Pursuit, p.10
Pursuit, page 10
“You just expect us to trust you. How do we know you aren’t leading Caden into some type of trap?”
Rowen shrugged. “You don’t.”
“But you’re okay potentially endangering Caden? Just not me?” The anger in Tyler’s voice was rising.
“I don’t want Caden to be a part of anything, but I can’t convince them that I’m playing both sides unless they believe I’ve actually turned one of you. Caden is the more believable of the two of you.”
“It has to be me.” Caden said it without thinking. “If they really do know about us, our habits, our interactions, I’m much more believable.”
Rowen motioned in Caden’s direction, indicating her agreement. “Even that won’t be an easy sell, but it’s worth a shot. Tyler, you exude hero cop out your pores. No one would believe you’d turn. But Caden?” Rowen’s eyes traveled over Caden the way they had when they’d first brought her into the station. “She’s more rogue cop than hero cop. Believable. I’ll call them tonight and arrange a time where I can go meet with them. Caden, you’ll need to come home with me. After I call in and allow them to really see my location, they could be watching me. It would be best if you were with me.”
“For the mission’s sake, right?” Jennifer crossed her arms and glared at Rowen.
Rowen smiled at her, a bit of mischief and challenge lurking in her expression. Caden hadn’t spent much time with Rowen, but she knew enough to know that she could hide her emotions if she wanted or needed to. She also found it interesting that Jennifer sounded both protective and jealous. She makes my frigging head spin. I wonder if she has any idea she’s doing it? She raised her eyebrow when Rowen looked at her with that same mischievous smile.
“Yes, for the mission.” She looked back at Tyler. “Formulating a plan much beyond that, at this juncture, is pointless. I need to make sure they still trust me. We can go from there.”
Brooke knelt in the chair, her forearms resting on the back ledge. “We can monitor any correspondence. They seem to send a lot of messages, most of which seem meaningless and intended to distract anyone who might be watching. Literally thousands are processed every few minutes. My best guess would be that they’re acting as a text messaging service, which is the perfect cover. But I have an alert tacked on for keywords.”
Rowen walked toward the door. She stopped and turned around. “Come on, Caden. We have work to do.” She gave her a seductive wink.
Caden glanced at Jennifer on her way out the door. Her face was flushed red, but it could have been annoyance, anger, or a combination. Caden wasn’t entirely sure what she had done to upset her, since she was just doing her job, playing a part they agreed she had to be the one to play. She wanted to pull her aside right then and there and demand she finally talk to her about what was going on. She wanted to make her talk about what she was feeling whenever she caught her looking in her direction, but now wasn’t the time or the place. She had work to do and a mission to complete. Emotions, as always, would have to wait.
Chapter Twelve
Tyler stared at Brooke from across their small kitchen table. She clung to the glass of wine as if it somehow helped to ground her. Her voice was broken, her words coated with the tears that slid down her face. Tyler’s heart broke with each muted sob. She didn’t understand how the two people that had helped to create the amazing woman in front of her could so carelessly and callously throw her away.
Brooke had managed to hold it together at work, which Tyler knew was a temporary escape. But now, in the quiet of their home, Brooke let her guard down. The pain had started bubbling to the surface on the drive home and finally spilled over when everything else was able to settle into the background.
Tyler wanted to say something, anything, that would take the pain away. She wanted to banish all the hurt and anger that Brooke was feeling. She also knew that wasn’t possible. Brooke was going to need to find a way to cope, to recover, and to heal. Tyler rubbed her hands. She didn’t know if she was angry, sad, or at a loss. This wasn’t an enemy that hid in the darkest parts of their minds or in the shadows, waiting to pounce. These were her parents, and they had attacked, in full daylight, apparently with zero concern for casualties.
“I don’t ever want to see them again.” Brooke wiped the tears from her face. Then she took another sip of wine.
“Understandable. But maybe they’ll come around.” Tyler didn’t know if it was true or not. She just couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to remove themselves from Brooke’s life.
“There’re some words you can never take back.”
“They just need time.”
“Time? They need time?” Sadness was rapidly transitioning to anger. “I’ve been telling them the same thing for years. They’ve chosen to ignore it until they no longer had a choice.”
Tyler nodded because she didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t going to be able to make this better. There were only two people that could do that, and she wasn’t sure if that was going to happen. “Is there anything I can do?”
Brooke played with the cloth placemat that sat in front of her, pulling at the edges. “There’s nothing to do. It is what it is.”
Tyler knew it wasn’t how Brooke really felt. Brooke had a habit of shutting down when she was hurt, and this was as hurt as she had ever seen her. She hoped her parents would come to their senses before it was too late. Brooke was as stubborn as they came, and damage was being done that could be irreparable if they waited too long.
“I’m going to take a bath.” She grabbed the bottle of wine off the table and started toward their room.
“Okay, baby, let me know if you need anything.”
