31. Barrett
31
BARRETT
Noah wouldn’t go anywhere without me. I wasn’t sure what to do. Today was my day off. Tomorrow, I was expected in to give an update on where the case stood. When the fuck was the last time I took a day off that wasn’t one of my normal ones? I couldn’t remember.
Jordan ran his hand over his silver beard while he stared at me. The wheels in his mind were spinning. He had safe houses, at least one. No one outside of those close to him knew where they were. The people I worked with tried to look for them and always came up empty.
Alton had been in and did a quick examination of Noah. He had some bruising and needed a shower, but he wasn’t physically hurt. Alton gave him medication to help him relax, but Noah refused to take it until we were at our destination. We , because he wouldn’t go without me.
I guessed after what he’d heard about me; he considered me safe. Maybe it was because my brother had been taken too. I wasn’t sure.
“I’ll kill you,” Jordan said to me without preamble.
“Today?”
“If you tell anyone where my safe house is. I can’t move it. I won’t relocate.”
“When have I ever told anyone what you tell me? Never. If I had, you would have been behind bars with no chance of getting out. Besides, I couldn’t and wouldn’t do that to Reghan.”
Jordan still stared, still stroked his beard. “You’re going to have to call out at least a day or two. Leave your work phone at home. I won’t risk them tracking you. Albert!”
It was mere seconds before Albert stuck his head in. “Sir?”
“Sweep Barrett’s car to make sure he’s not being tracked.”
“Of course, sir.”
“I do it all the time,” I told him. “I don’t want them knowing where I am.”
“Yes, but I was seen in your building,” Jordan stated.
“Which I handled by saying I hadn’t seen you and no one reported back that my brother was seen leaving with your men. My guess is one of the tenants saw and locked themselves inside out of fear of you.”
“You can’t continue to live a double life. I warned you.”
I sighed. “I know. Just let me get this case handled then we can talk.” Would Jordan offer me a full-time job working for him? No clue. I’d accepted I had to quit being a detective though. I couldn’t hide my relationship with Reghan forever, nor did I want to. If I had to make the choice, I’d choose him as long as the money was there for me to leave my job. That was key. Marshall had to be taken care of, no matter what he said.
Jordan nodded. “Fine. If you break my trust, I won’t hesitate.”
Reghan turned away from us, his hands fisted by his sides.
“Noted,” I told Jordan.
“Raiden, call Sheldon and tell him to pack clothes and the essentials for Reghan, then pick you up here so you can go to Barrett’s home and pack a bag for him.”
“Hey, I can do that myself,” I said. “I don’t need Raiden doing it for me.”
Jordan cocked an eyebrow. “You’re going to take Noah with you?”
“Fuck. Fine.”
“As I thought. You’re going to ride with Reghan and Noah to the safe house, and you’ll stay there until I say otherwise.”
I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth together. Holy fuck was it hard to take orders from him. Every part of me rebelled. If I were going to eventually leave my job and work for him, we’d have to come to an understanding. I wouldn’t, “yes, sir,” him or any of that other shit.
Jordan kept talking. “Vinny, call Sylvan and tell him he’s getting company. Ask him to make sure three rooms are ready.”
“Two,” Reghan cut in.
Jordan’s eyebrow lifted. “Excuse me?”
“Two, sir. I’ll stay with Barrett.”
“Whatever,” he growled. “This shouldn’t be so goddamn complicated. They’ll get your belongings, you’ll get in the fucking SUV, and you’ll be out of my face before I fucking punch you. Once we know who we’re dealing with, we make plans to take him down.”
By what Noah had alluded to, whoever this was wouldn’t go easily. Noah was terrified to even speak his name, which made me wonder if he was a politician. That gave me an idea.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I sent a text to Reghan so I wouldn’t upset Noah.
Me: Does your guy on the inside have access to the cameras in here?
Reghan frowned when he pulled his phone out. “Why?” he asked aloud.
Me: If he does, have him run face recognition on Noah to see if that’s even his real name, and if he can figure out who his family is. We don’t know when he’s going to tell us who took him. He’s scared to death.
Jordan peered at Reghan’s phone and nodded. I pocketed mine then watched as Reghan’s fingers moved over the screen. We could wait for days for Noah to tell us who this was. We didn’t have that much time. If the men who were being held were going to be sold, we had to find them soon.
No matter what happened, Noah wouldn’t leave my side. I was a safe space to him. He wouldn’t go to the hospital or to the station. Whoever was in his family was enough to scare the hell out of him. I wasn’t going to be the one to push him into a situation he didn’t want to be in, but I couldn’t be on the ground helping if I was holed up in Jordan’s safe house.
