Birds of Prey (15 page)

Okay, he had her there.

“And why is the agent in charge sharing all this with you?” he questioned suddenly.

She shrugged. “He thought I could help.”

Adam’s eyes narrowed. “Try again.”

Since Adam had never known about Cody, she didn’t think that now would be a good time to bring up their relationship.

“Maybe he got tired of my interfering and decided it would be easier to work with me,” she offered. In fact, that was what Cody had said.

Adam chuckled. “Okay, that I can see.”

She huffed, insulted.

“What’s the agent’s name?”

Oh, no. “Why?”

He crossed his arms. “I can get his name from Mike or Adrian,” he reminded her.

“Cody Johnson,” she answered. Adam was right. Mike might not tell her brother about her past with Cody, but he would tell Adam Cody’s name.

Adam nodded.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to talk to this agent and make sure you’re left out of the rest of this mess.”

“You can’t do that!” Aubrey pushed away from the rail.

“Oh, I’m going to do that and more,” he warned.

That didn’t sound good. “More?”

“If I’m not satisfied that you will stay out of all this, I will take you back to California with me.”

Aubrey had reached her limit. She fisted her hands on her hips and leaned towards her brother. “Now you listen to me.”

He lifted a brow.

“I’m an adult, a security expert, and I will not have my older brother acting like I’m in kindergarten and…and grounding me!”

She squeaked when he grabbed her chin. “But
you
are
my
little sister. My blood, and I will not have you getting yourself killed because you can’t keep your nose out of where it does not belong.”

“It’s not your decision,” she argued.

He shrugged.

Aubrey inhaled deeply then gave in to temptation. She punched her brother.

“Ow!” he bitched, as he grabbed his shoulder and stepped back.

“You’re an ass,” she declared. “I understand where you are coming from—really, I do—but let me do my job.”

“Your job is not catching a killer.”

“My job was not to let Gregory get killed in the first place.”

“Ah, honey, that’s not your fault.”

“Then whose is it?” she asked, letting him hold her. “I left shift early that night. The Cast was covered, and I was tired.”

Adam lifted her face. “And it could have happened on your day off. He could have been killed at the office. You cannot continue to blame yourself.”

“Please understand why I have to do this,” she pleaded. “I’ll be careful, I promise, but I have to see this through.”

Adam sighed, hugging her tightly. He rested his chin on the top of her head. “Just let me talk to the agent.”

“Okay.” What could it hurt? She’d talk to Cody and tell him just to play along.

He was supposed to meet her at her house after the funeral anyway. She’d get to him first and make sure that Adam didn’t talk him into leaving her out.

It shouldn’t be too hard.

She hoped.

“We should go back inside. They’ll be serving the food by now,” Adam told her, giving her one last pat.

“Yeah, and I’ve got to make sure everything is ready for the bonfire.”

They walked into the compound arm in arm.

Chapter Twelve

Cody really didn’t want to interrupt Gregory’s memorial service, but he didn’t have a choice. The last pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together, and his team had to move. His orders came from the top of the food chain. He’d been commanded to bring Adrian into the Coalition immediately.

With an arrest warrant in his hand, he led the way around the side of the building to where the final stages of Gregory’s funeral were taking place.

He’d put it off as long as he could. They had to take their suspect in before he fled.

When he and his team reached the area where the mourners sat in front of a large bonfire, he immediately searched for Aubrey.

She was standing next to a tall, handsome, dark-haired man who had his arm around her shoulder. They were both talking with Mike.

Cody didn’t know who the man was. It infuriated him that the stranger was touching Aubrey, though, and he had to clench his teeth to keep from shouting at him.

Aubrey turned and their gazes met.

Something flickered in her eyes and she stepped away from the two men. Cody shook his head, unsurprised when she ignored his request and continued walking towards him.

Her brow furrowed as she took in his team, who stood a few feet behind him.

“Cody?” she questioned, stopping in front of him.

“I need to speak with Adrian. Where is he?” he asked.

“What’s going on?”

He had to be professional. He couldn’t let his feelings for her interfere with his job. “I’m sorry, Aubrey. I need to see Adrian—right now.”

Her face paled. “Why?”

