Blade

by Harbin, Mandy

  “You know exactly how far I’ll go.”

  “Oh my God,” she breathed. “What am I supposed to do with that?” Anna blinked back tears almost as fast as they formed. Thinking he was capable of murder and knowing it outright were two completely different things.

  “You know what he did to my sister,” he seethed. “I was the one who had to identify her lifeless body. Do you have any idea what that was like?” he yelled. He started pacing, talking to her but seeming lost in his own memories. “But I still did things by the book. I went to the police after I found his goddamn knife where she was killed. I talked to the prosecutor about everything. And you know what, his fucking daddy gave him an alibi. He walked around town, threatening to do it again. There were two other girls who’d gone missing who lived in the area, Anna. Everyone believed he was behind those, too. Then he threatened my mother.” He stopped and leveled a stare. “I didn’t do a goddamn thing to him until he showed up on my property, wearing a mask, gloves, and trying to break into her window. Yeah, I probably should have restrained him and called the cops, but he’d killed my sister and was going after my mother just to spite me. So I killed him. With the same blade he used on my sister.”

  Anna wasn’t sure when the tears won out, but they flowed freely now. Both the pain and fierceness were palpable. It was all overwhelming.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “Not sorry enough that you refused to dig into my past and have me arrested for murder.”

  “It’s not like that,” she said quickly. “They don’t know anything about your sister.” But as soon as she said it, she knew it was only a matter of time. “Why did you go to Ward and Associates that Sunday afternoon?”

  Red creeped up his neck. “You followed me?” he asked, but his tone told her it wasn’t a question. Might as well get everything out now. There was no more reason to keep him in the dark.

  “Yes. And that law firm belongs to Fletcher Ward. I had one of my team members look into it, not knowing it had anything to do with your sister. So even though I haven’t said anything to the bureau about the Wards, if there’s any paper trail left that Colonel didn’t destroy, someone is going to make the connection. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “Colonel didn’t leave anything. If he had, I’d have been thrown behind bars a long fucking time ago.” He took a frustrated breath. “Were you ever going to tell me what’s going on, or was I just going to wake up in handcuffs one morning?”

  “I don’t know,” she breathed. “I’ve been battling with that decision from the beginning, and after the phone call I got this morning about the connection to you and Fletcher Ward, I’ve been thinking about it nonstop.”

  “Except when you let me fuck you after we got up.”

  She refused to be baited. It was time for answers, and she wasn’t sure how much longer this window would be open. “Did you hurt Mr. Ward? Is that why you went there, because the bureau’s been looking for him, and he’s been M.I.A.?”

  “So now you think I’m a cold-blooded killer?”

  How dare he act offended.

  “Jesus, Blade, you’re a mercenary! You freaking kill for the highest bidder.” That was a low blow. Sure, there was some truth to it, but his job wasn’t as sinister as she just made it out to be.

  “Get the fuck out of my house,” he breathed. Oh shit.

  She glanced at the table. Again, an instinctive one, one long ingrained in her.

  “You go for that gun, and you won’t make it two steps.”

  She gaped at him. Would he really kill her if she made a move for her weapon?

  “Wow, you really don’t think very highly of me. The look on your face told me every-goddamn-thing I need to know about you. You don’t like me at all. Just enough to fuck before fucking over. Listen here, I might do unsavory things for the almighty dollar, but at least I respect myself enough not to sell my soul by spreading my legs for a case. Get. Out.”

  Anna walked backward toward the door, knowing better than to turn her back on him. Thankfully, she had her shoes on because, with his mood, she doubted he’d let her pack first, much less slip on some sneakers. Maybe once he had a chance to calm down, she’d be able to come back for her things. She’d go outside and sit on the porch for a bit. This conversation wasn’t over, but no way could they talk right now. Once she reached the door, she turned the knob, and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  The last thing she heard before she shut the door between her and the man she loved was, “Yes, yes, you are.”

  * * *

  The second the door closed behind Anna, Blade grabbed his keys and ran out back to his motorcycle. He only had a passing thought that he hoped she wasn’t in the driveway when he peeled out. He was furious, but deep down, he didn’t want any bodily harm to come to her. Thankfully, she was nowhere in sight when he pulled out. He lived in a wooded area, and she was probably sitting off among the trees to the side, waiting for him to relax enough to talk. They still had a lot of shit to discuss, and he would find out everything she knew, but right now, he needed to talk to the guys about what he’d found out. The faster they were brought up to speed, the faster they could mitigate the damage.

  Within minutes, he was at the garage. Bear was there because the man never took a day off. Blade fired off texts to Roc, Gauge, and Hunter as soon as he dismounted. He wouldn’t bother trying to reach Brody. The man was on his way to Eureka Springs for a short honeymoon.

  “What are you doing here?” Bear asked. “Better yet, why do you look like someone just killed your puppy?”

  “I found something out about the feds. We need to talk. I called the others.”

  “What’s going on?” Bear asked, tossing down the rag he used to clean his hands.

  “Rather wait until the others get here, so I only have to say this all once.”

  “I’ll give them five minutes, and then you’re talking.”

  It took three minutes.

