Eagle: A Linear Tactical Romantic Suspense Standalone Page 17

  “The dream about you that night started out the same, with me trying to figure out what I could say or do to stop you from marrying Brandon. I struggled frantically, running out of time, distraught. I reached the point I always did, when complete helplessness washed over me as I watched you walk to Brandon. Usually I woke up then. But that time it was different. That time in my dream, little Ethan came over to me. He took my hand and just said ‘Daddy’ in his tiny voice and led me away with him.”

  Tears were trailing down Charlie’s cheeks. “Because if you had had me, you wouldn’t have had Ethan.”

  Of course she understood. Had he really thought she wouldn’t?

  “I think that’s when I started to let all my anger toward you go. In life, we don’t see the bigger picture. We just see pieces. Sometimes those pieces are ugly. Some pieces of our past—yours and mine together—are always going to be jagged and rough and difficult to look at. But maybe, when the whole is finished, it might be something beautiful.”

  With a little sob, she brought both hands up to cover her face. Finn couldn’t help it, he pulled her into his lap. Charlie’s tears were always going to wreck him.

  “This is twice I’ve seen you cry. You’re starting to make me think you’re not invincible.”

  “I haven’t been invincible for eight years.” But he wasn’t surprised when she pulled herself together quickly.

  “I don’t know what the future holds, princess. None of us do. All I can assure you is that I’m not going to hold the past against you. What happened, happened. It made us into who we are, for better or worse.”

  She nodded against his chest. “So now we just have to find out if our jagged pieces can fit together.”

  “Exactly.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The next night Finn and Charlie went out on their first date in over eight years.

  With Ethan.

  They’d both been a little worried about formally telling him they were dating. When they did, Ethan just looked up from his pizza and said, “So you’re like boyfriend and girlfriend now?”

  Finn grabbed her hand under the table, gave it a squeeze. She didn’t know how he knew she needed his touch so badly in that moment, but she was glad he did.

  “Yes,” Finn told his son.

  “Okay, cool.” He then went on to ask Charlie if she’d ever seen the Star Wars movies—obviously much more important to him than his father’s dating status.

  Slightly harder had been Finn’s mom, who they’d gone to see on their way home. Repairing that relationship was going to take Charlie more time. Mrs. Bollinger had been polite, but distant, when Finn had explained they were seeing each other again. She didn’t want to see her son get hurt. Charlie couldn’t blame her for that.

  In the nights since then, they’d developed a pattern in the evenings. Charlie would come have dinner with Ethan and Finn, then hang out as Ethan got ready for bed—school was back in session, much to the boy’s dismay—until Charlie had to go into work.

  No more quickies at lunch at some of their old hideouts. No more sneaking in to Finn’s house while Ethan was in bed and back out before he woke up. Without even really talking about it, they were doing things differently. Slowing it all down.

  Their relationship was tentative, sweet, tender. All the things they had never been.

  She and Finn had met her first day at high school. From that second on, their feelings for each other had been frantic. They’d been like two kindergartners on the playground: sticking out their tongues at each other and pulling pigtails. They’d been loud, they’d been passionate, they’d been feisty with each other. They’d never once been able to ignore the other—two magnets both attracted and repelled, depending on their direction.

  But never in all that time had things been sweet and tender like they had for the past few days. Slow and easy and gentle . . .this new facet of their relationship was a balm for both their wounded souls. Not that there wasn’t passion—there was always going to be between them. It was just less frantic, less manic. Their lovemaking was no longer trying to glue together the broken pieces of their relationship.

  Charlie had no doubt all the whirlwind and quickies would return. But for right now she would enjoy the calm within the storm.

  Of course, all thoughts of calm dispersed immediately as soon as Ethan was in bed and Finn’s lips found hers while they sat on the couch.

  Charlie giggled against his mouth. “You know Ethan is going to come down here again to tell you something about Legos, Star Wars, or Marvel comics versus DC.”

