6. Nicholas

6

NICHOLAS

Darkness filled the room with only the slightest light filtering in through the window where the curtain wasn't quite closed. A heavy smell of dust coated the walls and the beds, and the underlying scent of smoke still lingered in the air. I sat in the chair in the corner of the room, waiting for my target to return. One day later and I would have missed him.

I could hear their voices as they approached outside the door. I shifted my gun, resting it on my knee in a casually threatening manner. The key slid smoothly into the lock and then the door slid open easily. Their shadows loomed in the doorway for a moment, signaling that they saw me in the corner. As soon as the door swung shut, the lights flickered on and a gun was pointed at me.

Rafe glared at me, never lowering his weapon. "What are you doing in my room?"

"It's nice to see you too."

"I didn't invite you here."

"Yet, here I am."

Libby shoved her way out from behind Rafe and walked over to the bed, flopping down. "Just tell us what you want."

"I want a name."

"Is that all?" he asked.

"The woman on the roof. Who is she?"

"Why do you want to know?"

I didn't answer. I didn't know why I needed her name. I just knew I couldn't stop thinking about those green eyes staring at me. I had to know her secrets, who she was and where she was going. It was driving me insane not to have even the slightest information about her.

Rafe slowly lowered his weapon, his eyes never leaving the one on my leg. "I don't know where she is."

"But you know how to contact her."

"I have my ways. She's not easy to reach. Why?"

"Maybe I have a job for her," I answered casually.

He huffed out a laugh, shaking his head at me. "You don't need her for anything. You either like her or want to kill her. I'm not interested in getting involved with either."

"I think you will," I said, cocking my head at him. I didn't know Rafe well, but I had an idea that something else was going on with him, something he didn't want Cash to know about. And all I had to do was press on that issue until he gave in.

"Yeah? What makes you think so?"

"You have a secret."

He didn't move. His eyes didn't even shift slightly as he stared at me.

"And that secret, if it got out, would ruin the plans you have moving forward." Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Libby's brows pull down in a frown. She was curious. "Not even Libby knows."

Rafe gave only the slightest hint that I was onto something. His jaw tensed, but only for a second. If I kept going, he would likely give away another piece of the puzzle. But I could also push too hard and ruin any chance of getting the information I needed.

"Rafe, what's he talking about?"

"No idea," he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

Yes, Rafe was definitely hiding something. There were only two people Rafe truly could rely on. One of them was Libby. She was always by his side, but she had an agenda too. And then there was Cash. His twin and the one man he would do anything to protect. When the chips were down, he could count on Cash to help him out. Not that he would ask.

I pushed out of my chair, holstering my weapon as I walked to the door. "You know where to find me," I said in a low voice, keeping my words from Libby.

I walked out, letting the door close behind me. It wouldn't take long for Rafe to come after me. He needed enough time to convince Libby he didn't know what I was talking about. After that, he would find me. I didn't know how he did these things, but the man had connections all over the world.

I headed to the bar across the street and took a seat in the back, keeping away from prying eyes. I ordered a beer and waited for him to arrive. It was only a half hour later that he strolled into the bar, heading right back to where I was seated. He slid into the booth, his face never betraying the anger I knew was simmering under a thinly veiled mask of indifference.

"What do you want?"

"Her name. Where I can find her."

"For what?"

"So I can find her."

His lips twitched slightly. "So you can stalk her like you did your ex-wife?"

"That wasn't stalking. That was gathering intel for my divorce."

"You were already divorced."

"What's your point?"

A glass of scotch was placed on the table and the bartender walked away. "Why are you so interested in this woman?"

"Do you really care?"

"Not in the least."

I took another sip of my beer. "What did you tell Libby?"

"That I had no idea what you were talking about, but I was going to talk to you and find out your agenda."

"And?"

"I don't care what your agenda is."

"But you care about your secrets getting out," I said pointedly.

"You don't know anything," he chuckled. "You took a shot in the dark and bet that I would fold. But it's not gonna happen."

