Stand & Deliver

by Rhenna Morgan

  For a government employee, Ted Maxwell defied the norm. No suits, no uptight attitude, and a whole lot of gray space when it came to red tape. He also knocked his job in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property division out of the park. Or he did most of the time. When he couldn’t he called Knox. “Man, I don’t care how many times you’ve bailed my ass out of a bind. After this one, we’re even. You’ve got no idea how many strings I had to pull to get the Homeland crew to bite on this idea.”

  Freddie Tanner—aka the jackass who’d interrogated Gia for hours on end the morning she’d turned herself in—cocked an eyebrow from his place in the passenger’s seat. One of those I like breakin’ the rules even less than I like bein’ here looks.

  Cocksucker.

  Beckett wasn’t stupid. Ted might have had some pull, but if the soft evidence Knox had already gathered hadn’t been so substantial, Freddie and the rest of his team parked right next to them wouldn’t be here. The only reason they’d taken the risk was they stood a chance at wrapping things up in a neat and tidy bow, which made Freddie a lazy cocksucker to boot.

  Danny’s voice came through the speakers mounted on either side of the equipment rack. “Yo, Knox. Judd just exited the tollway onto Lemmon. You guys ready?”

  Ted got to work on his own keyboard and the hallway they’d been monitoring on Judd’s floor switched to a map with a marker that reflected the GPS they’d put on Judd’s Audi. “This guy’s routine has less flavor than vanilla.”

  “Hey, I like vanilla,” Gia said.

  Knox snickered. “Not what I heard.”

  In the rearview mirror, Beckett got a straight view of her mouth dropping open for all of a second, then enjoyed the flash of irritation in her eyes. “Don’t let him goad you, gorgeous. He’s diggin’ for clues, not workin’ on actual knowledge.”

  “She already said enough with that look.” Knox handed her purse back to her. “But if Beck gets boring, just let me know and I’ll pull him aside for a few pointers.”

  Humor lightened her features, which was undoubtedly what Knox had set out to do in the first place, and the clenched muscles in Beckett’s gut gave just a fraction.

  “Your team always pull a slapstick routine when you’re out on an op?” This from uptight Freddie, who kept scanning the garage like special forces might march around the corner with automatic weapons loaded any second.

  “You’d rather we hash out all the worst-case scenarios and get her stress level high enough Judd’ll sniff her out in under thirty seconds?” Beckett hit Freddie with a potent glare, then twisted in his seat for a direct view of Gia in the back. “I don’t want you in there longer than you have to be. Get in, drop the info and get out.”

  She quirked one brow and flipped the overlapping flap on her purse closed. “Afraid he’ll seduce me? Or you just don’t want me breathing the same air as him?”

  “If he tries the first one, we’ll never finish this drill ’cause I’ll break him in half before he can fire up that phone.” He paused a beat. “I know you, G. You’re thorough and you’re gonna wanna nose around while you’re in there. Do me and everyone else in this van a favor and don’t.”

  Her lips curved in a soft, knowing smile. “Got it. In and out. No fun stuff that might make you use Freddie for a stress ball.”

  “Heads up,” Ted said. “He’s pulling in.”

  From there, the chatter was nonexistent. Parked on a back row well away from Judd’s reserved spot, they waited for Judd to park his shiny black A7, unfold himself from the front seat and stroll to the elevator.

  Surprisingly, it was Freddie who broke the silence. “Does he actually work out at that gym? Or does he just go to get his ego stroked?”

  The quiet that followed seemed even more stark than what had filled the van before. Beckett dragged his gaze away from Judd still waiting for the elevator. “Why, Freddie. Did you just take a stab at humor in the middle of an op?”

  “Well,” Knox said with his usual dry humor, “he does look like a walking Nike ad and doesn’t have a single hair out of place, so you can’t fault Fred for noticing.”

