One #2
“So what if he lied? It was for a good reason,” Sienna chimed in, defending her friend.
Easy to see she adored Cooper from the way she spoke to him and held his hand.
They had gotten close when she had attended the wedding where Cooper and Ash had met.
“I think it’s very sweet and shows how in love he is. ”
“And it worked,” Benji remarked with a shrug. “I mean, really. Here you are.”
Ash smiled at the man he very obviously loved.
“I regret nothing,” Cooper assured him.
“Now that we’ve put that to bed,” Benji began, “please tell me why that man Darius having a vault is so important.”
“No, he is the vault,” Cooper corrected.
“Well, I’m a vault too,” Ella commented. “Anything anyone tells me, I don’t repeat.”
“Same,” Benji agreed. “So why is that such a big deal to be related to us when he was introduced?”
“I was wondering that myself,” Nick said distractedly, tucking a wayward piece of Locryn’s hair behind his ear. “It seemed so odd.”
“No, not a vault,” Cooper repeated. “ The vault.”
“All you’re doing is repeating the same words over and over,” Ella pointed out.
“Explain it to those of us who didn’t attend the lecture and only received the CliffsNotes,” Benji insisted.
“I’m going to text you all now,” Ash stated, because apparently, he knew, which was good, because it saved me the trouble. The fact that he had everyone’s numbers in his phone spoke to how important Cooper’s friends were to him. I liked that a lot.
The entire group was quiet as they read, which was probably a relief to the other wedding guests around us.
But then we were all suddenly shoving over as people I hadn’t seen in years, fixers who had left us ages ago, joined us, squeezing in, introduced to everyone by me because I was the one who’d been at Torus Intercession the longest and still remembered them.
Later, we were joined at our tables at the reception by Croy Esca and his husband, FBI Special Agent Dallas Bauer, and the sheriff of Ursa, Montana, Brann Calder, and his husband, high school English teacher Emery Dodd.
It was nice to have them there, as well as more recent fixers who had left Chicago, like Locryn.
It was funny, but a lot of the time, the person who came to put your life back on track, was the one you couldn’t imagine your life without.
Many fixers had been “kept” over the years, meaning fell in love and stayed put.
I always wondered how that could possibly be true love.
It seemed more like gratitude to me. But as Nick Madison told me as we both watched his husband cross the room to get drinks, it wasn’t that he felt grateful for what Locryn had done, but instead, his eyes had been opened to the possibility of what his life could truly be.
“No one else could have done that, and I wasn’t about to let him go.”
“Same,” Dallas Bauer chimed in from the other side of the table, cheek pressed into his fist, watching Croy and Ella grab drinks. “And he wasn’t even my fixer. But we met and boom —that was it. I knew that fast, it had to be him.”
“I feel the same,” Ash murmured, visibly choked up as he watched Cooper and Sienna dancing, looking like professionals out there. “The thought of him not being with me—” He took a breath. “—was simply untenable.”
“So when are you two getting married?” Nick asked him.
“In January, so you should all plan on another ridiculously long, nauseatingly sentimental, over-the-top ceremony.”
“Yeah, but you’ll have famous people at your nuptials, won’t you?” Shaw asked him.
“Yes, I will, so there will be that perk. And Cooper has four sisters, and they’re sure to liven things up.”
Brann chuckled. “I know all his sisters, and yeah, that’s a good time right there.”
Emery, his husband, was compelled, it seemed, to kiss his cheek. Apparently, simply Brann smiling and being happy was enough to make him the same. It was really nice. The two men had pictures of their girls to show off as well.
Jared came to the table then, looking every bit like the millionaire ex-spy he was in the Armani tuxedo that fit like a glove. He’d always been a handsome man, but since he started loving Owen, and was loved in return, he was absolutely stunning.
He was happy to see all his fixers, hugging them and shaking hands with their spouses.
Agatha Yang, one of his first hires at Torus, had made him a plaque for the office that said syzygy , his favorite word, and gave the definition, a word he used often that was the bedrock of our directive.
A conjunction or opposition in alignment, but how he used it was more to mean the alignment of all things.
He always wanted us to leave things better than how we’d found them.
Walking around the table, he was greeting everyone, but when my phone buzzed, I saw it was forwarded from work and got up. Everyone else had a plus-one there at the wedding but me, so I’d made sure to be the guy watching over the office.
