by Mandy Baxter
Mason tried not to appear too crestfallen when she walked out ahead of him, beside Kieran, to where the car waited. They weren’t a couple by any stretch of the imagination. Pretending that they were wouldn’t do anything but make Mason look like a sap. Not exactly great for his street cred.
Kieran settled in next to Charlie in the backseat, leaving Mason to flank him by the window. His mood took another spiraling dive. “What’s our cut?” He’d planned on waiting until they were back in San Francisco to talk business, but he felt the sudden urge to ruffle Kieran’s feathers.
“What do you mean?” The innocence in Kieran’s tone made Mason want to slap him.
“You know damn well what I mean. You made ten million off Katarina last night and didn’t have to lift a finger for it.”
“Someone had to kill that warlord to get the diamonds,” Kieran replied.
“Someone did,” Mason agreed. “But it wasn’t you.”
Kieran’s answering chuckle grated on Mason’s nerves. There was no end to his arrogance. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t have to work to get my hands on them.”
Whatever. It probably hadn’t taken more than a quick phone call. Hell, Mason wouldn’t be surprised if someone from Faction Five had offed the warlord. It wasn’t as though Mason wanted any of the money. Hell, if he’d wanted to make millions, he would have followed in his dad’s footsteps to begin with. But Mason had committed to the part he was playing. He’d told Kieran he was in it for the money. There was no point in not acting as though that wasn’t the most pressing thing on his mind right now.
“You knew you had a snowball’s chance in hell of getting Katarina to pay your price. She’s wise to your bullshit. That’s why you brought Charlie and me along. Without us, you wouldn’t have that considerable paycheck. We agreed to your test, but neither of us agreed to work for free.”
“I didn’t agree to pay you, either.”
Always a loophole. This was why Mason had shunned the life he’d been brought up in. There was no honor among thieves, no matter what anyone said to the contrary.
“This is bullshit and you know it, Kieran.”
Mason couldn’t explain why his temper crested so quickly. So far, everything had gone according to plan. Hell, after last night with Charlie, he could safely say everything had gone better than according to plan. So why was he so annoyed? Why did every word out of Kieran’s mouth make him want to punch him in the face?
“If you’re in it for a few bucks, Mason, I can cut you a check and we can call it a day.” Kieran turned to Charlie. “Whaddya say, Charlie? Want to follow Mason’s lead and bug out, or are you prepared to make an investment for an even bigger payday?”
Mason leaned back in his seat and caught sight of Charlie. To think that he’d once doubted her ability to keep her cool in an undercover situation. After only a week of tutelage, she was a seasoned pro.
“I want the big payday,” she said without missing a beat. “But that doesn’t mean that I’m okay with being kept in the dark.”
“You could learn a thing or two from her, Mason.” Kieran cast a sidelong look Mason’s way. “She knows how to play the game.”
*
It took a sheer act of will to keep her eyes off Mason. To not behave as though her entire world hadn’t been changed in the course of a few amazing hours. Charlie couldn’t help but smile. When she’d left his hotel room, she believed that nothing could quash her upbeat mood. Mason’s current sour countenance was doing a pretty good job, however.
“Charlie doesn’t know you like I do.”
Mason’s dark tone sent a shiver up Charlie’s spine. Why the sudden animosity? Mason was supposed to be playing nice with Kieran, not antagonizing him.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to insult me, Mason.”
Kieran was answered with silence and Charlie stepped in to keep their quickly sinking ship afloat. “We want the payday,” she said. “Both of us. I’m willing to concede that we didn’t do much of the legwork. But we should at least be compensated for our time.”
Kieran grinned. Charlie had known him long enough to realize when he was trying to use his charm to manipulate the situation to his advantage. “A free trip to L.A., a nice meal, and a luxury hotel aren’t enough compensation?”
Charlie kept her expression stern. “No.”
Kieran’s smile grew but it didn’t reach his eyes. For the first time since they’d met, Charlie felt as though she might be pressing her luck. It was easy to forget that Kieran Eagan lived his life on the opposite side of the law. And like Mason said, he wouldn’t hesitate to protect his own interests first.
