Chapter 20
TWENTY
Cara
“I’ll ask her when this is over,” Grant says in the other room.
Carrying my coffee in hand, I tiptoe over to his mainly unused bedroom to see what he’s doing.
The door is slightly ajar, and he’s sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to me.
“Fisher, I know.”
He grumbles at what Fisher is saying on the other line.
“I will. I just can’t ask her to up and move her entire life.”
Grant laughs.
“I know you did that for Ellie, but that’s not how the real world works.”
Another silent pause.
“I will. I told you we’re on an assignment, and I can’t tell you much about it.”
Grant sighs.
“You’re beginning to sound like me.”
I step forward to try and hear better.
“I promise I’ll come see you after I’m done in Charlotte.”
Grant hangs up and tosses his phone beside him on the bed. I take it as my chance to back away slowly so he doesn’t know I was just eavesdropping.
What is he going to ask me when this is over? We have already started talking about our future. I know that I want to be with Grant after our mission ends. I’m not sure why he would be doubting anything that I’ve said to him.
All of this makes me feel as though I need to talk to someone other than Grant about how I’m feeling.
I like my work; I value what it is I do and the problems I solve to help make the world a better place.
I can admit the truth—I’ve been running around going a million miles per hour because I haven’t had a partner in life. It feels like I found the one person in the world who completely understands me.
I go into my bedroom and lock the door behind me. Stepping into the bathroom, I turn on the shower to help cover up the sounds from the call I’m about to make.
In the bathroom, I sit on the counter near the sink and call one of my best friends, Grayson.
As it rings, I realize that I have more connections in Charleston than anywhere else in the world at this point. Charleston, Hull, and California are where my people are.
“Look who it is,” he says.
I rest back on the bathroom sink.
“Hey, stranger, how are you?”
“How am I? Perfect. Talk to me.”
“Right to the point?” I say with a faint laugh.
“I know that tone. Something is up, and I’m about to head out on a boat soon.”
“I don’t want to hold you up.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my friend Cara?”
“Okay, okay, fine.”
I adjust my positioning on the counter.
“I fell in love.”
Grayson chokes at my words.
“Very funny,” I say.
“Okay, wait a second. You fell in love? How? With who?”
“Grant. Grant Sinclair.”
“Him?”
“Yes.” I sigh.
“Okay, outside of the fact that Harper is going to ask me a million questions about how this happened, I have to ask you this one first.”
“What?”
“If you fell in love, why do you sound so melancholy about it?”
“I’m not. What we’re working on is almost over, and then we’re going to talk about what happens next. He told me that he was planning on moving to Charleston before this happened between us.”
“Wait, Charleston? Are you for real?”
“Yeah, he was going to split his time but doesn’t need to for us to be together, and so I can keep my company based out of LA.”
Grayson is silent on the other line.
“What? Just say it. You have a boat to get to.”
“Cara, you know I love you,” he starts.
“And?”
“And you’re the smartest person I know. Don’t tell Liam that,” he jokes.
“Okay, but what’s your point?”
“You really aren’t thinking about this clearly.”
I sit upright. Does he think this is a problem?
“How so?”
“You’re the boss of your company, which is centered around you. Your parents already split their time between Florida and California. Why couldn’t you split your time between LA and Charleston? Hell, I bet you’re barely anywhere for that long anyway.”
I breathe out a long sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
He chuckles, and I can hear his fiancée, Harper, entering the room.
“Tell Harper I said hi. Can’t wait for the wedding!”
“You better be here for it.”
“It’s a hop, skip, and a jump away from Charlotte. I’ll be there.”
“Charlotte?” I hear Harper ask.
“Oh, that’s right. Hey, Cara, Liam’s temporarily working out of a hospital in Charlotte or something. He’s been really vague about it.”
“Why isn’t he practicing in Boston?”
“Looking to make some changes. I’m not sure where he’s going to end up.”
“Tell Harper her brother better answer my calls so I can get to the bottom of it for us all.”
“I promise!” she shouts so I can hear her.
“Alright, I better get going,” I say.
“See you soon.”
Grayson’s right. My life is mine alone, and I can do as I damn well please. I’m not set in California for life. Why can’t I keep my business running and finally move to be near friends who feel like family and make my husband happy? He would do anything for me, like not moving.
It’s a little after seven at night. Grant and I drove to the warehouses early, trying to set up any escape plans that we would need should the meeting go poorly. We scoped it out and found no one else’s security or teams were here early.
