Dangerous in Charge

by Sidney Bristol

  She was too tired to bother with the lights. She threw her arm over her face and pulled the sheet up under her chin. Funny things were happening in her chest. She flattened her other hand over her ribs. Her heart felt as though it were clinging to her ribs, trying to get closer to Kyle. And why shouldn’t it?

  Every guy she’d ever been intimate with had fallen short of Kyle’s stellar example.

  Then again, her guy picker was clearly broken.

  The door creaked open and shut.

  She held her breath.

  “I’m turning the lights off,” he said.

  This was what they were doing.

  At least Faith had told her not to come back to the master suite tonight so that was covered.

  The overhead light flipped off, and she listened to Kyle pad across the floor. She blinked at the shadows but couldn’t make him out. The bed dipped, and he sighed, stretching out next to her.

  This was happening.

  They were friends who were attracted to each other and slept together, among other things. But they were not dating.

  She could do this.

  People did these things all the time, right?

  Kyle’s hand patted the bed between them until he found her. He splayed his hand on her stomach.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Why?”

  “You’re quiet.”

  “I thought we were sleeping?”

  “Come here.”

  Kyle slid his arm under her neck, giving her no choice but to roll toward him. She put her head on his shoulder and splayed her hand on his chest. The way they fit together was nice. There was something about his quiet strength that comforted her rather than scared her.

  “Is this okay?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I mean—this, us, this.”

  “Oh. Well, yes, I guess.”

  “We can slow down. Six months, remember?” He picked her hand up off his chest and kissed her knuckles.

  She swallowed. Was her resolve to stick to that silly?

  “I’ll tell the guys to keep their comments to themselves. They can joke sometimes.”

  “Don’t do that. It’s fine. I imagine they aren’t going to say anything Faith hasn’t already.”

  “She’s a ball buster, isn’t she?”

  “Faith? Yeah, kind of. She’s the one who encouraged me to start dating, disastrous as it was.”

  “Good friends make you better is what my mom used to say.” Kyle chuckled.

  “What was she like? If you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Nah. My mom was great. She was a Vietnam nurse. That’s where Mom and Dad met. She lost her arm right at the end, and Dad still married her. I think he really did love her.”

  “I was always a daddy’s girl. Did I tell you he and I used to bike?”

  “No.” Kyle tightened his arm around her.

  “Yeah. Mom’s allergies were too bad and my little sister was a super girly girl. They’d bake while Dad and I went riding.” Bethany swallowed and tried to ignore the old ache. When Dad had picked Anthony over her that was what did her in.

  “Maybe we should do that sometime? Go for a ride?”

  “I’d like that. Then maybe watch HGTV and figure out what you’re going to do with the garage?”

  “Sounds like the perfect friends not on a date day.”

  The next six months were going to be hell, but Bethany would enjoy it.

  15.

  SUNDAY. AEGIS GROUP Safe House, Seattle, Washington.

  Jay turned down another road. He stared at people walking on the sidewalks, darkened windows, anything that might give him a clue about where his girls were.

  This could not be happening.

  It just couldn’t!

  He’d planned it all perfectly, from beginning to end. I’d practiced each take down site. None of the girls had ever noticed him before.

  It should have worked.

  What had he missed?

  This was supposed to be about achieving an all new high, something better than that first rush of power.

  Maybe he needed to start at their house again. Perhaps they’d gone back there?

  He’d carefully driven every road around their house for blocks and miles and more without seeing any hint of where they’d gone.

  What the fuck was he going to do?

  The phone rang.

  He briefly closed his eyes.

  Only one person called him and she had no regard for what time it was.

  He could let it go, say he was sleeping. But what if she was confused? What then?

  Guilt pushed him to hitting the answer button.

  “Hi, Mom” he said.

  “Jay? Jay, where are you?”

  “I’m out of town, remember?”

  “You are?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in,” he scrambled to think of what he’d told her before, “Lubbock.”

  “Lubbock? Dear God, why?”

  “Work, Mom.” It was an indicator of how much stress he was under that he couldn’t recall his cover story at a moment’s notice.

  “That place is dreadful. You should come home as soon as you can.”

  “I’m working on it, Mom.” He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. He couldn’t go back to the two-bedroom apartment they shared until he’d had his fix. Without the fix, he couldn’t put up with her. He just couldn’t smile and take her nagging, the passive aggressiveness or the way she controlled everything in his life.

  “Jay, you didn’t take your slippers,” she said.

  “I have a pair in my suitcase, Mom,” he said. It was a lie. He didn’t want to wear the damn slippers, but she insisted on it. It was another of her million little rules he had to follow.

  “Are you wearing sunscreen? Make sure to stay indoors. That Texas son is brutal and you have such fair skin.”

  “I’m fine, mother.”

  “There’s no reason to be short with me.”

  “There’s no reason to treat me like a child. You’re the one that should be in bed.”

  She gasped. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

  The phone clanged in the cradle before she hung up the line.

  Jay muttered under his breath and tossed the phone into the seat beside him.

