Page 23 of Ghost Among Lies

"So why the sudden meet?" The difference between Beckett's questions and Anita's were stark in comparison. Beckett was calm. Anita was anything but right now.

"He wanted to warn me that a certain former FBI employee was running his mouth about me," I scoffed. "Well, not me by name but my former position."

"Banger," Beckett cursed.

"Oh, so you know the asshole." Why wasn't I surprised?

"Let's just say I'm the reason he's no longer employed and currently being investigated."

"Yeah, well, he's scrambling to make deals, but there's no way he has the information. Alexander and Mason are the only people who know my identity, and neither one is going to sell me out. Alexander would stamp a one-way ticket to prison, and Mason wants nothing to do with his family."

Beckett opened his mouth to continue the conversation, but Anita cut him off. "If what you say is true, then you wouldn't be who Alexander called to handle personal matters." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway.

"Then tell me what you know about her." She shoved a phone in my face with a picture of a woman I knew well."

"That was Mason's girlfriend."

"Was?" Anita hissed. "Does that mean she's dead?"

It took me a few seconds to realize what she was asking me, and her conclusion meant trouble for me. "Whoa." I held my hands up in front of me. "I didn't kill her if that's what you're implying. I don't even know for sure if she's dead. Mason never brought her around his family, but Alexander knew who she was. He’d talked about her a few times, but it was nothing more than crude remarks because she was good looking."

"What about someone else? You said you were his favorite, but he had others, right?"

"He did, and honestly, they were assholes who didn't live by a moral code. There were lines I wouldn't cross, and Alexander knew that. Women and children were off-limits. He knew better than to even ask. He gave those jobs to them, but Alexander never told me about them. I wasn't privy to his dealings. I handled what he asked me to and otherwise stayed out of the business."

Anita cursed. It looked like she was seconds away from smashing something. Probably my face. Thankfully, Beckett stepped in front of her and whispered something that seemed to calm her down. Sloane moved in as well and provided silent support.

"If it's any consolation, Mason never mentioned her death, and I think he would've. We talked heavily about why he wanted away from the family, but not once did he say it was because his father hurt his girl."

"We're no closer to finding Nova." Anita's words were meant for Beckett and Sloane, but the room was quiet enough that I heard them as well. I would've loved to give her better news, but I didn't have it. I don't know what happened to her, but maybe I could find out. I had someone I could tap into. It would cost me though.

One look at Sloane's face and I could see Nova was important to her as well. I knew, in that moment, I would pay whatever price to see her beautiful smile once again.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SLOANE

I pushed open the door to my house and waited for Hayes to step through before entering behind him.

"Are you sure you would rather stay here instead of one of the living quarters?" Since we all moved into our respective houses, the living quarters sat empty. We had yet to decide as a team what to do with them.

"Anita made it sound like I didn't have a choice. She wanted me close. I figured your house was better than with one of your other teammates."

I winced at the accusation. He wasn't wrong. Anita may have phrased it like a question, but there was no mistaking her tone. She wanted us to keep an eye on him. The living quarters were secure, and security was set up, but having Hayes stay in a house made the most sense.

"That's fair." I headed over to the stairs. "The bedroom is on the second floor. It's already set up. Although, I should apologize in advance. It's only a full bed. It was set up for Krista. Not a full-grown man."

"Who's Krista?"

Shit! I probably wasn't supposed to bring her up. This whole foster-parent thing was new, and I didn't know what rules I had to follow. However, he would see her eventually. It wasn't like we could keep him or Krista locked away.

"Our…ward? Or I guess foster child is a better word."

"What do you mean, ours? Who exactly?"

We stopped in the doorway of the spare bedroom, and I turned to face Hayes with a sigh. "All of us. My team. We rescued Krista during an assignment and tried handing her over, but she refused to go into the system. She had no family left and didn't want to live with strangers." I thought about it for a second. "Well, technically, other strangers since she didn't know us either, but she wanted to stay, and we didn't have the heart to say no. She's lived here since. We each have a room for her in our houses, but she mostly stays with Lilith."

"And no one's bothered to question that?" he asked in disbelief.