My car wasn’t making the trip there. Jordan would hide it somewhere. I’d sent a quick email saying I needed a few days off due to a personal matter. A phone call would have been better, but I didn’t have time to answer the questions that would inevitably be lobbed my way.
I didn’t wait for a reply before shutting my phone off and handing it to Raiden. He’d leave it in my home. My personal phone number had never made its way into any system at work, but just to be safe, I powered that off as well and handed it over.
“There are spare phones at the house,” Reghan said. “You can have one of those.” I only cared about being able to communicate with Marshall. Reghan, as if hearing my thoughts added, “I’ll make sure he has the number.”
There was a pit in my stomach over going to Jordan’s safe house. I wasn’t worried about my well-being but more about what seeing this side of his world meant. There wouldn't be any going back. I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t seen anything. This was the tipping point.
Then again, I put the wheels in motion, not only by being with Reghan but also by calling Jordan when Noah came to me.
I could have ignored Noah’s pleas and taken him to the hospital as well as called it in. My first call was to Jordan. My gut chose him and the man who owned me body and soul. I knew Reghan would come too. By calling Jordan, I put my trust in him like he did with me by bringing me to his safe house. I had a feeling this was going to be completely different than I’d seen before.
In my mind, a safe house was unassuming so it would blend in. Nothing Jordan did was subtle. Why would this be any different?
My decision was made. The fallout with my job would happen, but I could work for Jordan. My brother still needed me to pay for his insurance so he could follow his dreams. I still needed a sizable cushion in my savings account for the what-if scenarios.
Once this case was solved and the man behind it dead, I could move on with my life. A life I wanted to spend with Reghan. Besides, I was already half leaning into this world of crime. It wasn’t a big leap to jump all the way in. I just had to make sure I was still helping people and doing what I had to for Marshall. Those were things I wouldn’t compromise on. Sure, I’d still do completely illegal shit for Jordan. There would be no change there unless he added to it, which I would be fine with if I was no longer in my current job. I wouldn’t have to worry about my superiors finding out about money in my account if they checked.
After everything was settled and we knew what we were supposed to do, we got into the SUV with Reghan behind the wheel. Noah shook in the back seat when I glanced at him. His eyes were on the window, watching and waiting. I fully believed he thought people were going to jump out and attack him.
Neither Reghan nor I would let that happen. Reghan had at least one gun on him. I had one of my personal guns, but I might borrow one of Jordan’s from the safe house so nothing could be traced back to me.
Reghan drove us out of the city, but not too far. There was land as far as the eye could see, with houses dotting the landscape every so often. He eventually turned into a driveway where a tall iron gate greeted us with an E on it.
“What’s the E stand for?” I asked.
“You’ll find out once we’re inside,” Reghan replied.
The gates opened after entering a code and we drove through, the entire property seeming to be fenced. The home was more mansion than small single-family residence. Gray stone adorned the outside and the front had tall arching windows.
Reghan pressed a second button on the remote, opening one of the doors of the attached garage and pulling the Navigator into the spot. He shut it off before closing the door behind us. When it met the concrete floor and made a loud clang, Noah jumped.
“Let’s go inside,” Reghan said gently. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
It took a minute for Noah to leave the vehicle. We were more than willing to wait for as long as he needed. When he finally emerged, his feet shuffled on the cement floor. Jordan had given him a pair of socks he had in his car.
I thought the door we went through would open to the house. I was wrong. It led us into a room with two more doors with keypads. I was curious but at the same time didn’t want to know.
Reghan entered the code on the pad next to the door on the left. With the door unlocked, we stepped into the main part of the home. A man with sandy-blond hair waited for us as we walked into a massive living space. The windows I saw from the outside showcased the property in front of us. There was a large staircase heading upstairs and other rooms off of this one.
The man was smaller in both height and weight. His gaze bounced from person to person, not landing on one for long as his hands twisted in obvious nervousness in front of him.
“Hi, Reghan,” he said.
“It’s nice to see you again. I’d like to introduce you to our guests. This is Barrett North and Noah. And this is Sylvan Ellery. He lives in and manages the home.” That explained the E outside. It was a good coverup for Jordan. This could be Sylvan’s real home he owned.
“It's nice to meet you,” Sylvan said, offering me his trembling hand, which I shook gently.
Noah shrank back when it was offered to him. “Sorry,” he muttered.
Sylvan gave him a warm smile. “Don’t be. I’m a mess of anxiety. You never have to apologize to me. Let me show you to your rooms.”