“All right. So tell me, what do you think your services are worth?”
Charlie had no idea. It’s not like she’d studied any illegal-diamond-broker rate sheets. Her dad always told her that it was important to consider her time as more than valuable. People paid for her expertise and it was okay to put a value on that knowledge. Of course, he’d later scoffed when she explained the government pay scale to him. They’re devaluing you, your education, and your expertise. There was a pretty good chance that Kieran and her father shared a similar philosophy.
“I want a hundred thousand,” she said. “And Mason should get double for not only negotiating the deal, but for having to deal with Katarina afterward.”
“From the way Katarina made it sound this morning on the phone, Mason hardly suffered for those two extra hours.”
A spark of jealousy flared in Charlie’s esophagus and she swallowed it down. Kieran was trying to get a rise out of one of them, and she for one wasn’t going to take the bait. “Doesn’t matter.” Charlie looked away. “He spent that time with her whether it was pleasant or not.”
Kieran turned his attention to his right. “I didn’t realize you needed Charlie to negotiate your paychecks for you, Mason.”
Charlie leaned back to look at Mason. His mouth formed a grim line and his bright green eyes narrowed with annoyance. “We’re partners,” he said simply. “I trust her.”
The rib didn’t go unnoticed. “Considering CBP is still cutting you a paycheck, you can understand why trust might continue to be an issue for us.”
Mason faced Kieran. “Isn’t that why you brought us down here? To reestablish some trust?”
Kieran hit Mason with the silent treatment again. It was totally his favorite intimidation tactic.
“We don’t need you, Kieran.” It was a bold move, but Charlie wanted to prod at Kieran’s pride. “Mason and I can find our own niche in this business. It’ll take us longer to turn a real profit, that’s all. Which is why Mason reached out to you in the first place. We wanted to fast-track, not take the scenic route.”
“You’re certainly not shy about admitting that you’re using me.” Kieran’s tone was a little too sour for someone who gave the impression he didn’t care.
“How did you get a leg up?” Charlie dug her heels in. “Did you make your own way or use Jensen’s connections to give you an immediate boost?”
“It’s a family business,” Kieran offered by way of an explanation. He’d never freely admit that he owed his success to Jensen.
Charlie gave him a pointed look. “It still is.”
Was it wrong to play off Kieran’s sense of family in order to get what she wanted? If it came down to it, Charlie didn’t doubt that Kieran would throw Mason under the bus if he had to. At the end of the day, Kieran’s loyalty was to himself. So was Charlie’s. She’d do whatever it took to bring Faction Five down. If that meant manipulating Kieran’s only weakness—Mason—to get it, then so be it.
Kieran didn’t chuckle this time. He didn’t flash a charming grin or try to dazzle Charlie with his words. He contemplated her for a long moment. Discomfort at being so closely scrutinized made her squirm in her seat. A nervous tremor skittered up her spine and Charlie willed her breaths to remain calm and even, despite the fact she felt like hyperventilating.
He didn’t look away from
Charlie when he said, “Is that what we are, Mason? Family?”
Charlie burned with curiosity as she forced herself not to make eye contact with Mason. She wanted to see the expression on his face, if only to try to gauge his current mood.
“We are,” Mason said after a tense moment. “You know that. Even if you don’t trust me enough to bring me in on whatever you’ve got going on. Like Charlie said, we’ll do all right on our own.”
“You think?”
Kieran’s words dripped with sarcasm. Even though Mason had given her bits and pieces of insight into his childhood, Charlie couldn’t even begin to imagine the history that lay between him and Kieran. Their lack of mutual parentage didn’t make them any less brothers. And brothers fought. She simply had to do what she could to smooth this momentary bump in the road between them.
“Yeah.” Mason’s response lacked even an ounce of humor. “Doesn’t matter who’s signing my paychecks. The people who matter know what I’m capable of. My job doesn’t change who I am. Who my father is.”
