CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE: ENEMIES WITHIN.

MILES:

After what I saw, I ended work and shut operations for the day. Throughout the day, I sent out words to all my connections within the States, asking every last one of them to dig into anything underground. More and more discoveries were made, and I can tell you that it was heart-wrenching. My nightmares weren't just an illusion. It was a fragment of Christian's memory. His last moments. I could only imagine what he went through. Who could have been so heartless as to hurt an innocent boy like him?

At once, my anger and whatever ill feeling I had toward Meredith for the last one-month vanished into thin air. I promised to help her find her brother. I sent out investigators to do so and every bit of information they brought back, added to the ones Brandon had been bringing in, were not things I could reach out to her with. She will shatter. Meredith will die of heartache.

At once, I became so furious that I wanted to make all those involved hurt and burn their organizations. Whichever one was involved. I didn't care how well-connected they were.

Grenada had no idea, making her safe. She wouldn't be persecuted in any way because she went through a refined and legal hospital, which she had no idea was linked with the underground. Something else made me fall into guilt. I had accidentally run into Christian that night as he hyperventilated, striking his hands against my window while parked a few meters from a restaurant I wanted to have my last meal.

As the area was famous for having kids who pretended to be beggars and having connections with thugs who struck unexpectedly to rob victims, I didn't move from my seat. I sat there, windows rolled up, staring at the dashboard when the hands came, striking over and over. Now, when I think more about it, the boy was scared to death. He kept glancing over his shoulders like someone was after him. When he saw that I wasn't going to help him, he ran off. Could I have saved him if only I had listened and rolled down the window? If I let him into my car? Could I have saved Meredith’s brother?

“We need to keep this calm,” the FBI agent I contacted told me as his eyes caught hold of me, pacing, balling my fingers into a fist. “We don't know how connected this ring is, and we need to move once to capture everyone involved. If we take any careless steps, the rest will go into hiding and another innocent person will suffer the same fate.”

“How long would that take?” Oh, God! Meredith! My heart, mind, and body kept drifting to her. I was foolish to let her out of my sight. Don't get me wrong, I haven't forgiven her, but I could have had someone watching her. Someone keeping an eye out for her. I just had no idea how deep this whole thing was. The thought of losing her now was unimaginable. With clearer vision, the anger once stirred at Meredith, was for me. Denial made me direct it toward her. I can't lose Meredith. Not to this. It would put my mind at ease to know that she was alive and doing well, even if we were no longer together.

“It might take longer, especially with the caliber of people involved.”

“We don't have that time!” I roared in anger. “Brandon, have you reached out to Meredith recently? You were the last person who connected with her when she left my house. Did you keep in touch? Did she keep in touch with anyone?”

Hearing my own words, I realized how stupid I sounded. Pathetic that I couldn't keep her safe or even try. At the slightest inconvenience between us, I had given up on whatever we had because of my past. The trauma of the terrible past in my head.

“No, sir. She cut ties with everyone connected to you. The last time I saw her was a month ago, the night I drove her out of your house. The next and last time to have encountered her was when I went to drop some of her things.” Brandon's voice also held fury. Reading him, my guard was holding himself back from punching me in the face and calling me an asshole. A weakling.

I thought it was all for show when she didn't take anything that I brought for her. Everything remained as it were in her room, which I had proposed cleaning out, but kept procrastinating each waking day. Then that email, she sent. Oh, no. She tried. Meredith tried to make me work out things, but I didn't want to. This was all on me.

“Sir, I think you need to calm down. I will send a couple of my strongest men to find and protect her.”

No! This was my problem to take care of. She was mine to carter for. I promised her that. I must guarantee her safety.

“Mr. Pierce, there is something we found out.”

“What is it?” I was tired of being the recipient of a lot of bad news. Out with it, so I can go searching for Meredith. Would she even want to see me? Talk to me? Did I even want to face her?

“After the events of last month, I had a gut in my feeling that Miss Tate was telling the truth.” Oh, here we go. Guilt trapping me? Smart move, Brandon. Everyone believed she was innocent except me. Blame me all you want. I caught something like a sneer in his eyes, but he quickly wore his static frown. “I also noticed that some of our staff were acting suspiciously. I decided to do a clean sweep of the security details. First, I re-evaluated all your employees; their phone calls, whereabouts, and associates. Everyone was a suspect to me.” Except for Meredith. Interesting. “Two people topped that list, so I made sure to appoint three guards each that watched their activities round the clock.”

“Who are they?”

“Mr. Neymar Kane, your assistant, and Miss Britney Lowell. Further, I did a background check on them. They both applied with fake documents. Mr. Kane has a gambling debt he is paying off, which is enough motive for him to be someone's plaything. Miss Lowell has a cancerous twin sister she is paying for. Another motive for her to be desperate.”

“What? Why didn't they come to me then? They both know that I would have helped them.”

“Because they weren't working for and with you in the first place.” His hard face became filled with veins. “Both were planted by your ex-girlfriend.”

“Louis?” He gave me a judgmental look that stated, 'don't you even dare point fingers at our precious Meredith.”

Abruptly, he answered, “Yes. I also brought our men from Russia to investigate the entire house. They found bugs in your office and your bedroom. Both rooms were wired.”

“This is crazy. Meaning, I haven't been alone the whole time?”

“Yes. We took most of it down a few hours ago before this document containing the whereabouts of Miss Tate's brother came to light. We don't know where else around you has the bug; cars, more places in the house or even your clothes. We are making sure to rectify that as soon as possible.”

“Why would Louis do that? Is she that much of a stalker? Is that how much she wants me back?”

The FBI agent just stood and jotted down as much information as he could corner from the conversation between me and Brandon.

“No, it isn't a matter of jealousy. This might also surprise--” his phone chimed, interrupting him. He reached for it and quickly went through whatever was on the screen, keeping us in suspense and silence. Whatever he saw made his eyes red with more anger.

“What is it?” I questioned, sensing he might have made a discovery.

“I just got an update that Mr. Alan Stalker might have a hand in all this.” He bit back on his words before blurting out, “including the murder of Miss Tate's brother.”

The FBI cut in. “You mean Alan Stalker, the millionaire who is handling the new hydro-electrical project? Wasn't he her ex-boyfriend? Why would he want to hurt her brother?”

“Yes, that Alan Stalker. And, we have no idea about those details yet," he sharply said, displeased that he was doing more work than the Federal Agent. As far as I read from Brandon, he was mentally calling the redhead, useless. “My men will cooperate with you, sharing information with you, so this can be resolved.”

“If Louis or Alan is involved, Meredith might be in danger, especially if they have gotten the information that I know," I sneered.

“That is true," The FBI guy agreed.

Hearing that confirmation, I stormed toward the door. Nothing mattered more than getting to her. None of the men stopped me. “Brandon, I need all my resources to find Meredith. Send as many vans filled with my best men. Now!” To the FBI agent, “we already have enough details to strike. If not against anyone else, against that, Alan. I never liked him in the first place.”

“Yes, sir,” Brandon answered. “Mr. Pierce?”

“Yes?” I stopped and turned my back against the nearby door.

“Miss Tate is innocent, even though I don't know what convinced you that she wasn't.”

Fuck! Not uttering a word, I left. I hope I wasn't too late.