The mafia must do these types of meetups differently than some of the other criminal organizations that Grant and I are used to dealing with out in the field.
As we wait in the car, I see apprehension in Grant’s expression.
“We’ve got this,” I say to be reassuring.
“I know we do,” he answers.
Grant grips the steering wheel and taps a few fingers on it.
“I love you,” I say.
It gets his attention as he looks over at me.
“And I love you. Always.”
He starts to scan the outside of the warehouses again.
“Do you think something’s wrong?”
I look around the darkness to see only empty parking lots and warehouses.
“No, I don’t think so?”
He hums in consideration.
“Is Dodger here?”
“On the way,” I answer.
We keep our eyes out for anyone to arrive. Minutes fly by, and it’s almost eight p.m., the time the meetup is scheduled.
“Anything else from Brad or Taby?”
“No, just confirming this is the time and that we better be here.”
“Should you text Brad?”
“I will,” he answers.
Grant pulls out his phone and texts Brad quickly. As he pockets it, a car arrives and parks up front near the very warehouse where we’re meant to meet.
“Let’s go,” Grant says.
We both hop out of the car and walk toward the empty warehouse. The sound of my heeled boots clacks against the road.
“Do you think it’s a trap?” I whisper.
“It couldn’t be for us. There are no signs of who we are.”
We keep a steady pace as we walk up to the door. Grant pulls the door open, and there’s no one inside.
We scan the huge empty building for any sign of life but find no one, not even the person who came in moments ago.
“What the hell?” I ask.
“I’ll check over here,” he says while heading in the opposite direction.
“I’ll check the other side.”
This is odd, to say the least. We’ve been given information about a meetup, and no one’s here except us. It feels like a trap.
Shifting in the distance catches my attention. I start to peel back layers of old material hanging from broken flooring above me.
“Hello?” I call out.
A loud crash sounds behind me right as darkness takes over.
“Wake up, pretty girl,” a woman’s voice says.
My eyes feel heavy, and a weight is keeping me seated. As I try to peel my eyes open, nothing is coming into focus. I must have been hit on the head with something.
“Time to get up,” she continues.
“What? Where am I?” I groggily ask.
“At the warehouse still,” she answers.
My eyes finally adjust, and I find myself staring at Taby, Brad, and Cordelia. They’re all peering down at me as I’m tied up on a concrete floor.
“Why am I like this? I haven’t done anything.”
“Oh, but dear, haven’t you?” Cordelia asks as she steps forward.
Cordelia holds a gun in her hand as she starts to pace along the open space between us.
“I liked you and Ace. Thought you had real potential,” she continues.
I struggle against my binds as she talks.
Ace.
My husband .
Frantically, I search around me but see no sign of Grant.
Fuck . This isn’t good.
“Where is he? What have you done with Ace?”
“Oh my, what have we done with dear old Ace?” Cordelia asks.
Brad and Taby laugh at my pain.
For a brief moment, I see a look of sadness on Brad’s face that makes me want to scream into the abyss.
“We’ll get to that.”
She continues to pace.
“The whole Fred situation certainly helped your case. I thought, wow, here are two people dying to come into my fold,” Cordelia says.
“Your fold?” I ask, confused.
Cordelia pauses in front of me and tilts her head to the side as she purses her lips together.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“Apparently not. I’m just a housewife.”
Cordelia smirks.
“Yeah, and I’m just a diamond smuggler.”
My binds aren’t held together well, and I’m able to get them to loosen. I’m so close to getting them undone.
I need to get out of here and find Grant. I know there’s no way that she killed him. Not yet. He’s too useful for her to just murder him. I have to believe that.
“Brad,” Cordelia shouts.
He comes running up beside her and waits for his direction.
“Take Ms. Weston to the holding cell.”
“With Ace?”
“Yes.”
Brad looks back at Taby and then at me.
“What are you waiting for?” Cordelia asks.
“Is that a good idea?”
Cordelia looks angry as her face slowly turns to his.
“Are you questioning my authority?” she draws out.
“No, no, of course not, but if they are really government spies, I was just thinking maybe they shouldn’t be together.”
“I don’t pay you to think.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” he mumbles as he reaches for me. Brad picks me up underneath my arms and drags me along the concrete away from Taby and Cordelia.
“I tried,” he whispers.
“What?” I mumble.
“Get apart. It’s the only way you’ll be able to take her out.”
“Who is she ? Cordelia?”
“Yes. She’s the Marlin.”
I gasp.
“The Marlin?”
“I don’t have time to explain here.”
