Special Agent Jana Brice was an ambitious pain in the ass. Her partner, Junior Agent Harold White, was just plain annoying. Fishing for a pissing contest and flashing his Department of Justice badge all over the fucking place. Brick disliked them both on sight.
Fortunately he didn’t have to play nice with them. That was up to the chief who, after the first five minutes, looked like she was going to choke on her own tongue from restraining herself.
“I’m guessing since you two showed up on my doorstep eighteen hours after my little report hit your desk that you’ve already got an investigation going,” Darlene mused.
White slouched in his chair as if he were a bored parent at a band concert. Meanwhile Brice sat ramrod straight, flat brown eyes locked on Darlene’s.
Brick was used to men’s pissing matches. The female element made the contest more subtle and more terrifying.
“We need to speak with Mrs. Vorhees as soon as possible,” Special Agent Brice announced.
Chief Ford eyed Brick for a beat. “That can be arranged. While my sergeant here makes arrangements, you can talk to me about what kind of protection you can offer my witnesses.”
There was a special territorial emphasis on the “my” that had Brick’s lips quirking. He left the office and dialed his father’s phone number.
“Brick!” Once again, William sounded delighted that his son was calling. In the background, he could hear the happy chatter of women. The normalcy of it loosened the knots in his gut. He once again marveled that in the span of less than two months, he’d gone from being a bachelor living alone to sharing his house with so many people they’d blown a fuse with too many hair dryers going at the same time.
“Dad, I’m going to be swinging by the house with a couple of federal agents. They want to talk to Camille and Remi and probably you.”
“Okay,” his father said, waiting.
“I wanted to give you a heads up in case there’s any reason why you wouldn’t want to be questioned by an agent.”
There was a beat of silence.
“Are you worried about your old man?” William asked.
“No. I’m just giving you an opportunity to not be there if there’s going to be some kind of…conflict.”
“Son, I’ve been on the straight and narrow for years now. But I appreciate the concern. I’m more than ready to do my part to bring that son of a bitch to justice.”
“Okay then,” Brick said, not knowing what else to say. “I guess I’ll be by within the hour.”
“We’ll be ready,” William promised.
Forty-five minutes later, Brick stood in his own dining room while Special Agent Stick Up Her Ass and Junior Agent Compensating for a Small Dick faced off against Camille, his father, and Remi. Chief Ford sat at the head of the table.
Magnus and his new buddy Mega had been relegated to the backyard after hissing and barking at the feds.
Remi, an excellent judge of character, was already pissed off at something one of the agents had said.
“I’m sorry. I feel like I missed the part where you expressed concern to my friend here about the abuse she’s suffered for years at the hands of a monster. You kind of just jumped straight into the ‘tell me about the money’ part,” Remi said sweetly.
Brick hid his smile as Darlene coughed subtly into her hand.
“Of course we have great sympathy for Mrs. Vorhees’s…” Brice’s chilly gaze flicked over Camille’s bruised face. “…situation. But our agency isn’t interested in domestic matters.”
“Right, because money is more important than human life,” Remi purred.
Like mother, like daughter.
“Mrs. Vorhees,” White began, “Chief Ford sent us some interesting information regarding your husband and his use of campaign funds. We’re going to need you to elaborate on what you told her.”
Camille nodded, the consummate hostess despite her battered face. “Of course, Agent White,” she said. “Can we offer you two anything to drink while you’re here? Coffee? Tea?”
“A kick in the ass,” Remi muttered under her breath.
“Ms. Ford, is it?” Brice asked, arching an eyebrow. “I presume you two are related.”
“We are,” the chief responded. “Remington is my youngest daughter.”
“How does this situation concern her?” White asked almost flippantly. Brick tensed, ready to take issue with the disrespect, but Special Agent Brice shot her sidekick a cool look that had him shutting up.
“Do you mean besides caring about the violence a man imparted on my friend?”
White was going to get his teeth kicked in if he didn’t watch his mouth. And Brick didn’t mind letting Remi take her shots at him.
“Do you have any other reason for being at this table other than being a hand-holder?” Brice asked.
“Only from the standpoint that I was in the car he ran off the road and plowed through a guardrail, sending us down a cliff in an attempted double homicide. Or the fact that he’s been sending me threats since I came back to the island,” she snapped, coming halfway out of her chair.
Camille laid a hand on Remi’s sleeve.
White jotted down some notes.
“I see,” Special Agent Brice said.
“You bet your ass, you see,” Remi said.
“Remington.” Darlene’s voice was tired.
“This would be the accident on January thirtieth?” Brice asked, shuffling papers in her folder.
“That’s correct,” Camille said. “My husband hacked my phone and discovered that I was planning on leaving him. That Remi was going to help me.”
“The accident that you said occurred because a Ms. Ballard was intoxicated.”
“Remi, my friend and Chief Ford’s daughter, paints under the name Alessandra Ballard. Much like a novelist would use a pen name. Remi was not drunk that night, nor was she driving.”
