Chapter 12
Spencer
Sweat creeps down my spine as the agent lowers her weapon. “We have enough evidence to send you to jail for a very long time,” she says.
I vaguely wonder if Mike and Kurt are en route. “So why aren’t you arresting me?”
She slides her gun back into her holster and pushes her hands into her pockets. “Because I need you.”
Still wary, I lean back in my seat and frown. “Need me for what?”
She looks around the galley. “What do you know about black funds?”
I cock my head at her. “Pretty sure I’ve been paid off out of a couple.”
She nods, and her eyes lock on to mine. All my muscles tense. That she’s here alone gives me little reassurance she’s not setting me up.
“How long have you been following me?”
She shakes her head. “Long enough to know you and your crew have a few more skills than the usual blackmailers do. Your brother is the tech, Mike Willis is the muscle and you, Mr. Kane are the con man.”
That makes me sit up a little straighter. “You know how we operate?”
Her face twists into scorn. “Thanks to a woman in Pueblo we do.”
Fuck. Fuck. I knew that job was going to come back to bite me on the ass.
“She was an unforeseen complication,” I mutter.
She snorts. “But that didn’t stop you and your friends from using her.”
I wince and see why it was so important for her to check out Audrey before me.
I know we’re done beating around the bush when she narrows her eyes. “Let me make this clear Mr. Kane. My goodwill will only stretch so far. If you even think about telling anyone the details of this meeting, I will arrest you and I will make sure your little brother and your associate don’t see the light of day for a very long time.”
I nod slowly as I try to connect the dots as to why she’s here. “This is about Audrey and her father isn’t it?”
Her chin lifts a fraction. “It’s about justice. Something Rex Bishop pretends to care about just like you pretend to care about the women you fuck to get information.”
That smarts. More for the fact it’s true than anything else.
Rather than dig a hole deeper for myself, I work my jaw as she seems to be sizing me up. Maybe wondering if I’m going to do something stupid.
To stall, and because I’m not sure I’m not in deep shit, I keep her talking. “Why did you go to Audrey? To make sure she wasn’t working with me?”
She nods. “I had to be sure she wasn’t complicit. But her stunt just now proves she was just as much of a victim as her mother was.”
My eyebrows shoot upwards. “What stunt? Is she okay?”
The agent chuckles. “She’s fine. But nice to know you aren’t a complete asshole. Jenkins thought you’d targeted her at the nightclub. He owes me fifty bucks.”
I stare at her and go with directness. “You have a personal interest in Bishop. Why? What’s he done to you?”
She smiles. “My father was the accountant Rex Bishop framed for murder.”
After that bombshell I don’t think I need any more explanation, but she gives it anyway.
She pulls her hands from her pockets and withdraws a piece of paper.
“I’m going to get my father out of prison, but I want to destroy Bishop for what he did. I want him to have nothing and no one around him while my father is exonerated and compensated.”
The penny drops. “And I’m just the guy to do that?”
She smiles again, but it’s a calculated smile that lets me know this has been in the planning for a long time.
Probably as long as her father has been in jail.
When she walks toward me and places the paper down on the table, I know what she’s asking me to do.
“I’ll be watching you very carefully, Mr. Kane. Don’t disappoint me.”
I stare at the words and numbers on the paper and nod. “I’ll need a day to make all the arrangements.”
She nods. “You have twenty-four hours.”
I wait until she’s left and is walking down the dock before I reach for my phone.
My gut twists into knots as I dial.
As I wait for them to pick up, I glance out the portal window at the dock.
Never in a million years did I see myself agreeing to work with a Feeb bent on revenge.
As I stare at the paper she handed me, I know if I do this, it’ll be the last job any of us ever pull in Miami, or probably here on home soil.
We may not have been who she was going after, but we’re sure as shit are in the crosshairs now.
Even if she keeps her word and doesn’t haul us off in handcuffs, Kurt is going to hate me for this.
But Mike is literally going to kill me.
He’ll probably pay someone to reduce me to a handful of neatly chopped up pieces then feed me to the crocodiles.
But given the alternative I’m not sure I have a choice.
Because of Audrey, because I just had to invite her to the island, I’m now in shit right up to my ankles.
