Chapter 16

Alec stood in the driveway, hands on hips, head hanging down. He walked slowly in her direction, alert because he knew she was seething under the surface. “Want to tell me what that exit was about?”

An icy glare met his. “If the threat to me hadn’t crossed into your job, you never would have told me, would you?”

“Told you what? That I’m a freak?” He stopped a few feet from her and kept his hands hanging loose at his side in case he needed to react fast.

“What? No. I don’t care about the mind thing...” She waved her hand around, frustration pouring from her, “that you work on the wrong side of the law.”

His eyebrows shot up. “I do? That’s not how I see it.” Slowly he moved a few inches closer to her, trying hard to keep his temper in check. “I don’t cash in on corporate espionage if that’s what you’re thinking. I prefer to help the little guy against the huge corporate monsters...”

“Robin Hood had the best intentions, but he was still a thief in the end,” she stated in a dry tone.

Ian cracked a smile for a split second. “Robin Hood? That’s how you see me? I’m not sure if I should feel pride or insult.” Sighing, he reached out to her only to have her step back out of reach and give him a cold look. “What’s the real problem here, Alec? I don’t think it’s what I do for a living.”

“There’s no problem, you should have been honest from the start...”

He snorted. “And that would have worked out how? Just walk into the office and tell you that I overheard some guy’s thoughts to take you out?” When she opened her mouth to reply, he cut her off before she could speak. “Look, you can slap me back with your bullshit that I’m a criminal or whatever label you’re giving me, but my only true crime is I’m a fraud.” He took a breath and tried to keep his tone under control. “I play at being someone I’m not more than the man I am.”

“I don’t even know you,” she said quietly, fear in her expression.

Sighing, he tried stepping closer again only to be warned off by another hard look. “You could also be accused of the same, Alec. Inside that hard-ass exterior of ice, there’s a woman so vulnerable she’s lost.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

“Don’t I? I don’t need inside your head to know. Who hurt you, Alec? Was it Paul Adams or his brother Jeremy? Which one of their lies did you fall for?”

“They have nothing to do with...”

“Bullshit,” he growled.

“So what! I’ve arrested men that I’ve dated before. A criminal is a criminal, regardless of personal feelings.”

Ian held out how wrists to her. “Then do it. If you think I’m a criminal, arrest me. Here. Now.”

She looked at his hands and then back at his face. “That’s not what...”

Grasping her shoulders, he held her so she couldn’t back away again. “You’re starting to care, so you need to find reasons not to let me in, something to keep me at bay so I don’t get inside.”

“I don’t...”

Leaning down, so their faces were only a few inches apart, he growled softly. “Don’t lie to me, Alec. You’re better than that.”

“I can’t do this.” She waved a hand between them.

Ian’s heart ached at the pain in her voice. “I won’t let you push me away.” Before he shook her, because he really wanted to shake some sense into her, he dropped his hands away from her. “There’s something between us, I know you feel it too. It’s taking all the rules and breaking them, it’s not in our control.” Her eyes pleaded with him to stop. Afraid she’d run, he stepped back. “I won’t push until you need it, but I’m not going anywhere either.”

Her eyes held his for a long silent moment before she nodded ever so slightly and then looked back to the door. “I can’t do this right now.”

Sighing, he tucked his hands in his pockets and looked down at the pavement. “Your call, for now, but I’ll only stand idle for so long.”

She studied him and then nodded.

Motioning to the door, he stepped aside. “We better get back in there and figure this out.”

Alec breathed a sigh of relief when they went back in and everyone was standing by the laptop as Reid spoke on the phone.

Brent glanced over. “They’re set up at the courthouse.”

Nodding, she sidestepped Ian and went over and sat down at the keyboard. With a few keystrokes, she brought up the viewer and scrolled through the different angles to see if they were all working.

Reid hung up and set the phone on the table. “Okay, we have about a half hour to figure out how we’re going to handle this shit storm that we’re heading into.”

Pushing up from the table, Alec tightened her ponytail and breathed out a loud breath. “I think first and foremost we have to figure out who we can trust at the station.”

Brent and Reid nodded. Picking up a notebook off the table, he held it out to Felicity. “Make some notes for us?”

Felicity took the pad and sat down quickly.

“So how do we do that? Find out who we can trust?” Alec looked at Brent, hoping he had some ideas.

Brent sighed and gave Reid an apprehensive look before looking over at Jac. “I was thinking Jacinda and Ian could probably take care of that detail...”

“No,” Reid blurted out.

Jac bent over to him and placed a hand on his arm. “It has to be done.”

With his jaw clenched, Reid looked down at her. “And if you touch some sicko and hit the floor?”

Ian cleared his throat and leaned back against the back of the couch. “I can probably get inside most heads. I’m not sure...”

“See,” Jac said softly, “I’m just the backup, for anyone Ian can’t listen in on.”

“Fine.” Reid pulled her into his side.

Alec wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. Seeing what happened to Jac still haunted her some nights. “Okay, great. I’d feel better if I knew who we could trust on the team.” She looked at Felicity as she wrote. “I’d like Felicity and Jac to do some digging and see what they can come up with on all the players.”

