| |
IT’S BEEN A GREAT DAY hanging out with Olivia and Piper and their kids. We did nothing but laugh and tell stories. I miss having friends, and these two are great friends to have.
Seeing Owen’s face when I told him I love him made me want to tear off his clothes, but we had too many eyes on us. So, I settled for a kiss instead.
I’ve finished making four sandwiches and grabbed the entire potato chips bag and put all of it into a cooler for them to take when they go back to the office.
“Hi. Is Owen still upstairs?” Erick walks into the kitchen.
I grab at my chest. “You startled me.”
“Sorry. Owen still upstairs?”
I nod, “Yes. He should be down any minute. Do you like roast beef sandwiches? I should have asked before I made them for you.”
“Yeah. They’re fine.”
I watch as he sits on the barstool at the kitchen island. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water would be good.”
“Water. Coming right up.” I turn to get a glass out of the cabinet and fill it with ice and water from the dispenser on the front of the refrigerator.
“So. You’re the reason Owen’s always distracted now.” Erick says jokingly.
“I’m guess I am, although I hope he’s not too distracted. What’s up with this rock thing? How’d someone get past you guys?”
Erick shakes his head, and his anger is apparent. “Fucking A-1 Security fucked us. That’s how.”
I watch as his hands fist as he shakes his head. I don’t know what to say to that, so I attempt a platitude. “I’m sure you guys will figure it out. Hopefully, it was some oversight, and the rocks were only misplaced.”
He shakes his head. “Unlikely, but thanks.”
“I’m starving.” Owen says as he walks into the kitchen.
I blink and look at Owen and smile. “Then you shall eat. I’ve packed you both chips and two sandwiches each. Will that be enough?”
Owen looks at Erick and then at me. “Everything okay?”
I smile, “Great.”
Owen looks at Erick, and he says, “Fine. Ready to go?” He gets off the barstool and grabs the cooler. “Thanks for the snack and the water.” Owen and I watch as he leaves towards the front door.
“Everything okay?” Owen asks again, but to just me this time.
“Everything’s fine. He’s just really mad at whatever happened today.” I place my hands on his chest and smile up at him.
The doorbell rings, and Bella jumps up off her dog bed and starts running and barking.
“I’ve got it.” Erick yells from the front of the house.
I kiss Owen quickly. “You need to go so you can come back.”
“Owen. Why is the FBI here?” Erick is back, standing at the entrance to the kitchen, still holding the cooler.
“I’ll tell you about it on the way back to the office.” Owen turns and greets a tall man with dark hair. “Rick. How have you been? It’s been too long, man.” Owen and Rick do that man-hug thing while shaking hands.
“Good, man. You look good.” He slaps Owen on the shoulder. “Love the new place.”
“Thanks.” Owen turns to Erick. “This is my colleague, Erick Coleman. Erick, this is an old friend from the military, now Fed, Rick Newberry.”
“I don’t know about old, but the rest is true. Nice to meet you.” The two of them shake hands, all while sizing each other up. Men and their pissing contests..
“And this lovely being is Mallory Gordon.” Owen puts his arm around my shoulders.
“Agent Newberry. Nice to meet you.” I shake his hand and notice he has nice, soothing eyes.
“Please call me Rick. Are you ready to get this over with? It’s going to be a lot of questions, but I’ll walk you through each step.” He asks me with a small smile.
“I am.” I turn to Owen. “You need to go. I’ll be fine. I promise. I’ll call you if I need you.”
“Rick, I’ll be back in a few hours so we can go to the marina to meet Fusco. Make yourself at home. If you need anything, just call me.” Owen tells Rick and then grabs my hand. “Walk me out.”
I follow Owen to the front door. Erick has already walked out to the truck in the driveway.
“Promise me you’re going to be okay.”
“Owen. I’m just talking to him. That’s all. I’m going to be fine. I promise.”
“I hate leaving you here to relive all that shit by yourself.”
I can see this is tearing him up inside, so I decide to distract him. He wraps his arms around me as I cuddle up to him. I tilt my head up to kiss him and he leans into my kiss. As I open my lips, he slips his tongue in to explore my mouth. I can tell when he realizes what I’m doing as I put my hand on his cock and it instantly hardens, because he freezes all movement.
“You are bad.” He swipes my hand away from his hardness and adjusts himself.
I give him my most innocent look. “Who? Me?”
