Chapter Nineteen
Rayna
Rayna jumped off the bed and padded into the bathroom to shift and dress for the day. It had been months since she slept so well. Yes, she would have rather been in her skin so she and Asher could talk, but his discomfort at her sleeping in the same room had been tangible. After nosing the door closed, she returned to her skin, stretching her arms overhead. She showered and dressed in a clean T-shirt and shorts, then returned to the room where Asher was sitting against the headboard, his inked chest on display. Rayna studied the tattoos briefly before meeting his eyes.
“Good morning.” She sat next to his hip, keeping her hands on her lap.
“Morning. Sleep well?” Asher asked in his sexy, just-awake voice.
“Like a kitten,” she joked. “I’m going in search of coffee so you can get dressed.” She stood, leaned over, and brushed a kiss to his temple. When she turned to go, Asher snagged her wrist.
“You didn’t have to shift last night, but I appreciate the gesture. Maybe tonight…”
“Whatever you need, Ash. I never want you to be uncomfortable around me.” Rayna turned her hand so she could hold his. “We have the rest of our lives together, and as for intimacy, we’ll get there when you’re ready. I’m used to taking care of those needs myself, and I have no problem continuing to do so. Until then, we’ll get to know one another in other ways, yeah?”
“How did I get so lucky?” he whispered.
“By being a wonderful male.” Rayna lifted Asher’s ink-covered hand and kissed it. With a wink, she released him, then padded across the room, closing the door behind her. Once downstairs, she found Lucy and Tamian in the kitchen. Lucy was seated on her mate’s lap, and the two were sitting silently, just being. That was the type of intimacy she craved with Asher. She had no doubt sex would be fulfilling if not hot, but it was the connection she wanted more than anything.
Lucy smiled. “Coffee’s on, and I’ve got pancake batter ready to go. Is Ace awake?”
“Yes. He’s getting dressed.”
A timer beeped, and Lucy slid off her mate’s lap. Tamian rose, pressed a kiss to her temple, then guided her back to the chair. He grabbed a potholder and pulled a pan of bacon out of the oven.
Lucy slung one arm over the back of her chair as she ogled her mate. Rayna couldn’t blame the female. The Gargoyle was almost as fine as Asher. “Lachlan came through with Sartain’s cell phone number, so he’s downstairs tied up with Grissom and Perkins. Seth is in the game room. Tamian voiced him to remain where he was until further notice.”
“Damn, I can’t believe I didn’t hear you bring them inside.” Rayna added creamer to her cup before taking a seat at the table.
Tamian scooped the bacon off the pan onto a paper-towel covered plate. “We brought them in through a tunnel at the back of the house. It leads to the basement. I called Sartain at four-thirty and convinced him to retrieve Seth. He told Seth he was taking him to a less secure location, which wasn’t a lie.”
“Wow. Secret tunnels and a defunct lab. And you grew up here?” Rayna asked Lucy.
“I did. Although at the time, I had no idea about the tunnel, and the lab wasn’t creepy whenever I was learning alongside Lucius. If I’d had any knowledge of the things he was working on when I wasn’t down there, I might have run screaming.”
Rayna had so many questions, but she didn’t want to be rude. Her skin prickled, and she turned toward the doorway just as Asher ambled into the kitchen. He wasn’t walking as stiffly as he had been the night before. Rayna set her mug on the counter and poured him a cup, handing over the undoctored java with a smile.
Lucy got busy with pancakes, and Tamian scrambled a dozen eggs. Once everything was plated, the two couples enjoyed their breakfast while discussing next steps. They decided to interrogate Seth separately, so once the table was cleared, Tamian disappeared momentarily. When he returned, Seth was following. Tamian gestured for him to take a seat at the table.
Seth froze when he saw her. “Rayna? What are you doing here?”
“We’ll get to that. Coffee?” Rayna offered.
“You don’t look surprised to see me,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Because I’m not.” Rayna strode to the counter and poured him a cup before placing it at the seat in front of him. She sat down and gestured to the chair.
Sighing, he sat and pulled the mug toward him. “Why am I here?”
Rayna took a sip of her own brew, then asked, “Would you rather I left you where you were?”
“How did you manage that?” Seth asked, his tone accusing.
Rayna angled her head toward the couple watching them silently. “I made some new friends when I left Haven. The reason you’re here is so we can find out the truth once and for all, starting with your part in David Spencer being released.”
