4. Chapter 4

The room I'm in is bare except for the table that I am currently cuffed to and of course the obligatory two way mirror. I'm not sure how they think people don't know they are being watched through it. The thought is making my skin crawl, though.

I'm not sure how long we have been here, but all I can do is slump into the chair and wait. I can feel their eyes on me through the glass, watching every move, every flicker of emotion that crosses my face.

It is impossible that they have any clear evidence to really hold us; we are very good at cleaning up after ourselves. So, I want to know how this came about. Deep in my gut a sick feeling is creeping in that Kacey betrayed us. I didn't trust him from the start but I knew everyone else seemed to be ignoring the warning signs.

Admittedly the only real warning sign is him being a law man and I haven't trusted the law for a long time. My experience with the law is less than stellar, considering the incompetence of the officers who were meant to find the people who killed my parents. They didn't.

Time seems to stretch endlessly, the silence pressing down on me. How long have we been here? Minutes? Hours? It"s impossible to tell in the windowless room.

My thoughts turn to Rick. The longer they keep us by ourselves in rooms like this, the worse it will be for him. We need to get out of here quickly. It's been a long time since Rick went into the dark place in his mind, but knowing what we now knew about the danger Ash is in, I doubted it would take long for him to break again. These agents were not prepared for that to happen, or the resulting storm from Beck if it did.

Finally, the door swings open, and a woman strides in, her tailored suit exuding professionalism and control. If I didn"t have Mon Ange, I might have found her attractive, with her auburn hair twisted up in a neat bun. But compared to my Ashley, she pales in comparison.

She carries herself with a confidence that borders on arrogance, and her piercing gaze feels like it"s dissecting my very soul.

The sound of the woman pulling out the chair opposite me echoes in the silence of the room. She places a folder on the table and takes a seat opposite me, her eyes never leaving mine. There"s a familiarity about her that I can"t quite place.

"Hello, Phoenix," she says, her voice cool and calculated.

And then it clicks.

"Hello, Jessica," I respond, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. Jessica, once a friend of Ashley"s, helped her disappear from us. And now, here she is, on the other side of the interrogation table.

Pushing the guilt aside, I adopt a calm demeanor and calmly ask, "Why are we here?"

A smile tugs at Jessica"s lips, and she responds, "You know exactly why you are here."

I tilt my head innocently, maintaining eye contact. "Actually, no, I don"t. My brothers and I were just checking on one of the properties owned by our company when you barged in, hurting my brother in the process," I explain calmly, sticking to the story we planned out long ago.

Jessica"s expression remains unreadable for a moment before she leans forward, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Don"t play games with me, Phoenix. We have evidence linking you and your foster brothers to several illegal activities," she asserts, her tone firm.

I raise an eyebrow, feigning confusion. "Evidence? I"d like to see this evidence you speak of. Last time I checked, baseless accusations don"t hold up in court," I retort, my voice steady.

Her expression remains calm and focused. "We know that you go by the name ‘The Black Wolves', and use that name to conduct those illegal activities."

My face scrunches up in a look of concentration as though I'm thinking very hard about something she said. "Hmm, no I don't think I've ever heard of that name."

Jessica"s gaze hardens, and she leans back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. "You may be good at covering your tracks, but we know enough to put you away for a long time," she says ominously.

I lean back in my chair, maintaining a composed facade. "Is that a threat, Jessica?" I ask, my tone challenging.

She narrows her eyes at me, and I can"t shake the feeling of unease that settles in the pit of my stomach. I never kept track of Ashley"s friends after they helped her leave, and now I regret it. Seeing Jessica here, with the FBI, spells trouble for us.

Jessica"s narrowed eyes meet mine as she responds, her voice laced with subtle frustration, "It"s not a threat, Phoenix. It"s more like a promise."

I give her a bland look, unimpressed by her veiled warnings. "You have nothing on us at all. If you did, we wouldn"t be sitting here," I assert confidently, refusing to let her intimidation tactics get to me.

Jessica"s facade of control wavers slightly, a flicker of irritation crossing her features. She opens her mouth to respond, but I interrupt her before she can speak.

"Is this some sort of vendetta? Are you really that upset that I treated you like a bad girl all those years ago? Did we upset you so much you have followed us around for twelve years?" I ask, my tone tinged with sarcasm.

Her expression hardens at my words, and for a moment, I see a flash of anger in her eyes before she quickly masks it. She straightens in her chair, regaining her composure. "This isn"t personal, Phoenix. It"s about bringing criminals like you to justice," she retorts sharply.

I relax into my chair as much as I can, giving her my impression of being bored. "Funny, considering I don"t recall breaking any laws. We are just business men, going about our business," I respond coolly.

Jessica relaxes into her own seat, but I can see it"s as much a facade as my own posture. She hasn"t perfected a mask like I have though. Opening her folder, she looks down at it, making a show of flicking through the pieces of paper.

"Oh, yes, do you mean the business you have with them supplying military weapons to—" Jessica starts, but I interrupt her.

"The military," I finish her sentence, not missing a beat.

She pauses, caught off guard by my interruption, before regaining her composure. "Yes, the military. We have evidence that your company has been involved in illegal arms trafficking," she asserts, her voice firm.

I meet her gaze steadily. "That"s quite the accusation. Care to show me this evidence?" I challenge, a hint of skepticism in my tone.

Jessica"s lips thin into a tight line, her body tense and her jaw clenching, all the tiny little signs that I'm getting under her skin. "We"ll present the evidence in due time. For now, we"re just getting started," she says cryptically.

I watch Jessica closely as she flicks through more papers in the folder, but my focus remains on her face. That"s what tells me more than what"s in her files.

"We also have evidence that you have been known to take contracts that include theft, murder, espionage, you name it," Jessica continues, her tone matter-of-fact.

I raise an eyebrow, maintaining my calm demeanor. "Is that so? Again, I would love to see that evidence."

Jessica"s gaze flickers with annoyance as I challenge her once more. She clears her throat before responding, her voice slightly strained. "As I said, Phoenix, you"ll see the evidence when the time is right. But make no mistake, we have enough to bring you and your brothers to justice," she asserts firmly.

"Well, until you can provide concrete evidence, we"re just wasting our time here," I retort, my tone firm as I remain unfazed by her words.

Jessica"s jaw tightens, but she maintains her composure. "We"ll see about that," she replies.

I tilt my head slightly, a small smirk playing at the corners of my lips. "So where is that friend of yours then, the other one who lied to us?" I ask casually.

Jessica freezes for a moment, her composure slipping ever so slightly before she responds, her tone guarded, "That"s none of your concern."

I shrug nonchalantly. "Well, you seem to like digging into my life, so it seems only fair. Did she follow you like a lost lamb, like she used to?" I prod, knowing my words are getting under her skin.

Her jaw clenches visibly, and I can see her fingers tightening on the papers in her hands before she closes the folder. She forces a smile, but it"s strained. "How"s Ashley, Nix? Spoken to her recently?" she fires back, her tone laced with a hint of venom.

Her attempt to strike a nerve misses its mark. I remain silent, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a response. She may think she"s scored a point, but she doesn"t know anything. She doesn"t know about Ashley and me seeing each other over the last week, and she won"t find out from me. And there would be no evidence now for them to know she was ever in that apartment.

Thinking she"s won this round, Jessica gets up from her seat, "We will continue this conversation when you"re ready to talk."

As she exits the room, leaving me alone once again, I can"t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. Jessica may think she has the upper hand, but she"s underestimating us. We"ve faced worse than her, and we"ve always come out on top. This won"t be any different.

I just hope that Rick and Beck are okay.