The only way I can make this work, is to play as many Goddam sides as I can.
***
Audrey
Two days later…
I’m sitting on Beth’s couch, hiding from the press, back in Atlanta with a large glass of wine in my hand when she comes into the living room.
Beth sinks into the sofa and looks at the door. “Gary is coming by soon with dinner, hope that’s okay?”
Considering I’m now living with her on the advice of my lawyer, I just smile. “Of course, it’s okay. He’s been incredible,” I say.
A wry smile tugs her lips upward. “Guess people can change, huh?”
I take an overly large gulp of my wine and shrug. “Only if they have reason to.”
She frowns as she steals the glass of wine from me and takes a sip. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to get on with your life,” she says.
I frown and hug one of her cushions to my chest. Sitting here dressed in sweats, with my hair in a messy bun, I look about as depressed as I feel. “Until the trial is over with, I have no life.”
I don’t need to tell her that a trial of this magnitude will take months to a year if the lawyers drag it out, which they will do.
That means I’m in limbo.
While I try not to think about that, and she seems to be mulling it over, I manage to drink the rest of the glass and set it down on the coffee table.
I’m about to go get the bottle when she grabs my arm. “Please don’t be angry. But I wanted the world to know what you’ve had to live with.”
Since nothing good ever comes from someone prefacing that kind of statement with those words, I frown at her. “What have you done?”
She releases a breath. “I recorded your father’s rant and gave it to a friend of mine. She sent it to the press anonymously.”
I should be angrier at her, it wasn’t part of the plan, but I can’t muster the energy to be mad. “When?”
She wrinkles her nose. “While you were talking to your lawyer about your accounts being frozen, a few hours ago.”
I grimace and hope she isn’t going to want to watch the news just so she can see her handy work.
But thankfully, she just pulls a face. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask your permission, I just wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak.”
I sigh wearily, head swimming with too much wine, too much heartache, and too many regrets to number. “Don’t worry about it,” I mumble.
Before I can say another word, her arms are wrapping around me, and she pulls me into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. I promise,” she whispers.
It’s such a sweet thing to say, I have to bite down on my lip, so I don’t start blubbering again.
Thankfully, a knock at the door and a flurry of activity from the reporters outside means I have more than enough reasons to clamp down another bout of tears.
After an angry shout at the reporters about trespassing, Beth arrives with a solemn Gary loaded with Chinese food.
He bobs his head at me and plonks the food down on the coffee table. “Have you seen the news?”
Beth slaps his arm. “We’re trying not to.”
He frowns at her, then takes a seat on the edge of the chair opposite me.
Whatever I expected him to say, the next words out of his mouth floor me.
“Things are going from bad to worse for your father. A trader has just come forward and she’s claiming your father had her transfer millions of dollars to a slush fund.”
Beth sits beside me and asks the question I’m too stunned to. “Does she have evidence?”
Gary nods and reaches for the bag of food. “Looks like it. The forensic accountants at the FBI are going over it as we speak.”
He opens a container of Moo Shoo Pork as I sit dumbstruck. “Is he going to make bail?” Beth asks.
Gary shrugs as he digs into his food. “Unlikely now that corruption and bribery are going to be added to the charges. But no matter what happens, Rex Bishop will be going to jail for a long time.”
I slump onto the sofa as his words penetrate deep into my core.
But rather than jubilation, all I feel is a deep ache for what I’ve lost and what my father has stolen.
I shake my head. “Even if I did cooperate with the police, I could still go to jail for perjury.”
Gary shovels a mouthful of pork into his mouth before looking at Beth. “Not necessarily. Your lawyer will be going for a coercion defense, won’t he? No charges have been laid, and after the tape got leaked, I doubt they will be.”
Beth looks sidelong at me, but instead of looking gloomy, she’s decidedly upbeat. “That’s good news, Auds. You could move somewhere and start your life over.”
When I try to protest, she raises a hand to stop me and looks at Gary. “Tell her I’m right.”
Oddly, it does encourage me a little when he slowly nods. “She’s is. Plus, they can’t force you to testify against him if they can’t find you.”
As they exchange a meaningful look, I know this is something they’ve been conspiring about. “What are you suggesting?”