  She was his mother. It was a fact he couldn’t escape.

  When he’d been younger, he’d thought he could get away from her. That once he was an adult, he’d be free. For a few years he’d had what he wanted, even with mother’s hovering. But then she’d taken the fall and since then she was wholly dependent on him. This, these trips, the plans, they were all he had. He needed this.

  SUNDAY. AEGIS GROUP Safe House, Seattle, Washington.

  Kyle took that first, deep breath between sleeping and consciousness. He knew he didn’t want to wake up yet, but something was demanding his attention.

  The smell of something unfamiliar tickled his nose.

  His mind switched on. Unfamiliar things like smells or sounds had to be investigated. In the field they could be precursors of danger.

  Except the danger pressed up against his back wasn’t the kind he wanted to get away from.

  Bethany’s arm curled around his waist. He could feel her breath against his shoulder.

  He still wasn’t sure he could promise her he wasn’t at least in part like his father, but for the first time in a long time he wanted someone else in his life. Maybe they’d fizzle out after things with this job died down, or maybe they’d make it a few months. It wasn’t like he was asking forever and she specifically said she didn’t want a commitment right now.

  Being left in limbo wasn’t his preference, but it was perhaps what was best for both of them.

  “Kyle?” Shane called out, his footsteps coming closer until he was outside the door.

  Kyle glanced at the clock. It was past eight, which was when he should have joined Shane.

  “Kyle
, you need to come out here, now.” He pounded on the bedroom door.

  Shit.

  What now?

  “Hm?” Bethany’s arm around him tightened.

  “Be there in a minute.” Kyle squeezed Bethany’s hand once and sat up.

  He twisted to look at her blinking up at him. Lines marred her face from the rumpled sheets and her hair was a wild tangle of curls on the pillows.

  “What’s going on?” She propped her chin up on her hand.

  “I don’t know, but don’t worry about it, okay?” Kyle strode over to his bag and grabbed his clothes from yesterday. He needed a shower before he put anything else on, and with this many people in the house they had to be judicious about doing laundry.

  By the time he’d dressed Bethany was sitting up in bed. She still looked exhausted.

  “Go back to sleep.” He paused next to the bed and bent down, kissing her forehead.

  Kyle let himself out of the bedroom.

  Shane waited in the hall, his face grim.

  “What?” Kyle kept his voice low.

  “Come and see.” Shane nodded at the living room.

  Kyle followed him through the main part of the house to the front door. Isaac stood in the office on one side of the window peering out.

  Fuck.

  What the hell happened?

  “They showed up ten minutes ago,” Isaac said.

  Kyle didn’t dare open the front door, but he did peer out through the peep hole. Three news vans sat at the curb with at least a dozen people, cameras and the works sitting on the sidewalk.

  “How’d they get in?” Kyle ticked off the two biggest news channels in the area plus one cable network.

  “I called the head of the HOA and complained, but she was barely awake,” Isaac replied.

  “Where’s Felix?” Kyle glanced over his shoulder.

  “He’s making a round of the back yard. Lock was gone off the side gate.”

  “They cut the lock?” Kyle didn’t like the sound of that. They were already dug in to protect their charges. The last thing their team needed to be distracted by was the news hungry journalists. “Has anyone called Zain yet?”

  “No, we were taking stock of the situation,” Shane said.

  “Has anyone come to the door yet?” Kyle asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “Okay, they’re going to and until we talk to Zain, we aren’t opening this door.” Kyle straightened and patted his pocket for his phone, but it wasn’t there. “We need Megan here if she’s available.”

  He turned toward the desk and picked up the phone. He wasn’t surprised by the appearance of journalists, but he’d hoped for more time. Today was supposed to be about putting puzzle pieces together and diving into the case with the FBI to try to shed new light on this decades old case. Instead they might very well be forced out of this safe haven.

  “Ian’s just told me,” Zain said by way of a greeting.

  “Do we know how they got in? Why they’re here?”

  “Roger. I was checking when you called. You don’t want to know how I know.” Zain’s tone invited no questions.

  “Understood.” Kyle could read between the lines.

  Last year there was considerable shake up in the Seattle Police Department due to corruption that spread pretty far. Roger would have worked in the building with the same dirty cops and given the way he’d treated this case thus far they couldn’t leave anything to chance.

  “As for how they got in, Ian watched them circle the subdivision then when someone left they drove in. He was trying to get a hold of the HOA security but there was no answer.”

  “Shit. Okay. Is Megan in town, or is Lepta Team on assignment?”

  “They just got back, but I can see if she’d be available. Good idea.”

  “No one wants to see me or you in front of a camera.”

  “Isn’t that right?” Zain sighed. “Okay, I’m making a coffee run for Andrea, then I’ll head your way. Need anything else?”

  “He’s doing this to use them as bait, isn’t he?” Kyle grit his teeth.

  “Probably, yeah. Look, the Hunts have been on me about a reunion with Megan. My guess is once your location gets blasted they’re going to show up. We’ll need to manage the situation and prepare the assets.”

