Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1)

by C. W. Stokes

  Liz laughed, “I’d like to see them try. There’s a reason they haven’t caught him by now Shelby and you know it. I would like for you to be ready to launch the virus by the end of Max’s investigation. If you find any connection with Agent Le’s death and Agent Young’s disappearance, I want to know before they do. If Roger had anything to do with either, I want to make sure that it is handled the correct way. We can hand over who is responsible, but we do not have to hand over Roger Hawk on a silver platter until everything is in place.”

  “Liz I know that your sole purpose is to ruin Roger Hawk, but will you ever tell me why?” Shelby asked.

  Liz thought for a moment, “Shelby you are the closest friend that I have and maybe someday I can tell you the whole story.”

  Shelby could understand that. She had her own reasons for hating Roger Hawk. She had a lot of respect for Liz. Liz was a force to be reckoned with, especially if she were angry. She had that slow simmering anger. She was poised, and she never raised her voice, but she could snap a person in two with just a few words. She knew that everyone thought Liz was cold, but she also had a huge heart. She was protective of those she cared about, as well.

  Chapter Ten

  Shelby finished up in her office and left several reports running for the night. She locked her office and went upstairs to her apartment on the fifth floor. There were four apartments on each floor. She lived in the apartment at the end of the hall. It was more spacious than the rest. She walked off of the elevator and turned to the right and stopped. There in the hallway was Max, walking out of his apartment looking simply delicious. His hair still wet from the shower he wore a red polo shirt that stretched across his biceps and stone washed jeans that fit in all the right places. Nipple alert! Her nipples responded and stood at attention at the sight of Max.

  “Hey Shelby, I was just going out to get something to eat. Would you like to join me?”

  Oh no, that wouldn't be a good idea. This would involve, well getting involved and she had no room in her life for this complication.

  “Thank you, but no - I have an early day tomorrow. You see there’s this really big case I’m working on and the sooner we can solve it, everyone can get back to the way they were.”

  “Shelby, it’s just dinner.” He crossed his arms determined to wait her out.

  The determined look on his face as the muscle in his jaw twitched made her realize that he was going to be stubborn about this. She couldn’t have him just stand out here all night. She huffed “Fine, let me go in and change before we go.”

  She walked to her door and unlocked it with her card key. He followed her in and her body tingled when she smelled his aftershave mixed with soap. She remembered smelling that the day they got soaked in the rain. Oh goodness, this is not good. She was feeling that warmth shoot straight down between her legs. Her nipples were getting more sensitive against her bra as they hardened. She stopped at the table in the entryway and dropped her keys.

  She immediately felt him behind her feeling his breath on her neck, and the warmth from his body made her nipples tighten as they pushed against her bra. He pushed her hair to the side as he kissed her on the base of her neck. His kiss was like a match to her fuse. She moved away from him and turned.

  “Max we can’t do this.” She demanded. “Not again.”

  She saw him clench his fist. He was so different now that they were back in the states, but he should have just laughed it off. Instead, she saw a silently brewing gaze. He didn’t say anything. She had to escape to her bedroom before she changed her mind.

  She quickly changed into a t-shirt, jeans with a pair of tennis shoes and was ready to go. She decided to forgo the usually mandated corset that she wore under all her clothes. She just didn’t have the energy. She found Max standing in the entry way leaning against the wall. He straightened up and walked towards her. She was trained not to back down or run, but she had the feeling that she should, but her feet wouldn’t cooperate. He grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up to his chest and slamming his mouth down on hers. He didn’t wait for her permission. His tongue pushed between her lips demanding entrance. Bells began to go off in her head. He was ringing her bell. No! Wait – that really was a bell. She pulled away, and he wouldn’t let go.

  “Max, you have to stop. Max!” He finally heard the bell. She walked over to the tablet on the table. There was a notice alerting her to a problem in her lab.

  She looked at Max, “I’m sorry, I have to go downstairs.”

  She could clearly see the desire in his eyes. He ran his hands through his hair and let a slow breath of air through his teeth. He moved forward to pull her into his embrace.

  She put up her hands “Max, I can’t. If you touch me I won’t leave here and I have to go downstairs and check on this alert on our systems.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “No, this is a private matter within TAG that I need to deal with.”

  He moved to the door and turned to her, “I am not finished here. Shelby I never had any intention of walking away in Mexico.” And with that he left. What did he just say? She ran to the door and jerked it open only to find the hall empty. She exhaled a lung full of air, which she didn’t realize she was holding. He had known. She didn’t have time to think about that right now. She had to get downstairs and look at the virus. She grabbed her tablet on the table and went downstairs.

  She walked into her office and found the Alcon Virus had completed. She couldn’t believe it. She had worked on this for a little over two years. Now all they had to do was figure out when and where they wanted to deliver the virus. She was about to open the files to examine the coding when her phone rang.

  Liz was calling; she must have received the alarm. “Shelby?”

  “Hey Liz, the virus just completed. I just need to run a few tests and then it'll be ready to distribute.”

