Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1) (9 page)

Shelby was puzzled that they didn’t know that Roger was participating in any kind of human trafficking. She kept constant watch on all his properties and his personnel. Sometimes there were things she just didn’t want to see, but it was part of the package. If you were going to play big brother, you had to be prepared to see more than you wanted to at times.

“Ok, so let’s take a look at the nightclub in New York City that is own by is corporation.  What city was she in prior to New York?” She looked at Max. 

He was deep in thought. She decided not to push him, so she turned and started working.  She pulled up Roger’s holdings, and they were vast across the board.  He had interests in several countries and across all the major markets.

Several hours later, the software still hadn’t come up with a match for either agent. She stood up and started for the door. When Max didn’t follow her, she turned “Max, come on it’s time for a break. We can go down the hall and grab a quick bite.” Closing his laptop he stood uncurling his tall from the chair made her groan with desire. Even if she were mad at him, he could still make her body warm.

They went down the hall to the dining area where a buffet was set out. He just stared at the sight before him then looked at her questioningly.

“Liz is very good to her employees. She has a chef on staff to prepare meals for everyone.” She explained. “It makes it easier for some to be able to eat on site, as opposed to trying to go out and find something or worry about bringing something from home.”

As they made their way through the line, they remained silent. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. He had been quiet and withdrawn ever since their exchange, but she didn’t push him. They sat down at a table and began to eat in silence.

“Shelby, I’m sorry about clamming up back there.” he said silently.

“We all have our limits on what we will or will not talk about. Plus dealing with having to identify one of your own would be a lot for anyone.” he stared at her.

“I’ve been in this business for twenty years, and I’ve had to deal with death on more than one occasion. What I haven’t had to deal with is the death of someone I felt responsible for. Agent Le came to me wanting to be put undercover. I refused at first, but she was tenacious and I finally agreed. Now, because I gave in, she’s dead. That lies solely on me and no one else.”

She could see the sorrow and pain all over his face and by how rigid his body had become. She reached across the table gently squeezing his hand. That small touch sent lightning bolts through them both.

He stood up grabbing her hand and pulled her to the elevators. She was having trouble keeping up with him. His strides were longer than hers. “Max!” She softly cried.

He clearly was on a mission, and she didn't want to stop him. As soon as the elevator door closed he pushed her against the wall and plunged his tongue deep inside her mouth. He wrapped his hand around her ass pulling her up against him. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and she could already feel his desire bulging against his jeans. She pushed her hands through his hair and down his shoulders into his shirt.

He reached down and pushed his hands into the back of her slacks and between her legs and felt how slick her flesh was. He stuck a finger into her folds and pushed deep inside her. His fingers matched his tongue. He wasn't holding back. He wanted to possess her.

They didn’t hear the elevator when it opened, but the sudden light from the hall brought them to.

He let her go briefly as they walked to his door.

She followed him inside and as soon as they were through the door he took hold of her turning her around so that her back was to his chest. He kisses her on the shoulder before he took a bite. Her nipples hardened with that bite. He continued to suck on her shoulder as his hands moved around to the front to unbutton her blouse.

She just stood there while he took what he wanted. He pulled the blouse off flinging it on the floor at their feet. She had worn a purple lace bra today, and her nipples were threatening to make it a peek a boo bra if he didn’t take it off soon.

With one move the clasp came undone, and her breast sprang free. He cupped them in his hands as he kept her tight against his chest. She could feel the hair from his chest tickle her spine. Her entire body was on fire as he moved his hands down to her pants and into her panties.  She was completely soaked.

She unzipped her pants to give him easier access and decided to go ahead and push them to the floor. She wanted this. She wanted his hands on her, and she wanted him inside her now. She tried to step away from him, but he wouldn’t let her go. He kissed his way down her back until he reached the tiny scrap of material that dipped into her folds. As he pulled it down around her legs, he kissed the indention at the top of her ass. She turned to him with surprise and something inside her went off like a rocket when he leaned forward and ran his tongue along the inside of her thigh. She leaned down and tore his shirt; buttons popping everywhere, to get it off of him. She had to have him just as naked as she was.

He took his pants off and there in front of her was what she had been wanting ever since the morning she left Mexico. She cupped him in her hands and felt the weight of his sack. He groaned at her touch. She was empowered with the feeling of him in her hand. He pulled her towards the couch bending her over the edge grabbing a foil package from the end table he spread her legs as she waited to feel him push deep into her. He bent over her grabbing her breast and squeezed them between his hands as he moved behind her thrusting deep into her slick flesh. He twirled her nipples between his fingers pinching slightly as he pulled her up and back against his chest to kiss her neck. He rocked his hips into her pushing his swollen flesh deeper into her depths as she felt herself tighten around him. She had missed this and wanted to feel him explode inside her. She pushed back against him and with a low growl he gripped her hips pulling out and slamming back into her. She fell forward and held onto the couch as she threw her head back and enjoyed the ride. He kept pounding into her until her very core was on fire, and she was tightening around him.

“Max! Damn you!”

“Let it go baby, Let it go!” He bucked up into her and with an explosion they went over the edge together. He rested his upper body against her back. His cock was still buried in her and her muscles still gripping him as their breathing slowly came back to normal. Kissing the small of her back he pulled out of her, turned her around and gently kissed her.

He pulled the condom off, disposed of it and walked over to the fridge, pulled out two bottles of water handing one to her. She followed him into the bedroom. As he put the water down onto the night stand, he picked her up and laid her down, pulled the covers down and joined her in the bed. He lay on the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms, kissed the tip of her nose and could no longer remember why he had been upset.

