Ace stood up. “Cool it, Em.” His tone was hard.
Emily shot him a look that clearly said she would not tolerate bullshit. “Talk to her.” She walked to the window, her body rigid.
Ace sat down again and looked at Sierra. Their gaze met and locked. “Look, we protect folks.” He said, willing her to understand. “We are not equipped to investigate a crime of this magnitude.”
“I did not ask for you to do that. I only asked you to keep me safe. Are you not capable?”
“Damn it, Sierra! We can keep you safe, but what of Victoria and others?”
She stood up slowly. Ace’s words had been like a dirty slap to her face. She needed to get out of here and soon.
“I’m ending this here.”
Emily whirled round to stare at her. She marched to where Sierra was standing. “What the hell does that mean?”
Sierra met her gaze head on and said coolly, “It means that I am pulling out of the investigation. I’m done.”
There was a moment of stunned silence and then Emily let out a string of swear words. Sierra ignored her and fastened her gaze on Ace. She saw surprise and concern, but the compassion she read in his eyes was almost her undoing.
He reached out and cupped her face. His touch was gentle, intimate and tears sprang to her eyes. He used the pad of his thumb to brush the tears away, making them fall faster.
“It’s too late, Sie,” he said softly. “It’s too late.”
And she knew he was right. Even if she pulled out now, they were never going to let her go. She knew too much. With that realization, she stood up and walked out of the meeting room.
Chapter Fifteen
A few miles away at the Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course, Slim Johnny Natale was getting ready to log off the tee. The lush green golf course in the heart of the city was his favorite. It was where he came when he needed to think through things. It was not the best golf course in the city, but it was the most scenic.
He putted the last hole and walked off the green.
“That was a good game, Natale.”
Slim smiled and waved, not stopping to talk. He stopped to unlock his car. He patted the silver Camaro ZL1, his newest acquisition. He liked the feeling that he could go anywhere without bodyguards or his foot soldiers, even if it was just a smoke screen. They were all around and if he needed them, they would materialize within seconds. However, there were times he needed the solitude.
He opened the car and got in. Since he got out of jail five years ago, he made a conscious effort to keep a low profile. He still went out in public. Just to let people know that Slim Johnny Natale was still a force to be reckoned with. If he went too far underground, some people would start having ideas. Like that Cosmo.
Slim put the car in gear and was about to drive off when his phone rang.
“Talk to me.”
“We have a problem.” It was his second under boss, Mike.
“What?”
“The Newman woman.”
Slim sighed. That woman was a pest, no doubt, but if they had ignored her, she would have gone away. She had nothing to go on. Unfortunately, the dumbass senator felt the need to shake her up a bit. Blowing her car up…that had been so stupid. A move that Cosmo had made without consulting him. He needed to get rid of the man soon. He was becoming a liability.
“What the hell?”
“The Chen woman got a Sentry label to her.”
Slim went still. That was bad. It was the first solid thing she would be getting her hands on and even though it was a random shot, if she was able to connect the dots, the shit would hit the fan. He needed to do something about her before that happened.
He sighed and ended the call. There was only one way to deal with pests. He pressed down on the gas pedal. It was time to squash a bug.
**
“We need to tell Drew and Tamika.”
Ace had been staring at the door after Sierra walked out. He turned his attention to Emily and noted that she did not look as mad as she had only a few moments before. And that was the thing about her, she got mad, all hell broke loose but just like that, it blew over. She had been legendary when she was in the army.
“Shit.” He was not looking forward to that. He did not want to imagine what the news would do to those two. Every single one of the Silver Shield Security operatives was broken in some way…defective. But Drew and Tamika seemed the most defective somehow. Mostly because they would not speak about what happened to them. If anyone brought it up, they just clammed up and refused to talk. Well, Tamika clammed up. Drew simply deflected.
“We should probably wait till they return.” Rusty said.
Emily drummed her fingers on the table briefly then nodded once. “We should call the cops though. We can’t delay that.”
Ace leaned back on his chair. “I know.”
“I don’t particularly blame her.” His gaze swung to Rusty who had his eyes fixed to his tablet. Ace frowned and waited to Rusty to go on. “This is the Abrantes Dukes we’re talking about, right?”
“Yeah,” Ace said.
Emily nodded.
“If she goes to the cops with what she knows, she could be placing her life in more danger.”
Ace had only been in Chicago for about a year, but he already knew about the Abrantes Dukes and how ruthless they could be. It would not surprise him to hear that they had some cops on their payroll.
“I’ll call Aaron Kinsella. He’s one of the good guys and he owes me a favor,” Emily said with a frown.
They all knew Aaron; a retired captain, he had been involved in a number of their cases. He was also the bureau chief of organized crime. If there was one person they could trust to give this case the care it deserved, it was him.
Ace needed to know how far Sierra had gone with her investigation. Right now, all they had was conjecture. They had some dots and they needed to find the fine line that connected all those dots together.
“We know that the faulty protective gear was supplied by the Sentry Group.” Ace walked to the whiteboard and picked up a colored pen. At the top left hand corner of the whiteboard, he wrote SG and put a circle around it.