Brad continues to drag me, and finally, we’re in another nearby room off the main open floor. I stand to my feet but keep my hands bound together in case it’s a trick. I have no idea whose side Brad’s on.
He looks at the door we just came through and then back at me.
“I need a favor,” he says.
“What is it?”
“Get Noelle out.”
“I…”
“Don’t fuck with me. Get her out of this.”
I nod in agreement.
Brad starts to take off, but I grab hold of his shoulder.
“Wait. Where are you going now?”
“Did Ace tell you what they call me?”
“Yes. Brad the Bull.”
“It’s for a reason.”
My eyebrows dip inward in confusion.
“Ace is in the back of this room. Get him. Separate. You’ll find what you need on the second floor to prove that Cordelia is the Marlin. Tell Ace to get to the roof and wait. My guy will only get there if someone is waiting.”
“Your guy?”
“He’s going to help.”
“Okay,” I answer, more confused than ever.
Brad takes off back to where Cordelia and Taby were, and realization hits—Brad the Bull is going to try and take out Cordelia and Taby. It’s a suicide mission that he can’t tackle alone.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
A groan sounds from nearby. Following Brad’s instructions, I go deep into the back of the cell and look for Grant. That’s when I still.
There’s a trail of blood drops and smears. It’s a path that makes me want to vomit. I follow it, knowing that Grant has to be on the other end.
It’s dark, far too dark to be in here without any lights on and only the moonlight to guide me. But I know that these marks have to be blood.
“Ace?” I whisper-shout.
Nothing.
“Ace, it’s me. Cara.”
A groan.
I quickly hurry toward the sound, and that’s when I spot him—my love.
I take off the bindings around my wrists and discard them on the ground, then kneel down and get eye level with Grant. He’s wounded but not badly. It looks like Cordelia drugged him, and that’s why he’s so out of it.
I hold onto the side of his face.
“Grant. It’s me. Cara.”
Grant’s eyes flicker in confusion.
“Who are you?” he asks.
“It’s me. Cara.”
“Cara,” he says with a lazy smile.
“Yes, honey. It’s me.”
He hums, still in a daze.
“How lucky am I that I got even a short amount of time with this woman?”
My heart soars at the sentiment before reality crashes back.
“Grant. I promise… I promise I feel the same way, but we have to get out of here. Now.”
“What I would give for just one more taste of her delicious pussy again before I die,” he continues.
I hang my head back at his ramblings.
“Up you go,” I say as I place my arms under his shoulders and lift him to a standing position.
“Grant. Please snap out of it,” I beg.
His eyes shut for a moment as he steadies himself.
“Cara?” he groggily asks.
“ Yes .”
He comes to and suddenly looks panic-stricken as he pulls me into him for a hug.
“Fuck. I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispers.
“I’m fine. But we have to leave.”
Grant holds onto my shoulders as he separates us.
“How did you find me?”
“Brad. It’s a long story. Cordelia is the Marlin.”
“I know. She did this to me.”
“She knows we’re undercover. Brad told me to get to the second floor while you flag down his contact on the roof.”
“I’m not separating.”
“We have to,” I plead.
“I almost lost you once. I’m not doing it again.”
I break out of his hold.
“Grant. I’m Cara Collins. I do this for a living. I will not let someone who goes by the Marlin be my downfall. I’ve got this. Now go .”
Grant hesitates before nodding. We both take off through the room and find a stairwell. The warehouse has four floors.
“I’ll see you at the top,” I say.
“Wait.”
Grant pulls at my arm and swings me into his side. He plants a powerful, all-consuming kiss on my lips. As he breaks away, I can’t help but smile.
“Do not die on me tonight,” he says.
“I promise. I won’t.”
I open the door to the second floor and start to run. Looking in room after room, there’s no one to be found or any sign of life. Hopefully, Brad isn’t steering us in the wrong direction as a distraction. As much of a criminal as he is, I don’t think he would do this to us.
I open the second-to-last door to find a briefcase sitting on a table. It’s black leather and looks like it’s been used for several deals, with how weathered it appears.
Opening it, I find the proof we need. A single file with Cordelia’s information and a USB that has a sticky note on it.
Take down the Marlin.
– Brad
I collect the whole briefcase as evidence, then close and lock it shut before running out of the room and down the hall.
Sprinting up the stairs, I finally reach the roof. After searching everywhere, I finally spot Grant.
I let out a loud shriek at who he’s with—Dodger.
“When did you get here?” I ask.