Chapter 19

nineteen

. . .

Bishop

M y boots thumped on the dock as I walked to the edge, inspecting the boards while I went. Ransom might have assured me this place was secure, but I wouldn't believe it until I saw it all with my own eyes. There was too much on the line for me to slip up again.

My phone went off, startling me with the vibration in my pocket. I'd only just turned it on again about an hour ago. It showed hundreds of missed calls and messages, each one sending my career further down the drain. I'd gone off the grid. In the middle of a mission. It was career suicide.

I didn't give a fuck. Codes of conduct and mission parameters didn't mean shit to me right now. I'd have burned that house to the ground with every goddamn motherfucking piece of shit sorry excuse for a human inside. When it came to River, there was no line I wouldn't cross. I would sell my soul for that woman.

Every.

Single.

Time.

But I couldn't ignore Wilson any longer. Not if I wanted to put an end to this.

"Bishop," I barked, staring back at the house with dread in my gut.

They'd come for me. Throw me in some unmarked cell on a trumped-up charge of treason because of my betrayal if they could. I knew that, but River deserved more than a life running from my past.

It didn't matter what happened to me so long as she lived free. Walker and Cross would take care of her.

"You'd better be fucking dead and this is your goddamn ghost talking to me right now, Agent Bishop." Wilson's voice was a quiet storm.

"I'm not."

"Maybe you forgot how this works. You answer to me, motherfucker. You don't go AWOL. You check in. You report as scheduled. You do your fucking job."

"That's what I did."

"The hell you did. You disappeared without a word. Do you have any idea what we've been dealing with? The number of bodies you just left in your wake?"

"One."

"What?"

"One body."

And technically, it was River's kill.

"The fuck you did. It was a damn slaughterhouse. What the hell happened, Bishop?"

"I dunno. I didn't stick around."

"Where the fuck are you?"

"I can't tell you that."

He let out a humorless laugh. "He can't tell me, he says. We've got a fucking joker here." His voice dropped, going dark and serious. "Well, maybe this will get you to play ball, funny man. Volkov is gone, evaporated in thin air after torching our only lead. As far as I'm concerned, you've switched sides at this point. Don't make me bring you in. You're throwing it all away for a piece of ass."

"How would you know anything about me?"

"You think we haven't got eyes on you? The only reason I haven't pulled you out of there was that you were our link to Volkov and the Cross brothers. If you love her, you'll give them to us now."

"'Fraid I can't do that."

"You better think real carefully about what you are saying to me, Agent Bishop."

Swallowing thickly, I watched as Walker sat on the patio with River nestled against him, her head resting on his shoulder, a sweet smile on her face. Cross joined them, leaning against the railing that bordered the outdoor living space. She was happy, finally. I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize that.

"I have."

"We have a lock on your location."

"Then why'd you ask me for it?"

"I was giving you a chance to come clean. Prove you weren't a traitor."

I gritted my teeth, the dig landing. I'd always been a patriot. I'd sacrificed everything and still bore the scars of my service. But I guess it wasn't my country that held my loyalty any longer. It was a River.

"They aren't the ones you want, sir. It's not the Cross brothers who'll see justice is served, and you know it."

"No, but they certainly have dirty enough hands to give us everything we need on Volkov."

"You don't need them," I insisted.

"Bring them in, Agent Bishop."

"I can't."

Wilson sighed. "Then I guess this means you'll be coming in with them."

"So be it."

"It doesn't have to be this way, Sterling," he said, his voice losing its edge. "You give them to us, you can keep her. We'll medically retire you, full pension, all the bells and whistles."

I wish I could say it wasn't tempting.

"Like I said, I can't. They're not taking the fall for something their father set in motion. They don't have a clue about the scope of the things he's done."

"But they profited off them, which makes them complicit. You know the laws. They're accomplices, whether they realized it or not."

River's laugh floated to me on the breeze, steeling my resolve. "I'm sorry, sir. I don't agree. And I don't think a jury will either."

His laugh was cruel. "You really think we'll allow you to testify?"

"No. But I have other ways of ensuring my evidence makes it into the right hands."

"You sonofabitch."

"I have as many friends as you, Wilson. More even, who owe me favors. Just because this isn't playing out the way you wanted doesn't mean I'm not prepared or a force to be reckoned with. Don't forget who I am."

"Who you used to be."

"Let me bring down Volkov before you use these men as your bargaining chips." I'd see justice for River and all the others Dominik and his goons had hurt, or I'd die trying.

"Catching him won't spare you."

"Doesn't matter. You can take all the credit if that makes you sleep better at night."

Wilson was quiet for several beats, likely mulling matters over in his mind. "Fine."

I was almost surprised he agreed, except I knew what a selfish bastard he was. He was after a promotion, and taking credit for Volkov's capture would almost certainly assure it.

