Chapter 5
I was sitting at the kitchen table, so I wasn’t eavesdropping.
It was just impossible not to hear James’s side of the call.
Carter clearly didn’t approve, and I half expected him to call me the second James hung up.
Especially after James told him to get us a room in a nice hotel downtown for at least four nights, then followed it up with I’m the boss, saying he’d do it himself if Carter didn’t comply.
“Nice hotel?” I asked dubiously once James hung up after biting Carter’s head off. “Does he call this place nice?”
James scowled as he pierced one of the steaks in the skillet with his fork and slid it onto a plate. “I know what you’re thinkin’, but he knows I mean something with room service.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “We’re just gonna waltz into the lobby of someplace like The Capital Hotel?”
He turned and grinned at me. “Why not?”
“Uh… maybe because we’re trying to keep a low profile?”
“No one will be looking for us there. They’ll be checking out the shady motels around the I-30/I-40 corridor.”
That made sense. The corridor was a suspected hot spot for trafficking. And by staying downtown, we’d be close to it without advertising ourselves.
“He’ll probably make reservations at The Morrison. It’s downtown and close to the I-30/I-40 interchange.”
“You told him to get it for four nights. You think we’re gonna solve this that quickly?”
“No, but I figure we’ll need to move somewhere else by then.”
He had a point.
I sat back in the chair and watched as he finished plating the food, then set the dishes on the table.
“No arguments?” he asked, a smug grin tugging at his mouth.
“Would you entertain one?”
He sat down and held my gaze. “Maybe.”
I stared at him, surprised.
“We’re a team,” he said, dropping his attention to his plate. “And while I’m a great idea man, I’m not opposed to considering other options.”
Something in my chest tightened at the word team. I was pretty sure James didn’t do teams. Not unless he was the coach.
“Why do I get the feeling you weren’t always open to other ideas?”
He didn’t answer right away. Then he said, “I wasn’t opposed. I was more … dead-set on bein’ right.”
“And now?”
“I still believe I’m usually right,” he said, glancing up. “But Little Rock is your turf. You might have a better idea or two.”
I couldn’t help grinning. “Why do I think that was hard for you to admit?”
“Not as hard as it would have been five years ago,” he said, like it pained him to admit it. “I’m an evolved man.” He picked up a steak knife and started cutting. “Now how does this downtown hotel location work with your contacts?”
“I have three to check in with. One downtown. One south of town. And another out by the industrial park.”
“I have a few people,” he said, not looking up. “I doubt they’ll be eager to see me, but they’ll talk.”
“We’re not going to torture anyone,” I said adamantly.
He gave me a blank look. “I didn’t say anything about torture.”
“I’ve seen some of your interrogation techniques,” I countered.
He returned his gaze to his food. “We’ll play it by ear.”
We ate in silence for a few moments while I turned his plan over in my head. It wasn’t the worst idea … except for one part.
“You’re going to need to sit some of this out. You shouldn’t overdo it.”
He shook his head. “I’m not letting you do this alone.
” When I started to protest, he held up a hand.
“I’m not doin’ anything alone either. After dealing with Nicole, you know the Knoxes are ruthless.
We need to be each other’s backup.” His eyes cut to mine.
“You have your sources and I’ve got mine.
We’ll see what we can find—giving each other space when we need it but remaining close by—then figure out what to do next. ”
“What’s your end goal here?” I asked bluntly, voicing the question I’d been holding back all week.
His mouth tightened. “To bring down the Knoxes.”
“And find out who’s running a trafficking ring?”
His lips pursed even more. “That too.”
“Are you doing this in conjunction with the FBI?”
He scowled. “This again. Why would you think that?”
“That’s not an answer, James. It’s a deflection.”
He held my gaze, his eyes hard. “No, Harper. I’m not working with the FBI.”
“What about another alphabet agency?”
He groaned. “Harper.”
Another non-answer. Which told me he was definitely working with someone. The who probably didn’t matter, but the why might. “What is their end goal?”
“I never said I was working with anyone.”
“For the sake of argument,” I said in a breezy tone. “Let’s pretend you are. What’s the endgame?”
“To stop human traffickers,” he said flatly.
“But how? Arrests? Elimination?”
His jaw ticked. “You mean murder.” It wasn’t a question.
“Sure,” I said flippantly. “Murder. What’s the ultimate goal?”
He held my gaze for several seconds. “Hypothetically, if I were working with an agency—not that I’m admitting I am.” His voice went colder. “It would be to end this operation. However I see fit.”
“They’ve given you carte blanche?” I asked in disbelief, then quickly added, “Hypothetically.”
“They want it ended,” he said flatly. “The least messy way possible.”
“Is murder less messy than trials?”
His eyes darkened. “In some cases, yes.”
I knew he was referring to the Hardshaw Group.
I was pretty sure the founders were dead, but plenty of people beneath them had been swept up in the arrests.
And plenty of those people had enough hidden money to bankroll high-priced attorneys.
Last I’d heard, there was a fear that a few might walk—and then head right back out onto the street and build their own syndicates with everything they’d already learned.
