“Amazing,” he replied, and the smile on his face was clear as day in his tone. “Keith and Tony spoil her, I swear. Between the two of them, she’s constantly being held.” He laughed, not sounding a bit mad at the fact that his men loved their daughter so much. “She’s the sweetest thing.”
“I’m happy for you,” I said, melting a little along with him. Maybe I didn’t see kids in my future, but I could share in his joy.
“Thanks,” he said with a small laugh. “She’s the world.”
“That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” I told him.
The smile slid off my face when I looked up to lock eyes with Austin. He was studying me with an expression that I couldn’t read.
“Anyway,” Reed said when a moment of silence slipped by.
Austin rolled his bottom lip inside his mouth, teeth biting down on it, and when he released it, it was glistening with spit. The last thing I should have been focusing on was Austin’s lips and how the Cupid’s bow lines were absolutely perfect on him. Sinfully so. And that was not good.
“So we’ll just say theyprobablywon’t find out who Ford’s accomplice is for a while if at all.” Reed paused, but it felt like there was something else he was thinking to add. “What about DNA?”
If my gaze wasn't locked on Austin, I would have missed the small twitch of his eye. His focus was on me, but he was looking straight through me, pretending as if I wasn’t there.
I pressed my lips together and didn’t speak a word, figuring this was what he needed from me the most. I couldn’t say why I cared or why it mattered so much to put him at ease in a situation that clearly had him damn near close to shutting down or lashing out.
At Austin’s silence, Reed said, “I’ll see what Milo can do about it.”
“Remy,” Austin practically snapped. “Have Remy do it, please.”
I sensed his desperation. It might have been how he went soft when he said the last word.
“Yep,” Reed clipped out, and I wondered if he knew the reason for Austin’s behavior.
Remy was another one of the members of the team, good with computers and sometimes went out on missions. If Remy, or even Milo, could wipe DNA records from somewhere, especially somewhere like a prison or federal data bank, then I hadn’t given them enough credit.
“There are so many things we’re uncovering, but nothing that will help us,” Reed said, taking control of the conversation and quickly moving it in another direction.
A pause that slipped by.
“You’re holding back something,” I said, choosing a more tactful way to point out that I was well aware that he was hiding shit from me. “What is it?”
Reed sighed. I could feel it weighing heavily on his shoulders.
“A while back, Milo was kidnapped by one of the top people of The Sons of the Holy Fire,” Reed said, seeming to stumble over his words, which told of how much this affected him.
I nearly gasped. I had no idea. But I didn’t know how that connected to me and this mess I was unknowingly wrapped up in. I was worried and angry. I knew Reed cared deeply about the people he brought into the fold, the ones he chose because he wanted to help them out of the darkness he saw them falling into. I could only imagine how much that must have cut him, to have one of his own out there while he had no clue if they were still alive or not.
“It gets worse,” he said, causing the boulder in my stomach to grow. The look on Austin’s face was all too telling. It said I wasn’t going to like what was coming. “The person who had him kidnapped was one of yours.”
My mind went crazy for a minute as each member of my division flashed through my head, as if seeing their face would tell me who betrayed me. I refused to believe it. No, he must have meant something else.
“Someone high up in the FBI,” Austin said as if he could read my thoughts. “Likely someone who has access to a lot of files.”
“You’re telling me that one of the leaders for the largest sex trafficking and child pornography rings in the United States works for the FBI?” Each word came out controlled and bitter.
“Yes,” Reed said while Austin sent one firm nod in my direction.
There was no doubt that he was telling me the truth. It didn’t even occur to me to tell Reed he was wrong.
“Who?” I asked, anger rising inside of me. My body shot off the couch and I stomped a few paces away. I ripped off myglasses and rubbed my eyes so hard it felt like I was trying to poke them out. I felt like a caged animal. I was pissed, but I had to control it.
I was livid that someone had been abusing their power. Mad that while I was working to take these people down, they were probably three steps ahead of me. Angry that Reed knew this months ago and hadn’t told me.
“We don’t know,” Reed said flatly. “Milo knows what he looks like but we haven’t been able to find him. It’s part of the reason I’ve been… distant. We made the decision to close up after we found that out. We weren’t sure who we could trust and…”
