“If you play your cards right, you can run into both Congresswoman McAvoy and the second daughter on the same day.”
Bella listened to Edward with half an ear as she secured the blonde wig over her hair. Having to hide in plain sight was annoying, but it was better than the alternative.
Through their digging, they’d discovered Deborah McAvoy remained a congresswoman, as she was before her stint as speaker, and was currently in the D.C. area. The VP’s daughter was proving harder to track down, but they were determined to locate Amanda Barrett at either her condo or the university she attended.
Quinn, Bella, and Leah weren’t the only ones leaving the house. The mercs were heading out on a recon mission in their own disguises, which Bella admitted were more formidable than hers by a long shot.
“Think you can put on the skull mask for me when I get back later?” she whispered into Edward’s ear, tilting up on her toes to kiss his scruffy cheek.
He glanced down at her, the feral lust in his eyes sending a shiver down her spine. “You’d like that, huh?”
“It looks dangerous and sinfully sexy on you.”
His quick wolf’s grin had her smiling in return, and then he captured her mouth in a long kiss that made her insides turn to jelly. With their tongues tangling and hands groping, they were entirely unaware of anyone but themselves.
“Um, Mom? Dad?”
“Jesus,” Bella muttered, pulling away from her husband. “Sorry, kid.”
But when she faced Quinn, he was smiling. “It’s never a problem to see proof that my parents are still in love.”
She couldn't help reaching out and smoothing his hair off his face the way she’d done since he was an infant. “I’m ready, so if you and Leah are good to go, we’ll head out.”
“Yep, that’s why I interrupted.”
They said their goodbyes quickly and went on their way. Their intel told them Deborah McAvoy had a favorite coffee shop, but of course, she'd be surrounded by the capitol police charged with protecting her. Bella planned to use a technique similar to when they ‘ran into’ Natasha Blithers, and then go from there.
If they were lucky, they would have answers to their questions by the end of the day.
A handful of blocks down the street, Quinn loitered in the college library with the hopes of running into Amanda Barrett. It was true she’d been with an older man at least once, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be receptive to the advances of a guy closer to her age. He would let them know later how it went, since Bella and Leah were on a different channel on the comms. They didn’t need any distractions, so Seamus and Emmett were leading Quinn’s team while Edward and Jasper were in the ladies’ ears.
“I see her protection detail,” Leah commented quietly as they stepped out of the limo. “They’re inside around the perimeter.”
“Yeah,” Bella said brightly. “This place does sound good.”
Searching in her purse for her wallet, Bella walked right up to Deborah McAvoy where she stood at the end of the line and bumped into her shoulder. Both women lifted their heads, Bella from her handbag and Deborah from her phone.
“I’m terribly sorry,” Bella gushed in a slight New England accent. “I was so focused on digging for my debit card in this eternal pit.”
Deborah smiled cordially. “Understandable.”
The men in charge of her safety were stationed around the small coffee shop, apparently not considering Bella and Leah to be threats. All the better for their plan.
Channeling her talkative alter ego, Bella said, “I’m Tandee, and this is my sister-in-law, Rowana. We just moved here, and already there’s so much drama.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Deborah kept her attention focused straight ahead, and Bella pressed harder.
“Awful what happened to that CIA guy.” Shuddering delicately, Bella kept her gaze firmly on the set of Deborah’s shoulders as they tensed. “Wonder what kind of danger he got himself into.”
Sounding frustrated and annoyed, Deborah replied, “We may never know.”
“See, I think I know.” Dipping her head a tiny bit closer, Bella relied on Leah to watch her back. If she got too close to the congresswoman, her security would become twitchy. “I think he was involved in all the stuff they say he was, mostly the stuff that happened four, five years ago with those Russians.”
“Can’t trust Russians,” Leah added in a more obnoxious accent than Bella’s.
“No, you sure can’t, Ro.”
“Luckily, they’re no longer an issue.” Deborah sounded bored with the topic, but her arms were crossed and her shoulders were hunched up near her ears.
The line moved forward, and Bella knew she’d have to hurry the conversation along before it was too late.
“Especially lucky for anyone ingrained in the public service sector.” Tapping her wallet against her thigh, Bella went all in. “Speaking of which, you look awfully familiar. Say, weren’t you Majority Whip or something back then?”
