Chapter Thirty
A iden woke up slowly, a shrill sound pulling him out of a deep sleep, with the woman he loved snuggled in his arms. Brooke stirred, and he looked around for his damned phone.
He grabbed it from the nightstand. His editor’s name flashed on the screen. He picked up the phone, causing Brooke to groan and roll over.
“John?” Aiden asked, his voice rough from sleep.
“Aiden, sorry to bother you. I just wanted to let you know that the FBI reached out to me.”
Aiden glanced at his phone screen, noting they’d slept in. It was nearly ten in the morning. “The article went out this morning?”
At the mention of his piece, Brooke pushed herself to a sitting position, her eyes wide as she listened to his side of the conversation. He braced a hand on her thigh as he and John spoke.
“As planned,” John said. “In both the online publication of the magazine and on grocery store shelves and newsstands. Subscribers should have gotten them in their inboxes first thing this morning.”
“And the FBI?” Aiden asked. “Are they asking about the content?” Aiden sat upright in bed.
“I assume so, but I don’t know yet,” John said. “The agent I spoke with wants to talk to us both. Can you come to the magazine’s office for a meeting?”
“Sure thing. I’ll see you soon.” He glanced at Brooke.
“You need to go meet with John?” she asked.
“Actually, John and the FBI.”
Her eyes opened wide. “The FBI? Why?”
Sensing her anxiety, he grasped her hand. “That’s what I need to find out. Wait here and I’ll come back. By then, Remy will have us set up with somewhere to lay low for a while.”
Swallowing hard, she nodded. “Okay. That’s fine.”
Aware the brave attitude was a facade, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Everything will be okay. While I’m gone, go ahead and pack your things.”
She treated him to a forced smile. “I can do that.”
He showered, then dressed and headed to the magazine’s office, checking for a tail along the way.
Since his work was mostly on the road, Aiden hadn’t been here often over the years, but he knew where he was going.
He parked in the garage and met up with John in the lobby, breathing a sigh of relief that his trip had ended without incident.
He shook his mentor’s hand.
“They’re waiting in the conference room,” John said, leading him to an elevator and once inside, he pressed the button for the eleventh floor.
They walked to the conference room where a man in a black suit was waiting, a serious expression on his face.
“Mr. Sterling, thank you for joining us,” he said, rising and holding out his hand. “I’m Agent Jessop.”
Aiden shook his hand, then he and John took a seat across the table. Clasping his hands, Aiden waited for the man to speak.
“I think you both know why we’re here,” Agent Jessop said. “We need to discuss the article you released this morning.”
Aiden wasn’t surprised but he would let his boss take the lead.
“Does the FBI usually respond this swiftly to accusations of corruption in a foreign country?” John asked. “The article has only been out for a few hours.”
The agent shook his head. “No. You’re right in assuming the wheels of government move slowly. But in this case, you’ve stumbled upon information that is relevant to an already ongoing investigation.”
Aiden leaned forward, his interest piqued. “What investigation would that be?”
Agent Jessop hesitated. “Before I say more, I need your guarantee that this is all off the record. The only reason I’m sharing any information with you is because it’s relevant to your safety, and measures will have to be taken to protect you.”
Aiden stiffened at the implications, but he nodded. “You have my word.” Safety took precedence over reporting, something Aiden had almost learned the hard way.
“Mine as well,” John said.
Jessop inclined his head. “The ongoing investigation comprises international cooperation between the FBI and Interpol. We’ve been trying to take down an organized crime family based in London for the past eight months.”
“What does that have to do with my article?” Aiden asked. He’d been digging into foreign corruption in a small European country. Not the United Kingdom.
Tapping a pen against the table, Agent Jessop met his gaze.
“Organized crime is often a vast, complex beast. They usually have their fingers in everyone’s pie, so to speak.
The corruption is based in London but it spreads throughout several countries, including the U.S.
and the country where you were investigating. ”
Aiden blinked in surprise. He’d assumed the people behind the corruption, and those after him, were based solely in the country where he’d uncovered the misuse of reserve funds.
As they were seated deep within the government, his perception had made sense.
But it looked like this whole thing was bigger than he thought.
“It’s a massive operation,” Agent Jessop continued. “We’ve been trying to pin something concrete on these people for a long time, but any witness we’ve uncovered has met an unfortunate end.”
