Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files Book 6) (29 page)

“Keep me updated.” Crest disconnected and then took a moment to think about how this would affect Jessie. Emotionally and physically, he’d pushed and broken through some of the barriers that she’d set in place. She’d discovered things about herself that he thought she’d have time to sort through, but now that was being taken away. Although they were on a time constraint, her mental well-being came first. “Jessie, something’s come up regarding Ryland and we need to leave.”

“Okay. I’ll go get dressed and then we can head back,” Jessie said, her voice sounding strong and steady. “I was hoping it would be about Mom and Dad. I need to give Sarah a call anyway and then touch base with Taryn to see if she figured out where Uncle John is and what those numbers are about.”

Crest walked back to the couch, where he found her already standing and looking more like a young girl trying to look courageous than the woman he’d spent the last two days being intimate with. She’d hate that he saw her like that, but the haunted look in her green eyes was hard to miss. He reached for her and pulled her into his body, not liking that she was pretending this was all right with her.

“I’m going to take you to my apartment first, where I want you to stay until I tell you it’s safe,” Crest said, rubbing his warm hand up and down her back. “For Taryn to call everyone in, something big must be going down.”

Crest ran through the things that he needed to do as they drove back to the city. First and foremost, he needed to contact Gentry Security and ensure that Ryland was still secure. If Weaver or anyone he’d hired had an inkling of where they were keeping their intended target, it wouldn’t be wise to move him now. Second, he wanted Townes closer at hand. Townes would have called in a few reinforcements to make certain that Sarah and her family were secure, so pulling him in on anything that might be taking place at home should be no issue.

“You’re worried,” Jessie whispered against his chest. Crest rested his chin on top of her head, not wanting to let her go quite yet but not having a choice. “I’m okay. Like we said at the beginning, the faster we get things resolved, the sooner we can get our lives back to normal.”

“Normal? As in before you got your way or as in after?”

Crest felt the bubble of laughter erupt before he actually heard it. He smiled, finally feeling somewhat comfortable taking her away from all this before she was ready to face reality. It wasn’t just hard on the submissive to return to daily life, but also the dominant. The controlled environment was taken away, the intimacy was removed, and outside forces of day-to-day life would now become their obstacles. He would admit to the fear that she would then walk away.

“Thank you very much, Gavin,” Jessie whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist.

“For?” Crest almost wished he hadn’t asked, for knowing might actually make this place harder to come back to. This lake house had always been his…his getaway…his solace. Now this belonged to her and he would never be able to set foot in the house without her. Would he have to sell it? He decided to take the responsibility of answering off her shoulders. “We’ll find your parents’ handler and set things in motion.”

“For opening yourself up to me,” Jessie replied, regardless that he’d tried to help her out. She pulled away slightly to look up at him, her green eyes wide with wonder. The only good thing about that was the fact that she no longer looked like a wounded butterfly. “For your honesty and for giving me a look inside of what we can be together.”

Crest noticed that she didn’t say
are
. He refused to ask her to expand on that, but instead he brushed his lips lightly against her. She needed time to either accept who she was with him or to walk away and he needed to give her that. He knew the risks coming here. He sampled the wine that she’d been savoring and had it been in his power to stop time and events he would have done so. Instead, he finally pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, giving both of them time to catch their breath.

“Whatever comes, know that you are radiant in your surrender and that you shine brighter in my darkness than I ever thought possible.”

Crest brushed the back of his fingers against the flush on Jessie’s cheek. Her eyes sparkled with something he refused to name, for he was well aware of what time and distance could do. Crest didn’t give Jessie a chance to answer. He didn’t want her to respond, but just to know. Knowledge was power and the authority now rested in her hands. He moved both of them towards the bedroom and they both dressed in silence. It wasn’t long before they were in his vehicle and heading back to the city. He took a few moments to mentally readjust, grasping the very real possibility of a fatality should any mistakes be made. He placed his first phone call.

“SITREP?”

“Secure.”

Crest calculated the odds of having Ethan or Kevin head over to the Hotel Ivy to keep an eye on the situation in person, but then decided against it. Taryn had called everyone into the office for a reason and there had to be a damn good motive for that…one that he would damn well know shortly. In the meantime, Crest wanted additional back up in place.

“You’ll have reinforcements within a couple of hours,” Crest informed the office and then disconnected the line before calling Townes. “Round up everyone and put them on stand-by—heavily armed, no colors, no prospects. The location will be provided shortly.”

“Copy. Out.”

Crest laid the phone in his lap as he finally maneuvered his car onto the highway. He casually shifted his eyes to the CCTV security camera attached to the highway lamppost. They were back on the grid. It was just a matter of time before Weaver and whoever was on his payroll were tracking his movements and trying to access his current conversations once again.

“Please hand me a burner phone out of the black bag behind my seat,” Crest asked Jessie, not taking his eyes from the road. She’d been quiet and allowed him to conduct business, for which he was grateful. It hadn’t slipped past him that through the years of working together she could read him better than most people. She was an asset in his professional life as well as personal, but that meant nothing if she couldn’t live with the demons inside of him. “Would you please enter this number?”

Crest rattled off the digits by memory and then took the phone from her unsteady fingers. Jessie still had a lot of information to process while dealing with the situation regarding her parents. It was understandable that she felt out of sorts and he’d done what he could to ease her worries thus far. Unfortunately, nothing he said or did would stop her mind from spinning in endless circles.

