by S. K. Lessly
“Tell us what you know about Perchenko, this bank, and Perchenko’s connection to Dennis Simon and Noah Baxter.” Shane cut in before Emily could pounce on Sweets.
Emily faltered from Shane’s request ever so slightly before she was able to recover and plaster a fake smile on her lying face. I quickly looked around the room to see if anyone caught the mistake, but everyone seemed to be in rapture as her lie fell from her lips, everyone except me, Sweets and surprisingly Izabella.
“I can give you what I know about the bank and some of its customers. However, I’m not familiar with... what did you say… Simon? I don’t know him. I’ve heard of Noah Baxter, though. I’ve never met him, but he’s worked with Perchenko a time or two.”
Emily narrowed her eyes on Sweets then smiled. I didn’t like the meaning behind that smile. It was full of malice, hatred and bitterness. I could feel it in my bones, shit was about to get real.
“In fact,” Emily began, “I heard you were very familiar with what Noah was into, right? I mean he was your ex, and he tried to sell you to the highest bidder. I have to tell you, you were this close from becoming Perchenko’s little plaything. If you hadn’t escaped there was no telling what would have happened—”
“That’s enough, Em,” Josh barked bitterly, but I didn’t miss the use of his little nickname for her and neither did Emily or Sweets.
Emily’s grin broadened exponentially, ignoring Josh, and snapped her finger as if a thought just popped into her head. She pointed at Sweets and narrowed her eyes. I sat up knowing whatever she was going to say wasn’t going to be good.
“That’s where you went the other day, isn't it? When I followed you to that farmers market? You went to see him, didn’t you?”
Oh, shit.
Come on, Sweets, don’t look my way don’t… fuck…
I could see the panic in Sweets' eyes as she looked my way. Malcolm and Josh caught the look too but before they could say something, this bitch went on, snapping her fingers and pointing at her own neck as she spoke. “Is that why you have that—"
“I can’t believe you were following me!” Sweets cut in quickly trying to divert the attention from her neck and back on Emily. Good move, Sweets.
“Yes, don’t you remember? We met out in the parking lot. You hightailed it to your car, like a scared little bird.”
“Is that true? You saw her in the parking lot? Is that what you’re hiding?” Josh asked, turning his fury on his wife.
“Nah, she’s probably hiding the choke marks from her ex or hickeys.” Emily said impassively and I wanted to take my gun out and shoot her in the face.
“The fuck?” Josh boomed. He went to pull at Sweets' scarf and she leaned back from him.
Yeah, this wasn’t good at all.
“Stop, that’s not why I have the scarf on.” She gave Josh a pointed look.
Sweets touched her throat and again tried to play it off, but everyone's eyes were on her now. She took a noticeable deep breath, looked at me then around the room.
Come on, Sweets. Take it easy.
“Sweets, what happened?” Shane asked.
“First,” Sweets started. “I had no idea who she was at the time.”
“At the time? Does that mean you figured it out later?” Josh cut in and asked her.
Sweets ignored him and continued. “We, meaning me and Misty, did meet with Noah to ask him questions, but he didn’t touch me.”
Emily squinted her eyes at Sweets as if she was trying to gauge if she should believe her or not. Then Emily smiled wickedly and looked at Josh. “Wow, baby, you still like it rough then, huh?”
Sweets gasped and put wide eyes on Josh. Josh looked as if he wanted to murder both Sweets and Emily. I felt Shane tense next to me, before he placed questioning eyes on me.
Ut-oh…
Emily grabbed everyone’s attention again when she started moaning loudly as if she was about to have an orgasm right in front of us. She gave Josh a very heated look then smiled seductively. “Do you remember that time when you ripped my clothes off, pushed me down on your desk and fucked me from—”
“Emily,” Josh called in warning, his voice low but very deadly. Emily, of course ignored him and continued, her face taking on a sultry look as she dragged us down her sick memory lane.
