4 Ford

Ford

After I used the phone to call Reed, I stuffed myself in the darkened corner of the shed I’d found to hide in.

It was long neglected. Most of the boards were rotted, and you could barely tell the blue color it had once been painted.

Hours ticked on, and every little noise caused my skin to prickle with the sense of danger. It had been a lot of breathing in while I reminded myself of how I was trained for this shit. Eventually, I calmed enough to close my eyes, but not to sleep.

It was a good thing I was trained to be up for days on end.

I often lived off of coffee and what I called meditation naps, where I gave myself enough of a mental break to feel restored, but I was still aware of what was going on around me.

Like now, that tickle at the back of my neck set me on high alert. My eyes popped open. My hair stood on end as I slowly rose to my feet. My hand was at my side with a grip on my gun that was firm but not tight. I was ready to go, but I really hoped I wouldn’t have to use my weapon. I peeked through a crack in the slats.

A tiny hatchback came into view, painted an obnoxiously bright yellow with dark-tinted windows. Not only did it call attention like a blinking neon light, but it also did not look big enough for my long legs. I almost wished it wasn’t my rescue car. But it had to be because there was no way it was whoever set me up. Not pulling up in this car that could only hold two people, three at most. And if they’d sent assassins after me, I couldn’t imagine they were scraping the bottom of the barrel to off me. This wasn’t a business partner turned bad or a wife trying to quickly get rid of her husband type of situation. I was wanted by the FBI. My face was likely everywhere by now. And the people who had the power to make that happen weren’t looking for a cheap way out.

The car stopped, but the engine didn’t cut off. My eyes narrowed as I tried to see through the crack. The angle was wrong so I couldn’t make out much. When the car door popped open, I shifted in an attempt to see who stepped out.

All I saw was a figure blurred by the falling midday sun cutting through the sparse branches of the surrounding trees. They were nearly as tall as me, with a slightly smaller frame and, oddly enough, wider shoulders.

He moved in a slow circle, chin tipped down. Was he studying the ground? After a moment, he snapped his head up to the front of the shack I was hiding in.

Rookie mistake, I forgot to cover my tracks.

I didn’t breathe for fear of making the slightest noise.

“Agent Ford Priestley?” he called out. “Reed sent me.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and moved to step around the door that I couldn’t get to close.

I was able to see him properly once I stepped out of the shed. He stood there, hands on his hips, with a sour expression on his baby face and a backward ball cap on his head containing most of his short light brown hair.

Yeah, I knew him… in the lightest sense of the word.

Like seeing a mythical creature, my eyes drank everything about him in. How his defined arms led into a strong chest. His waist was tapered just enough to be noticeable. And I imagined he had fit thighs too, but unfortunately, they were currently covered by jeans, not extremely tight ones either.

The Illusive Austin, as I called him in my head.

I knew he was part of Reed’s team, but he always seemed to be scarce whenever I’d gotten called to the scene. In fact, I could almost positively say that I had only seen his face once or twice. I wasn’t sure if he was hiding from me or just not a fan of the things that happened after they were done with a job.

“You good?” he asked, but the tone he held said he was only asking out of niceties.

“Yeah. Thanks for coming to get me.”

“Let’s go,” he said gruffly.

I shifted my bag on my shoulder and headed to the passenger side of the car, tossing it in the back once I’d taken a seat.

It was so cramped that I could nearly rest my chin on my knees, but I wasn’t about to complain.

“Need a bed. It’s been a long fuckin’ day and I just need to rest before I make a plan,” Austin said, eyes sharply looking out the windshield.

It had been a long day, and I definitely could agree with him about needing a decent rest and a few moments to gather myself for what was next.

“Sounds good,” I said. “Is Reed still safe?”

“Yeah,” he replied as he slowly navigated the car back to the main road. “We don’t think they’ve connected you to us. Better stay that way.”

I heard the warning in his tone. It was all I could do not to roll my eyes at him. I got that he was unhappy. Who would want this job of keeping the old-ass FBI agent alive? Especially when I didn’t have the first damn clue what was going on.

The car was silent as he drove in a direction he seemed sure of.

“You’re Austin, right?” I asked, trying to be friendly.

I looked over just in time to catch the way he cut his eyes to the side at me.

“Does Reed have any idea what’s going on?” I went on when it was clear he wasn’t going to respond.

“A little,” he said evasively. “But we’re not sharing shit with you right now.” His tone was concerning. I had no idea what to do with the sharpness of his tone and the clench of his jaw. However, as soon as I blinked, it was like he switched personalities. The corner of his lips curled up. When he spoke again, his tone was lighter, almost playful. But I wouldn’t be fooled by it. “What do you know? How much of it is real? What have you done?”

