by Liliana Hart
“We’re in the clear. We loaded you up in the garage and you hid in the back. As far as anyone watching the house is concerned we were just changing shifts. And we’ve got two federal cars following us now just to make sure.”
“Did you check out Wolfe?” Jack asked. “Any money problems?”
“I know everything about him down to what kind of underwear he likes to buy. He’s clean so far as I can tell. His business is good. He’s a solid P.I. with a good staff, and this is D.C. so you know there are plenty of people always spying on other people. Wolfe makes more than you and I put together and then some. He’s not having money problems at all.
“He does, however, seem to have women problems. He goes through them like Kleenex. The girl he’s seeing now—the one who reported him missing—her name’s Lisa. They’ve been together a couple of weeks. She wasn’t very helpful when questioned. She didn’t even know what his last name was or what he did for a living. According to her he looked like the ultimate bad boy and the tats on his chest are smokin’.” He paused for a second. “I guess that’s a good thing?”
“Oh, it’s definitely a good thing,” I said, thinking of Jack’s tattoo. It never failed to drive me crazy. Jack looked at me and raised a brow and I could tell he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Knock it off. You’re fogging up my windows.” Carver flipped on the wipers as a light drizzle started to fall. “So much for the sunny weather. Stupid springtime.”
Carver maneuvered through D.C. traffic at top speed and I sat back and buckled my seatbelt as the rain started falling a little harder.
“Anyway, I combed through the files on all of your men. They were mostly in good shape. A couple had some debt trouble, but nothing severe. I didn’t see any evidence that anyone besides Elliott was on the take or involved with the heist. And I looked damned close.”
“What about family members of the robbers?”
“I’m still wading through that. Greer divided up the financials between his men to go through, but I told them to just send it all to me. I’ve got a computer program that can do it faster. We should have more information by the time we get back to Bloody Mary tomorrow. What the hell kind of name is that for a town anyway? Creeps me out.”
Carver drove into the parking garage at the J. Edgar Hoover Building. I’ve never been a fan of parking garages. First of all, they were confusing and I could never figure out how to get out. Second of all, they were dark and seemed like a really good place to kill someone. My only consolation was that I was with two armed men. I’d had to leave my gun in the car.
Once we got through security, Carver led us through a long hallway with gray industrial carpet that opened up into a large office space shared by several agents. The noise level was higher than I expected it to be. We turned off into a side hallway and Carver opened a door for us.
“You two watch in observation. If something they say clicks or you need me to follow up on something, just send a text.” With that Carver shut the door and left Jack and I in a dark little room no bigger than the size of a large closet.
A man and woman sat at a table in the room next to ours, and I saw the door open as Carver stepped through and took a seat across from them. Jack adjusted the volume on the wall console.
“Thank you for being here, Mr. and Mrs. Lieber,” Carver said. “We’ll get this finished as quickly as possible.”
“This is an outrage,” the man said. His accent was prim and upper crust and his posture defensive with his arms crossed over his chest. His hair was solid silver and his face had bones of good breeding, much like his wife who sat next to him, her hands clutching a handbag worth more than I made in a month.
“We’ve sat through your interrogations before, and I don’t see why we have to suffer through it again. Our children are dead. What more could you possibly try to take from us?”
“Harold, remember your blood pressure,” the woman said, patting his hand gently. Her face was ashen but her eyes glittered with anger as she skewered Agent Carver with a look. “This is unconscionable. Haven’t we suffered enough? We haven’t been able to show our faces in our social circle for six years.”
“It must be terrible,” Carver said deadpan. “Mr. Lieber. You asked what more we could possibly take from you. Do you blame us for the death of your children? Despite the circumstances surrounding how they were killed?”
“You gunned them down like animals. They had brilliant minds. Both of them. Eric was a Rhodes scholar. And Karl had won more awards by the time he was twenty for the advancement of technology than most people will get in a lifetime. The medical examiner said Karl and Eric had a combined twenty-two gunshots to their bodies. I know how the police work. It’s violence first. You thirst for it and bathe in the blood of your enemies.”
Carver’s brows arched. “You have a creative way with words. You forgot to mention the part where your sons killed almost twenty people, including a pregnant woman who was three weeks away from giving birth. Not to mention the fact that they broke into federal property, armed, and planned to steal millions of dollars. They also fired on the SWAT team that came in to neutralize them.”
“It’s in the past, Agent Carver. We’d like to get on with our lives.” Harold Lieber scooted his chair back and moved to stand.
“Sit down, Mr. Lieber. We’re not finished. You listed in your original statement that your sons’ closest friends were Jordan Parker and Peter Anderson. They all grew up together, despite Peter being from London.”
“They all attended the same boarding school together,” Mrs. Lieber said, her composure slipping for the first time and the grief of a mother showing through. “The other boys, Jordan and Peter, would sometimes spend holidays at our house or our boys would spend time at theirs. They were all very close. We don’t see the Andersons or the Parkers anymore. It’s too painful for all of us.”
“Were there other friends your boys spent as much time with as Jordan and Peter?”
