25. Charlotte
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Charlotte
I heard Jud scream. Whatever River was doing in there, I didn’t want to know.
I had the handgun he’d given me. River had told me to keep watch, so I made a circuit of the property. I could feel my heart beating in my throat. Hopefully we could get what we needed from Jud and be on our way.
But I didn’t have the best view of the road from anywhere on the property. From upstairs, I’d have a much better vantage point. So I went into the house.
Jud had left some odds and ends scattered around the kitchen. I quickly put things away, annoyed that he’d been treating this place like it was his own. I made a mental note to hire a cleaner to come by before my parents returned from Grand Junction. They didn’t deserve to come back to a messy house just because my ex had taken advantage of their absence.
Thoughts of him made another wave of disgust pass over me.
Upstairs, I passed down the hallway where the bedrooms branched on either side. My old room, the guest room where River and Ross stayed when they used to visit. It still had the bunk beds inside.
I kept going until I reached our old schoolroom, which my dad had taken over for his many projects. It was at the front of the house and had the best view of the driveway and the road that led up from the valley and to the house. I opened up the window closest to the garage so that, if needed, I could use the bird call to signal River.
I had never imagined being back at this house with River again. Much less under these circumstances. Both of us were on the run, and he was out in the garage interrogating my ex-boyfriend. Talk about unlikely scenarios.
With every minute, more memories came back to me. Times with my sisters. Days spent exploring, doing experiments that we came up with at the spur of the moment. Playing games that we spent a week planning out in intricate detail.
Sometimes I took it for granted, but I’d had an idyllic childhood. And I had to credit my parents for that. I remembered how much crap I had given my mom for inviting the Kwon brothers to our house every summer. But I owed her for that too.
There had been drama and difficulty. But would things have turned out differently if we’d made different choices at any step of the way?
Would I be lieutenant governor at all?
Regardless of everything that was happening now, I still loved my job. There was so much more I could do to serve the people of my state. To stop parasites like Stillwater from victimizing anyone else. If I could use this terrible situation to fight back against Stillwater, to destroy them, then it would all be worth it.
But River …
Had anyone ever loved me the way River seemed to? How lucky was I that he felt that way for me?
I wanted his raw intimacy and affection. The way we kissed and argued and made each other laugh. To feel his passion as we made love. And his smiles, knowing that I’d made him happy. Two days of that was nowhere near enough.
I wanted to fall for him. To find a way to give him all of me. He deserved that.
But love couldn’t fix harsh reality.
I sat by the window as these thoughts tumbled through my mind. Then I sat up straighter. My breath caught.
I’d just seen a flash of light between the trees. Sun reflecting off of glass.
Shit .
Leaning out the window, I blew three quick bird calls on the whistle. My boots thudded on the stairs as I charged down, careening out of the back door and running for the garage.
River threw open the garage door just as I approached. “Someone’s coming?”
“I was upstairs. Saw sunlight on glass.” I panted between sentences. “A car.”
He glanced back at the garage. Cursed. “We don’t have time to take Jud with us, and I’m not done with him. You fall back to the art studio. That worked for Jud the last time the police came. It’ll have to work again.”
I was glad I’d tidied up the inside of the house. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too obvious that someone had been here. “But how do we get Jud to the studio? We’ve got two minutes tops.”
“We don’t. I’ll put him under a tarp in the garage and tell him to stay quiet if he wants to live. He’s got better luck with us than if Stillwater is on their way.”
“And what about you? ”
“I’m going to see who our guests are. And deal with them accordingly.” River went back into the garage. He was putting himself into the line of fire once again.
I didn’t love this plan.
But he was the spy, not me. So I ran toward the art studio and around the back. Our packs were here, where we’d left them earlier after River had fetched me from the rock outcropping. I dug through, finding the extra ammo for the handgun. Did River have enough?
I knew he had his rifle and sidearm. He was always well prepared, thinking several steps ahead and planning out for any number of contingencies. But I still couldn’t help worrying about him.
