Her Shield (The Uncut Series Book 1) (24 page)

  “She wants to be.”

  Ray frowned. “I'm not making a team of couples. Trent and Callie are enough to deal with.” He leaned back. “Can you lead the woman you love in dangerous situations?”

  “I would never put Isis in any situation where she wasn't prepared,” Marc answered. “And we have an understanding as to what my job is along with my ability to handle it.”

Ray nodded slowly thinking over Marc's words.

Kyle poked his head in the door and nodded at both men. “Hey Ray, I just wanted to let you know that I've gone through everything from Milton Martin's office.”

Ray nodded. “Anything stick out?”

Kyle shrugged. “Maybe, but I still need to connect the dots.”

  “Come look this over,” Ray waved him into the room and handed him the file that Marc had given him. “Tell me if anything waves a flag.”

  Marc gave Ray a confused look. “If she killed Milton, she had some connection to him. Let's see what comes up,” Ray explained.

Kyle took the file and quickly began to look it over while Ray and Marc watched.

  After a minute, he turned to both men. “Uh...did you two go through this address list of recent clients?”

  “No, Trent gave me the report yesterday and I just started it this morning,” Marc answered.

  Kyle looked at Ray. “She had people at your wedding party and your baby shower.” He continued looking over the sheet.

Ray frowned. “What?”

  Kyle continued. “And this subsidiary company listed once employed a guy that Milton Martin had on his payroll before his death. I remember seeing this company and wondering why Martin had was paying someone who didn't work at his home or business.”

He looked up at Marc and studied him for a moment. “Are you related to Gregory Graham?”

Marc got to his feet. “Why?”

  “The guy who Milton Martin hired is working at the Graham estate,” Kyle said slowly.

  Ray stood quickly from his chair. “Dammit! There's someone employed by Milton at your family's house.”

  Without a second glance, Marc was out the door and Ray looked at Kyle. “Text him the info and he'll handle it from there.”

  Kyle nodded and pulled out his phone sending Marc the information he would need when he arrived. He gave Ray a final look as Trent and Callie entered the room slowly. They quietly took seats at the table while watching as Ray sat and Kyle exited the room.

  “Well welcome, although your asses are employed here,” Ray told them.

  He turned to Callie. “So Callie, tell me when you started pointing a gun at your Team Leader? I don't ever recall teaching you that.”

Callie lowered her head. “I was worried about Trent. I was wrong and I'll apologize to Marc.”

Trent looked at Callie. “You pulled a gun on Marc?”

  “You were missing and I lost it,” Callie confessed.

  Trent shook his head remembering the time he'd done the same thing. “Man, Marc is a patient dude.”

  Ray frowned. “Yes he is, but don't take him for granted. He knows how I feel about all of you on the team, so he's giving passes, otherwise you two would be dead. Don't push him.”

They both nodded. “What happened last night Trent?” Ray asked.

  Trent sighed. “Ray, it was crazy. A guy tried to jump me from behind but I flipped him and the next thing I know there were four guns pointed at me and they took me downstairs to some kind of secret room.”

  He glanced at Callie then back at Ray. “The man in the room looked just like the pictures of Justin Black.”

Ray looked confused. “Did he tell you who he was?” he questioned.

  “No, he just said that you guys don't know that he exists. He kept telling me that I'm a Black and that I was lost and now I'm found,” Trent told him.

  “How in the hell does he know all of that?” Ray demanded.

  Trent shrugged. “He has connections to Dr. Smith. He said that she was the one who told him I was there.”

  “Did he threaten you?” Ray asked.

  “No, he said he wouldn't hurt me because I was family,” Trent reiterated.

Ray sat back in thought. “Who the hell is this dude?”

  “I don't know Ray,” Trent said quietly. “But he says he's watching me. I think he's watching all of us.”

Ray frowned. “We're going to find out who this is and when we do...”

  He stood to his feet and picked up the file Marc had given him. “I need to get on top of this and you two need to get to work.”

