“Where did she come from?” Paul’s voice came from over Brandy’s shoulder. “It’s impossible to get in or out of here through the wall.”
“Don’t know.” Lukas didn’t seem interested in knowing. “Do you know of anyone in Willowlands who has lost a dog?”
“I’ll ask.” Paul got on the radio and posed the question to the network of security guarding the compound.
Brandy ventured a stroke of the dog’s head. “When you say he’s been in fights, are you talking about forced fights, or he’s been on his own and was defending himself against wild coyotes?”
“I’d think if she was forced to fight, she’d look worse for the wear.” The dog whimpered as Lukas inspected a paw. He shifted her around so he could get a better look. “She has an infection in the pad. I might need to drain it. She’s definitely going to need antibiotics.”
The dog tilted its head, studying Brandy with intelligent eyes that seemed to say he wanted to belong to her. Something special passed between them, and Brandy bonded with the canine. She cupped the dog’s chin in her palm, and the dog nestled in for more affection. “I think he likes me. I’m going to call him Waldo, so when I come home, I can say ‘Where’s Waldo?’ and he’ll come running to me.”
Lukas lost his patience. “It’s a female, Firebrand. Waldo is a male’s name. And you don’t know if she belongs to someone.”
“There are no dogs on the property.” Paul intruded on their conversation. “This one is unauthorized. You can go ahead and give her some care, but then you’re going to have to turn her over to Animal Control.”
Brandy gasped. “You can’t do that. They’ll euthanize him. He’s a survivor. I’ll take care of him.” Belatedly she remembered she didn’t have complete control over her living situation. She batted her eyelashes at Lukas. “He can be ours. Right, Daddy? I’ve always wanted a dog.”
“That’s up to the Rosses,” Paul interjected. He ran a hand through his thick black hair. “They tend to frown on taking on strays.”
Lukas nodded as if he accepted the inevitable refusal of a request to keep the dog. “Let’s get her to the barn. Firebrand, you can help me clean her up and drain that infection.”
Hellfire brewing in her eyes, Brandy followed. As soon as they were out of Paul’s earshot, she unleashed her ire. “How can you be so heartless? He’s homeless and hurt. He needs us to take care of him.”
Lukas threw a look in her direction that said he didn’t have time for her shit. “Brittany, I’m taking care of her. But don’t get attached. If the Rosses say we can’t keep her, then we can’t keep her.”
She flinched at his use of her cover name. He almost never called her by that name, not unless he was mad. Needa Ross and the others used it all the time, and she’d become used to answering to it, but she hated when Lukas used it. He might as well throw knives with nasty epithets engraved on them.
He went to the vet’s clinic in the barn. Though it was outfitted for horses, the facilities could be used for any smaller animal. Ben Ross trafficked in high-end horses, an area of the black market where Brandy had no experience. She hadn’t known it was a lucrative business before, but Lukas had explained that the illicit trade had to do with reproduction. Once a horse had served his or her purpose, they often disappeared, and Brandy didn’t know where they went.
But she knew it didn’t pay enough to run an international crime syndicate. This was a side business for Ben Ross. He liked when powerful people owed him, and this was one of the avenues he used for creating debts.
Lukas placed Waldo in a horse-sized shower. Brandy turned on the hose and adjusted the water temperature. Slowly they washed layers of grime from the dog’s fur.
Waldo watched Brandy, his eyes wide in silent appeal. She shielded his eyes while rinsing soap from his head, and she talked to him in baby-talk. “You’re a handsome baby, yes you are, Waldo.”
With a sigh, Lukas focused on the injured paw. “Tell her that you’d prefer a girl’s name. Maybe Marisol or Gretel?”
Brandy snorted. “Gretel? He is not getting baked in the cannibalistic witch’s oven.”
“Gretel was the smart, quick-witted one who saved both their lives. She was scrappy, a survivor, like this little girl.”
Pursing her lips, Brandy considered the dog. She sincerely got boy-dog vibes from the animal. “Okay,” she said to the dog. “You choose. Do you want to be called Waldo or Gretel?”