  “I’ll handle it.” Kyle wouldn’t enjoy it. They’d promised the women safety and couldn’t deliver on it.

  “See you soon.” Zain hung up.

  “What is going on out there?” Faith flanked by Bethany strode through the living room. Both women were in pajama pants and t-shirts. “There are news crews.”

  “Yeah, they just got here.” Kyle grimaced. “Look, we knew this might happen given the Hunt’s high profile. Right now we’re going to carry on with our day.”

  “But—they’re out there.” Faith glanced at the door.

  “And they can stay out there. They can’t make us open the door and talk to them. This is also a private community. We’ve notified the HOA security and president and made our request to remove them. Hopefully they’ll be gone soon and we can make a plan for what happens next.”

  “And that is?” Bethany asked.

  “If we have to, we’ll move to another location. It’s not ideal, but if we have to we can. We’ve got this under control. I promise.” Kyle hoped those words didn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

  “Okay.” Bethany blew out a breath.

  “What happens next then?” Faith asked.

  “Well, breakfast for one. Then when Zain gets here, we’ll call the FBI and talk to them.” Kyle could have done with coffee before all this. Hell, he could have done with a heads up. He’d gotten caught with his pants down and this scrambling would not help the team or the confidence of Bethany and the other women.

  “I want to hear what the FBI has to say,” Bethany said.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” It was a terrible idea.

  “I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Me, too,” Faith chimed in.

  Shit.

  Bethany stared back at him.

  He knew that look. It was the same one she’d give dad when he got belligerent.

  Shane turned to stand in the doorway. “Look, ladies—”

  “Fine,” Kyle said over Shane. “But you do not get to talk or ask questions. Their time is valuable and they’re doing us a huge favor, understand?”

  “Sure. Okay.” Bethany nodded.

  “We’ll go get Megan.” Faith grabbed Bethany by the elbow and dragged her down the hall.

  No one spoke until the master bedroom door thunked shut.

  “What the hell?” Isaac wheeled around to look at Kyle.

  “That was a fight we weren’t going to win,” he said.

  “She does what you say.” Isaac threw his hands up. “You could have told her no. You know this is a bad idea.”

  “I watched that woman manage my father for over a year, so I think I know when she’s dug in her heels and isn’t going to back down.” Kyle had admired the way Bethany managed Dad. It was a skill he’d never develop. He didn’t have the detachment she did.

  “Is that really the reason?” Isaac crossed his arms over his chest.

  Kyle glanced at Felix, who found something awfully interesting to look at on the floor, then at Shane who merely shrugged. They all knew he and Bethany had something. Over the last two years he’d watched each and every one of these guys get involved too deep with an asset and loose objectivity.

  “Isaac, when you went to bat for Tanya in London and were the only one of us who thought she was innocent, did I order you to change your mind?” Kyle asked.

  “No. No, you didn’t. Because I was right.” Isaac’s lips compressed into a tight line. That was a chapter he liked to ignore happened because of what it had done to Tanya.

  “Felix, when you argued that we should risk Jackie’s life to save the rest of her people—”

  “You supported the idea. You pulled together
the people to make it happen. Without you...” Felix shrugged.

  “Shane.” Kyle turned his head.

  “I don’t want to hear it.” Shane shook his head. He didn’t like to be reminded he’d flipped that van in Atlanta.

  “What’s your point?” Isaac asked.

  “My point is I’ve caved to your knowledge of an asset. I’ve trusted your gut instincts because I know you. It would be nice if you’d extend me that same courtesy, because we’re wasting time hashing this out.” Besides, he’d known Bethany a hell of a lot longer than these guys had known their lady loves when they went off script for them.

  “Understood,” Isaac said. He still didn’t seem thrilled about it, but that wasn’t Kyle’s concern.

  “Let’s get some breakfast on the table and I’ll reach out to the BAU team to see if they can still talk to us.” Kyle patted his pockets. “My phone...”

  Still in the bedroom.

  “I’ll get breakfast,” Felix said.

  “I’m on cameras.” Isaac walked past Kyle into the office.

  “Whatever your problem is, fix it.” Kyle didn’t have time to field Isaac’s bad mood.

  He strode across the house and down the hall to the bedroom where he’d slept last night. Sure enough, his phone was still on the night stand. He grabbed it and turned.

  Bethany stood in the doorway wearing jeans and a t-shirt, her hair up in a messy bun as opposed to the neat, perfect one that had mystified him since day one.

  “Is everything...okay?” she asked.

  “All under control.” For now.

  “That one guy—”

  “Isaac.” Kyle made himself smile. “He’s in a bit of a bad mood. Ignore him.”

  “Okay.”

  In truth, Kyle valued Isaac’s vocal dissent. The other three were not as likely to disagree as openly or loudly as Isaac. There’d been plenty of times over the last year during Dad’s decline that Kyle had leaned on their support and judgment rather than his own.

  “Everything okay with you?” he asked, echoing her question.

  “Yeah. Just worried, is all.”

  “We’ve got this under control.”

  “Bethany?” Faith called out.

  “Go,” Kyle said.