by Paris Morgan
“Even well-loved children still go out and do stupid things. Our job is to love them and teach them. What about children who are raised by nannies, but they still love their parents? Just because a situation makes it impossible for you to be everything you consider to be the perfect parent, there are so many ways for you to be there for your kid. Which is more important than if you had a certain type of baby food you use, or the brand of diapers you decide on.”
She was trying to be reassuring, but it wasn’t working.
“Those aren’t the things I’m even worried about. What if I bring home my job, or worse, endanger my kid because of some crazy person trying to get back at me?” I threw my hands up in frustration.
“Ah, yes. Those fears are valid. What if you’re driving and another car hits you? What if you’re home in your beds and there’s a fire?” She leaned forward to place a hand on my arm. “Ryan, the fact that you’re worried about these things means you’re already way ahead of everyone else. Things will happen that are beyond your control. It’s how you respond to those things that will shape your child. Be there. Do your job at work by making a difference. Go home and love your baby by singing to it or rocking it.”
“Won’t I be considered weak for placing my child as the most important thing in my life?”
“Being a parent is one of the hardest jobs in the world. Some people might see it as a weakness if you’re showing off the baby pictures and proud of each accomplishment. But that little person that’s about to enter your world is going to make you stronger, more able to empathize with others because you’ll understand what a parent is willing to do for their children.”
“Do you have a partner raising the baby with you or are you doing it alone?”
“Oh, Shea’s my fiancée, and yes, we’ll be raising it together.”
“There, you’re job just got easier by fifty percent. When you’re home, make sure that you take time to be involved. Give her a break, but make sure that she does the same. Don’t neglect your relationship with each other for the baby. It needs to see its parents are united and love each other as well.”
“So you think I can do my job and still go home to the baby without bringing all of my stress with me? I’ll be around enough to be a presence in its life?”
“Yes. That baby is going to be what helps you relax and get rid of the day’s stress. There will be days when it’s just as stressful at home as it is at work, but just remember, each new day is a chance to start fresh. If you make a mistake, own it, then move onto a clean slate the next day and learn what not to do. When the baby comes, you’ll have all the time in the world to get it right. You’re enough because you love and care about this child. Don’t let others get into your head.”
My watch beeped, letting me know the food was ready.
“Thanks for your help. I’m going to have some thinking to do about all of this.” I held out my hand as I stood.
She took it. “You’re welcome. Just remember that you’re the most important part of the equation just by being present when you can be there. Hope things work out.”
“Yeah, me too.”
I kept thinking about the things she’d said as I picked up the food. Maybe it was that simple, to be there and make sure to support Shea so neither one of us got overwhelmed. It would be an adjustment, but I was going to be the best dad I possibly could.
***
Chapter 7
Adam
When Ryan had mentioned that Agent Watson might be working for the opposite team, it had made me think of something we’d ran across with another case.
I started pulling old information up on the secret computer while sending my brother a message.
Adam: Hey, hope you got settled. Can you look into a cold case from about ten years ago where the FBI had a serial killer and it was later discovered that there was an inside man?
Galen: Sure, I’ll look in my files and see what I can find for you. Tomorrow soon enough?
Adam: That’s soon enough. I’ve got a feeling that either our zodiac tried this before, or someone in his family did. There wasn’t a mention of zodiacs, just multiple murders.
Galen: Got it. I’ll run a cross reference on closed case files as well. He may have tried this several times over the years. Each time with enough variations that it hasn’t matched what we’re dealing with now.
Adam: That’s my fear as well. Let me know what you find.
I sat there wishing we were close enough to talk without leaving a trail behind us. It couldn’t be helped, though, because Galen needed to get Lex into school and settled. There had been way too many changes in that poor kid’s life. He needed to have a permanent home.
So many of the threads we were being fed led in the same directions if we followed them long enough.
A serial killer, or family of them, who had protection and money behind them to get away with it all these years. Cover-ups had been known to happen, but John Reed had more political and economic pull than many people realized.
It was going to mean that when we finally brought it all down, there was going to be a huge power vacuum, and more of the evil crazies would try to fill the hole.
While I didn’t want to lie to Ryan, Galen and I, along with trusted members of my team, were doing deep dives on the Urban Energy Corporation. We’d gotten the approval of a few special members of the AG’s office to go before the judge and get warrants to prove that the bank of criminals was in fact tied to the corporation.
With the knowledge that we had a mole, or several, reporting not only to the Zodiac Master, but also to John Reed with his alias of John Armstrong, I’d given my team special instructions.
Unbeknownst to anyone but Galen, the team had been analyzing data for months, as well as doing undercover work in several of the corporations. My team had been called in to take care of the leaks and clean up the FBI’s mess. It had been easy to use the explanation of the unusual nature of the crimes as a reason for us being there.
