“No way. Keep that one. It’s yours. Get your boy Leconte to show you how to use it.” He snorted again and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
Okay, maybe the whole disgusting thing wasn't all an act. Either that or he was really committed.
“I'd rather he didn't,” I muttered. I slid the gun under the waist band of my jeans, handed Dusty the cash, and walked out of the subway station. I still had a few hours before my meeting and didn't know where I was going. I needed to kill some time and try to keep my head down.
My stomach growled, and I remembered just how long ago my coffee and blueberry bagel had been. I'd kept a few bucks for food, so I stopped at the next little diner I saw. After ordering, I sat at a table on the sidewalk and enjoyed the thick, greasy mess of food Karis had introduced me to, pulling my ball cap far down on my forehead. I’d eaten plenty of burgers before, and much worse, but these burgers were the best I’d ever had.
And I was being honest enough with myself at the moment to admit that part of it was because I associated the food with Karis.
I missed her. Only hours apart and I missed her as much as I had the first time we'd been separated all those years ago.
And like then, I didn't know when, or if, I'd ever see her again.
I sipped at my water and allowed myself to indulge in the memories of the last two weeks. When my phone buzzed, for a brief moment, I thought it might be Karis, calling me after having listened to my voicemail. Except I knew that she would've seen the message hours ago, and she hadn't tried to call or text even though I hadn't blocked my number.
It wasn't her. It was Uaine. He had a meeting place, a park not far from here. We'd met there before, and it didn't surprise me that he'd picked it again. It was public and not the best place for what I wanted to do, but I wasn't looking for an easy escape.
I was looking to end things, once and for all.
Chapter Ten
Karis
The tech guys were good, but it still took all day for us to figure out where Bron was going. By the time a call came in to 911 that two men were standing off at the fountain in a nearby park, we were already half-way there with SWAT following close behind.
Benita and I both coordinated from the car, her using her bluetooth so she could keep both hands on the wheel and at least most of her attention on the road. She took care of informing Colman that the situation had changed, brushing off his inquiries as to how long Bron had been off his tracker. I knew I'd have to answer for that later, but I wasn't going to worry about it now. All I cared about was getting to Bron before Uaine hurt him.
When we got to the park, the locals were already working with our guys to set up a perimeter. They'd gotten the civilians out of the way so that the only people left inside the area were Bron and Uaine.
Benita and I flashed our badges at the nearest cop and ducked under the civilian line. About two feet in was a second perimeter made up of the SWAT team who were just arriving. Benita stopped to talk to the head agent there, but I barely heard a word she was saying. I was too busy scanning the interior of the park.
Lights circled the fountain, creating an eerie spotlight of sorts for the armed pair at the center. I didn't know what had led up to this point, but it was clear that things were coming to a head, and if we didn't intervene soon, one or both men would be seriously injured...or killed.
I could feel the panic creeping in, threatening to overwhelm me, and I pushed it back. I wasn't going to fall apart. I'd worked too hard, come too far, to fail now. And I couldn't fail Bron, not again. I knew he didn't see it that way, and a part of me even knew that it was irrational for me to blame myself, but I did. This time, I'd protect him.
Bron's back was to us, his attention fixed on Uaine. I wasn't sure if the other man could see into the shadows well enough to know exactly what was going on, but I had no doubt that he knew we were there at the very least. We'd told the cops no lights or sirens, and to keep things as quiet as they could, but our presence was still detectable. I could only hope that Uaine was busy enough keeping his eyes on the gun Bron was pointing at him that he didn't see Benita and me making our move.
Orders given, SWAT crouched in the shadows behind us, waiting for the signal to come in. Neither Benita nor I wanted to involve them unless there was no other way. Right now, there was a possibility that the cover of darkness would be enough to give us the advantage we needed to end things before shots were exchanged.
Benita and I moved slowly, staying in the shadows as long as we could. I was banking on the fact that Uaine could only pay attention to so much at a time, and that he'd be more concerned with the more immanent threats of Bron and a large group of agents to worry about two shadows in the periphery.
They stood a little more than an arm’s length apart, leaving a small gap of just a foot or so between them. This was it, it seemed, a kind of dramatic final showdown. For Uaine, I was sure, this was a way to get rid of a loose end, take care of a student who'd rejected him. For Bron, it was about protection. Others might see this as revenge, but I knew better. Bron was doing this for me, to keep me safe.
I appreciated the sentiment, but he was an idiot.
If he'd waited, included me in his plan, we could've taken down Uaine together. I knew Bron wanted to keep me safe, but I wasn't a kid anymore. I was a federal agent, and this was my job.
When all this was over, and I knew he was safe, I was going to seriously kick his ass.
I heard Bron and Uaine talking, their voice pitched low enough that I couldn't hear either of them, but I could still make out the intensity of it. They were both on edge, ready to shoot at the slightest provocation.
I glanced over at Benita. We needed to hurry.
She nodded at me, and I quickly moved another few yards while she stayed where she was, her gun trained on Bron. She hadn't even asked if I could do it. I would have if I needed to, but she was going to do her best to make sure that didn't happen.
