by Faye, Carmen
“Well, technically I suppose you’re right,” Logan stumbled for the words. “But this wasn’t the way that…”
“You have an idiot detective looking into the ATF because nothing has been the way that it’s supposed to be. At this point you and the idiots that you have taking care of business are becoming a liability to me.”
“Just give me a little time. I have a plan.” Logan begged.
“Your plans, Logan,” the voice spoke. “Have only made things worse.”
“I promise,” he gave his word. “I know how to get past Larsen. I’ve found Hudson’s weakness. And she’ll be gone before you know it.”
“One of you will,” the voice guaranteed. “If you staying alive compromises what I’m doing, I will fix it. And unlike you, Logan, my plans don’t get fucked up. Understand?”
“I understand,” Logan offered.
“Do you also understand that if you fuck up one more thing.” The voice got quieter. “You’ll wish you’d spent more time with your kids—all three of them.”
Logan felt his breath catch in his throat. “Yes sir.”
“Take care of things.”
With that, the phone went dead. Logan sat for several minutes to regain his composure. Then he walked back into the room where Amanda sat crying.
“Do whatever you need to babe.” He smiled. “We will work it out.”
***
“I’d really like permission to speak with Agent Fuller.” Shepard stood in the office of the police detective.
“I’m afraid that can’t happen at the moment, Agent Shepard.” Larsen shook his head. “She is on complete lockdown for her own safety.”
“I understand that, Detective Larsen.” Shepard sat in the chair opposite the desk. “But as I’m sure you are aware of, she was recently kidnapped. Agent Fuller has been through a lot in recent months. It has to have been traumatic for her. I would like to make sure she is okay.”
“I know you would,” Larsen agreed, “but she can’t have visitors at the moment. Only those already approved on the list.”
“Detective,” Shepard looked at Larsen and saw that he wasn’t going to get very far. “I will bring in higher forces if need be.”
“That’s fine,” Larsen commented. “I don’t mind talking with them. I am certain that they will see the danger to Agent Fuller overrides the ATF’s need to communicate with her at the moment. Especially given that she was on duty during at least one of the attacks on her.”
Shepard wasn’t aware that this pudgy little man was as smart as he was. It made him pause for a moment before he commented. “Is she alive, detective?”
“She is. And that is all I can say at the moment. She is being kept safe during her treatment and contact will be allowed with her at my discretion.”
“I am a federal agent, Detective,” Shepard said the same as everyone before him. Her safety and mental well being are what is most important to me.”
“Then I’m sure you understand,” Larsen stood as he spoke. “But for now, I have to get back to work. Thank you for stopping by.”
Shepard got up and walked out of the office. Larsen watched him walk outside and pause by his car. Grabbing his phone, Shepard made a call. Larsen wondered who was on the other end.
“Did it work?”
“Not at all. We’re going to have to do more.”
“Understood. I’ll take care of it.”
With that, Shepard got into his vehicle completely unaware that Larsen was watching and ordering someone to get his phone records. For once the detective was going to be proactive in this investigation. He needed to know what was going on.
CHAPTER 30
“You have one hell of a fan club all of the sudden,” Larsen smiled as he shut the door behind him.
“Who now?” Fuller asked, glad to have some company.
“Hudson, Agent Shepard, and about fifteen random people that you probably don’t even know…doctors and nurses and reporters.” He shook his head. “Seems you’ve become a household name Agent Fuller.” The detective began to laugh as he made his way to the chair in the corner.
“I appreciate all that you are doing for me Detective.” She smiled and offered him a cookie from the basket in front of her.
“Maybe just one,” he teased as he grabbed three from the basket.
“How is Hudson?” she questioned.
“I don’t know,” Larsen confessed. “I told him I was too busy to meet.”
Melissa understood why the detective felt like he did. But she was worried about the guy. He would be extremely upset that he’d let her leave knowing that she was in danger. He would blame himself. More than anything he would need to see her.
She couldn’t let anyone outside of those already on board know how she was doing. Unfortunately that also meant Asher. She wanted to see him. To kiss him. To touch him. But she wasn’t sure at that moment who was or wasn’t trustworthy. She’d only discussed any of this with him and she was run off the road as soon as she left. Everything inside of her wanted to believe that he wouldn’t play a part in something like this. But she was an agent and that meant being careful.
She wished she could let him know she was fine. But that would be risky. So she had no choice but to keep him in the dark with the rest of them.
That night had scared her half to death. She was driving along the road back to the city when a set of bright lights appeared behind her. Melissa had slowed down hoping that they would pass so she could see again.