  Danny chuckled in the speakers. “He was there for an hour and a half, and I clocked at least half of it with him pseudo-posing in the mirrors and rearranging weights, or making busy work around a blonde with a sweet ass on the elliptical.”

  The elevator opened and Judd disappeared inside.

  Beckett twisted back to Gia. “You ready? I’d rather you show up right behind him and see if catching him off guard works in our favor.”

  She nodded and anchored her purse strap on one shoulder. “Yeah, let’s do this.”

  He wanted to get out with her. Maybe steal some much-needed touch from her and stretch his legs while he was at it, but she quelled the idea with a pointed look and yanked the sliding door open.

  “You remember the plan,” Beckett said.

  “Yep. Stick close to the door. Divert him from locking it behind me if I can swing it. Give the cue if things get dicey.” She hopped to the cement and hesitated before shutting the door long enough to add, “I got this.”

  Then she was gone, striding between two parked cars with her hips swinging. If she was still hurting inside, she didn’t show it. Wouldn’t unless she was alone with him or the rest of his family.

  Their family.

  The thought moved through him with a strength that rattled him. Yeah, she’d gotten along good with everyone before the gig in Atlanta, but now that he thought about it, there’d been something different in the last few days. Like in processing the loss of one part of her life, she’d opened up more fully to her new world. She hadn’t balked when his brothers had bullied their way into solving her problems. At least not like she would have a month ago. The boundaries were looser now. The edges blended to allow one cohesive unit.

  He grinned at the windshield, thankful Knox didn’t have a straight view of his face. Gia loved him and she was owning her place in their family. Man, if that wasn’t the universe’s thumbs-up for finagling a ring on her finger, he didn’t know what it was. And as soon as they got this shit behind them he was making that priority number one.

  The van’s door slid open and Danny hopped inside just as the elevator chimed through the speakers. Gia’s voice came low right behind it. “I’m engaging.”

  “Sweet.” Danny maneuvered his big body back to the seat Gia had vacated. “Thought I was gonna miss the good part.”

  Gia’s knock sounded.

  Beckett slipped his headset in place, then checked and holstered his Glock.

  “What are you doing?” Freddie said.

  “My woman’s about ten more seconds from getting face-to-face with a man I think set her up to take the fall for murder. If she gives the cue, I’m gonna be a hell of a lot closer than an elevator ride when she gives it.”

  “That wasn’t part of the plan.”

  “It’s part of my plan. Don’t worry, though. I’m not gonna screw this up unless she needs backup.” Beckett glanced back at Danny and Knox. “You two got this?”

  “Yup,” Knox said not breaking a beat with whatever he was typing out on his keyboard. “Though if I was smart I would’ve brought Darya. Fucking Ninette and Sylvie are driving me nuts with texts wanting an update.”

  Beckett chuckled, exited the van and beat feet to the stairwell. If all Knox was getting were text messages from the moms then he was lucky. Both Ninette and Sylvie had lost their damned minds when they’d heard how Reginald had treated his daughter. Or, more to the point, how Colette hadn’t interceded and castrated her husband when she’d learned what he’d done. Then they’d done what they did best and set out to make up for all the mothering they’d decided she’d missed out on growing up—whether Gia wanted it or not.

  The muted chunk of a door opening sounded through his headset just as the stairwell entrance clunked shut behind him.
>
  “Gia.” Genuine surprise coated Judd’s voice. In the space that followed, Beckett visualized Judd scanning the hallway outside his place for cameras or some clue he was being punked. “What are you doing here?”

  When it came to a setup like this, Gia was totally in her element, but today she upped her game, her tone full of desperation. “Can we talk? Just for a minute?” Her voice cracked as though she was seconds from a full meltdown. “I know I should have called, but I really need someone to talk to. Someone I can trust and I...” She sniffed and shuffled. “I don’t know who that is anymore.”

  Another pause, heavily weighted.

