Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
GHOST
F uck.
Ghost stared at the text message from Hunter and sighed. He wanted to take Cassie out to breakfast and shopping. He wanted to spend the day getting to know her better and find out what he had to do to convince her to move here, with him. Instead, the text dictated what their morning would consist of.
“Cassie baby,” Ghost shook her awake.
“Oh.” She rubbed her eyes. “It wasn’t a dream.”
“No, sweetheart. It wasn’t. We need to get ready to go. We’re meeting with Higgins at her place. Hop in the shower while I make some phone calls.” He was already getting dressed before she started moving. Within an hour, they were on the road. He pulled into the mall and turned to Cassie. “I googled and found out there’s a store in here called Torrid. They carry plus size clothing. Let’s grab you a couple outfits so you don’t have to rotate between the two you have with you.”
“I love Torrid, but they are expensive,” Cassie said.
“Don’t worry about the cost.” He got out of the SUV and walked around to Cassie’s door and opened it. “We don’t have a lot of time though. There’s a coffee shop in the food court. I’ll take you to Torrid and then grab us drinks. Chai for you,” he said.
The mall had just opened and outside of a few older people walking laps, it was fairly empty. Ghost dropped Cassie off inside of Torrid and headed to the coffee stand. They hadn’t spoken about what happened the night before. He’d taken her virginity. It was the best gift she could have given him. After making sure she came twice, he’d orgasmed, shamefully quickly. He’d slipped a condom on right before entering her, since she wasn’t on birth control. The idea of her pregnant with his kid didn’t scare him, not at all. That alone was enough to know she was different. They’d woken in the middle of the night, tangled together and had sex again. He had no doubt she was sore today.
While he waited for his Americano and her Chai, he thought about the events of the past two days. The men almost kidnapping Cassie. The coincidences in the novel and reality. His gut told him Higgins was holding something back. Something important. He hoped to get to the bottom of it today. End whatever threat was after Cassie, because of their resemblance.
Drinks in hand, he headed back to Torrid. He walked into the small store and stopped in his tracks. Cassie was talking to an employee with an arm full of clothes and a smile that lit up the entire room.
“This is too many!” She was telling the employee.
“Your husband said you would say that” the employee said with a giggle. “He gave me instructions to make sure you had at least three complete outfits.”
“My husband?”
“The giant that came in with you. When you were looking, he pulled me to the side.”
“You aren’t good at keeping secrets, I guess.” Ghost said lightly, approaching the women. “And yes, I did tell her to make sure you had at least three complete outfits. Did you try them on?”
“I did. I really only need one pair of jeans and maybe a shirt or two,” Cassie said.
“The clothes that didn’t fit are in the changing room. She was trying to decide between the ones in her arms.”
“We will take them all.”
“Wait, what?” Cassie asked. “Ghost, no. There’s over five hundred dollars’ worth of clothes here.” She put them on the counter and spread them out. “Give me a second and I’ll pick a couple shirts.”
Ghost handed her the hot chai and turned towards the store employee. “Ring them up. We will take them all.” He turned to Cassie and narrowed his eyes, giving her his best, don’t argue with me, look. She held one hand up.
“Okay, okay.” The store employee muttered something about some girls having all the luck before ringing up the clothes and putting them neatly into two bags. They left the store and Ghost pointed out the nearby restroom.
“Want to change your clothes?” He asked her. “You’ve been wearing the same outfit for two days.”
“Yes. Thank you so much for the new clothes. I haven’t bought brand new clothes from a store in… Well, I don’t know how long.”
“Hand me your drink and go change. Try to hurry. We need to be at Higgins’ in twenty.” He bit back a laugh as she hurried excitedly into the bathroom. Cassie was a breath of fresh air. She reappeared a few minutes later wearing jeans that hugged her curves and a blue blouse.
Once they were on the road to Higgins’ Airbnb Ghost explained to Cassie what was going on. “Dozer will meet us at the house Higgins’ is staying in. Hunter requested for her to come to Elite’s Headquarters, but she refused. He assigned Bravo Team to her for round the clock security, so they’ll be there, too. You likely won’t see much of them.” According to Bravo Team, Higgins hadn’t left the house since she’d arrived the night before. She’d mostly been writing at her laptop or relaxing in the attached hot tub.
“Does Ms. Higgins know I’m coming?” Cassie asked.
“She does.” Ghost answered.