“…from behind… Oh yeah you remember. You loved it rough. Loved to grab me by my neck force me down and fuck me from behind. Oh God that was—”
“That’s enough, Emily.” Josh barked slamming his hand down on the table, causing both Sweets and Izabella to jump. “For fucks sake, shut the fuck up."
“Why Josh?” Sweets asked in a low voice. She brought a set of troubled eyes to her husband. “You don’t what us to know how you like it rough?”
“What?” he replied incredulity dripping in his tone.
I watched in rapt attention, unable to take my eyes from Sweets.
Josh had told Sweets numerous times he could read her like a book and I agreed. Sweets put her feelings out there. You didn’t have to guess what she was feeling. Right now, her face was dark, her eyes darker and fury rose in her gut. She was about to blow and before I could think of something to diffuse the situation, she erupted.
“Is that what you like? To choke someone during sex?”
Josh sucked his teeth. “Sweets, don’t be ridiculous,” he countered dismissively, which made Sweets even more pissed. Her face took on this deep red color that I swore it looked as if she was about to explode.
Holy crap! I had never seen her this pissed.
Sweets narrowed her eyes on Josh. “Don’t fucking call me Sweets. Answer the question, Jay. I’m sure good ole Em could enlighten us further on your kinky ways if you can’t.” She used both nicknames with bittersweet sarcasm in her dark voice.
Emily smiled satisfactorily, but I could see Josh stiffen. If Sweets' goal was to push Josh she was succeeding.
“Don’t, Sweets,” Josh warned.
“Don’t what?” Sweets charged. She stood and pointed to Emily. “Come on, Jay, give us the 411. Did you do the same thing to her as Noah did to me? You choke her until she passed out? Is that what gets you off?”
“Pretty much,” Emily muttered and Sweets' eyes went wide.
Josh seemed to have enough. He shot to his feet. He gripped Sweets by her arm to escort her out of the room.
“Get your hand off of me! Don’t touch me. You’re just like him!"
And well… chaos, my old friend, had arrived.
Curtis rose to his feet, yelling for Josh to take his hands off his sister. Malcolm was doing his best to diffuse the situation but failing miserably. I heard Sweets ask Josh if he liked whips and chains too, if he wanted to flog her or put a butt plug in her ass. Man, when she said that, I almost lost it.
Emily stood and leaned over the table and continued to stir the pot.
“No, Josh doesn’t like it that kinky,” she said yelling over Sweets to be heard. She then brought her devious eyes to Malcolm. “But from what I learned by a certain someone’s ex, I know the big man right here likes it like that. Don’t you, big guy? I bet you like it rough and dirty.” Emily bit her bottom lip and drank in Malcolm. “Oh yeah you do, I can see the heat in your eyes.”
Malcolm stiffened ever so slightly from her words but didn’t reply. Hmmm, that was interesting.
Anyway, before this shit show went even more south, I took over. Emily was doing her best to deflect this meeting from her boss, giving her the advantage. She wanted to stir shit up between Josh and Sweets and it was working.
He kept trying to talk to her, touch her and she kept backing away, slapping his hand away telling him to stop calling her Sweets. Tears were streaming down her eyes and I could see her hyperventilating from where I stood.
What was Shane doing? Oh, he was leaning back studying Emily. He could also see what her end game was, but I didn’t think he knew how to gain control back.
Fortunately, I did.
I started clapping loudl
y until everyone quieted and looked at me.
It was my turn to stir shit up and oh what a shit stirrer I was.
9
Misty
“Wow, Emily. I have to hand it to you,” I began, my voice carrying throughout the room. When all eyes were on me, I continued. “You’re still the bitch I know and hate.”
She narrowed her eyes on me but didn’t reply. Without looking away, I spoke to Sweets. “Sweets, honey, have a seat. You’re not leaving. We have a meeting to finish and information to gather.” I pointed at Emily. “Nice try on the diversion tactic, by the way. Get the conversation off your boss and onto something else. It may work on Josh but it won’t work on me. I have a few questions for you. Or rather some things I need you to clear up for me.”