  Beckett took the next flight faster, his heart drowning out his echoing footsteps against the bland concrete walls. Gia might have been confident Judd would buckle and at least listen, but he couldn’t shake that unguarded look Judd had cast at Gia during the pre-event meet and greet. The loathing and contempt. Whatever the source of Judd’s emotions—jealousy, rejection or flat-out insanity—they ran deep. The kind that didn’t recognize or condone reason.

  One more flight.

  “I thought you had Beckett. He’s the love of your life, right?”

  There it was. The ugly burn of a man scorned, and it didn’t sound like time had done much to ease the sting. Not if the edge in his voice were any indication.

  “I thought...” The quaver as her words died off was so clear it was like she was right next to him. “I don’t know what to think anymore. Some of the things I’ve seen since Georgia. The things I’ve heard...” More movement. “Could we just talk for a minute? I know I hurt you, but I trust you, Judd. I need you.”

  Fuck, but that cut. Didn’t matter that logic was right there to remind him it was bullshit.

  “Man, she’s good,” Danny muttered through the headset.

  “No shit,” Ted said. “I’d have already given her my right nut and my firstborn.”

  Knox scoffed. “She hasn’t even started yet.”

  “She’s not in yet, either,” Freddie added, but there was an equal amount of appreciation in his statement, too.

  A muted shuffle sounded and Judd’s voice shifted through the audio feed as though he’d added distance between them. “Only reason I’m doing this is for your parents.”

  The door closed and Beckett strained for the follow-up sound of a bolt sliding home. Instead, what he got was the muted, muffled sound of fabric on fabric. Gia’s voice was muted, too, and nearly a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

  “Is she hugging him or smothering him?” Ted asked through the headset.

  “You ever had a hug from Gia, you’d know it’s more effective,” Danny said. “No man in his right mind would pass up a chance for one.”

  Knox chimed in right behind it, but his words weren’t nearly so playful. “Beckett, stay the fuck in the stairwell.”

  Yeah, Knox knew him. Knew Beckett’s brain had already figured out she’d used the hug as a tactic to keep him from bolting the door and was tallying up twenty different ways to sever Judd’s arms from his torso. “I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

  As soon as he said it he reconsidered because Judd sucked in one of those audibly long, drawn-out inhalations a man used when he was appreciating the feel of a lush woman pressed next to him. His voice was low and way too intimate. “What happened?”

  Something between a choked-back sob and a contemptuous chuckle came from Gia. “You were there. You saw what happened.” Her voice got stronger. Shifted. “It wasn’t me, Judd. I swear it wasn’t. But I’m starting to think...” That little tease hung for a heartbeat and she moved. “Can we sit down? I need someone to talk things through with. Someone to tell me if I’m crazy.”

  Muted footsteps whispered on carpet and Gia must have laid her purse on a table nearby because the mic affixed to her purse rattled through the feed. The whoosh of weight on thick cushions registered right after.

  “Your parents are worried about you,” Judd said, still closer than Beckett would’ve liked. “Your mom said she tried to call.”

  She had. One of which Gia had finally answered and gently but firmly shared with Colette that while she had no intent of completely breaking ties with her, she was done with Reginald. Colette hadn’t come right out and said she understood, but Gia had said there’d been a profound understanding in her lack of acknowledgment. Like in the silence she’d pointed at her own life and said she wasn’t one to judge.

  “We talked,” Gia said, “but you know how Mom is. I couldn’t go into details with her. Not without worrying her.”

  “You could’ve talked to your dad,” Judd said. “He’d have listened.”

  “He’d have lectured. You know that.”

  “How do you know I won’t?” Someone shifted. Probably Judd since the proximity of his voice drew closer to Gia. “I don’t trust Beckett, Gia. Don’t trust him or the people he runs around with. That family of his. You haven’t been the same since you started working with them. I don’t want to believe you’re the one behind what happened in Atlanta, but the evidence shows otherwise.”

  “It wasn’t me. I wouldn’t do that.”

