In Deep (The Blackhart Brothers)

by Blue Saffire

  “I need that laptop. The sooner I have it, the sooner you can have answers.”

  “That’s not good enough,” I snap.

  “It’s going to have to be.”

  I storm around the car until we are standing mere inches from each other. I place my hands on top of the car on either side of her. She looks up at me with that same defiance.

  “Ya treat me like an enemy.”

  “You’re looking at me like you don’t trust me.”

  “Yer not giving me a reason to,” I challenge.

  “Mi vida está loca. You think I don’t want to let you in? I want to so bad it hurts, but my life is complete and utter crazy shit. I don’t know whether I’m coming or going, and I live with the fear that I’ll never get back what I’ve lost. All I’m asking is that you trust me a little longer. I promise, when I can tell you more, I will. You are the last person in the world I want to hurt,” she says as she swipes at a tear.

  I place my forehead to hers. That connection is there. It’s always there.

  Dem grabs the sides of my T-shirt as if she’s holding on for dear life. I know I’m not wrong about her. My true problem is that I can’t see pass my anger, and I needed somewhere to place the blame.

  Placing a kiss on her forehead, I release a heavy breath. “Let’s get inside. I think there’s something you need to know.”

  Chapter 32

  Chilling Facts

  Danita

  We haven’t been in the office for two minutes when everything comes to a shrieking halt. One minute Shane is heading for Kevin as I spot Conroy looking nervous and unsure. The next, Quinn is roaring through the office as he glares at me.

  “Fuck.”

  I stand frozen, much like everyone else in the room. Isn’t this what Kevin warned me about? Quinn looks like an angry bull in a china shop. His gaze is locked on me and his eyes are clear and focused.

  It’s like he can see all of my secrets, and I don’t believe that’s a good thing. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. When he speaks his next words, I know he has figured me out.

  “Ya’ve been right under our noses,” he says. “How many lies have ya fed us? I want the truth and I want it now.”

  I nearly flinch from the whip-like tone of his voice. I know he’s pissed. The flaring of his nostrils is only one giveaway.

  “Shit,” I mutter, reaching to rub my forehead.

  “Quinn, it’s not what you think.” Kevin jumps in and my heart swells. There’s no question that he’s pissed at me. He’s been warning me this was coming, but for him to still stand up for me… I know how close these brothers are.

  When he turns to me, I can see the anger in his eyes. He has every right to be. I’ve dragged him into my mess. His words sting more than the look on Quinn’s face. “And this is the shit I warned you about.”

  I push through the pain. The cat is out of the bag now. I know what I need to do.

  “And I told you, the less you know, the safer everyone is. I need the files on that laptop—”

  “It’s my fault,” Conroy says before I can finish getting the words out of my mouth.

  I pause and turn to look at him. He has sweat on his forehead and upper lip. The kid looks so confused and nervous.

  “What?” Kevin and Quinn say in unison.

  “Dad told me to keep scrambling the computer if anything happened to him. I have a laptop that I’m frying the other one from. Every time you try to get in, the scrambled files come to me.” His words make it all click into place.

  Cal wasn’t asking me those questions so he could link those computers. He was asking to help his son do it. Which means this kid is a little genius. I only confirmed the things Cal had asked me and gave one or two suggestions.

  Wow. Just freaking wow.

  I half listen to the rest of his story. He’s not telling the complete truth. I plan to get to the bottom of that once I get the laptop he’s been hiding.

  However, when he speaks his next words, I do think he believes them. This is what breaks my heart and forces the truth from my lips. I’m done hurting Cal and his family.

  “Dad was freaked. He kept saying he had to fix it. I think they came for him because of me.”

  I can’t allow fear to keep me trapped any longer.

  “Shit, kid.” I blow out and tug at my hair. “It’s a little bigger than that. None of this is your fault.”

  “Explain,” Quinn snaps at me.

  “Go on. We trust everyone in this room with our lives,” Kevin says, folding his arms across his chest. “I’m more than ready to hear this.”

  This is it. My moment of truth. This will either bury me or finally get me the help I need. Either way, I’m doing this not for me, but because I’m tired of hurting the people I care about even when I think I’m protecting them. Ignoring Eric’s warning, I spill the one secret Kevin hasn’t figured out on his own.

  “Nothing is as it seems. I’m FBI. I was planted on the force. I’ve been on this case for years. I’m so deep undercover, I don’t exist anymore. Which is how this whole mess started. Cal stumbled into my case around the same time my handler went missing.

  “I had no one to pull me out of this mess, and I was desperate. I have a few of the low-level guys dead to rights, but Cal was so damn close to getting me the guys calling all the shots. Cops, judges, cartel, this case is my resurrection.

  “If anyone in that precinct figures out who I am, I’m dead, and no one will ever know the difference. Danita Moralez doesn’t even have family to mourn her. My family is in Puerto Rico, probably already visiting a grave with my real name on it. A year turned into two, and two turned into three and now… I need that laptop, Con,” I say, feeling breathless.