“Just Paris Spencer,” Mr. Lieber said. “She was like a kid sister to them all. She attended the same schools. She was devastated when they were killed.”
“Was she romantically linked with any of them?”
“No, of course not. Why must you make things so sordid?”
“Just call me curious,” Carver countered. He opened a thin file folder and pulled out a single sheet of paper. “Since your sons were killed it looks like your finances have suffered quite the setback.”
“How dare you!” Lieber said, pushing back from the table. His chair hit the wall and toppled over onto its side. “How dare you look into our personal finances like we were nothing more than common criminals.”
“It makes sense considering you raised common criminals.”
Lieber’s face turned an unhealthy shade of red. “Jesus,” I said. “He’s going to have a heart attack. I really don’t want to have to give mouth to mouth to that man.”
“He’s got a hair trigger temper though. And a lot of pent up anger.” Jack pulled me so I stood in front of him and then he wrapped his arms around my middle and rested his chin on the top of my head.
“Calm down, Harold,” Mrs. Lieber said, patting him again, tears coursing down her cheeks. “Please.”
“I only bring up your financials because you haven’t adjusted your way of living and the debt is eating you alive. A new home, new cars, household staff. More than a hundred thousand dollars a year to something called WMF.”
“It’s a charitable organization,” Mrs. Lieber said, sniffing delicately. “It stands for Wives and Mothers of the Fallen. I—” she paused and tried to compose herself, but she wasn’t having much luck. “After the boys were killed they reached out to me. It’s a support group as well. Widows and other mothers like me who have lost their children. And we raise money to help those who are like us and are struggling. It’s a very worthy cause.” She straightened her shoulders with dignity.
“What about you, Mr. Lieber? Any worthy causes you’v
e been funding lately?”
“I don’t have anything else to say to you. We’re finished here.” He held his hand out to his wife and helped her to stand.
“What if I told you the men who killed your sons in the line of duty were dead?”
“I’d say good riddance. It was no more than they deserved.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Do you think he’s responsible for this?” I asked a couple of hours later.
Carver had checked us all in to the hotel closest to the federal building, and I wondered if the bureau owned it considering the décor was very similar—meaning everything was industrial grade and the people behind the counters looked and acted like off duty cops. We’d dropped our luggage in the room and had come down to the restaurant to get some dinner. The food was mediocre at best, but at least my stomach wasn’t rumbling anymore.
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “But he certainly has motive. And he has the temper. But I’m not sure he has the organizational and leadership skills it would take to plan a hit like this. The financial trouble is worrisome.”
“Or maybe he’s just putting everything he’s got behind hiring out these hits. How much do you think he’d be paying the Vagos for that many kills?”
“Millions. And it would be a beneficial arrangement for both sides. Lieber gets his revenge and the Vagos pad their coffers to take over more territory.”
“Have you told Carver anything about my dad?”
“About him being alive you mean? Because I’m pretty sure everyone in the FBI knows about your dad otherwise.”
I rolled my eyes and tore off a hunk of bread. “Yes, I mean about him being alive.”
“I told you I wouldn’t until you were ready. A little trust would be nice, Doctor Graves.”
“I know. I’m sorry.” I sighed and tossed the bread to the plate, dusting off my hands. “This whole thing just has me twisted up in knots. Maybe we could give Carver a few of the flash drives without telling him where they came from. Without telling him my dad is alive.”
“We could. But if he breaks through the encryption it probably won’t take him long to figure out who they came from.”
“He’ll have to tell his superiors once he finds out.”
“Yeah, he’ll have to tell. And there will be questions. But it’s nothing we can’t handle together.”
“Do you wonder if there ever will be? Anything we can’t handle, I mean.” I took a sip of wine and twisted the stem back and forth between my fingers. “Reverend Thomas always says that God won’t give you more than you can handle. Do you think that’s true? Because it feels like over the last year or so that He’s really trying to test my limits.”
“You never ask the easy questions.” Jack took my wine from my hand and entwined his fingers with mine. “I don’t want to disagree with Reverend Thomas, and if you ever tell him I did I’ll deny it, but it seems to me God doesn’t have much to do with it. Don’t get me wrong. I believe He’s there and that there’s something more after we die. But it seems to me that one of the biggest things He gave us is choice. Back to when Adam and Eve were in the garden, right? And people make choices, and their choices snowball and affect other people.
“Everything you’ve gone through this last year has been because another person made a bad choice. And I think because God gave people the ability to make those choices, He’s not going to step in and interfere just because it may be more than you can handle. There are going to be times for both of us when it seems like it’s more than we can deal with. I’ve been there. Back when I was looking down the barrel of a gun that belonged to a man I thought was my friend. Back when the pain from the bullets was so much that I was begging to die.”
“Oddly enough, Jack, this pep talk isn’t really all that comforting.”
“What I’m saying is if I’d been alone, yeah, it would’ve been too much for me to handle. I’m not sure I’d ever have fully recovered. Maybe my body would have. But not my mind. But you were there. Even though things were different between us then than they are now. You were there. And you saved me.”