He wanted to reach for her, to offer her comfort, because he knew she was going to need it. Cody glanced over her shoulder at the two men she’d been standing with. Mike had his hand on the other man’s shoulder and seemed to have stopped him from joining them. Mike would be helpful right then, but he still didn’t know who the other man was.

Aubrey noticed where he was looking and turned. “That’s my brother, Adam. I need to talk to you about him.”

Brother. He was relieved. However, he had to push that away. “Aubrey…”

“Why do you need Adrian? He’s had a hard day and just went upstairs to rest,” she said, grabbing his arm.

Cody laid his hand over hers. “Listen to me.” He lowered his voice. “I have an arrest warrant for Adrian. Let us do it quietly. We don’t want to upset everyone.”

“Upset?” she spat and yanked her hand away. “You’re here to…”

Her voice had started to rise, so Cody grabbed her and pulled her into the house. His team followed and he handed the paper to Ryder. “Get him.”

“Yes, sir.” Ryder took the warrant and directed the others to follow him.

He turned back to Aubrey. Her normally calm eyes flashed bright green. Oh, she was pissed. He released her and she pushed him.

Cody had expected a reaction, but that hadn’t been it. He managed to stay on his feet.

“I told you Adrian had nothing to do with this!”

Cody shook his head. “Aubrey, I have the evidence.”

“In one day? You have enough after one day to arrest him? This is ridiculous!”

“I know this hurts you—”

“Hurts me? This isn’t about me! You’re going to tear this Cast apart. Once everyone finds out about this, they’re going to panic.”

He knew that. There was nothing he could do about it. “Just calm down and let me explain.”

“Tell me to calm down again, and I swear I’ll—”

“What the hell is going on?” Mike questioned, as he stepped inside the door with Aubrey’s brother. They closed the door and moved in on them. “We can hear you yelling outside, Aubrey.”

She whirled towards them. “He’s here to arrest Adrian.”

“Damn it,” Cody muttered. He was quickly losing control of the situation.

“What do you mean, ‘arrest Adrian’?” Mike bellowed.

“Listen.” Cody held up both hands.

“I won’t let you!” she interrupted.

That was it. “What are you going to do?” he challenged. He’d known that Aubrey wouldn’t be happy, but he’d thought that she would understand. He couldn’t believe she would stand between him and Adrian.

“I’m not going to let you take him.”

Cody advanced on her. Aubrey glared.

“Everyone just hold on,” Mike interjected.

“I’m an agent…” he started.

“You’ll have to go through me,” Aubrey said at the same time.

A sharp whistle stopped them both.

Cody turned with Aubrey. Her brother dropped his hands and frowned at them. “If you two can stop arguing long enough to tell us what’s going on, we’ll figure this out.”

Aubrey opened her mouth, but her brother pointed at her.

“Shut it.” He turned towards Cody. “Agent?”

Cody was so shocked that the man had been able to stop Aubrey’s rant that it took him a moment to answer. He cleared his throat. “We have a warrant to arrest Adrian Brown and question him in relation to the deaths of Gregory Stevens and Kevin Knox.”

Aubrey made a sound, but her brother scowled at her until she quieted again.

“You have evidence that supports this?”

“Yes, we wouldn’t have been able to get the warrant if we didn’t.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t… Aubrey, I can’t share that with you. I’d lose my job.”

“But…”

Aubrey’s brother turned to her. “Let the man do his job.”

He expected Aubrey to blow up again. He wasn’t prepared for her scream of frustration before she stomped from the room.

Cody just stared after her.

“Really, what is going on, Cody?” Mike pulled Cody’s attention back to the two men still in the room. “You can’t really think Adrian is involved? He wasn’t even in town.”

“We have to talk to him,” Cody answered. “The way things are looking, Adrian was involved.”

Mike shook his head. “I just can’t believe this. Adrian wouldn’t have had Gregory killed. He loved him.”

“I’m sorry. I really am, but it is all pointing in that direction.”

Mike cursed and started to pace. “What are we going to do?”

Aubrey’s brother stepped forward. “Adam Williams.”

“Cody Johnson.” He shook hands with Adam. “Nice to meet you. I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”

Adam lifted a brow. “More and more is making sense now.”

Not getting his meaning, Cody frowned. Voices in the hall drew their attention and he rushed out of the room. Ryder was leading Adrian down the stairs in handcuffs.

