Circle of Deception (12 page)

“Mom is very proud of my brother, and considering how she loves bragging about him, Brody probably hears about every investigation that’s going on in all of Sand County.”

Abby glanced toward the bathroom. By the way she was feeling, she wasn’t sure how much longer she would last before getting sick. Especially if Jack told her that her mother was having a fling with Brody. Maybe she kept his books. She’d worked in Abby’s dad’s practice as the office manager and bookkeeper when he was alive. Yeah, that had to be it.

“Maybe. But your brother was elected sheriff only six months ago, and your mom’s been visiting with Brody for at least a year.” Jack sat back, one hand holding his elbow as his other rubbed his chin. He stared hard at the report on his screen as his tongue played with the loop piercing his bottom lip. Was he as confused as she was by her mom’s actions?

A niggling feeling at the back of her mind warned that she’d just missed something important.

“When are Charlie and Liam showing up?” Rex’s voice, deep and gruff, caused her to blush.

She remembered the rough groans escaping his lips last night, of how he arched his back in pleasure with each thrust of his fist. Heat flooded her body again as she replayed each sensual moment. Considering the different types of missions she’d been through over the last few years, she should be unaffected by such a display, but she couldn’t get it out of her mind. Watching Rex masturbate last night had excited her more than she ever wanted to admit. It had been natural and beautiful. After what he’d done to her earlier that day, she understood he needed some type of outlet. It wasn’t like she had offered to pay him back for his generosity.

Oh, goodness, the man’s tongue needed to be registered as a lethal weapon. Really. How had she not had a heart attack?

When Jack picked up his cup and moved over to the coffee machine, she once again pushed herself to pay attention.

“They’re going to see if they can get hired on as day laborers,” Jack said in answer to Rex’s earlier question. “Word’s out that the farm needs help preparing the fields for peanuts. By having them nearby, they can keep an eye on the comings and goings and report back. As a bonus, if you and Rex need help, they’ll be nearby.”

“With Alabama’s strict immigration laws, farmers are begging for help. Should be easy for them to get picked,” Nic chimed in.

“Nic and I’ll be hanging out at a popular bar in Sand City and letting the locals know we’re in the market for some land. It’s amazing the info people will tell all in the name of being helpful.” Taking a long sip of his coffee, Jack slowly looked from her to his brother and back to her.

Did he know about last night?

No. Otherwise, Jack would be giving her hell. He’d love nothing more than to have something to hold over her head and tease her with. If he did know, why wasn’t he teasing her?

What was he up to?

When he glanced at her and sipped his coffee again, she went over their conversation so far. Then it hit her.

“Rex. Nic. If you two would excuse us for a few minutes, I need to talk with Jack.” She stared straight at Rex. “Privately.”

His eyes narrowed for a second and then he nodded. “Nic, come with me. We’ll talk about how to set up the bugs you gave me.”

The man had enough sense to not argue with her. Maybe he was glad he wasn’t the one in trouble. This time.

Like a happy puppy, Nic followed Rex to his bedroom, chatting all the way. Bedroom? Why the bedroom? If she wasn’t so angry with Jack, she would have a word or two with Rex about his choice of rooms. Then again, would her bedroom upstairs be any better? Yeah. It at least had a sitting area, and Nic wouldn’t like coming on to the big hunk in the same room Abby slept in and, as far as she knew, regardless of Rex’s mussed up bed, Rex had too.

When the door closed with a click, her fingernails dug into the back of the couch. Who was she to dictate where and with whom he could go? The marriage was a fake and no one outside the suite would know.

Well, crap. She had a problem for sure. Jealousy had no place on a mission.

R
EX WANTED TO
stay, but he actually needed to ask Nic for an extra bug without Abby knowing. From the intel he’d received from Jack and their discussions leading up to the wedding, Abby’s brother was an important key to finding some answers. Every time they’d mentioned bugging her brother, she’d claimed he was as straight and narrow as they come. One thing he’d learned over the years, even brothers could screw up.

“I hope she hasn’t been mean to you.” Nic’s hand rubbed his upper arm and dropped to squeeze his hand.