“They were recommended by the senate subcommittee, of which Senator Coleman was the chairman,” Emily said, pulling up a chair.
Ace wrote Coleman at the opposite end of the whiteboard and circled it also.
“Sentry Group was owned by Lewis Costa Natale, grandfather to the present head of the Abrantes Dukes.” Rusty still had his eyes fixed on his tablet. He flicked, tapped and swiped several times, lines of concentration appearing on his forehead.
At the bottom of the board, Ace wrote Abrantes Dukes, drawing a circle around the words as well. Next he put a question mark in the center of the triangle and drew connecting lines from the question mark to each circle.
“What we need to know is how they are all connected,” he said, facing the others. “And we need hard core evidence.”
“You’re forgetting something else.” They all turned to the door and found Sierra there. She walked slowly to where Ace was standing, her gaze fixed on the whiteboard. She picked up another colored pen and between the SG and Abrantes Dukes circles, she added Vida Health Foundation then drew a line from there to the other circles.
“What is the link?” Emily asked.
“Vida Health Foundation, a charitable organization that was started by Eleanor Vittorio, sister to Lewis Costa Natale,” Rusty said, glancing up from his tablet. He cocked his head to one side, focused on Sierra.
“And the largest donors to Senator Coleman’s campaign,” Sierra said.
Emily sat up in her chair and leaned forward. “There should be records of those.”
“I can get those. Phone records as well,” Rusty said.
“Really?” Sierra frowned. “Is that not illegal?”
“He has clearance,” Ace said. What Sierra did not know was that Rusty used to be military intelligence. That was what he brought to the team. Apart from the fact that he
had been at the warfront, he had been part of the engineering corps, providing intel for the military. There was no security system he could not hack into, given enough time. If there were records showing that the senator had more than a passing acquaintance with the criminal organization, Rusty would find them. “Besides, most of that stuff is in the public domain.”
“I believe we have enough to call in the cops now.” Emily gave Sierra a direct stare.
Ace braced himself for another showdown. Sierra raised her chin and stared Emily down. Then her shoulders sagged and she shook her head. “You’re right,” she said with a sigh.
“Wait, you’re okay with this?” He needed to be sure.
“I just…I don’t trust them,” she said, meeting his gaze directly. “But it’s as you say, my life is already in danger. How much worse could it get?”
Ace opened his mouth to warn her not to say that then shut it again. He knew it could get much worse, but he didn’t want to jinx things.
“He’s going down,” Emily said with quiet determination. “All we need is some solid evidence and we are going to get that.” She walked to where Sierra was standing next to Ace. “I’m sorry I came down on you like that.”
Sierra shrugged and gave a half-smile.
“May I ask what made you go after the senator in the first place?”
She wrapped her arms around herself and stared down at the floor. He could tell she did not want to answer, or maybe it was too difficult for her. He could see the pain in the stiff lines of her body and he wanted nothing more than to place his arms around her and let her know that everything was going to turn out just fine.
She bit her lips and after a few moments, looked up. “My dad was Sam Newman.”
Emily lifted an eyebrow. “The war correspondent?”
Sierra nodded. “When my brother died, Dad was broken, but like everyone else he just accepted it. Ricky was a war hero.” She shook her head slowly. “One day, all that just changed. He became obsessed with Senator Coleman and began digging. Not long after, he was shot just outside our home. The shooter was never caught.”
“And you think the senator had something to do with this?” Emily asked.
Sierra shrugged. “I found a brochure for the Vida Health Foundation in my dad’s office. I began digging.”
Emily placed a hand on Sierra’s shoulder. “You’re not alone in this anymore,” she said. “We are all in this together. Aaron Kinsella, the cop I’m calling, is clean. I will stake my life on that.”
Sierra did not say anything for several moments, then she nodded.
With a brisk nod of her own, Emily left the room. Rusty picked up his tablet and phone. “I gotta go,” he said and walked out.
It was just Ace and Sierra, and he gave in to what he’d been itching to do. He reached out to Sierra and pulled her to him, then wrapped his arms around her. She stayed stiff in his arms for a few seconds then slowly melted into him.
“Are you okay?”
He felt her nod.
“It’s been a tough day for you,” he said. He leaned back a bit and pushed her hair out of her face so he could get a clearer look at her expression.
She looked up at him and chewed her lip. “It hasn’t been a walk in the park for you either,” she pointed out.
“It’s going to be tougher from here on out,” he said. She had been through so much already. He did not know if she would be able to take much more. “You sure you want to do this?”
She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. “I will do what needs to be done.”
Just then Sierra’s mobile rang. She dug into her pocket and retrieved the phone. “It’s Alicia,” she said, glancing at the screen. Ace released her and took a step back. He was still close enough to feel the heat from her body.
“Hey, Alicia…Yeah I’m fine...” Ace watched the play of emotion on her face. She hunched her shoulders and blinked rapidly. “I heard, Ali. I can’t believe she’s gone.” She placed the flat of her palm on her forehead. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Ali, it will be okay…sure. See you then.”