  He groaned as his lips trailed across her jaw and down the side of her neck. “Don’t I know it? Remember the good ol’ days when it was only our parents we had to get away from to make out?”

  She gasped as he bit none too gently on that place where her neck met her shoulder. But it wasn’t Ethan who stopped them this time. It was Aiden, who tapped a couple times on the door before coming straight inside.

  Finn just raised an eyebrow at Aiden over the couch. “I do have a private life, you know.”

  When Aiden didn’t crack a joke, didn’t say anything at all, they both got up and walked over to him. He looked like hell.

  “I’ll make coffee,” Charlie said softly.

  Aiden nodded. “Thanks.”

  They all walked into the kitchen. “Where’s Henry?” Finn asked.

  Aiden shook his head. “He and I haven’t met face-to-face since I went undercover. If anybody saw me with him, my cover would be blown. I’ve gotten a few updates from him, but nothing big.”

  Charlie had hardly seen Aiden or Henry since that morning in Finn’s kitchen. Honestly, she’d almost forgotten Aiden was working undercover. She’d been distracted by other things, namely Finn.

  “I know Henry took Jordan out on a date a few nights ago. But I didn’t really talk to him.” She poured the water in and started the coffee maker.

  “He took Jordan Reiss out on a date?” Finn asked, looking like he might jump up and yell “Inconceivable!” at any moment.

  She put both hands on her hips and tilted her head at him. “Yeah, that’s right. Not everybody in Oak Creek thinks she’s a demon incarnate.” This damn town had the longest memory and the shortest inclination toward forgiveness.

  Finn held both hands out in a gesture of surrender.

  “I’m glad someone involved in this has time to date,” Aiden put in.

  The coffee finished brewing and Charlie brought him a mug. He didn’t look good. “Life at the strip club is beginning to be too much for you?”

  He nodded gratefully at her when he took the cup. “I think I’ve fallen further down the rabbit hole,” Aiden muttered.

  “The NORAD stuff?” Finn asked.

  “Partly. I stumbled onto something even worse last night while at a club just outside of Reddington City. Human trafficking.”

  Finn muttered a curse. “Are you sure?”

  “The woman I saw definitely wasn’t there by her own choice.”

  She grabbed his hand. “I can tell you from firsthand experience that some of the women who work in the clubs, dancers or otherwise, can get this sort of numb, robotic look to them. Places like that can take a toll on you, physically, mentally, and emotionally. But a lot are perfectly fine once they get out of there. I just don’t want you to misinterpret a look you saw on someone. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.”

  Aiden just shook his head, staring down at his coffee. “Believe me, this op has cured me from ever wanting to step foot in another strip club again. I know the look you’re talking about, but this was different. This woman was terrified.” When Aiden looked up from his mug, there was such agony in his eyes it almost took her breath away. “She had bruises makeup couldn’t cover completely. Couldn’t talk because the traffickers had put some sort of transmitting device on her. I did what I could to protect her, but it wasn’t enough. I tried to get her out, but by the time I made my move it was too late.”

  “Did
you call Sheriff Nelson?” Finn asked.

  Aiden nodded. “As soon as I could. The very second I could. The sheriff has somebody watching the place, but so far it’s been empty.”

  The thought obviously ate at Aiden.

  “Nelson won’t let up,” Finn assured his friend, “you know that. If there’s something going on, he will find out and stop it.”

  Aiden nodded, but his eyes were still haunted. “Operation Sparrow is going down soon. Probably in the next couple days if I had to guess. But I don’t know when, or where. One of the clubs they’ve used before, but I don’t know which. And honestly even this doesn’t feel right.”

  “How so?” Finn asked.

  “Just sort of feels as if, I don’t know, it’s all some sort of setup.”

  Finn took a sip of his own coffee. “Dude, I mean this with no disrespect. But you’re exhausted, and this is obviously taking an emotional toll on you none of us was expecting. Is it possible you feel like that because you’re the one setting everything up?”

