34 Austin

Austin

“The wife,” I said to Reed in a harsh whisper, cringing as I spoke.

I’d left Ford in bed after putting him in a cum coma. Once he filled my ass, I kissed him until he got hard again and then drained his balls a second time. It was all part of my plan so I could sneak out and talk to Reed alone.

Yes, it felt super-shady. And yes, I hated myself so much right now. Also, I regretted nothing about the part where I wore him out.

I’d do anything to keep Ford safe and give him his life back. Even if it was something he wasn’t willing to do himself.

“Wife?” Reed asked with a raised brow as he crossed his arms over his chest. His hushed tone matched mine, and I had no idea why we were talking like bad spies meeting in the middle of a bar. We were on the other side of the penthouse and shut up behind a door. “Lipton’s wife?”

Fuck, he wasn’t going to be thrilled about this idea.

Hell, I wasn’t thrilled about this idea, but I was seriously at a fucking loss.

“Yeah,” I said and swallowed hard. “Maybe she knows where her husband is. Maybe she’s been in contact with him.”

“She probably doesn’t even know who she’s married to.” He looked at me, face contorting into a grimace when he realized what he’d said. Yeah, it hit a little too close to home, but I wasn’t thinking about that. This was about saving Ford, not me and my fucking issues. “I mean, she might not be much help.”

“Or she could be the key to getting him.”

The thought turned my stomach. I wasn’t proud talking about using her like that, especially if she was innocent.

As long as we didn’t hurt her, right? And we sure as hell weren’t going to do that.

Nope, it was still fucked up.

I blew out a long breath and walked to the tall windows on the far side of the room, glancing at the empty stand that I could only assume was meant for a cello. I felt like I was desecrating some sacred room by being in here. The atmosphere screamed that this was Keith’s special place.

I took a calming breath as I looked out at Atlanta.

This city wasn’t my home, but it was the closest thing to home I’d had in a long time.

“I’m gonna do it,” I told him, leaving no room for argument. This way, it was all on me and Reed couldn’t hate himself for his involvement because he wouldn’t have any.

“And what about Ford?” Reed’s tone grated on my nerves. The dad tone. The wise I’m-trying-to-get-you-to-think-about-this tone.

I was doing this for Ford. He might hate me for it. He might never talk to me again. He might think this a line crossed too far.

I might be giving him up to save him.

But it really wasn’t a choice. I didn’t want to lose him, but giving him what he needed mattered more than my wants.

I felt a sting hit my chest. A pain I couldn’t explain.

“Get me an address,” I said as I turned and walked past Reed to leave the room.

I tiptoed into the guest room and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Ford still sound asleep. His relaxed face was mashed into the pillow I’d been using.

It was so tempting to answer the call to crawl back into bed with him.

I held strong, grabbing a pair of boots and a hat before sneaking back out.

Reed stood at the entrance to the living room.

“You’re not changing my mind,” I told him.

“Remy is going to meet you at the chopper.”

My brows pulled together before I said, “That’s not necessary.”

“I’m not letting you do this alone,” Reed told me when I looked up to meet his eyes. “Remy agrees with me. And so does everyone else.”

I blinked at him, a little stunned.

I knew my teammates were good people. I’d seen them be there for each other time and time again. I just hadn’t ever thought I’d be on the receiving end of it.

I’d spent the last ten years trying to forget my family and denying who they were. I made up lies so it seemed like I had a better one. But as I stood there too stunned to speak with tears threatening to spring from my eyes, I realized that I had that perfect family. I had the one I’d been wishing for.

“Just be careful,” he said. “And come back to Ford. I think he needs you.”

I shook my head, nearly laughing at the idea that Ford needed me. That was almost the funniest joke I’d ever heard.

If anything, it was me who needed him.

“And, you know, come back to me too,” Reed slipped in there. “Just stay alive, okay?”

I nodded, too choked up to speak.

It was chaos as I made my way to the chopper, then loaded up with Remy, Roland, and Sawyer. There wasn’t much said on the trip to Charlotte where Lipton and his family lived. Or when we landed. Or when Keller picked us up.

