by Katie Reus
Even as he complied, he sneered at the FBI agent. “I was under duress. You’ll never make anything stick.” Fear punched through him, but he reminded himself that he hadn’t admitted to anything.
“You weren’t under duress when you pointed a weapon and tried to fire it at your colleague. And thanks to that transfer we’ve got enough details from you because we’ve been monitoring that particular account you transferred from. We know where you’ve been moving your money—and who has been paying you off. And Samara got us curious enough to look into Samuel Xiao’s death—he was poisoned and it was made to look like a heart attack. My money’s on you killing him. Currently we’re digging deep into all of his online activities. If he had anything on you, we’ll find it. We have enough to bury you right now.”
His gut tightened as her words sank in, as reality started to push in on him, making it hard to breathe. He’d covered his tracks where Xiao had been concerned but…the man had been looking into Ben. It was why he’d killed him in the first place. Not because of the Jensen op. If the Feds found any of Xiao’s records… He was screwed.
At that moment, Bishop strode into the room, face freshly washed and hair pulled back in a ponytail.
No. No, no, no. He should have known better. It was incredibly difficult to mask a pulse, but he knew it was possible.
God dammit. When no backup had shown up for Samara he’d fallen for this trap. Now he was screwed.
Even as the agent in charge started dragging him out, Dylan Blackwood strode into the garage, his expression worried.
Ben jerked back in surprise that the man was here at all. Then he looked at Evie, that nosy, self-righteous bitch. He couldn’t kill her now, but he could still do damage.
“Did you tell Blackwood that he was your asset? That you set him up a year ago?” he asked, looking at the rich bastard once before glaring at Bishop. From the expression on her face, he knew she hadn’t. “Did Evie ever tell you how she targeted you?” he shouted to Blackwood as the agent told him to shut up, dragging him away.
But Ben didn’t care. He was going down no matter what, and he was going to hurt Bishop as much as possible.
“Did she tell you how we watched you for a month before that cocktail party at your parents’ house? Ask her how she fucked you to get that introduction to Rod Jensen!” He jerked in pain as the agent twisted his arm back even harder, but it was worth it.
“You have the right to remain silent and I suggest you shut the hell up,” she growled as she shoved him through the door.
Chapter 21
Evie met Dylan’s sharp gaze across the garage, her heart in her throat. Everything around them faded away as she hurried toward him, ignoring the agents in the room. Her part with this op was done. Hell, Dylan shouldn’t even be in here, but he must have disobeyed Georgina and left the command center.
He stared at her a long moment, his eyes icy as she reached him. Before he could say anything she grabbed him by the forearm and dragged him inside and into the quiet living room.
“You targeted me?” His voice was deathly quiet.
She wanted to deny it, but nodded. “Yes.” He stared at her as if he was staring at a stranger. Which was fair. The hurt and pain in his eyes clawed at her insides. “I wanted to tell you the truth.”
“You watched me? Had me under surveillance? Before we met at the party.”
Feeling miserable, she nodded. “Yes. I didn’t sleep with you as part of the op though. I swear!” Even that sounded bad. God, her stomach was churning, her heart pounding.
He snorted at her declaration. “You swear? I’m not sure how much that matters, considering what your word is worth.”
She swallowed hard. “I needed an introduction to Rod Jensen. But my feelings for you were—and are—real.”
He blinked in confusion, though the rage still simmered beneath the surface. “Jensen? The man who was killed in prison?”
She nodded. “Yes. You moved in the same circles even though you weren’t friends with him. Getting an introduction to him organically was the smartest move for the operation. It’s why I was in Miami—I was undercover as myself. But I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to fall for you at all, but I did.” She desperately needed him to believe that. “I’m so sorry I lied to you.”
He took a step back and on instinct she reached out, grabbing his forearm again. He didn’t pull away, just looked at her with too many emotions flickering across his expression. Anger being the foremost. “I don’t know what to say to you right now.”