Crossing to a quiet area of the gorgeous ballroom at the Drake, I answered on the fourth ring. “Hello, you’ve reached Torus Intercession. How may I help you?”
“Please hold for Abel Roarke.”
“Certainly,” I said and sighed. That was always weird when an assistant or secretary called for someone else.
“Go ahead, Mr. Roarke,” the woman instructed.
“Hello, to whom am I speaking?”
“My name is Nash Miller. How may I help you?”
“Mr. Miller, I?—”
“Nash is good.”
“Oh, all right, excellent,” he said and exhaled, and it was a good sound, like I’d soothed him in some way. “Nash, I’m reaching out on behalf of my brother-in-law, Luke Duchesne, and you see, my sister she—wait. Let me start over. I?—”
“Pardon me, sir,” I began gently. “But is this about the family in Washington where the mom went into WITSEC a year and a half ago and the family may or may not be on the radar of the guy she’s set to testify against?”
“Yes,” he replied, sounding relieved not to have to go over it. “Yes, it is.”
“Give me the last name again, please,” I requested, walking to the door, gently putting my shoulder into it, pushing it open and stepping out into the hall, where I could put him on speaker and look for a file on my phone at the same time.
“Mine is Roarke, but my brother-in-law’s last name is Duchesne.”
“Okay. Just a second.” I found the folder on my phone and opened it.
Jared had given me—and Shaw, since he basically ran the office now—the heads-up on everything that was coming up while he would be gone on his three-week honeymoon in Italy, where he and Owen would be seeing all the country had to offer.
I was happy for him. I couldn’t remember him taking a vacation in the last ten years, other than seeing his friends at Christmas, so he was due.
“So your sister is Caitlyn Duchesne?” I asked, scrolling on my phone.
“That’s correct.”
“And she witnessed Edward Beaton shoot and kill five men.”
“She did, yes. She witnessed it from the second-story window of her hotel room and even took video for good measure.”
“That was very brave of her to go forward. You should be proud of her.”
“I would be prouder if she hadn’t witnessed the crime while she was at a hotel with her lover, whom she was having a six-month affair with. She’s thirty-nine now, and Marcello Conti is a whopping twenty-four.”
He seemed upset by the age difference, and I had no response to that.
“I—anyway, she went into WITSEC with Mr. Conti instead of opting to take her family, which apparently you can do.”
“That’s right, I have that,” I told him. “And this was eighteen months ago.”
“Yes.”
“And the case is coming up next month?”
“That’s what was originally related, yes.”
“So you and your family are concerned for your brother-in-law and your niece and two nephews?”
“Not the family. Me.”
“Pardon?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware of Roarke Pharmaceuticals, Nash, but that’s what our family does.
We own the company, and I’m the CEO. My parents did not want their daughter to marry a landscaper.
They wanted her to marry David Oglethorpe the Third.
But she bailed on the engagement and married Luke Duchesne instead.
They have three children, as you know, and I’m the only one who stayed in contact with her. ”
“So your parents are estranged from their daughter.”
“Correct. My parents have never met her children and will not. I wish that was different, but I don’t ever see it changing. Caitlyn and Luke were married for seventeen years, and there was never any thaw.”
“Okay.”
“Now that she’s entered WITSEC, none of us will see her again, but when I reached out to the marshals, I was told they cannot offer Luke and the kids any protection.”
“Perhaps that’s because they’re not in any jeopardy,” I pointed out. “Not to mention the fact that if Mr. Beaton was killing?—”
“My understanding is that he was working for a cartel the FBI is very interested in dismantling through him. That’s why her preferences were taken into consideration.”
“You mean taking Mr. Conti with her.”
“Yes.”
“Having worked with the marshals on a number of occasions over the years, I suspect they feel that by taking Mr. Conti with her and no one from her family,” I said, trying to be as tactful as possible, “she’s telegraphing who is, and is not, important to her.”
“Meaning what?”
I took a breath. “It’s very unlikely anyone from the cartel will come after your sister’s family.”
He was quiet on the other end.
“My understanding is that your sister’s divorce was finalized quite quickly after she left.”
“Yes. Apparently, when you’re in WITSEC, uncontested divorces move lightning fast.”
“Uncontested divorces do that generally. I doubt it has anything to do with WITSEC, Mr. Roarke.”