I could hear the room settling around me, everyone taking seats. I watched my prey from across the table and waited until the room was quiet and I felt all eyes back on me. I looked down at some papers in front of me as if I was reading them. It was just a tactic of my own to let her know she was on my time now.
I sent a tsk-tsk her way and shook my head. “My-oh-my, you have been busy since you entered the states, haven’t you?”
I smiled at Emily, but it wasn’t a friendly one. She didn’t react to my words, as I knew she wouldn’t. No matter, I didn’t need her to. It was time for this bitch to be in the hot seat.
I brought my hand up and started counting off on my fingers
“Surveillance of our agents and their families, orchestrating prison break-outs, getting the CIA to blindly trust you again.” She didn’t react to my claims but Santini did. He flinched ever so slightly, but I saw it. “Question, was the hit on our fellow agent’s family sanctioned or was that freelance?”
Murmurs filled the room, more side conversations than anything else. Shane raised his hand and called out for quiet. He brought his questioning gaze back to me.
“Wait. Hold on. You’re not talking about Josh are you? Is there another contract on another agent? Who are you talking about?”
I didn’t meet Shane's eyes, although I could feel him burning a hole on the side of my face. He was going to be pissed that I withheld information from him. Honestly, I didn’t have time what with the appearance of my archenemy and the fight I had. I was otherwise occupied with trying to kill her than telling him what I had learned today.
I continued to take in the CIA representatives in our midst as I spoke looking for any signs of deception or recognition. So far, the only one that didn’t look confused met my eyes with a bit of challenge in hers.
“I decided to pay Crasse a visit this morning.” I confessed to the room. “I wanted to confirm his disappearance without a trace, with his wife. I also wanted to ask the misses a few more questions. It’s possible that he made contact with her recently and she hadn’t told us, who knows. I also wanted to ask my own questions and gauge myself if she was telling the truth about her husband's sudden disappearance.” I scanned the room quickly before I advised. “I arrived at their quiet home and discovered three dead bodies and a very distraught man inside.” I paused for a few to let my words sink in as loud whispers began to fill the room.
I raised my voice to be heard over the chatter and continued, “I found the wife in the kitchen, face up, lying in a pool of blood with a double tap to the chest. No forced entry or struggle. The kitchen was otherwise clean. Nothing out of place or scattered everywhere. If it was my guess, she was either taken by surprise or killed probably by someone she knew since there was no forced entry. Fortunately, her death was instant. She hadn’t suffered.” I paused again and looked around the room more so to gather myself than to confirm I had everyone's attention. I could see some of our teammates were affected by what I said. But the CIA looked passive, emotionless. Well that wasn’t completely true. I could see that Izabella had been affected but the other two heartless crows met my eyes with darkness and indifference. I blew out a breath and told the rest of it.
“I did a thorough search of the bottom level, making sure no one was lying in wait or stuck around for someone to discover the body. It was clear. I then made my way upstairs and that’s when I discovered both his children. They were both killed, shots to the head. However, the killer used a pillow over their faces, which I thought was strange. I’m not sure the timing of the three deaths. Maybe the killer shot the kids first, use the pillows to muffle the shots. I didn’t think so. The mother would be more of a threat then the kids. I think the killer shot the mom first then traveled upstairs to kill the little ones. I think the pillows were used to shield the killer from the truth. He was killing innocent.”
“An assassin with a conscience?” someone asked. Jesse, I think.
I shrugged. “Apparently.”
“And you’re sure that they were—” that question came from Curtis.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I cut him off immediately. “Their little chests weren't moving and as I said, they were headshots at point blank range. No mistaking that.”
As I spoke, I kept my eyes glued to Emily's. Her cold eyes remained expressive with a hint of humor in them. The bitch was certifiable for thinking whatever I said was funny.
Murmuring around me started to erupt, undoubtedly everyone affected by my news. Fortunately, I wasn’t done.