I blinked the tears from my eyes and looked at him. Really looked at him. It never ceased to amaze me that he was mine. And I knew he was right. He was there. And he’d saved me too.
“You are going to get so lucky for that later,” I grinned.
“What’s this talk about later?” He charged the meal to our room and signed his name. “Now is as good a time as any.”
“I guess when you put it that way.” I laughed as I sprinted out of the restaurant and to the elevator. I punched the button and heard Jack yell, “Hey! Wait up!”
The doors slid open and Jack moved in behind me pushing me against the wall of the elevator. I couldn’t have said at that moment if there were other people on there with us or how Jack managed to hit the right button for our floor. All I knew was his mouth was hot and open against mine and his body was pressed deliciously against the ache between my legs.
“This is probably illegal,” I panted as his hand snaked beneath my shirt and palmed my breast. My eyes crossed as his thumb did something miraculous to my nipple.
“Good thing I have connections.”
The elevator doors dinged open and Jack grasped me by the hips, his fingers branding me with their heat, and he walked down the long corridor to our room. At least I hoped it was our room.
“What about the surveillance cameras?” I bit at his bottom lip and sucked it into my mouth to soothe.
“I’ll get Carver to erase them.”
“Good thinking.” My hand worked between our bodies, pulling at the button on his slacks and sliding inside to feel him hot and hard and ready. He sucked in a breath and stumbled at the touch and my back hit the door of our room.
I stroked him up and down while he swore and fumbled for the key. The door swung open at my back and we tumbled into the room, and Jack turned at the last minute so he landed on bottom and broke my fall. Blood rushed in my ears and I vaguely heard the door click shut behind us.
“This would be a lot easier if you wore skirts. I’d already be inside you.” He tugged at my jeans and I pulled at the buttons on his shirt, sending them scattering in opposite directions.
“I’ll remember that for next time.” My jeans caught around my shoes and I kicked one off along with the pants leg. I heard a rip of material and felt my breath catch in my throat as he slid smoothly inside of me.
His muscles coiled and released as he began to move, and I felt myself helpless beneath the power of his touch. My legs tightened around him and my nails dug into his shoulders, looking for an anchor in the storm, and I cried out as I felt the first rolling wave shudder through my body.
His eyes met mine and I watched the dark brown bleed to black as he came closer and closer to his own fulfillment.
“I love you,” he whispered against my lips. My hips arched into his and my breath hitched as another wave rocked through me, this one more powerful than the last, and I held on as he followed me into oblivion.
It took several minutes for my breath to return to normal and my vision to come back. Jack’s face was pressed against my neck and his heart still thudded rapidly against my chest. I looked at the ring he’d placed on my finger and then kissed him lightly on the top of the head as I smiled.
“You’re thinking pretty loud,” he mumbled. “If you can think right now I didn’t do my job.”
“I’m not naming the cardiovascular system in alphabetical order if that’s what you’re implying.”
“Well thank God for that.” He lifted slightly so he looked down into my eyes, a smile tilting the corner of his mouth.
“I was just thinking that I’m happy. And I was admiring my ring. It looks good on me.”
“You know what else looks good on you?” he asked.
My grin was wide and foolish in answer to the laughter in his eyes. “What?”
“Me.” He leaned in to kiss me, this time soft and slow and without the frant
ic need that had consumed us before. But the heat still simmered between us. “I’m going to attempt to get us both to the bed, but you have to swear to not laugh if my legs give out.”
“We could just sleep here,” I suggested. I gasped and arched as he moved against me, thick and hard once more.
“I’ve got more than sleeping on my mind at the moment.”
“I can feel that. But you’ve got to do all the work this time. I’m exhausted.”
I watched in pure female admiration as he wrapped his arm beneath my back and lifted me, the muscles in his arms and shoulders bulging beneath my fingertips.
“Maybe you’ll get your second wind soon.”
My back hit the cool comforter on the bed and I cried out as he sent me over the edge. “I could probably be talked into it,” I panted.
“You know how I love a challenge.” He moved again and I was lost.
***
A couple of hours later my mind and body were refreshed and I wanted to work. The hotel room was making me go stir crazy.
“We need to get back home,” I said. “I need to look at the autopsy reports again. There’s something there that I’ve missed and it’s bothering me.”
Jack had pulled on a pair of lounge pants and sat propped up in the bed with his laptop, going over some new information Carver had sent over.
“We’ll be back home in a few hours,” he said absentmindedly. “Carver sent me the file on Paris Spencer. It looks like the Lieber boys weren’t the only ones who were smarter than their own good. Spencer attended the same boarding school in England as the Liebers, Parker and Anderson. They formed their circle early on in their childhood and according to the file, they didn’t allow anyone new to intrude on their friendship. It was a closed circle, but it was also extremely competitive.”
“They stayed within fractions of points of each other on their academics, and according to the file their competitiveness extended to outside of the classroom as well. Their junior year of high school, there were a series of explosions across campus.”