“I don’t know what—”
“You will tell the truth,” Tamian interrupted. His command was similar to when the Hounds voiced someone, although it didn’t make Rayna shiver.
“Did you let Spencer go?” Rayna asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
When Seth hesitated, Rayna raised her eyebrows. “Because Hanson made a deal with the GIA. Spencer was undercover, and they needed their agent back to put Grissom away.”
“So you lied to me from the very beginning?”
“It was to protect you,” he pleaded.
Rayna hummed. “Spencer was undercover with The Ministry, so how was he supposed to help with Grissom?”
“He was allowed to come and go as he pleased. He had an apartment where he was set up to work away from the GIA office.”
“What was Grissom doing that the GIA wanted him taken down?”
Seth reached for his mug and took a sip. “By the numbers on those accounts, it wasn’t anything good.”
Rayna tapped her short nails on the table. There were so many questions she needed answered, but she went with, “Why did you tell me Grissom was responsible for Spencer being released?”
“I didn’t want you involved in any of this, Ray. It’s why I convinced Hanson to leave you at Haven.” Seth’s shoulders sagged, then he looked at her. “When I arrested Spencer, he was adamant he was innocent of everything except kidnapping his daughter. He admitted taking her to keep her safe from her thug boyfriend. His words, not mine. He admitted to being undercover for the GIA, but since I wasn’t high enough in the chain of command, he wouldn’t say more than that. When he convinced Hanson to speak to his boss, they came to an agreement on getting Spencer released. It was Spencer who suggested sending you to Haven to get you out of the way, and Hanson agreed. And before you ask, Hanson told me all this.”
“Why leave me there? If Hanson was going to release Spencer, I would have gone onto another case.”
“Maybe, but you also sat in on the interrogations and asked all the right questions. The deal between Hanson and the GIA happened before you went to Haven, and Spencer didn’t want you getting caught in the mess with Grissom. He knew going up against Grissom would be dangerous for those of us who worked under him. Spencer admired you, Ray. He even told Hanson he was going to have his boss try and recruit you to the GIA but not before Grissom was taken down.”
“I find that hard to believe. You and I both know how convincing Spencer is. I think I was too close to finding out that he was playing both sides, and he wanted me out of the way. Those bank accounts with Grissom’s name on them? The money came from Spencer.”
“No, Grissom was being paid off by Yesu Chin.”
“The mafia don?”
“Yes. It’s the reason Chin never went to jail.”
“Who told you that, Spencer?”
Seth flopped back against his chair, squeezing his eyes closed, and Rayna had her answer. “Like I said, he’s very convincing. Why did Grissom toss you in Ray Brook?”
“I assume it was because Hanson couldn’t handle being tortured and gave me up. He knew Spencer had evidence of what Grissom was up to. He gave one copy to his boss, and I had the other one.”
“The one you buried in my backyard?”
“How the hell did you find it? Spencer made sure the cameras were turned off at your house.”
“She has her own computer specialist,” Lucy lied before Rayna could come up with a plausible tale.
Seth frowned at Rayna, but she moved on before he could ask who. “Why did you bury the evidence instead of passing it on to Milsap?”
A fine sheen dotted Seth’s forehead and upper lip. “As insurance. Spencer said he sent one copy to his boss, but he wanted another copy hidden in case things didn’t go according to plan.”
“It seems like you and Spencer worked closely together. How did you get away with that when you should have been working on other cases?”
“Hanson approved it. He made sure I didn’t have any other cases. It wasn’t easy for Hanson to go about his days as though we weren’t aware that our boss was a criminal.”
“And Spencer didn’t help with that if he told you Grissom was covering for Chin. So when you told me you tried to look at the files on Spencer but they were locked down, that was also a lie?”
“I’m sorry, Ray. I truly thought it was best you didn’t know what was going on.”
Rayna didn’t believe him, even though Tamian had voiced him, and that sucked. “Who took those photos?”
Seth swallowed hard. “I did. Hanson called and said he was being followed, and he was afraid it was Grissom or someone he was paying. He told me where he was going and if I didn’t hear back from him within an hour to send in the cavalry. I waited, and when he didn’t call, I texted Spencer to see if he could get eyes on the hotel. He did. He saw Perkins follow Hanson, so he looped the cameras so I could get in and out without Grissom knowing.”
“Wow. You have Spencer on speed dial. How quaint,” Rayna deadpanned. “Weren’t you afraid to go in there? If you knew Hanson was dead, did you not think Perkins might be lying in wait for you?”
