9 Ford

Ford

After we spent half the day catching up on sleep, Austin made dinner. Venison stew, and yes, he’d killed and butchered it himself before packaging it to be frozen.

Curious and trying to find a way to fill up the silence, I’d asked who had taught him to hunt while we were eating.

I’d received a flat stare and a semi-hostile “off limits” before he shoveled a huge spoonful of stew into his mouth. It was clear this was just another thing he didn’t want to elaborate on.

It wasn’t the best thing I’d ever eaten, but the stew was pretty flavorful. At this point, I was so hungry for something that wasn’t snack-sized or ninety percent grease, I’d have taken anything homemade.

I’d washed the dishes after our nearly silent dinner, and then I’d followed his lead, grabbing a beer and joining him in the living room. He was currently taking up one corner of the plaid couch, so I opted to take the floral one. I sunk down to the point I almost had the urge to get up and find somewhere else to sit. How old was the furniture in this room?

“I’ve got to check in with Reed and the team,” he said, blankly staring at the phone sitting on his knee. “Figured you’d want to hear what’s going on. But I have to warn you, there are things we may not want you to know, so if I end up taking part of this call—”

“No,” I snapped. I was teetering on the edge of the cushion before I was even aware I’d moved, leaning forward as if I was ready to strike. “I don’t accept that. I want to know everything. This is an act against me. I’m put under the fire for something I didn’t do. If there’s information you know, I need to know it.”

“I can’t guarantee—”

“If your team doesn’t trust me, then why did Reed say he’d help me? Why did he send you to get me? And why are you still here, going through clearly uncomfortable lengths to keep me safe?” I glared at him, not giving a shit that I’d rudely cut him off twice now.

His nostrils flared as he tore his gaze from mine. I could see his jaw working as he got himself under control.

Austin was calculating… careful… in a way that would typically make me suspicious and on edge.

What I should have been doing was studying him closely so I could predict his next move. But instead, I had a deep urge to move in and calm him with a touch. An urge I definitely fought against.

“Listen,” I said, reeling in my frustration, but this time, it was him who cut me off.

“Because Reed trusts you, and I will forever trust Reed. That’s the reason I’m here. That’s the reason why I brought you to the one place that I don’t share with anyone.”

He didn’t look at me or even give me a chance to respond. All he did was bring the phone to life and dial a number.

“Austin, what the hell happened?!” Reed’s voice was full of concern as it spilled from the speaker.

“I’ve got Agent Priestley here on speaker,” Austin warned. He looked up just in time to catch the cutting glare I sent his way. His lips thinned for a second, but then he pushed his unsettling emotions away. An eerie cheer took over his voice as he said, “We ran into some trouble.”

“I’d say,” Reed said before Austin could explain. “It’s a mess. They know Ford has an accomplice, but they don’t know it’s you yet. They have your car, so once they connect that to you, neither of you is safe.”

“They won’t. The car can’t be traced back to me,” Austin assured us.

“Austin,” Reed said, sounding like both a warning and a question.

“Well, you see, boss, I have a habit of expecting the worst… and, um, I might be prepared with a backup plan in ways that might not make you,” he paused, eyes jerking to meet mine, “or the agent here happy.”

“I’m no longer an Agent,” I said. Pretty sure when the entire agency you worked for was after you, you were no longer one of them.

“I’m going to need more,” Reed said at the same time I spoke.

A crease furrowed between Austin’s brow.

“The roundabout of it is, the car belongs to a dead person and my prints aren’t in the system.” I opened my mouth to ask the first question that popped up, but he stopped me with a shake of his head. “And no, I didn’t kill him. He was already dead when I put the car in his name. Died of a heart attack at eighty-three, I believe that one is.”

I let out a sigh of relief. I hadn’t really thought he’d kill someone just to use their car in order to stay under the radar, but sometimes you just never knew. I’d taken down criminals that lived a double life. Businessman by day, rapist by night. Stay-at-home mom and head of the PTA, designer drug dealer on the side. It seriously took all kinds. I’d learned a long time ago to never trust the appearance someone wants you to see.

“I feel like I should ask more questions,” I said, shooting Austin an unhappy look, “but there are more pressing matters.”

Austin’s smirk was cocky as he leaned back and kicked his feet up on the coffee table, crossing his ankles as if to say he was completely comfortable and in control. I wouldn’t be getting a damn thing out of him that he didn’t want me to have.

I wasn’t used to not being in control of a situation, or at least having some idea of what was going on, but Austin threw my head into a tailspin. I couldn’t read him. Couldn’t pin down anything about him other than the fact that he let you see what he wanted you to see.

