AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What?” Shane demands. “Look again.”
“It’s registered to a Billy Sergi.”
“Motherfucker son of a bitch.”
“Who’s Billy Sergi?” I ask in confusion, but Shane shakes his head.
“Who else, Ivie?” he asks.
I move on to the third number. “This one is a burner phone. No specific owner. Working on the fourth now.”
I keep typing. When I sit back, I stare at the monitor in disbelief.
“Well?” Shane demands.
“There’s no possible way, Shane. It has to be a mistake.”
“Who is it registered to?”
I turn my gaze up to his and shake my head. I don’t believe it. I can’t believe it.
Rather than ask me again, Shane leans over to look over my shoulder. When he sees the name on the screen, he swears under his breath.
“That’s impossible.”
I stand and pace the room. “Well, I guess we know who he was here to find.”
“There’s a mistake,” Shane insists and starts typing on another screen. “This is a cover for someone else, to throw us for a loop.”
Well, if that’s what someone’s trying to do, it’s working. Because my head is spinning. I can’t breathe.
“Hey,” Curt says and taps Shane on the shoulder. “Your girl’s panicking.”
“How can this be?” I wonder aloud and continue pacing the room until I run into a brick wall of a chest. Shane’s arms close around me in comfort. “He’s dead.”
“It’s meant to fuck with you,” Shane assures me. “And you’re letting it.”
I pull back to stare up at him. “Wouldn’t you?”
“It would throw me, yes. But keep your wits about you, sweetheart. This isn’t real. It’s smoke and mirrors. And if the person I think is behind this is truly responsible, it fits his M.O. perfectly.”
“Who?”
“Sergi,” he says simply. “And if he’s responsible, I’m going to be fucking pissed off.”
I pull out of Shane’s arms and return to the computer.
“I’m going to keep digging because there has to be a mistake,” I say as my fingers start to fly over the keyboard once more. But no matter where I dig, no matter where I look, I keep getting the same result.
And I can’t accept that.
Because the owner that keeps popping up on the screen is my father, and he’s been dead for more than a decade.
Chapter 12
~Shane~
Ivie’s skin is soft where I kiss her, right next to her eyebrow, and then I silently back out of the room. She’s sleeping peacefully, which is exactly what she needs after the mind fuck that she went through in my office.
I close the door behind me and walk out to the living room, where Curt sits, waiting for me.
“She’s finally asleep.” I pour myself two fingers of whiskey and do the same for Curt. After passing him the glass, I collapse into my favorite leather chair. “This whole thing is fucking nuts.”
“I’ve seen some shit, you know I have.” Curt sips his whiskey. “But I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like this before.”
“Yeah, it’s not typical, that’s for sure.”
I stare at my friend, lost in thought. I saw all of what Curt did—and plenty more since. Curt was on my squad. Was the best assassin I’ve ever worked with.
He’s quick, stealthy, and ruthless. When he needed to leave, to disappear, I knew I had to have him here on the ranch. I’d trust no one more to make sure things run smoothly here when I’m gone.
And I’m gone plenty.
“You know you should leave,” he says, surprising me.
“I live here.”
He shakes his head and then pins me with that intense stare he gets when he knows things are about to go to hell.
“Take her out of here. If that idiot found her, it’s only a matter of time before someone else does.”
I blow out a breath and then take another sip of whiskey. “Even if they do find her, I can protect her here better than anywhere else. I know every inch of this land like the back of my hand. And so do you. We can take on an army here if we need to.”
“I think it’s the wrong move, but you’re the boss.”
“We keep our eyes open and remain on high alert for the foreseeable future.” I lean forward, my elbows resting on my knees, and stare into my glass. “I know that this isn’t what you signed on for, man. If you want to go somewhere and lay low until this all blows over, I won’t be angry or think any differently of you.”
He swallows the rest of his whiskey and sets the glass down without a sound. “I’m not afraid. What happened today didn’t give me any bad moments. I thought it might, but I slipped back into the job, you know?”
“Yeah.” I nod once. “I know.”
“But I came here so I wouldn’t have to do that anymore. I know you think it was cowardly of me—”
“Hold up.” I raise a hand and scowl at my friend. “You’re no coward. You did what you had to do to survive, Curt. You did more on the job than anyone else has. It was too big an ask, and it was wrong.”