The dog nudged Brandy’s hand, slipping her head under it.
“That settles it.” She petted the clean, wet fur. “You’re my Waldo.”
Lukas looked at them both like they were crazy. “She likes you, Firebrand. You could call her Fart Smell and she’d answer. She’s responding to your voice, not what you’re saying.”
Brandy leaned closer to Lukas and summoned her sternest tone. “Daddy, Waldo prefers male pronouns. Please respect his gender identity.”
“You’re angling for a spanking.” He touched the tip of her nose. “We’ll see how today goes.”
Needa and Ben came into the exam room. He wore long blue shorts and a bright, flower-patterned Hawaiian shirt. She was attired in a white sundress with a flowing split skirt that floated all the way down to her ankles. On her head, she had a white hat with a wide, floppy brim that bounced with every step. They held hands, fingers loosely entwined so they pulled apart easily.
Ben nodded to Lukas, and he completely ignored Brandy. “Doctor Luke, I heard you found a stray dog.”
“Yes, Mr. Ross. We just bathed him so I could better assess his injuries.”
Brandy couldn’t stop the smile stealing over her features at his acceptance of Waldo, but she stopped when Waldo growled at the Rosses. It was a low-key rumbling. She petted him, silently urging him to not get louder or show teeth.
Ben scowled. “I’m not partial to dogs. Call Animal Control to pick it up.”
As Waldo didn’t seem to like the bad man, Brandy swallowed a comment about the dog not being partial to him. Brandy firmly believed dogs knew what was in a person’s heart. They could tell the good from the bad, and Mr. Ross was a bad man.
Brandy threw her arms around Waldo. His little body quivered in her arms. “Oh, please let me keep him! I promise I’ll feed him and walk him and pick up after him. You won’t even know Waldo’s here.”
In all the weeks she’d been at Willowlands, she’d never addressed Mr. Ross directly. Though she’d caused no problems and she ran with his wife several mornings each week, Mr. Ross didn’t like Brandy. Most of the time, he behaved as if she didn’t exist. She knew he tolerated her because Doctor Luke and Needa both liked having her around.
He glared at her. “You may not keep this mongrel. I expect him to be off my property before the sun sets.”
If Animal Control was called, she had no doubt a member of her team would show up. She’d been limited in the times and ways she could communicate with them, and they were getting restless with the amount of time she’d been undercover. Though they knew deep cover operations could take months or years, she knew they’d only agreed to her plan because they’d thought she would be in danger for a shorter amount of time. The last time she’d talked to Jordan, he’d threatened to pull her out of there. She’d barely been able to convince him to back down.
Whether this dog stayed or went, she knew it would be fine. Her team would make sure Waldo found a home. But her mind reeled with a haphazard plan to ingratiate herself with the Rosses and get access to the parts of the operation she needed to see in order to take them down in every country where they were ensconced.
Brandy leaped to her feet and clasped her hands together, but this time, she appealed to Needa. “How about if I help you with all the paperwork you said you hate doing? I’m good with numbers. I used to keep the books at a convenience store where I worked for a couple of years.”
Brandy hadn’t brought that up since her initial interview with the Rosses. She lobbed it now because it was the only argument she had to get c
loser to the inner workings of the operation, and appearing to make a deal in exchange for being able to keep Waldo was the perfect cover.
Needa hesitated. She spent many mornings complaining about having to do so much accounting for Ben’s various business interests. Her daughter, Libbie Teague, helped when she stayed at Willowlands, but since she spent most of her time in Florida, Needa was left to do a lot of the work herself.
Ben Ross didn’t trust his books to anyone but family. He chopped his hand through the air. “No. The dog goes. Needa, you don’t need help with the paperwork. Not only do I do most of it, but you spend half your time sipping margaritas next to the pool. You have plenty of time to attend to the books.”
With that, he snagged Needa’s wrist and pulled her out of the barn.