“But according to the public statement you made—”
Remi stood up fast enough that her chair tumbled over backward. “Now you listen here. I don’t give a shit if you’re special agent of god’s gift to special agents. This man tried to murder us both. He has nothing left to lose. He’s lost his pride, his power, and pretty soon his goddamn seat in the Senate. He skipped out on an arrest this morning. So put your fucking cards on the table, and let’s figure out how to make sure this bastard never sees the outside of a cage again.”
Brick ached to touch her. To tell her how fucking proud he was of his girl. The urge to hold her in one arm while slapping the shit out of the smug junior agent also ranked up there.
He noticed the smile tugging at the corner of his father’s mouth, the straightening of Camille’s shoulders. The pride in Darlene’s cool gaze. Remi inspired that.
Special Agent Brice expelled a breath and sat back in her chair, steepling her fingertips.
“Our investigation into Representative Vorhees is entering its eighteenth month.”
“For fuck’s sake.” Remi slapped the table. “If you people moved faster, Camille wouldn’t have spent three weeks in the hospital, and I could have kept painting without a broken arm.”
Brick moved quickly to stand behind her. He brought his hands to her shoulders and squeezed, sending her a silent message.
“What a cozy community you have here, chief,” White sniped, eyeing Brick and Remi.
“What a douchebag face you have here, junior,” Remi snarled.
“Enough!” Brick’s voice cracked like a whip. “This is my house. These women deserve your respect.”
Special Agent Brice maintained a calculated expression while White looked like he was choking on his tie.
“It started with a complaint filed by a watchdog group with the Office of Congressional Ethics. Until this,” Brice said, tapping a finger on a copy of Chief Ford’s report, “all we had was enough for sanctions. But if Mrs. Vorhees has the evidence she says she has, we are looking at prosecution by the DOJ.”
Darlene shifted in her seat to address Camille directly. “Prosecution at the federal level carries significantly heavier sentences than spousal abuse. You can nail him for both, which I certainly recommend. But this is how we get him out of your life for years, not months.”
Camille took a nearly imperceptible breath. “Let’s begin,” she said.
Two hours later, Brick’s back hurt from standing. Remi had a knee pulled up to her chest and was swinging her other foot like a pendulum under the table. He’d never seen her sit still this long, but she’d yet to budge from Camille’s side.
“So Representative Vorhees used campaign funds to cover expenses for his family’s private jet, for the boat at the lake house, and for personal travel expenses.”
Camille nodded. “Yes. There’s a flash drive in a tampon applicator in the guest bathroom at home. It has the financials I found as well as copies of his emails and travel records.”
Brice shot a look at White, who bounded out of his chair like his ass was on fire. He was already dialing the phone before he ducked out the front door.
Special Agent Brice neatly stacked her papers and returned them to their files. She closed her notebook and turned off her recorder. “Mrs. Vorhees, I thank you for your cooperation. The department appreciates your efforts.”
Brice’s phone rang, and she rose from the table.
“Seriously? In a tampon?” Remi asked Camille when the agent had disappeared. “High five, girl.”
Camille shot her a sly smile. “I learned from the best.”
“That’s where Remi hid her liquor minis when she was a high school senior,” Chief Ford explained to Brick.
Remi gasped. “You knew?”
“Of course I knew. You didn’t ever wonder why they were always so watered down? Or why your cheap-ass whiskey tasted like hot peppers?”
“You diabolical woman.” Remi shook her head in admiration.
“One day you, too, will ruin your own child’s liquor stash,” the chief promised her.
Remi’s gaze landed on Brick and held for a beat. Her cheeks flushed, and she broke eye contact first.
He wondered what the look meant. Was it something she’d consider? A family? With him? Not so long ago, Brick had assumed he’d live out his days as a bachelor. But that was before Remi warmed his bed. There could be a family filling this house. Little devious redheads running up the stairs. A quiet boy on their heels trying to run herd on his sisters.
The images sprang to life so vividly, he could almost hear the ruckus. There was much he had to discuss with Remi.
Special Agent Brice returned to the room, her lips pursed in a grim line. “Senator Vorhees’s plane was met by local law enforcement on the tarmac in Cancun. He was not aboard.”
Brick saw Remi take Camille’s hand under the table. “Then where is he?” she asked.
“We’re following up several leads,” Brice said evasively.
“So you don’t know,” Brick announced, filling in the blanks.
The front door opened, and White stuck his head in. “You got a second?”
Both agents retired to the front porch.
William excused himself to get everyone a round of waters.
Remi wasted no time in running to the window and trying to listen.
“Remington, come away from there,” Chief Ford said on a yawn.
Brick stole a seat at the table and pulled Remi into his lap. He breathed in the scent of her hair, letting the warmth of her soft body thaw the iciness that had lodged in his gut.
“I don’t like them leaving us out of their stupid plans when Camille is the one in danger.”
“You’re in this too, missy,” her mother reminded her.
“At this point, we all are,” Camille spoke up. “William saved me. Remi defied him. Brick provoked him. I left him. He’ll come after us and anyone who gets in his way.”
