Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1)

by C. W. Stokes

  They watched as the trio entered the club. She watched as Jo carefully placed additional cameras inside the club as they moved around. Shelby switched the main monitor to bring the, cameras online and test each one. The inside of the club was bright with colors and the dance floor was already filled with bodies bumping and grinding. Two bar areas flanked the dance floor and in the back was a lounge area that people gathered to hang out. She was able to follow their movements as they made their way towards the back of the club. Oleg was lounging in an overstuffed chair in the back area. She knew it wouldn't be long before he noticed Tabby. She was flamboyant and for the most part the life of the party. Watching as he got up from his chair to make his way toward Tabby she activated the microphone that was in Tabby’s corset.

  “Tabby, signal if you can hear me.” Shelby said.

  Tabby nodded her head as Oleg introduced himself and offered to buy her a drink.

  Ross found a place at the bar to keep watch throughout the club. Jo made her way to the back of the club and was walking down a hall. She found the door in the back that had been closed off to Shelby. Jo listened closely then placed a flexible borescope under the door to make sure that it was empty. The room was clear. She took out her lock pick tools to open the door. Within a few seconds she was inside the room, Max looked at Shelby in surprise.

  Shelby could only smirk, “Only the best.”

  She looked back at the screen and saw that Jo was entering the room. It appeared it was an office. Obviously it belonged to Douglas Oleg. Jo placed the camera so that it was aligned to give Shelby the view of the entire room. The room was decorated in dark woods with a huge mahogany desk as center stage in the room. There were book cases on one side of the wall which was a contrast considering the office was in a night club and not an executive suite or a home. Jo hid the camera in one of the book cases when the bookcase moved.

  “Shelby? Did you see that?” she whispered.

  “Yeah, is it a secret room?”

  “It appears so, there’s a keyless lock on the door. Can you scan it remotely?” she asked Shelby.

  “Take your phone and pull up the scanner and hold the camera over the pad.” She pulled up a program as Jo held her phone up to the keypad for her to scan. Shelby ran the scanner program activating the pad and the door popped open. She could only grin as Max gaped at her. Lights came on has Jo went down into the cellar room.

  “Shelby, record this.” As she walked into the room, there were several beds and file cabinets. The beds were stacked on either side of the walls. Each had handcuffs attached to its posts and under the beds was boxes with different types of sex toys and bondage material. Opening the file cabinets she found files detailing the business transactions of girls and women traded between Oleg and a corporation in Asia. The name of the corporation sounded familiar. In the back of the cabinet was a file with Kim Le’s name on it. She opened it, and it was her bureau file.

  “Shit!” Max slammed his fist on the table. She had been so engrossed in what Jo was doing that he startled her. “Patricia! What have you done?” He was enraged, but she had to stay focused.

  “Shelby there're several thumb drives in here as well. It looks like for each file there is a thumb drive that corresponds with it.” She grabbed several putting them in pockets under her skirt.

  Shelby saw Oleg leading Tabby back to the office. “Jo, get out of there. Oleg is on his way to the office with Tabby. I’ll let her know to stall him.” She saw Jo close up the cabinets and walk back to the door.

  “Tabby, you need to stall him. Jo is coming out of the office. Wave your hand to signal you understand.” Tabby wound her arm through Oleg’s and gave her the signal.

  “Jo you’re clear.” Jo stood at the entrance of the secret room. “Shelby take a quick picture of the room.”

  “Got it, now get out.” Jo closed up the secret room leaving the office; she passed Oleg and Tabby in the hall, but didn't acknowledge them. Jo walked to the bar where she found Ross waiting for her.

  “Anything interesting?” she asked him.

  “Look behind you and tell me who you see?” He nodded towards the back.

  Shelby watched as Jo turned around and just on the other side of the lounge area was a man standing off to the side watching the room.

  “Jo stand in that position for a minute and let me get a scan of his face.” Shelby told her.

  She scanned his profile into the computer and got a hit pretty quick. “Ivan Petrovsky” Ross stiffened at the name. She pulled up Petrovsky’s information on the screen, and he was a well-known assassin for the Russian Mafia. He was an eraser, and he was the best.

  “Tabby don’t stay in there too long. Get out as soon as you can. Oleg isn't someone you want to trifle with.” Tabby acknowledged her. Tabby was sitting down on the couch in the office when Patricia walked in. Max moved closer to the screen.

  “Patty what do you want?” Oleg demanded.

  “I came back here hoping to find you, but I see you have found other company this evening.” She eyed Tabby. She was doing a mental search of Tabby as she stood there, but she didn’t move a muscle. She knew she was being scrutinized, and it certainly wasn’t the first time.

  “How is she under pressure?” Max asked her.

  “She may be young, but she’s street smart. I’d put her up against “Patty” any day. Let’s just hope that it’s not today. It would appear your agent and Oleg have something going on.” She looked at Max. How easily it would be to forgive him, but she wouldn’t be able to forget that he didn’t trust her. Oh yeah, that was funny - since she didn't trust him enough to talk to him about Amanda.

  “It would appear so, but to what extent we will see.” he said, bringing her back to the task at hand.