  As soon as everyone got there, they all filed into the meeting room.

  “Shit, let’s go outside,” Blade said right when he opened his mouth to dive right into the story. It hadn’t even occurred to him when he was fighting with Anna that she could have bugged his house. Fuck, he’d need to come clean with the guys just in case some agents were getting his arrest warrant together. If she planned it out just right, they now had irrefutable evidence against him. At least he thought about the threat of electronic monitoring before talking to the guys because, for all he knew, Shelby had been busy planting recording devices all over the garage.

  After they walked outside, Blade keep pounding pavement, getting several feet away, well into the parking lot and away from any of their vehicles.

  “Rick McMillan is a piece of shit.”

  Bear crossed his arms as the other guys shifted, looking confused. “Explain,” their fearless leader said.

  And so Blade did. He told them what he’d learned from his source—not naming Mason by name—and confronting Anna, who hadn’t denied it. The story was followed by a litany of curses by everyone in the group.

  “Jesus, I’m sorry, man,” Hunter said.

  The sympathy in his eyes fueled Blade’s anger all over again. “Fuck her,” he said sharply. If she could investigate him behind his back, he never really knew her anyway.

  Still hurt like hell, though.

  “Sorry, but this doesn’t make sense,” Gauge said. He was the only one in the group with official law enforcement training, hell he was an agent himself. “That’s a lot of trouble just to look into our group when we hadn’t done anything to instigate the investigation. Ops take funding. The last thing the bureau is going to do is throw money at something that isn’t a sure thing.”

  “Maybe there’s a political reason? The government loves a good PR,” Hunter said.

  “Fucking politicians,” Roc grumbled.

  “Well, I have a theory,” Blade said slowly. “I can’t be sure, but I think I might be the target of the investigation
.” He ran a hand through his spiked hair. “Colonel got rid of some damning shit on me. I know they’re trying to find just how bad it was.”

  “Shit, I’m sure it was bad on all of us,” Hunter said, and rubbed the stubble on his chin.

  “Well, my source told me they were looking into me. And, uh, if they got enough evidence, I’m going to fry.” They all stared at him, waiting. “I’ve never told anybody this.” He laughed without humor. “Except the woman who’s going to put me away.” He shook his head. “Jesus, this is so messed up.” Taking a deep breath, Blade told them the story of his sister’s murder and the guy who did it, not leaving anything out.

  “You sure it was him?” Bear asked.

  “Yeah, I found his knife at the crime scene. He left it like a calling card just for me.” He reached into his waistband where the knife was usually secured in his pants and cussed. “I usually carry it with me, but I was a little too distracted when I bolted. Anyway, his initials used to be on it, but they’re worn off.”

  “That’s not much evidence,” Gauge said.

  “Yeah, I also overheard him confess to the killing one night when he was out with my cousins. When I confronted him, he bragged about it and called me stupid for not figuring it out when he’d left the knife. I went to the police. I tried my damnedest to get him arrested. Nothing. When I wouldn’t let the investigation go, that’s when he got pissed and threatened my mother.”

  “Sounds like you did the world a favor,” Roc said, almost bored.

  “We need to get to the bottom of this,” Bear said, and pulled out his phone.

  “What are you doing?” Blade asked.

  Bear didn’t respond, just put it on speaker.

  “McMillian.”

  Blade glared at Bear. What the hell was he doing calling Anna’s boss?

  “I hear you’ve decided to pry into our lives.” Bear tsked. “That’s not being a team player.”

  Rick was quiet for a few seconds. “What have you heard?”

  “Fuck. That. Do you seriously expect us to show our hand first?”

  There was rustling around on the other end of the phone as if he was shoving papers away and closing a door. “Look,” he whispered. “It wasn’t my idea. Another agency is investigating some guy with a very loose connection to one of your men.”

  What a weasel. Even Blade could tell the man was lying through his teeth.

  “Bullshit.”

  “No, not completely anyway.” He sighed. “What I told you about funding is true. What I told you about the other agency is also true. In fact, those guys are leads on this investigation. Not the FBI.”

  “What’s the agency?”

  “I can’t tell you that. Who told you about the investigation?”

  “Get bent. I ain’t telling you shit.”

  “Look, the fact that you know what you do is enough to get me in a boatload of trouble. Work with me here.”

  “No way. As of this moment, your agents are out. They better be gone from this town within the hour and we better not find them before that. Don’t call us to do shit for you.”

  “Don’t hurt—”

  Bear hung up on him.

  “God, I’m so sorry,” Blade said. This was all his fault.

  “Don’t even go there,” Bear said. Then he turned to Gauge. “I hate to ask, man, but you have a choice to make. As of this moment, we are done working with the government. You’re either with us or against us. We go way back, so I’ll give you a choice and a head start if you pick the wrong one.”

  Gauge lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “I have a better retirement plan in the private sector.”

  “Good.” He turned to the rest of the guys. “C’mon. We have a shop to clean.” And he didn’t mean the floors. “Then we need to find out just how much our little agent friend knows.”

  Chapter Twelve

  After Blade left, Anna contemplated going back into the house to pack a few of her things. She was not going to leave town without talking to him, but she figured she should stay at the safe house until he was ready to discuss everything. For all she knew, he needed a couple of days to stew.

