Agent E2: Aidan (Superhero Romance) (The D.I.R.E. Agency) (5 page)

His life, and Rachel’s, had changed so drastically. Aidan felt like he stood on a spinning top that would never halt.

Hensen ran a hand over his bald head. “I understand things are rather hectic at the moment, but Ben requested that his will be read immediately following his funeral.” He glanced back and forth between Rachel and Tristan. “Would you have time for that?”

Aidan frowned. “Why the rush?”

Hensen shrugged. “I think he wanted Rachel to have the money right away, knowing her financial state of affairs following your father’s illness.”

Jacobs had taken care of that for Rachel, the old, lovesick fool. Now, she had to figure out how to run a five thousand acre ranch with several oil rigs scattered throughout.

Tristan kissed Rachel’s palm. “I’m yours for the day, baby. I’ll be there for you.”

He shook his head. “Make no mistake, Mr. Jacobs. You’re in the will, too.”

He pulled back his head and frowned. “Me? I only knew him a few days.”

“You were a late addition.” Hensen smiled.

Rachel hugged Tristan’s arm and smiled up at him. “I told you he loved you.”

Aidan signaled to the pizza delivery boy. “Maybe we’ll finally learn what he meant about the barrels.”

“The barrels?” Hensen frowned.

Tristan said, “The last words out of Ben’s mouth before he died were ‘it’s in the barrels.’”

“Well,” he said, “Ben does have barrels. Considering the number of oil rigs on his place, there are hundreds of oil barrels scattered all over his ranch. Good luck with that one.”

#####

“d’Artagnan, why did Mitchell say he would let you tell me what happened to Father?”

Cassandra swallowed down a bite of her hamburger as she watched the color drain from her brother’s face. She had never seen her twin look so pale or so…
sick
. He looked like he wanted to barf.

Dar had always portrayed a sarcastic confidence, an emotional banner that told everyone he could never be hurt. Of course, being his twin, she knew that to be a show for the public. Like her, he had missed out on a normal life, a mother, loyal friends, etc. and had bought into her father’s wrath - hook, line and sinker. He had adopted the hatred even though he never learned why their father hated the D.I.R.E. Agency and Mitchell Jacobs.

She, on the other hand, had gone along for the ride. She had done whatever it took to please her father, had supported him in whatever he did even though she held no personal vendetta against any of them.

After meeting Aidan Monroe, she wished things were different. She was attracted to him like no other man before him, and she had met several over the years, all vying for a spot in the Naylor Interests organization. All vying for marriage to Robert Naylor’s daughter.

All vying for a spot in her bed.

None of them had succeeded, not even the one man she wanted there. Her father had seen to that.

“A lot happened yesterday, Cass.” Dar stared at the French fries lying in the red, plastic basket on the interrogation room table. “Our lives will never be the same again.” His gaze shot to hers.

She hated the hurt in his aqua eyes. Hated that he felt he couldn’t just tell her. Why? She was his twin sister, for goodness sake.

Reaching across the table, she took his cuffed hand in hers. “Just tell me, Dar.”

Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. “I shot Father.”

Her heart stopped. Shock and disbelief conflicted with the hurt she saw in d’Artagnan’s eyes.

Sitting up in her chair, Cassandra slid her hand from his grasp. Dar winced.

“I don’t believe you.”

Words tumbled from his mouth in a rush. “It was an accident. I shot at Kate and Father dove in front of her.”

“Kate? Who in the world is Kate?”

Dar straightened in his chair. “Kate is Aidan Monroe’s mother, Jim Monroe’s wife.”

Aidan’s mother? “What?” She shook her head, confused. “Why?”

“Apparently, Father and Kate were together before she married Jim Monroe.”

Cassandra slumped against the chair, her head in a whirl. “So, father was in love with Kate Monroe? What happened?”

“She married Jim while Father was gone on a mission. We have a half-sister, Cass.”

She stilled. “Wait a minute. You’re telling me Father and Kate had a daughter he never told us about?”

Dar shook his head. “Father just found out yesterday. She’s Rachel Monroe, the woman we captured yesterday to get to Tristan Jacobs.”

Elbow on the table, Cassandra pressed her fingers to her forehead. She couldn’t believe it. Her father had a daughter he didn’t know about, with a woman that left him for another man.

He had risked his own life for someone he hadn’t seen in over twenty-five years.

Robert Naylor still loved Kate Monroe.

“How do we know she’s his daughter?”

Dar gave a bitter laugh. “She looks just like him - and me. There’s no doubt.”

Anger slowly filtered into Cassandra’s veins. “So, we nearly lost our father for a woman that had been unfaithful to him and kept a daughter hidden his entire life?”

Now, she understood why Dar had been so cooperative. He felt guilty about shooting their father and didn’t want to risk her life, too.

“I’m sorry, Cass. This is all my fault. I should’ve just let them be, but she changed everything just by walking in the room. She has a power over him I’ve never seen before. I don’t trust her.”

Cassandra took his hand in hers again. “Dar, I know you didn’t mean to shoot him. Father is a survivor. He’ll get through this. We just need him well enough to get out of here.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” He held up his cuffed hands.

“I left Jaydan Polk with strict orders to
bring it
if he didn’t hear from me in forty-eight hours.” She squeezed his hand. “Don’t give up yet. We’ve still got a chance.”

Aidan and Tristan prepared to teleport from the makeshift D.I.R.E. office to the electronics store. The forecast called for a clear, hot evening with virtually no breeze.

So, why did thunder rumble in the distance?

Tristan checked the chamber of his Beretta 9mm before shoving it in the back waistband of his jeans. “At least we won’t have to contend with Naylor’s agents.”

