Locked and Loaded (24 page)

“Are they following us?” Kieran might be calm, but Charlie couldn't curb the frantic worry in her own words. “Where are they?”

The rush of wind through the windows accompanied the occasional honk of a horn as Kieran continued to speed down the narrow streets. He didn't let up on the gas, didn't stop at a single light. It was a wonder they hadn't drawn police attention or been smashed into oblivion, which was a true testament to his driving skills.

Twilight gave way to full dark and Charlie remained crouched beneath the dash. She couldn't bring herself to look up. To take a deep breath. To relax a single muscle. Hell, she didn't think she'd ever be able to relax again after tonight. They'd almost been killed. And whereas she wanted to blame Kieran's rash behavior for the shootout, she had a distinct feeling that if he hadn't acted, the outcome would have been the same.

Jesus
.

The air drained from Charlie's lungs and she fought for a breath. Mason leaned over the seat toward her, the lines of concern etched into his face, accentuated by the encroaching darkness and the light from the dash.

He reached down and grabbed her by the hand, hauling her over the center console and into the backseat. “Hey!” Kieran complained as she kicked his arm. “Careful. I didn't avoid getting shot tonight to get my arm broken.” Charlie couldn't muster a response. She still couldn't believe he was so cool and collected. It would take her a month to calm down from this!

Mason gathered Charlie in his arms and held her close. Emotion rose in her chest, threatening once again to choke her as she fought for a few decent breaths.

“Shhhh.” His warm breath in her ear was a welcome comfort. “It's okay, Charlie. You're okay. Just breathe. I've got you.”

She relaxed against him. When Mason held her, she felt as though nothing could touch her. “I-is anyone hurt?” Her teeth chattered on the words and she willed herself to sound strong.

“I'm fine,” Mason assured her. “Kieran?”

“Please.” He let out an arrogant snort. “As if any of those children had the skill to hit any of us.”

Cocky even in the face of death. But Charlie couldn't deny that she was glad they were all relatively unscathed.

“What about you?” Mason's fingers lightly caressed her temple and Charlie sucked in a sharp breath. “You've got a nasty bump. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

She looked up to find his jaw clenched, lips thinned. His brilliant green eyes blazed with an angry fire, as though he was ready to turn around and beat those gangbangers to a bloody pulp.

“I hit my head on the dash,” she said. “I'm okay though.”

Kieran looked over his shoulder. “You sure?”

“I'm sure.”

A quiet moment passed. Kieran turned down Lombard toward Charlie's hotel. “Well, this rental is seriously fucked,” he remarked as though they were talking about a recent fender bender. “That's going to cut a chunk out of our profits.”

Mason chose not to respond and Charlie followed his lead.

“Any idea who they were?” Mason broke the silence.

“None,” Kieran said. “You?”

“No.” Charlie looked up at Mason's dark tone. Something had him riled, but she didn't know what. “But you can bet your ass I'm going to find out.”

“Good.” Kieran looked up into the rearview mirror. “Those little shits are going to regret trying to rob us.”

The rest of the drive passed quietly. When Kieran pulled up in the hotel's breezeway, she put her mouth close to Mason's ear. She hated that she couldn't stop trembling. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

His eyes met hers. “Yeah. Of course.”

Charlie let out a relieved breath. She was still way too shaken up to be alone. Something didn't add up. The attempted robbery had been too well timed. Mason knew it. She saw the suspicion in his eyes. She couldn't shake the thought that someone wanted them dead.

“Want me to wait for you?” Kieran asked Mason as he got out of the car and let Charlie out as well.

“Nah. I'm good. I'll call you in the morning, though.”

Kieran looked from Charlie to Mason and back again. His mouth turned down like a kid who'd just had his cookie taken away. He let out a resigned sigh. “All right. I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon, Charlie, for our meeting.”

Oh crap
. She'd forgotten all about it. The thought of going anywhere with Kieran and
without
Mason sent a renewed rush of anxiety into her bloodstream. One last meeting, she promised herself, and then she'd fade into the background and let Mason take over. “I'll be ready,” she said. “Good night, Kieran.”