Our network was a lot wider spread than even our division was aware of, not only because of the nature of our abilities, but we were part of a sub-secret division that took out the really bad guys.
John Reed had popped up on our radar the year before, but we had no solid evidence to link him to the crimes of human trafficking. When we started to look closer, all leads were buried or destroyed.
Our boss had started making arrangements then to plant a few agents into his organization. While not all were in positions of leadership, they were able to copy files and point us in the direction of where to look for incriminating files.
No one, not even my boss knew who these individuals were. Every week, an attachment would be sent to a special email and uploaded into our special mainframe back at headquarters.
If Ryan even got a whiff of the stuff we’d kept from him, he’d never speak to me again. It was just a good thing I was one of the good guys.
Due to the dangerous nature of our current case, I knew that the information I held was vital, and had given Galen the location with the access links.
With the Zodiac Master following us constantly and having our stuff bugged, there wasn’t a safe place for me to go and check in with our people.
Galen was going to make a single phone call using a code word to activate the takedown if anything happened to me.
Most people would have considered me paranoid or a conspiracy theorist, but I’d seen first-hand the lengths that these traffickers and the cartel was willing to go to stay in business.
We were inching closer, but I was going to have to disappear for a while and take Mac out of commission for his own safety. Maybe we’d get lucky and finally have a chance to wipe out three great evils in one fell swoop.
The door creaked open and I hit a few keys to delete what I’d been working on as Ryan entered.
“That smells good. What were they making for dinner?” I began clearing some space on the coffee table.
“Chicken Alfredo, with fre
sh garlic bread. It’s a good thing Flora’s miles away and won’t have to deal with your horrible breath.” Ryan winked at me as he put the food in the empty space.
“Yeah, about that. I’m going to have to go back to the city tonight. I’ve a got a few things from another case that need to be taken care of, and all my stuff is at home. Think you’ll be okay here for a short while?”
Ryan’s head popped up. “Everything okay?”
“Yes and no. There are a few things they need me to resend them because they got lost.” I got utensils from the small kitchen. “You know how that goes. It’s probably right there in their files and they’re just not seeing it, or it’s labeled as something else.”
“We should be good here, and now that I’ve got access to the camera feeds, I can monitor the hallways much easier. The GPS on Leslie’s phone is still working, but I’ll just ask her to let me know if she’s going to leave the facility.” He divided everything onto the two plates. “How long will you be gone?”
“Probably be back in a day or so. I’ll get home tonight, but if it takes longer to smooth things out, it might be the next afternoon before I’m back. Why?”
“Leslie’s birthday is just around the corner, and I want to make sure that we’ve got her covered.”
“Oh, I’ll be back way before that. I may even bring back a replacement for you so you can have the weekend off to go see Shea. Work for you?”
“Duh.” A smile lit up his face. “That would be fantastic.”
“Great. That’ll be the plan then.”
***
The drive back to Dallas was uneventful, but it gave me time to think about all the different pieces of the puzzle.
Someone had leaked Mac’s identity.
No one but Leslie had known he was even involved until last month, and now the Zodiac Master was sending out psychic vibes about it, meaning it could be a trap, or he had found something more important than we’d realized.
Either way, he had to be extracted. When all the crap had gone down last month, Leslie had trusted Galen to reach out to Mac and they’d made a few arrangements in case something happened and we needed his help. I was about to use that and pull him out.
Dallas traffic had thinned out as I pulled into my neighborhood, without having to deal with the tangled snarls of those freeways. Sometimes, even after hours would make crossing the busy city difficult.
I parked my car in the garage, and didn’t even bother to take my luggage out of the car before walking inside. I pulled my keys, phone, and watch off and laid them on the counter before walking out the back door, disappearing into the shadows.
Even though it was summer, I pulled a sleeveless hoodie on, and adjusted a ball cap on my head. It was important to look like I fit in with where I was going.
The driver of the bus that picked me up a mile from my house eyed my warily, afraid that I was going to suddenly pull a gun and take over the bus.
A smile and a head nod told him I wasn’t looking for trouble as I took a seat where he could see me. I was packing, but it wasn’t to pull a bus jacking for a joyride.
In case I was followed, which I didn’t think had happened, I switched buses three times before heading to the meet.
My ‘extra’ senses hadn’t picked anything up, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t as good as I was at evasion.
Galen had made the call to Mac, and if he showed up at the meet, we’d take another route through deep gang territory on foot to lose anyone that happened to be following us.
Mac was leaning against the opening in an apartment complex, and I continued walking past him and out the back entrance.
He followed, staying a few steps behind me as we made our way to another bus stop.
“Any trouble getting out?” I questioned, facing away from him.