“Same,” Reed said, sounding like a disapproving father.

Which reminded me.

“How’s dad life treating you?” I asked. There wasn’t time for small talk, but Reed was the closest thing I had to a friend and I cared about what was going on in his life.

“Amazing,” he replied, and the smile on his face was clear as day in his tone. “Keith and Tony spoil her, I swear. Between the two of them, she’s constantly being held.” He laughed, not sounding a bit mad at the fact that his men loved their daughter so much. “She’s the sweetest thing.”

“I’m happy for you,” I said, melting a little along with him. Maybe I didn’t see kids in my future, but I could share in his joy.

“Thanks,” he said with a small laugh. “She’s the world.”

“That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” I told him.

The smile slid off my face when I looked up to lock eyes with Austin. He was studying me with an expression that I couldn’t read.

“Anyway,” Reed said when a moment of silence slipped by.

Austin rolled his bottom lip inside his mouth, teeth biting down on it, and when he released it, it was glistening with spit. The last thing I should have been focusing on was Austin’s lips and how the Cupid’s bow lines were absolutely perfect on him. Sinfully so. And that was not good.

“So we’ll just say they probably won’t find out who Ford’s accomplice is for a while if at all.” Reed paused, but it felt like there was something else he was thinking to add. “What about DNA?”

If my gaze wasnt locked on Austin, I would have missed the small twitch of his eye. His focus was on me, but he was looking straight through me, pretending as if I wasn’t there.

I pressed my lips together and didn’t speak a word, figuring this was what he needed from me the most. I couldn’t say why I cared or why it mattered so much to put him at ease in a situation that clearly had him damn near close to shutting down or lashing out.

At Austin’s silence, Reed said, “I’ll see what Milo can do about it.”

“Remy,” Austin practically snapped. “Have Remy do it, please.”

I sensed his desperation. It might have been how he went soft when he said the last word.

“Yep,” Reed clipped out, and I wondered if he knew the reason for Austin’s behavior.

Remy was another one of the members of the team, good with computers and sometimes went out on missions. If Remy, or even Milo, could wipe DNA records from somewhere, especially somewhere like a prison or federal data bank, then I hadn’t given them enough credit.

“There are so many things we’re uncovering, but nothing that will help us,” Reed said, taking control of the conversation and quickly moving it in another direction.

A pause that slipped by.

“You’re holding back something,” I said, choosing a more tactful way to point out that I was well aware that he was hiding shit from me. “What is it?”

Reed sighed. I could feel it weighing heavily on his shoulders.

“A while back, Milo was kidnapped by one of the top people of The Sons of the Holy Fire,” Reed said, seeming to stumble over his words, which told of how much this affected him.

I nearly gasped. I had no idea. But I didn’t know how that connected to me and this mess I was unknowingly wrapped up in. I was worried and angry. I knew Reed cared deeply about the people he brought into the fold, the ones he chose because he wanted to help them out of the darkness he saw them falling into. I could only imagine how much that must have cut him, to have one of his own out there while he had no clue if they were still alive or not.

“It gets worse,” he said, causing the boulder in my stomach to grow. The look on Austin’s face was all too telling. It said I wasn’t going to like what was coming. “The person who had him kidnapped was one of yours.”

My mind went crazy for a minute as each member of my division flashed through my head, as if seeing their face would tell me who betrayed me. I refused to believe it. No, he must have meant something else.

“Someone high up in the FBI,” Austin said as if he could read my thoughts. “Likely someone who has access to a lot of files.”

“You’re telling me that one of the leaders for the largest sex trafficking and child pornography rings in the United States works for the FBI?” Each word came out controlled and bitter.

“Yes,” Reed said while Austin sent one firm nod in my direction.

There was no doubt that he was telling me the truth. It didn’t even occur to me to tell Reed he was wrong.

“Who?” I asked, anger rising inside of me. My body shot off the couch and I stomped a few paces away. I ripped off my glasses and rubbed my eyes so hard it felt like I was trying to poke them out. I felt like a caged animal. I was pissed, but I had to control it.

I was livid that someone had been abusing their power. Mad that while I was working to take these people down, they were probably three steps ahead of me. Angry that Reed knew this months ago and hadn’t told me.

“We don’t know,” Reed said flatly. “Milo knows what he looks like but we haven’t been able to find him. It’s part of the reason I’ve been… distant. We made the decision to close up after we found that out. We weren’t sure who we could trust and…”

“Yeah, I get it. I just wish you’d come to me sooner. Maybe we wouldn’t be here.” I tried not to sound bitter, but I failed. I could have helped them. Could have taken this fucker down by now.