Gary just shrugs and carries on eating. “If I were in your shoes, I’d cut and run while I could. The press isn’t going to drop this any time soon.”
My eyebrows rise. “Cut and run? Where would I run to? I have no money, and nowhere to go.”
Gary looks at me, and a half-smile appears. “Do you know an FBI agent called David Jenkins?”
Recognition stabs into my sluggish mind. “He was one of the agents asking about Spencer. How do you know him?”
Gary puts his chopsticks down and he turns serious. “He’s the one who told me about the slush fund. He also told me I should do everything in my power to get you out of the States as soon as possible. Your father was connected to a lot of people and not all of them are going to sit idly by as he drags them under with him.”
My head now spinning, Beth places her hand on my arm, making me look at her.
Her tone is deadly serious as her face contorts as if she’s in pain. “Auds. Do you understand what he’s saying? The agent is trying to warn you. Your life is in danger. You need to get somewhere safe.”
I stare at her as a thick blanket of awareness penetrates the fog in my mind.
“Where am I going to go?” I ask.
She looks at Gary and he nods. “Leave that to us,” he says.
***
Spencer
“You have got to be fucking joking,” Kurt says.
From where I’m sitting at the same bar I met Audrey, I reply with as much honesty as I can afford. “Not much I could have done. It was this or jail. She had enough to put us all away.”
He shakes his head and tosses the rag he was using to clean the bar before I arrived. “Please tell me you haven’t thrown us under the bus for that rich chick you nailed on the island?”
I growl the words. “No, dickhead. I did all this to keep us out of jail.”
He smirks at me. “I call bullshit, bro. You didn’t have to go along with it. You could have told us the Feebs were on to us. We could have been the other side of the border by now.”
I know he’s not that dense, and I know this is as hard on him as it is on me, so I temper my words with that knowledge. “I told you. They are watching us. This is a courtesy call. One I won’t have time to pay Mike.”
He releases a sigh. “You’re really going to go through with this? Leave me here to deal with the fallout from Mike on my own?”
I scratch my chin stubble and shrug. “I don’t see any other way around it. The Feeb was clear. I do this, she walks away. You or Mike even think about starting this racket up again on your own, she comes after you hard.”
His eyebrow cocks. “How do you know she isn’t going to screw you over?”
I’m not about to tell him why I know she won’t, so I skirt around it. “I need to hear you say you won’t do anything dumb. We had a good run. But it’s over now.”
“What the fuck am I supposed to do now? Keep working here? I hate this fucking dump.”
I raise my hands into a ‘don’t know’ gesture. “You’ve saved a good chunk. Invest it. Buy this dump. As long as it’s legit, the Feebs won’t give a shit.”
He eyes me, forehead creased and posture rigid. “I never should have asked you to tend bar that night,” he mutters.
I choke out a laugh. “You should be pleased you did. Audrey’s father is the only reason we aren’t all in jail.”
A smile flickers at his lips, giving me reassurance he’s not going to hold a grudge even though he missed out on a lot of currency.
“No. You’re the only reason we aren’t in jail.”
I smile. “Yeah, well. Don’t blow it okay?”
He runs a hand over his face and looks almost pained, but he nods. “We can’t do it without you anyway. You were the glue sticking this shitshow together.”
I release a breath, relieved he at least is seeing sense. Mike might take exception and do something stupid like try to work on his own, or with another crew, but I know Kurt is smart enough to know when to walk away.
He surprises me by grinning. “You really like this chick, huh? No BS?”
I don’t even try to hide it from him. “Yeah. I do. No BS.”
He blows out a sigh as he shakes his head. “Can’t say I blame you for wanting to switch sides. She is fucking gorgeous, but you’re deluded if you think it’ll work. Even if she forgives you, she’s totally out of your league.”
A wry smile plays at my lips. “Tell me something I don’t know,” I say.
***
Audrey
Wednesday 4.12pm
My eyes pop open, and I come to wakefulness, yawning and disorientated.
It takes me a few seconds to rub away the sleep and remember I’m in the back of Gary’s SUV.
But unlike the last time I glanced out the window, there’s now a stretch of the ocean outside.