“Spencer was monitoring the situation. He knew Perkins had left the area.”
“Did you call the police? Or the director?” Lucy asked.
“I called the director and told him I thought Hanson was in trouble. I didn’t let on I knew he was already dead. He asked why I bypassed Grissom and called him instead, and I admitted it was because Grissom was a dirty agent and that I had proof. Granted, I waited until I printed the photos and added them to the evidence bag and took it to your house for safekeeping before calling him.”
“Did you tell him where the evidence came from?” Tamian asked.
“I said I was working with the GIA but not David Spencer specifically. Milsap was supposed to send a team down from DC to assist me in bringing Grissom in for questioning, but Perkins got to me first. The trip to get you out of Haven was bogus. Now I’m out of the loop and have no idea where Grissom is.”
“Why didn’t Perkins kill you instead of tossing you in Ray Brook?” Rayna asked.
“Because Grissom wanted the evidence. He threatened Vanessa and the kids, but I told him if something happened to them or me, I had safeguards in place.”
“But even if you gave up your copy, Spencer is still out there with the originals.”
Seth shrugged. “True, but Grissom is a decorated agent. Maybe he believes his word would carry enough weight against a hacker who can fabricate evidence.”
Tamian stood. “The good news is we know where your boss is. He, Perkins, and Sartain are downstairs. We have video equipment set up to take their confessions. You’ll do the interview to make it official. Then, you’ll call Spencer’s boss at the GIA. You and he can hand deliver all three agents along with the evidence and their confessions to your director.”
“What?” Seth plunked his mug onto the table, coffee sloshing over the side. “How did you manage to get the three of them here? And why include Sartain?”
Rayna stood and grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the mess. “I went to Ray Brook looking for you and had a conversation with Sartain who said he hadn’t seen you. He must have called Grissom as soon as I left. I was on my way here last night after finding your buried treasure when Grissom and Perkins ran me off the road. I got into an altercation with Perkins, and Grissom pulled a gun on me. I managed to distract him long enough to wing his shoulder. After subduing them both, I called my friends to assist, and here we are.”
“Holy shit, Ray. You could have been killed.”
“I could have, yes, but they were so sure two against one put the odds in their favor. They bet on the wrong side.”
Seth rubbed the back of his neck. “What makes you think they’ll tell the truth? Grissom will argue the documents and photos are fake.”
Lucy pointed at her closed laptop on the table in front of her. “I have video evidence including timestamps of Hanson then Perkins entering The Marquis hotel. You, yourself, took the photos, which you’ll say you’re handing over to both the director of the FBI and the head of the GIA. We also have documentation showing Grissom working with a hacker who is not Spencer to form a shell corporation where all the money he’s been taking is hidden except for the small sum he had transferred to an account in Hanson’s name. You show them the evidence, and they’ll point fingers at one another.”
“I want to look at all this” — Seth waved a hand toward the laptop — “before I present it to them so I know exactly what’s on there. Rayna, have you seen this proof?”
“I have,” she hedged. She hadn’t put eyes to the information Lachlan sent them, but she trusted Lucy. “After you look it over, please call Vanessa and let her know you’re okay before doing the interview. She’s worried sick.”
“Good idea,” Lucy said. “That’ll give Tamian time to go downstairs and make sure the video equipment is ready to go.”
“I don’t have a phone,” Seth reminded her. Asher removed his from his back pocket, tapped in the security code, then slid it across the table. “Thanks, uh, Asher, isn’t it?”
When Asher arched a brow, Rayna moved to stand behind him. “Yes, this is Asher McMurray.”
“You look mighty cozy there, Ray,” Seth joked, even though he was frowning.
“I am. Now call your wife so she’ll stop worrying.” Rayna grabbed Asher’s hand, tugging on it. He stood, and she led him into the dining room where Lucy had gone. “I take it Tamian isn’t checking video equipment?”
“No. He’s voicing them to behave and tell the truth when Seth gets down there. He’ll have to remove some of Seth’s memories after this is over like where we live and how we managed to get him out of Ray Brook.”
“Yeah, I’m fine with that. I’m pissed he lied to me this whole time, but I’m relieved he wasn’t colluding with Grissom. It would have broken Vanessa’s heart if Seth had been on the take.”
Asher brushed his hand down Rayna’s arm, then linked their fingers. “Yours too.”
“Yeah. We’ve been partners and friends a long time.”
“Are we ready?” Tamian asked when he entered the room.
“Just waiting for Seth to finish up a call with his wife,” Lucy explained.