“Regardless, the divorce was finalized almost a year ago now.”
I cleared my throat. “I suspect your sister had been unhappy in her marriage for a while, and when she was given the gift to start over, she took it.”
“Yes. That’s what Luke said as well.”
I was confused. “So what is it you want us to do here, Mr. Roarke?”
He took a breath. “I don’t want my sister’s kids and her ex-husband to be in harm’s way simply because she didn’t think to safeguard them. I’ve paid the retainer, so I would like Torus to send a fixer to Eena, Washington, and watch over my niece, two nephews, and ex-brother-in-law.”
A brief search showed Eena, Washington, to be somewhere between the Seattle Tacoma International Airport and Newcastle.
It was not a big place, with only about five thousand people, on the edge of Lake Washington.
It would be the smallest place I’d ever been to.
And of course it would be me—there was no one else available.
Rais had recently gotten back from a month-long job in Dallas, Texas, so he couldn’t go.
We never sent a fixer on back-to-back long-term contracts.
Shaw didn’t take out-of-town jobs anymore, not since marrying Benji.
Cooper went out of town, but not for more than two nights in a row, so he was out.
Ella had been in Hartford, Connecticut, for the last month, so she wasn’t going, and our two new fixers, Danesha Browne and Evangeline Andrade, had just returned from a protection job in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a state health inspector turned whistleblower.
They had both arrived a bit ago, with dates, for the wedding reception.
I liked them both a lot, and since burning them out was not a good idea, this horror show was on me.
“Question, Mr. Roarke.”
“Of course.”
“Does Mr. Duchesne want protection for himself and his family?”
No answer.
“Mr. Roarke?” I prodded.
Still nothing.
“Have you even discussed this with him?”
“No. Not at all.”
Of course he hadn’t. “What do you want done if he refuses to have a fixer in his home?”
“My understanding from the report my private investigator gave me is that Luke is drowning at the moment, so it’s possible he will appreciate the help.”
“You sent a private investigator to spy on your ex-brother-in-law?” This was new.
“Well, I didn’t want to be intrusive, you understand.”
“Of course not.”
“As you said, Nash, it’s possible my concern is misguided and Luke and my nephews and niece are not in any danger, but what if I’m wrong? Just because my sister abandoned her family doesn’t mean I will. I’m counting on Torus to take care of this for me.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Roarke. We will have a fixer in Eena on Monday.”
Deep sigh. “Thank you, Nash. I’m so relieved. Your firm’s reputation is stellar, and everyone I asked—people I trust and do business with—suggested Torus Intercession first.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roarke. We will make certain the family is protected and will send you a report once the job is completed.”
“You don’t know what a weight off my shoulders this is.”
I was sure it was. Not only was he worried, but there was guilt mixed in there too. His sister had left her family, and his parents wanted nothing to do with them. It was a mess. To know he could do this for them had to feel amazing.
“I will update you as soon as I reach Eena.”
“You’ll be the one going?”
“Yessir, I will.”
“That’s even better.” He sounded pleased. “You seem more than capable, Nash.”
Like he could tell that over the phone. “Thank you, sir, I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you, Nash.”
Once I hung up, I turned, and there was my boss.
“Hey,” I greeted him, lifting my arm.
He moved quickly, embracing me, and I hugged him back.
“Congratulations,” I murmured, smiling at him. “You and Owen will be very happy, my friend.”
“We will, but where are you going?”
I grinned at him.
“What? I need to know where you are.”
“I’m off to Eena, Washington,” I replied with a raised eyebrow.
“Where?”
“Small town. Very. Please don’t give this a thought. Have fun on the honeymoon. Eat and drink and?—”
“I want you to be safe,” he said flatly.
I squinted at him. “Shaw will send backup if I need help. Rais will be here, and so will Cooper. Please stop thinking about this.”
But his brows were furrowed.
“Five thousand people in the whole town,” I pointed out.
He grunted. “That is…small. Perhaps there’s no reason to worry.”
I smiled at him because really, could he have wished worse luck on me?
Still, I was fairly certain I was going out on an absolute waste of time of a job.
Hopefully that was the case. “Let’s go back in so I can say goodbye to everyone and hug Owen before I go home and pack.
I wonder what the weather’s like in Washington. ”