Aubrey was arguing with Byron, blocking his path. “Handcuffs? Really?”

Cody sighed. “Aubrey!”

She whirled around. “This is uncalled for.”

Cody walked over and took her by the elbow, pulling her away. He lowered his voice. “Please, let us get him out of here.”

The pain in her eyes made his heart hurt. He cupped her cheek. “It’ll be okay.”

She sniffed and dropped her head. “He didn’t do it.”

Cody wished that he believed her. However, they’d got the financial search and cell phone logs. Adrian was involved.

“Aubrey,” Adrian called.

She stiffened and moved away from Cody. He wanted to grab her and put her back at his side. He let her go to her ex-lover, her Cast leader.

Adrian was looking between Aubrey and Cody with suspicion. “Call Mac Douglas.”

“Yes, sir,” she responded. She turned to Cody. “You’re taking him to the Coalition?”

“Yes,” Cody answered.

“I’ll meet you there.”

“No!” Cody and Adrian said at the same time.

“You don’t need to go. Just call his lawyer,” Cody instructed.

He was sure that she’d ignore him until Adrian agreed with him.

“This will be taken care of quickly, Aubrey. I need you here. When word gets out, there will be a lot of upset people.”

“Fine.” She looked at Cody one last time before she stomped from the room.

Cody watched her leave. Adam followed her.

Mike nodded at Cody. “His lawyer will meet you there,” he said before trailing behind Aubrey and Adam.

They’d been dismissed.

He motioned for Byron to take Adrian out. He gazed back to the room Aubrey had entered and heard Adam’s voice loud and clear.

“You want to tell me what is going on with you and that agent?”

Cody decided that Aubrey had her hands full at the moment. But he would be seeing her again soon.

They were going to work this out. He was not going to let things end this way.

Cody wanted to slam his hands down on the table and demand that Adrian cooperate. The man was arrogant, demanding, and not at all what Cody had expected.

The lawyer had shown up. Mac Douglas was a partner from the law firm that Gregory had owned. Adrian had agreed to talk, but Cody wasn’t getting anywhere.

“I have never seen this man in my life,” Adrian said, pushing the photo across the table to Cody.

“Why did you withdraw ten thousand dollars for three weeks in a row before your trip?” Cody asked for the third time.

“It wasn’t to hire a hit man,” Adrian insisted again.

Sitting back, Cody rubbed his hands roughly over his face. “Come on, man. We have your phone records. You called a payphone close to the motel where the third victim was found. You dialled that number seven times.”

“My client already explained that he had a friend staying in the motel during the time the calls were made,” Mac stated.

“But won’t give us the name,” Cody pointed out.

“I’m being set up,” Adrian claimed. “Why can’t you see that?”

Cody snorted. “Someone is setting you up? That’s what you’re going with?”

Adrian glared across the table at him. “Maybe if you were doing your job, Agent Johnson, I wouldn’t be here at all.”

“I’m doing my job, Mr Brown,” Cody responded. “That’s why you’re here.”

“Is it?” Adrian leant forward and lowered his voice. “So this has nothing to do with the fact that you are currently messing around with my ex?”

Cody froze. He hadn’t expected Adrian to mention Aubrey.

“Tell me this,” Adrian continued. “Did you start sleeping with my security guard before or after you decided I was a suspect?”

Fury rolled through Cody. He clenched his hands at his sides. He wanted to smash his fist in Adrian’s face for challenging him.

He remained silent.

Adrian smirked. “I’ll have to review who works security for me. Loyalty is very important for a Cast leader.”

Adrian was pushing his buttons and Cody knew it, but Cody’s control slipped.

He growled, pushing out of his seat. “You don’t want to threaten her.”

“Agent Johnson, I demand you act professionally towards my client or I will file a report on your behaviour.”

Ryder placed his hand on Cody’s shoulder.

Cody shook his head. “You do that, counsellor. We’ll have a short break. Maybe your client will feel like cooperating when we return.”

He stalked out of the room, furious at himself. He shouldn’t have let Adrian push him. He was a seasoned detective and knew better than to let his anger control him. He just couldn’t help being emotionally attached to the investigation with Aubrey involved.