They both nodded. “Okay.”

  Ray walked to the door and stopped. “And the next time I call you two and you don't answer, your asses are fired.”

  “Okay.” They both glanced at each other then smiled after he left the room.

  Ray walked back to his office thinking maybe it wasn't time for The Black Diamonds to retire. This was going to require the skills of all the Diamonds to handle...

*********

  Marc arrived at his parent's home in record time. He knew the man he was looking for but first went to seek out his father to alert him of the situation. Kyle had sent him all the information he needed to proceed and there was more to it than he'd originally been given.

  Gregory Graham looked up as his son entered the study. To say that he was surprised to see him was a huge understatement. “Marcus?”

Marc closed the door behind him and walked over to where his father was sitting.

  “I need to talk to you about a situation,” Marc told him.

Gregory heard the seriousness in his voice and turned all of his attention to him.

  “There's someone working here at the estate who has criminal ties. I have reason to believe that he's here spying on you as well as plotting to harm you.”

His father stood from his seat. “What? Are you serious? Who is it?”

  “You hired one of the servers from Tasha's party to work here,” Marc said from behind his dark glasses.

  Gregory nodded. “Yes, there was a young man who worked at the party. He came and asked me about a job. He seemed like a nice guy. I got references from his company and we added him to the staff. What do you mean he wants to harm us?”

  “He's connected to a case I'm working on,” Marc informed him.

  Gregory frowned. “This wouldn't happen if you would have become an actor, like you were supposed to be.”

Marc stared at his father. “This is not the time for that conversation.”

  “When is the time then Marcus? You never talk to me,” his father replied.

  “Ask Alan Daniels to come in to speak with you so I can find out what he knows,” Marc instructed ending the conversation.

  Gregory watched his son for a moment before picking up the phone on his desk. “He works in the kitchen.”

  “Emma, can you send Alan to my study. I'd like to speak with him.” Gregory completed the call then looked at Marc. “He'll be here shortly.”

Marc nodded. “Let me ask the questions.”

The two men waited in silence watching each other until there was a light knock on the door.

  “Come in,” Gregory answered and the door opened.

  Marc watched the man enter in ready mode. The guy appeared harmless but if he was working for Milton, he was definitely a threat.

  “You wanted to see me Mr. Graham?” Alan asked watching the tall man in the suit and dark glasses. He knew this was Gregory's son and that he was an FBI Agent.

  “Mr. Daniels, I'd like to ask you a few questions.” Marc studied the man and felt his tension.

  “Uh...questions?” he asked looking at Gregory.

Marc nodded. “Yes, questions. For instance what is your connection to Milton Martin?”

Alan shrugged. “I don't know what you're talking about,” he evaded.

  “So you don't know the man who was paying you?” Marc questioned. “The man who planted you here in my family's home?”

  Marc noticed the narrowing of the man's eyes and pulled his gun immediately, pointing it directly at the man's face. “Don't even think about making a move!”

  “Put your damn hands up!” Marc yelled as he approached Alan.

  Gregory watched as his son walked over with his gun pointed. Marc began to pat the man down and stopped when he encountered something. Keeping his gun trained on the man, he lifted his shirt to reveal one of the knives from the kitchen hidden in his waistband.

Marc removed the knife and threw it on his father's desk as Gregory's eyes widened

  “What the hell were you planning to do with that?” Marc snapped as he grabbed his cuffs from behind his back.

  “Put your hands on your head and if you attempt to try me, your ass will be dead on this floor.” Marc waited while Alan slowly put his hands on the back of his head. He cuffed the man then moved him to the sofa. “Sit your ass down.”

  Gregory watched his son in awe as Marc began to question the man he'd hired to work in his home.

  “Are you ready to talk now or do I need to give you some encouragement?” Marc asked staring down at Alan with the gun pointed in his face.

The man looked up at Marc who seemed to relish the thought of encouraging him to talk.