“I was the speaker of the house,” Deborah replied stiffly.
Ah, ego. It never failed to rear its ugly head.
“Damn, girl, really?” Leah said. “Then you were wrapped up tight in all that scary business.”
“Scary,” Deborah echoed.
“Did they offer you anything good?” Bella whispered, edging a little closer. “Like to pay off your debts or help you win the next election?”
“Pardon me?” Turning her head, Deborah leveled Bella with a scathing look. “That would be entirely unethical.”
“Terrorists ain’t exactly known for being ethical, if you know what I mean.”
It appeared Deborah was finished with the conversation, facing the front of the coffee shop and not responding. The next person in line paid and moved off to wait, and only one more person remained in front of the congresswoman.
“See, in my opinion, the veep wanted to be prez, and he wanted it at any cost. Then, of course, there’s you, waiting right there next in line.”
“All that power would be impossible to give up,” Leah said.
“It’s heady, for sure.” If nothing else, Bella hoped they’d annoyed the shit out of the woman enough that she’d start complaining as soon as they were off her back. All the better if she spilled any of the beans to her protectors.
The words would go right into the tiny microphone Bella had planted on the back of Congresswoman McAvoy’s collar.
“Next.”
They all moved up, and Bella dropped it for the time being. Waiting impatiently for the next opportunity, she studied the menu. If they were there, she might as well make the best of it.
“It was great meeting you, Ms. Speaker,” Bella stated loudly as Deborah moved on. “Really great.”
“The chance of a lifetime,” Leah chimed in.
They watched her leave with a scowl on her face and a coffee in her hand. The caffeine hit was probably not even worth the irritation she’d endured.
“And she’s off,” Bella said softly.
“We’ve got her,” Edward said in her ear. “Hopefully, the chatter will begin shortly.”
Plus, they would track her as far as they could before the nearly invisible beacon was detected. Her location was less important than her words, unless she happened to run to Barrett to talk it out. That would merely be interesting, not groundbreaking.
“Wanna listen in on your son?” Edward asked.
“Sure,” Bella muttered, gesturing for Leah to order her coffee.
“He’s found her in the library,” Emmett filled them in. “Set his books down at the next table.”
“Excuse me, do you have a pen I could borrow?” she heard Quinn ask.
The following female response had to be Amanda. “Um, sure.”
“You know what?” Bella said, exiting the coffee shop. “I don't think I want to hear his attempts at flirting after all.”
Edward chuckled smoothly in her ear. “No problem. I’ll keep you updated.”
Bella and Leah had nothing else to do but get in the limo and drink their coffee. Back at the safe house, they could listen in to all the audio feeds they wanted.
“Holy fucking motherfucker,” Edward breathed into her ear.
That can’t be good. “What the hell happened?” Bella asked.
“The vice president just received a delivery.”
Bella and Leah both frowned, looking at each other.
“And?” Bella prompted.
“It was bad enough to make the national news,” was all he would respond.
“Fuck me,” Bella muttered, wishing he’d just tell her. The cell phone she carried didn’t have any apps on it that might have the chance of transmitting a location signal, so she’d have to wait.
The people in the house were all crammed around the television set when they arrived, with the exception of Aerinn. Quinn and the mercs were still out of the house, and Emmett appeared torn between the TV and the tablet in his hand.
“Okay, what’s the big deal?” Bella demanded. “Obviously it’s more than a ream of paper, but what’s so mysterious about this delivery?”
But she stopped talking even as her mouth dropped open, staring in utter disbelief at the screen. The video feed showed men in various uniforms—some hazmat and some police—scurrying back and forth from the south lawn of the White House to the interior and back out to tents set up on the pavement. A smaller picture on the bottom right showed a similar scene outside the CIA headquarters.
The Chyron read Former CIA Field Office Director Derrick Blithers confirmed dead.
“Confirmed how?” Bella asked, though her lightly churning stomach told her she knew the answer.
“His head was delivered in a cardboard box to VP Barrett’s office.” For once, Seamus sounded dead serious.
“And the audio feed from McAvoy’s device told us she’s freaking the fuck out.” Jasper came to stand beside Emmett, who continued to focus on his tablet.
“Have Quinn or Amanda found out yet?” Bella asked.