  She just hoped she had a couple of days left. If Rick and her team figured anything out about Blade’s sister and Jeremiah Ward, she’d be yanked off this mission…either for some incompetency reason for not figuring it out after being so close to him, or for withholding crucial information pertinent to the case. Whichever reason, it didn’t look good for her. And if she wasn’t allowed to stay in the circle, she wouldn’t know what happened to Blade until the agents made their move. She needed to figure out a way to resolve this mess and do it quickly before Rick discovered anything more.

  Her phone rang, and she groaned when she saw her boss’s name pop up.

  “Hello?”

  “I want you on the first plane back.”

  Oh no. He couldn’t have figured it all out already. “I still have—”

  “This isn’t a debate. I just got off the phone with Bear, and they know we were there to look into them. The mission is compromised, and I can’t guarantee your safety anymore. Not that you’re safe from me! Care to tell me how that happened?”

  Jeez, word traveled fast. She hadn’t thought he’d contact the feds. Anna had assumed he’d avoid them as much as possible, more so than he wanted to avoid the one currently sitting on his porch. She could either lie, or she could pull up her big girl panties and face the music. Losing her job wouldn’t help Blade at all, but she was tired of all the secrecy.

  “He confronted me.”

  Rick exploded, spewing profanities that would make a sailor blush. He ranted about her knowing how to do her job, this not being led by them, even dropped words like obstruction of justice. Anna sat there, taking it all in. Everything he said, she deserved to hear. When he took a breath, she opened her mouth to explain herself, but he was just sucking in air to yell some more.

  “We have a face-to-face meeting tomorrow morning. I want you here. More importantly, they want you gone. I don’t think they were serious about causing you harm, but we’re not taking chances.”

  What did he mean by that? Blade had told her he wanted her out of his house, but he wouldn’t hurt her. Not really.

  The emotional pain he inflicted did more damage anyway.

  “Yes, sir.” The first words she’d gotten to say since he started his tirade.

  Thankful Blade hadn’t locked the door, she walked in and started packing her things while Rick continued to berate her. When he paused again, she tried to use the break to clear up some things.

  “For the record, I did not tell him anything about the SEC’s investigation. They don’t know about Mason Showalter. That agency’s mission hasn’t been compromised.”

  “I wouldn’t even be concerned with that if I were you. You’ll be on administrative leave at best. Probably fired. Thrown in jail at worst. You should be focused on your own ass now.”

  Anna continued to shove clothes in her bags without responding. She knew he was right and couldn’t really say anything to argue his point. “I know, sir,” she finally said. “But I want you to know, I didn’t tell him. I only confirmed it after he found out from another source.”

  Rick was so silent all of the sudden, even his angry panting had stopped. “What?” he breathed. “You weren’t the one to tell him?”

  “No.” But she would have. She’d been seconds away from coming clean anyway. Someone else just beat her to it. Not that she needed to tell her boss that. She was being truthful, but that didn’t mean she had to dig an even bigger grave for herself.

  “He received the call from Mason Showalter today. Nothing suspicious about the phone call. I left the room to, um, determine my next move,” she continued, again, not lying, “and when I returned he was on the phone again. Whoever was on that call informed him of the mission.”

  “So you want me to believe there was a second caller? Was there a grassy knoll, too?” he asked sarcastically.
<
br />   “Actually, I think it’s highly possible that the second phone call was with Mason Showalter. I think he either called back or Blade called him after I left the room to continue their discussion in private. I don’t know for sure if he was the person on the other end, but it’s a viable theory.”

  “You better hope we can prove you weren’t the one to divulge classified information. Maybe you can get a professional slap on the wrist instead of jail time.”

  “Yes, sir,” she muttered.

  “Eight o’clock, Fisher. Don’t be late.”

  He hung up the phone, and Anna grabbed her bags. So much for waiting around to talk to Blade. She’d be lucky if she was able to come back in a few days after he’d hopefully calmed down enough for their heart-to-heart. She had damage control with her boss to do now, and no way was he going to wait. As she picked up her toiletry back, she caught the sight of something that glistened in the sunlight on top of the dresser. She walked over to it and picked it up.

  It was the knife Blade told her Jeremiah Ward used on his sister. The same one he’d used to kill Jeremiah. Normally, he carried the knife with him, but they hadn’t left the house today, and when he did leave a few moments ago, he’d been too preoccupied with her betrayal to get it.

  The knife would put him away for good.

  Or it could set him free.

  She put in in her bag, loaded up the car, and headed to the safe house to get the suitcase she had there. She’d decide later what she would do with the knife.

  Shelby wasn’t anywhere to be found, so she tried calling her to tell her what had gone down. Rick hadn’t specifically said he wanted her back, too, but she figured they were both being pulled out of Mayflower. It felt like a given.

  Shelby didn’t answer, but Anna pulled out her work laptop and booked plane tickets for that afternoon for the both of them. She fired off a text to Anna with the link to her confirmation, grabbed her computer, and headed to the rental. She had a few hours before they had to be at the airport.

  Plenty of time to talk to Blade.