  “What do you want to know?” he asked staring at the barrel of Marc's gun.

  “Why are you here and what were you supposed to do?”

  Alan let out a breath. “I was supposed to keep an eye on the old man, then when I got the word...take him out.”

Gregory gasped in shock and Marc glanced at his father before turning back to Alan.

  “The word from who?” he demanded.

  “First it was Martin, but he keeled over unexpectedly so I contacted his daughter. She told me to stay in place and she'd give me the word,” he explained.

  “What's the daughter's name?” Marc asked already knowing the answer.

Alan lowered his head. “Her name is Millie...”

  “How did you hook up with Martin?” Marc queried.

  “He caught me spying on him for the services company at his daughter's graduation party a while ago then he said he'd pay me to do the same thing for him...and more.”

Marc frowned. “What was the services company looking for?”

  “Anything and everything...we were supposed to watch and report what happened, what was said who was there.”

Marc turned to his father. “Fire everyone you've hired from that damn company. Today!”

  Marc drove home to his apartment in the wee hours of the morning. He thought back on the past two days, two missions, one botched and one successful; his meeting with Ray and then the events at his parent's home.

  He'd made sure everyone connected with the services company had been dismissed and escorted from the property and had Alan Daniels into custody. He'd spent hours questioning him and trying to piece together what the hell was going on.

  Marc had called Isis during a break in his interrogation to check on her and to let her know it was going to be a long night for him. He'd promised to call her tomorrow, right now he needed to digest all that had occurred.

  The desk attendant smiled slyly and greeted Marc as he entered the lobby. “Have a good night Agent Graham.”

  Marc nodded and continued to his apartment. When he stepped inside the dark apartment, his instincts told him immediately that someone was inside. Silently he withdrew his gun then proceeded slowly inside, without turning on the lights. He walked further and stopped abruptly removing his glasses.

  “Don't shoot me babe,” Isis said with her hands up sitting on the dining table in one of his shirts.

Marc lowered the gun. “Shit Isis! What the hell are you doing here sitting in the dark?”

  “I was waiting for you.”

  He replaced his gun and flipped a switch, bathing the room in a soft light. Marc walked over to where she held her arms out to him and she he embraced him whispering, “The desk attendant let me in.”

Marc pulled back to look at her. “What are you doing here?”

  “Tasha told me what happened at your family's home.” She touched his face. “Are you okay?”

He nodded and blew out a long breath before taking a seat on one of the chairs.

  “What happened?” Isis asked before hopping down from the table.

Marc shook his head. “That's what I need to find out.”

She came to stand in front of him. “Is your father okay?”

  “Yeah, we talked.”

Isis looked surprised. “Was it good or bad?”

  Marc pulled her closer, wrapping an arm around her waist and placing his head on her breasts. “Both.”

Isis held him, rubbing his head while waiting for him to continue.

  “We talked about a lot of things that we should have talked about a long time ago,” he told her quietly. “He finally realized that I'm good at what I do and I didn't ruin my life.”

Isis looked down at him. “You're the best at what you do. It took me a minute to realize that too.”

He smiled up at her. “What made you come here?”

  “You, of course,” She said sitting on his lap. “Pepper Potts is always there for Iron Man.”

  “Pepper Potts doesn't interfere when Iron Man is fighting crime,” he pointed out. “She lets him do his job.”

  Isis smiled ruefully. “Yeah...about that.” She looked down into his face. “I'm sorry. I clearly wasn't thinking.”

  “I mean, what if you walked on the stage while I was performing?” she asked. “That was crazy.”

Marc rubbed a hand down her back. “I know that you love me Princess.”

  “I do. I love you so much Marcus Graham.” She kissed him gently.

  “I love you Isis Martin. I love your loyalty and your strength. I love your sweetness and your beauty.” He kissed her back.

She smiled at him. “I'm glad you and your father talked.”

  “He never understood why I became an agent,” Marc told her. “He thought it was foolish of me to try to redeem myself for killing that agent when it was an accident.”

