Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
BECKETT
For Anita's sake, I hoped the storage unit contained the answers she wanted. I doubted we would find Nova's body. Seven years was a long time to keep remains hidden without someone noticing. Especially because the smell was awful once it decayed.
That wasn't to say there weren't ways to cover the smell. I just didn't think a storage unit would suffice. But I had been proven wrong before.
When we pulled up to the storage facility, Sloane rattled off the code to get through the gate. "Five one five is a climate-controlled unit inside the building."
Anita pulled into the first parking spot and stepped out. It was after office hours, so there was no one at the facility except for us.
Sloane held an electronic tablet in her hand, so we followed her when she motioned which way to go.
"An electronic lock, huh? Too fancy for a traditional padlock." I joked as soon as I saw what I'm guessing Alexander considered a more secure way to guard his stuff.
"Yup. Too bad he chose to use a device to open it instead of a biometric which would've required his fingerprint. Hawk was able to hack into his phone and get what we needed."
"Who's Hawk?" I had yet to hear that name.
"I'll tell you later," Anita answered impatiently. "Right now, I want to see what's behind door number one."
Was that a joke? Who knew Anita had it in her.
It took less than five seconds for the lock to flash green and for us to have access. To say what we found was anticlimactic would be an understatement of the year. In the middle of the small unit was a metal table with a heavy-duty storage file box sitting on top of it.
"What are the chances it's a bomb?" I asked no one in particular. To be fair, I was mostly just thinking out loud.
Pulling a small flashlight out of her many pockets, Sloane squatted down and shined the light into the hand holes. "No wires connected to the lid." Apparently that was all the proof she needed to take the lid off. "Well, that's disappointing."
Anita and I both leaned over to get a look. Sitting in the bottom of the box was a small thumb drive.
"That better contain all Alexander's secrets, or I'm going to bring him back from the dead just to kill him again."
Hopefully Nyx burned the body while we were gone so Anita didn't desecrate it. I didn't want her to add that crime to the list.
At least, I hoped it wasn't on the list. Might be a good idea to ask what was on it for future reference.
"Let's get back to the Jeep. I have an adapter in my bag that will allow us to read this from the tablet." Sloane snatched the drive from the box and slipped it into her side pocket before turning on her heel and leaving. She only stopped long enough to lock the unit back up before heading outside.
Anita and I kept quiet after we got in the vehicle.
I could tell Anita wanted to jump down Sloane's throat to find out what the drive said, but she was restraining herself.
I mentally gave her a high five because I knew a physical one wouldn't be appreciated.
Getting punched in the face wasn't on my list of things I wanted to happen today.
"I'm sorry, Anita, but this isn't what you hoped it would be." Sloane gave my woman a sad face.
"What's on it?" Knowing Alexander, it could be a slew of things. The man had his hands in so many damn pies around the state that it was a wonder he stayed alive as long as he had.
"Dirt on people. A lot of it. If I had to guess, this was Alexander's insurance policy if he were ever turned in."
That got my attention. "Is there anything on Deputy Director Banger?"
"Oh yeah. There's one whole file dedicated to him."
"Can I see it?" I didn't even bother to hide my excitement. Anita wanted me to take him down, and maybe I could with this information.
Sloane passed the tablet through the middle of the seats over the center console. Instead of bringing it in front of me, I held it so Anita and I could both look at it.
Sloane wasn't kidding. Not only did Banger have his own file, but it was broken down by agents he got fired.
"How did no one realize he screwed this many agents over?" I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And to think I almost allowed myself to join this long list.
"There has to be someone in the Bureau helping him. There's no way this went unnoticed."
Anita was right, but there were a lot of files here to sort through.
"I can look at it better when we get back to the compound, and I get it on my computer."
"Do you mind if I look through it with you?"
Sloane looked to Anita for an answer. It wasn't until Anita nodded her head that Sloane agreed. It was safe to assume Sloane still didn't trust me.
That was okay. I would win her over.
We were two hours into looking over the information on the thumb drive, and my head was spinning. "I don't think I gave Alexander enough credit."
Sloane smirked at me. "That makes two of us. I would've sworn on my father's grave the guy was a big oaf. What he has here says otherwise."
The longer Sloane and I spent combing over the information, the more she relaxed around me. I wouldn't say we were friends, but she no longer looked at me like some disgusting bug on her shoe.
"It makes sense why I never could get enough on him. Brass was working against me."
"Not just the brass."
I didn't like Sloane's tone. "What do you mean?" I was a little afraid to ask. The look on her face was enough to know whatever she showed me would hurt.
Sloane turned the laptop enough so it was directly in front of me instead of us sharing it. "What am I looking at?"
Then I saw it. Embedded deep in one of the files was one name I never thought would be associated with Alexander.
"Are you sure?"
"I mean I can only go off what I see listed here, but it looks that way."
I couldn't believe it. There was no possible way.
"I need to be sure." I pushed the chair back and stood so fast that it toppled over.
"I'm going with you."
"No, I need to do this alone."
Sloane stepped in front of me. "No, you don't. It's either me or Anita. Take your pick."
I didn't want either of them for this confrontation, but Anita had enough shit she was dealing with.
Once we got back and she realized there was no information on Nova, she went to spend time with Krista.
I didn't want to take her away from the girl even though I was curious about that relationship.
"Let's go."
I didn't wait to see if she agreed. It wasn't until I was close enough to a vehicle that I realized I couldn't leave by myself if I wanted to. I didn't have my car here. My cell phone was back at my apartment. I had no way of communicating with who I needed to.
"Can we stop at my place? I need to grab my phone."
"Sure." The rest of the hour-long drive to my townhouse was silent.
Unlike the last time, I didn't strain myself trying to figure out where we were headed.
I now knew where Anita lived. I could find the place if I wanted to.
I didn't care about that at the moment. I was thinking of all the ways I missed the signs.
I didn't consider myself a gullible person, and I didn't trust easily. I thought myself to be a good judge of character, but obviously I was wrong.
By the time we arrived at my place, I was fit to be tied. It only got worse when I realized my phone was dead, so I was forced to plug it in and wait for there to be enough charge to turn it on.
"What's your plan?" I barely registered that Sloane followed me inside, let alone that she was standing next to me.
"I'm going to confront them. Just as soon as I set up a meeting." I pointed to my nearly dead phone. The little icon showed it was charging, so that was a start.
"Okay, but what's going to come out of the meeting?"
"That depends on how they answer." I wouldn't make a promise I couldn't keep. And right now, I was too emotional to think straight.
As soon as my phone lit up that it was working, I opened to my text app and sent out a quick message. It was only a few seconds later that I received a response.
"It's time to see what they have to say for themself."