Kieran flinched as though he’d been stung.
The car pulled up to the unloading area at the airport. Kieran shifted in his seat and let out a frustrated breath. “One hundred thousand for Charlie. One and a half for you. That’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”
“We’ll take it.” The car came to a stop and Mason didn’t waste any time climbing out and rounding the car to wait for the driver to open the trunk.
They needed to skirt the one sore spot in Mason and Kieran’s relationship if this was going to work. If Charlie had to play the peacemaker and placate the both of them in order to keep everyone happy, so be it. Kieran moved to get out, but Charlie grabbed him by the arm.
“Listen, Kieran. I’m not gonna lie. We need the reputation you’ve built. Mason’s just being stubborn and trying to push your buttons. You’re both Jensen’s kids as far as anyone in the business is concerned. It was my idea to reach out to you, not Mason’s. I wanted to work with you. Mason can be helpful. He’s helped me to skirt the feds for months. I just need you to know, I’m in. No matter what.”
Kieran’s gaze narrowed and his lips thinned. “And if I don’t want to work with Mason?”
She was afraid it would come to that. But there was no way she was letting go of her only chance at infiltrating Faction Five. “Then I’ll respect your decision.”
Kieran regarded her for a brief moment. “Good.”
If Mason knew she’d just made a deal with Kieran, he wouldn’t be happy about it. Charlie hoped that Kieran’s sour mood would pass and Mason would never have to find out.
She didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Mason’s anger. Especially if he thought she’d betrayed him.
Chapter Twenty
“So basically, the trip to L.A. was a bust.”
“Not necessarily. We walked away with a couple hundred thousand dollars and some street cred.”
Mason rolled his eyes as he relaxed back into his chair. A couple of weeks ago, Charlie wouldn’t have been quite so cavalier. If he’d given her a snarky comeback like that, she would’ve read him the riot act. Not anymore, it seemed. Charlie Cahill was the queen of ’tude.
Chief Deputy Carrera looked about as thrilled with Charlie’s flippant response as Mason was. Because Kieran still hadn’t fully let his guard down, they’d agreed that a full debriefing with the entire task force wasn’t a good idea. Mason had picked Charlie up from the Fairmont and they’d driven around for a good hour before he was sure they weren’t being tailed, and met Carrera at the rendezvous site, a little hole in the wall coffee shop at the opposite end of the city.
“What do you think, Mason? Is this a waste of time, or do you think Kieran is ready to trust you? If not, we can’t keep Charlie in this situation for much longer. It’s dangerous, not to mention a huge liability.”
That was an understatement. Mason gave Carrera a nod of acknowledgment. “Kieran likes to be the one holding all of the cards. But I don’t think he’s going to string us along.” Mostly because Mason knew that Kieran’s interest in Charlie wasn’t strictly professional. He wouldn’t let her simply walk away.
“It’s been almost a week,” Carrera pointed out. “I was hoping to have Charlie clear of this by now. So far it’s not looking good. We went into this knowing it could be months or longer before Kieran gave you anything solid. That sort of timetable isn’t going to work for Charlie.”
It was true that stings like this could take months, even years, to conclude. Kieran was in charge. Period. Mason wanted what Carrera wanted: for Charlie to be free and clear from this part of the operation as quickly as possible. “Like I said, he’s trying to get a point across. And yeah, I think he’s ready to trust me.”
“Trust us,” Charlie interjected. “And how about asking Charlie what she thinks about all of this?” Mason cringed at her accusing tone. He didn’t like being talked about like he wasn’t there, so why would she? “I think the both of you are delusional if you think Kieran’s going to easily accept any limited future involvement on my part. I knew when I got involved that this wouldn’t be over in a few days. I’ll do what I have to do.” She leveled her gaze at Mason. “For however long it takes.”
Damn, she was stubborn. But Mason admired her determination. True, it was stupid to think that Kieran would hand over the keys to the castle so soon—or accept Charlie fading off into obscurity. Mason could hope though, couldn’t he?