  Aiden wiped a hand across his face. “You know I did this sort of stuff for the team all the time and when we were on missions. I know how to separate and compartmentalize.”

  Finn looked at Charlie. “Aiden was our intel guy. We would send him to scout locations and gather as much data as he could. He’s got an uncanny ability to blend and get people to open up to him.” He turned back to Aiden. “So, what do you think is the problem? Can you pinpoint it?”

  “This all seems more like a magician is distracting the audience with his left hand, so they won’t look at his right. I’m missing something. I talked to Major Pinnock and Henry a few days ago, told them my concerns, and that I thought we should bring in Sheriff Nelson.”

  “Do you think Cline is onto you? Or what about Stellman?”

  “Henry assures me Cline remains oblivious to me being undercover. He was at the club last night mingling with everyone. I swear, he’s like a high school nerd trying to make himself indispensable to the ‘bad’ crowd. He’s the reason we’re at all these damn clubs every night. Probably the only way he can get some action with women.”

  “Anything suspicious from Stellman?”

  Aiden rubbed the back of his neck. “Mostly just him not ever being around. I still have yet to see his face.”

  “There’s something about this code.” Aiden grabbed a napkin from inside his jacket pocket. It had a series of shapes and simple icons written on it. “Cline was doodling it at the club last night. I asked about it and he got all defensive, saying it had nothing to do with what he was offering. But the only time he stopped staring at it was when he was busy with one of the girls. He left it behind when he was otherwise engaged, so I pocketed it.”

  Aiden slid the napkin across the table. Charlie picked it up, studying the series of symbols on it.

  “I’ve seen this before,” she said. Where? Why did it look so familiar? She worked with codes so much it was hard to remember.

  Finn chuckled. “You think? This looks exactly like what you do with Ethan every time you get together for your tutoring session. I’ve been joking to everyone that the two of you have your own language.”

  She smiled. “You’re probably right. I’ve been doing so much tutoring, I see patterns in my sleep.” Not that she was complaining. She would take as many sessions as she could get. She reached over and kissed Finn on the cheek. “And just so you know, in Ethan’s secret language, that means ‘blue baby eat just when my old dog sleep.’”

  “Could that mean anything?” Aiden asked. “Those particular words?”

  She shook her head. “No, the symbols matching those words are unique to what Ethan and I developed to help with his dyslexia. It wouldn’t mean that to anyone else but me and him.”

  “So back to square one. I asked Henry about it earlier this afternoon, but he says he doesn’t think it’s relevant, that Gordon is a geek with numbers and computer code on his mind. I still want to check with Major Pinnock in case he’s familiar with what it means.” Aiden’s phone buzzed in his hand. “Henry.”

  He read the text and muttered a curse under his breath. “Great. The Lion’s Den. It’s a club way on the north side of town. I’m supposed to be there at midnight.”

  “Speaking of, I’ve got to get home to change and give Jordan a ride to work.” She looked at Aiden and touched his shoulder. “Be safe. Stay focused.” She could already tell his concentration was splintered between his undercover work and this woman he was afraid was being trafficked. Split focus like that could get him killed. “Fight one injustice at a time.”

  He just nodded.

  She turned to Finn. “You, I will see later.”

  Finn pulled her in for a kiss. “You be safe too and break the fingers of any guys who decide to get a little too friendly. Come find me at Linear when you wake up tomorrow. I’ll be waiting for you.”

  Aiden made a gagging noise. “I don’t even want to know what you two do in your office over there first thing in the mornings. Please never ever ever tell me.”

  “Why do you care?” Finn shot back. “You’re never in the office anyway, even when you’re not undercover. Besides, we always clean off your desk after we use it for our wild monkey love—”

  She left, grinning. The door closed behind her, cutting off the sounds of the two friends play-fighting.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  An hour later, the moment she and Jordan stepped through the back door of The Silver Palace, Charlie knew it was going to be a long night.

  Everybody was crying.

