Page 30 of Room Nine: Masters of Control

“Did any of your rabbits have similar trophy walls?” I look to Reese and Lee who both shake their heads.

“Not out in the open like yours.”

“What’s on your mind, O’Dell?” Victor sits forward.

Dammit. Normally, I wouldn’t talk about this outside of our private walls, but I need Sandy’s cooperation on this.

“There’s a complication. Your team is currently collecting a wall of photos of one woman. A shrine, if you will.” I lock eyes with Victor, letting him know exactly who I’m talking about. “I know the woman. I have a personal relationship with her, and while Bobby was obsessed with her, she knows nothing about the human trafficking empire. He was stalking her, and maybe it could have gone somewhere criminal, but then she met me.”

Sandy narrows his eyes. “You’re not trying to convince me it’s a coincidence that the guy you’ve had under surveillance for the last three months, the one who now needs medical attention, was stalking your girlfriend, are you?”

“During our surveillance, I noticed him watching her, which put her in my path. What I’m saying is this has nothing to do with the DiFallo human trafficking empire, and considering she’s been brutalized in the past, I would find it a professional courtesy to do everything in your power to keep her out of this.”

He closes his eyes for a second and then locks gazes with Victor who says nothing, even though the look on his face says everything. They don’t want us as an enemy. We do the things they don’t want traced back to their organization. Too many cameras and whistleblower websites exist nowadays, and even badass FBI agents have to be careful. But we don’t exist when we don’t want to, and that’s the beauty of being a private contractor.

“I’ll do my best to separate the evidence. If I can, I’ll lose it. But if we find we need to talk to her, I’ll come to you to arrange the conversation.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.”

“Why didn’t you destroy the pictures?”

“Because I didn’t want to risk contaminating any of the other evidence.”

Sandy nods. “I appreciate that. You’re sure she has no information about our case.”

“One hundred percent.”

He and I stare at each other for a hot minute. I know he has a dozen questions on the tip of his tongue, but I guess he respects me or values the relationship between the bureau and Townsend Agency, because he shakes his head and swallows them down. Then he slaps his thighs and stands, our silent invitation to leave. “Well, gentlemen. The bureau appreciates all you did here. I know this was a few weeks-long assignment that dragged out into months, and I appreciate your patience while we got our shit together.”

He shakes each one of our hands, and the four of us head down into the garage together, saying nothing.

Only when we are huddled between our trucks does Victor raise his brow and say in a low voice, “A shrine, huh?”

I nod and show him the pictures I didn’t send to the Feds. “She was days away from a very bad situation.”

“I guess she’s lucky she blew up the house you were watching.”

“We were all lucky.”

“Well, it’s all over now.” Victor slaps my shoulder. “You guys have some downtime; go claim your woman.”

Victor is fully aware of his teams sexual and romantic predilections, as he himself was once the member of a team who also looked for that one special woman. Unfortunately, he lost one of his team members during a firefight—the last time he was in combat before he pinned on Colonel—and as far as I know, he’s been single ever since.

Not that he doesn’t know how to have a good time. We’ve seen him at Club Sin on more than one occasion.

“Gentlemen.” Victor raises his voice a bit. “It’s been a long three months, and I appreciate you doing the shit work assigned to us with little to no complaint. My business partner is coming to town, and I’m throwing us a party at our favorite club—one that I know you’re all members of—next Saturday, six pm, VIP lounge.”

“Until then, you are dismissed.” Victor nods and then walks to his car, never tossing us a backward glance.

Caiden grins. “Our ladies obviously know each other, but do you have a date for the ball?”

I nod, but it’s Kerr who answers. “We sure the fuck hope so.”

“Cool. You guys have a week to make it happen. Until then…” Caiden salutes the group and walks with Reese and Soren to their vehicle. Lee, Case, and Porter are already entering theirs.

I walk around to the driver’s side door and pull my phone out of my pocket, checking our group text to realize I’ve missed an entire conversation.

4:48pm - Kyra:I’m at the bar. No crazy stalkers seen on my way here.

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