“I know it’s too much to ask for your forgiveness, but I really am sorry.”
“Sorry?” he scoffed. “I proposed to you. I loved you. Was this some kind of sick game—”
“No! I told you. After you got me the introduction to Jensen, I should have ended things with you but I couldn’t walk away. I couldn’t walk away from you. And I know that’s selfish on my part. I fell for you,” she whispered.
Finally he jerked his arm away and turned from her without a word. His departing icy look was more than enough.
Her chest tightened, her heart breaking as the man she loved strode out the door without a backward glance.
She wasn’t sure how long she stood there but when Samara took her arm gently and said, “It’s time to go” she didn’t fight her.
Evie knew she would need to fill out paperwork and deal with the aftereffects of the op, but Samara simply drove her to her brother’s house. She barely remembered getting in bed, but she did and finally let the tears fall.
She had no idea if her friend stayed or left and she didn’t care. She just wanted to be alone in her misery. She cried herself to sleep, and when the sun rose, she cried in the shower. Then she cried as she got back into bed and slept some more.
She slept until a familiar ringtone sounded on her phone. Though she wanted to ignore it, she was worried about her brother. “Hey, Mom.” Damn it, her voice broke on the last word. The op had been a huge success, but she’d never been so miserable. Without Dylan, her world had no color in it.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“Everything.” The floodgates broke again and she couldn’t find it in herself to care. She wasn’t a crier by nature, but her world had just been shattered and she had only herself to blame. She wanted to grovel, to fight for him, but…she’d seen that look in his eyes. He was done with her.
There was no coming back from this.
* * *
“You look like hell,” Georgina said to Evie as she opened her office door, letting both Evie and Samara inside. Everything on her desk was in perfect order, all her files and even her stapler was at a perfect angle.
“Thanks a lot,” she muttered. She’d tried calling Dylan half a dozen times, but he hadn’t answered. No surprise. She’d been a pathetic mess, barely getting out of bed except to go to the hospital to see her brother. Even though she knew she deserved it, the ache in her chest only grew at her loss.
Georgina simply shrugged and rounded her desk to sit, motioning for them to do the same. “I just wanted to give you an update in person, so thanks for coming down. We’ve got a whole lot of intel we’re sifting through right now. And the CIA is pissed that they weren’t brought in on this.”
“Yeah, I know,” Samara muttered. “I’ve been in DC the past two days getting reamed out for not bringing them in.”
Evie had gotten a call from her former boss, but she’d ignored him. She didn’t work for the CIA anymore. “So what’s the deal?”
“Turns out that Ben has been selling secrets. Mostly small stuff, but enough to screw up operations and keep the money flowing. And every now and then he gave critical op intel to the wrong parties—and a few of your agents were killed because of it.”
Evie bit back a curse. Ben would get what was coming to him. Or he’d better.
“We’ve processed Andrew Trent and he’s been very cooperative with us. He’ll do a lot of time, but we’ve taken the death penalty off the table. He’s
giving us everything he has on Ben—who’s a much bigger threat to national security. It looks as if he injected Xiao with poison and made it look like a heart attack. Everything he admitted to you,” she said, looking at Samara, “appears legit. He really did send Trent after you because he thought you’d end up being a problem down the road. Which in hindsight was a mistake, since it only solidified to you that the Jensen job was the link between the two deaths.”
“Holy shit,” Samara muttered. “So my nosiness is basically what got Ben to come after me?”
“Yep. And it’s a good thing too, because he’s been flying under the radar for a long time. He’s a real piece of work.”
“What about Kalinec?” Evie asked.
“As far as we can tell, Ben had nothing to do with it.”
“What’s going to happen to him?”
“Not sure yet. But I’m betting on the death penalty. He won’t see the outside of the cell no matter what. He committed treason. Likely he’ll end up in solitary for the rest of his life. However long that may be.”
“Luca is safe?” she asked.
