Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1)

by C. W. Stokes

  “Oh, no need to be. I’ve been busy going through the videos. Max, there’s a video you need to see.” She motioned for him to look at the screens to the left.

  He tensed when he saw Patricia and Kim on the screen. Shelby played the video for him and the longer he watched the harder his expression became. When the video ended he turned to her and his eyes were filled with anger. “She did it.” He sneered as his hand closed into a fist.

  “Max, I’m pulling the videos of the front and back door of the club to watch for any suspicious packages or baggage that they hauled away. I’ve started with the day before this video was made. Both the front and back door are up on the screen there in the middle.” She pointed.

  He sat there and watched for a moment before running his hands through his hair. She could see the rage coursing through his body, like he was going to explode any minute. She stopped the videos and stood up. Grabbing his hands, “Come on Max, you need to let off some steam and I know the perfect way.”

  “Shelby we have to finish the videos.” He argued.

  “Max they'll be here when we’re done, but right now you need to come with me.” She closed the console and screens, not giving him a choice but to follow her out the door. He followed her to the elevator and instead of going up, the elevator was going down. The doors opened to the hall with all the doors. Shelby stopped in front of the first door on the left. Placing her hand on the biometric scanner the door slid open.

  He followed her inside and there in front of him was a workout area. It was fully equipped with weight machines, elliptical, and an area with a six foot Muay Thai punching bag along with a fight ring in the back. He wasn't expecting this. As he walked further in he saw a long mirror lined one wall to the right and on the back wall were shelves with head gear, shin guards and focus mitts. He had wondered where she learned her move that had taken him down on the beach and now he understood. She had mentioned the training, but had no idea what it involved. He turned to her in awe and she stood there with a big grin on her face.

  “Max, go upstairs to change and meet me back down here in ten minutes.” She pushed him back out the door.

  “What are you up too Shelby?” he asked suspiciously.

  ” She closed the door in his face.

  When he returned she was waiting for him. She had changed into Muay Thai shorts with spandex shorts underneath. She was wearing a t-shirt and had wrapped her hands in Black Hand wraps. It was strange to see her dressed like she was ready for a fight. He watched as she got into the fight ring and she grinned at him as he took in her attire. She was sexy as hell and there was no way he was going to fight her.

  “Ok, Max let’s see what you’ve got.” She motioned for him to get into the ring.

  He backed up, “Shelby you are crazy if you think I’m going to fight you.”

  “What’s the matter Max afraid I can take you down again?” She mocked him.

  “You took me by surprise. I’m not worried at all.” He stood there with his arms crossed.

  “Alright then, if you won’t fight with me, then maybe you will with him.” She pointed to the man standing behind him. Before he knew what hit him, his knee buckled underneath him and he landed hard. Shelby laughed as she got out of the ring and walked over to the man standing next to him. He was small in stature and appeared to be Taiwanese. Leaning down she offered him a hand up, but he refused it grumbling as he got to his feet.

  “Max, I would like you to meet world champion Pysan Magura.” She couldn’t help but laugh at his shock. He glared at her.

  “Nice to meet you Mr. Magura.” He nodded.

  “Agent Taylor, I understand that our quiet one here has been able to get the best of you.” He grinned at him. He was certainly proud that his student was able to get the better of a man of his size.

  “Yes, she did.” He looked at her, oh it was on. He pointed to the ring and said to her. “After you Ms. Matthews.” He saw her pause for a moment, not quite sure what he was up too.

  She handed him a pair of shin guards and stepped into the ring. She grabbed a pair of focus mitts and threw them at him and waited for him to enter the ring. He stepped through the ropes and stalked towards her. She parted her legs and put her hands up in front of her face ready for him. He put the mitts up like Magura showed him. Magura started shouting commands, “Right, Right, Left, Up,” She punched in the order he shouted. “Left, Right, Up, Left.” She continued with the punches in the order that Magura shouted. He was impressed; she was unbelievably fast. She took the mitts from him with a twinkle in her eye as she pushed her hands into the mitts. Magura shouted the sequences. “Up, Up, Left, Right” It took Max a moment to get used to the pattern of movement. “Left, Left, Left, Up.” He nailed it this time, but he was pulling his punches and she knew it. He lowered his hands from his face just as he saw the glint in her eyes. SMACK! She hit him with the mitt and was laughing at his stunned look.

  “Never pull your punches and never let your guard down.” She got out between laughs. He dropped to the ground and swept his leg behind her heel bringing her down on the ground with an Umph.

  “Never let your guard down.” He laughed at her.

  Magura spoke up. “Ah Shelby you have a worthy opponent here. He will definitely keep you on your toes.” With that, he bowed, turned and walked out the door.

  Max laid down on his back to catch his breath. She was right. He had needed to let off some steam. and this had been the perfect way to do it. He looked over at her sitting next to him cross legged on the floor and admired her. After today, he had no doubt that he would pit her against anyone in the bureau, and she would win. She was smart, talented and beautiful which made her lethal.

