“If you need rest, we can stop there.” I pointed to the sign on the side of the road indicating there was food and lodging up ahead, even though I had a good idea he’d already seen it.
“I can go a little longer,” he told me.
He reminded me of my younger self. Always pushing. Always saying I can go another hour. Never giving up until my body dropped. I still had that same mentality, but now I didn’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone, so Ididinstead of feeling the need to voice how hard I could go.
“I’d like to at least get out of the state. If anyone saw you, it’s smart to put distance between you and Virginia.”
“Fine,” I said, knowing he was right. But the dark circles under his eyes and the tired lines etched into his face made me feel guilty. “I can drive if you need me to.”
He snorted.
It only caused my blood to heat.
Why did he dislike me? I hardly even knew him, and I couldn’t imagine that he knew me any better.
He’d said that he believed what Reed said when it came to me, and Reed was on my side, or so I thought. But then, why was he treating me like I was scum and guilty of all the things they said I was guilty of?
“The team had been an idea of mine a long time ago,” I said, mostly talking to the window. When he didn’t respond, I went on. “I was young, proud of my grunt position in the FBI. I had all these grand dreams of how to make things better and areas that I saw needed more focus. I got up the courage one day and asked for a sit-down meeting with my superiors. I told them about this idea I had for a division that focused on the connected circles of child pornography rings.”
It took years before I’d collected enough favors and done some outstanding things before I got that team. I’d had to do shit I didn’t want to, like taking the Deputy Director position when I wasn’t really qualified for it. Even when I knew it was all for show to distract from the reason the position was open to begin with. Sometimes cutting out the corruption meant you had to cover it up so no one lost faith in the system.
Part of me agreed with it. Part of me just wished honesty would be the only policy. I hated lies, hated liars, but I lived in a world where you got crushed if you didn’t play some sort of game.
“Who did this?” I dumbly asked out loud. I didn’t have the answer, and I didn’t imagine Austin did either.
“You have no idea?” There was something in his tone that had my gaze zeroing in on his face, eyes searching for what he was hiding.
“No,” I said in nearly a growl. “If I did, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be clearing my name. Do… you… know who’s behind this?” The words came out with hesitation because I was almost sure that he did.
What the hell?!
Did Reed know? Had Reed been hiding things from me? Was it his fault this was happening to me? What had he found out and who had he pissed off?
“I wish I could tell you,” he said with a shrug, as if the answer to turning my world right again didn’t sit in his very head. He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. Something he saw must have made him soften toward me because his face lost that cocky hardness and he let out a long breath. “Nothing we can confirm. But believe me, the team is working on it.”
I wanted to press for more, but I held back. Now wasn’t the time. I needed to build up some trust between us first, maybe even get him to see me as friendly.
The thought was nearly laughable.
I didn’t take Austin for the type to trust easily, and for whatever reason, I was going to have to work twice as hard to prove myself to him.
“Fine,” I said, giving in and backing off. Time to redirect this conversation and get back on better footing, if that was even something he’d let happen. It was clear he’d already made up his mind about me, and I had a feeling there wasn’t much I could do to change it. “How did Reed find you?”
I had files on each member of Reed’s team, but that didn’t always tell me the whole story. I had a good idea why Reed had taken Austin in. I wanted to know more, though. I wanted to hear the more human side of how he’d come to be the Illusive Austin that I had the pleasure of hardly ever seeing.
“Off limits,” he said, his tone holding a wicked edge that threatened to send a shiver down my spine.
Steeling myself, I stared at his profile, noticing the way his nose flared and his jaw ticked at my attention.
We sat there in silence. I couldn’t stop scowling at him, pissed that he wasn’t even giving me a chance, while he pretended he didn’t notice.
5
Austin
Something tickled the back of my neck.
Since leaving Atlanta, I’d been through five states and driven eleven hours without stopping for more than ten minutes at a time. Coming off of a job only to dive right into this crisis meant I’d been up going on forty-eight hours now. Maybe longer. My brain was pretty much fried at this point.