Georgina nodded. “Yes. I’ve spoken to him personally. He said if he could be here, he would. He’s just as angry as we are that Ben betrayed…everyone.”
Evie digested Georgina’s words, fighting a wave of exhaustion. She’d called Luca to make sure he was safe and out of the country before they went after Ben. Even though she’d wanted to tell him what they were doing, she’d had to play things close to the vest. She hadn’t wanted to risk Ben somehow discovering what they were up to. “Do you need anything else from us?”
Georgina shook her head, then looked at Samara. “Mind stepping out so I can have a word with Evie alone?”
“I’ll be in the break room,” Samara said to Evie.
“What’s up?” Evie asked as the door shut behind her friend.
“First, thank you for what you did. You took a huge risk in that op. I didn’t get to tell you that night.” Georgina’s expression was serious.
Evie shrugged, feeling uncomfortable with the praise. “I had on a vest and a ballistics face mask. It was a small risk.” The vest had been high-tech and one of her custom-made pieces, almost impossible to feel beneath her clothes. Wearing the ballistics mask had been a risk, but on the chance that Ben had tried to take a head shot, she’d had to wear it. When Samara had flipped on the lights, temporarily blinding him, she’d ripped it off and tossed it under the bed. Everything had been choreographed down to the last detail. Even Samara’s fake shot to her head. Covering her pulse had been more difficult, but Ben had been jacked up on adrenaline, not paying attention to all his surroundings.
She snorted. “It wasn’t small. Anyway, I also wanted to let you know that we’ve officially booked the bomber. The news will be breaking tonight. I thought you deserved to know ahead of time. He’s admitted to his crimes in lieu of going through a long, drawn-out trial.”
Relief and anger washed over her. Anger that it had even happened at all, but at least that monster would be locked up, unable to hurt anyone else. “Really?”
“In exchange for going to the prison of his choice and a few other small things, he made things relatively easy.” Georgina shrugged, looking as surprised as Evie felt.
“Thank you. For this, for everything.”
“You just got me a promotion with this bust.” Georgina didn’t look thrilled, however. Probably because so many people had been killed because of Ben.
Standing, Evie held out a hand and shook Georgina’s. “You know where to find me if you need anything.”
“Just stay out of trouble.”
“I plan on it.” Hell, she planned on heading to the hospital to see her brother—who was supposed to be released soon—and then spending time with her family.
All while trying to not obsess over Dylan and how she’d lost the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Chapter 22
Evie felt as if she was on autopilot as she walked down the hospital hallway toward the private waiting room. Her parents were with Evan right now since he’d finally allowed them to see him, so she was going to wait until they were done. Her mom had come over again last night, bringing food that Evie hadn’t been able to eat and generally taking care of her as if she’d been a teenager crying over a broken heart. Which she’d never actually had as a teenager because she hadn’t been interested in boys back then.
It had been two full days since she’d seen Dylan, and she didn’t feel much better this morning but that didn’t matter. Now that things with Ben were mostly wrapped up, she planned to spend as much time with her family as possible.
She’d called and texted Dylan again, hoping for some kind of response, but she’d gotten radio silence. Which was expected—even if it hurt.
When she stepped inside the waiting room she was surprised to find Isla leaning against the tinted window, staring out over the parking lot. Isla turned to look at her, her expression softening when she saw Evie. “Hey, are you okay? You look… That is to say…”
“I know I look like garbage. It’s okay.” She felt like it too. Her eyes were puffy from crying and she hadn’t bothered with makeup. Or food. Or a shower. “Has anything changed with you and Evan?”
Isla’s expression tightened, her eyes almost going cold. Evie knew what the other woman was doing—shutting down and protecting herself. “Evan still won’t see me. I came by one last time to see if he’d change his mind. He hasn’t. And I just need to deal with it. A lot of people are depending on me now that my father is…” Her voice broke slightly but she cleared her throat. “Gone. I guess I need to get on with my new life.”