I found the perfect line of sight, took a slow breath to steady my nerves, and let the familiar cold clarity wash over me. Nothing else existed except the task at hand, and I knew what I had to do. I gave Benita the signal, then counted to three.
“FBI! Freeze!” We yelled the command together.
Uaine spun toward my voice, his gun coming with him. For one horrifying moment, I thought Bron was going to shoot.
“Bron, don't!”
Benita's order rang out a split second before she fired her gun. The shot went straight through Uaine's hand and his gun fell. The second Bron saw the gun go down, he tossed his own and put his hands up, kicking Uaine’s away.
“Don't shoot!” I shouted. “Don't shoot!”
Uaine was cradling his bleeding hand against his chest, but the look in his eyes told me he was still dangerous. I kept my gun out, trained on Uaine as Benita and I hurried toward the pair. She went to Uaine first, ordering him onto the ground. When he didn't comply, she jammed her knee against the back of his, bending his legs. He glared at her as she yanked his arms behind his back and cuffed him. He'd need medical attention, but neither Benita nor I were dumb enough to let him keep his hands free.
The rest of the agents swarmed forward, and I holstered my gun. I turned toward Bron, who was now kneeling on the ground, his fingers laced behind his head. He didn't look at me as I walked behind him and grabbed one of his wrists.
“You found me.”
“I’ll always find you, you asshole.” My voice shook. “What the hell were you thinking?!”
“I did what I needed to do to protect you,” he said. “I won't apologize for that.”
“Bastard,” I muttered as I cuffed him. “You could've gotten yourself killed.”
“But I didn't,” he countered. “And you might want to read me my rights. Don't want anything getting thrown out on a technicality.”
I glared at him as I rattled off the Miranda warning. I pulled him to his feet as one of the other agents came over.
“I've got this,” I
said. “Let's go.” I started to walk Bron toward one of the police cars.
“There's something I need to tell you,” he said as we passed out of ear-shot.
“You might want to wait for an attorney,” I said quietly.
“It's okay,” he said. “I trust you.”
Given our current situation, I wasn't entirely sure that was a good idea, but I nodded anyway.
“Front pants pocket.”
“What?” I frowned.
“Check my front pants pocket.”
Since I'd been the one to cuff him, I hadn't bothered frisking him. I knew he wasn't dangerous, especially not to me, and if he'd had any other weapons, he would've told me. As I reached for his pocket, I really hoped that wasn't what he was doing now, telling me that he had a knife or another gun.
It wasn't either. What I pulled from his pocket was a phone.
“I got a confession.”
My head jerked up. “Say that again?”
The grin he gave me wasn't quite as cocky as the one he usually wore, but it was close enough to make me want to roll my eyes. “Before he pulled a gun on me, I asked Uaine about Leticia Backman and got him to confess to the murder. And the murder of the security guard all those years ago.”
I had a moment of excitement, then the realization hit me. “We can't use it.”
“Why?” Bron asked.
“Any defense attorney is going to argue that you used force to coerce a confession.”
“I didn't draw my gun until he pointed his at me,” Bron said.
“Then they'll say you acted as an agent of the FBI, and there are a dozen different ways they can use that to get the recording thrown out.”
His grin widened, confusing me. “How could I be working with the FBI when I fled FBI custody? No tracker. No wire. I was clearly acting on my own in an attempt to clear myself of the murder charge.”
I stared at him. He was right.
Because there was a record of Benita and me having to find Bron and the fact that I had his tracker, we could prove that he'd run. Not so good for his immunity deal, but it would be good for our case against Uaine.
I just hoped I could get Colman to see how much Bron had helped us so we could still get him a deal. I'd already decided that I didn't care what anyone else thought or where Bron ended up. I'd be with him through it all.
It'd just be a lot nicer if the beginning of our relationship didn't involve all of our contact taking place in a prison meeting room. The case was solved, but my work wasn't yet finished. Bron had protected me. It was my turn to do the same for him.
Chapter Eleven
Bron
NEW YEAR'S EVE
I'd always had an appreciation of irony, so the fact that I was being released from prison to start my new life on the last day of the year, gave me a bit of humor over my anxiety.
Anxiety because I was about to venture into a world I hadn't been a part of for a very long time. Karis and Benita had made some sort of deal with their boss, letting him take the credit for the arrest, and he'd talked the DA into letting my immunity deal go through. The only thing they hadn't been able to wipe away clean was my little showdown with Uaine. It'd been too public for them to ignore, and the DA hadn't been able to bring herself to give a walk for that to someone like me.
So I got two months inside, and now I was being released on probation. A year where I couldn't get so much as a parking ticket, or I'd end up back in prison for the rest of an eighteen-month sentence. And it wasn't a white-collar prison since I'd been charged with weapon possession and a handful of other minor things. I was a big enough guy that most of the inmates had left me alone, but it hadn't exactly been pleasant.
