Aaron didn’t respond to either of us. He simply glared at me before his eyes slowly moved over my shoulder to Gabriel. Had he overheard our entire conversation? What was he thinking? Would he go back and tell Carter what he’d heard? The questions in my mind continued but it was obvious Aaron Townsend wasn’t about to answer any of them.
He simply stepped to the side, giving me room to pass, nodding his head slightly and saying, “Michelle.”
It was his way of dismissing me, and I gladly obliged. I absolutely was in no mood to be in either man’s presence. I was sure whatever Aaron had heard wouldn’t endear him to me any further. The last time he’d caught me in a rather awkward position while I was working an event, he’d tried to have me fired. Now, I didn’t have Carter to stand up to him in my defense. My life was obviously a mess. All due to my poor decisions. I couldn’t wait until this damn banquet ended so I could get the hell out of there and lick my wounds in peace.
****
Carter
I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, checking to see if I had any missed messages from Andy. I’d called him three days prior after Diego’s visit to look up whatever information he could find Gabriel Garcia. I needed to get all of my facts lined up before I confronted either Michelle or this Gabriel.
“Fuck!” I swore at seeing a blank screen yet again. Just as I was pushing my phone back in my pocket, it began buzzing. I looked at the name of the caller and frowned. “Aaron?”
“I need to talk to you.”
That was Aaron. Straight to the point. No time for niceties or pleasantries. But then again, at that moment, neither did I.
“About what?”
“Michelle.”
My grip on the phone tightened.
“What about Michelle?” My voice was dangerously low.
“I was at a banquet dinner for Williams & Brodsky.”
“The law firm?”
“Yeah, Townsend does some business with them. Her company was hired to do the event.”
I nodded, listening, and the more he talked the more my anger grew. Apparently, he’d walked in on a private conversation between Michelle and one of the partners at the law firm.
“What was the name of this guy?”
“Garcia. Gabriel Garcia.”
Recognition of the name filled my memory. Aaron hadn’t overheard everything that’d transpired between Michelle but he’d heard enough to know Garcia was threatening her.
“Thought you’d want to handle it.”
My brother knew me so well. I even heard the menace in his own voice. Aaron might be a prick, but as I’d told Michelle, his loyalty knew no bounds. He was just as ruthless at protecting those in his inner-circle as he was in business.
“I need you to do me a favor.”
I heard him sigh on the other end right before he said, “Tell me.”
I gave Aaron instructions on who I needed him to contact. Since Andy was taking too long to come through, I’d have Aaron use the high-class, private security firm that guarded the Townsend empire. They could get information on just about anyone in the world, overnight. I almost kicked my own ass for not choosing this route first.
“I’ll be by in a little bit,” I told Aaron before ending the phone call.
“Captain, I need to leave early,” I stated at the same time I tapped on the Captain’s door to his office.
His dark head popped up from the paperwork in front of him and he frowned at me. “You’ve got three more hours on your shift, Townsend. Sean’s out for the day so I’m already a man down for this shift. The hell you need to leave early for?”
“It’s personal.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
He shook his head firmly. “No can do–” He stopped, eyes rolling upward just as the bell rang and a call came in on the station’s loudspeakers. “See, we gotta go,” he stated firmly, standing.