When she saw them switch lanes to go around her, she breathed a sigh of relief—until she felt the first thud against the side of her car. Then another and she realized that they were trying to run her off the road. She couldn’t see who it was, and wouldn’t when her car slid sideways.
Trying with everything she had, she’d pressed the brake and tried to turn the wheel slowly. But the car spun out. Sliding across the road, she had enough time to mutter a quick prayer when the tree came straight for her. What she didn’t notice was the fairly deep roadside ditch. The moment her tires had touched the dip, the car had begun to flip. It did so several times before slamming into the tree. Glass shattered all around her and the sounds of the engine, radio and hissing from the damage all seemed to echo in her ear. She was sore, but it had seemed like she was okay.
It wasn’t long after that Larsen and some of his officers had shown up. With a few quick moves they had her out of the vehicle and on her way to this place. She couldn’t complain. He was keeping her safe. And it was probably difficult on his end to pull off the show he was putting on.
Larsen’s goal was to catch something and end this once and for all. The problem was that so far, nothing grand had happened. And so she still sat there daily, stuck and unable to even communicate with the people in her life.
“Detective…” She paused to wait on him to acknowledge that she was talking. At that moment he was looking at his phone, probably answering more questions about her. “If we know that Hudson is working…”
“Look,” the detective came over to the sofa where she currently sat, “I know he’s not as bad as we thought. But someone is telling someone something. It may not be him. But it’s someone. I won’t tell you what to do. But I will say that you need to be sure before you make a seriously life changing decision.”
“How else can I be sure?” Fuller asked. “How do I know without any doubt? I mean he’s never hurt me. He has been protective and caring. He even kept me alive when he wasn’t supposed to.”
“Then why do you have doubt?” Larsen asked.
“Honestly? Because he’s different with me than with them. He’s romanced people before to stay out of trouble. And I just don’t know who I can trust anymore.”
“You trust me,” he offered. “Maybe you should sit down and think about why you trust me when I’ve done less for you and you can’t trust him when he’s done so much.”
The words made sense. But she didn’t have an answer. Melissa sat back and clo
sed her eyes, thinking about what her friend and partner in this thing had just said.
Why did she trust the detective that she barely knew without question? Probably because he’d helped her from day one. There’d been no force. No sexual stuff. Nothing but just him doing the things that she needed him to do.
“I guess because he and I have a different sort of relationship,” she confessed.
“Agent Fuller,” he began, “You have a very strict perception of the world. Probably one that you grew up with. You have clear lines of wrong and right, good and bad. Not all of us had that luxury. We learned a long time ago that there are demons where there are supposed to be angels and vice versa. I think you are seeing that now, correct?”
She nodded.
“I read something yesterday. I forget the exact wording or who said it. But it was something about how we are all the same. We have to endure the same hell. We just have different devils to answer to.”
Melissa thought that over as he continued.
“The key is to determine which of those devils you know and which you want to steer clear of.”
“I think I know him,” she answered softly.
“Well it’s time to figure it out. The game’s about to begin and we need to know who is on our side.”
“And if I want him on my side?”
“I wouldn’t be keen on the idea,” Larsen admitted. “But I’d deal with it.”
“What if it meant trusting him to get the info we used?”
The detective seemed to think for a few minutes. That was a lot to ask. To base ones actions on the ideas of a known criminal. It was ballsy. But after she gave her reasons and backed them up, Larsen knew it was the best idea.
“Sure,” he agreed and pulled his phone back out to signal the conversation was over.
***
Amanda knew what they thought of her. All of them. She could see it in their eyes when she was around them. It had been that way at work. Now it was that way here. Hell even when she went to the grocery store she got the same glances.
It didn’t matter. He didn’t look at her that way. She made him happy. They both knew that. If she tried to leave he wouldn’t let her. It was romantic. Kind of. In that weird way he had of being romantic. He was just scared of change. She knew that.
It’s the reason he’d never left that cold heartless bitch that he was married to. She didn’t love him. Hell everyone could see that too. She was mean and bitter to him. What kind of a woman had no desire to be with her man? Especially a man like Brent Logan? It made no logical sense.
He worked hard. He bought them everything they wanted. He provided a nice life. That alone would be reason enough to drop and blow him when he wanted. It wasn’t like he was rude. He would talk all sweet during it. He was just under a lot of stress and needed to blow off steam.
She knew he loved her. It was clear in the way he wouldn’t let her go very far. It was also the reason she didn’t always tell him what she was doing. Like the night before last when she’d snuck off to see Gary. He was her high school sweetheart and he’d wanted to have dinner.