“I can’t murder anyone, James.” But even as I said the words, I wasn’t sure that was true anymore.
He was the one who stopped me from killing an unarmed Nicole Knox.
And if I didn’t plan to kill him, why didn’t I just turn my mother’s files over to the FBI?
Maybe I just couldn’t bring myself to admit it.
He held my gaze again, and I knew he was thinking about all the men I’d killed last week trying to protect us. Trying to save him.
“That was different,” I whispered. “That was self-defense.”
“This might come down to self-defense too.”
I could see that, but I didn’t think James was counting on that might.
“What guarantee do you have that they won’t prosecute you for murder?” I asked.
“I never said I was going to murder anyone,” he said, taking another bite.
But if he didn’t have an iron clad Get Out of Jail Free card, then I could be dragged down with him. Arrested and charged. My life and freedom were riding on the details he wasn’t sharing.
I trusted him. But did I trust him enough to bet everything on blind faith?
“You don’t have to do this,” he said, like he was reading my thoughts. “I can handle it on my own.”
“What happened to we’re a team and we need to be each other’s backup?”
“We can be a team while we investigate,” he said. “And when it gets ugly, then I’ll handle it.”
“You’re gonna face Knox and his security team on your own?”
“We don’t know what we’ll be facing,” he said. “I’ll figure out a plan once we have more information.”
“If your endgame is to eliminate Gerald Knox, why not just assassinate him? Why the dog-and-pony show of digging into the operation?”
His gaze darkened. “Because after the J.R. Simmons fiasco, I learned if you cut off the head of the snake, it grows two or more. Smaller and hungrier. Then they get bigger over time. We need to destroy the whole god-damned thing.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know yet,” he said, holding my gaze. “I’ll figure it out as we go. But I meant what I said—when it gets to the end, I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to be part of it.”
“So, no immunity,” I said, not bothering to soften it. “And you don’t want me to get caught in the blast radius if you go down.”
His jaw flexed. “I never said I was part of anything. Not an agency. Not a deal.”
“Then what is this?
“Revenge.”
I scoffed. “You said you’ve been working on this for a couple of years, and you just made the possible link to Knox. Where does the revenge come in? You want to take down his entire business because his mother had you snatched?”
His face darkened. “We have history.”
“But you don’t know for sure he’s part of the trafficking ring. Try again.”
His jaw tensed. “Knox came onto my radar about fifteen years ago. His daddy was a hard ass, but the son…” He drew in a breath.
“Gerald was a spoiled, entitled asshole who thought the world owed him because of who his father was. I heard that when his daddy died, he took over and became ruthless. His father was into gambling and shady business deals, but he was considered a fair man. Then Gerald stepped in. The gambling went by the wayside, and I’d heard rumors Knox Junior was laundering, but I didn’t give it much thought.
Not until I saw what your mother had. If he’s laundering at the level your mother’s paperwork hints at, he’s funding something massive.
Not just profit—protection. Payoffs, properties, lawyers.
The kind of operation you build when you’re running a trafficking network. ”
“That still doesn’t explain your history.”
He held my gaze. “About four years ago, he joined forces with a man who was trying to take over my territory.” He took a breath. “I didn’t find out until a couple of years ago, but a trustworthy source confirmed it.” His eyes went flat. “So, now I consider this an opportunity to take what’s his.”
I cocked my head. “An eye for an eye?”
“You could say that.”
“How certain are you that Knox is the trafficker?” I asked. “The laundering is pretty strong evidence, but do we want to put all our eggs in Knox’s basket and focus fully on him?”
His jaw ticked. “Knox fills the whole damn basket.”
I nodded. “Okay. Then we go into this with the presumption Knox is behind it until we find evidence that proves differently.”
He stood and picked up his now empty plate. “Finish up. We’ll leave in a few minutes.”
I watched as he dropped his plate in the sink and stalked out of the room.
This was crazy. I was crazy. It was downright foolish to follow him into this without more information about who he was working with and what they wanted. Or what the consequences would be if he didn’t do exactly what they wanted.
Because the FBI had already screwed him over once.
With the Hardshaw Group takedown, he’d done the dirty work—nearly two years of it. The plan had been for him to be there when the agencies swooped in and made arrests. But he hadn’t been there. And since he hadn’t followed their instructions down to the letter, they’d arrested him too.
Who was to say they wouldn’t screw him over again?
If I was doing this with him, I should make him tell me everything before we took another step.
But…
I also knew he wouldn’t let me get caught up in whatever he was doing. He’d use me to help dig up what he needed, and then he’d cut me loose and take the responsibility on himself.
Only I wasn’t just worried about me.
I was worried about him.
Still, I knew if I pushed too hard, there was a chance he’d ditch me entirely and take this all on himself.
A few weeks ago, I would have been furious about his secrets. Now, I understood he was walking a thin line.
I wanted him to tell me. But I didn’t want to force it. I wanted him to tell me because he trusted me enough to know the truth.
So for now, I’d bide my time.
And if we got down to the wire, I’d find a way to force his hand.
I only hoped it wouldn’t come to that.