“Where’s this going, O? Cause if you expect me to believe that you haven’t fucked my girl, I’m going to have to call you a liar, and this conversation ends here while I rip your throat out with my teeth,” I deadpan.
He smirks while rubbing his hand along the back of his neck.
“Meow, Kitten, calm down. I’m getting to my point,” Oren says. “I’ve known Malia a good chunk of my life. I’ve always had her back, especially with her taking on leadership over The Olin Empire. She needs to come home, this business needs her, Nate needs her, andweneed her. Mal is the backbone of the empire, hell, the backbone for most of us, and with a bigger dick than most of the men who work for Nate. Whether you want me next to you or not, my boss is coming home.”
Oren’s concern is clear on his face, and I appreciate the respect he has for Malia and her goals. However, there isn’t a single member of the Olin’s syndicate who hasn’t lied to me or been around to pull strings throughout my life.
“Whatever you have to do to make yourself feel better,” I respond as I turn my attention out of the window.
The thick of the city begins to ease as we make our way to The Omen Mansion. My knee bounces with anxiety and the urge to get things moving. So much time has been wasted.
Too much time.
During the car ride, Oren and I go through the events as I remember them and discuss who could’ve been involved in her disappearance. We both know it could only be one man, but it’s unlikely he’s working alone.
“Deavers,” Oren says after a few minutes of quiet.
“What about him?” I question, wondering why Oren is bringing up one of the agents we’ve worked with. It wouldn’t make sense for him to be involved.
Oren blows out a breath and slouches in the seat, rubbing his hand down his face.
“Before things went to shit, Malia ordered me to follow Tawny to find out what she was up to.” He drops his head against the back of the seat. “We found out she was fucking around with Deavers and he was most likely feeding her information. Malia figured out she was involved with Martinez—“
I sit up straighter at that revelation and Oren’s head drops to the side to look at me. Malia and I might’ve kissed and made up, but it’s obvious I’m still out of the loop on a lot of things.
“That’s how he’s been able to elude Nate for so long,” I interrupt.
Oren nods then straightens. “If Martinez has Malia then Tawny is behind it.”
“And the way to find Tawny is—“
“Deavers,” he confirms.
My head pounds as the concussion makes its presence known. All this new information is hard to process, but at least we have somewhere to start. Tawny somehow escaped the cell The Omen kept her in and has been in hiding ever since.
“Has Deavers been to work or is he MIA too?” I ask, rubbing at my temples while trying to get to the bottom of this web of fuckery.
Oren hums.
“He’s not smart enough to hide, and missing work would be suspicious as hell. He would need to keep up appearances, plus his job is beneficial to Tawny,” he shrugs. “Deavers hasn’t missed a day, but I’m sure he’s aware I’m a double agent.”
I snort.
After thirty minutes in the car, we reach the winding road that leads to the mansion. Somehow The Omen has carved his own little sinful heaven out of the Blue Ridge Mountains to flaunt his life of crime. We come to a stop at the gate and I resist the urge to roll my eyes as a large, older armed man steps out of the guard house to do his security check.
“We should be going after Deavers, not coming back here,” I say as I watch the driver pass his ID to the guard.
Oren shakes his head.
“You need to be properly checked. You’re no good to Malia if you do some permanent damage. Nate’s getting the ball rolling, but you need medical attention.”
“I’ve had medical attention,” I hiss. “The whole fucking flight to D.C., O. You know as well as I do we’re wasting time. Every second we spend fucking off means it’s going to be that much harder to track her down!”
“You might be my boss when we’re wearing badges, but right here, right now, you’re not shit,” Oren snaps back. “My boss says we need to come back, and you need to be checked. I prefer my head attached to my shoulders, Liam. It’s going to take criminals to find Malia, things don’t work the same in the underground as they do in the justice system.”
I huff an unamused laugh.
“Maybe not, but that just means it’s going to be harder to find her, O. These are career criminals. I’m not losing Malia like—“