  Patricia spoke, “Douglas we need to talk, and it can't wait for you to indulge in whatever fantasy you are working at the moment.” She looked down her nose at Tabby.

  Tabby just laughed and hopped up, “No worries honey; he’s all yours. I don’t need the hassle from an overly jealous girlfriend.” And she walked out. Tabby made her way through the crown to find Jo and Ross at the bar. They all walked out of the club and got into their car.

  Shelby dialed into the car, “Hey Shelby.” Jo answered.

  “Hey guys, how're you doing?” she asked. That was always the first question they asked each other, because if they weren’t alright nothing else mattered.

  “Good” they both responded. “Shelby we’ll be back at the loft in twenty. I’ll ping your computer when we get there and you can start uploading the information on these thumb drives.” Jo told her.

  “Great job, I really didn’t expect it to be this quick. I’ll get everything ready for the data upload.” They disconnected. She began to rub her temples when Max reached over pulling her close. It felt really nice as his hands moved around her shoulders making smooth circular motions working the tension out of her body. He worked his way up her neck massaging his fingers into her scalp. Shelby’s computer started pinging. She sat up, moving to her computer and started the upload of data from the thumb drives that Jo was sending.

  Shelby watched the monitors as the data appeared on the screen. There were spreadsheets and bank records of transactions between Oleg and others which the transactions appeared to go back several years. The last thumb drive had videos on it. Before Shelby decided to go through the videos she looked at Max, “It appears you have the evidence you need against Oleg.” He was rubbing his chin with his hand deep in thought. “Max?”

  “Yeah, but what we don’t have is anything connecting him to Le’s death.” he said wearily.

  “Look Max, this last drive has videos on it. Why don’t you go upstairs, and I’m going to stay and process these videos.” She laid her hand on his arm, and he just looked at it.

  “Shelby I’m not going to rest until all of this is processed, and I can arrest Patricia. I'm going to the kitchen for some coffee. I’ll be right back.” He stood up.

&nb
sp; “Ok, sure.” She waited for him to close the door. She called Liz, “Roger’s name showed up on these drives. I was able to skim past it before Max saw it, but I’ve isolated the information so that it won’t show up, but you know that Roger won't be able to stay clear of this for long. I’ll go back later when this is all over and figure out the connection between the two. I think we both know what that connection is going to be.”

  “You’re right; you said the virus was ready?” Liz asked.

  “Yes”

  “Go ahead with the implementation and if you can keep the bureau from getting their hands on him without getting into trouble, then do so. I’ll follow up in the morning. Thanks Shelby.” Liz hung up.

  Pulling up the screen with the Alcon Virus she packaged it into a file to deliver into his network from a spoof account. Once she executed the virus she quickly closed the console and went to the kitchen to find Max.

  He was leaning against the cabinet deep in thought waiting for the coffee to brew. Walking over to the cabinet she pulled out a glass and put ice in it. She felt him watching her. She caught a quick glimpse of him as she took a soda out of the fridge. She took a piece of ice out of the glass and popped it into her mouth before pouring the soda into the glass. She turned to face him and kept sucking on the ice, moving it around in her mouth.

  What was she doing? Even now when they were supposed to be thinking about a case she wanted to turn him on. Moving her lips slowly as she swished the ice cube in her mouth had him shifting uncomfortably, especially when her tongue darted out to lick her lips.

  Seeing the effect she was having on him she couldn’t help but take the ice cube out of her mouth and suck the water off as it dripped on her fingers. She sucked it back into her mouth never taking her eyes off of him. The muscles in his jaw twitched and suddenly she found herself picked up and pushed against the fridge.

  He wrapped her legs around his waist as he took her mouth sucking the ice cube out and across his tongue. The ice melting between them as he fisted his fingers in her hair holding her head as his tongue danced with hers. His hand moved down to her thigh pushing her skirt aside along with her silk thong slipping two fingers deep into her. She ground her hips into his hand as he rotated them inside her. She reached down unzipping his pants pulling him free and wrapped her hands around his full length. She pushed his pants down just enough to take him completely in her hands. He pulled back and adjusted her a little higher on his hips so she let go of him twisting as he shifted and thrust up deep into her. She cried out in pleasure for this was what she wanted.

  She felt so good around him and all he wanted was to lose himself in her. She was so tight around his cock. He couldn’t get enough of her and didn’t think he ever would. He thrust into her hard. He needed her and wanted to be gentle, but this was one of those times that need and want were more powerful than anything else. Just the two of them with their physical need that transcended anything else was what would satisfy this hunger temporarily. She was pulling on his hair as he pumped into her. Her ass filled his hands as he spread her wider for him feeling her juices against his sack every time he thrust into her. She was so slick and he was going to lose it. She met him thrust for thrust.

  Shelby felt so wild at this moment and had never felt anything like this. There was only one thing that they were seeking at this time and that was release. Her legs tightened around his waist as the walls surrounding him began to convulse. She felt him deep in her core and at that moment she shattered into a thousand pieces as their eyes locked he exploded with her. Their breathing was the only sound in the kitchen as they stood in that moment and held each other.

