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Spectre
Leo Wallace, with his shock of wiry white hair and snapping bright-blue eyes was a hard man to peg. His face was smooth, almost as ageless as Sarge’s had been before cancer had eaten him up inside. If it wasn’t for the white hair and the knowledge in those eyes, he could have passed for a man in his forties, easily. But he’d looked the same when Sarge had introduced me to him and that had been more than a decade ago. He moved a little slower and there were more lines around his eyes and mouth, but he didn’t look like a man in his mid-sixties. At least not until you looked into those eyes.
“How are you doing, son?” he said, holding out a hand.
I gave it a quick shake, aware his gaze had drifted past me to linger on Tia.
I heard her approach but even if she’d been silent, I would have known. I’d been keenly aware of her for the past four hours and hadn’t breathed easy until she’d fallen into a restless sleep outside of Belle Rive, Illinois.
Even then, I hadn’t been able to block her from my thoughts. Every sound she’d made—the low, soft moans, her occasional sighs—had been torture. It had been even worse when she’d slid into something that had to have been an erotic dream, her hand going between her thighs while throaty moans escaped her lips.
I’d wanted to pull over and stare, watch. Would she climax? Was she thinking about that kiss? But even as I considered that last thought, I’d been disgusted with myself. She’d responded, yes, but that didn’t mean anything. She was in this situation because I’d forced it on her, no other reason. Reacting to her the way I had only proved how much of a monster I’d let myself become.
And yet...I couldn’t block out the sound of her soft moans. When I licked my lips, I still tasted her.
It was a relief when she’d drifted back into a quieter sleep, although I continued to check on her. If she’d started to wake at any point in the past hour, I would have had to drug her again because I couldn’t risk her figuring out any information about Leo, but I’d been lucky on that part.
I’d blindfold her when we left. I’d already made that decision. If she didn’t fight, I didn’t want to force a needle into her skin. Still, I was about to ask Leo for more. He’d gone to veterinary school after leaving both military and government employment in his late thirties and ran his own part-time business out here in farm country. The same drugs were often used to sedate both people and animals and he’d been my supplier for a long while. But I saw the way his mouth went tight and how his lids flickered.
“You didn’t forget those rules, did you, son?”
“If I did, you think I’d come here?” I replied. We both knew that Leo might have given up killing after he’d finished the job in Mexico, but he kept a loaded weapon close at hand, tucked out of sight because he never doubted that one day his past might catch up to him. It had almost happened once. That was how we’d met. “I know all about that Barrett you keep tucked away in there.”
A faint smile cracked his face but it faded as he shifted his attention to Tia.
“What’s a Barrett?” she asked.
“Nothing you need to worry about, ma’am,” Leo said, giving her a polite smile. “That’s a gorgeous dog you have. Okay to pet her?”
Tia frowned and then looked down at the dog. “He wants to pet you.”
I shot Leo a sharp look, warning him not to say shit. She was...unique. Different. Amazing. But I had a feeling not everybody would see what I saw.
Leo never even looked at me. He simply waited for Tia to respond.
After a second, she did, with a shrug. “I don’t think she cares.”
Leo hunkered down in front of Valkyrie, his wide, nimble hands stroking over the dog. She leaned into him, clearly recognizing a true animal lover.
“She’s a Golden Shepherd?”
Tia cocked her head. “Yes.”
“Thought so. I’ve seen pictures of them, but never had the pleasure to meet one.” Leo looked back at Valkyrie, smiling. “You’re a beauty, aren’t you?”
“She knows it, too,” Tia said, her voice softening some.
I told myself I didn’t care. I knew I lied.
“Nothing wrong with a lady knowing her worth, I always figured.” Leo pushed upright with a pop of his knees and a grimace. “Why don’t we go inside? I imagine you wouldn’t mind using the facilities...?”
“Please. I’m about ready to have a very embarrassing problem.”
The two of them strode toward the utilitarian building that acted as both Leo’s home and a small hospital when needed. I trailed behind, figuring Tia would feel better with some space...and wondering what she’d tell him when she had five seconds alone.
That was about all she had, too. As I came inside, I heard a door slam in the distance and Leo winced as he sat down. He focused his gaze on me and in a flat, hard voice, he said, “Sit down, Meric.”
The tone made me think of Sarge. With a faint smile, I did, holding the older man’s blue eyes. “Are you going to ground me?”
“You’re going to tell me what the flying fuck is going on.” He delivered the words in an icy tone.
I thought of how he’d stood with me over Sarge’s grave, tears rolling down his face.
“She’s in trouble, Leo,” I said calmly.
“You’ll have to do a lot better than that.” He jabbed a finger at me.