Chapter Sixteen
Sierra was exhausted. All she wanted to do was lay down and not get up. Ace opened the door and let them into the house. She kicked off the ankle boots she had worn out, headed straight for the sofa and curled up on it. Her head was pounding and after speaking with Captain Kinsella at the Silver Shield office, she had nothing left. In one corner of her mind, she was grateful for the pancakes Ace had made earlier since they were all she’d eaten all day. She had no idea what the time was and was too tired to check the slim watch on her wrist.
Ace appeared beside her with a glass of water. “I got you some aspirin,” he said. How had he known that she had a headache?
Sierra opened her eyes and groaned, “Please don’t be nice to me.”
“Why?”
She sat up and took the aspirin. “Thanks.” She handed the cup back to Ace and he placed it on a coffee table then sat next to her on the sofa.
“Why, Sierra?” he asked again.
Sierra glanced at him and something about the look in his eyes arrested her attention. His eyes had darkened to a midnight blue and he was gazing at her with so much intensity, it stole her breath away.
“Why shouldn’t I be nice to you?” His gaze flicked to her mouth and she felt as though he’d reached out to caress her.
There were so many answers she could have given him. He would be gone once all this was over and she would have her heart broken. She did not want to fall in love with someone who was only going to leave her. She’d had too much of that in her life already. She could tell him all that, but what good would it do?
She stared deep into his eyes, trying to find that part of himself he so carefully kept hidden. It was too well hidden. She cupped his face in her palm, loving the rough feel of his face, and opted for honesty.
“I don’t want to fall for you, Ace.” His eyes were hooded and she could not read what was going on in them. He watched her quietly, a strange expression on his face. Sierra did not understand his mood or the vibes she was getting off him. She shifted and leaned closer to him. “Look, Ace, I have already been in a relationship where he didn’t love me back.” She dropped her hand to her lap and shook her head sadly. “I can’t do that to myself again.”
Ace leaned back against the seat and gazed at Sierra. He placed his hands on the sofa and one hand brushed against hers. It sent tingles down her arm. Almost absently, he touched her wrist, then slowly ran his hand up to her shoulder and down again to her wrist. She shivered and he read the need in her eyes.
“Ace?” He also read the confusion in those beautiful brown eyes.
He threw his head back and sighed. He understood what she was saying, no one wanted to put their heart on the line like that and he suspected that, for Sierra, she would not be able to have sex with someone she did not have feelings for. The more he was beginning to know her, the more he realized that her move the first day they met at Bespoke was totally out of character.
He turned his head so he could look at her properly. He touched her hair. He could see different shades of brown and it fascinated him. Sierra was unlike any woman he had ever met and he could not stop thinking about her. Since that first day they had met at the night club a week back, she had constantly been on his mind. She was the first thing he thought about in the morning and the last thought in his head before he went to sleep at night. It was not just that she was a gorgeous woman.
She was slightly taller than average, slender but with enough flesh on her that he did not have to worry about breaking her. She was the calmest person he’d ever met. It was not that she didn’t lose her temper or get mad, but there was an inner peace about her that drew him like cold water in the desert.
She seemed to genuinely not demand anything from anyone. She was nice to people without expecting anything in return. Even as they sat there, gazing at each other, he could see the emotion deep inside her eyes, a
nd yet, she was not asking him to feel the same way about her. He did not feel like she was pushing him into a corner, trying to blackmail him into admitting that he felt something for her… and that suddenly annoyed him.
Ace let out an angry breath. He wanted to yell at her, to ask her to want something for herself. Hell, if she wanted something, she needed to take what she wanted. Then as suddenly as the anger came, it left. He had not known her a long time, but he knew she was no shrinking violet. Just look at the way she was going after the senator. If she believed enough in something or she really wanted it, she went after it.
It suddenly dawned on Ace then that not wanting was Sierra’s way of protecting herself. He leaned forward until their foreheads were touching. He could feel the heat from her breath. Her eyes flared with passion and he felt the answering response in his veins.
“What if it’s too late?” he said and saw the confusion in her eyes. “What if it’s already too late to not fall? What then, Sierra?”
Her eyes opened wide in shocked surprise. He saw the shadows in them and glimpsed fear before she lowered her lashes, hiding her expression. He raised a hand to her face and gently brushed the back of his fingers against her skin. It felt so soft and smooth, almost like petals of the roses that had grown in his grandmother’s backyard. He heard the sharp intake of breath and without thinking about it, he closed the gap between them and kissed her.
One touch from her lips and Ace felt his control slip. Her lips were soft and soothed the restlessness in his soul even as they lit a fire deep within him. As the fire began to burn, slowly threatening to consume him, a flame reached down, sneaking past his defenses to lick at the ice barricade surrounding his heart. The effect was so powerful, so profound, that he felt his hands shake.
Sierra gasped and he used that to take the kiss deeper, using his tongue to explore further. Her hands moved to his chest. She placed her palms flat against him as though to push him away. He bit down gently on her lower lip and she gasped and clutched his shirt, pulling him closer. She deepened the kiss, straining to get closer. Ace could feel his heart pounding as the scent of her enveloped him and drew him in, heating up his blood. He ran his hands through her hair, loving the way she felt.
Silver Shield Security Box Set Page 8