  “He didn't understand how it haunts me every day,” he said quietly.

  Isis pulled him close. “I'm sure you've rescued many people Marcus. There's nothing more you can do.”

Marc held her tightly and breathed in deeply.

  “You rescued me...” She lifted his face to hers. “And not just from a gunman.”

  He watched her for a moment. “You rescued me too Princess...and I didn't even know I needed it.”

*********

  The Black Diamonds met in Jordan's office the next day. The three looked at each other before they began their conversation.

  “Sorry to take you away from your new babies, but this is a priority. We have to find out what is going on,” Ray told them.

Sean looked perplexed. “When I asked Marc to look into this, I never thought it was this deep.”

  Jordan frowned. “I can't believe you're saying there's someone out there that looks just like my father and he's watching all of us.”

Ray looked to Jordan. “Are you sure it's someone who just looks like your father?”

  “What the hell are you talking about Ray? My father is dead!” Jordan stormed.

Ray shrugged. “I'm just saying Jay. I thought my mother was dead for over twenty years.”

  Jordan's eyes narrowed. “So you think my father is alive and running some sort of network of spies with Dr. Camille Smith?” he demanded hotly.

  Sean intervened. “Ray, when Jordan and I got back after Justin's death, we checked out everything thoroughly. That man is not Justin Black.”

  “How do we know for sure?” Ray asked.

  “Jordan has his ashes. We can test them,” Sean offered.

Jordan looked at Sean. “I don't have his ashes.”

  Both men looked at Jordan. “What did you do with them? I went with you to pick them up,” Sean asked confused.

  “His Foundation asked for them a few months after his death.” He shrugged. “So I gave them the ashes. It was his Foundation.”

  “The Foundation that Dr. Camille Smith chairs...” Sean commented.

Ray stood. “Dammit! She's been at this for a while.”

  “My father is not alive!” Jordan snapped getting to his feet. “And whoever this imposter is, his ass is done!”

Sean looked at Ray. “This is a definitely a problem.”

*********

  Two weeks later, Isis took the stage for rehearsals. The director had announced some changes in the script and had called the entire cast in for a run-through. Isis walked to her mark and looked up as the new lead actor joined her. Denzel had recently taken a personal leave to deal with some emotional distress and no one seemed to miss him.

  Holding the new script, she began to recite her lines. The two continued as the spotlight shone on them and the rest of the cast sat around the stage and in seats watching. Isis paused in her lines as the director set up the next scene.

  “In walks the shield and kneels before the Princess, pouring out his heart to her...” he said with zeal.

Isis frowned and looked at her paper. “That's not what mine says,” she said confused.

  She looked at the paper again trying to find the place where the director was reading. Isis looked out into crowd. “I'm lost, where are we?” she asked.

  “We're right where we're supposed to be Princess...”

  Isis turned at the sound of the familiar voice and saw Marcus walking across the stage towards her like a seasoned actor. The new lead actor smiled at her and moved away from the scene.

Isis looked up at the man who'd captured her heart. “Marcus... what?”

  Marc reached into his breast pocket and produced a light blue box before kneeling in front of her as the entire cast watched in delight.

  “Isis Martin, you are the light to my darkness...the joy to my sadness...the beauty to my beast and I love you.” Isis put a hand to her mouth as she stared down into those amazing platinum eyes. “Will you do me the honor of becoming the woman I spend the rest of my life with?”

  Isis bit her lip as he opened the box and revealed an exquisite diamond encased in a smaller box. She watched as he took her trembling hand and placed the ring on her finger before kissing her hand.

Marc looked up at her. “Can you work with that sweetheart?”

  Isis tasted the tears streaming down her face and took a breath. “Yes Marcus, I can work with that!” she choked out before he took her into his arms kissing her passionately as all the cast began to clap in delight.

  The two stood in the spotlight wrapped in one another for a few moments before Isis pulled back and looked out at her cast members.