“Just did,” Emmett responded. “Amanda’s security detail whisked her out of the library before our boy got very far.”
“Did he learn anything?” Leah asked.
“He told her he recognized her from the picture leaked to the press and wondered if she was still involved with him when he was taken. She told him no, but that she wasn't willing to discuss it further. He tried to ask her out, but they got interrupted by the detail.”
“The only other thing she told him before they got the news,” Seamus said, “was that Blithers was her da’s friend and he told her to get to know him as a favor. The way she explained it, she apparently liked him well enough to get romantically involved of her own free will.”
“Still feels gross,” Dylan piped up from her seat on the couch.
“I’ve no doubt it was,” Seamus replied.
“Well, well, well,” Ben chanted from his position on a bar stool. He had one-half of a set of headphones over his ear and a laptop perched precariously in his lap. “Our congresswoman is indeed freaking the fuck out, and she’s giving us all kinds of intel while she’s at it.”
Edward muted the TV. “Put her on speaker.”
“—next for me?” McAvoy said on the audio. “If this is what they were willing to do to someone in the CIA?”
“It’s not the same,” a male voice responded.
“That’s Barrett!” Dara whisper-shouted.
“He was dealing with the Taliban directly, while we never did.”
“This is all your goddamn fault,” she snapped.
“Hey, I didn’t contact Zion, Deb, they contacted me.”
“Makes no difference. You agreed to their bargain and set this in motion.” A rustling sound grated over the speakers. “Now here we are, huddling together in a back alley while Blithers is dead.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
She groaned. “You promised me no one would learn of my involvement back then, just like you promised to make me your running mate. You lied both times.”
“And what are you going to do about it?” he demanded, his voice dropping a dangerous octave. “Go to the press? The authorities?”
“And confirm what some have suspected about me? Now who’s being dramatic?”
“All I know is that you can’t say anything bad about me and Derrick without implicating yourself.”
“Exactly the way you obviously orchestrated it.” Her voice changed, sounding weary. “I’m over all this, Drew. All I want now is to be left alone.”
“Fine by me. Just know that I have to pick a new running mate, and I was looking at you.”
“Sure you were.” She scoffed. “I’ll give you credit; you’re perfect at concocting all the right lies to string people along. You were born to be a politician.”
The conversation stopped, but they could still hear a bit of rustling.
“Is she walking away?” Dylan asked.
“Yeah, her beacon is moving. None of this is admissible anywhere,” Ben pointed out. “But surely we can send it to someone who isn’t corrupt and let them take the matter on themselves.”
“And how do we determine that when it seems every motherfucker out there is as corrupt as the day is long?”
Edward had a point. “It’s your call,” Bella told him.
Jasper said, “Maybe I spent more time with these deranged assholes than the lot of you, but I say we ruin Barrett as hard as humanly possible. No holds barred, no letting up until he’s either dead or in prison.”
Edward stood, walking over to Bella and looking down into her eyes. “If we do this, mo chroí, we’ll be outing ourselves as the ones threatening the life of the Vice President of the United States.”
Taking his hand, she said, “Is this our ride-or-die discussion? Do I need to declare my intentions to follow you no matter what?”
With a crooked smile, he fingered a tendril of her wig. “No, baby, we never have to declare what we already know to be true. It just feels like we could go down in flames on this one more easily than ever before.”
“Not to interrupt your Dom and Letty moment,” Dylan said wryly, “but what about the rest of us? Don’t we get to decide if we want to do illegal shit before we do it?”
“Who’s gonna tell her?” Seamus asked, arms raised above his head. “Anyone?”
Emmett snickered. “I’m not telling her.”
Dylan frowned. “Tell me what?”
With their fingers linked, Edward and Bella turned toward the stairs.
“Wait, where are they going?” Dylan demanded. “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on?”
“We’ve all done illegal shit before,” Jasper commented. “This is nothing new to us.”
“But—”
“And you’ve already done illegal shit,” Dara said.
“What—”
“And we’re never gonna stop doing illegal shit!” Emmett shouted, bounding up the stairs after Bella and Edward.
“Lord help me,” Dylan muttered, shaking her head. “You’re all crazy.”
“Gotta be crazy to stay one step ahead of the reaper,” Seamus said.
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| Congresswoman Deborah McAvoy |
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| Tiny listening device |
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