  “Good, that’s good news indeed. Come upstairs and we can discuss our strategy.” Liz told her.

  “I’ll be up in a few minutes.” She hung up, looked at the virus and couldn’t help but feel very proud of what she had accomplished. This was her baby, and she was going to relish in delivering it. She shut her console and locked up her office as she left to go upstairs.

  Chapter Eleven

  The moment she walked in four faces were anxiously waiting for her. She groaned and knew that she was in trouble when she saw the dessert on the table. There was going to be some major discussions. “I know this can’t be good.” She mumbled.

  “Alright hand me a plate!” She demanded as she sat down picking up her fork to scoop a bite full of scrumptious chocolate she stopped as they all looked at her with huge grins on their faces. It was a conspiracy.

  Tabby jumped up, “You have some explaining to do missy! Your summer fling was with Special Agent Maxwell Taylor?” She couldn’t help but laugh. Tabby was hard to resist when she was in this mood. Being the youngest of the group, she was so full of life and the shortest of them all. She reminded her of a brown headed Tinker Bell.

  Many nights they sat here discussing cases and problems with TAG while devouring some kind of delicious dessert that Liz would make. Tonight’s dessert was her favorite, turtle cheesecake. How could you go wrong with caramel, chocolate chips and pecans? Looking at her plate, she remembered how it seemed to be the best way for them to solve some of their most difficult problems. Which seemed to work, but it was also good for soothing stresses and heart aches as well.

  Taking a bite of the cheesecake a moan slipped from her lips. This was almost as good as the orgasms that Max had given her. If you could die by dessert, this would be the way to go. She looked up, and all eyes were on her. Her face started getting warm and flushed having been caught in her thoughts. Each one of them knew what she was thinking.

  “Ok Shelby, spill it!” Jo demanded.

  “Or what? You’ll run me over?” She snapped.

  “Oh, one time, one time I run over someone and you never let me
live it down.” Jo threw her hands up in the air and turned to her plate. Jo was the zippy one of the group and ran fast and furious. She loved to race cars and had the record to prove it. If you were brave enough to get in a car with her, you were in for a ride you would never forget.

  “Just keep Mini away from me.” Oh she knew that Jo wasn’t fond of the way they all would call her car “Mini”. Despite the fact it was a Mini Cooper they couldn’t help, but rib her for it.

  Tabby started tapping on the table, “Hello! Earth to Shelby, we’re waiting.”

  Sitting her plate down on the table, she looked at each face noticing that Alex was being awfully quiet. She was the sensible woman of the group, with the exception of Liz of course. Liz was all four of them rolled into one.

  Shelby drew in a deep breath and began at the beginning. She knew if she didn’t give them the juicy story, she would never get to enjoy her cheesecake.

  “You’re telling me that he knew who you were in Mexico?” Liz demanded.

  “Apparently, that’s what he insinuated earlier.” Shelby shrugged.

  “Your summer fling is now residing under the same roof? You go girl!” Jo smirked whooping at the top of her lungs. She ignored her and looked at Alex.

  Shelby slid over next to Alex, “Are you alright? You are really quiet this evening.”

  Alex just smiled. “Yes, everything’s fine. You know me always in control. I’m just a little tired this part of the case is really complex and trying.”

  Shelby didn’t believe her. Alex was always in control, but there was something about her that wasn’t quite right. She had just come in from Las Vegas where she had been working on another part of the Hawk case. She thought that she had seen a reaction from Alex when the agents had been introduced earlier. John had been in town all this time, and Max had been in Mexico so that left Ross McCade. Hmmm, she’d have to ask Liz about it later. If it were serious, Alex would confide in Liz.

  “Shelby, we need to talk about the virus.” Liz brought everything back to focus.

  “The virus was completed a short while ago, so now I need to run a few baseline tests to make sure that it’s stable and can do what we want it to do. I have set up a dummy corporation outside of our network that can be used to test the virus.” She told them.

  “How long do you think that will take?” Alex asked.

  “I should be able to start the program this evening and know definitively within a few days.”

  “Good, I think that as soon as this case with the bureau is complete, we should move forward with the virus.” Liz paused, “Does everyone agree?”

  “Sure, yes and why not” They all spoke at the same time as everyone agreed.

  With that settled Shelby stood, “Liz, I’m going to take another piece of this with me downstairs and launch the virus into the test environment.” She grabbed her plate and started for the door. Liz followed her to the elevator.

  “Shelby, I need you to let Max sit in while you look for his agents. We agreed to let them have access, and I don’t want it to appear that we aren’t cooperating.” Liz told her.

  “You know I'll do whatever you ask of me; no questions asked, but I’m not comfortable with it.” Thinking for a moment “I can put boundaries in place that he won’t see or have access to outside of the search criteria that I enter.” She told her.

  “Good. I wouldn’t ask you to do anything that would compromise the integrity of our system. If you can isolate the information that Max wants, then that would be even better. Just let me know if he sees something he shouldn’t.” Shelby turned and got on the elevator.