“Abby? Nah.” He stepped away and picked up a black bag with the bugs provided for use in Brody’s home. The bag looked like any normal man’s shaving kit. Inside, he stored his razor, shaving cream, comb, deodorant, and toothbrush with paste, but in the false bottom were six tiny listening devices. Even if someone emptied the bag and cut the bottom, the bugs and the foam they were encased in would stay hidden. Ingenious, if he said so himself. “Do you happen to have an extra bug I could take with me?”

“Did something happen to one of them? I told Sal to pack tight.” She reached for the bag, but Rex held it above her head.

“No. Everything’s okay. I want an extra in case something comes up.” He set it in the bathroom and turned, bumping into Nic, who was on his heels. “Whoa.” He held her arm until she regained her balance. “I also want it to have a single feed receiver.” The other bugs’ information was received by The Circle’s big computer mainframe and accessed by phone. He wanted to be the only one to hear.

“I don’t know. I could get in a lot of trouble if Jack or Ryker finds out.” Nic scooted a little closer and ran her hand up his chest. Damn, they probably should’ve gone to the sitting room upstairs. The way Nic touched him and glanced at the rumpled bed, she clearly expected a reward for going against Circle rules.

He moved near the door and crossed his arms. “I don’t want you to get in trouble. If you can’t, I’ll understand.”

“Rex.” She followed and ran her hand over his chest again. “While Abby and Jack are occupied, we can do the same.”

As soon as she looked into his face, her hand dropped to her side.

His brother might be an asshole who loved unavailable women, but Jack would never jeopardize a mission by fooling around while the husband was in the next room. And for the current job, Abby was his wife.

“You and I talked about this. We had a good time, but now we’re friends and nothing more.”

She stuck out her chin, pressing her lips together. After a few seconds, she said, “I know that’s what you said, but anyone with eyes can tell Abby has a thing for Jack. I don’t want you to get hurt. She’s got you all tied up with this pretend wedding and meeting her family. You’ll only get hurt again.”

“That’s for me to worry about.” He pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “I appreciate your concern, but I’m a big boy and can take care of myself.” With a light kiss on the top of her head, he released her and held out his hand. “Still friends?”

Her big eyes looked into his. “Sure. Friends.” She shook his hand. “I think we can set up one of the bugs you already have for a single feed to your phone. Where’s your laptop?”

Rex was relieved but unsurprised that Nic took his rejection so well. One of the things he liked about her was her easygoing nature. She was protective of those she liked and a pain in the ass to those she didn’t. And Nic made no bones that she didn’t care for Abby. He never asked why, as he expected Nic being Nic one day would change her mind once she knew more about Abby.

He listened for the couple in the next room. Besides, Nic was wrong about Abby and Jack. At least, she’d better be wrong.

J
ACK SIPPED FROM
his coffee cup again while staring out the glass doors leading to the balcony.

Did he really think Abby believed his calm routine? He knew he’d screwed up, and it was time for him to pay the piper.

“How long have you been investigating my mom?”

He looked at her as if he wanted to lie but reconsidered. Obviously, he decided the truth would work best. How many times in the past had he not come to that decision with her? Before she could delve deeper into that horrible thought, he said, “For eighteen months.”

Abby raised her hands in the air in frustration, and when she realized how crazy she looked, she dropped them to clasp the back of her head.

“A year and a half,” she said in disbelief.

“We’ve been watching Brody for three years. When he moved to Sand City, your brother was already there. Once your mom moved in and she met Brody, we had to investigate.”

“You set me up.” She rubbed her temples.

Why was it that when people became powerful, they couldn’t talk straight and tell people what they wanted them to do? Why manipulate them? Was The Circle’s influence so tainted from the past that the leaders thought deception was the only way to control every situation?

She sighed and then asked, “Why the elaborate hoax?” Crap. He was looking at her again, measuring, trying to decide if he wanted to tell the truth or not. “You know I think you and I have been friends for too long. Every time you give me that how-little-can-I-get-away-with-telling-her look, I want to bop you on the head.”

“You have to trust me on this.”

“In other words, you don’t want to argue anymore.”