I stretch out my back and look at Beth who’s sitting beside me with a tablet in her hands.
I tap her on the shoulder and her head snaps up. “Anything happen while I was asleep?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “Nothing you need to know about.”
I groan and look at the screen. A picture of my father beside me is beside the latest headline.
Distinguished Chief’s Career Ends In Disgrace.
I look away, instead of looking at the mess I’ve left behind, I look out the window and try to get my bearings.
I squint and try to read a sign. My eyes are so blurry I’m sure I’ve misread. “Tybee Island?”
She nods. “Gary’s family has a place here.”
After an elaborate disguise worked to get past the reporters waiting outside Beth’s apartment, I’m fairly confident that my wig and glasses will be enough to ward off any unwanted attention.
But I’m not sure I’m entirely happy staying here for what will be an unknown length of time.
I’m especially not happy I’m going to be alone here.
It might be a small community, and I might be able to be passed off as a friend of the family, and I might have a weapon in my luggage, but the idea still makes me a little uneasy.
Beth seems to notice I’m still feeling apprehensive about their plan to hide me away and nudges my shoulder.
I look at her and find her smiling. “It’s a nice place. Gary and I came here for our honeymoon.”
I force a smile and try to see the bright side by looking at the tiny town I’m going to be living in for the foreseeable future.
I should be grateful they’ve gone to so much trouble to make sure I’m going to be safe.
But I can’t seem to lift my mood above dismay at how much of a disaster my life now is.
I’m not even sure if I can lay the blame anywhere apart from on myself.
Eyes on the beach out my window as we drive, I scratch my scalp and wonder if I need to wear it the entire time I’m here.
When we reach a turnoff, Gary heads towards the water making me frown and look at Beth. “His parent's vacation home is on the water?”
She shakes her head, and something flickers across her face. “They don’t have a vacation home exactly. It’s more of a house-boat.”
At the way she’s picking at invisible lint on her jeans, and I catch Gary sending me looks in his rear-view mirror a ripple of worry knots my stomach.
When neither says a word, and we drive into a parking lot, I’m growing increasingly anxious.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
Beth winces. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure if you’d come if you knew it wasn’t an actual home. But it was the best we could come up with on short notice.”
I nod absently as Gary pulls the SUV to a stop and twists around to look at me. “Beth said you weren’t too keen on boats, so we figured it was better if you saw it for yourself before making a decision.”
I frown and try not to sound ungrateful. “You’re probably right. The last time I was on a boat was with Spencer.”
Beth laughs but there’s something false about it. “Come on. It has everything you need. Shower, toilet, kitchen. Bed.”
While I’m growing increasingly concerned, Beth and Gary climb out of the SUV leaving me with no option but to follow them.
Gary offers to carry my suitcase, leaving me with just my purse to carry.
When we reach the boat, it’s slightly larger than I imagined, and after a stumbled attempt to climb aboard, I’m pleasantly surprised to see it’s an old fashioned style and nothing like the modern yacht Spencer took me on.
While Beth stands on the dock, Gary drops my bags on the timber decking and bobs his head in my direction. “I just need to talk to Beth about something. Go inside, take a look around.”
I frown at him. “Is everything alright?”
Rather than answer me directly, Gary just nods. “Just remember, this was the best plan we could come up with.”
Two seconds after his feet hit the dock, I hear a noise behind me.
I spin on my heel and find myself looking at Spencer.
A cautious smile tugs at his lips as he leans in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. “Sorry for the secrecy. I didn’t think you’d come if you knew I was here,” he says.
Anger now burning through me as I see the extent of Beth and Gary’s deceit, I reach into my pocket and slide my fingers over the canister.
His hands raise but before he can protect himself, I withdraw my mace and spray him.
***
Spencer
I stumble back, crashing into the door frame, eyeballs on fire and pain screaming through me.
Any thoughts of apologizing slip away as I struggle to breathe. Through my coughing, I hear Audrey’s voice come like a bullet to the chest.
“I trusted you.”
Blinking vigorously, I hold out my hand and try to ward her off in case she sprays me again.
Luckily, backup arrives in the form of the reason I’m here in the first place. “Audrey!” Beth yells.