“Take it easy.” He put the car into gear. “Later, Mason.”

They stood in the breezeway and watched the battered Mercedes drive off.

“Thanks for staying.” Charlie's voice sounded small in her ears.

“I'm not going anywhere.” Mason held her tight.

Thank God. Charlie didn't think she could handle being alone tonight. It scared her that over the course of a month she'd become so dependent on the comfort of Mason's presence. And she didn't see that changing anytime soon.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Where are we going?”

Kieran slid into the driver's seat and buckled his seat belt. “You'll see.”

Charlie didn't like not knowing where they were headed. Especially after yesterday's near miss. She was still pretty shaken up and without Mason beside her, she felt entirely too exposed.

Both Mason and Carrera had insisted that she wear a wire, but Charlie hadn't been comfortable with it. Not when Kieran was still a little twitchy as well. Instead, Carrera had made her agree to a tail. Carrera put two of his best men on it, and they'd guaranteed her that Kieran wouldn't be the wiser. Mason hadn't been quite so lax, though. He didn't trust a couple of marshals following in their car to keep an eye on her. Not with the way Kieran had gone grand-theft-auto through the streets of San Francisco last night. He'd activated the find-friends app on Charlie's phone. That way he could personally keep an eye on her. She had to admit, knowing he could monitor where she was made her feel a hell of a lot more comfortable.

Tonight wasn't the night to be wound up and nervous. Kieran needed to see her at ease. Relaxed. Business as usual.

“Just an FYI, I'm not a huge fan of surprises.”

Kieran's eyes lit with an impish spark. “Really? I am.”

“Okay, then why don't you tell me where we're going, and later I'll jump out from around a corner and scare you. It'll be a win-win.”

He chuckled. “Are you worried?”

Charlie leveled her gaze. “Should I be?”

“No. I won't let anything happen to you.”

Somehow, Charlie didn't find Kieran's words all that reassuring. She had a sneaking suspicion that once again he'd intentionally separated her from Mason. Best-case scenario, his reasons were purely selfish, which Charlie could easily deal with. Worst? He was on to them. In which case, she sure as hell hoped those marshals tailing them were good at their job.

The sun hadn't quite set yet, and reflected off the water in the bay like a pirate's lost treasure beneath them. Kieran turned the radio up and Charlie wished he'd turn the damn thing off. Rather than pass the time in silence, she decided to use it to her advantage. She could do a little reconnaissance of her own.

“Did you know Mason was looking for you before he contacted Jensen?”

Kieran's lips quirked in a half smile. “What makes you think that?”

“Mason said the reason you've eluded an arrest for so long is because you're one step ahead of the feds all the time. And that you know what they're going to do before they do it, which is why no one can ever pin anything on you.”

“I had no idea he spoke so highly of me,” he said with a laugh.

“Is it true?”

Kieran's expression grew serious. He kept his eyes on the road, but Charlie noticed the squaring of his jaw. “I have friends here and there who throw information my way every once in a while.”

“I could use a few more friends like that.” Boy, wasn't that the truth? Charlie needed intel on Faction Five. It would be nice if some concerned acquaintances threw her a bone here or there. “I figured you've eluded capture for so long by simply staying out of the country.”

Kieran shrugged. “I had a reason to come back.”

“Does that reason have anything to do with our errand tonight?”

“More or less.”

Gah!
She was so tired of his cryptic responses. Spit it out already! “It's lucky for me you decided to come back. Me and Mason.”

“You really trust him?”

“I do.” Kieran might have lingering doubts about Mason, but Charlie was going to quash them. “He was about to quit CBP, you know.” He'd already quit by the time the task force snapped him up, but Kieran didn't need to know that.

Kieran's gaze slid to the side. “Why's that?”

“They wouldn't promote him. Used him for undercover work and to give them insight on smuggling rings and whatnot. But they made it pretty clear that because of his familial ties, he wouldn't ever see advancement.”