  It’s the truth. Well, most of it. My mother and father have returned to Puerto Rico. At least that’s what I was told last by Eric. My oldest brother is still in NYC and the other two were in Miami, last I heard. I haven’t been able to risk looking further into any of them because of the fear I would be opening a can of worms around us all.

  However, there’s no telling how much has changed in their lives in the last two years. My heart aches at the thought of them believing I’m gone forever. Quickly, I try to push down on the lid that all those emotions have been loosely contained beneath.

  “This is what you’ve been hiding from me?” Kevin says. My gaze bounces to him, and he looks like he’s about to lose it.

  I plead with my eyes for him to understand. “Look at what happened the last time I told someone,” I say, my throat tightening with my emotions. “I’ve caused your family enough trouble.”

  “And the fire?” Quinn asks.

  “Unrelated,” I reply.

  “You sure?”

  I didn’t think Kevin’s face could show any more rage. Yet if looks could kill, we wouldn’t need to find the person responsible for setting the fire. Kevin’s face alone would cause them to drop dead wherever they are.

  “Yeah, she’s been getting notes on her car,” Kevin says tightly. “Different problem. I’ll be handling that one.”

  “Hmm,” Quinn grunts.

  Suddenly, Quinn becomes distracted and sits back at his desk, hacking away at his computer. Kevin closes the distance between us, reaching for my hand to tug me into him. I look up into his eyes, and the anger has lowered to a simmer. He looks more hurt and concerned than anything.

  “This, you could’ve told me. I was so close to the truth… You could have said something. You should have said something,” he says low enough for me to hear as the office starts to buzz around us again.

  “No, I really couldn’t. I was warned not to. However, I don’t think that matters now. Eric, my handler, told me to wait him out, that he’d take care of things if anything happened. Two years is a long time to wait. I’d been working with Cal at first in hopes that when
Eric popped up, I’d be good to go. Then as time went on, I changed courses, and I’ve just been trying to figure out how to fix this without Eric. I need that laptop from Con.”

  He nods. “We’ll be getting that. I had Trent bring him in. Shane figured out that he was involved and had to have the other laptop this morning,” he says.

  I can still hear the frustration in his voice. This isn’t over. I’ve dropped a colossal bomb, and I know he’s going to want more details once he has a chance to wrap his head around it.

  “He’s had what I needed all this time.”

  “Aye, he did. He’s bullshitting, though. He knows something else.”

  I scoff. “Yeah, I picked up on that.”

  “Let’s grab him and head back to the—”

  We both turn to Quinn as he roars another curse. This time, he has the phone to his ear, already moving for the door. I can tell from his body language this isn’t good.

  “Go. Someone should stay behind with Con,” I say as I look at the indecision in Kevin’s face as he looks between me and his nephew.

  He palms the back of my neck and kisses my forehead hard. “We’ll talk when I get back. This isn’t over.”

  I nod and reach to give his wrist a squeeze. He hesitates only a moment longer before releasing me and rushing off behind Quinn and the others, leaving me, Con, and the office admin, Debbie, behind. Con moves over to me with big, wide eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what to do. I did what Dad told me to. I… I’m sorry.”

  “Con, believe it or not, you did the right thing. This is all dangerous and your father trusted you. That was a lot to have on your shoulders.” I reach to squeeze his shoulder. “Have you eaten breakfast?”

  “Yeah, I had something.”

  “Okay, well, I haven’t. You want to come with me to get something?”

  He wipes his hands on his jean shorts. “Honestly, I want to get you that laptop. You said it’s important and that you’re FBI. Maybe you can help find who did this to my mom and dad.”

  “Kid, I love you so much right now,” I say and sigh in relief.

  Conroy starts to blush. I reach to ruffle his hair, causing him to redden more. He’s not a bad kid at all. I can see he was only doing what he felt was right.

  * * *

  We sit at the outdoor dining table at Renny and Teagon’s home. I stare at the blue and silver laptop I’ve seen Conroy with almost every day. I, like everyone else, assumed he was on social media or playing around on the simple device.

  I had no idea he was monitoring the files to the biggest case of my life. My life, my future, my freedom have been sitting in this child’s lap, and we were all so oblivious to this fact.

  Knowing that Con has had this laptop here at Kevin’s parents’ home all this time causes an ache so deep, I have to breathe through my nose. We’ve been on lockdown for over three weeks, and this laptop has been this close. Tears fill my eyes, but I hold them back.

  “Hey,” Con says, placing a hand on my shoulder. I look at him. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to tell you. I really did. First, I needed to be sure that Uncle Kevin trusted you. Then, I didn’t know how to say something. I tried a few times. My uncles are going to be so pissed at my dad.” He cuts off and starts to chew on his lip.

  I give him a warm smile, doing my best to suck in my tears. This kid has had enough on his back.

  “Con, you can trust me. I want to find out what happened to your parents.”

  “And get back to your family, right?”

  I nod. He’s silent for a moment. After a few beats, he releases a long breath.

  “I sort of lied.” He starts to fidget and runs a hand through his hair. “I’ve been trying to solve my dad’s case on my own. I’m receiving the files, but I can’t get into them. The day you picked me up, I was on my way to the place Dad went to before coming to meet you. I thought I could find something out to tell my uncles or find some clue on how to get the files open.”