“I don’t think we should all ambush her,” I said as the reality of what we were about to do set in.

I’d planned on this being a one-man army, but now, I had more than enough backup. Granted, I figured most of them were either for support more than anything.

“This is it,” Keller said as he parked on the side of the street and pointed at a house a little up the way.

It didn’t look anything special. A colonial-style house painted light blue with white shudders. The door was navy blue. There wasn’t a thing about it that screamed ‘a monster lives here.’

But the house I grew up in looked much the same. Yet, it had been hiding a monster. And a family that had no idea about the monster that lived among them.

I didn’t want to hurt or even scare Mrs. Lipton.

“I’m going to go in alone,” I started.

“I should go in with,” Keller said. “At least I scream FBI. She won’t trust you. She probably won’t even hear you out.”

“I’ll work on the security,” Remy said. “See if I can get ears inside. If she doesn’t give you anything, we can at least hear what she has to say after you’re gone.”

I nodded. I suppose it was a good thing he came along, then.

“I’ll watch the street,” Sawyer said.

“Quite the little look-out lately,” I teased, but my tone fell flat.

Sawyer rolled his eyes at me before he pushed open the door and stepped out, heading off in whichever direction he thought was best.

“Roland?” I looked at said man as I spoke.

“I’ll keep watch from here,” he said glancing out the back of the SUV.

“Ready?” I asked Keller as I popped open the door.

He didn’t respond, but that was okay since he was at my back as I crossed the street.

I stood back as he rang the doorbell. The security camera above us caught my attention. I couldn’t make out the brand name, but I saw the logo of a bird. I made a mental note to text that to Remy when I didn’t have eyes on me.

“Hello?” an older voice floated through a speaker I could only assume was on the camera.

“Ma’am,” Keller said, pulling out his badge and holding it up to the camera. “I’m Agent Keller. We believe your family may be in danger.” He pulled his badge down but didn’t put it away.

There was a long moment of silence. Keller and I shared a look. A rush of excitement went through me as the lock turned over. My heart pounded as my hand wrapped around the handle of the handgun at my side.

A long breath left me as the door swung open to reveal a short white woman with graying black hair. Her ice-blue eyes blinked at the two of us for a moment as she wrung her hands with a kitchen towel in front of her.

“Come in,” she said after she glanced at Keller’s badge. “May I ask what is happening?”

She led us to a formal sitting room. I didn’t dare take a seat on the cream-colored sofa that was so delicate it looked like it was being held up by toothpicks.

I stared at Mrs. Lipton and tried to remind myself that she was likely innocent in all of this.

A dizzying wave hit me, scrambling my brain for a moment. I was glad Keller was doing the talking. I tried to blink it away, but my past was messing with my fucking head.

I’d been there when the FBI showed up at my house to arrest my father. When they determined my father wasn’t home and that we were telling the truth when we said he was off doing mission work in another county, they separated all of us for questioning. The house felt too big and too small at the same time. I didn’t remember much after they told me who my father was and what they believed he’d done. But I will never forget the wail that came from my mother, and the way it echoed through the house not even sounding human.

Mrs. Lipton could have been my mother. Sitting at home while her husband was out there hurting people. Killing them.

“Austin,” Keller snapped.

My whole body jerked as I came back to reality. My eyes were wild as I looked around the room. Mrs. Lipton was nowhere to be found. Keller must have noticed my confusion, so he pointed to a mirror that was angled just right to see into the kitchen, where Mrs. Lipton appeared to be loading up a tray with lemonade.

“She said she hasn’t seen her husband in a week, but that’s typical with his work. And she had no clue about the raid we did on the house in Black Mountain,” Keller said, filling me in on what I’d missed. I sent him a grateful smile, glad that he didn’t bring up why I’d had a little freak out there.

