Defenseless (27 page)

I start to pass through the doors and someone grips my arm.

Fuck
. I’m caught.

Mark

“I’
m done with her,” I say to Natalie for the tenth time. “And just stop. She left, okay? I’m not going back up there with my nuts in a jar.”

Her eyes soften and she bites her lip. Then the little terrorist turns angry. “What’s wrong with you? Are you dumb? Blind? In need of someone to slap you? Because I’ll do it!” She huffs around the room, mumbling. “Idiot. I swear to God, I don’t know why I talk to any of you. Jackson, Liam, Quinn, and now you!”

“Are you pregnant again? You’re awfully hostile.”

“I’ll show you hostile!” she screams and throws a wad of paper at me.

“That wasn’t very nice. Why the hell do you care, anyway?”

Her horns are sprouting. “Why do I care?” she yells, more antagonistic than actually curious.

Since I got back from DC, she’s been relentless. This is what I get for texting people. Lee immediately called me, demanding I “fix this.” Telling me how people like Charlie don’t come into our lives every day. How when you have something that’s worth it, you have to go for it—like I told her and Jackson when they were making stupid choices. I love it when a woman throws shit in your face. It’s been a week since I heard from Charlie. Obviously, it’s not bothering her that we’re over.

“Lee.” I close my eyes. “I know you’re trying to help, but we’re done.”

“Because you’re an idiot.”

“Sure, we can go with that,” I placate her.

“Did you tell her you loved her?” she asks from the chair.

I look over at the leather seat by the window. Every day for the last few weeks that’s where she was. Going over file after file, writing down notes on things she wanted me to dig deeper on, but she’s no longer there.

“Mark?” Lee brings me back.

“Not in so many words.”

“Why?”

“Because I won’t lie to her.”

“But you’ll lie to yourself?”

I groan. I need new friends. I need a new life. Jackson and I haven’t signed anything. I’m glad I gave myself the out. This way, I can vanish and not worry. I can take the trips I’ve wanted to go on, surf in places I’ve only dreamed of. Maybe a break from everything is what I need.

“Did I care about her? Yes. Did I love her? I could’ve. But loving someone like Charlie isn’t exactly easy.” It’s more like sticking your hand into a lion’s cage and praying it doesn’t bite. Which it will, as she so graciously demonstrated.

“You know, if I remember correctly, there was this guy, let’s call him Matt.”

“Matt?”

“Go with it.”

I shrug. It’s her story.

“Matt is a great guy. He’s funny, charming, caring, would give you the shirt off his back, but Matt is kind of dumb when it comes to women. He’s the quintessential bachelor. Lives in this house off the beach, and it’s decorated in pizza boxes.”

“Matt sounds like my kind of guy.”

“Shut up,” she says while she gives me the evil eye. “Matt is a moron. Matt does dumb things. Matt doesn’t know how to be an adult. He’s doing everything right but missing out at the same time. Sure, he owns a house. Sure, he has a great job. Sure, he has
amazing
friends. To everyone else, it seems he has it all. But Matt is alone. Everything around him is superficial. The times that matter in life are spent with someone who sees through the superficial. They see you for who you are, and love you despite the flaws.” Natalie stands, walks over to where I am, and places her hand on my shoulder. “It’s time to fight for something worth fighting for. I’ve known you for a long time. I’ve seen you screw around and date, and then I saw you with her.”

“Thought we were talking about Matt?”

She gives me a blank stare before she goes on. “Don’t be Matt. She may not be the easy choice, but she’s the right one.”

Lee kisses my cheek and walks off, leaving me stunned. The thing is that I don’t know that she’s the right choice. I don’t know if there even
is
a choice. I went after her. She was cold, distant, and to be honest, a bitch. While normally I don’t mind her hostile side, what the hell doors did she leave open? None. I’m not going to beg anyone.

She made her bed, now she can lie in it. She’s pretty good at lying anyway.

Nine days without her in my house and it feels empty. Nine days where her snoring hasn’t woken me up, or I wake up eating her hair in the middle of the night because she flips it in my face. I hate that her perfume lingers in the air. If she could just vanish from my house, that would be great.

I wonder about her more than I should. Is she still following her leads? Did she go back to the agency so she could pursue her end goal? She’ll never find him on her own, and I honestly think she’s being roadblocked. There’s no way with her intelligence, training, and the lair of computers in her house, she wouldn’t know by now. Someone is pulling the strings behind her. I have a feeling it’s her handler.

Charlie described how she figured it out. How this girl had to have betrayed her because no one else knew the information that was disclosed. Now she trusts her again? It makes no sense. I know she’s desperate, but it made me question her thinking when she suggested it.

My phone rings and Liam’s name flashes across the screen.

“Hey, I thought you were on vacation with Lee,” I answer. I’m confused as to why he’s calling. We all got the verbal beat down from Natalie about how no one was to bother her. That Liam is deploying and she wants a week of just the four of them. If our houses were on fire, we could figure it out without her.

She’s a fun one.

“Yeah, I just got a call from my PI buddy in DC.”

“I’m not worried about her anymore.”

Liam laughs. “Sure, you’re not. The thing is, he’s been keeping an eye on her place. Nothing stalker like, but when Lee filled me in on your situation, I thought maybe he could keep tabs on her for a bit.”