  She knew with all her being at that moment she was in love with him all over again and she was frightened more than ever. Her hair had fallen from its hold in her clip and he tucked it behind her ear as he withdrew from her setting her on her feet. She rested her head on his chest and could smell his cologne mixed with her scent, oh the fantasies came to life. She could see happily ever after and what could be and knew that whatever she had to do she had to make him trust her and wait, what was she thinking? Slow down Shelby. Ok, let’s take a step back and live in the moment.

  “Shelby…..” He started, but she stopped him.

  “Max if you say you're sorry, so help me you will be. I wanted it just as much as you did. No, I needed it.” She looked away embarrassed. He cupped her chin and forced her to look back at him.

  “Don’t ever be embarrassed around me.” He kissed her and turned to get his cup and her glass. He started for the door and then stopped waiting for her. She followed him out of the kitchen towards the elevators and when they got to their floor she wasn’t sure what to do. He went to his door and unlocked it motioned her inside. Once inside she set her glass down and waited for him. He set his cup down and turned to her, picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. Her last coherent thought was that she was going to lose herself in him.

  Chapter Twenty

  Shelby woke the next morning all wrapped up in Max. He was still asleep and looked so peaceful she didn’t want to wake him. She squeezed out from under him and went into the bathroom to freshen up and when she was done he was still sleeping. She needed to get downstairs and check on the virus, so she slipped out quietly and went to her apartment; showered, had a quick breakfast and made something for Amanda since she had stayed the night with a friend.

  She was glad that Amanda had the friends she did. Despite being raised by a single parent she was still able to live a relatively normal life for a teenage and she never complained about the security that she was surrounded with at the TAG complex. She had made sure that as Amanda was growing up she understood the importance of security and being safe. So many times she would catch Amanda’s friends online chatting with strangers and they were consistently giving out personal information.

  Amanda had begun the crusade to educate her friends on the safety of being online these days. So many times girls would get lured by someone online to meet and then they would disappear. She was extremely proud of her daughter at how caring, strong, independent and extremely smart she turned out to be. She would be graduating next year and then she’d be off to college. She would miss her, but they would always maintain the close bond that they had built throughout the years.

  She finished up Amanda’s breakfast and lunch and placed them in the refrigerator next to the prerequisite sweet tea. She attached a note for her:

  Manda,

  I hope you had fun last night. Here’s some breakfast and your lunch. I am downstairs in my office if you need me.

  I love you,

  Mom

  She entered her office opening the console and turned on all the monitors. It looked like the virus was making its way through Roger’s network. She pulled up a separate window to enter the timeline of the virus as it migrated through the system.

  She pulled up the files from the thumb drive and found the video files. She opened one of the videos on a separate screen and pushed play. She continued to look through the files with the names and found Roger’s information, extracted it from the file and saved it in their file at TAG for evidence in the future. She was able to identify several key figures in the files as having used Oleg’s services. His services from what she could tell ranged anywhere from prostitution to human trafficking. Dependent upon each person’s wants or needs Oleg would fulfill them. The fact that Roger was part of this was another reason she disliked him. Dislike was a mild term for it.

  She looked up at the videos and her stomach turned at what she saw. The videos had recorded an auction where women were up for bid as they were treated like cattle. This one had nice teeth; this one was a virgin and so on. She paused when Patricia Young entered the frame. She paused the video on a woman sitting on the floor. Kim Le’s face was contorted in pain as she coward in front of Patricia. She continued the video and turned up the volume.

  ###

  Patricia pulled back on Kim’s hair and sneered
in her face. “What made Max think he could send a rookie agent in to find me?” She laughed at her.

  Kim moaned “Patty, please.” She begged.

  “Please? Please what? Kim this is what happens when you poke your nose where it doesn’t belong. I became Oleg’s partner a long time ago. You think the bureau pays what he does? All I have to do is make sure that he doesn’t get caught and unfortunately for you, you are a liability.” Kim didn't have a chance to respond before Patricia slapped her. Kim’s lip split with the impact of the slap and began to bleed. Patricia pulled her up to stand and tied her arms around her back.

  Douglas Oleg walked into the room at that moment. “Patty what are you doing?” He demanded.

  “We are going to take care of our little problem here.” she said silkily as she led Kim out of the office.

  ###

  Stopping the video she pulled up surveillance video that surrounded the club. Somewhere there had to be a video of them leaving with her body. Obviously they had killed her somewhere in the club, because she hadn't been seen coming out. She looked back at the video and found the time and date stamp. Pulling up the video for the front and back door she adjusted them side by side. She started with the day before the video of Kim was made. Now all she had to do was sit and watch. This was something she would have to do herself. There were no programs for this and sometimes it required a human being to catch the smallest detail and that’s what she was going to do.

  She looked over at the virus as it worked its wicked way through Roger’s system and she was proud of what she had created. It would take a couple of years to do the damage, but when it was done he would be penniless and on his way to a life behind bars.

  Several hours later she was still combing through the videos when Max walked in. He was carrying a tray with a glass of ice and a soda along with a blueberry muffin. He sat down next to her and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Sorry that I’m just now getting here.” he said.