“Does she know he works for the FBI?” I asked. Remembering the logo on the camera out front, I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Remy. Hopefully, that would help if he wasn’t already in.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“And she doesn’t question where the money is coming from?” I shook my head as Keller raised a brow to convey he was thinking the same thing. Nothing against her, but I just didn’t get how she wouldn’t question even a little with the extra houses and the apartment, not to mention, how nice this house looked outside and in.

When Mrs. Lipton returned, I reached for the tray and took it from her, tipping my head when she sent me a grateful smile. She quickly pulled her trembling hands back into her body, wringing them again, only this time without the towel. I set the tray down on an intricately carved oak sideboard.

“Can you explain to me what’s going on?” she asked as she filled two glasses before handing them to us.

I kept my mouth shut. Something told me to let Keller handle most of this. He likely had more training when it came to these types of situations.

“Your husband helped to uncover corruption within the FBI,” Keller said, almost seeming emotionless. “He found that Agent Ford Priestley is behind a large illegal ring that we’ve been trying to take down for years.”

My jaw clenched hard, molars all but grinding together as I tried to keep myself in check. Yeah, Keller was playing his part and doing all of this so Lipton wouldn’t be tipped off, but I was ready to kill him for using Ford’s name like that. I tried to remind myself that the lies were what kept us in the game. If Mrs. Lipton believed we were on her and her husband’s side, there was a better chance he would believe it too should he make contact with her.

“I saw on the news…” She shook her head like she was disappointed. “He’s always been such a nice man. It’s hard to believe the things they’re saying about him. I guess you never really know someone.”

Again, I had to stuff down my anger.

“Yes. He’s gone underground and we are just doing a routine check to make sure your family is safe.” Keller paused, studying her for a moment. “Have you seen anything out of the ordinary? Has Ford Priestley tried to contact you?”

Her mouth hung open and her wet eyes glazed over. Was she in some kind of shock?

“Ma’am,” I said, squatting beside the armchair she was sitting in. This was my moment to shine. I had to pull out all the charm. I needed her calm and listening. “It’s going to be okay. I know it’s scary, but we don’t believe this Agent…” I choked on his name. I couldn’t throw lies about Ford out there like that. I hoped she didn’t notice. “We don’t believe he’s in the area. He’s all over the news. The whole country is looking for him. So it wouldn’t be smart for him to come out of hiding just for revenge.”

She nodded like I made all the sense in the world.

“What should I do?” she asked, sounding broken.

“We need to know where your husband is,” I said calmly. “We want to make sure he’s okay since he missed his last check-in.”

I didn’t dare look at Keller even though I wasn’t sure if I’d said the right thing. Would that be something her husband had to do in his position? Hopefully, she was just as clueless as I was.

“I-I spoke to him three nights ago,” she said, her lashes fluttering rapidly. “He’s supposed to come home this weekend for The Andrew’s anniversary party.” She smiled briefly, excitement lighting up her eyes. “It’s their forty-fifth and they are going all out. I think it’s sweet.”

I smiled too, despite the situation, though it was a little forced. She was just a sweet older lady who was stuck in her own little world. So basically, she was my mother.

“He did call to tell me he plans on coming home for the party.” Her smile dimmed. “I always hold out hope, but if we’re honest, more often than not, he has to cancel at the last minute. It’s always so hard to plan things with the way his work goes sometimes.” Her face expressed how used to this she was.

There was a chance. A very slim chance that he was coming home this weekend.

“You don’t think Ford will hurt me, do you?” she asked.

“No,” I said, patting her hand.

Her glassy eyes gave me the impression she didn’t believe me.

I had to get out of here.

I quickly wrapped things up, wishing Mrs. Lipton a good day like we weren’t about to turn her world upside down soon.

By the time we got back to the SUV, my skin was crawling.

Remy was working on getting into their security system. Roland was still in lookout mode, eyes wondering and head slowly swiveling. Sawyer started casually walking back to the car the moment he saw us.

“There’s a chance he’ll be home soon,” Keller said. I liked that he thought like me, taking that slim chance and running with it.

“Yep. And we need to come up with a plan,” I said.

We were so fucking close. I had to believe it was almost over.