“I’m excited to see her again. When I saved up to come and meet her, I thought I’d get to spend five, maybe ten minutes with her. Dinner was an added bonus. When I left, I figured I’d never see her again. Guess I was wrong. Maybe those idiots trying to snatch me wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen to me after all,” she said contemplatively.
“No?” Ghost asked, flipping on his turn signal and merging over to get off the interstate. The Airbnb was outside of Charlotte in the opposite direction of his house. At least she was staying downtown. It’d be a lot harder to secure.
“No. Because of their failure, I get to spend more time with Iris, I met you, and last night was either the first or second best day of my life. I can’t decide.”
“Do I want to know what I’m competing with?”
“Meeting Iris, of course.”
Of course.
If losing her virginity to him was competing with meeting Iris Higgins for the first time, maybe he wasn’t as good in bed as he thought.
“I’m teasing!” Cassie laid back in the seat and erupted into giggles. “Last night is definitely the best night of my life.”
“Brat.” He told her, poking her lightly in the ribcage.
“You should have seen your face!” Cassie was laughing so hard, tears fell from her eyes.
“I’ve never been more tempted to spank someone in my life,” Ghost muttered.
“What?” Cassie said.
Fuck. Was she one of those girls who would be super offended by the mere thought of a man spanking her? He glanced sideways at her. The blush staining her cheeks told him otherwise.
“Don’t poke the bear. You might get bitten.” Was all he said to her as they pulled into the driveway of the Airbnb. He noticed the two all black SUVs already there. Bravo team and Dozer’s vehicles. Elite provided each of them with top-of-the-line security vehicles.
“She’s on the back porch,” Monk told Ghost when they entered the house. Ghost nodded in response.
“Ms. Higgins, nice to see you again!” Cassie said as they walked into the temperature controlled screened back porch.
“Cassie, I told you to call me Iris,” Higgins said rising from her seat. “There’s fresh lemonade on the table and snacks. Come, sit down.”
“I need to call Hunter. Don’t say anything important yet,” Dozer said, pulling out a laptop from his bag.
“I am incredibly sorry for all of this,” Iris said reaching for Cassie’s hand. “There were several people who mentioned how alike we looked, and it makes sense they would snag you considering the last time I saw him, I was ten years younger.”
“Saw who?” Cassie’s eyes grew wide.
“Not another word until Hunter is on the call.” Ghost said. Who was Iris talking about? They all got settled in and a minute later, Hunter’s face appeared on the screen.
“Alright, you were saying?” Ghost asked.
Iris’ eyes locked onto Ghost’s. Her black hair, streaked with silver, shimmered under the sunlight coming through the porch. She drew in a breath, steadying herself. “Iris Higgins is a penname.” She looked at the others in the room as if it would be some sort of shock.
“We are aware,” Ghost told her.
“It’s not uncommon for authors to use pen names,” Cassie said.
“I changed my legal name too. Ten years ago, I had another job. Before I, uh retired and became an author.”
Ghost sat up taller in the wicker chair. Last night, Ruby had called him and told him she couldn’t find anything older than a decade on Iris. After the coincidences between Higgins’ novel and real life, they’d done a deep dive background check on the woman. Ruby was able to find information from the last decade but everything before was gone. No high school or college graduation records. No birth certificate. Nothing. They’d had clients hide their identities before, especially the wealthy ones, but their cyber team had always been able to uncover something. Ruby reached out to their contacts at the DOJ, suspecting possible witness protection, but there was no way the US Marshals would allow someone under their protection to write novels and go to signings, even if it was only two a year.
“After college, I was recruited by the CIA. I speak several languages fluently and I grew up in foster care. I had no family, no roots. At the time, I was the perfect candidate. They sent me deep cover and part of the cover was becoming a mistress for a powerful man,” she began. “Wilson’s father. Herman didn't just happen upon the ghost gun industry; he orchestrated its rise from the shadows. When I was under, they trafficked drugs, women, and real guns. Herman wanted his father’s approval and constantly looked for a way to make a name for himself. He hated me but his sister—” She swallowed hard and looked down at her hands. “I was the mother she never had. We were close.”
Ghost observed her closely, noting the slight tension in her jaw. She spoke with the precision of someone accustomed to telling fictional tales, yet this story was laced with a raw truth and vulnerability. There was something else there, akin to relief, as if she was finally able to unburden her heavy secret. He kept his reactions schooled, unlike Cassie whose jaw was damn near on the ground.
