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Chapter Forty-Five
Jackson
“He fell off the fucking grid? How does that happen? Why were we not watching him closer? What is this, fucking amateur hour over here?” My voice boomed through the room as I stomped away from my team.
We were still set up in Mia’s apartment, even though I had safely stowed her away in a safe house. It just seemed to make the most sense to remain here. Catherine and Ally said Mia wouldn’t mind, so I hoped that was the case. I walked to her fridge and pulled out a bottle of water before downing it. I made a mental note to add this to the list of things in her apartment that would need replacing. She had a fully stocked fridge, and right now, the team and I were doing a good job taking advantage of it.
I leaned back against the fridge and allowed the coolness of the stainless steel to penetrate my back. I couldn’t believe I had underestimated this piece of shit. I hadn’t done that in years. We’d taken a detailed history from Mia and Ally. Clearly, there was more about this man than either one of them knew. I had even spoken to the men who were supposed to help her with this problem in the first place. It hadn’t worked, but that was what tended to happen when you sent common mobsters to do the job of a security firm. Sure, they had gotten her a few years of peace, but I wondered if they had only pissed him off further and caused him to become more skilled. Maybe that was why we were having trouble nailing him down.
“You will get him.” My wife’s calm voice penetrated my thoughts. “You just need to be patient.”
I smiled at her and drew her in. Holding her in my arms felt so good right now. I needed this. I needed this moment with her to take a break from all the stresses the last forty-eight hours had brought on. He had the upper hand, and I hated that. I hated not being in control of the situation or of someone like him getting the better of me.
“I just want this over with,” I admitted to her. Searching her brown eyes, I saw that she understood. I saw the worry that hung in them. I knew she could have easily been a target for him. Catherine was working closely with Mia, and for all I knew, Chad would have started attacking her if he couldn’t get to Mia. The thought made me shudder.
“It’ll be over soon enough,” she reminded me. Catherine had such faith in me. She was proud of me, of my company, of the work we were doing, and of the life we had built. It made me smile. I had an equal in my life for once. I was going to do everything in my power to bring this man down so that the woman who was coming to matter very much to my wife was safe, keeping Catherine safe in the process.
It was a tall order in some ways. But I was the man for the job; my team was the right team to get this done. Chad would only be a bad memory for Mia. We would make sure of it.
“How is she doing?” I asked my wife, effectively changing the subject.
“She seems to be doing all right. She’s working. I keep getting a flood of emails from her or seeing her reply to others.”
“That’s good. It’ll keep her mind off things. Plus, it will keep anyone in the company from wondering what’s happening. Why she isn’t at work and all that. Does she have a board that she answers to?” I wasn’t sure if this was a situation someone like shareholders should be aware of, but I figured I had better ask. Then we could develop a communication and ensure they were handled in case things got messy.
“There are shareholders and investors. But I think right now it’s okay to keep things quiet. I’m managing everything as best I can. I’ll let you know if communication becomes necessary.”
I nodded. “We haven’t worked together like this in a while.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her, remembering the times she worked for me at Raven Cosmetics.
She laughed in return. “No, we haven’t. It’s kind of nice seeing you do your thing. Watching you in action.” The smirk on her face was sexy as hell. I would have loved nothing more than to take her into a spare room and have my way with her. But I couldn’t. There were too many men here, and I didn’t want to risk one of them walking in on us and seeing her naked. And we could be loud when we wanted to. I didn’t want anyone to hear us. They already gave me enough shit. I didn’t need them to have any more ammunition.
“You haven’t found him, have you?”
“No, we haven’t. We may have underestimated him. I hate that.”
“That’s why you were yelling and causing such a fuss out there, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s pissing me off that I didn’t anticipate this. We’ve dealt with cartels, mob families, and monarchies with terrible secrets. I thought that this one man wouldn’t be so hard to nail down. But he’s proving to be more difficult than I thought.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, hoping it cleared my head.
“He’s got connections, from what Mia said,” Catherine said, shrugging as if that should explain it.
“So do I,” I reminded her. “His aren’t better than mine.”
Catherine laughed at me. “You really think I was meaning that his are better than yours? Come on, you know me better than that.”
She was teasing me; I could see it now.
“Yeah, I do.” I leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “It’s going to be okay, Catherine. I’m going to get him.”
“I know you will. Why do you think I called you in?” she said with a smile.
I nodded and headed away from her and back to the monitors.
“We’ve gotta call Hawkeye. Let him know we’re having trouble,” Rip said to my left. I hadn’t realized anyone had come up beside me.
“Yeah, I know,” I said. “I just hate to call with no news or what might seem like bad news to her.”
“Tell him not to tell her,” he said.