I’m too blinded to see, but at Audrey’s irritated voice, and the cop’s voice, then him grabbing me by the arm, I know this isn’t going to go down the way we’d all hoped it would.
As Audrey and Beth argue, and I hear Beth trying to placate her, Gary drags me into the bedroom.
“I gave her a Sig. You’re lucky she didn’t shoot you,” He mutters.
I try for a laugh, but it comes out as a cough. “I would have deserved it.”
He snorts and not too gently shoves me down on the bed. “I’ll get the first aid kit. Keep blinking. It’ll help.”
While he grabs the kit from the tiny bathroom, coughs keep wracking my body until my stomach muscles are aching and I’m sure I’m about to hack up a lung.
Eyes still blurry, and painful, Gary grunts orders at me while he washes my eyes out.
“I don’t care if you’ve made a deal with the feds, if you step out of line or do anything to fuck this up, I will do everything I can to end you,” he growls.
I grit my teeth and try not to cough in his face as he squirts water into my eyes. “You’ll have to get in line,” I mutter.
He steps back and pushes the eyedrops into my hand. “Keep using this. It’ll stop hurting in a few hours. And as far as punishment goes, you deserved longer.”
He closes the door to the bedroom, leaving me to consider whether he’s right.
***
Audrey
It takes a few hours for me to calm down enough to speak to Beth, let alone go back to the boat.
But when the sun starts to set, and I’m in danger of getting lost in the tiny town, I head back to the parking lot where I left her.
She’s sitting on the hood of Gary’s SUV, with him beside her, when he sees me approach.
He leans over and whispers something in her ear. She stiffens then launches herself off and hurries towards me.
At the worry on her face, a pang of guilt strikes me. I shouldn’t have left. After everything we did to get me here, it was a stupid and immature thing to do.
But Beth doesn’t chastise me she just grabs my arm like she thinks I’m going to take off again.
“Would you please let me explain?”
Since she’s received as much of my wrath as I can express without actually punching her, I reluctantly agree to listen to why she’s lied to me.
I nod, and look at Gary, standing awkwardly beside his SUV.
“I know this isn’t ideal. But if you hear what he has to say, I think you might change your mind. He didn’t have to come, Auds. He chose to help you.”
I blow out a breath. “Who came up with this?”
Gary gives me a sheepish look. “If you’re looking for someone to blame. You can blame me for contacting Spencer after the Agent called me. Whatever we did, it’s because we all wanted to see you safe.”
I shake my head. “So, you call a criminal I barely know?”
He grimaces. “I know it’s insane. And if he didn’t have as much to lose as you do, I’d never have considered involving him.”
I frown at him. “What do you mean he has as much to lose?”
Beth answers, letting me know she knows just as much as Gary does. “Spencer helped the FBI with your father’s case. He’s the reason the trader came forward.”
Gary nods his agreement. “But there were conditions. He can’t stay in the States, Audrey. If they catch him, he’ll go to prison probably for as long as your father will. He’s taking a risk just waiting for you. He’s two days past the deadline they gave him.”
My stomach flips about as Beth squeezes my arm. “I’d never have brought you here if I wasn’t one hundred percent sure he cares for you, Auds.”
At the pain etched on her face, I nod, and manage a weak smile. “I know,” I say.
Her eyes fill with tears. “I just want you to be happy.”
When my bottom lip starts to wobble, I pull her into a hug and hold her tight. “Thanks for looking out for me,” I whisper.
I pull back, and when I see she’s fighting tears, I force a smile and look at Gary. “You really trust him?”
He just pulls a business card out of his pocket. “Just in case I’m not around, shoot him, and call this number.”
I accept the card, and even manage to find a smile for my unlikely savior. “Thanks, Gary. For everything.”
I release a breath and look at the boat. “So, what happens now?”
He shrugs. “Why don’t you go find out?”
I glance at Beth and she nods. “We’ll be staying the night in town. Call if you need us. We can be here in five minutes.”
I release a shaky breath and nod. “Thank you.”
With a final look at her, and at Gary, I turn on my heel and walk back down the dock.
Butterflies fluttering in my stomach, I board the boat, and ready myself to face Spencer.