“What if Kieran cuts you loose?” Carrera definitely wasn’t convinced. “He’s got ten million in seed money that could very well be going to Faction Five, thanks to your little field trip. He might not need you anymore.”
If Carrera thought Kieran would turn that money over so easily—or that a criminal syndicate as big as Faction Five would be satisfied with a measly ten million—he was crazy. “That money was for Kieran.” Mason was almost positive. “He used Charlie and me to prove to Katarina that he was worth her respect. That’s not seed money. It’s a trophy.”
“Could be.” Carrera was skeptical, but the chief deputy didn’t know Kieran like Mason did. None of them did.
“I agree with Mason,” Charlie chimed in. Mason appreciated the solidarity, but honestly, he didn’t want her out in the field any more than Carrera did. “At least in that L.A. was personal and not professional. He’s not going to leave us high and dry. I’m not willing to throw in the towel yet.”
That was the problem. Charlie’s tenacity wouldn’t allow her to quit. It could be months. Hell, a year, before Kieran deemed them worthy of knowing his secrets, and Faction Five could be up and running in full swing by then. There was no possible way Charlie could live out of a hotel for the next year, abandon her job, and follow him and Kieran on whatever wild-goose chase his brother dreamed up, no matter what she thought to the contrary. There had to be another way. A faster way to get Charlie and the task force what they wanted.
“How do you know Kieran is involved with Faction Five?” Up until now, everyone had been pretty tight-lipped on the intel they had. “If you don’t even know who’s running the outfit, how can you know that Kieran’s got the inside track?”
“About six months ago, we arrested a hacker who’d been on the run for several months. He tried to make a deal by offering up a little information.” Carrera fiddled with his paper coffee cup before he met Mason’s gaze. “He said there was talk about an up-and-coming crime syndicate that was about to make some big waves in the underground. Gave us the name Faction Five.”
Carrera’s information wasn’t anything new. They’d already gone over this when Mason had been brought on to the task force. “Wait a second.” Mason looked from Carrera to Charlie. “If these guys are so secretive that you can’t even identify their members, how did some third-rate hacker know about them?”
“He’d come across interactions between Faction Five and a couple of potential recruits on the Internet,” Charlie said.
“Kieran was one of these potential recru
its?”
Charlie rolled her lip between her teeth. “Not exactly.”
Jesus Christ. All of this time spent getting close to Kieran, and Mason was starting to believe the most informed people on the task force weren’t even sure what they were dealing with! His head pounded. The residual stress that hadn’t worn off after L.A. pooled in his gut and sent a renewed surge of agitation through him.
“Not exactly isn’t going to cut it, Charlie.” He couldn’t help his curt tone. “I need to know everything that you know from here on out.”
Charlie’s gaze met Carrera’s. “I told you in the initial briefing that Faction Five reportedly comprises members from various government and law enforcement entities. We’re working on the assumption that the five in Faction Five represents the number of founding members. The problem is that the second they sensed we might be on to the group’s existence, they disappeared. We don’t have any leads on who might be running the show. Their membership is obviously loyal. So loyal we can’t pinpoint any of the members or leadership structure.”
They might as well be chasing ghosts. “That still doesn’t tell me how you know that Kieran is involved with them.”
“A few months ago, the CIA started monitoring a Twitter user who went by the handle BlackDragon. The tweets seemed nonsensical, but they got some code crackers on it and realized that BlackDragon was sending out invitations to certain individuals. Offering up a business opportunity to high-level players who could afford to buy their way in. Whoever set up the account knew what they were doing, though, and we weren’t able to track the user to an IP address.”
Technology made it easy for people operating outside the confines of the law to communicate. Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook … any and all social networks could be used to send and receive esoteric messages. Sure as hell beat using the classifieds. Mason had worked several cases for CBP that involved social media. Coyotes especially used social media to their advantage. The smuggling of people across the U.S. borders was just as lucrative as smuggling precious gems.