Kieran snorted. “I warned him. Before he made the stupid decision to enter the police academy, I told him they'd treat him like a pariah. But Mason had to prove himself to the world. I guess he thought he'd do it by going in the polar opposite direction of his family. Now he's got wasted years under his belt when he could have been making some real money. What did it net him—breaking from the pack—taking the honorable route? Not a damn thing, that's what.”

It was obvious that Mason's departure from the family business was a sore spot. One that hadn't quite healed for Kieran. Charlie hoped that when it was time to arrest Kieran, she could protect Mason somehow from having to take any responsibility for it. Of course he'd said he had no qualms about bringing Kieran down, but Charlie knew that he still considered Kieran family. If she could spare him that emotional fallout, she would.

“I like Jensen,” Charlie remarked offhand. “Of course, he's got a reputation for being likable.”

Kieran's jaw squared once again. Charlie wondered at the sudden change as his lips thinned and his gaze narrowed on the highway. His hands gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He let out a slow and measured breath, as though trying to temper his anger, before his body relaxed by small degrees. “Jensen is a legend.” His response lacked the warmth with which he spoke of Mason. “He took me off the street, gave me a home, a brother. Taught me everything he knows.”

Those were all statements of fact, but Kieran failed to mention anything about having any true affection for the man who'd become a father to him.

“It must have been nice for you and Mason both.” Charlie wanted Kieran nice and relaxed. As far from agitated as possible. “I bet his childhood was pretty lonely until you showed up.”

“Yeah,” Kieran said. “Jensen is all smiles and charm when he needs to be, but don't let that fool you. He's ruthless as a fucking wolf.”

A reminder Charlie needed. She'd become complacent over the past couple of weeks. Charmed by Kieran and Katarina and even Mason. Their larger-than-life personalities easily seduced her. Still . . . there was honest affection between Kieran and Mason. True brotherhood.

“You looked out for him. Didn't you?”

Kieran shifted in his seat. “We looked out for each other.”

Jensen Decker, the quintessential gentleman thief, obviously had a darker side to his personality that few knew anything about. “You're still looking out for each other,” Charlie pointed out.

“After a bit of a hiatus.” Kieran's tone soured. “But that's all in the past now. Right?”

A chill danced the length of Charlie's spine. “I hope so. Especially if you can hook us up with whatever cash cow you've got the inside track on.”

“You really don't like being in the dark, do you?”

At least there were some parts of Charlie's personality that she didn't have to fake. “I freaking hate it.”

Kieran snorted. “Control freak.”

“Yep, and proud of it.”

“Mason's problem has always been his undying faith in the system,” Kieran said. “Makes no fucking sense, either. We were taught the system was broken. That so-called honest men were more corrupt than any criminal. For some damned reason, Mason didn't believe Jensen. Maybe if the old man hadn't been such a lousy son of a bitch to him as we got older, Mason would've been more inclined to trust him.”

With every word out of Kieran's mouth, Charlie realized there were a good couple decades of emotional baggage that both he and Mason carried around. When she first met Mason, her impression had been that he carried an unnecessarily large chip around on his shoulder. Now she realized that chip was totally justified. After all, he'd been jerked around by everyone: his dad, his brother, the very system he'd had so much faith in. Was there anyone or anything in this world that hadn't let Mason Decker down at some point?

Even Charlie had let him down. She'd put her own ambition before him. Before anyone. At the end of the day, was she any better than Kieran or Jensen?

“You never believed in the system, did you?”

Kieran snorted. “No. Jensen was right about one thing. The system's corrupt. I've met more ruthless criminals on the right side of the law than I ever have on the wrong side of it.”

Charlie bristled. She'd always been so confident in her path. So righteous in her need to prosecute those who broke the law. So sure that her side was the right side. The
only
side. Over the course of the past month, she'd come to realize life wasn't simply black and white. There was so much more to right and wrong than the decision to be one or the other.

By the time all of this was said and done, Charlie prayed she could continue to see the difference between the two and make the right choices.