  “The you I used to know wouldn’t do that.”

  “But Beckett would.” The way she said it was more her completing his unspoken thoughts than an accusation, but it opened the door on where she needed to go perfectly.

  Quiet filled the room. One of those long, drawn-out moments designed to make a point or emphasize the weight of a choice being made.

  “You said you needed to talk something through,” Judd said. “If it wasn’t you that sold the info, then who do you think it was?”

  “Oh, yeah,” Knox said. “Just keep headin’ down that trail.”

  The banter was normal for them on a deal like this. A way to keep the tension evened out. But for once, Beckett didn’t want it. Didn’t want anything impeding any audible clue Gia might need him.

  “I didn’t have a clue,” Gia said. “Not at first. Then I was with Beckett and his family after we got home from Atlanta and...well, I heard something. Something that made me wonder if maybe...” Her voiced cracked and a tiny whimper trailed it. “God, I still can’t even bear to think it. It hurts.”

  Rustling sounded and when Judd spoke again he was much closer to the mic. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me, Gia. And while it probably makes me an idiot, I want to help you. I always have. After all these years, you have to know that. Tell me. What did you hear?”

  Gia sniffled. “I overheard the guys talking. They thought I was with the rest of the girls and were supposed to be handling some business stuff, but one of them asked if the thing in Atlanta was going to work out like they’d hoped.” She hesitated for all of a second and added a fragile desperation to the rest of her words. “It could just be a coincidence, right? They couldn’t have set me up. Wouldn’t have. Would they?”

  Judd sighed. “I was afraid of this.”

  Another sniffle, the familiarity in her voice probably sinking deep claws in Judd’s ego. “Afraid of what?”

  “Surely you know they’ve got ties to narcotics.”

  The feed got silent.

  Scary silent.

  That was one topic he and Gia hadn’t covered. While the brotherhood didn’t deal drugs, they’d earned plenty of attention over the years for it because of their clubs. They’d even worked an exclusive territory agreement with a local dealer in exchange for muscle and keeping more dangerous product out of their venues.

  “No. I didn’t know.” Way too authentic and more than a little shaken. “You’re sure?”

  “No question. Paul Renner almost took them down a few years ago. When he got too close, they set him up with some old stuff from his background and ruined his career.”

  “That wasn’t over drugs.”

  “Sure it was. You just didn’t see that part. Beckett and his so-called bro
thers put a spin on the situation and worked Renner out of the equation. It’s what they do, Gia. It’s what they’re good at.”

  Knox chuckled through the headset. “Jesus, this guy’s a piece of work. It’s like he lives in his own alternate reality.”

  “Brother, I’ve followed him for the better part of forty-eight hours,” Danny said. “Trust me when I tell you, he’s so full of his own bullshit his feet never touch the ground.”

  For an uncomfortable stretch Gia said nothing.

  Beckett had half a mind to stomp out of the stairwell, kick down the door and haul her out before any of Judd’s nonsense could penetrate.

  “You really think they’d do that? Set me up?”

  “Governor Lansing’s done more to clean out drug runners in Florida than the last three men in office combined. I don’t know how far their reach goes, but if Beckett and his crew have operations in Florida, then yeah, they’d have seen some benefit from it. Or could also be they used your situation to barter for favors closer to home.”

  More quiet, the impact of it so powerful it rattled Beckett’s bones.

  “What do I do?” Gia said, the quality of it broken and almost a whisper. “I can’t confront them. Beckett maybe, but not all of them.”

  Judd’s answer was a little too sharp. Like a cheating man all of seconds away from watching his wife open the bedroom closet door when his mistress was hidden behind it. “No. Don’t do that.” His voice evened out. “There’s too much risk.”

  “Well, I can’t do nothing. I’m out on bail and have a conspiracy charge against a government official hanging over my head. On top of that, I can’t work. How am I supposed to take care of myself? Pay my attorneys?”