  Jordan looked about as nervous as Charlie felt at the sight. The dancers could be an emotional bunch on the best of days.

  “You don’t think all their cycles have lined up, do you? It would be like the perfect storm of PMS,” Jordan said, looking around at the smeared mascara everywhere.

  Charlie barely stifled a laugh. She grabbed Cinnamon, who tended to be one of the more levelheaded and unemotional women, despite her constant taunts to the audience to take the “Cinnamon challenge.” “Hey, what happened? What’s everyone so upset about?”

  “Jade,” Cinnamon said, between her tears. “She died this afternoon in a car accident. We just got word.”

  “Oh, my God.” Charlie hadn’t talked to the woman much since that night with the scary guys, but it was hard to believe she was gone so suddenly.

  That’s when she remembered where she’d seen the symbols Aiden had shown her on the napkin. Those exact ones had been what she’d seen then. The same night where Jade had been dancing and had gotten Charlie out of trouble.

  “She was drunk or high or something,” Cinnamon said. “I’m not sure what.” She shrugged one naked shoulder, her robe loosely tied and starting to fall off. “Of course, Jade was a user, so nobody can be too surprised.”

  Charlie was trying to wrap her head around what it all meant as she and Jordan made their way through the group of women—all reminiscing about Jade—to the back rooms. They changed into their uniforms and headed out to the bar to set up for the night ahead.

  “Some of those girls are crying and I know for a fact they hated Jade’s guts,” Jordan said as she moved behind the bar.

  Charlie nodded absently. “This place is just like high school, except with less clothing. There’s a hierarchy, cliques, everything. Nobody hates the dead girl, no matter how they felt about her yesterday.”

  She grabbed a pad of paper and began to make a list of what she needed from the storeroom in the basement. “Hey, I don’t guess you’re going to see or talk to Henry anytime tonight, right?” Maybe Jordan could get a message to him about the code she remembered. He could let Aiden know when they met up at The Lion’s Den.

  A dreamy little smile fell over Jordan’s features.

  Charlie couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh dear, looks like you’re a little smitten.”

  “I had totally forgotten what it’s like for someone to want me for me. You’d be amazed how many guys have shown up at my hous
e since I got out of prison and offered to be the ones to help me out of my ‘dry spell.’” She put the phrase in air quotes, rolling her eyes. “The other half just wants to screw the town’s bad girl.” Jordan shook her head. “Henry doesn’t know about any of that. And he doesn’t care.”

  Finn had talked about their jagged pieces fitting together to make a beautiful whole. She hoped that would be true for Jordan also. The other woman probably didn’t even know Henry was working undercover to stop the traitors. Once she knew he was all but a hero, she would like him even more.

  Charlie pulled Jordan in for a quick hug, surprising them both. “I’m happy for you.”

  Jordan grinned as they broke apart. “But to answer your question, no. Henry is working tonight. So, I’m not sure when I’ll talk to him.”

  “No worries.” She didn’t have Aiden’s number, but she would call Finn and let him know what she remembered.

  She ran downstairs to fetch the alcohol they’d need to get through the shift. It was hard to tell how this night was going to turn out. If the girls were truly upset, that sometimes sent a weird vibe through the club. The audience members picked up on it and it made for a slow night.

  But who knew? Maybe the dancers would decide to celebrate life, and the energy would be contagious. Lots of tips.

  She hefted a crate of champagne to move it and almost didn’t see the paper as it fell out.

  But she damn well recognized it once she had.

  The same pattern Aiden had shown her, plus another line of code the napkin hadn’t held. The symbols that in Ethan’s language meant fire his pretty chair horse.

  She stared down at the paper. She doubted anyone else would’ve even paid attention to it, and she knew they wouldn’t instantly have memorized it. She only did because she worked with symbols like these all the time.

  What did it mean? Should she take it with her? Leave it? She needed to get this paper—or at least a picture of it—to Aiden and Finn. They could check with their military guy and figure out if it was important.