Evie stepped farther into the room and sat on one of the couches. She motioned for Isla to sit with her.
Wearing a forest green shift dress and looking incredibly elegant, Isla sat on the other end. She hadn’t been staying here, thankfully. No, she’d finally started sleeping at home and taking care of herself. Though she looked as if she’d lost about ten pounds—ten pounds she couldn’t afford to lose in the first place.
Despite the weight loss and exhaustion surrounding Isla, this was the put-together, sleek woman Evie remembered from before the bombing. “I’m so sorry about your dad. I know I’ve said it, but I really am. And I’m really, really sorry my brother is such an asshole.”
Isla jerked back at Evie’s bluntness and let out a sharp, sudden laugh. “You know what? I’m sorry he’s being an asshole too. None of this makes sense to me but I’m done trying to figure him out.”
“Good for you. I think he might come around.” At least Evie hoped he did. Or her brother was going to regret letting Isla go, for the rest of his life.
Isla lifted a shoulder. “I don’t think I care if he does. I’m done, Evie. Done and just tired.”
Evie heard the lie for what it was but didn’t respond. Instead she simply nodded. At least Isla would have closure about the bombing, about the man who’d killed her father and others. That was one silver lining for her and everyone else who had been hurt.
“Have you heard anything about Ellis?” Isla continued, leaning over to the glass and wood coffee table and picking up her purse, clearly ready to get out of there.
“No,” she said, wishing she had news because it would mean there was progress.
“I have something I want to give to Evan. It’s a letter and I know you’re the only person who can make sure he gets it.” Isla pulled a cream-colored envelope out of her purse and started to hand it to Evie, but paused. “Will I be putting you in a weird situation to do this?”
“Of course not.” Going against her normal instincts, Evie took the letter then clasped Isla’s hands in her own. “I swear, he will eventually pull his head out of his ass. And when he does, he’s going to be sorry for all of this. And just because he’s not talking to you doesn’t mean I’m not here. And my parents too. If you need anything, please let me know. It’s not a hollow offer. I know you’ll be dealing with a lot with you
r dad’s business. I’m doing contract work now so…just reach out.”
Isla’s eyes filled with tears but she quickly dashed them away before straightening. “This would be so much easier if you guys were sort of horrible,” she murmured.
Evie let out a startled laugh. “What, like you want me to cut you out or start being mean to you?”
Laughing lightly, Isla shook her head. “No, definitely not. It’s just…I feel so untethered right now. As if Evan has cut things between us but they’re not quite really severed. His family, including you, are so wonderful. But it’s like he doesn’t exist, like he died when he really didn’t. I understand he’s dealing with a lot after the explosion, but him refusing to see me… It’s hard to deal with. And you guys, his family, you’ve all been so wonderful when you’re dealing with your own stuff, especially with Ellis. I feel like I’m losing my family.”
Throat tight, Evie slid down the couch and pulled Isla into a tight hug. When she pulled back, she said, “I hope one day I get to call you my sister.”
Isla blinked and cleared her throat. “I can’t start crying again. I might not stop if I do.”
Evie tucked the letter into her purse. “I’ll make sure he gets this. And as soon as he’s out of the hospital bed, I’m going to kick his ass for you.”
Isla let out another rusty-sounding laugh as she stood. “I never know what’s going to come out of your mouth.”
Evie had started to respond when she heard the door behind her open. Turning, she froze to see Dylan standing there. She jerked to her feet but couldn’t make herself talk. She just stood there, staring, her heart thudding in her ears.
Isla murmured a quick goodbye and slipped past Dylan as he stepped into the room.
Evie drank him in, memorizing every inch of him, watching as if she hadn’t seen him in years as opposed to days. He had on casual slacks and a button-down shirt. With a couple days’ worth of stubble and tired eyes, he looked sexy but about as bad as she felt. For some reason, that didn’t make her feel better. She didn’t want him to be suffering.