Chapter Thirteen

Shelby stirred next to him. He was glad that she was in his arms, but he didn’t know what he was going to do with her. She stirred the feelings in him that he buried long ago. He had been surprised when John told him that she was part of The Athena Group. When he called John that morning he was prepared for some sort of military training but not this. When you look at The Athena Group it appeared for all intents and purposes to be a corporate crisis management service. No one knew that secretly they were a group of women dealing in black ops for special assignments with many different agencies.

After their night in Mexico he knew that he’d see her again, but he didn’t realize she would run like she had. The next morning he rushed over to try to talk to her before they left, but he had been too late. When he got back to the states he had called John telling him he was ready to come back and find Kim’s killer. John readily welcomed him back and scheduled the meeting with the group. John didn’t know that they had been intimate or had a history, but he did know that Shelby had been in Mexico. Liz wouldn't tell him where she was or how long she would be gone.

Blue eyes were looking right at her when she opened her eyes. She looked at the clock and realized that the afternoon had turned into evening. Crap, Amanda was probably home and wondering where she was. She sat up pulling the sheet around her she was feeling suddenly self-conscious sitting there in Max’s bed without a stitch of clothing on. She shouldn’t considering their past and what they had just done for the past several hours. He was working her muscles for sure. Max just grinned at her. He was so handsome sitting there looking like the Cheshire cat. Her heart flipped in her chest. Oh dear, not good.

She frowned. “It’s dark outside, and I need to go. Amanda is probably home already.” She got up from the bed taking the sheet with her and as she was getting dressed she saw Max walk to the bathroom. She couldn’t help but stare at him. He had a nice ass and knew how to make her body come to life. What was she going to do? She finished getting dressed and waited for him. He came out of the bathroom with his shorts on and stood in front of her.

“Shelby, I know you have to go, but we need to talk. Have dinner with me tomorrow night.” He looked at her with those gorgeous eyes….Oh no, no this isn’t happening. She can’t talk to him, not right now. “At some point we will have to talk, you know that.”

“Alright Max.” She saw the relief in his face. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have to get home and check on Amanda. If anything registers on the system, you’ll be the first to know.” She turned to leave.

He reached for her and gently kissed her. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight” He let her go.

She walked into her apartment and went to Amanda’s room.  There was a note on her door.

Mom,

Steven and I have gone to the movies. I’ll be home by 11:00.

I Love You,

Manda

Since Amanda was gone she decided to log into her lab downstairs and see what progress had been made on the search. She froze the moment the familiar face popped up on her screen. It was Kim Le. Holy Shit! She pulled up the location of the image and it was located in New York City the night before she disappeared. She picked up the phone and called Liz.

“Liz, we have a problem. Kim Le has shown up at a club in New York.”

“Which one?” Liz asked.

“The Entropic Club. I’ve already looked and Hawk doesn’t own this club, but he does frequent it”

“If his name shows up anywhere can you erase it?”

“Of course.”

“Scrub all of the information and find out who is listed as the owner of the club. I don’t want Hawk associated in any way with this.” Liz demanded. “We have to keep him isolated from this if he is involved in any way.”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I finish. What do you want to tell John and Max?” she asked.

“Nothing for now, I'll handle John and let me know as soon as you’ve finished.”

“It looks like this is one of the smaller businesses that he frequents so this shouldn’t take long. I’ll call you back shortly.”

“Good and Shelby, thank you.”

“You know you don’t have to thank me Liz.” She hung up and left a note for Amanda letting her know she was going to be downstairs in her office working late. She left the note on her door and walked out of her apartment to go downstairs. As she waited for the elevator she looked at Max’s door and wondered what he was doing, but she had no time to dwell on that as the elevator arrived for her to go downstairs and do what she does best.

She pulled up the wall of monitors that were dedicated to Roger Hawk’s acquaintances and saw Kim Le’s picture staring back at her. She was an attractive woman and could understand why they would want her to go undercover in the business. She sat down pulling all the records for The Entropic Club including the tax records, the deed to the property and all bank records. She wasn’t surprised that Hawk’s name wasn’t on any of the records because she knew this club didn’t belong to him, but he did frequent it.

The name on the records belonged to Douglas Oleg. She began searching databases for his name. Interesting, he was a Russian national and wasn’t what she thought of as an associate of Hawk Enterprises. She pulled up Hawk’s bank records and saw no obvious transactions between the two. But she did find withdrawals of cash in increments of $25,000 a month for the past year. What the hell was going on here? What was he doing with the cash?

She continued looking into Douglas Oleg’s background and immigration showed that he arrived in the US four years ago. He wasn't married and his Visa seemed in order, so what was Kim Le doing in his club? For now Roger couldn’t be linked to Douglas Oleg. She picked up the phone and called Liz.

“Shelby?” Liz answered.

“Liz, I couldn’t find a connection between Douglas Oleg and Hawk. Oleg appears on paper at least to be the owner and operator of The Entropic Club. I haven’t found Hawk’s information connected with the club at all. At the most he frequents the club on a regular basis. I pulled his bank records and there’s an anomaly. He’s has been withdrawing $25,000 a month in cash for the past year. Do you have any idea why he’s been doing that?”

“No, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough. Go ahead and tell Max about Douglas Oleg and that you found Agent Le’s photo at the club. We’ll all meet in the morning to discuss what we’ll do to figure out just who Douglas Oleg may be and what, if any connection to Agent Le’s death he may have. What about Agent Young? Any sign of her?”