Christ, she nearly brought him to his knees.
“Focus, idiot,” he scolded himself, trying to push away the overwhelming passion threatening to consume him. He knew that whatever Penny had found was important, but he couldn’t help but crave the adrenaline rush that came with being near her.
The warehouse loomed ahead, its shadowy outline barely visible against the night sky. As he pulled up to the entrance, the growl of the engine cut through the silence. Penny hopped out of the truck, hurrying to her front door, after being on her phone the entire drive.
In four long strides, he made it to the front door, and Penny had it open, the heavy metal door creaking, its sound echoing through the vast emptiness of the warehouse. The dim light cast eerie shadows across the floor as Hawke stepped inside.
“Come on, let’s see what we have.” Penny’s voice echoed softly, a mixture of urgency and vulnerability that raised the hair on his neck. He followed her and watched her as she sat behind her desk.
“I’ve got it,” she said, her eyes locked on his, conveying the gravity of the situation without a single word. “I’ve confirmed his voice through voice software.”
“Let me hear it,” he asked, his eyes never leaving Penny’s.
“All right.” She pulled up the audio file with practiced precision. “Here you go.”
As the recording began to play, Hawke steeled himself for what was to come.
“Julia,” Victor’s cold voice reverberated through the speakers, “I need you to plant a bug in Rhys’s office. We need to keep tabs on him and Phoenix. They disabled the ones you planted. We need you to plant more, especially in his office.”
“I’m not sure I can get into his office,” Julia’s hesitant reply rang in Hawke’s ears, her trepidation palpable despite the recording’s static undertones. “He’s usually in there.”
“You can do this. Ineedyou to do this. I need to capture every single face in that club to use as I see fit. We can’t afford any more mistakes.” Victor’s final command sent a shiver down Hawke’s spine as the reality of the situation bore its full weight upon him.
The tension in the air was nearly suffocating. Penny’s eyes locked on to his, their verdant depths reflecting the gravity of what they had just heard.
“Victor’s making his move,” Penny said, quietly. “He wants to blackmail and extort the members, maybe Rhys, too, and he’s using Julia to do it.”
“Son of a bitch,” Hawke snarled, anger boiling inside him. “It’s all about power,” he commented, more to himself than to Penny. “Getting everything his dirty fucking hands want.”
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Penny’s face, and she hesitated, her fingers drumming rapidly against her thigh. “We need to stop him. We’ve got one shot at this, and if we miss—”
“We won’t miss,” Hawke cut her off firmly. “We can’t let Romano win. We can’t let him hurt Rhys or anyone else at Phoenix.”
“I know that,” she whispered. “But how can we stop him if even the Feds can’t?”
“Because this is personal to us,” Hawke said. “Before we make any moves, we need to gather more intel. This recording is a start, but we’ll need solid proof to bring Romano down for good.”
Penny nodded, her eyes narrowing in thought as she absentmindedly twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. “Right. Our best bet is to keep Julia at the club and watch her closely for when she plants another bug and remove it. We don’t want to let Victor know we’re on to him, or he could just plant someone else. We need concrete evidence that not only exposes Julia’s betrayal but also links Victor directly to all the illegal activities he’s been orchestrating. We need to take him down without revealing there was ever a security issue at the club, or else Phoenix’s reputation will be ruined.”
“Damn it,” Hawke muttered under his breath, unable to shake the sense of unease that had settled in his chest. He rubbed at his jaw with one hand.
Silence fell between them for a moment as the weight of the situation pressed down on them like a heavy fog.
Until an idea came to him. “I might have an idea,” he said, the words punctuating the silence that had settled over the warehouse.
“Go on,” Penny urged, curiosity sparking in her eyes.
“Hunt mentioned that the FBI are already investigating Romano for other crimes,” Hawke began. “What if we hack into their investigation? We could gather evidence against Romano, and at the same time, ensure the safety of Rhys and the club.”
Penny considered his proposal, her fingers drumming on the table as she weighed the risks. “It’s risky, but it could work.” She paused, her gaze locked with Hawke’s. “But why do you think we can solve the case when the FBI can’t?”
His voice was low and steady as he replied, “Because they don’t have you on staff.”
Her breath hitched, eyes widening a little. Until she fell back into that neutral expression she owned so well. “And your expertise won’t hurt either,” she added.
“True,” Hawke conceded, a grin touching his lips. “But we need to remember the danger here. The consequences of failure could be catastrophic for Rhys and the club, as well as us.”
“Agreed,” Penny replied with a nod. “This will take me a while,” Penny said, her eyes focused on her screen, the light casting a glow on her face. “I need to bypass the FBI’s security measures without raising any red flags.”