“Cassie looks a lot like I did when I was her age. I think that is where some of the confusion lies. When I left deep cover, I resembled Cassie today. They aren’t accounting for the aging process, apparently.” She laughed softly. Ghost failed to see anything humorous about the situation.
“Are all of your books based on real cases?” Dozer asked.
“My books are all based on reality, in one way or another. They say to write what you know, and I did. I’ve always changed names and exaggerated enough to make them more fictional than not. To keep anyone from connecting the dots. It’s been a long time. I’ve aged and no longer look like I did back when I was undercover. The people I worked with have all passed away for the most part, including my old handler. Wilson’s father passed a few years back, leaving the entire crime empire to his son.”
“You didn’t change the names enough in your newest release. It’s not hard to put two and two together. Hell, you didn’t change Wilson’s name at all.” Dozer said.
“No, my latest book… Winnie contacted me on a number only she had, told me she was in danger. I guess, I don’t know… I wasn’t thinking clearly. I thought if Wilson found out about my book maybe he’d think I knew something and I could throw him off his sister’s trail. The details I wrote about are the exact opposite of what Winnie told me. I hoped I could help her.”
Ghost couldn’t help but wonder if she’d purposely used similar names, tired of living a lie and in hiding. Maybe, it was a subconscious desire to free herself from the past.
“Did they contact you?” Hunter asked from the screen.
“No. I had threats but none of them screamed Wilson. I thought he might try, that’s why I hired all of you.”
“It never occurred to you to let us know?” Ghost asked.
“I was CIA. Deep cover. No one is supposed to know. I didn’t want to meet at Elite because I knew the second your fancy scanners read my face they’d pull my biological name. Some things are best left in the past.”
“We can’t help you without all the details.” Ghost said.
“I can tell you what I know. It’s been a decade, things change. I was just as surprised about Winnie calling as you are. When she was younger, I’d given her the number to an untraceable sat phone number. Only a handful of people had it. A few years ago, on a whim, I forwarded the number to a burner phone I have. I made a lot of contacts, friends even, over the years… I didn’t think the phone would ever ring, but it did and it was Winnie. Wilson’s network... it's vast, connected. More than guns—information, political leverage." Iris paused and scanned the faces around her.
Ghost sat silently, watching and weighing her words. Cassie looked stunned. Dozer, well, if Ghost had to guess, was pissed.
“Have you heard anything since Winnie last contacted you?” Hunter asked.
“No. Not a word.”
“We are going to need the phone she contacted you on and I’m going to send Ruby over to get as many details as she can from you. Do you know where Winnie is? Don’t say it out loud, just nod once if you do.” Hunter said.
“I have a good idea. She didn’t spell it out, but we understand each other.” Iris said. “I think she?—”
“Stop,” Ghost roared. “If Cassie knows, she will be at risk.” Iris nodded in understanding.
“Well fuck,” Dozer said. “This changes everything.”
“What happens now?” Cassie asked.
“The risk is elevated,” Hunter said. “It’s no longer a chance that something Iris wrote is true, it’s fact. If Wilson believes Iris knows Winnie’s location, he’ll stop at nothing to get to her. If the idiots working for him believe Cassie is Iris, that puts her in danger too. We need to work with Iris and find Winnie. Once we get her in a safe location we can set a trap for Wilson. In the meantime, Bravo team will keep Higgins safe and Cassie?—”
“I’ve got Cassie,” Ghost said.
“Whenever you can’t be with her, I want a member of your team guarding her six.” Hunter ordered.
Ghost nodded. “Done.”
“Iris, I need you to cancel any engagements, meetings or events you might have scheduled for the near future. This house is pretty secure, but we might need to move you. I need you to be flexible and let us do our damn job. No more secrets or lies. I understand you are former CIA but a lot has changed since you’ve left the agency.”
“I understand.” Iris said. “I will work with your people and keep a low profile. I don’t do a lot online or publicly anyway. I’ll keep my head down. I’ll use the time to get ahead of my publishing schedule. My assistant can put out a statement saying I’ve fallen ill. I have to warn you, Wilson is powerful. He doesn’t stop until he gets what he wants.”
“Wilson doesn’t know who he is up against. He’ll underestimate us and we will put the final nail in his coffin when he does.” Dozer said.
“We'll show him how Elite operates. We're not going to just intercept an arms dealer,” Hunter said. “We are going to dismantle his entire fucking empire from the ground up.”