He smirks, “Okay. You win. I’ll leave you alone. But call me if you need me. Okay?”
I nod, “Okay. I hope you guys figure out what happened.”
“Me, too.”
He kisses me quickly and walks out the door. I stand there and watch him climb into his truck and back out of the driveway.
~~~
For the next few hours, I tell, in great detail, everything I can remember about Patrick Fusco. His preferences in food and drink, his likes and dislikes in music, any history I knew of his childhood and family, and all his vices.
I explained everything he did to me in our time together, everything he said to me, and whatever I knew about his dealings with other people. Later in the afternoon, I gave descriptions of the associates Patrick dealt with regularly. I only knew their nicknames Patrick called them by; I never knew their real names. At one point, Agent Newberry had me look at mugshots of some people to see if I recognized anyone. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anyone I knew.
Then, he had me sit with a sketch artist to make drawings of some of Patrick’s trusted friends. We were able to make two drawings, but we ran out of time.
At around eight o’clock, a team came over to review the plans for the night. Apparently, they had been planning all day long at their office. At that point, they relegated me to the living room as an observer.
Agent Newberry and the other agents discussed the layout of the marina, where there were already video cameras, what boats were in each slip, and even what aircraft may or may not be flying overhead at the time of the meeting.
What made my feet and hands go cold was when they started planning where exactly Owen will have to walk and stand in order for the agents to get Patrick in view and to keep Owen safe. There’s a spot on the pier that if Owen goes past that point, the agents can’t protect him.
Owen cannot go past that point.
I handed over the key that Patrick wants back. The minute Agent Newberry saw it, he turned white as a ghost and muttered the word ‘Fuck’. When I asked what that meant to him, his color returned and told me not to worry about it. I didn’t mention to him I already had a clue what it can do.
The meeting is set for ten o’clock and it’s nine-thirty now. It’s almost time to go, but Owen’s not here yet.
“Have you tried calling him?” I ask Agent Newberry for the hundredth time. “I’ve tried calling him and his brothers, but the calls keep going to voicemail. I even tried the office, but I keep getting the answering service.”
“Yeah. I’ve tried, too. I’ve also tried the office and get the service, too. They say they’ll keep trying him and his brothers. But, if we can’t get a hold of him, are you okay to do this yourself?”
“Me?” My stomach falls as I’m shaking my head.
He nods. “This may be our only shot at getting Fusco. If Owen’s not here in the next five minutes, we’re going to need you to do the meeting. Can you do that? We’ll be there the entire time and won’t let anything happen to you. I promise.”
“Me?” I ask again because I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
Agent Newberry nods. “You, Mallory. After everything you’ve told me today, I know you can do this. You’ve been through so much already. You’re a strong woman. You can do this.” His confidence in my capabilities is clear on his face.
I take a deep breath. I can do this for myself, for Owen, and for my future. Nodding, I walk to the kitchen table. “Show me where this point of no return is. I want to make sure to steer clear of that.” I point to the map.
The agent sitting at the table points to a clear picture of the pier from overhead. “Here. You need to make sure not to go past the fourth slip. The name of the yacht is ‘Sea-More’. Don’t go past that yacht.”
“The ‘Sea-More’? What a stupid name for the boat.”
The agents laugh. “The owner is an eye doctor named Seymore.”
“Still stupid.” I say nervously.
“I need you to go change into all white if you have it. I want to make sure you’re as visible as possible.”
I nod. “I’ll see what I can find.” I aim for the stairs and Bella is on my heals.
I take less than five minutes to change into a pair of white pants and one of Owen’s white dress shirts. “How’s this?” I ask Agent Newberry once I come back downstairs.
“Perfect. Ready to do this?”
I nod. “Ready’ isn’t the word I’d use. ‘Willing’ is more like it.”
He smiles at me. “Okay. Let’s get going.” Agent Newberry motions to the front door.
I turn around. “Do you have the key?”
He smiles at me. “I have a key that you’re going to show him, but it’s not the key he wants. He’s not getting that one.”
As I’m climbing into the backseat of Agent Newberry’s SUV, I realize how dangerous this could be for not only me, but for the other agents. “Hey. If I don’t get a chance later to tell you, I want you to know how much I appreciate all you’re doing for me.”
“It’s our honor to serve, ma’am.” He tells me as we back out of the driveway. “But, Mallory, you’re going to be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
God, I hope he’s right.