26
LIAM
“HOW DO WE know we can trust him?” I hear the words spill out of a naïve newbie to the agency. He’s been eyeballing me for twenty minutes as I sit across from Director Hayes and fill him in on my activities.
I’ve known Hayes for years. He was an agent before they promoted him to director, and he was my mentor, helping me hone my craft. I look up to him, and I’m hoping he gives me a chance to right what went wrong.
“Parker,” he snaps, silencing the idiot in the corner. His petulance was really starting to piss me off, so I’m glad Hayes said something before I did.
“Sir.” I speak up then, needing to lay out what I intend to do before I get interrupted by the adolescent in the corner. “I need to get to work on finding Anton. He hasn’t gone far—I know he hasn’t. I just need to figure out where he’s hiding.”
Anton didn’t bother calling me this time when he found out I got his leverage out from under him without giving him the resources to flee the country. The first thing I did was make sure there was a team of agents guarding my sister and her family. She doesn’t know she’s being watched, but that doesn’t matter as long as she is safe.
Now, Anton is in hiding, and I am going to track him down.
I just need Hayes to allow it or I’ll be in bigger trouble with the FBI than I was before.
“Sir.” Agent James enters the room and hands him a stack of papers. I can’t read what they say. “Everything checks out.”
Hayes looks over them, squinting in places and hiding a smirk in others. “So it does,” he says, setting the papers aside. “All right, I’ll give you one more chance, Stokes. You fuck up again”—he pauses, pointing a finger in my direction—“you answer to me, and I guarantee you won’t like how I handle it. James, where is Agent Perk? Have we made contact with him?”
“No, sir. We’re still working on that.”
He sends us out of the room with a flick of his wrist and I stand, following James. “Thanks,” I tell her. We don’t know each other very well, but I know she and Ford have become closer since I’ve been gone, and if he trusts her then I do too.
“No problem.” She shoots me a wink. “Now let’s go get this bastard.”
Laughter spills from the hotel room when I open the door, and I walk in to see Ford clutching his nuts and Margaret laughing uncontrollably. She looks like she’s about to fall over, and when she finally notices me, she tries to pull herself together.
“Do I want to know?” I ask, walking over and placing a kiss on her cheek. It’s nice to finally be able to do that without wondering if it’s okay.
Last night, we made love again, although this time it was different than the last. It was more passionate, more meaningful, and let me tell you, it was also fuckingamazing. I can’t get over it. It’s like a constant loop in my head, over and over again. I had to drag myself out of the room this morning to meet with the director because I didn’t want to leave the nest we seemed to have buried ourselves in.
I also didn’t want to leave her there alone, but she assured me she was fine. When Ford showed up unannounced, I let him take over the watch while I handled business.
I didn’t ask what they discussed yesterday, and I didn’t see Ford again until this morning, but I know it couldn’t have been too hard for him to take if he was here laughing with her now.
Plopping in a chair, I uncover one of the silver dishes on the table, eagerly reaching for the food. While I wait for them to calm down, I think about how I am going to get Anton. He isn’t about to go back to Vino; I know that. He is smarter than that. He will go somewhere new, somewhere no one will know to look.
His problem, really, is me. I am the reason he isn’t free to do as he pleases, so I have no doubt he wants to find a way to get rid of me. He could do that and maybe have a small chance of getting somewhere safe. He isn’t crossing any borders, though, unless he knows someone who can get him through undetected. I’m not about to say he couldn’t pull it off; the guy has contacts he could use.
“How did it go this morning? I assume Hayes gave you a slap on the wrist since you’re here and not detained.”
“I’m free.” As an afterthought, I add, “For now.” I have no doubt once my mission is done they are going to have me completely debriefed, which is going to be an absolute nightmare, but I’ll worry about that later.
“For now?” Margaret questions, sitting in the chair next to me. I think for a second before I drag it closer to me. I breathe easier when she’s closer.
Fuck, I’m so fucked with this girl.
“I’m not worried about it right now,” I say, not answering her question. “Right now, I have to focus on Anton, on where he is.”
“Any ideas?” Ford asks. His brows furrow, and I see him slip into agent mode. He’s a good guy to have as backup, despite his kidnapping, which wasn’t his fault. He’s helped me out of more situations than I care to admit, which is why I was grateful that Hayes assigned him to help me with this one.
“None,” I say. “He has one hideout, a place called Vino, but that was the last place I met up with him. Now he knows I know he likes to go there, so I doubt he’ll go there again.”
“Why do you think there weren’t any guards at that house?” Margaret asks.
I look at her and think about it for a moment before I shrug. “No idea. Best guess is he didn’t think we’d ever find you, so there was no reason to post anyone there. Dummy move, but the more anxious he gets to flee the country, the sloppier he gets.”