Edge (Parker Reed #2) (27 page)

“Parker had no choice and I thought my dad was dead.”

“And he never tried to contact you,” he said in a sing-song voice.

“That’s because
you
had him, you bastard!” I yelled.

“Watch the attitude, princess.” He tugged my head back further. “And watch the show.”

I went to ask what he meant when two larger men moved in front of Parker and my dad.

“Now,” Devin ordered.

The men simultaneously lifted their right hands, clenched them into fists and landed them against Parker’s and my father’s faces in a hard blow.

“Again.”

They repeated their movements every time Devin gave the command.

“Stop! Please. Stop.” I fought against my binds, the ropes digging into my skin. “Please. Stop,” I screamed.

The men gave two more hits before Devin gave the order. “Enough.” He leaned down to my ear. “Now, Keely. You see the computer before you?”

Tears blurred my vision but I nodded.

“Good girl. I want you to hack into the FBI headquarters and erase every file on me.”

My eyes widened. “What! I can’t do that.”

“Again!” he shouted.

“No!” I watched as the Parker and my dad got punched over and over. In their faces, their stomachs. Bile rose to my throat, threatening to spew everywhere. “Please,” I begged, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Are you ready to comply?” Devin asked, gripping my throat.

“I…I don’t know what you want from us,” I cried, struggling against my restraints.

“I told you. Erase everything. Make it so I don’t exist. I know you can do it. I’ve seen you at work. Or did you forget everything? Are you a bit rusty?”

The men continued to beat Parker and my father, over and over again.

“Fine. Stop! Please, God, stop. I’ll do it. Whatever you want,” I sobbed. “Just stop.”

“Good girl. Enough!” he shouted. “You made the right choice, Keely.” He unbound my wrists and pulled the laptop closer to me. “Now, do your magic.”

Wiping the tears from under my eyes, I took a couple deep breaths.

“Oh and Keely? After that, I want you to place five million dollars into this account.” He placed a piece of paper with a long set of numbers written on it beside the computer.

“How do you expect me to do that?” He was delusional. There was no way that I could get him that kind of money when I had no idea how much time I had.

“Use your imagination. Hack into every bank in this fucking world if you have to, but I expect that money to be placed into that account in…” He looked at his watch. “You have twenty minutes.”

“Devin, you can’t be serious. You expect me to send that kind of money to some offshore account in the middle of God knows where?”

He pushed me forward, placing my hands on the keyboard. “If I have to bind you to this table until you agree, I will. I will watch you tremble. I will listen to you scream until you give me what I want. Do you want Parker and your father to die? Is that what you really want, Keely?”

And there he was. The real Devin that I knew. He had always battled with the darkness inside of himself but unlike normal people, he let the darkness win out. “I just want my family. I want…” I let out a sob. “I want this over.”

“Then do as you’re fucking told,” he snarled in my ear.

I bristled and inhaled a deep shaky breath. “Fine. Just please…please leave them alone.”

“Hurry up, princess. Time is money.” He laughed at his joke and walked up to the one-way window. “All of this, just because of you. If you would have stayed with me, none of this would have happened in the first place.”

Brushing my fingers over the keyboard, I gave in. I let the image of Parker and my dad, bound and gagged, guide me to do what Devin wanted. To give him what he thought he needed. He needed help. But who was I to make that call?

“You can’t use me leaving as an excuse for everything that you’ve done,” I told him, clicking key after key.

He poured a dark liquid into a glass tumbler, eyeing me over the rim of the cup. “Tell me the real reason that you left.”

My fingers paused on the keyboard and I glanced down at the rope binding me to the chair. “Really? You’re asking me why I left? Look at me. Look at what you’ve done to get your own way. You don’t care about anyone but yourself. You’re a cold, sadistic bastard who rips through anyone and anything to get your own way.”

He grinned. “You know me so well. Now, get to work.”

I cursed under my breath and went back to the task at hand. Hacking. A cursed skill. And how the hell was I supposed to transfer all of that money?

“Fight.”

Remembering the one word that Parker had mouthed over and over to me made a small smile spread on my face. Alright. I got this. Screen after screen came up. Employee records. Evidence files. Staff. Convicted felons.
Bingo
.

Glancing at Devin, I made sure he was occupied before I quickly did what I had set out to do. When he forced me into this seat, I had no idea what he had wanted. But knowing I would be able to do it quickly, I was kind of surprised that Devin did give me a more difficult challenge.

Clicking the keys, I bit back a smirk as I transferred Devin’s records to my own personal laptop. Like I had said before. No one ever truly disappears.

Once that was done, I had worked the system into thinking that Devin was never a convict. He was now a good boy. And a loyal citizen of the United States of America. Unless you hacked into
my
computer, of course.

“You are now non-existent,” I lied.

Devin raised an eyebrow and walked up to me. He glanced at the screen before turning to me. “How many copies did you make before you deleted the files?”

“I didn’t make any copies,” I said, keeping a straight face.

“Transfer the money,” he barked and walked back to the one-way window.

Hacking into bank after bank, I transferred smaller funds into the account number Devin had given me. But not before I sent the account number to Colin.

I was under no instruction by him or Jones or even Parker for that matter. I had lost all contact with them once I stepped foot into the hotel lobby. Parker clearly had been detained by Devin’s men and now here we were. The plan was changing and I had to think fast. I just prayed that my gut intuition won out.