  He rolled to his side and pulled her legs out from under her. She squealed as he pulled her next to him wrapping her in his arms. He grabbed her head taking her mouth as he rolled her on top of him. He didn’t wait for permission, but demanded entrance to her mouth immediately his tongue darted in taking possession. Desire shot straight to his groin and instantly became hard. He pushed up against her as she straddled him. Their clothes held a thin barrier between them.

  She pushed against the floor to break from their kiss to get up. Walking over to the door, she punched in a code on the keypad and turned off the lights. She turned back and walked back over to him slowly sliding down to straddle his hips.

  In a sudden rush of desire they ripped their clothes off and tossed them aside. She pushed him back down on the floor and straddled his hips sitting just below his erection. He pulled her forward and took her nipple into his mouth as she rubbed her clit up against his hard dick. She was grinding against him, and he could feel how wet she had become. His dick was pulsing with the need to push up into her, to possess her.

  He lifted her up pushing her down onto him as she pinned his hands next to his head she began moving her hips. She rose up slowly and just as he was about to come out of her; she pushed back down. She was driving him crazy with her primitive dance on his lap.

  He pushed up into her rolling them over dragging her beneath as his hard dick sunk deeper into her warm wetness. Her nails were digging into his back as she held onto him leaving marks of desire on his back. He pulled her legs up placing her ankles on his shoulders allowing him to touch her womb deep inside her. She rocked against him as he quickened his strokes. His balls were hitting her in the ass as he rocked in and out of her. Her hands squeezed his biceps as she was getting closer to the edge. Bringing her legs down, she wrapped them around his hips squeezing him tight as she grabbed his head and thrust her tongue into his mouth with a heart stopping kiss. He pushed up on his hands and rocked into her as he saw a reflection to his left.

  “Shelby, look to your left.” He growled.

  She saw their reflection in the mirror. The sight of him buried between her legs was enough to send her over the edge. She was mesmerized by the site of him pumping into her. “Max!” She pushed up against him as her orgasm took over and she explode
d around his hard cock.

  One final push he rocked into her throwing his head back as he emptied himself inside her. His dick convulsed inside her as her walls were draining him of every ounce of his seed. He wrapped himself around her pulling her back into him as they lay there trying to catch their breath. They watched themselves as they lay on the floor she was nestled in front of him with his arms holding her. He kissed the top of her head gently pulling a strand of hair away from her face. “Thank you.” He whispered in her ear holding her tight.

  Chapter Twenty One

  After going into the kitchen to grab something to eat they went into her office to continue watching the videos. Sitting down at her console pulling up the monitor’s to start the videos they ate in silence. Max sat next to her watching the screen intently and she could tell he was visibly more relaxed, but the anger was still there. She could understand the anger, because when an agent went to the other side of the law it was never good. They had access to a lot of information and depending on their job, the information, if handed to the wrong person could cause a lot of harm.

  She was biting into her sandwich when she saw the movement on the screen. She looked at Max and knew immediately he saw it too. The video of the back door captured Patricia Young holding the door for Oleg. He was carrying two very large suitcases that he loaded into the back of Patricia’s sedan and drove away. Max expelled the air he had been holding, turning to her. “I’ve got to call John. Can you make copies of all these videos for me?” he asked.

  “Sure and I’ll call Liz to let her know what we've found.” She watched as he left the room. She started the process of copying all the videos he would need to get the necessary warrants and the follow through for an indictment.

  ###

  She went to Liz’s office to tell her what they had found. Knocking on the door she poked her head inside and saw Liz was on the phone, but she motioned for Shelby to come in. She hung up as Shelby sat down across from her. “Liz we have the information that the bureau was after. One of the thumb drives that Jo was able to take had a video of Patricia Young standing next to Kim Le. Oleg was also in the frame when Patricia pulled Kim out of the room to take care of her. I was able to access the video surveillance of the front and back doors that allowed us to watch for activity. The day after the video of Patricia and Kim, Patricia and Oleg were leaving the back entrance with two large suitcases and put them into Patricia’s car.” She finished.

  “I just got off the phone with John, and he advised that they would be able to get a warrant to search Patricia’s car which we know will have forensic evidence inside from the suitcases. They'll also be able to close the club for several days so that they can search for evidence of her murder. They are moving in as soon as they have the necessary warrants so that Oleg won't have time to get into the room and destroy evidence. Tabby and Jo will be there to help facilitate the seizure since they've already been inside.” Liz paused. “Shelby, Max will be flying out this evening or first thing in the morning.”

  Shelby blinked in surprise. She had to hide the flood of emotions that rushed through her. She knew that he was going to have to leave eventually, but she didn’t know it would be so quick. She understood of course, but it wasn’t like Mexico.

  She looked at Liz and saw the concern in her face. “Liz, I’ll be alright. He was never going to stay. I have to finish copying the videos and get them to Max as soon as possible.” She got up to leave, but Liz stopped her.

  “Shelby when you’re done, come upstairs and we’ll sit around and prepare for the seizure over dessert.” Liz offered.