I considered it, then reached down and unzipped the pocket on my right thigh, pulling out my personal phone. The one I’d been using for all contact with Tommy, and with Mac Bailey, had been a burner. A high-end one, bought with cash on my last trip to Seattle and activated when I’d last been in Washington. That had been nearly nine months ago and since then, it had gone unused until I’d decided to look into the job that had been sent my way through a labyrinthine online network, one so complex I wasn’t even sure I could undo it now. The data was stored in an anonymous, secure cloud network and I was aware of his growing impatience as I logged into the site. I was also aware it wouldn’t take Tia much longer to finish in the bathroom. He’d deliberately taken the chair facing the part of the building divided off for his living quarters and I knew why, too.
“Today, son,” Leo said.
“I’m in. I need to pull up the data.” I tapped on the icon, went to the very first contact, sent five days ago, then opened it. The email, sent anonymously, opened and the text, a few words and a figure, were visible.
Sliding it over to Leo, I asked, “Are you still paying attention to organized gang action around the country? For...old time’s sake?”
He’d picked up the phone, but paused now, gaze lifting to mine. “Certain things never change.”
“I received the job request while I was in Mexico, taking some down time. I didn’t receive any identifying information at first. Just that. The offer and the payout.”
He squinted at the phone’s screen, then reached into a pocket, pulling out a pair of glasses. “Damned old eyes. Fuck. That’s what I thought it read. Who was the target?”
“She’s either still using your...facilities...or trying to climb out the window.”
“Won’t work.” He sighed pragmatically. “I’ve got this placed locked up tighter than a virg...well.” His lids flicked, then his gaze returned to mine. He never had been one to talk crass around women.
I smiled. I’d already known she was back there, despite my comment. I’d felt her, like sunshine on my skin—angry sunshine.
“Who put out the offer?” Leo still watched me, but the ice had faded from his eyes.
“Tommy O’Halloran.”
He sighed and rubbed his finger along the side of his nose. “How the hell did a nice girl like that run across him? She ding one of his over-priced, ugly cars or something?”
“You’re most definitely still keeping tabs on the criminal element.” I heard the scrape of a shoe behind me but didn’t turn. “Let’s flex your mind a bit more. His brother Brian is in prison.”
Leo’s mouth spread in a wide grin. “Yeah, I know about that, son. Ran into a couple of cops he couldn’t buy or scare away...shit.” The smile faded and he cracked his neck, then looked behind me. “One of them your dad? Boyfriend? How are you involved in all of this?”
She stopped pretending she wasn’t there and stormed closer, giving me a sullen look before answering. “I’m not. He’s delusional.”
“Her half-brother is the detective who brought Brian down.”
Leo looked from me to her. “Why are you here, son? You want me to keep her under wraps so you can go kill that fucker?” He looked at Tia with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, ma’am.”
“Apology not accepted.” She stared at him, her gray eyes cool and unblinking. Other than a faint line between her brows, her expression appeared calm, but I knew she wasn’t. Her voice had a knife’s edge as she said, “What exactly do you mean, keep me under wraps? I’ve had enough of being carted around and treated like an idiot child.”
I went to say something but Leo shifted on his stool, giving her a thorough appraisal. Something about his expression had me hold my silence.
“You’re right. You shouldn’t be treated like an idiot child. Come here, Tia. I want to show you something.” Leo gestured to the spot next to him.
I was mildly surprised when Tia actually came and settled there on a stool that had been out of my sight behind the tall worktable. He gestured at the end of the table. “Hand me the laptop, son. Tia, you hang back there listening to us for a while. You probably heard this smart-ass reference organized gang activity?”
As I turned the laptop over, Tia shifted on the stool and flicked her gaze back and forth between us. “What’s your point?”
“When I got out of the military years ago, I did a stint with the FBI. It was before I got married. Only did it for about five years. Too much shit. Decided I’d do what I’d originally planned to do when I was a kid—work with animals. I learned quite a bit about my particular area—organized crime and gang activity.” He flipped open the laptop as he spoke and began tapping away. Behind the lenses of his glasses, his eyes were as sharp as they’d been when I first met him. “That knowledge served me well later on. Somebody...close to me got involved with a bad element in Mexico. He was young and arrogant. Not a bad man, just stupid. Loved to gamble and made some bad bets, borrowed money, then more money...” He sighed and looked over at Tia. In that moment, all his years showed. “He tried to run. He had a wife and a daughter. They caught up with him, killed his wife, threatened to do the same to his baby girl. She wasn’t even two. But before they killed her, they’d find a sadistic bastard with specific depravities. That was when I showed up, along with a friend and his protégé. We killed everybody there and got the poor fool and his little girl out. It was too late for him, though. They’d broken him. He committed suicide not long after. His little girl was put up for adoption.” Leo paused and lifted his head, staring off into the distance, eyes dry and unseeing, glittering with suppressed emotion. “And I still watch them, waiting to make sure none of the ones who knew what had happened are able to find her, track her down. To do that, I have to stay in the thick of things.”
He cleared his throat and glanced at me.
I rose from the stool and went to the small refrigerator tucked in the far corner. It held mostly water and the Mello Yellos he loved. Grabbing one of those, I took it to him, popping the top before sliding it over.