“Like Ingrid,” Aiden muttered, before looking at the agent across the table. “I already know I’m in danger and I planned to leave town today.”
Something John already knew, as Aiden had called him after walking out on his family last night.
“Yes, I’m aware,” the agent said. “I’ve been informed of the two recent attempts on your life that have been reported to the police. I need to hear the entire story from you. Start to finish.”
Aiden laid it all out for him, from the research during his time abroad, Ingrid’s death, to his return to the U.S.
and the ongoing threats, surveillance, and pictures.
He detailed the visits he received from the stranger with the shaved head as well as the theft of his briefcase, and Agent Jessop took notes on an iPad as Aiden spoke.
“It sounds like the group has taken out a hit on you,” he said, his tone grave. “It’s their M.O. against anyone who speaks out or looks into them.”
Aiden shivered. It was one thing to know his life was in danger, and another to hear an FBI agent say a hired killer was after him. He folded his hands together on the table, his jaw clenched.
John leaned forward in his seat. “What now?” he asked.
“Well, your article provides us with a new lead in an investigation that has been moving at a frustratingly slow pace,” Jessop said. “This group is interconnected in such a way that if we can make one high-level crime stick, the whole network will come crashing down.”
Aiden nodded. That was good news. Bringing down a crime organization was something any journalist would aspire to be a part of. But right now, he had more concerns than the end result of the investigation. He had his family to worry about. Brooke. Himself.
“I want to offer you both protective custody,” Agent Jessop said, as if reading his mind. He glanced at John. “You might also be targeted since you are the editor who ran the article.”
“What does protective custody entail?” John asked, his foot tapping consistently against the floor.
“We would start with increased security, an officer watching you at home, driving you to and from work, and depending on how the investigation goes, we might need to relocate you for your own protection.”
“For how long?” John asked.
“Until we can bring charges against those who head the organization,” Jessop said.
Nodding, John said, “I’d appreciate the protection.”
Both men looked to Aiden, but he wasn’t sure a protective detail was the right solution for him. “If it was only my life at stake, I’d say yes, but I have a big, vulnerable family. I can’t risk any one of them. I need to leave as planned.”
“Are you sure you want to leave your life behind when you just got home?” John asked.
“I have no choice.” But this time he wouldn’t be alone. He’d have Brooke with him and he wanted her protected. “Unless you think this investigation will be over soon. If you’re closing in on them, my family can take extra security precautions for a limited time, but if not…”
Agent Jessop’s lips thinned. “I’m afraid it might be a long time before we’re ready to make any arrests. It could be years. Your instinct to go into hiding is a smart one and we can arrange that for you.”
With the FBI’s help, he and Brooke would be safer than if he tried to disappear on his own. “I can’t leave without my fiancée. She was in the car with me the last time I was targeted. I can’t risk her being here alone.”
Jessop began that incessant tapping of his pen.
Aiden gritted his teeth and waited for the man’s answer.
“I’ll make some calls and pull some strings. Just the two of you,” he said.
Aiden nodded, and let out a long sigh of relief. None of this was good news but at least he knew the facts and the truth. False promises of wrapping up the investigation soon wouldn’t do him any good.
“I have an agent waiting who will be your detail,” Agent Jessop said to John. “Mr. Sterling, I’ll escort you home where someone will join us later to watch the house, at least until we get your aliases and safe house set up.”
Aiden’s stomach churned, but he was aware this was the best possible scenario. Putting distance between himself and his family was necessary. They were way too important to be put at risk.
Agent Jessop followed him to the house in an unmarked sedan, and Aiden called Brooke along the way, telling her everything he’d learned and that he would be home soon.
He pulled up the driveway and put the car in park, the agent driving up behind him.
The front door opened, and Brooke stood in the doorway to greet him. At the sight of her, some of the heaviness weighing him down after his talk with Agent Jessop lessened. No matter what happened next, at least he had Brooke. She made all the hard stuff manageable.
He exited the vehicle and walked toward Brooke, heading around the front of the car.
Movement on the side of the house caught his attention and he glanced over.
A dark-haired man had stepped out from the side, as if he’d been waiting for Aiden’s return, a notion that was confirmed as the man locked eyes with Aiden and raised his gun.
“Aiden!” Brooke screamed his name as she stepped out of the doorway. He ran, then dove forward, colliding with her body and taking her to the ground at the same time shots rang out.