  “Thanks Liz.” Shelby walked out of her office and went to finish the videos. When she walked in, she saw Max and John standing in front of her console. They were both looking at the screen to the left. Oh Shit! The screen with the Alcon Virus was up, and there was an alert that the virus had moved into Roger’s mainframe. Next to the alert was a timer. Max turned to her in shock.

  “Shelby? What the hell is this?” He demanded. John was standing next to him with anger in his eyes. Max’s face was slowly growing dark.

  She bit the inside of her lip in anticipation of what she was going to say.

  “Shelby, I asked you a question? What is this? Because if I’m not mistaken. This is a doomsday virus that has infected Hawks network. Tell me I’m wrong.”

  She walked over to the console and pushed a button that caused the screen to go blank. She turned to Max. “I have told you Max that I won't discuss our clients with you. We have an NDA in place for a reason.”

  He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side. “Shelby, please tell me you haven't done something illegal such as hacking into his network and planting a virus.” He demanded.

  “Max I didn't hack into his network.” She raised her chin in defiance. Why was he so angry? The bureau wanted Roger as much as they did.

  “Shelby if I have any clue that you’ve done something illegal I'll have no choice to interfere including arresting you. You know this; it's my job.” He bit out in exasperation.

  She looked over at John, but he had slipped out leaving them alone. Turning on him, “Damn your job Max! You came to us to help you because one of your own decided to turn on you and within forty-eight hours you had the evidence you needed. Don’t you dare stand there and judge me as if I've done something you and others haven't wanted to do yourself.” She screamed back at him.

  “Shelby it’s not the same thing. I have rules that I have to follow, because if I don’t then everything that we work for is for nothing. The laws are very clear about how we're to do things.” He pushed his hands through his hair.

  “Max, I don’t work for the bureau, so I don’t have the same rules that you do and things are not always black and white no matter how much you may want them to be." Taking a breath. "You want to know what that was. That was a virus that I’ve worked on for two years specifically to infect Roger’s system. You want to know why I don’t like Roger. I don’t like him because he was involved in my sister’s death!” She spit out. “It was because of your rules that he was able to get away. It was because of your rules that the bureau wouldn’t help. So don’t stand there and talk to me about how the rules and laws are in place so that these people don’t get away. The bureau is full of nothing but a bunch of sanctimonious hypocrites. Now if you feel the need to arrest me, then I’d like to see you try. You have no proof. You need proof in order to obtain a warrant and last time I checked you needed me to get the proof to obtain a warrant for Oleg and Patricia.” She yelled at him. He had thoroughly pissed her off.

  He was looking at her in horror. Composing himself, he walked towards her, but she backed away. “Why didn’t you tell me about your sister? You've kept so many important pieces of your life from me.” He whispered.

  She laughed. “Really Max? Why would I tell you when you wouldn’t even tell me about the real reason you were here and why would I tell you about our daughter when you left without a word seventeen years ago. You've given me no reason to trust you.” A tear slipped down her face, and she wiped it away as she turned her back on him. “Max, just go. Your videos have been extracted. They’re sitting on the table. You have a job you have to do.” She heard him pick up the envelope and walk out the door. She sat back down at her desk and let the tears fall.

  Max walked out of her office stopping when he heard her cry. It tore at his soul to hear the sobs, but he knew that if he went back in he would have to overlook so many things and he didn’t know if he could.

  He found John standing at the security desk with Liz. He walked over and met with them briefly before he went upstairs to pack his bags. Once he'd finished packing he went back downstairs to turn in the card key to the security desk. They took the key, and he watched as they wiped out his card key code, biometric scan, iris scan and DNA from the system. He was now an outsider once more, and he hated it. He looked one last time around the TAG complex before he walked out.

  Chapter Twenty
Two

  Leaving her office she went upstairs and as she got off the elevator she looked at Max’s door. She knew he wasn't there since she saw the request come across her desk to wipe all of his information from their system. She had immediately approved it of course. She walked in and found Amanda was sitting at the kitchen table doing homework. She walked over sitting down at the table. “Hey Manda.”

  “Hey Mom, you’re home early. Is everything ok?” she asked quizzically.

  “Yeah, we had a break in an assignment today and I thought I’d come up to see if you’d like to go to dinner somewhere.” Even though she was exhausted she wanted to spend time with her daughter.

  Amanda’s eyes brightened. “Sure. Will it be just be the two of us?” she asked.

  “Of course, so figure out where you’d like to go. I’ll go change and be out shortly.” She pushed up from the table going into her bedroom to change into a pair of light blue jeans and a light knit top. She washed her face and pulled her hair up as looked at herself in the mirror she saw that her eyes were a little puffy from her crying bout. She pressed a cold cloth against her eyes to try to alleviate the swelling. Amanda knocked on her door and came into the bathroom. “Ready to go?” she asked her daughter.

  “Sure, can we try the new burger place down the street?”

  “Yes, that actually sounds good. I wonder if they have malts.” She laughed and wrapped her arm around her daughter as they walked out.

  Alex was walking through the doors as they were leaving. She was just coming in from finishing an assignment in Las Vegas, and she looked tired. Stopping for a moment, “Hey Alex, welcome back. Liz should be in her office.” She told her.