  “Oh, Con. That was so dangerous.”

  He looks down in his lap. “Yeah, I know, but I was trying to tell them that I knew something then, and they were treating me like a baby. I thought if…if I could figure this out, they’d see I’m smart. I don’t mess things up like my dad does sometimes.

  “I wanted them to see me. Dad had asked me if I understood what Uncle Shane had shown him that one time and I tried to explain it to him. There were a few things I wasn’t sure about, but he asked a friend for me and I was able to duplicate everything and create the add-ons.

  “I…I did sneak into Dad’s car that day, but it was because I figured out how to recreate Uncle Shane’s program and I added on the enhancement to destroy the original files as they moved to the new computer. He was mad, but once I told him what I was able to do, he was so proud and said I had helped him and his friend out,” he says proudly.

  “You were struggling with the encryption and firewalls. You needed to cloak the files while they transferred. I was so vague in the information I gave your dad. You’re so smart, Con. You still figured it out.”

  His eyes light up. “It was you? You were the friend he asked?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Cool. Here, let me show you,” he says, all apprehension gone.

  It’s clear that he now trusts me without a doubt. He scoots his chair closer and opens the laptop. He’s adorable as he excitedly shows me the program he cloned from his uncle. I don’t have the heart to rush him.

  I think I actually hold my breath until the screen lights with the files that hold my life in their hands. My mind moves a mile a minute as I take the laptop from Con. I click on the first file, but as he said, it’s password protected.

  “Dad said the right person would know how to get into the files,” he says, his green eyes expectant.

  I turn back to the computer and stare. Anxiety claws at my throat. What the hell could the password be?

  Come on, Cal. What were you thinking?

  For two years, the man had become the only friend I had. We talked a lot. Erin and the kids came up often. Cal is a proud father. It’s so clear he loves his family.

  He spoke of his brothers-in-law as well. There was a sense of longing and admiration there. I, on the other hand, was never honest with him about the real me. Cal always got Danita. With one exception. He knew my handler went missing, and he knew his name was Eric.

  Suddenly, a memory comes back to me. Cal and I were in an old office building in Binghamton. We’d taken the long drive to meet up there because we were worried things were getting too hot.

  “Erin lost her shit this morning. I told her I wanted to try for another boy,” Cal had said.

  I laughed. “Four kids. She has her hands full. And it seems like you’re in the business of making pretty little girls.”

  He shook his head and looked me in my eyes. “I feel it in my blood. Con is my pride and joy. I’d have another boy in a heartbeat if I could. September 25. It was the greatest day of my life. I got to hold my son for the first time.”

  “I bet that was a great moment.”

  “Yeah, I’d thought April 20 would be the greatest day of my life until the day I died.”

  I wrinkled my brows. “What’s April 20?”

  He gave me a huge smile that took over his face. “It’s the day I married Erin. There are just some days you never forget.”

  At the time, I didn’t understand why he put so much emphasis on the word you. Now as it plays back in my head, it stands out. What he said next reinforces that I’m on the right track.

  “I bet you remember the last day you saw Eric. You probably know the date by heart,” he said.

  “February 25,” I replied, without thinking.

  I come back to the present with a gasp. My fingers fly over the keys as I enter all three dates. I cry out when the file unloc
ks, turning to Con to pull him into a hug.

  “My dad really did trust you,” he says. “I hope this helps us get the guys that hurt him and my mom. Detective—”

  “Call me Dem, kid. You just saved my life.”

  “Yeah, about that.” He starts to blush again. “I like having you around and my uncle…he loves you. Uncle Kevin is crazy about you. I’ve never seen him this happy. Can you promise me something, please?”

  I hesitate a bit. I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep. “What’s that?”

  “Don’t leave. If you can get your life back and still be in ours, please stay.”

  I can’t help the smile that comes to my lips. I ruffle his hair and kiss his cheek. The shy look that comes to his face makes me laugh.

  “I’m going to do the best I can and what’s best for everyone.”

  His smile falters a little. “Yeah, I get it. It’s not a promise you can make, but think about it, okay?”

  Little does he know, it’s all I can think about. I have this laptop, but what does that mean and what will I do next? I don’t want to think about losing Kevin, but it’s a strong possibility.

  Pushing those thoughts aside, I start to scroll through the file. Opening the folders to see what Cal had been up to. A folder named Read Me catches my attention.

  I click on it, and it’s all here. All of the holes. Names, documents, pictures, recordings, everything that I could imagine, to create the perfect case. I open the document flagged in green.

  “It’s the freaking infrastructure. He created a tree of the organization,” I say in awe.

  My heart stutters to a stop when I see that the brackets at the top are blank. There are three of them that sit empty. I push a hand in my hair.

  Sure, there are plenty of names and their positions within the organization as well as their occupations in the real world. However, it’s not enough. Without the head to this serpent, I’ll never be safe or free. Especially as I notice one of the brackets at the top has a single piece of information under it. FBI is listed in the occupation section. Eric was right.