  Max entered her thoughts as she walked to her office. Whoa he was off limits. She didn’t have time to get involved with anyone. Figures; her past finally came back to bite her in the ass. She walked into her office opening all of the screens and watched as the dummy corporation was launched and the virus executed. She sat there a few minutes and watched as the sequences kicked off. The program was going to take several hours to run and so far it was looking good. Closing the console and the screens she secured her office to call it a night.

  She stepped off the elevator and there he was. If she didn’t know better, she’d think Max was stalking her, but of course that couldn’t be the case since he was staying in the apartment next to hers. He was leaning against the wall looking at the plate in her hand.

  “I thought you had something urgent to attend to?” he asked.

  “I did. I count a sugar fix as an urgent need. Now is there something I can help you with?” She pushed past him to open her door.

  He moved to follow her and she stopped him at the door.

  “What do you want Max? It’s late, and we have an early day tomorrow.”

  He reached for her face and pulled her head towards him, “Only this.” He pressed his lips to hers but didn't seek entrance. He pulled back, “Good night Shelby, sweet dreams.” He turned and went inside his apartment. He left her standing there dazed and confused. Huh, what was that? Damn, another long night. She seemed to be having a lot of those when he was around.

  Chapter Twelve

  The next morning he met her downstairs in the briefing room outside her office. Looking like he didn’t have a care in the world while sipping his coffee, whereas she had tossed and turned all night. “Good Morning, I hope you slept well.” She smiled sweetly. She hoped he got a cavity from the sweetness. “Actually, I did thank you.” He smirked. She swore to herself that if he didn’t quit that quirky smile; she was going to do something insane. All she could muster up to say was, “Follow me, we have a lot to do today. I’ve agreed to let you in here while we go through the files looking for your agents. However understand that I will ask you to leave if I feel at any time that our client’s privacy will be compromised.” She turned and walked into her office.

  Max hadn’t slept very well the night before. Just being under the same roof with Shelby was playing havoc with his hormones. He seemed to walk around with a hard on anytime she was within earshot or general vicinity. Even now he had to straighten himself before he walked into her office. There was no way he was going to let her see the effect she had on him as he followed her into the office and sat next to her. Watching her work for a minute, he realized she was an even more beautiful in her environment. Some men might be intimidated by her quiet intellect, but not him. No sir, if anything he was turned on even more. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, and she wore silver wired glasses that were perched on the middle of her nose. Those glasses only enhanced the green hue of her eyes. He remembered how her eyes had dilated when he was buried deep inside her. How her lids would look heavy and just as she would let go her eyes would open wide in wonder as they both went over the edge, collapsed and came back down to earth.

  “Max are you listening?” Max snapped out of his thoughts when she waved her hand in front of his face. “Max, I have a lot of questions to ask you so that we can determine if Hawk had anything to do with Agent Le’s death and where Agent Young may be. Pay attention, please.” Max narrowed his eyes at her. It was her fault he had a raging hard on in his pants that only she could make go away. He shifted in his chair, opened his laptop and got to work.

  “What would you like to know?” he asked.

  “Ok, I need you to tell me where the agents were working. That would be a good start. Do you have a picture of either of them that I can put into our system?”

  Max nodded and turned to his laptop and emailed her a video photo of Kim and Patricia. She pulled it up on the top right monitor in the center of the wall and watched as their faces rotated on the screen. On the screen next to it, she launched the facial recognition software to begin to scan Hawk’s businesses and homes as well as the places he frequented for a match.

  “This part may take a while. His holdings are pretty wide spread, but if they had any dealing with any of Hawk’s organizations or associates, then this will find them.”

  He looked skeptica
l but kept quiet. He watched as the computer program notated the different angles of their faces pinpointing the distance between their eyes, and then measured down to the tip of the nose. It created a face print in which to compare to the images in the videos.

  “Tell me where the last known locations of your agents were?” she asked him.

  He pulled up his notes on his laptop and saw their last location had been in New York City. “Both of their GPS locations show their last location being New York City. Somewhere on 3rd street and 6th avenue close to Washington Square. They were supposed to check in that evening, but they never did.” His brows furrowed. She could see the torment on his face at thought of the agent’s death.

  “Max, you can’t do that. You can’t blame yourself for her death. The person who killed her is the only one responsible for that.” She placed her hand on his arm and felt the muscles tense at her touch.

  “Shelby I don’t need anyone feeling sorry for me.” He bit at her.

  Pushing back, “You big jerk, I wasn’t feeling sorry for you, I was trying to state the obvious. I’ll keep my mouth shut from now on.” She turned back to the computer screens.

  He knew he should say something to her, but didn’t know what to say. He saw it in her eyes how she wanted to help in that moment.

  He reached out to her, “Shelby.”

  “Look…. Back to work” She snapped. “How long have they been undercover working on this specific assignment?” she asked him.

  “Patricia has been undercover for the past year. She travelled all over the world and as far as I could tell she’d been getting some good Intel. The last communication to me was that Kim had one more place to go and then she’d come up, and we build a strong case on Hawk as well as many other prominent business men.”