I growl at the idea that he did this. Why the fuck can’t these people just stay the hell out of it? We’re done. I wish her well, but I don’t
care
anymore. I sigh and then it sinks in, if Liam is calling me—the guy called him. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”

“I thought you weren’t worried.”

“Fuck off.” I grab my keys not even knowing if I should, but I need to move. If she’s in trouble . . . if she needs me . . . God, I’m stupid. Of course I care. “Tell me what you know.”

“He said she hasn’t been to her house in nine days, and when she left, she went for a walk, no bags, no nothing, and hasn’t returned since. He also said there were a bunch of guys tailing her. I’m not saying anything’s wrong, but he figured I might want to know.”

I need to get up there. She could’ve taken off on a lead or be with her brother, but I need to know. I have to make sure she’s okay. “I’m leaving now.”

“I figured.”

“Don’t sound so smug,” I reply and then think about what Liam did for me. “Hey man, thank you.”

“Anytime. Be careful. I’ll let my buddy know you’re on your way, and I’ll text you his info. He can help with the lay of the land.”

Liam and I became friends through chance, but he’s proven time and again what a stand-up guy he is. “I appreciate it. Really.”

“I know. I better get back before Lee realizes I’m not there. Keep your eyes open.”

“Always. Talk to you soon.” I disconnect the call and get into motion. Time is not on my side. It’s been over a week, and I’ve been here licking my wounds. If they touch a hair on her head, I’ll put a bullet in each of theirs.

I need a plan. Do I drive or fly? I can get there faster by plane. Every minute is precious, but by the time I get the pilot, the plane, and everything else ready, I could be there. I throw some stuff in a bag and head out the door.

Once in the car I start to really formulate my first step. If she’s in trouble, I doubt I’ll find anything at her house, but it’s the only place to start. Maybe she left a clue. Then again, this is Charlie. I grab my phone and call Jackson.

“Hey,” he answers on the first ring.

“I’m heading to DC.”

“Took you long enough.”

“She might be in trouble,” I say. I feel broken. It’s ridiculous. This girl left over a stupid argument and then told me everything we shared was imagined, but I love her. I love her, and now I’m scared for her. She was drugged, she’s been watched, and now she’s disappeared.

Jackson goes quiet for a moment. “What do you know?” His entire demeanor has changed. He’s now Jackson Cole, Commander of the US Navy SEAL Team Four. I know this voice. I can respond to this voice, because this is who I should be right now.

I shift in the seat, press my foot against the pedal, and stop my bullshit. “She hasn’t returned to her apartment in nine days. Dreamboat had a friend watching out for her. He noticed some activity so he must’ve been watching her place. Liam called, said what I just told you, and I’m going.”

“I don’t think you should go near her place. If she disappeared intentionally, they’re watching it. If she’s missing unintentionally, you won’t find anything. You run the risk of tipping them off.”

“You’re wrong. If it was unintentional, something will be off. If she did it deliberately then her place will look the way I left it. Either way, that’s the starting point. I hope the motherfuckers are waiting for me. I welcome them.”

“Think, Mark. Think for once. Do you want anything to happen to her?”

“Don’t insult me.”

He sighs. “I’m not. I’m telling you that you have to think strategically. Not based on emotion. I know you love her, but that’s all the more reason to lock it down. What about contacting Charlie’s handler?”

“No!” I yell and almost veer off the road. “No way. I think she’s behind this.”

I fill Jackson in on all my concerns, and we discuss the possibilities. The thing is that we have no idea the mess she was involved in. For all I know, she’s been using us. We have no clue the depths of her deceit, or even if there is any. Blind trust truly leaves you in the dark.

Liam’s friend suggested I meet him at his office. He has some photos and other things he wants me to look at. I pull up to his office on the east side of DC. Definitely not what I pictured, but then again, neither is our office.

I open the door to the suite, and his receptionist walks me right back.

“Hi, Mark Dixon.” I extend my hand.

He gives me a firm handshake. “Glad you found the office okay. I’m Frank Baldwin. Sorry we’re meeting under these terms.”

I wonder if he knows something. “Have you found anything?” I get right to it. I’m already nine days behind the curve. I don’t want to panic, but I won’t pretend we’re not standing in quicksand, either. Charlie is a target.

“No, I wasn’t able to get into her house, either. I tried to pick the lock, but I should’ve known that was impossible.”

“Yeah, she has a fortress.”

“Look, someone was in her house the day you paid your visit. They left, and then she followed about twenty minutes later. I’ve tailed my share of people, but there was enough of an alarm going off that I think something is wrong. She had nothing on her, didn’t get in a car, and then she went to a very public place.” Frank shows me a few pictures of Charlie walking. I look closely at the one shot of her leaving her house. There’s a red car parked two spots down from the angle. “That car.” I point to it. “I’ve seen it. The license plate I mean. I’ve seen it before, and I remember it.”

The night of her mother’s party, there was a red car with the same plate. I swear I’ve seen it because it had my birthday as the plate number. It’s stupid and possibly nothing, but it’s the same make and model.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Can you run it?”

“Of course.” He starts to type it in. “Okay, it comes back to a Mandi Milostan.”

Well isn’t that some shit. She was at the party and then at Charlie’s house that day. There’s only one person who might have clues as to Charlie’s location. Time to go see Priscilla.