A light knock sounded on the door, startling me out of my thoughts.

“Come in,” Devin snapped.

The door opened, revealing a young woman dressed in housekeeping attire. She placed a tray of silver dishes with lids on top of the table. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun, no hair out of place. Her gaze met mine. She gave me a small smile.

Liz
.

Liz Varon, Parker’s receptionist I had met so many months before, winked at me. Someone followed in behind her and that was when I saw Aidan Match. What the hell was going on? He didn’t acknowledge me as he stood by the door, crossing his arms under his chest.

The last time I saw the both of them was at Parker’s funeral. Did they know that he was alive? Confusion coursed through me but I kept my composure.

Liz left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her but Aidan stayed put against the wall. That’s when I noticed the gun sticking out of the holster in his hip. Maybe he was working with Devin. After all this time. Wouldn’t surprise me anymore. I had no idea what was going on.

“Keely, where’s my money?” Devin asked, waving his phone. “I don’t see it in the account yet.”

“That’s a lot of money, Devin. It’ll take a couple minutes.”

“Have you lost your touch, princess?” He tapped his knuckles against the glass pane of the one-way window. “Maybe I should remind you what’s at stake.”

Before I could get the words out, one of the men in the room with Parker and my dad pulled out a knife.  Suddenly, the lights in the room turned off.

“What the hell?” Devin slapped the intercom. “What’s going on?”

The lights flashed back on. “Sorry, boss. Storming like shit outside,” a deep voice said from inside the room.

A large man dressed in black moved behind the other guard.

I opened my mouth to scream when he slit his throat. That’s when I saw him. The warmest eyes that I had ever gazed upon. So green.

Parker
.

ARKER BROUGHT his finger up to his lips, indicating for me to be quiet. He nodded once.

My mouth snapped closed, knowing that this would finally be over soon. The lights in the room that I was in shut off with a loud pop. I gasped.

“What the fuck?” Devin yelled. “Get the security lights on. Why aren’t they on?!”

My fingers flew across the keyboard, keeping the security lights off until further notice. A couple more buttons and the locks to the room sounded, springing free.

“Shit! Keely, get me my damn money,” Devin demanded.

Gunshots rang out from the hallway mixing with yells and screams. I jumped.

“Turn on the lights, angel,” a deep voice, sounded in my ear.

A breath left me on a whoosh but I did as I was told.

When the lights turned back on, I winced at the mess before me. Two of Devin’s security detail were lying on the ground, blood pooling beneath them.

“Breathe, Keely.” Parker came into my field of vision. “Let’s get you free, okay?”

“Where’s Devin?” I asked, looking around him. My eyes widened when I saw Aidan pointing a gun at a kneeling Devin.

Aidan looked my way. His jaw clenched, his eyes darkening with sympathy. “He’s all yours, darling.”

Parker untied my ankles and waist and helped me to my feet. “I know you have questions but right now, we need to get Devin secured,” he told me softly.

I nodded and cupped his battered face.

He pulled my hand free from him and kissed my palm. “I’m fine, angel. I promise you.”

“I’ll kill him,” I whispered. I felt all eyes on me as I walked up to Devin.

Dark purple and green bruises had formed on his face. “Well, this is fitting,” he said, his split lip glistening with blood.

“Is it? Is it really, Devin?” I asked, kneeling in front of him. “Did you imagine it playing out this way? Oh wait. I bet you didn’t. Know why? Cause all you think about is yourself.” I patted him on the shoulder, brushing off a piece of debris. “I loved you. A long time ago. When I was a stupid little girl and didn’t know any better.”

“You still fucking love me. I can see it in your eyes.” His gaze searched my face. “I bet Parker hates that. Knowing that I was your first.” He glanced over my head. “Don’t you, Parker? How does it feel knowing I ripped—”

Faster than I thought was possible, my fist landed against his jaw. A sharp pain shot up my hand, sending heat over my body. I embraced it, pulling the edge of the sting from within. “Don’t you dare talk to him.” I grabbed his jaw, digging my fingers into his cheeks like he had done to me so many times before. “You have not earned that right.”

“So what are you going to do, Keely?” he spat. “Kill me? You don’t have it in you.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. You will never know.” Aidan handed me a phone and I continued. “You see. I could kill you. All of these people here would love it if I did. But I’m not like them. They are trained to kill. Me? I’m trained to create.” I showed him the screen of the phone. “You see this?” I pointed a red button on the small screen. “If you don’t tell me everything that there is to know about your businesses, your underground dealings, and every shady thing you have control of, I will make sure that your life is a living hell.”

Devin chuckled. “You’re only acting all tough because you’re not alone. Before when it was just you and I, you were trembling under my touch.”

I looked up at Aidan and Colin. “Hold him.”

They grabbed Devin’s arms, fighting against him when he struggled in their grip.

“What the hell is this? Do you know who I am?” he demanded.

“Oh I know who you are. You see, while you were standing by the window, I was using your computer. The files on you? I sent to my own personal computer. And the account number you gave me? I sent to the CIA.”

“You fucking bitch!”

Rising to my feet, I stared down at him and pressed a finger against my ear. “We have him, Agent Cross.”