“I’m here.” Seth stared at Rayna and Asher’s clasped hands, but she didn’t pull away. Her partner would have to get used to their affection. “Do you have a suit to put on for the interview?” he asked Rayna.
“I’m going to sit this one out.” Rayna released Asher’s hand and stepped closer to her partner. “Considering Hanson’s dead and Grissom’s going to jail, I’ll tell you now. I’m resigning. I’ll type up a formal resignation letter for whomever the director puts in charge.”
“Rayna, no. You’re one of the best agents we have. Don’t throw away your career for…” Seth glanced at Asher, and that pissed her off even more.
“I was a great agent, but after being sent to Haven for months, it gave me time to reassess how I want to spend my future. I’m not throwing away anything. I’m moving forward with my life. You know I don’t need the money, and now that I have Asher, I don’t want to put myself in the line of fire if I don’t have to. Last night was a close call. One I’d prefer to never endure again.”
“But you just met him. Or is there something more you haven’t told me?”
“We did meet recently, but that doesn’t mean what we have isn’t serious. Now, there’s somewhere Asher and I need to be.” Rayna turned and held out her hand to her mate. “Let’s go home.” Before they were out of the room, Rayna remembered something she wanted to ask. “Seth, if Spencer was working against Grissom, why did he manipulate the cameras at the hotel so Grissom could get away without being seen?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I followed Grissom from the office to the hotel where he was staying. The computer specialist who was helping me figured out his room number, but when I went to confront him, he wasn’t there. When they searched further, the camera feed had been set on a loop so it didn’t show Grissom going out a side door immediately after entering the hotel and getting into Perkins’s car.”
“If he had a hacker putting together shell corporations, he could have asked him to manipulate the cameras.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I still have a hard time trusting Spencer. Well, I’ll let you get on with it.” Rayna tugged Asher toward the front door, but she stopped before opening it. As soon as Seth walked away with Tamian, Rayna led Asher back to the living room where she guided him to the same chair he’d sat in the evening before. “Hang out here for a few minutes. I want to make a copy of the thumb drive, plus I need to grab my bags from upstairs.”
“Why don’t I get your bags while you talk to Lucy? My rib’s a little sore, but I’m a Gryphon, Rayna. I’m tougher than I look.”
Rayna grinned while wrapping her arms around Asher’s neck. “You look pretty damn tough.”
Asher grasped her hips, his fingers skimming bare skin beneath her T-shirt. He lowered his face to hers, pressing their lips together. It wasn’t passionate, but it was full of something akin to love, and she relished it. When he leaned back, his eyes were shiny. “I’m so thankful for you,” he whispered. “Now go find Lucy.” Asher squeezed her waist before walking away. Rayna touched her lips as she watched him go. When he was out of sight, she went back to the kitchen where Lucy was preparing a cup of tea. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a copy of the thumb drive. I want to give it to Rhiannon so she can hear her father’s words.”
“I can do that. I also just realized you don’t have a vehicle here. You can borrow one of mine.”
“Oh, that’s kind, but we can call for a ride.”
“Nonsense. Your car is out of commission, so you can use mine until yours is fixed or you get a new one. Tamian didn’t say how much damage yours incurred, but if it needed to be towed, I’d say it’s extensive.”
Rayna wouldn’t hesitate to accept such a gracious gift from Vanessa, and that’s what this was – a favor from a new friend. “Thank you. I would appreciate that.”
By the time Asher returned with Rayna’s things, Lucy had made a copy of the thumb drive. “I made two. One has all the evidence, and this one only has the voice recording plus the bank account information for Daisy’s trust fund. I’m sure David will send the originals to Rhi at some point, but at least she’ll know what he did for her daughter.” She held out a key fob. “It’s the black Benz. Keep it as long as you need it.”
“Thanks again.” Rayna gave the female a hug, then she and Asher made their way to the large garage. She pressed the button to open the trunk, where Asher tossed her bags. Once they were both seated and buckled in, she turned to her mate. “I could use a few quiet days before going to see Rhiannon, but I’m not sure I trust Spencer was telling the truth about leaving her alone.”
“How about we head that way and get it over with and then spend a few quiet days alone? And yes, I feel up to it,” he added sternly.
“I won’t apologize for worrying about you, but I will stop nagging,” she promised.
Asher’s face softened. “You aren’t nagging, and I apologize for being an ass. Thank you for worrying.”
“No thanks needed. Now, tell me where I’m going.”