“Nothing,” I said a little too defensively. I cleared my throat, pissed that he was already getting under my skin. “Listen, I don’t know exactly what they’re accusing me of, but I would never use my position to—”

“Save it,” he said, light but a little strained, like he was trying his hardest to seem calm and nonthreatening. “If Reed believes you, then I do too. I don’t need you stumbling over some declaration of how you’re a stand-up agent.”

I huffed as I turned my scowling face to look out the window.

Tires screeched. The car shook and jolted as it came to a stop in the middle of the road.

I jerked my gaze back to Austin.

He turned in the seat, pinning me with serious eyes.

“If I find out you’re a part of it, I’ll kill you myself,” he promised.

I wasn’t scared, not really. I was a little worried maybe, since I couldn’t get a read on him.

“I would hope so,” I said back, just as flatly as he had spoken.

I only caught a flash of his features softening before he turned his gaze back to the front and stepped on the gas again.

“I’m going to prove I was set up, and I’m going to put the ones who are behind it away,” I told him. “You’ll see.”

“Yeah, I’ll see,” he said, slight humor in his voice, almost as if he wanted me to come out on top at the end.

Maybe he believed me. Maybe he was just cold around people he didn’t know that well. Maybe it was simply me he didn’t like.

Part of me wanted to figure it out. The other part of me was too exhausted to care.

“If you need rest, we can stop there.” I pointed to the sign on the side of the road indicating there was food and lodging up ahead, even though I had a good idea he’d already seen it.

“I can go a little longer,” he told me.

He reminded me of my younger self. Always pushing. Always saying I can go another hour. Never giving up until my body dropped. I still had that same mentality, but now I didn’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone, so I did instead of feeling the need to voice how hard I could go.

“I’d like to at least get out of the state. If anyone saw you, it’s smart to put distance between you and Virginia.”

“Fine,” I said, knowing he was right. But the dark circles under his eyes and the tired lines etched into his face made me feel guilty. “I can drive if you need me to.”

He snorted.

It only caused my blood to heat.

Why did he dislike me? I hardly even knew him, and I couldn’t imagine that he knew me any better.

He’d said that he believed what Reed said when it came to me, and Reed was on my side, or so I thought. But then, why was he treating me like I was scum and guilty of all the things they said I was guilty of?

“The team had been an idea of mine a long time ago,” I said, mostly talking to the window. When he didn’t respond, I went on. “I was young, proud of my grunt position in the FBI. I had all these grand dreams of how to make things better and areas that I saw needed more focus. I got up the courage one day and asked for a sit-down meeting with my superiors. I told them about this idea I had for a division that focused on the connected circles of child pornography rings.”

It took years before I’d collected enough favors and done some outstanding things before I got that team. I’d had to do shit I didn’t want to, like taking the Deputy Director position when I wasn’t really qualified for it. Even when I knew it was all for show to distract from the reason the position was open to begin with. Sometimes cutting out the corruption meant you had to cover it up so no one lost faith in the system.

Part of me agreed with it. Part of me just wished honesty would be the only policy. I hated lies, hated liars, but I lived in a world where you got crushed if you didn’t play some sort of game.

“Who did this?” I dumbly asked out loud. I didn’t have the answer, and I didn’t imagine Austin did either.

“You have no idea?” There was something in his tone that had my gaze zeroing in on his face, eyes searching for what he was hiding.

“No,” I said in nearly a growl. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be clearing my name. Do… you… know who’s behind this?” The words came out with hesitation because I was almost sure that he did.

What the hell?!

Did Reed know? Had Reed been hiding things from me? Was it his fault this was happening to me? What had he found out and who had he pissed off?

“I wish I could tell you,” he said with a shrug, as if the answer to turning my world right again didn’t sit in his very head. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Something he saw must have made him soften toward me because his face lost that cocky hardness and he let out a long breath. “Nothing we can confirm. But believe me, the team is working on it.”

I wanted to press for more, but I held back. Now wasn’t the time. I needed to build up some trust between us first, maybe even get him to see me as friendly.

The thought was nearly laughable.

I didn’t take Austin for the type to trust easily, and for whatever reason, I was going to have to work twice as hard to prove myself to him.

“Fine,” I said, giving in and backing off. Time to redirect this conversation and get back on better footing, if that was even something he’d let happen. It was clear he’d already made up his mind about me, and I had a feeling there wasn’t much I could do to change it. “How did Reed find you?”

I had files on each member of Reed’s team, but that didn’t always tell me the whole story. I had a good idea why Reed had taken Austin in. I wanted to know more, though. I wanted to hear the more human side of how he’d come to be the Illusive Austin that I had the pleasure of hardly ever seeing.

“Off limits,” he said, his tone holding a wicked edge that threatened to send a shiver down my spine.

Steeling myself, I stared at his profile, noticing the way his nose flared and his jaw ticked at my attention.

We sat there in silence. I couldn’t stop scowling at him, pissed that he wasn’t even giving me a chance, while he pretended he didn’t notice.