Page 32 of Clean Hack
I felt myself wince and had the urge to cower like a frightened dog.
She was pissed and that was an understatement.
“Yeah, I am,” I rushed to say. “I wouldn’t mess with you or him like that.”
Then I told her that I basically didn’t know much, which was the truth. I filled her in on what it was that I did know. That the kid had been rescued and was in a safe house with his aunt.
“Where?” she asked in a seething tone.
“I can’t…” I couldn’t tell her because I didn’t really know.
“You fucking will,” she barked lowly.
I nodded, knowing she couldn’t see it. I had driven a wedge between us and I was determined to fix it. Her tone and anger left no room for questions on how she felt about the big lug. I could tell right then and there if it came down to having to choose between me and him, I would come out the loser. I should have been hurt but for some reason it made me feel a sting of happiness for her. And maybe a stab of loneliness for myself.
“I’ll get it and let you know,” I promised and left her with an unnecessary warning to make sure she wouldn’t be followed when she headed there.
I hated to call Harrison again. Not because I didn’t want to get the information for Nadya, but because I felt like I was bothering them at this point. I heard the huffed sigh even before he picked up the phone. I was prepared to beg, grovel, plead, and toss out every favor owed in order to get the information I needed.
“Why am I not surprised that you are somehow tied up in this too?” he asked and I could have sworn I heard a hint of amusement in his tone.
“The guy,” I hesitated because I hadn’t felt like I’d earned the right to used his name, but forged ahead anyway, “Noah, or Tank as he’s known to his club, he deserves to know that his son is alive. What if it were you? What if it were your child that you thought was dead? I’ve seen this man with his son and I can tell you that his little boy is his world. Noah is the perfect example of how a dad should be.”
I could admit that I sounded desperate as I pleaded my case, but that didn’t make anything that I’d said less true. That man had been there for his son at every turn. I may not have been there to witness it in person but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t feel the love that he had for his boy. And I’d seen how it wrecked him after he thought he’d lost his kid. I watched for far too long as Tank teetered on the edge. He was a shell. A man daring death to come in and take him already. I couldn’t even imagine how all of this might have ended if it wasn’t for Nadya. She’d somehow not only fell in love with her target, but brought the man back to the side of the living as well. But with this new information, I could help make his world whole again. And I desperately needed to do that for him.
“Lucy,” he said with a deep, long, drawn-out sigh. “This goes against everything I do. I’m here to keep my men safe and leaking this information to you most certainly doesn’t follow that. My gut tells me that I should help you out here. That I can trust you, and since you trust these people it should be good enough for me. Still, it doesn’t mean that I’m not hesitant about just giving up a safe house.”
“I understand that,” I said. I got it, I really did. “I would never do anything to put your men in danger.”
“I know. Hell, sometimes it feels like you’re part of the team. I can’t thank you for everything you’ve done over the years, all the cases you brought to our attention. The lives that we’ve saved because of you.”
I didn’t say anything because I couldn’t. I knew they appreciated me, but I didn’t know that he thought of me like that. I wanted to smile, only everything was so heavy at the moment it was threatening to crush me.
“Grant is watching over the boy and his aunt,” he said and then gave me an address along with very specific instructions on how to get there as well as what to say when they arrived. He told me he’d get in touch with Grant and give him the heads up so my people wouldn’t get shot. Which was good, because I really didn’t want that to happen.
I didn’t know this Grant guy but I could hear the high regard that Harrison had for him in his voice. I sensed he wasn’t new, but I also had been introduced to everyone on Harrison’s team. I knew Ashburn Security had multiple teams spread out all over the US, so it was possible that this guy was from another team. I could have asked, but I chose to just hold on to the trust I had in Harrison and not make any more waves.
I didn’t send Nadya the information right away. First, I did some digging and searching to make sure that if she needed backup, I’d be able to do something. What that something was, well, I had no clue. I didn’t doubt for one second that she could handle herself, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t have her back if she should ever need it.
It was late into the night when I finally sent her phone a text with the location and everything she’d need to know to get there. Then I sat back and tried to shake the feeling that something was coming.
After that things got oddly quiet for almost two weeks.
Nadya had ended up leaving the big guy in the middle of the night, thinking it was best for him. However, she somehow ended up staying at the safe house with his son. I could have tried to explain it to her but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. It seemed that her mind was determined to keep her in Tank’s life in one way or another. I figured it was best to just let her ride it out and figure it out for herself.
I had been sitting there, pulling my hair out and contemplating my next move, when something caught my attention. More like a name.
Allison Callahan.
It wasn’t right but there was something about it that clicked. Allison’s last name was Whittemore, sure. But mine happened to be Callahan. That was when I got real interested in what Bocca from the Steel Paragons MC was looking into. And more importantly, figure out why.
Because I had this feeling in my gut. Like I just knew it was her.
He had been searching for information about someone with that name. It seemed he wasn’t able to find much that suited his curiosity, so as expected, he continued to dig. He was looking for someone named Allison that was twenty-four. Which happened to be the right age for her. He slowed down his search when he came across a few articles about a missing girl named Allison Whittemore. It seemed he had found something that satisfied him. But why? Was she there? Had they caught sight of her? How did he know about Allison? It didn’t surprise me when he continued to dig. He wasn’t the type of person to leave anything out and he wanted to make sure he had all the information to bring to his President. After all, there was a lot riding on his shoulders. If he missed just one thing, it could cost the club a lot. So he was always thorough and I wouldn’t have expected anything different this time.
I looked over so I could watch his face and I made sure the sound was on. I wanted to hear what was going on and if he was talking to anyone. I hoped that maybe it would help me figure out what was going on.
“Why are you here?” he mumbled I assumed to himself.