“This agent of yours, how do you know he didn’t kill his own family?” Santini inquired, bringing the attention to him.
I looked at him and sighed. “Because I do. For one, the man was beyond distraught when I found him sitting on his bed. He was pale, in shock and pissed as fuck. No way did he do it.”
Santini scoffed. “That’s not proof he didn’t. That just means you have no experience interrogating people. For all you know, he could have manipulated you into buying his story. You then let him go and—”
I frowned and cut him off. “Who said I let him go?”
That shut the arrogant prick up. I didn’t want to give him any more information than necessary so I glanced back at Emily and added, “Why would I let him go when he started singing like a canary.” I smiled at Emily before I turned to face Shane. “Call it guilt, or cleansing his soul or outright revenge, but the man shared with me a lot of information that we need to discuss once our guests leave and this room gets sanitized. But I can say this, he has told me that Perchenko has an army of assassins in the states that he could call up at will. Parsons isn't the only one he has sent over here, which calls to question her reliability. Also, and you’re going to love this. He told me that Dennis Simon was a mole for the CIA and worked for Santini and Emily Parsons.”
The second I dropped that bomb, the room suddenly erupted into shouting, accusations and chaos yet again, but this time the yelling was directed at the CIA.
I leaned back and watched the show, loving how red-faced Santini was as he was verbally attacked by a very angry Malcolm and Josh.
Poor Izabella was caught in the crossfire, but too bad. She should have picked a better side to work for than the spawns of Satan.
I brought my eyes to a stone-faced Emily and met her hard stare. She matched my indifferent posture and we stared at each other, both sending silent threats and promises across the room.
When she used her index finger and thumb to create a shape of a gun, I stiffened ever so slightly. She pointed her finger at me then moved to Shane's direction and pretended to shoot him, Malcolm, Sweets, Josh, then me. I, in turn, blew a kiss her way.
Bring it on, bitch. Bring it on.
Much to my delight the meeting was over from there. Clearly, the CIA had nothing to offer us. This was all smoke and mirrors, a way to find out what we knew and how close we were to finding their agent.
I also had no doubt Perchenko was still operating under the hand of the CIA. If they found him before we did, they would make him disappear again, but not in the way we would make him disappear.
And poor Izabella…
I could see her pleading eyes directed at us but she kept her mouth shut. She stayed by her bo
ss’s side the whole time Malcolm lit into him.
Shane wasn’t in the fray. He was busy speaking in hush tones to our security people who had arrived shortly after the yelling started.
I was sure Shane was taking precautions as our guests were being escorted out of our conference room to the elevators. Even though we had eyes on them the entire time they were here, you didn’t want to sleep on the CIA. They could have bugged this entire office, despite the security cameras we had setup in this room, with us none the wiser.
As security did their thing, Jacks, along with Malcolm began escorting our guests out of the building. As soon as they had vacated the room, Sweets and Josh started arguing in the corner with Curtis standing close by, his arms folded, his eyes narrowed on the couple.
I couldn’t hear a lot of what Josh was saying but the city could hear Sweets.
“Oh I embarrassed you? Are you kidding me?” she screeched, her arms moving about.
“Please. She didn’t bait me into doing anything. It was all you,” Sweets bit back, her eyes narrowed on Josh. She stepped a little closer to him and poked him in the chest. “Yeah, how do you think I felt when you nickname dropped… oh yes you did.”
“No the fuck I did not,” Josh admonished, his voicing getting that growl that indicated he was about to lose his shit.
“Yes you did! You took up for her, making me feel like shit. So yeah, I goaded you. I pushed your buttons just because I could. You’re an asshole!” and so on…
They continued arguing, throwing blame on their behavior on each other. Curtis just watched on, waiting. For what I didn’t know. I knew he didn’t think Josh would hurt his sister, but I had to say it did look heated between them. Sweets looked as if she was on the verge of tears, despite her red angry face. Josh didn’t seem to care just how pissed off she was, he was too busy trying his best not to go all Rambo on the room and its occupants.