* * *

Mason's leg bounced as he sat in the visitors' room at San Quentin. Kieran's third shipment of diamonds was safely stashed in the safe-deposit box, and now it was time to shake the bushes. A niggling thought scratched at the back of his mind, something he hadn't been able to let go of since they'd gotten back from L.A. He'd learned in the course of his life that when something came easily it was usually because someone wanted it that way.

Mason had been given far too many liberties since being brought onto the task force. Charlie too. He'd been undercover enough with CBP to know how it worked. There was no way the U.S. Marshals Service would be so lax in the way they handled undercover operations. Even with Mason's smart mouth and unwillingness to follow orders, he'd had to play it by the book. All it had taken with Carrera was a few grumbled protests and they'd let the reins loose.

None of it made sense.

Including the ease with which they'd transferred his dad to San Quentin.

Jensen strode into the room with the confidence of a king. Unease slithered up Mason's spine and tightened the muscles across his shoulders. His gaze landed on Mason. Mild shock accentuated the lines of his face for the barest moment, but Jensen quickly recovered and replaced the expression with passive disinterest. He took a seat across from Mason, completely at ease despite the cuffs that bound his wrists and ankles. That look of confidence rattled Mason because it only helped to confirm his suspicions.

“You seem surprised to see me.”

“Two visits in one month.” Jensen shrugged. “This must be a special occasion.”

“I want you to tell me everything you know about Faction Five.”

Mason wasn't here for small talk. He wanted answers and he wasn't going to stand being kept in the dark for another goddamned second.

Jensen responded with a cocky grin. “What's that?”

Mason's jaw clenched. He'd beat the information out of his dad if he had to. Charlie was headed God knows where to meet God knows who with Kieran. The only thing Mason knew for sure was that she was in trouble. He needed to find out just how much trouble.

“Don't play your fucking games with me.” His jaw clenched and unclenched with agitation. “I'm not some newb you can snow with your smiles and personality. Don't forget,
Dad
, I know exactly who you are and what you're capable of. Your bullshit doesn't work with me. So I'm going to ask you one more time before I beat the ever-loving fuck out of you. What do you know about Faction Five?”

Jensen's smile melted from his face. His bright gaze darkened and a sneer curled his lip. Finally, Mason got a glimpse of the man he knew as his father. The ruthless, selfish bastard who had only ever looked out for himself.

“Enough to know you're in way over your head, boy.”

Mason fixed his dad with a stern stare. “What did they offer you? What do you get now that Kieran's working to raise the money to buy your way in?”

A corner of Jensen's mouth hitched. He settled back in his chair and regarded Mason for a quiet moment as though trying to decide how much to reveal. “Freedom.” He drummed his fingers absently on the table. “And after that”—his smile grew—“whatever the hell I want.”

Complete autonomy. Faction Five offered its elite membership carte blanche. The opportunity to conduct business with the freedom of knowing there would never be any chance of arrest or prosecution. What was a multimillion-dollar buy-in compared to the hundreds of millions he stood to make, given the opportunity to operate without law enforcement breathing down his neck? And the worst part? Jensen hadn't had to lift a fucking finger to do it. He'd let Kieran and him—his own goddamned sons—do all of the heavy lifting for him.

“You son of a bitch,” Mason spat. “You knew all along what I was doing, didn't you?”

“Let's face it,” Jensen said. “You were never very good at the long con, son.”

Son
. The word made Mason's teeth itch. “And Charlie?”

Jensen chuckled. “You mean, Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlotte Cahill?”

Mason's heart pounded against his rib cage. His lungs compressed, squeezing every last bit of air from his chest. “You knew all along who she was, didn't you?”

“It was important to keep up appearances,” Jensen remarked. “For Kieran's benefit. After today, though, I won't have to play games anymore.”

Anger pooled in Mason's gut. Kieran had been as much a victim as Mason and Charlie. Jensen had played them all. But he hadn't orchestrated it on his own.

The realization made Mason nauseous as he said, “Carrera set it all up.”

Jensen smirked.

Adrenaline raced through Mason's veins as his worst fears were confirmed. The chief deputy was one of the five. He'd promised to personally keep an eye on Charlie, which meant she was as good as dead.