"And yet, here you are. Which tells me that not only do you have a secret about what's coming, but you really don't want Libby or Cash to find out about it. You made a comment to Cash that's been gnawing at me. You said you had a job coming up and you would tell Cash about it closer to the time. That's what this is about."

"So?"

"And the island. You don't care about getting Zavala off the island. You sent FNG in for a reason, and it failed. You want something that's on the island. Or someone."

"Yes, and that someone is Zavala."

"No," I shook my head. "Zavala is just a cartel leader. He hides on his island to stay untouchable, but there are plenty of ways you could take him out that don't involve getting him off the island. Hell, you could have had FNG fly over the island and drop a bomb."

"It's a no-fly zone. He never would have made it," Rafe retorted.

"Yes, but he could have dropped the bomb before he was killed. See, I've heard about you, Rafe. You're willing to sacrifice anyone—even Libby—to get what you want. You'll do anything to accomplish the mission. But you didn't sacrifice FNG, which means you didn't want to kill Zavala. At least, you didn't want to bomb his precious island."

He continued to stare at me, his eyes growing darker by the second. I hit on something big, but he wouldn't actually tell me. He wouldn't give up his plans like that.

"Her name is Raven."

"Last name?"

"No last name," he smirked. "That's what she goes by. Good luck finding her." He slid out of the booth and tossed down some money. "And Tate, if you ever threaten me or Libby again, I'll make sure that not even Fox can recognize you."

I gave him a two-finger salute as he walked out the door. It wasn't a lot to go on, but it was enough to give to Rae. I knew she'd find what I needed.

"Are you sure about this?" Cash asked, looking at the map.

"Absolutely. He wouldn't have met with me if he wasn't hiding something from you."

"Or Libby," he sighed. "FNG flew over this island," he pointed at the map. "And that's where Zavala is staying."

"I did some research. There's no easy way in. He wants Zavala gone because when he leaves the island—which is rare—he takes a shit ton of his guards with him. The man is well-protected off the island."

"What could this man be hiding that Rafe needs so badly?" Cash murmured.

"Or who."

His eyes met mine in confusion.

"When I said he needed to get to someone on the island, Rafe didn't correct me."

"Maybe he didn't want to. If you're looking for someone, you might miss what's really there."

I shook my head. "I don't think so. It's a hunch, but my gut is telling me I'm right about this."

The door opened and FNG walked in. When he saw me, his steps faltered. "Boss. You needed me?"

"Yeah. Come look at this map."

FNG walked over, studying the map for only a few seconds before looking up at Cash. "You're looking into Rafe?"

"More importantly, where he sent you. What can you tell me about the island?"

"Anything you want to know."

"How do you get on it?"

"Not easily. It's protected in all aspects. The water has a five-mile perimeter going around. If you break that barrier, they fire on you. Same in the skies."

"You made it on the island," I pointed out.

"Barely. And I failed in my task."

"Which was?"

He winced. "To save a bunch of women and children who were being held captive. Honestly, I'm not even sure why he sent me. It was a suicide mission. There was no way on or off the island that would actually work."

"If you had to guess?" Cash asked.

FNG thought about it a moment. "I would say it was more of a scouting mission. I think Rafe wanted to see if I would make it onto the island and what I could find out."

"Did he ever ask you about it?"

He shook his head. "Nope. But you should have seen the equipment Rafe had. All high-tech shit. He was watching me the whole time. Everything I saw, he saw also."

Cash nodded slightly. "So, if there was something he needed to see?—"

"I was his eyes. I just didn't realize it at the time."

I wasn't sure FNG could help us in any way. "Even if we could figure out what Rafe is after, we still don't know the when or how."

"You know…Rafe said something about a woman on the island…" FNG said thoughtfully. "Something about how she knew all the inside information into his organization, and without her, the whole mission would fail."

"Why not just take Zavala?" I questioned. "He would know the operations better than a woman who was staying there."

