me made my clit throb in anticipation for my punishment.

  I hurried up to our room and went straight to the long window seat and my bag that was sitting on it. I had a barely there bra and pantie set I wanted to wear after my shower. Ford would lose his shit when I walked downstairs in it and nothing else. I grinned maniacally as I rooted arou
nd at the bottom of the bag's dark interior, trying to find the tiny scraps of black lace. Maybe I'd get another spanking. One could hope.

  "Ah-ha," I said softly as I finally found them and pulled them out in triumph.

  Suddenly, a large body pressed up behind me and something hard pressed into my side. "Well, well, love," an arrogant and familiar voice said. "I had no idea you wore things like that under your clothes."

  I opened my mouth to scream, and a hand clamped over my lips.

  "Uh-uh," Carter said softly. "Keep your mouth shut and I won't shoot you." The hard thing that I now knew was a gun, dug painfully onto my ribs. I whimpered out in pain. I wanted to sink my teeth into his fucking skin, but I didn't dare, not with him holding a gun against me.

  "I'm going to remove my hand, and you're going to be a good girl and be quiet." His breath ghosted across my ear, and I shivered in disgust. "Nod if you understand."

  I jerked my head up and down, while my head spun. How was I going to get away from him? I nodded as I dropped my lingerie. He let go of my mouth and grabbed the hair at the back of my head in a tight painful grip.

  "Good girl," he said smugly. "It seems Spencer has managed to teach you to behave."

  How dare he speak of anything Ford and I shared. His twisted perverted notions about dominance and submission made me sick. I wanted to throw up.

  "Jen!" Ford suddenly called out from the hall. I watched in horror as he walked into the room looking down at his phone. "Gareth just texted me. Bennett's in the wind. He wasn't at his office or his house, so the cops are on their way here to protect us until they find him and-" Ford looked up, and his words died on his lips as he froze just inside the doorway. "You motherfucker!" Ford surged forward with murder in his eyes, his large hands balled into fists.

  The gun moved from my side and was now pointed at my face. Ford jerked to a stop as his eyes widened in fear. "Let her go," he snarled menacingly.

  "I don't think you're in any bloody position to tell me what to do," Carter said in cocky haughty tone that set me on edge.