“I need names.” Felicity looked around at everyone.

Ian tucked his hands in his pockets and nodded. “I need to know who Kimberley Almay and Christian Veritas are, where they work, and possible ways to get closer to them.”

Alec nodded, liking the way he was heading. “We’ll need more on Pierre Cardiel too. Is he just bankrolling this with his millions or what’s his status in all of it? Also, we’re going to need to know if anyone other than Andrea Weaver is in on this at the mayor’s office. I don’t know about you but knowing that the mayor’s assistant has a place in all of this makes my skin crawl.”

Felicity stopped writing and looked up. “Jac and I can dig up everything on all of those. What else?”

Alec held Ian’s pale blue eyes with her heart pounding overtime in her chest. “We need to get Ian closer to Rick Pelts, so he can find out what’s going on with this threat to me. If possible, take him out of the picture from this point on.”

He held her look for a few more moments, forcing her mind to go over what he’d said outside, and then he nodded and looked over at Brent. “If you guys can unearth his location, I think that needs to be dealt with as soon as possible.”

Brent nodded and glanced over at Alec. “You need to lay low until we gain a bit more insight into all of this.”

As much as she didn’t want to be treated with kid gloves, she had no choice but to agree. The new players Ian had brought to their attention were just a little out of her comfort zone. She looked back over at Ian, trying not to let him see how much she was relying on him. “Find out soon, I don’t like hiding.”

His mouth twitched in a half-smirk. “As soon as I can.”

Turning back, she looked at Reid. “I say we screw up as many of their plans as possible and start taking out all the bottom rungs to flush out more of the players.”

Brent and Reid exchanged a look.

“Agreed.” Reid studied Ian for a minute. “How are you going to get closer to the key people at the top?”

Frowning, she turned back to watch Ian. How did he do this sort of thing?

“Well, I usually attend any high-profile events I can.” He smirked at Sandy. “As Dante Maloy...”

“A very charming man,” Sandy said with a laugh.

“He tries,” Ian continued. “I just need an in to any social events going on in the near future.”

“No problem.”

Everyone turned and looked at Jac. She smiled. “Mandy Azaire would be more than happy to get me any tickets I’d like.”

It took a moment for Alec to make the connection. She’d forgotten that Jac and Reid had close ties to the high-profile Azaire family after catching the man that had killed Elaine Azaire. “I don’t want Ian going in solo on any of these events.” He raised his eyebrows and looked at her, then smiled with a glint in his eye. “If I have to lay low, he’s going to need another date and backup nearby.” She looked at Brent to see if he agreed.

He did. “Backup isn’t a problem.” Turning he looked over at Sandy. “And I think Sandy would make a lovely date, she moves in most of the circles already.”

With a surprised look, Sandy glanced at Alec and then at Ian. “I suppose I could if needed.” She looked back at Alec again with an apprehensive look on her face.

Why is she looking at me for permission? Frowning, Alec shrugged. “Works for me.”

Sandy smiled and then nodded to Ian. “Just tell me when and where.”

Ian shrugged. “No problem.”

Glancing at her watch, Alec cringed. “It’s almost show time.” Looking back at the laptop, she closed her eyes for a second. “I think the first thing we need to do is get Jac and Ian to the station to see if we can find some allies.”

Reid nodded slowly. “The captain first, we’re going to need to bring him in on this if he can be trusted. Who knows how high up this goes or what the end game is supposed to be.”

Alec rolled her shoulders, feeling the tension set in. “Yeah.” She really wanted to be here to find out what exactly was going on at the courthouse, but having a team was going to be important too. “I think we should head there now before things go down at the courthouse.”

Brent nodded and leaned down and scrolled through the views once. “So, follow the envelope and take out who we can along the way or stop it from being in play?”

Alec rubbed a hand over her stomach when it reminded her she needed to eat soon. “Tough call. We can take out the person Willard is getting it from, and hold them long enough for Ian to see if he can find out more details.” Ian smirked at her. “I say follow Willard and then nab him after he gets it to Andrea.”

“We need to know what’s in that envelope though, or we have nothing to hold Willard with.” Reid glanced at his watch and then looked up at her again. “And we can’t have Ian hopping all the heads at the station and being at the drop to see what Andrea is up to at the same time.”

“I can get close to Andrea Weaver,” Sandy added. “I know nothing about police work, but I’ve had lunch with her before on a few occasions. I could do it again and then Ian just needs to be nearby.” She looked at Ian. “You just need to be nearby, right?”

Alec looked at Ian, hoping it would work.

He nodded. “A table nearby would work.”

“Okay, then.” Alec picked up the folder Brent had brought. “You set that up, Sandy. We’ll head down to the station and get started there while Brent and Reid monitor the courthouse.” She felt better having a plan in place.

“I’ll meet you there shortly with Felicity, we can start the searches as well.” Jac went toward the kitchen. “Just have to make a thermos of tea.”

Reid groaned and Alec had to agree, no one wanted Jac to have reason to need the tea. She watched Ian go over and pick something up off the coffee table and tuck it into his pocket, then he turned back to her and motioned to the door.