Lukas regarded Brandy somberly, his frustration at his helplessness apparent in the stiff set of his shoulders and the hard set of his mouth. “I’m sorry, Firebrand. There’s nothing I can do.”
“I know.” She touched his cheek. “I have you. That’s all I really need.”
The hardness cracked. “Let’s get Waldo fixed up and looking good so that he gets adopted right away.”
Animal Control was not allowed into the compound, but Brandy was allowed to accompany Lukas outside the walls to deliver Waldo to the uniformed person waiting in a van on the other side of the gate.
She’d tied a blue gingham handkerchief around his neck, and she carried all forty pounds of him down the paved drive. He rested his face against her shoulder as if trying to console her about turning him over to Animal Control. Lukas kept a hand parked on her lower back, and the other was ready to catch the dog if he decided to start squirming.
Avery emerged from the driver’s side, and Jordan climbed out of the passenger side. Both wore tan coveralls with the county name emblazoned on the back and over the breast pocket on the front.
Avery looked over the dog, her gaze mostly flickering to Brandy’s face in an effort to communicate without speaking. “Ma’am, can you get him into one of the cages in back?”
Brandy hugged Waldo tighter. Not only was she reluctant to let him go, but she needed to cover the way her heart beat harder at seeing two of her closest friends and having to remain covert about it. “His name is Waldo. Can you make sure he gets a good home? He’s a really sweet dog. If I could keep him for myself, I would.”
Standing behind and towering over Avery, Jordan studied the dog. His dark brows drew together in an amused slash. “I see you don’t have much experience with animals.”
“His front right paw is infected,” Lukas said. It looked like he’d stopped fighting Brandy on the dog’s gender. “I’ve drained it, but he’s going to need a course of antibiotics.”
Jordan’s gaze snapped to Lukas. “Anything else I should know?”
“He needs a thorough exam, including x-rays. I suspect cracked ribs, and I’m not sure what else is wrong with that leg.” Lukas’s hand tightened on her waist. Brandy knew he hated that he couldn’t take care of Waldo himself, and he hated that he was letting her down by not fighting for her to be allowed to keep the mutt.
They followed Avery around to the rear of the van. Brandy set Waldo down inside a crate where an old towel was spread for him. She petted him a few times, and she shot Avery a firm look. “You’ll take care of him, right? Find him a good home?”
“I’ll do my best,” she said.
“Maybe you want to adopt him? He’s very sweet.” She fluttered her lashes, and Avery had to work to suppress a smile.
Jordan waved a clipboard and pen in her face. “Ma’am, I need you to fill out this form so I can officially take the dog off your hands.”
She filled out basic information, and when she got to the part where she could write specifics about the dog, she knew Jordan expected her to use their secret codes to communicate with him, but she had no new information. She wrote an admonishment for him to place the dog in a good home. She didn’t care if he adopted Waldo himself; she only cared that Waldo found a forever home.
Back inside the compound, she faced Lukas. Tears tracked down her cheeks. “I don’t know why I kept insisting she was a he. At first, it was fun to play around with you, but then it got serious, like that’s how it had to be.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “It’s the little in you, Firebrand. Sometimes living in a world of make-believe is how you cope with hardship. Living here is hard. Being with me isn’t easy. You deserve to have times where you indulge your little side.”
She snuggled into his chest. “Daddy, being with you isn’t a hardship. I’m lucky to have found you.”
“Not sure about that.” His chuckle was riddled with melancholy. “I’m completely certain I’m the lucky one.”
The next morning, Needa showed up bright and early for a pre-dawn run. Brandy was silent most of the way. When they were walking to cool down, Needa sipped her water. “Look, I’m sorry about the dog, but Ben hates them. For some reason, dogs are not fond of him.”
Because he’s a massive douche-headed murderer, human-trafficker, and all-around bad guy who has infiltrated at least fifteen countries to build his empire.
Brandy kept that thought to herself. She shrugged. “I’ve never had a pet. I just hope he finds a family to love him.”