He nodded, taking a drink and offering a faint smile. “Thanks. Throat got dry there, son. Now, then, back to what I was saying.” He looked down at the computer and flexed his hands. Soon, he was tapping away at the keys at a pace that made me wonder how fast he’d been when he’d still been active. “If you want to keep up with what’s going on with organized crime, gangs and Mexican cartels, Tia, you have to keep an eye on the big picture. It doesn’t work to watch one small group, or even the ones most closely associated with the one you’re concerned about. You never know when something going on over in China is going to have an effect on the drug trade coming out of Mexico and when that, in turn, will have a ripple effect clear up in Massachusetts.”
He looked at Tia, studying her over the tops of his glasses. “You’re a smart woman and by the look in your eyes, I can see you’re following.”
“I already know Tommy O’Halloran is after me.” She crossed her arms over her mid-section and hugged herself. “I’ll go to Atlanta, stay with Mac.”
“I imagine you already know there are...problems with that idea.” Leo gestured with one hand. “You’re in this situation because Tommy O’Halloran’s brother was involved with some bad folks working in the Atlanta area. Some street gangs have organized almost to the same level as organized crime groups. One of them was involved in the human trafficking ring that your brother helped bring down. Brian O’Halloran was in the area working with them. They had ties to another gang in Boston which is how the...partnership formed. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine Tommy reaching out to them and asking them to deal with you if they knew you were in the area.”
She scoffed, shaking her head. “So you think I’m going to hang out here in Missouri the rest of my life?”
“If I know my friend, it won’t be necessary.” Before she could respond, Leo nudged the computer closer. “I also think you need to be aware of what Tommy O’Halloran is capable of. Your brother knows. I know. M— My friend knows.”
He glanced at me, grimacing.
Tia didn’t seem to notice, though.
She was staring at the computer screen and as I watched, the blood drained out of her face.
I reached for the computer.
She snatched it away, still staring at the screen. “What is this?”
I rose and went around the table and took the computer. Her fingers had gone limp and I didn’t have to do much more than tug. Her face was a sickly ashen gray and she looked at me with stark eyes and blinked slowly, as if her lids were weighted down.
Swearing, I looked at the screen. When I saw what was on it, I almost threw it down and smashed my heel into it.
Instead, I shoved it at the old man and turned back to Tia, cupping her head and urging it downward. “Take a couple of deep breaths.”
Half-expecting her to refuse out of stubbornness, I braced for her to sway off the stool, maybe lose consciousness. She didn’t. Her body shuddered as she breathed in and out, then she shoved up against my hand until I let go. “I need to walk.”
She wobbled as she stood, but steadied almost immediately. Voice sharp, with a high edge to it, she demanded, “What the fuck was that?”
“That was Marta. She was a young immigrant from the Ukraine. She came to America thinking she’d won an international nursing scholarship.” Leo crossed his arms over his chest, watching Tia, unfazed.
If he hadn’t been a friend of Sarge’s, and if I didn’t need his help, I’d hurt him for putting that look in her eyes.
“Instead of meeting the presenters at the airport as expected, she was picked up by two of Brian’s...girls. One of them is his on-and-off-again girlfriend. Her mother runs an escort service that’s a front for a prostitution ring. Everybody in Boston knows it but every time the FBI gets close to shutting it down, O’Halloran gets wind of it and somehow his lady’s mother is able to clean house just in time. Several of her clients are high up in the echelon of Boston government and society, so bringing her down will be problematic. It was her idea, the FBI thinks, to stage a phony scholarship contest to bring in new young women from other countries. For more than a month, Marta was forced to work as a prostitute but one day, the back door to the home where they’re all kept was left unlocked. She slid outside and ran. The building was being watched by FBI agents, of course, and they followed from a distance, then approached once she was safely away. I wasn’t able to get into all the files, but...” Leo looked away. “My best guess is that SAC—Special Agent in Charge—was determined to get a bust this time and he put her in harm’s way. A few days later, she went back in, wearing a wire. But Tommy knew she’d talked to the FBI. When she got back inside...” He lifted a shoulder.
“They did that to her.” Tia swallowed and looked away. She sighed and it was so deep, her whole body seemed to move with it, shaking slightly as she let the explosion of air leave her lungs.
“You can’t expect them to be any kinder to you. If you go to Atlanta, your brother could protect you. He could request assistance from the local FBI or the state police. But their protection will only last so long and Tommy O’Halloran hasn’t been brought to court even once, only his brother.”
She shot me an angry glare. “I don’t want to live my whole life hiding because of that fuckhead.”
“You won’t.”
“I don’t know what else you think will...” She stopped then, understanding dawning. Her lids flickered and she swallowed nervously. “You’re planning on killing him. Aren’t you?”
I didn’t answer.
She laughed, the sound a little hysterical. “There are laws about that kind of thing!”
“Those laws never stopped him.”