Aidan nodded as he zipped up the backpack that contained the laptop. “If these are the sons of bitches that killed my father, I’m going to light ‘em up.”

Mitchell said, “Monroe, it’s imperative the buyers
do not
get away with the computer.” He shook his head. “I still don’t understand why they want the files on a laptop and not a flash drive. Nevertheless, Monroe, I want you to show them the file, close the computer, and ask for the gold. Once the exchange has been made, Tristan will meet them at the door, cloaked.”

Mitchell glanced back and forth between them. “Short and sweet. I want them alive.”

Aidan gritted his teeth. That’s easy to ask from someone that hadn’t had his father killed by these bastards. After all he had put Jim through since high school, Aidan felt he owed this to his father.

Tristan went to stand in the middle of the room. “You ready, Monroe?”

Nodding, Aidan approached his best friend, his movements slowing with each step. “There’s no freaking way I’m hugging you, Jacobs.”

Grinning, Tristan turned his back to him. “Better suck it in, then. We’re traveling back to back.”

“Wait. I thought you could only teleport by wrapping your arms around the other person.”

Tristan shook his head. “I never said that.”

“Wait. You teleported Rachel…”

“You’re the one that shoved her into my arms at the church.”

“You sonovabitch.” Aidan cursed under his breath as he pressed his back against Tristan. They locked forearms.

Tristan laughed. “It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun teleporting her this way.”

Aidan grumbled. “You suck, Jacobs.”

Tristan scanned his forefinger over the screen on his armband. “Let’s go kick some ass, Monroe. For your father.”

Memories bombarded Aidan as soon as they landed inside the store. The once immaculate, minimalistic store sat littered with dust and spider webs, empty display cases and racks scattered throughout in haphazard fashion. By the looks of things, the place had been given more than one onceover by the authorities. The sight pissed off Aidan royally.

He’d spent many days cleaning the store after school and working the register during summer breaks. His father had run a neat and tidy ship.

Jim Monroe would have a fit if he saw it now.

Aidan wished he could. Just once.

Lightning lit up the windows before thunder rattled the panes. Drawing their guns, they made their way into the back storeroom. Turning on the white light on his armband, Aidan looked around the messy space cluttered with cardboard boxes and wooden crates.

Lightning struck outside the store. The scent of burning wood clogged the air.

“What the hell?...”

Rushing to the back loading area, he and Tristan looked out a tiny window in the side door. A tree had caught fire in the field behind the store. A second later, rain fell in droves, quickly dousing it.

“Where did this come from?” Aidan said.

Lightning hit again in the same spot. Its tail punctured the ground over and over, like a sewing-machine needle. Deafening thunder roared without ceasing, rattling the metal doors and building.

“Holy shit, Jacobs…”

A bright light lit up the stormy sky. Aidan squinted against its dazzling radiance. A gray, bell-shaped craft flashed into the alley. Standing ten feet high or so, it had no windows, no doors, no identifying marks, only thousands of tiny lights illuminating the rim.

Aidan’s heart pounded like someone banged a fist against his chest from the inside. “Are you seeing this, Jacobs?”

“Yes.”

Rain dripped off the edge of the store’s roof. A low whir sounded in the now silent night. A door slowly opened, raising from the bottom of the craft and hinging at the crown.

What was inside? Little green men? Images of movie aliens flew through Aidan’s brain like a slideshow. What the hell were they up against?

A set of metal stairs lowered to the ground. A pair of women’s black, patent-leather shoes appeared first, followed by a set of great legs encased in pantyhose. A hot babe wearing a black suit and bright red lipstick emerged, two men in retro Navy uniforms on her tail.

What the hell?

Tristan spoke in a low voice. “I don’t see any gold, do you, Monroe?”

“Gold? What about the freaking fact that three people just landed in some kind of space craft right before our eyes?”

“They’re coming this way. I’m cloaking.” Tristan disappeared.

“Dammit.” Aidan ran back into the warehouse and turned on one of the lights. Pulling out the laptop, he set it on a dusty, wooden crate and powered it up.

The side door opened. One of the men appeared first, followed by the woman, and the other man behind her. Both men wore full, Navy dress uniforms that had to be at least seventy years old, revolvers at their waists. They stood at ease several feet away from Aidan, the woman between them.

If he thought their uniforms a distraction, they had nothing on her. The woman was freaking stunning. She had coal black hair that fell in thick waves to her shoulders, dark, nearly black eyes, and full lips that would call attention to her in the middle of a circus.

She had nothing on Cassandra Naylor but she was a close second.

“Where is Robert Naylor?” she said.

How did she know he wasn’t Robert Naylor?

Standing between the crate and the wall, Aidan crossed his arms over his chest. “In the hospital. I’m here as his representative.”

Her eyes studied his face before giving him a quick onceover.

“I assume that’s for me?” She nodded at the computer, her voice filled with authority.

“If you brought thirty million in gold, yes.”

“Show me the files.”

Opening one of the fake gun files, Aidan maximized the window. “Are you in the Navy, too?”

She stared at him without a response. He swiveled the laptop to face her. Glancing at it a second, she gave him a brief nod.

Wasn’t she going to verify the files were all there?

“Place it inside the satchel and leave it on top of the crate.”

Powering it down, Aidan placed it inside the backpack, along with the power cord. He zipped it up and patted it.

“You’re good to go.”

“Now, please step away.”

“As soon as I get my gold, sweetheart.”

Her brows furrowed. “Well,
handsome
, I’m afraid the gold is already here. You’re going to have to get it yourself.”