“Touché.”

What was the use talking to the hardheaded man?

She rolled her eyes and headed toward Rex’s bedroom. It was too quiet in there. Considering how much noise Rex usually made while
having fun
, she doubted Nic had convinced him to give her a ride. No. She refused to even think of them doing the nasty.

A loud knocking at the door had Abby turning on her heels and heading to the entryway.

“I thought you said Liam and Charlie weren’t coming,” she said to Jack in a low voice as she stopped a few feet from the door.

“I did.”

“You didn’t order room service either, right?” Abby backed up from the door, and Jack grabbed the gun in the holster at the small of his back.

“Right.”

Rex came out of the bedroom with gun in hand, pointing slightly down, and Nic behind him, weaponless.

When Nic opened her mouth, Abby shook her head and placed her finger to her lips. She probably wanted to ask the question they all had: Who in the hell was it?

Thankfully, she’d checked out the best place to stash a weapon last night and settled on the buffet cabinet next to the door. She pulled out the Sig with attached suppressor from inside the drawer.

“Who is it?” Waiting to see if they overreacted, she stood to the side. The door frame would slow a bullet but it wouldn’t protect her.

“Room service.”

“We didn’t order anything,” she said in an even tone.

“Ms. Nic Savage ordered lunch for four.”

“I did. Sorry. I forgot,” Nic said in a low voice as she looked up at Rex.

Jack waved Nic back when she headed toward the door. “You know better. No room service ever.” Opening a secure location to an unknown asked for trouble. He signaled for Abby to open the door.

She hesitated. When she winkled her forehead and dipped her head at Jack, silently asking if he was sure, he nodded.

Not wanting to scare an innocent waiter, she placed her gun on top of the buffet and edged it behind a large fat-bottomed lamp, hoping it would escape notice. Then she swung the door open while standing to the side. The burgundy short jacket proclaimed he worked for the hotel, but the pistol with suppressor pointing at her told another story. He shot twice as she reached for her gun. One good thing about shooting at a moving target: most people missed. Luckily he had, though she was certain one grazed her hair.

The man landed face-first inside the suite.

Rex and Jack had their weapons out, smoke drifting from the barrels. The way the man’s blood spread quickly on the carpet, their aim had been dead on target through the heart with only one exit wound from what she could see. Another bullet probably met bone and remained inside.

For a few seconds after the blasts of gunfire, everyone was quiet, waiting for shouting or screaming outside the suite. The
clack, clack, clack
sound of shots through a suppressor were loud enough to grab someone’s attention. Thankfully, one of the pluses the concierge mentioned when they checked in the day before was how the suite was private and soundproof. She doubted he’d intended the noise to be firearm related.

With no alarm triggered, everyone began to move as if on the same string.

Jack called The Circle with a request for a cleanup crew, telling them their would-be killer was sprawled on the beautiful gold carpet and his body needed hauling off without drawing attention. Rex looked into the foyer toward the elevator and then closed the door.

Abby yanked out the tall garbage bag in the small kitchen. After using a steak knife to slice it open, she slipped it beneath his body before more blood soaked the rug. The wounds continued to seep.

“Get me a couple towels out of the bathroom quick,” she said to Nic.

Faster than she expected, the woman returned, tossing them to her. Abby worked at staunching the blood to stop more from pooling on the plastic. Considering the mess they already had on the wall and beneath the body, they needed a miracle that the crew would be successful in cleaning it off everything it had sprayed on.

She turned to ask Rex for help in moving the body, as it weighed more than she’d expected, when she realized Nic had disappeared.

“Where did Nic go?” she asked Rex.

He jerked his head toward his bathroom. Then she heard retching.

“Is this the first time she’s seen someone get killed?” Everyone thought they could handle the results until they experienced it. Abby had been sick for days after her first.

“No. The first one had his arms around her when he was shot. She hasn’t gotten over it.” That was rough. It was after Abby’s fifth that numbness had set in, although she often wondered if anyone ever became blasé about taking a life. Her friend Olivia handled it better than anyone she knew, but even for her the stress became too much, and she’d had a nervous breakdown.