“It’s been hard. He knew about Milo’s… talents. But it sounded as if he didn’t know about the team, and he thought Milo was working alone when he caught him poking around. Milo said he had files on people who could help the organization if needed. People he would force to help, and then dispose of when they aren’t useful anymore. With the way it feels like we are barely making a dent in their organization, I just wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was.”

“What can I do? How can we find him? How can I help end this and clear my name?”

“Maybe you know who kidnapped Milo…” Reed said, sounding hopeful but also not at the same time. “Milo said he was mid to late fifties. Dull brown hair turning gray and thinning on top.” A hum of uncertainty floated through the speaker. “He said the man had a normal enough face, but there was something in his eyes that wasn’t right.”

Could have been anyone, truthfully. My mind flipped through images of people I’d worked with or even ones I might have passed in federal buildings. If this guy was super high up, there was a chance that I didn’t have a clue who he was. Even with my short stint as Deputy Director, there were still a lot of divisions I wasn’t aware of.

“Yeah, not really much to go on, is it?” Reed said, sounding defeated.

“Can I talk to Milo?” I asked, eyes on Austin, gauging his reaction. His eyes narrowed as if he were trying to see into my head, searching for what I had to ask his team member.

Reed told me to hold on, then he looped in another call. I took a deep breath and sat back down, focusing all my energy on calming down. My fingers massaged the bridge of my nose. When that didn’t help the tension, I shoved my glasses back on, but it did nothing to ease the headache blooming between my eyes.

“You know I prefer text.” A younger voice rang out as Milo joined the call. His words would suggest someone who was severely irritated, but his tone was only mildly so.

Milo Reins. Hacker. Once taken in by the FBI for ruining an investigation that had been years in the making. That was all I knew about him.

“I have Ford Priestley on the line,” Reed said.

Silence followed.

“Milo, hi,” I started smoothly and calmly.

“Please don’t do that with me,” he said flatly. “I understand you’re brainwashed into treating everyone with interrogation tactics disguised as pleasantries, but I don’t respond well to that.”

My brows went up in surprise.

I think I liked this kid. Shame I hadn’t gotten to work with him like I had most of the rest of the team.

“The man who kidnapped you—”

“Had me kidnapped,” Milo said.

“What?” I asked, losing my train of thought for a second as I tried to figure out why he’d cut in.

“He didn’t actually do the act,” Milo clarified. “He had two lackeys do it.”

Austin snorted, leaving me to think that this was just how Milo’s brain worked.

“The man who had you kidnapped,” I rephrased, “was there anything he said or did that stuck out to you? Any scars or marks or tattoos? Or did he use his hands excessively? Any little detail could help me find who it is. Why did he kidnap you? What was the purpose?”

There was a silence that followed.

I kept my eyes glued to the darkened phone screen as I waited for Milo to respond. I was also been holding my breath.

“He killed Ken,” Milo said, a slight tightness in his voice that gave away how it affected him. “He wanted me to fix the gaps in his security. Then he shot Ken. When I refused to help him, he told me I was replaceable. He made it clear that there are always more like me. And he could replace me with another one of me, as in another person that has my skills.” He paused. “Which is not true. I’m better than a lot of people, especially the ones the FBI has files on.”

I didn’t dare point out how the FBI had a file on him.

“He threatened me by saying he knew who my family was, eluding to the fact that he’d hurt them,” Milo went on. “Then he told me I had an hour to decide before he left.”

Something tickled in the back of my mind.

My gaze snapped to Austin’s. He sat there, body looking relaxed as if he were on the couch for a night of watching TV, but his face was all tense lines and calculating eyes as he watched me.

“An hour to decide.”

I’d heard that before. More than once, in fact. A push often thrown at me in a teasing tone, but something about it had always grated on my nerves. I just chalked it up to his personality. But what if I’d missed something? I usually gave in to whatever he was presenting to me. A slot on a special team. A chance to speak at an important meeting. A position I wasn’t ready for and a situation I didn’t really want anything to do with.

“You know,” Austin said, speaking for the first time since Milo was brought into the conversation. “He knows who it is. I can see it on his face.”

“It can’t be,” I breathed out in shock. “No.”

“Who is it?” Reed asked, almost demanding.

“Yeah,” I said, taking in a deep breath. “He heads the Office of Law Enforcement Coordination.” Rage flowed through me and my blood boiled with anger. “Lipton. Conrad Lipton. The man who mentored me for nearly my whole career.”