She let him take her to a nice little diner on the outskirts of Vegas and she’d laughed at all his jokes and he’d complimented her appearance and humor. After about an hour they’d ended up in the back of his van. She felt a little guilty, but it wasn’t like she was committed to anyone.
Besides, Gary knew exactly what she liked and sometimes Brent forgot what to do.
He wasn’t happy when she’d came in so late. He’d been waiting up on her which she thought was just the sweetest thing ever. She made it up to him in his most favorite way and then they’d parted ways.
She wasn’t thrilled that she was pregnant any more than he was. In fact, she’d cried when she saw the results of the test. Why in the fuck did she have to end up with the kid on the way? She liked the way it was.
Naturally her first thought had been the same as Brent’s. But then he’d freaked out and she realized that she wasn’t going to let him force this. He didn’t want to be with her full time so he couldn’t inject his opinion. Besides, what better way to guarantee her room in the house?
But it sure was fucking with her emotions. Especially as his son looked at her like she was trash.
“Did you need something?” she heard herself snap and she tried to calm down just a little bit. He was just a kid.
“Why are you here?” A smartass one she decided as she heard the words.
“I’m your nanny.”
“Bullshit. You’re here for my dad.”
“Well,” she paused. “Some things are just not your concern.” She offered. “I am here to watch after you kids.”
“You aren’t doing a very good job.”
Amanda had to force herself to stay calm. She wasn’t sure why this kid thought that it was okay to speak to adults as he was. Well aside from the fact that his mother was a bitch. Maybe she taught him it was okay.
Just as Amanda thought of her, she walked in the front door.
“MOM!” he screamed and ran towards her.
“Hey bub,” she smiled at her son. Amanda noticed she did that more often than she smiled at her husband. “”How was your day?”
“It sucked,” he looked at Amanda and she wanted to slap him. “I’d rather have been at school.”
“I’m sorry bub,” she patted his head as if he were a baby or had spoken in a respectful tone. “Why don’t you and your sisters get ready, and we’ll go to dinner.”
“With dad?” he asked eagerly.
“I think he’s working late,” she answered halfheartedly. “Maybe next time.”
“Sure.” He smirked at Amanda and ran up the stairs.
“Amanda,” she spoke politely. “Were they okay today?”
“Actually,” Amanda began, “Bryce got a little mouthy with me…” she let the idea hang in the air for a moment. “He seemed to believe it was okay to question me about my place here and my relationship with his father.”
Amanda watched as she processed this information and decided what to do with it. Hopefully she would see the point in this. How could she tend to a child that showed no respect for her?
“Honey,” the woman smirked at her. “If you don’t want people to think you are a whore, then maybe you shouldn’t be one.”
CHAPTER 31
“Manny!” Hudson faked an enthusiasm he did not feel. “We weren’t expecting you in town this week.”
It wasn’t a lie. Asher had not been given any warning of his new associate’s impending visit. In fact, he’d been sitting at the cottage and stewing over the fact he knew nothing about Melissa when Dakota had called.
It was a jolt that brought him immediately back to reality. In their business a surprise visit was not a good thing. It meant that there was either an issue or a concern over a potential issue. And that scared Asher. Because Manuel Guittero was not a man you wanted to have issues with. It could land you six feet under.
The current situation made Hudson a bit nervous. His club was losing faith. His girl was somewhere in god-knows-what condition. He wasn’t entirely honest with any of them. And somewhere in his organization was someone out to get him—someone telling his secrets to the authorities.
Now he was face to face with a very dangerous man and he still wasn’t sure why they were meeting so unexpectedly.
“It was a spontaneous decision,” the Mexican cartel leader replied. “I was made aware of potential problems and decided a phone call wasn’t enough.”
Hudson felt his heart race slightly. He had known that eventually he was going to have to answer to Guiterro, but he was hoping it’d be a time when he had more answers. Maybe even a time when his brain wasn’t so scattered with worry that he could think of answers.
He reminded himself that he was where he was because he could handle any situation. Until Fuller had stumbled into his closet, he’d believed that. But knowing that she was hurt and possibly in more danger, he wasn’t posit
ive that his strength was enough to convince a man like Guiterro.
“Is that so?” he questioned as though he were surprised. “Well, have a seat and we can resolve any potential issues.” He smiled at his associate and waved towards the sofa that had housed the man not long before. A quick glance at Dakota signaled for him to bring a drink to the guest. “What’s bothering you Manny? I was under the impression that our relationship was solid.”
The slightly paunchy Mexican adjusted in his seat, twisted his hands together and stared eye to eye with Hudson.