“Nah. I wasn’t there permanently, so it was an easy thing to clear it out and take the information with me.” Mac lit a cigarette, shuffling nervously as we waited. “Why’d you pull me anyway? They didn’t know who I was.” He took a few puffs before snuffing it out as the bus approached.
“The Zodiac Master has ordered a hit on you. While there’s no actual evidence of that, and it’s only a rumor at this point, I have something else I need you for.”
“A hit? That’s crazy, man. I covered my tracks so well he could never have found me.” Mac shook his head in disbelief.
“After last month, I’m betting someone saw you or connected you to Leslie because of your past. Either way, we get to keep you alive and let you help us on something even bigger than what you’ve been doing that’s connected.” I brushed up against him and handed him a phone with a single address in it.
The bus pulled up. I went to the back of the bus and took a seat, watching for anyone that got on who looked suspicious.
Mac sat in the very first seat, never turning around to acknowledge that we knew each other.
A few stops later, in the slightly better part of town, he got off.
I rode for a while longer before getting off, and then taking another bus on the other side of the street back to where our spot was.
It wasn’t safe to linger here, so I walked at a brisk pace to the address where it was so overgrown, most people had no idea there was a house inside.
Several years ago, I’d bought a few rundown houses and had them outfitted as safe houses with all the technology to run an operation from.
Mac was sitting on the front step.
“It’s a good thing these steps are concrete or we’d fall through trying to get inside.”
“Just wait.” I smiled, knowing he was about to crap his pants.
He followed me, touching my back to guide him in the dark.
“Stay,” I ordered, closing the steel door behind me before flipping on the lights.
“Whoa!” Mac exclaimed, looking around in wonder. “What kind of operation is this?”
“A very secret one. You’re going to have to stay here for the next several months. While it’s not the best solution, it’s the only one that keeps you alive, and may give us an leg up on this madman.”
“If I get to play with all of these toys, then I’m completely down with that. What about food?”
“The supermarket is just down the street, so I’ll get some groceries for tonight. In the morning, the list I ordered will be delivered to the garage in the back. Each month a new order will put out there, and then that night when it’s dark, you can go out and bring it in.”
“This is freaking A.” Mac sat in the desk chair, giving it a twirl as he surveyed all the equipment.
“It’s under surveillance, so if anyone approaches you’ll know it. The outside windows were left as they were, broken and dirty, but on the inside we built new frames with complete blackout tint added. From the street, no one can tell that a person is here.” I walked over and opened a cabinet. “Here are weapons if you need them. If it comes to that point, we’re all screwed.”
“Show me why you brought me here.” Mac cracked his knuckles, ready to get to work.
***
Chapter 8
Leslie
With my therapy sessions, and fun activities with Kara and Shelly, I was able to ignore the dark cloud that had been following me for months.
Unless someone was literally attacking me with a knife, I wasn’t going to worry about them. I was here to enjoy myself.
Mary Ann had grown really quiet due to the fact that I quit talking to her, as well as the guys. Whenever they would walk by, I’d only nod or wave. They were both good detectives, and didn’t need my input on how to solve cases.
Which was why I was startled when someone called my name while I was sunbathing by the pool.
I sat up and looked around, waiting for the person to say my name again. Nothing.
It was time for me to turn over so I didn’t bake too much on one side, but I’d just gotten comfortable when I heard it again.
“Leslie.”
There. I heard
it. I knew it was someone, so I got up and threw on my T-shirt, shorts, and slipped my feet into my flip-flops.
No one paid me any attention as I walked to the edge of the building and looked around. It was empty.
“Leslie.”
I jerked my head around so fast, it hurt for just a second as I searched to see who was calling me.
This time, I noticed a guy heading inside, who glanced in my direction as he did.
Hurrying to catch up to him, but not slip on the concrete, I made it inside as he turned the corner, into the kitchens.
The staff looked at me strangely when I entered through the swinging door, but I was determined to find out who he was.
“Did you see which way the guy went a second ago?”
They pointed toward a door in the back.
Wishing I had my gun with me, I cautiously opened the door, but the room was empty.
I stuck my head back out. “You’re sure he went in here?”
The cook nodded yes.
Taking another look around the room, I noticed a door hidden from view by the bookcase.
Without a thought, I went through the doorway and started to climb the stairs.
It had to led up to what I assumed was a suite reserved for special people.
The door at the top wasn’t locked, and I turned the knob slowly, unsure of what was waiting for me behind it.
I had been correct that this was a special suite because it was the entire length of the building. Even in rehab there were classes divided by money, and the rich got to grieve in luxury.
Nothing in the room moved as I checked it with the same thoroughness that I would for any suspect.
Under the bed was empty. The balcony didn’t provide a safe way down, and no one could have repelled the wall that quickly. The closet for the room was enormous and filled with gorgeous clothes and shoes, but was empty of the mysterious man.