I didn’t have his warrior training or military experience. I waged battles with my words and my mind, not physical weapons. Yet I didn’t want River facing danger in the name of protecting me. I much preferred to be standing right next to him.
And didn’t that say a lot?
He’d told me to go inside the studio. But I lingered in the shadow of the building, pulse rushing in my ears. Hands sweaty on the gun.
On the mountainside, sounds carried easily. I heard tires on gravel. Then the slam of a door. It had sounded like one car. And I didn’t hear any voices.
Then the thump of knocking met my ears.
“Charlotte!” someone called out. “Charlotte, are you here?”
I inhaled sharply. Was that…
Now, I heard shouts. Angry demands to get down, drop weapons.
I sprinted back to the house. Around the side.
Brynn was standing in the open space in front of the house. She had her gun drawn, aiming. River stood across from her, aiming his own rifle back.
“Put it down,” he growled.
“Hell no. You put yours down. Where is Charlotte? Where is she?”
“I’m here!” I waved my arms, continuing toward them both. “Both of you put your weapons away. This is ridiculous.”
“Stay back, Charlie. Do not take one step closer to her.”
I turned to River. “Brynn clearly came here alone. She wants to help. Like she told Trace.”
“Ha!” she shouted. “You have been in contact with your friends in Hartley.”
River ignored her. “A strike team could be right behind her, waiting on her signal.”
“I’m alone, dumbass,” Brynn said. “I’m on your side.”
He glared at her. “Then why is the media reporting I was behind the attack on the fundraiser? I’m wanted for kidnapping and murder.”
“That wasn’t my fault! I told my superiors what happened. But there were certain things I had to leave out because I was trying to keep your computer crimes under wraps. The fact that you hacked into Charlotte’s computer to warn her, and hacked into who knows what else to discover the threat against her in the first place? It wasn’t easy for me to explain your presence at the fundraiser. As far as my bosses knew, you were a donor who went rogue.” She arched her brow. “You did kill a lot of people.”
“I was protecting Charlie. You and the other agents at the event knew that. Agent Torres was helping me!”
“But then you vanished with her. I couldn’t make that go away. And you attacked a gas station attendant and knocked him out! Which didn’t help you look more innocent, you know. ”
I was sick and tired of this.
I walked over to my friend. “Just lower your gun, all right? We’ve had a rough few days. As I’m sure you’re well aware.”
Brynn side-eyed me, not willing to take her attention from River for more than a split second. “Yeah, I do know. But he’s the one who burst out pointing a rifle at me before I had a chance to say a word.”
“I’m still protecting Charlie. Against all threats. No matter the source.”
“And I’ve been trying to do the same thing! So back off, buddy. There’s such a thing as being too protective.”
River was grumbling, but I held up a finger at him. Don’t say it .
“Come on, Brynn. Whatever danger I’m in, it’s not because of River. Would both of you please just put your guns down?”
“He started it,” she muttered. Sighing, Brynn lowered her gun.
I glared at River until he did the same.
“Thank you,” I said. “Now can we please go inside and play nice?”
We went into my parents’ living room. The first thing I did was give Brynn a hug, and she returned it fiercely. “Thank God you’re all right, Charlotte. Where have you been?”
River followed us inside, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. He was still in the midst of a rare grumpy interlude. “Before anything else, you’re going to answer some of my questions, Agent Somerton. You claim you’re here alone. But how do we know the rest of the FBI isn’t going to follow you? ”
“Because I’m not an idiot. I know how to run counter surveillance. I wasn’t followed, and state troopers have already been out to check this location. When they didn’t find you or Charlotte, they moved on. If they do come back, it won’t be for a while. People are flooding tip lines with sightings of you two from all over the state, and both state and federal law enforcement have their hands full checking after them.”
A tip line. I wondered how many of those calls were just people with big imaginations, and how many actually came from people in River’s extended friend network. Like Hodge. I wouldn’t have put it past him.
We went over to sit on the couch. “Then why did you come looking for me here?” I asked. “How did you know?”