"He didn't say. But it had that ominous feeling to it, you know? This woman is the key, but I have no idea who she is or how Rafe planned to turn her. And that was the only time he spoke of her."

Cash sighed. "Short of being inside Rafe's mind, I don't know how we'd find out who's on the private island."

"We don't."

"Libby might know," FNG said.

"No, when I said to Rafe that I had information about his endgame, Libby didn't know what he was talking about. She's in the dark as much as you are, Cash."

"This is ridiculous," he muttered. "We're not doing this. If he doesn't want help, there's nothing I can do," he said, rolling up the map.

"He's planning something," I argued.

"He's always planning something," Cash spat. "He always has his own agenda, and he never tells anyone. I can't do anything about that."

I was getting way too wrapped up in this shit. He was right. I passed on the information I had, but there was nothing more he or I could do. "You're right. Enough said."

"Let's just get back to work. Nick, you're off for the next week. Go home and pretend you never heard any of this."

I fully intended to take the next week off, and I wouldn't think about Rafe or his mission at all. I had someone else I was much more interested in. "See you in a week."

I headed out of the office and down the hall to the elevator. I already asked Rae to look into Raven. With any luck, she had some intel for me. As I strolled into the IT room, I saw an image of Raven pulled up on the screen. It was a grainy shot, but I'd recognize her anywhere.

"You found her."

"Of course I did," she snorted. "Who do you think I am? Dash?"

"Hey," he swiveled in his chair to face her. "I could have found her if I'd been asked.

"But he didn't ask you because he wanted the best. You would have been ten minutes too late and five steps behind."

"I guess we'll never know," Dash said, narrowing his eyes at Rae.

"So, what did you find?"

"She's a ghost."

"Sorry?"

Rae's grin widened. "Your girl is slippery. She hides well. She knows where the cameras are. She pays in cash all the time. Even her apartment isn't in her name."

"How can you be sure? Raven's probably an alias."

"Oh, it definitely is. But she's staying in a place that's leased under the name Nolan Walker. She doesn't look like a man to me."

She turned to the screen and pulled up everything she had on Raven, which wasn't much. "She lives in Wisconsin," I murmured to myself. That didn't seem right at all, but then again, I didn't know the woman.

"What name does she go by?"

"Haven't figured that one out yet. You'd have to go for a visit and check it out."

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. "Well, it was worth a shot."

"That's it? After all my research, you're walking away?"

"You found her." I shrugged as if this wasn't bugging the hell out of me. "What more did you want?"

"I've spent the last day digging into this woman, and I'm more curious about her now than I was when I started. You can't really be giving up."

"Not giving up. I know everything I need to."

I turned for the door, not giving her a chance to look at me any closer. She'd see the curiosity in my eyes, the desperate need to find this woman. None of it made sense. I hadn't felt this way since…since Hannah. And look how that turned out. She was screwing another guy behind my back.

I flung the door open and walked out, determined to keep walking. I would not go back for the address. I would not beg Rae to keep digging. I was through with this woman. She helped Rafe out. That was the end of it.

"Hey!" FNG shouted, running over to me. "Hey, I was thinking…this woman who helped Rafe out…if she was crazy enough to help that asshole, maybe she has a lead or something."

"What?"

"I know it's a long shot, but maybe she knows something. Or overheard something. We should check it out."

She might know something. She could be the key to whatever Rafe was up to. The investigator inside me flared to life. The obsessive asshole was still in the driver's seat, though.

"So, what do you think?"

"Huh?" I looked at FNG's eager face and realized he was still rambling.

"Should we check it out?"

I clapped him on the shoulder. "Dead end, man. I already had Rae look into it."

His shoulder slumped in disappointment. "That sucks. I really thought we'd have a lead."

"You can't win ‘em all," I said as I walked to the elevator. As I headed out of the building, I told myself I wouldn't do it. These compulsions were gone. Fox did not have this much control over me. I would not give in.

And then I went home and packed a bag.