“What’s your status?” Crest asked when Taryn picked up her phone. He could hear the tapping of her keyboard and knew she was doing what she could to scramble their conversation. It was easier for her to do while he was using a burner phone. “Do I need to get my friend’s assistance on this?”

“There’s unevaluated EI chatter that something’s going to happen, but I’m not sure of who the target is or when it’s going to happen.” Taryn paused and then finally gave Crest something to go on. “Less than five minutes ago there was a highly organized multipronged attempt on POTUS’ life. It hasn’t hit the media and the Secret Service is keeping their intel close to their vests. What has been blaring across the news channels is that Senator Benson Coate was shot and taken to the Naval Hospital at Bethesda. It looks like whoever you pissed off is cleaning house.”

Crest let the information that Taryn had just given him settle into his bones nice and close. This situation was what he was trained for and this was what he was good at. He trusted in the team he’d taken years to assemble, and his mind stabilized as he came up with the possible scenarios and the various outcomes. Schultz was of no use in this situation and most likely unreachable now that there had been an internal attempt to neutralize the National Command Authority. They had just initiated DEFON II. All day-to-day operations were suspended and martial law was in effect until the government was secured and in position to repel further attacks. The question now was how efficient was Weaver’s maid service in an attempt to clean house?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

F
our hours later Crest had everyone and everything set into place. Townes was in position with his men, as well as one elite team of trusted members watching over Jessie back at Crest’s apartment buildings. Crest’s personal apartment was too confined of a target and simply wouldn’t do until the threat was defused. One guy on the roof of an overlooking building with an antitank missile could take out his whole place in the blink of an eye. He’d taken the time to ease any worries she had, but he hadn’t been able to give her any answers regarding who John was or his current whereabouts. Taryn was presently focused on one thing at the moment and that was the safety of her team members’ lives and those of their families.

Crest felt confident that his team and those he’d outsourced could handle their own. Now it was just a matter of time before the gauntlet was thrown down and the shit hit the fan. Before that happened he had to obtain conclusive evidence of the CIA’s involvement from a man who had yet to be as forthcoming as he should have been, considering the sweetheart deal he had received from the administration.

“Is this how you dress on a Saturday night to paint the town?” Ryland asked, coming down the stairs of his penthouse suite. As usual, his dress shirtsleeves were rolled up a couple of times at the cuff and a tumbler with two-inches of golden brown liquid adorned the inside. Crest didn’t have time for the usual barrage of Ryland’s barbed pleasantries. His own black pants and shirt were typical polypro tactical battle dress for covert operations. “I must say, I thought you had better taste than that.”

“Who would Weaver hire to take out POTUS?”

It was apparent that Crest’s question threw Ryland off his stride. He had paused midstride halfway down the stairs. The man then threw his head back and laughed, almost in audacity. Who could blame him? He’d been the best in the business for years and now someone else was trying to make a name and benefit off the vacuum created by Ryland’s absence.

“I’ll bet you the watch I’m wearing that he didn’t succeed.” Ryland shook his head in merriment as he rested his elbow against the banister. “The only other person on Weaver’s payroll is a man who goes by the name of Bourreau. He’s sloppy and lacks the intelligence needed for what a finesse job like that needs.”

Crest had heard the name and though it was rare, he agreed with Ryland’s take on the assassin. The name was French and meant executioner, although the man’s track record wasn’t something to brag about. Weaver had to be desperate if he thought that the assassination of POTUS would be successful using such a blunt tool. Crest thought over what he knew to be concrete intelligence. Weaver’s purpose of targeting these specific people was to position or eliminate political action groups to influence the US Senate select committee on intelligence and US House permanent select committees on intelligence. The main reason POTUS had given Ryland the full pardon with all the bells and whistles was the fact that this needed to be stopped. This specific CIA department wanted funding for their black ops programs with favorable oversight, and the only way to obtain that was by having certain people in the right positions to see this done. Weaver’s life was falling apart and panic was setting in, which meant he had nothing to lose. There was still something missing that Crest couldn’t put his finger on.

“Senator Benson Coate took a shot to the chest. He made it into surgery but died on the table. The two incidents occurred within hours of each other, so it’s highly doubtful this Bourreau was the one hired to do both jobs.” Crest was watching Ryland closely and caught the slight tightening of the man’s jaw. What was Crest missing? It was clear that the news had given Ryland pause though, which meant this was the information that Crest had been searching for. Who had Weaver hired that could best Ryland at his own game? “There are two assassins that are on Weaver’s payroll. Was POTUS’ assassination attempt a distraction?”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Crest.” Ryland walked down the rest of the stairs and over to the side table, setting down his empty glass as if they were done having this discussion. “You’ve had me contained inside this penthouse suite with no communication to the outside world for far too long.”

“I know you didn’t leave here, so I want the other name. I want the other person that Weaver is using to eliminate the people standing in his way.” Crest pulled out his phone to look at the display. Taryn’s message came through loud and clear. Their time had run out and Weaver was making his move. “I gave you my word that I would get you a full pardon in exchange for the information I needed to help Jessie. I’ve kept my end of the deal. Time to pony up the goods, you psychotic douchebag. Only then could I walk away from this knowing my hands are washed of this dirty business.”

“You could,” Ryland acknowledged with a nod of his head. He shook his head with a small smile, already knowing the outcome. “You won’t though. Your friend wants me alive to testify at those Senate hearings.”