Chapter 19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
NOVA
After sending Riptide and a few of my less menacing brothers inside to finish what I started, I head toward Marsten.
Every forward step I take Marsten’s way is done with a temperamental vexation and he notices that in my stride the closer I get to him if the twitch of his eyes is any indication.
He hangs his head in exasperation and audibly sighs.
“How did that motherfucker make it on my land without tripping my system, Marsten? What do you know about him that I don’t?”
“We already knew he was smart, Nova,” Marsten exclaims. “But what we didn’t know, what I needed to stay under wraps until I knew who I could trust and who I couldn’t, is that he’s an MIT dropout.”
The way he worded that compounded by the look on his face says there’s more to that story than what he’s telling me.
It’s suspect, if nothing else and I don’t like it.
Not one bit. “Dropped out or kicked out? Don’t lie to me, Marsten, it’s in your best interest not to if you want me to continue cooperating with you on this.
This shit just became personal for me on a whole new level, so now, I’m more invested than ever before. ”
“This stays between you and me, Nova. Agree to that, or I’m not going to tell you what I found and buried,” Marsten declares.
“I won’t lie to my brothers, Marsten. If you’re against them finding out what you’re about to say, then keep your trap shut.
But know this, if you do, our working relationship ends here,” I stipulate, not beating around the bush.
It’s a pledge I’d make with my hand placed upon a Bible.
I’m not fucking around with this—not anymore.
I’ve given him as much leeway as I’m willing to give.
“Dammit, Nova. You’ve put me in a sticky position here,” he states through gritted teeth.
Crossing my arms over my chest in a power move, I peer down at him through slitted lids and say, “I play with mousetraps in my spare time. In this case, Jennings is the rodent, and I’m the snare, but in order to catch the vermin before it scuttles away with the cheese, I need to be made aware of all the evidence. ”
“Nice metaphor,” he huffs out.
“I deal with uneducated men on the streets on a daily basis who don’t necessarily understand the big words, they confuse them so I break shit down into teeny, tiny pieces and phrases so they get what I’m saying.
And since it seems you weren’t comprehending the words that were coming out of my mouth, I extended the same courtesy to you. ”
“You’re in a mood,” he harrumphs.
“I am in a mood,” I clarify, repeating his words back to him, keeping my arms crossed but this time, my face is thunderous. “And if you were wearing my shoes, you would be as well.”
He and I usually have a tit for tat working relationship, but seeing as he’s keeping shit from me, I don’t feel like patting his back, nor do I feel the need to tell him about the little note I received from Jennings that’s tucked into my front jeans pocket where I know it’s safe, and won’t be found or tampered with by his men unless I’m patted down—I dare a motherfucker to try.
Today is not the day for anybody to test my patience.
Marsten hangs his head and I watch his cheeks puff before he releases the pent up breath he was holding.
“He had accusations against him that led to his expulsion,” he discloses.
“Rape was the primary accusation against him. They couldn’t get any evidence against him, it was a he said she said situation. ”
“That changes his profile entirely, Marsten,” I say through grinded teeth, my hands balled up into fists at my sides so I don’t reach out and break his motherfucking neck. “That’s crucial information, asshole. You should’ve shared that with me, dammit.”
“I couldn’t, Nova. I know it changes things as far as his profile goes, but I couldn’t parcel out that information until I had clearance to do so,” Marsten explains. “You know how it is, we have to keep some things guarded.”
My jaw aches from how hard I’m clenching it. It’s taking everything within me to keep myself in check. “Since when do we lie to each other, Marsten? Has it always been that way and I was foolish to believe we were working on the same team?”
“We are on the same team, Nova. But you know how it is when an edict comes from someone higher up on the food chain than where you are. In order to not piss them off and be taken off this case, I did as ordered. I didn’t have a choice, they could’ve put someone on it that would’ve hindered the entire investigation. ”
“You still think you have an inside mole, don’t you, Marsten?”
“I do. And until I can prove it, I have to keep a lid on certain things. Between us, my superiors think the same thing which is why we’ve taken some of the measures that we have to keep some evidence undiscoverable, if you catch my drift?”
“I caught it and now I’m tossing it back at you. I’m not a patsy and I won’t be made one either. Not by you, and not by the Feds. If I’m being set up to take the fall, I’m dragging you down to Hell with me.”
“What makes you think you’re being set up, Nova?” he asks, seeming to be confused about why I’m feeling that way. “Your name hasn’t been brought into anything. I’ve kept my lips sealed that we’re working together on this case.”
Shaking my head at his stupidity, I spit out, “You’re more naive than I thought you were, Marsten.
Do you honestly think that Governor MacDougal hasn’t told your people that he’s hired the Kings to locate his missing daughter?
Your mole isn’t a lower level employee, they don’t have the strings to pull.
You’re feeding them all the information they need to frame us. The question remains, what for?”
“Jennings has a brother, we haven’t been able to uncover his identity, that information in his jacket… it’s been blacked out,” Marsten mumbles, understanding starting to dawn on him. “Shit. I have to go, Nova. I need to do some digging.”
“You’re being watched, Marsten,” I remind him. “It may be better if I have Booker check this out. It’ll keep you clean and won’t trigger any alarms.”
“You’re right. My log in can be traced no matter where I sign in from. If I am being watched, as we suspect I am, they can get into my feed and see what information I’ve been researching,” he concludes. “Nova, we may be fucked.”
“We’re not,” I declare, pulling out my phone and texting Booker. “My brothers and I will take it from here.”
I know for a fact that our phones are traceless and undecipherable, so I’m comfortable giving him all the data I have at my fingertips.
I lay out our suspicions and ask him to tread lightly and cover his tracks.
I receive a thumbs up emoji in response and shake my head.
He must be tied to his desktop and deep in the dark web to give me such a simple, unremarkable comment.
“He’s on it,” I inform Marsten. “Go home and have Christmas with your family. I’m going to go inside and salvage as much of this day as I can. This is not what I had in mind for the girls when it came to giving them their first holiday.”
“Nova,” he calls at my retreating back. When I turn around to face him, he says, “I still want to work with you on this. I won’t feed my commanders with any documented information that’ll put them on the right track, I’ll give them false intel.
It may end my career, but I want to catch this piece of shit and any of his accomplices.
Even if one of them is a man who thinks he’s untouchable because he carries a badge and a gun. ”
I nod my head before heading into the house, leading him to believe that I’ll be telling him everything I learn without reservation.
But until he’s cleared by Booker, I won’t be sharing the important shit.
Like him, I’ll be feeding the narrative I want to be spread.
He may not be dirty, but until I know that with certainty, he won’t be brought into the fold.
When I make it inside, I’m met with laughter from both the girls and my brothers which eases some of my pent up tension.
I was halfway expecting the girls to be hiding out in their rooms, so this is a pleasant surprise.
Walking into the kitchen, I notice my brothers are settled around the kitchen table and the girls leaning against the island, munching on cinnamon rolls.
“Did y’all save any for me?” I ask as I round the island that sits in the middle of the kitchen and lean in between Freyja and Chaney looking for food as my stomach rumbles from the cinnamon-y aroma wafting through the air.
“Those smell amazing.” Freyja gives me a shy smile before reaching into the microwave and pulling out a plate that’s covered with aluminum foil.
“Ah, you do love me,” I tease, reaching out and taking it from her before heading over and joining my brothers.