“Your parents called me.”
Brynn had met my parents when they visited Denver in the past, and I knew they liked her. “What did they say?”
“They’re pretty upset, as you would imagine. I know you sent them a message after the fundraiser, like the one you sent me, but they’ve been trying to figure out where you are. I talked to them again this morning, and they mentioned the art studio. I made sure I wasn’t being tailed and drove out here to check for myself. How long have you been here?”
“Maybe an hour. We came looking for Jud. He’s the one who’s been hiding in the art studio.”
“Jud? What’s he got to do with any of this?”
“We have a lot to catch you up on. It turns out Jud is working for Stillwater. He knew about the attack on the fundraiser before it happened.”
“Jud? That’s… Are you sure?”
“Completely. He just confessed everything on video. Like I said, a lot to catch up on.” I glanced over at River, who was guarding the door and watching us silently .
“Jud is here?” Brynn asked. “Where? You’ve been questioning him?”
“Charlie.”
I turned at River saying my name. He nodded toward the door. “A word?”
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Brynn, who looked annoyed, but she didn’t protest.
I got up and followed River out the door. We went several steps away, I guessed because he didn’t want her to overhear whatever he was about to say.
He spun on his heel to face me, reaching for my hand. “I need to tell you what I learned from Jud,” he murmured. “There’s a list of every government operative Stillwater has on their payroll. Jud stole it in the hopes of blackmailing Stillwater. That’s how this started. That’s why Stillwater struck out at you. Most likely they wanted to trade you for the return of this list.”
I shook my head slowly, taking this in. “That bastard. He has access to that kind of information, and he’s been hiding it? He was still trying to hide it.”
“Probably hoped to get a payday from it. Not anymore. Now, he’s just trying to stay alive.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What exactly were you doing to him in there? Do I want to know?”
“I let him think I was planning to kill him and bury him in the woods. I was very convincing.” His trademark smirk reappeared, and I was glad to see it. I lifted my hand to run my thumb over his lower lip.
“You are very persuasive. Where is this list? Does Jud have it with him?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Your friend’s arrival interrupted me. Jud is nice and secure in the garage, and I need to get back to him. “
“If we can get our hands on that list?— ”
“Yeah. It’s exactly the blow against Stillwater we’ve been hoping for. Between Jud’s confession and this, we won’t have to hide anymore. The good guys in the government will root out the bad apples, and we won’t have to be constantly unsure of which is which. For this round, anyway.”
I knew what he meant. There would always be some evildoers who masqueraded as heroes. Giving the others a bad name. “But why didn’t you want to discuss this in front of Brynn?”
“Because we can’t afford to let her know. It’s way too sensitive.”
“You still don’t trust her? I get that she was giving you a hard time out there, but she’s proven that she’s with us.”
“The minute she finds out about this list, she’ll be obligated to get her hands on it on behalf of the FBI. Once she does that, who knows who might try to discredit it. Or make that list disappear. I want us to be in control of the information until we are ready to release it. We’ll do it in the right way so that it can’t be discounted.”
I nodded once. “Fair enough. I won’t mention it to her.”
“Don’t share the location of my cabin either. Nobody knows about that place except me and you.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not the town gossip. I wasn’t going to share all your secrets. And I’m certainly not going to tell her we’re sleeping together, because I don’t need that lecture.”
He snorted. “That’s wise. I promise as soon as we’re able, you can tell her everything you feel like sharing. No matter how much Brynn antagonizes me.”
“And you don’t contribute to that at all.”
“Hey, I’m making every effort to behave myself.” He leaned in and pressed his mouth to mine. A quick kiss, but enough to get my heart thumping again. Also a reminder that I really wanted some more alone time with him before we had to part ways.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said. Squeezing my hand one last time. Then his gaze moved past me, over my shoulder. “Oops.”
I spun around, and Brynn stood in the open doorway to the house. From the indignant expression on her face, I assumed she’d seen us kiss.
Oops was right.