"You know, Bishop, if we found you, so can he. Wouldn't be surprised if he was on his way to you and that pretty girl of yours right now."

Ice ran down my spine, my heart plummeting as I stared at River. "Do you know that for certain, or are you speculating?"

"We both know it only takes a single phone call to get a trace."

Fuck.

Walker took a call this morning.

We'd been so caught up in getting River we'd completely ignored the fact that there'd been a mole at the ranch.

Fuck.

"Wilson, I've got to go."

"I thought that might be your answer. You always were a good asset, Agent Bishop. It'll be a shame to lose you."

I hung up and sprinted for the patio, my heart in my throat.

We were so fucking stupid. I never should have let Walker take that call. I'd been distracted by River. Again.

What good were these skills of mine when I always seemed to forget my training when it mattered most?

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Walker asked, the grin on his face dying the instant he took in my expression.

"Who besides Walker has taken a call since we arrived?" I barked.

"What?" Walker asked.

"Who?" I nearly shouted this time.

River and Cross exchanged worried glances before she looked to me and shook her head. "Not me. I don't even have my phone."

"You?" I demanded, glaring at Cross.

"I checked my email. That's it."

I raked a hand through my hair and heaved a sigh. "Well, I guess that solves one mystery, then."

"You wanna back up and tell us what's going on, super spy?" Walker asked.

"Tex is your mole."

His brows flew up, and he let out a disbelieving laugh. "Excuse me? Tex has been with us for well over a decade. He even took over as foreman after his daddy took the fall for Senior a few years back."

"And?"

"And I think you're underestimating his loyalty."

"Am I? Did you already forget that it was a cowboy who took that money from the Russians and let them into your warehouse?"

Cross frowned. "And it was Tex at the bar the night you were taken and tortured. He knew where you were. Told me as much the next morning."

River's soft gasp drew all of our attention. "Tex is the one who brought me that package. The one with the pictures."

The way Cross and Walker both snapped their focus to her had me tensing, readying myself for a fight.

"What the fuck are you talking about? What pictures?" Cross snarled.

River's fiery stare showed no hint of fear. "The ones I've been getting since before I came back. Pictures of my parents. Photos that prove they were murdered because of their ties to Twisted Cross Ranch."

"And you didn't think to mention those to me?" he asked.

"I didn't know who was sending them. For all I knew, it could have been you."

"Oh, that's cold, ladybug."

Cross ignored his brother, instead shooting River a hurt-filled look. "But you told Bishop?"

She shrugged, not so much as apologizing as explaining as gently as she could. "I'd just found out he was a fed. I was reasonably sure they weren't coming from him and figured he could help me figure out who was sending them."

"And when you realized it wasn't me?"

"So sorry for not keeping you in the loop, husband. I sort of got kidnapped before we ever got a chance to talk about it. And I mean, if you want to get technical, you did find out when I did. I only just pieced together that Tex—and through him Volkov—were the ones behind it."

I wasn't going to push the issue that she had kept the letters from him, regardless if she knew who was sending them or not. She did what she thought she had to, and she'd come to me for help. That was enough for me.

Cross moved until he was standing beside her, his hand slipping around and squeezing her nape. "No more secrets, sparrow."

"Deal. The next time I get creepy unsigned packages in the mail, you'll be the first?—"

I coughed, and her eyes lifted to mine before she sighed and rolled them.

"First ish to know. I will make sure one of the three of you knows as soon as I do."

"Better," I murmured.

When it was all laid out like this, it was pretty hard to ignore. Tex's hands were all over this. He'd been there at every turn, playing a vital role in Volkov's games, all while hiding in plain sight.

"I'm willing to bet he's the one who let the kidnappers onto the property too," I said softly, hand reaching for a weapon I wasn't wearing.

"Motherfucker," Cross swore.

"He's the reason Bear is dead." River's voice was a low accusation.

"Tex is a goddamn mole," Walker breathed, his hands fisting on his thighs, his expression murderous. "I'm gonna kill him."

"Not if I get there first," I promised.

"No. He's fucking mine," Cross argued. "And I'm gonna make it slow and painful. You fuck with my family, you don't live to repeat the experience."

A shadow fell over the patio as Ransom appeared in the wide open space left by the telescoping patio doors. "Uh, sorry to break whatever this is up, but it looks like y'all have company coming."

I stiffened. "No, we fucking don't."

"Sensor was tripped a few seconds ago. I'd say they're about fifteen minutes out. Two black SUVs. No plates. Windows blacked out."

"Tex?" Walker asked.

I nodded. "Seems likely. He probably ran a trace while you two were on the phone."

"Which means he brought Volkov with him," Cross said.

Surprisingly, it was River who seemed the most calm about this sudden turn of events. "Well, we'll just have to throw him a little welcome party, won't we? Ransom, where do you keep your guns?"