Page 17 of Free to Judge
This is exactly why I went undercover all those grueling years—this plus the desperate need to hunt down Tanya’s killers. Thetantalizing taste of a big payout is nearly palpable. I process Cal’s words fully before demanding, “Who is it?”
“Open the file I just sent you. It’s a catalog of who they’re targeting for their next order. From what Sam discovered, the list has been in the works for months,” Cal growls.
That’s when I uncover an acquisition order for the firebrand who tried to demolish my face earlier today. Caleb inhales sharply, even as Keene’s virulent curses slice through the air.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Jon growls, a raw blend of confusion and fury. “Why in the hell would they want someone like Kalie?”
Cal remains icy and pragmatic. “Two reasons. The first is because the Byrnes suspect we’ve somehow got someone on the inside. They’re trying to make a statement.”
“Al went after my fiancée, Cal. Of course we’re going to try,” Liam reminds him. Alfredo Tiberi, once a trusted member of Hudson Investigations, was taken out when Laura Lockwood was kidnapped. He let blood overrule his loyalty to this organization and has paid for those crimes. Now, he spends umpteen hours of the week begging me to rescue him from the festering cesspool of his own rotting mind and criminal incompetence.
I listen to him bitch before billing the Tiberis for the waste of my time.
Cal coolly counters, “They expected us to retaliate. But that’s not the real reason they’re going after Kalie. It’s because of who she belongs to.”
Then a picture flashes on the screen. It’s the reason I contacted Hudson Investigations all those years ago—the man who’s beenwell-fed from illegal coffers since his son cut him off from the family ones when he assumed conservatorship of them many years ago when he ran after his implied complicity in setting his daughter up for a nightmare. After all, Jack Marshall still needed a source of income.
Now, we’re working to bring him down as part of the sweep targeting the Byrnes—his second cousins. Cal’s voice penetrates. “Keep the intel to the list of people I send to you. They’re the ones I’ve vetted and who you can trust. No one else.”
His words hit hard, like a ruthless sucker punch. Every risk we’ve taken now compounds. A heavy silence smothers the room, quashing our tempers like a raging inferno doused by a torrent. Keene finally asks, “So, what do we do?”
“First, you find a way to keep Kalie safe.”
“Because now she’s not just Keene’s; she humiliated someone under their protection,” Liam surmises.
“Exactly that,” Cal declares, nodding in my direction.
I immediately grasp the gravity of his words. The Byrnes don’t give a damn about the Tiberis. What they care about is their immaculate reputation and how it reflects on them. They could not care less if the family who called in a marker for legal defense ends up rotting in prison—though the intel I’m gathering is going to set both their houses on fire. No, what they care about is the appearance of control and prestige.
Kalie, despite her perfect pedigree, defiled that.
With a sigh, I ask, “How do we do that?”
Jon doesn’t hesitate. “We tell her the truth. No bullshit, no secrets.”
Caleb winces. “Yeah. Learn from my mistakes.”
I can hardly conceive Caleb acted that recklessly. “You didn’t tell your daughter she was being stalked?”
Liam flings him a look of utter disgust. “Tell me about it.”
“In my defense, I thought I was shielding her.” His voice carries the weight of a man who almost lost everything and is doing what he can to repair his relationship all these months later.
I’d call him out for his severe lack of rationality, but here I am in a more convoluted mess for a person who’s already gone. Liam shoots me a look of frustrated understanding. He knows about Tanya, about our relationship, about what she meant to me.
And what a fucking waste it was to lose her.
Cal’s voice breaks into our internal monologues. “We’re running out of time. Every passing hour, the trail gets colder. And every second, more women vanish.”
His undeniable words suppress Tanya’s ghost from taking over my thoughts. Instead, it’s the knowledge of having to come clean to Kalie Marshall that has guilt churning in my stomach. Turning to Keene, I state my demands. “Despite what your daughter thinks of me, I should be the one to explain things to her,” I state evenly, steely determination in every syllable.
“I don’t give a damn about your opinion nor Kalie’s right now. I only care about catching those sons of bitches before we end up trying to bring back my daughter’s corpse. Or is basic comprehension something you forgot somewhere between Quantico and working for the Byrnes?” he sneers.
Jon grabs his phone and begins making plans. “Kalie is booked solid the next few days.”
“You can’t track her every moment of the day,” Keene worries.
“I can.” Silence descends on the room. Jon goes on, “While you all have been bickering, I sent her a link to a calendar invite that had an embedded tracker in it.”