Tyler heard the water turn on. She stared at her phone. It wasn’t her place to call Brooke’s parents, but then, it was her job to help Brooke as best as she could. She also knew she could do more harm than good. Brooke might be mad that she’d taken it upon herself to contact them, but what was the alternative? She could wait for them to come to their senses, but that didn’t seem like a good idea either. If she didn’t do something, and Brooke lost her parents forever, could she live with herself? This relationship stuff is so damn complicated. She unlocked Brooke’s phone and copied the phone number into her own phone. She went out the front door, shutting it as quietly as possible behind her. She let her finger hover over the green button for a minute. She decided that even if Brooke was mad, she needed to help somehow.
The phone rang a few times. Tyler cursed herself for trying to get hold of them so late. Then a voice came on. “Hello?”
“Captain Hart?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Tyler Monroe. We need to talk, sir.”
*
Jennifer maneuvered through the parking garage. It took her a moment to remember where she had last parked her car. Headquarters could play tricks on you, the same way a casino could. You could be ready to finally leave and not be totally sure if it was night, day, or how long you had been inside. She passed a nearly empty row of parking spaces when she heard a pair of voices talking in the distance. This wasn’t abnormal. Everything in this garage echoed. You’d know people were talking, even if they were five hundred feet away.
But there was something off about these voices. It was as if they were trying to be quiet, and not succeeding. One of the voices she recognized as Rezentes. Jennifer had no idea what he was still doing at work and wondered who he could be berating now. Curiosity got the best of her. At the very least, it would make for a funny story to tell Brooke tomorrow.
She turned down the row to get a better look. His conversation counterpart was a very small woman Jennifer recognized. It was Speaker of the House Carol O’Brien. What the hell? Jennifer couldn’t fathom why these two would need to have a conversation in a deserted parking lot late at night. There was only one way to find out, but she needed to get closer. She saw a cement pillar about thirty feet from where they were talking. Jennifer quickly and quietly slid behind the pillar unseen.
She closed her eyes and tried to remember the training she had received on the Farm. She knew that clandestine operations weren’t her forte, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She controlled her breathing and made sure not to peek around the large circular barrier, as much as she wanted to.
“I told you, I’ll tell you as soon as I know something. You shouldn’t have come here.” Rezentes was angry. He was always angry, but this seemed to hold a different level altogether.
“I wouldn’t have come if you had followed through on your end. You’ve had her in custody for over twenty-four hours.”
“Yes, a busy twenty-four hours. I don’t understand why you’re so interested in her anyway.”
“That isn’t any of your concern. You’re supposed to deliver information. Don’t worry about why.”
“I’m not just some dog you can command. I need to know what’s happening.” His voice was getting louder. Rezentes hated being told what to do, especially by women.
“No, but if you want a shot at a political career after your retirement, you need to do what is asked of you.”
“You don’t control everything. I’ll get what I damn well deserve.”
“That’s your problem right there. You think everything is owed to you, that you’re entitled to rewards for your time here. You’re not, and if you think for one second that political careers aren’t forged in parking lots just like this one, with plenty of other people, I apparently had you pegged wrong all along. Maybe you’re not the man for the job after all, and I should approach one of the women on your team instead.”
Jennifer was desperate to know what information she wanted from Rezentes. Something big enough he thinks he’ll get a big payoff from it. She was so completely caught up in her curiosity that she peeked around the corner, forgetting her brief six-week training. She was instantly caught in Rezentes’s line of sight.
He stiffened. “Shut up.”
“You will not speak to me that way. Who the hell do you think pulls the strings in the White House right now—”
Jennifer pulled back behind the pillar, furious for having revealed herself. There was silence now, and Jennifer assumed that Rezentes was informing her that someone was listening. She looked around for a way out. There’s always a back door. She decided the best back door was acknowledgment. She came around the corner.
“Evening! Sorry, I got so turned around looking for my car.” She spoke too loudly, as though worried they wouldn’t hear her from where she was.
They were coming toward her, quickly.
“I’m such a scatterbrain sometimes. I got myself all turned around. Have a good night.”
She turned away from them and started in the opposite direction, mentally pleading for any type of divine intervention.
She heard the popping noise before she felt what she knew was coming. It sounded like a cap gun. In the split second before the barbs came into contact with her back, she knew what was about to happen. She lost complete control of her body, went entirely stiff, and fell to the ground. The paralysis was instant. Her body was quaking, and she could hear the snapping of the electricity. She knew that she was gritting her teeth. She knew her body was shaking. She was cognizant yet completely impaired. She was terrified.
Rezentes and Carol O’Brien stood over her. They were arguing about what had just taken place.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Rezentes pointed down at Jennifer’s shaking body. “I assure you, this one would have been a liability.”
“Well, she definitely is now. You’re an idiot. Now I have to clean up your mess again.” If Jennifer had been able to speak, she would have emphatically told them she wasn’t going to be a liability, that she didn’t need to be taken care of, in any way they were envisioning.