“So, you’re not angry with me and punishing me with your silence?”
Brandy chuckled, a husky sound that barely made it out of her throat. “It’s six-forty in the morning, and we’ve run five miles. I’m exhausted. I need a nap.” Also, she didn’t like Needa, and sometimes it was difficult to maintain her façade. Brandy took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was doing this to make the world a better, safer, place for millions of people.
“Great. Take a nap. Be at my office by ten. I’ve convinced Ben to let me use you as my assistant. I’m going to have you doing some of that book keeping you bragged you were so good at.”
Having spent years honing her investigative skills meant Brandy knew more about accounting than most people. She knew what it looked like when the books were cooked or fake or just plain wrong.
“Sure.” She kept her tone dry so that Needa wouldn’t guess how much joy access like that brought Brandy. She was that much closer to having a comprehensive plan to destroy The Eye once and for all.
Chapter 15
“I’d live somewhere with trees and water. Rolling hills, maybe some mountains.” Lukas leaned against the corral fence, watching the horses hang out in the shade of the overhang he’d built for them. He wore a leather cowboy hat, jeans, leather work boots, and no shirt. “At least ten acres, mostly wooded.”
Brandy had never thought about where she’d like to retire. Her whole life had been dedicated to serving her country, first through the military, and then through the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Right now, her brain was having trouble doing anything but staring at the wall of sexy man standing next to her. She wanted to climb up him and plaster her chest to his.
Instead she forced her brain to pay attention to his musings. She smiled. “That sounds nice. Would you want a river or a lake?”
“Either. Both.” A huge smile split his handsome face. “Anywhere I can take you skinny-dipping.”
“You’d need to clear a meadow for your horses and a horsey house.” She knew how much he loved animals, and she couldn’t imagine his dream home without horses.
“I’d probably rescue a few horses. I’d keep goats and chickens as well.” He grinned. “I’d build you a tree house, and you’d have your very own little space.”
She hugged his arm, pressing her cheek against his warm flesh. She’d been keeping books with Needa for a little over a week, and she’d stumbled upon a treasure trove of information. Ben Ross was an old-fashioned kind of man, and he did very little on a computer. The vast majority of his records were hand-written.
Needa, on the other hand, was as modern as criminals could be. She had a computer that wasn’t networked and several external hard
drives. She typed up or scanned every single one of Ben’s careful records, and she handled everything that came her way from an international perspective.
Unbeknownst to Ben, Needa had a small army of bookkeepers working for her, and now she had Brandy to help her manage them. At first, Brandy had helped with whatever task Needa had set for her, but it hadn’t taken her long to bring Brandy into her confidence. She’d been sworn to secrecy. She couldn’t even tell Lukas about the depth and breadth of Needa’s operation. If Ben found out that Needa wasn’t as efficient and magical as he thought—if he found out about the network of people who were privy to the innermost workings of his organization—he would lose his shit.
It had taken time and effort, but Brandy finally had nearly enough evidence to bring down The Eye. She had enough to get the Rosses and everyone who worked for them, but she wasn’t confident it was enough to eviscerate the organization worldwide.
While she looked for clues to see who else was working with the Rosses, she’d begun coordinating a plan with her team. During her time in Willowlands, they’d kept a rotating skeleton crew stationed nearby. Unless she’d communicated a need, they’d pretty much left her alone to conduct the operation. From the outside, there wasn’t anything they could do anyway.
Now her team had assembled, and they were coordinating with agencies around the world to carry out a simultaneous attack on as many compounds as they could. In a little under a week, she would have her life back.
She hugged Lukas’s arm a little harder. She didn’t have a clear plan for what would happen to him. He wasn’t a hardcore zealot as he’d led Ben Ross to believe, but he was complicit in many of The Eye’s operations. If she could get him to testify against The Eye, then she could push to get him a deal.
Lukas pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “One day, Firebrand. One day, I’ll make sure you have everything you need for a peaceful life.”
Re/Deemed (Doms of the FBI Book 8) Page 20