My probation wasn't only contingent on my behaving myself though. For the year I was on it, I was to help the FBI with whatever cases came their way. Which meant, thanks to someone pulling some strings – I was betting on Agent Alverez – I was being released into the custody of Agent Karis Melendez although Benita would be my official handler.
Which meant no legalities were keeping Karis and me apart.
We could fly or fall all on our own.
The thought terrified me.
I listened to the clanking bars, the buzzers, as the guard escorted me through all of the gates and doors that led from my cell to the front of the building. Each sound, each step we took, was another moment I was closer to freedom.
To her.
Missing Karis was the worst part of all of this, but that had been my own doing. She'd told me she would visit, but I'd asked her not to. I deserved to be in jail – and for far longer than I'd been given – but I didn't want Karis to see me that way. I wanted our relationship to have a new, clean beginning. We wrote to each other, but I wanted the first time I saw her again to be today, when I stepped outside and she was waiting for me.
Outside.
I'd missed that almost as much as Karis. Sure, we had yard time – which wasn't exactly pleasant in November and December – but it wasn't even close to the same as being outside, to have the choice of where to go or what to do. What direction to take. I had that freedom now.
And I knew the first direction I would take was towards Karis. Honestly, she was the only direction. My true north. I knew that the things I'd done, the way I'd lived my life these last dozen years, had changed me. But she would keep me on the right path. Show me the man I could be. A man who might eventually deserve her.
At the last clank and buzzer, the guard stopped while still inside the grounds. One step through the gate and I'd be free, ready to start my new life.
I turned toward the guard and held out my hand. “Thank you.”
I couldn't exactly call any of the guards my friends, but for the most part, they'd been fair and honest with me. They were good men.
The guard shook my hand and then gestured outside. “Go get your girl, Bron. And if I ever get the chance to see you again, it better not be through bars.”
“That's the plan,” I said as I took my first step outside in two months.
And then Karis was there, throwing herself into my arms, and it was better than any homecoming I ever could have imagined. I closed my eyes as my arms wrapped around her and I held her tight. I felt like it'd been years since I'd last seen her, touched her.
I pressed my face against the side of her neck, breathed in the scent of her soap, her skin. A stab of arousal and desire so strong that it was almost painful went through me. I thought I'd wanted her before, but it was nothing compared to what I felt now.
“I missed you so much,” I said.
I pulled back far enough to finally kiss her. She made a pleased sound as my tongue slid alongside hers, exploring her mouth as if it was the first time. My fingers curled into that amazing hair of hers, held her as I deepened the kiss. Her hands tightened on my shoulders, and she pressed that gorgeous body against mine.
“I’m happy to see you too,” she said when I finally let her go.
“I feel like I can finally breathe,” I said as I reached down to thread my fingers between hers.
“What do you want for your first meal?” she asked as we started to walk toward the car.
I laughed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“I bet I won’t,” she said.
“I want one of those hamburgers from the place on the way to your apartment.”
She smacked my chest with her free hand.
“What was that for?”
“You made fun of me for those hamburgers, and that's what you want.”
I grinned at her. “What can I say, you've been a bad influence on me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Bad influence, right. Maybe I just knew what you'd like better than you.”
“Really?” I asked as we got into the car. I didn't bother asking if I could drive. I was pretty sure this was an agency car.
“Let's put it this way.” She turned around and picked up a bag from the back seat. “I picked these up so we could eat on the way
home.”
Home. She’d called her apartment home in a way that made me think that perhaps she meant it to be home for us both. She'd never come right out and said that she wanted me to live with her, but she also hadn't mentioned anything about finding another place for me. I wasn't going to press it though. I'd follow her lead.
I'd follow her anywhere.
“Thank you.” My stomach growled as I opened the bag. “I think I lost ten pounds from the shit food.”
She started the car as I took the first big bite of the most delicious thing I'd eaten in what felt like forever.
“So, what are you going to do now that you’re out?” she asked. “I mean, I know you've got to spend the next year helping us, but after that. Long term.”
“I'm not sure,” I said honestly. “I haven't really thought much past good food and you.”
She laughed. I loved listening to her laugh. I loved that I was able to make her laugh. It was one of the sounds I'd missed the most when I'd been apart from her. I never wanted to miss any of it again.
“I actually had a suggestion for you,” she said as I continued working on my hamburger. “I talked to Benita about it, and she thinks that if things go well over the next year, we might be able to talk the higher ups into offering you a job as a consultant.” She glanced at me, and then added, “Only if you want to, of course.”
I finished chewing my mouthful and then swallowed. “That's great, Karis. Really.”
“You don't need to answer right now,” she said. “Just wanted to let you know that you have options.”
I nodded as I finished my burger. I really did appreciate the gesture, but at the moment, I wasn't looking toward any future other than finishing my meal and spending the next several hours in bed with Karis.
When we parked the car, I reached over and put my hand on hers. “Seriously, Karis, thank you. For everything you've done.”
She leaned over and kissed my cheek. “You can spend the rest of the night demonstrating your gratitude.”