Swearing and breathing heavily, Rezentes carried her over to a plain black Honda Civic and threw her in the trunk. She was starting to get the feeling back in her body, and the scream that had been caught in the back of her throat, held hostage by thousands of volts of electricity, was getting ready to erupt. Then came the needle. O’Brien pulled it out of her jacket pocket and pushed it directly into her neck. The hope of managing a scream died, and the darkness came next. It was full, deep, and all consuming. The few seconds of consciousness that were afforded to her were a montage of missed moments. Moments she could have spent with Caden, moments she should have told her how she felt. Moments she wasn’t going to be able to get back.
Chapter Thirteen
Caden attempted to take a mental inventory of the sparse, one-bedroom apartment. It didn’t take long. There was nothing except the bare essentials. Not a single picture, a randomly placed personal item, nothing. She sat on the couch, still looking around, trying to piece together any bits of information she could gather about the elusive woman that stood ten feet away. She noted the flirtatious undertone that Rowen used when speaking with the person on the other end of the line as she made the phone call they were hinging their next steps on. Rowen used her sexuality as a weapon, lulling people into comfortable acceptance, though she was hatching her next move with each step. It was calculated, precise, and if Caden was being honest, impressive. Rowen seemed to understand how to work each and every person she came into contact with to get exactly what she needed. This was instinct. It wasn’t something they would have taught at French Spy School. Or whatever it’s called over there.
She could only hear one side of the conversation, but Caden thought she was doing an excellent job spinning her story. She was concise and didn’t include too much detail she could trip up on later. She explained exactly what they had spoken about earlier, that she wanted to come in and that she’d been able to gather some valuable information, which she was now able to get pretty much on demand. She giggled here and there, probably to imply her innocence in the situation. After the person on the other end seemed satisfied, she hung up and shrugged at Caden, her demeanor changing back to the agent they’d been talking to at headquarters. The rapid switch was disconcerting.
Caden was going to comment on the flirtation but decided against it. Rowen knew what she was doing. It had taken her this far and seemed to be serving her well, even if it did make Caden uncomfortable.
Rowen pulled off her shirt, and her fair skin bore the reflection of the one light inside the space. “I’m going to take a shower. Order some takeout.”
Caden forced herself not to stare at the way her muscles twitched with each change of movement. At any other time, with any other woman, she would have taken the removal of clothing as an invitation, a clear indication they wanted more. This wasn’t the case with Rowen. Caden knew it was a way to control a situation and the people in it, and she wasn’t interested in playing that game, no matter how hot she was.
Rowen disappeared into the bathroom, and Caden pulled out her phone. One of her favorite Chinese places was around the corner, and she called in the order. She listened to the water fall from the shower and unintentionally thought of Jennifer. The morning after the night they had spent together, Caden had stood in the shower for much longer than necessary. She’d watched the water slide off her body, knowing it was taking the remnants of Jennifer with it. She had thought for several days, maybe even weeks, how to erase that night from her life. It had been one of the best ones she could remember, and that acknowledgment alone was painful. Jennifer had run from her. She didn’t know why she still let it bother her. Caden never entertained the idea of being with one person for a prolonged period of time. Once the shininess of new love wore off, all anyone was ever left with was pain, regret, and self-loathing. She didn’t need that. No one did.
Jennifer had been right to run from her. Caden wasn’t girlfriend material. It’s not like I’m someone you bring home to meet the parents. She was selfish, career-driven, and suffered from easy boredom. Jennifer was smart. She could see Caden’s baggage coming from a mile away. Of course, she had no other choice than to head in the opposite direction, as quickly as possible.
Caden was built for one-night stands, trivial affairs that held the promise of nothing more than a night or two. Thinking about it now, her attraction to Rowen was probably rooted in their similarities. They seemed to be built from the same crappy material, capable of surface interest and shallow affairs, nothing more.
Rowen was standing in front of her, with her hair a wet mess, wrapped in a towel. Caden didn’t realize the shower had shut off. Rowen’s features were striking. The lines of her neck and shoulders were alluring, intoxicating. Part of her red hair lay across her shoulders, and small droplets from the tips of her hair slid down her chest, crashing into the white towel. Caden continued to look. She noticed dozens of scars under closer scrutiny, and her stomach tightened. She had seen these same scars at headquarters but hadn’t given them much thought, knowing that people in their profession often had similar, long lasting wounds. Up close, however, they seemed different. They didn’t strike Caden as blemishes, or proof of hard fought battles. Each one of those healed marks was a shove toward the place Rowen was in now. Caden didn’t know if they were from knives, car accidents, or intimate confrontations, but they each played a part in turning Rowen into the guarded person standing in front of her. Caden knew this because hers were the same.
Rowen took a step closer. She looked as if she wanted to say something. Caden didn’t want to talk. She didn’t want to know. Knowing would make Rowen real. If Rowen was real, Caden wouldn’t be able to protect herself from her if need be. Luckily, the doorbell rang, saving her from impending doom.
Caden jumped up and headed to the door. Rowen walked back into her room. She paid the delivery boy and gave him a generous tip. She laid out the food on the small kitchen table, not bothering to look for plates. She started pulling open the lids and grabbed a pair of chopsticks.
