“I inherited money when my parent’s died, not that it’s any of your business. Keep in mind you’re only here because I have no where else to put you unless you want to spend the night in a jail cell.”

“Geesh, you don’t have to be so mean.”

He walked by me and unlocked the door, opening it all the way for me to be able to enter. He flicked on a light and led me up a set of stairs. The living room was the first place we came to. In the rear was a large dining room and to the left of that was a big eat in kitchen. “The bathroom is down the hall if you need to use it. I’ll show you your room after I eat, if that’s okay with you?”

“It’s fine.” I took the seat across from him and pulled my burger out of the bag. We sat in silence for several minutes while eating. Finally he dropped his sandwich to sip at his drink.

He kept looking at me, as if he was trying to read me. Maybe it was a FBI profiler thing. I hadn’t been around enough to know. “What’s your deal anyway? What did you want to be when you were a kid?”

“I wanted to be a kid when I was a kid.”

“You know what I mean,” he retorted.

“First I wanted to be a doctor, until I realized people would bleed. I was afraid of needles, so that was a no-go. Then I wanted to be a professional ice-skater, but I broke my arm when I was seven while trying to skate on our family’s pond. After that I suppose I wanted to do hair like my mother does. The older I got the easier the jobs became. For as long as I can remember I wanted to be a wife and mother someday. I thought I’d have that life with Brant, but now I’m wondering if he’s not the right guy for me. I know you probably don’t care about my drama, so I’ll shut up now.”

“It’s cool. I asked.”

“What about you? Did you always want to be an FBI agent?”

He seemed bothered by my question. “Not really. I didn’t decide to go into the police academy until I lost my parents. From there I graduated and proceeded to get into the bureau.”

“How did they die?” I felt like it was a legitimate question, though I could tell I’d hit another nerve. He took another bite of his sandwich before answering me. “They were murdered.” He tossed what was left of his food back in the bag and stood up. “Are you okay here while I get a shower? ”Our conversation was over just as fast as it had begun. I couldn’t read the agent to save my life. One minute he seemed to care about other people, but the next he was withdrawn and angry.

When he offered to leave me alone while he showered I knew it was my chance to leave. I had to get to Brant. Even if he was okay, I had to see it for myself, or else I’d be worried. If he was partying while thinking I was in the hospital I was going to give him a piece of my mind. I didn’t deserve to be lied to, especially after what I’d done to be a part of his crazy life.

Chapter 16

Logan

I should have known better than to think she’d stay put. The moment I stepped out of the shower I knew something was wrong. I hurried to dress, only to find my worst fears confirmed. Cassie had taken off and I knew exactly where she’d be headed. This chick was obviously going to be a pain in my side. If my boss got word of me losing her, I’d never hear the end of it.

I hopped in my car scanning both sides of the road as I drove along. She couldn’t have gotten far, not without calling for a ride, which she’d have to wait for in this part of town.

Street by street I searched until finally I saw her walking. The moment she spotted my car she took off through a person’s yard. I parked a little further down, judging where she’d surface again. While making my way in her direction, I spotted her before she could see me coming. I ducked back behind a house to gain space between us. She was hiding behind a shed when I found her. I waited until I was a few feet away before startling her enough she’d turn around instead of running. “I should have known you wouldn’t listen.”

I grabbed her by the arm and started leading her back to the car. “Get off me,” she fought.

“I need you to listen, Cassie. I’m doing this to keep you safe, not to be an asshole. You have no idea what you’re walking into.”

“Don’t you get it?” She argued. “I don’t care what I’m walking into. I have to know he’s okay.”

“I’ve already confirmed it. Let us do our jobs.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t. You can drag me to jail if you want, but I’m not going down without a fight. I need to see him. Please. You say you want to help, but you’re not doing anything I need you to.”

“I’m prohibited from allowing you to complicate our investigation. You’re safe with me. That’s all you need to worry about right now.”

Before she responded I felt a swift kick between my legs, sending me down to my knees. The pain radiated into my stomach, crippling me for a brief moment. It was enough time for her to break free of my hold and take off down the road.

It took me a minute to regain composure. When I did I drove as fast as I could toward the suspects property. If Cassie was determined to go there, I’d be waiting to stop her. I couldn’t let her appearance ruin our chances of catching Mr. James. We’d put too much time and money into closing the case for a crazy insecure woman to interfere.

Prior to arriving, I made a call to my unit to notify them to be on the lookout for Cassie. I told them to restrain her without a scene, by any means possible. That meant if she fought them she’d get tased, and I knew from experience that it hurt like a bitch.

In a short amount of time I’d arrived at the location. To the other agent’s knowledge, Cassie hadn’t arrived. A few people were exiting the house, getting in their cars and driving off down the road. I’d yet to see either of the suspects, or Cassie’s boyfriend. One by one the guests continued to leave, which made me wonder if something had happened. Why would people be leaving when it was still so early? Had something occurred to make them leave in a hurry?

The only remaining cars belonged to the three people suspected to still be in the home. I climbed out of my sedan and walked over to talk to the other agents who’d been there doing surveillance. “Any changes I need to know about?”

“It’s been a revolving door for the past hour. People were coming and going up until twenty minutes ago. Everyone left. Cruise is out back in the woods. He’s got eyes on James and his associate. According to him they were having words. Things got heated, and James ordered everyone to leave. After the altercation both suspects went back inside of the home. It’s been quiet since.”

“Can we get an audio feed from inside?”

“We tried earlier tonight. James has something interfering with the signal. He’s covering his tracks. How are we going to find out what’s going down if we have no intel?”

I scratched my head and tried to think of a way to get answers for Cassie, while determining the next move we needed to make. We were parked too far down the road for me to be able to see inside of the windows. It was important we remained undetected.

While contemplating my next move, I saw a taxi cab pull up into the driveway. Before I was able to call her name, Cassie ran inside of the house.

I turned to the agent I’d been talking to  for a brief moment and grabbed my gun from it’s holster. “I’m going around back. Cover me if you hear shots.”

I didn’t wait for him to tell me it was terrible idea. My only concern was making sure Cassie hadn’t just walked into her own funeral.

The first thing I heard once I was close enough were two female voices. They were screaming at each other about someone cheating, and what the one had done to the other. Figuring Cassie had caught her boyfriend with his pants down, I lowered my gun while continuing to watch and listen for something more incriminating. I wasn’t close enough to a window to be able to look inside, and since they didn’t have curtains, I couldn’t exactly walk up without being detected.