  “I'm getting married!!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs before she burst into laughter holding on to Marc.

  Marc smiled down at the woman who made his life complete. Her laughter lit his heart as it always did. He'd tried to repay his debt and now that this woman had agreed to be his, he felt that he'd been forgiven. Now, he could let someone be good to him...

  Isis caught her breath as Marc lifted her into his arms and she smiled at him. “I love you,” she whispered as he carried her off the stage.

********

  Trent sat next to Callie in the back seat of the car driving them to the airport. She sat staring out of the window.

  “Callie...”

She continued to look at the passing scenery.

  “Callie, come on. Don't do this.” He took her hand.

She turned to him. “Why are they making you leave early?”

  “I told you. They need us to get started sooner,” he explained.

  “Your family didn't even get to give a party or anything,” she said sadly.

  Trent shrugged. “In a way, I'm glad they didn't. Everybody would've been all sad and I don't want that.”

  “We're going to be sad anyway.”

He pulled her into his arms. “Callie, I'm doing this for us. I don't want you to be sad.”

She held him tightly. “I'm going to miss you so much...” she cried.

  “I'm going to miss you too.” He kissed her cheek. “This is so hard Callie.”

  Callie hiccuped against his shirt. “Promise me you'll be safe. Don't take any chances. We still don't know who this Doctor is or the man who looks your father.”

  “My brothers have quadrupled the security on me. I doubt anyone can get to me at this point.”

She looked into his handsome face. “Oh baby, call me as soon as you get there.”

  Trent nodded. “I will call you Callie. I will call you when I get there and I will call you every day, I promise.” He kissed her softly. “You just make sure you don't go disappearing and dying on me again.”

  “Hahaha…you just take care of yourself. I don't want your mother on a plane to Africa starting a war of nations.”

  Trent laughed. “My mother was not happy. She's probably asking Sean to contact the African government right now.”

  “My brothers are cool though. Well Sean and Ray are cool, Jordan is Jordan,” he finished.

  Trent lifted her face to his. “I'm coming home as often as I can. I gotta keep you tightened up.” He laughed and she frowned.

  “Your ass better not be tightening up anybody in Africa,” she warned.

  “Nah, my Nubian princess is right here,” he said before lowering his mouth to hers.

They arrived and Trent looked into her face. “I love you Callie.”

Callie fought back the tears. “I love you Trent.”

  After one last kiss, he exited the car. Trent had been adamant that no one but Callie see him off to the airport and that Callie would drop him at the door. He hated goodbyes and leaving his family was harder than not having one, but he was determined to forge his own path outside of his brothers.

  Trent went through the airport to the terminal where his plane would depart from. He took a seat and was soon joined by his fellow project member, Elle. She smiled and took the seat next to him.

  “Hey Trent!” she said happily. “I can't believe we get to spend two years together in Africa.”

Trent nodded. “Yeah, that's cool.”

  “We're going to have so much fun.” She reached over and grabbed his hand. “Aren't you excited?”

  Trent discretely removed his hand. “Yeah, I'm looking forward to the work we'll be doing. We can really make a difference.”

She looked into his eyes. “We can do a lot of things Trent.”

*********

  Marc laid back on the bed in his boxers with a smile on his face. He could hear Isis singing happily in the bathroom. Her bubbly personality made him love her even more. She exited wearing another of his shirts and ran over to the bed jumping on top of him.

  He caught her laughing before she began placing kisses on his face. “You are so special,” he told her.

She smiled at him. “I always knew you liked me.”

  “Yeah, okay. I guess I did.”

Isis laughed. “I liked you to, but now I love you.”

Marc stroked her hair. “We need to tell our families and set a date.”

She paused and pursed her lips. “Uh,...yeah about that.”

He sat up looking at her. “What's the problem?”

Isis sat back on her haunches looking at him. “Well, see um...”

  “What Isis?” he asked confused.

  “Your mother and my sister have already planned everything,” she said simply.