Her lower lip trembled, and Brick was struck by just how alone she looked.
“I’m sorry for bringing this to your doorstep,” Camille said to Darlene, who was guzzling coffee. “I never meant for anyone else to get hurt.”
Remi squirmed in his arms, but Brick held on tight. She turned to him, and whatever she saw in his eyes was enough to make her wrap her arms around his neck and hang on.
“I’m sorry no one did anything a long time ago. You didn’t deserve any of this,” Darlene said. “No one’s in danger because of you. It’s because of him. So don’t try to take responsibility for his sins. They’re his. Not yours.”
The words hit Brick dead center, just like they had the first time she’d said them. To him. He’d been busting his ass as a rookie cop like he’d had something to prove.
In his head, he’d needed Chief Ford to know he wasn’t like his father. A good-time grifter looking for an easy score. He’d needed to prove that he wasn’t going down the same path.
She’d already known it. Strongly hinting that he was being a dumbass if he thought otherwise. And she’d reminded him that on Mackinac, people were judged by their own character, not by those of the people around them.
Remi’s fingers toyed with his hair at the nape of his neck. The gentle touch, the weight of her body against his reassured him. She was his. She belonged with him. And no one was going to take her away.
The conversation cut off when both agents returned.
“With this new evidence, the U.S. Attorney is confident she can take this case before the court and win,” Special Agent Brice stated.
“We just need the bad guy in custody,” White added.
“That is usually helpful,” Chief Ford drawled.
Brice gave the room a cool look. “The best move forward at this time is to encourage him to come out of hiding.”
Brick didn’t like how her gaze lingered on Remi.
She shifted in his lap. “You need bait.”
“Essentially yes.”
“No.” Brick’s voice rang out, silencing everyone else.
“Can I speak to you outside, Sergeant?” Remi demanded.
“You can’t be okay with this,” Brick said to the chief as Remi headed for the front door.
Chief Ford met his heated gaze. There was a warning in her eyes and something else. Something like fear.
He followed Remi out into the lousy, damp spring air.
“Absolutely fucking not,” he said before she could even open her pretty mouth.
“Hear me out.”
“There’s no way you’re taking their side.”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side over you,” she said, huddling deeper into the coat she’d snatched off the rack inside. It was his.
“You are not to put yourself at risk, Remington. I couldn’t take it.”
He crowded her against the railing, needing the proximity to her.
“What if there was no real danger?”
He felt a nagging sensation. An irritation between his shoulder blades as if they were being watched.
“It makes sense,” she began. “From a big picture level.”
“Dangling you in front of a homicidal monster makes no sense on any level,” he argued, keeping his hands on the railing next to her. He was afraid if he touched her he’d never let her go.
“I’m saying, we need him to show his grotesque face sooner rather than later so he can be dragged off in handcuffs. He knows that Camille and I defied him. He’d find us here sooner or later.”
“What’s your point?”
“He knows about the divorce and protective order. He knew about the arrest attempt. Sooner rather than later, he’ll track Camille here to a tiny island with a small police force. What he doesn’t know is there’s a Department of Justice investigation happening. That’s a whole lot of law enforcement who could grace our shores in time to nab him the second he lands here.”
“You’re talking about laying a trap here on Mackinac.”
“Can you think of a way to find him faster?”
He wanted to.
“Don’t do this, Remi. This doesn’t feel right.”
“I don’t like it either. But this needs to be over for Camille. How long can she hang in there if he’s just vanished? How long can she hold it together, knowing that he could be anywhere? Across the country or around the next corner?”
Brick looked over his shoulder, the nagging feeling still there. But there was no one there.
“Remi, this is asking for trouble. Let the agents handle it. It’s their job.”
“You heard Dumb and Dumber in there. They’ve been sitting on this for a year and a half. Do you know how many times he’s hit her in eighteen months? How many times he’s hurt and humiliated her? There’s no way they weren’t aware of it. They left her there in that situation because they wanted to follow the money.”
“Using you and Camille as bait is doing the same thing. Intentionally putting you in harm’s way.”
“It’s not,” she insisted, slipping her arms around his waist and holding on. “Because we have you. Brick, you aren’t going to let him get close enough to her. To me. You’ll keep me safe just like you always have.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he said, feeling broken inside. She couldn’t possibly know what she was asking him to do. She wanted him to hold up the single most important thing in his universe and dare a mad man to try to take it away.
He couldn’t resist her anymore. He had to hold her. Tucking her into his chest, he rested his head on the red hair that had haunted his dreams for his entire adult life.
“I do. And I know it’s not fair. And I swear I’ll make it up to you.”
“How?”
“I’ll spend the whole rest of my life loving you so big that you’ll never have reason to doubt it for a second.”
“Remington.”
“Brick. I love you and I trust you. And I’ve got a whole lifetime planned out for us. I’m not going to do something stupid and jeopardize it. I promise you. I’m just asking you to do what you’ve always done. Protect me.”
