Chapter Thirty-One
Agent Dennick
I scowled at Agent Collins as she was taken into custody. This woman had caused me more trouble over the last few months than any other agent I ever had to deal with. She was a pain in the ass and I couldn’t keep her under control, which was why I had to fire her. She didn’t understand that there were powerful people out there, people that would make my life a living hell if I didn’t follow their suggestions. Senator Cortez had become a huge thorn in my side, one that I didn’t wish to dig in any deeper. Even though he was a new senator, he had connections already established when he took his seat.
The project that he was working on was wrong. I knew it. Hell, everyone involved knew it, but they had their objectives and if I wanted to keep my job, I would decide that I had the same objectives as the rest of them. I had one job, shut down anything that came through my channels related to him or anyone involved. But someone knew to contact Blake Collins. They knew she was tenacious and wouldn’t give up. Her moral high ground made me sick. You didn’t get things done in this world by always doing the right thing. You got things done by eliminating threats to you and your cause. So, no matter what I thought about what the senator had in store, I had to make sure that it happened.
“Where’s Michael Parker?” I asked the man in front of me. He stood there, arms crossed over his chest like he didn’t give a fuck about me or my badge. It pissed me off and made me want to slap some cuffs on him. But I also needed information.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are? This is a federal investigation and you’re interfering. I could have your ass thrown in jail.”
He smirked at me and it took everything I had not to punch him. “I’m Sebastian Reed, owner of this company. That’s who I know I am. You came for the woman and you have her. I haven’t done anything to interfere with what you’re doing.”
“And how did she just happen to be here?”
“She showed up on my doorstep, rambling about needing help. If you ask me, I thought she sounded a little off. I found out who she was and I called her family,” he said, nodding to the five men in the room, “and asked them to come. I didn’t tell them she was here, of course. I didn’t want them to worry.”
I turned to the men. They had already been questioned by other agents. I found it very interesting that they didn’t know where she was and hadn’t heard from her, but here they suddenly were.
“So, you didn’t know where she was three days ago, but now you’ve found her.”
“Pretty lucky,” one of them nodded. “When your agents showed up and started questioning us, we knew that something was wrong.”
“So, your sister is missing and this man calls, and you just come running, without knowing why or any other details. Why do I not believe that?”
“Believe what you want,” the father stepped forward. “Our girl was missing and someone called us, saying it was important. We didn’t want to waste your resources on something that might not pan out. Besides, it all worked out for the best. You showed up right after we did.”
I grinned slightly. “Yeah, funny how you didn’t share that little piece of information about a car she might be driving.”
“We didn’t even think about it until a day later.”
These guys had an answer for everything. “You should have called.”
“You got who you wanted,” the father scowled. “Do your investigation and let my little girl go.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I sneered. “I don’t have what I want, because she was with a man, a piece of shit that raped a woman while he was serving in the military. Is that who you want your daughter hanging around? He was with her and now he’s not. I’m not leaving here until I find out where he went.”
“Then you’re going to be here a while,” Reed said, “because he’s not here, and you can search every fucking inch of this place, but you’re not going to find him.”
My blood boiled. This couldn’t be happening. I needed that fucker. He was somehow tied to this, and there could be no loose ends. Even one person could blow this whole thing wide open, and I couldn’t afford that.
“Sir.” One of my agents appeared in the doorway, motioning me over.
I stalked over to him. “You’d better have something good.”
“Sir, an SUV was seen driving out of town about ten minutes ago.”
“And?”
“It’s the same type of SUV that this company uses. It could be nothing, but it’s our only lead right now.”
“Find it. I want you to follow it and if Parker is in there, you make damn sure that you get him. I want him sitting in a fucking jail cell by the end of the day.”
“Yes, sir.”
I walked back over to Sebastian Reed and put on my most evil face, but that fucker just chuckled at me. God, I really hated him. “I should put your ass in jail right now.”
“I’d like to see you try. I have excellent lawyers.”
“I’m sure you do. You’d better watch your back. I have Collins, and once I have my hands on Parker, I’ll have all the information I need. And then I’m coming for you.”
“You do that. I’ll have someone show you out.”
He nodded to someone behind me and then turned, effectively saying he had already forgotten about me. I ground my teeth as I
