Four
A certain redhead was pacing anxiously outside Cam’s office when he returned from walking Nic and Mel to the lobby.
“How’s Nic, really?”Aidan asked, voice lowered as they stepped into his office.“Last night...”By the tone of voice and the concern filling his warm brown eyes, Aidan was only slightly less alarmed than him about Nic.“I haven’t seen him locked down like that since before you two got together.He seemed better this morning.”Aidan claimed the guest chair.“But I’m still worried.”
“We talked.He feels guilty more than anything.”
“About his father dying?”
Cam relaxed back in his chair, hands folded over his middle.“No, about being relieved.”
Aidan shrugged.“Many people in his position would.”
“It’ll hit him eventually.He protects, and he’ll think he failed to do so, even if his father didn’t deserve it and even if he couldn’t have stopped this.The only thing that’ll make it better is nailing Vaughn.”
“We’re in motion there.”
“And yet I feel like I’m ten steps behind because he kept me in the dark.”
“You said it yourself, Nic protects.He was trying to protect you.”
Cam raised a hand.“I know that, but I’m only just getting caught up when I need to be on top of things for the Bureau and for him.”Not wanting to paint a target on both their backs, Nic had tried to keep Cam off the investigation and off Vaughn’s radar.Cam hadn’t given him an option once they’d committed to building something together.And yet...“I get the feeling I still don’t know everything.Flying by the seat of my pants with this many variables is not good for me, the rules guy.I need to know where everything is on the board.”
“And everyone,” Aidan added.“Including our mole here.”
Once brought in, Cam had taken point on finding the Bureau employee who’d fed Vaughn the details of their movements, including on operations.The mole had provided times and locations when Nic would be vulnerable to threats—or hits.It was an open debate between them.
“Tell me who’s at the top of your list,” Aidan prompted.
“Lorton and Cole.”
Aidan lurched forward, eyebrows racing north.“Francis Cole?The agent Lauren’s dating?”
Cam shot forward to match.“She’s dating him?”
“Jamie and I saw them out at Bourbon and Branch last week.”
“That’s not good.”And not just because it was against the Bureau’s anti-fraternization recommendation, not that he and Aidan enforced said rec.
“Tell me why you think it’s Lorton or Cole.”
Cam opened his laptop and shifted it so Aidan could view the screen.“This is the list of agents on each op where an attempt was made on Nic.”He highlighted Lorton’s and Cole’s names, then popped open another document.“This is the list of agents in this office who have suspicious banking activities over the past year.”He highlighted Lorton’s and Cole’s names again.
“Suspicious how?”
“They each had errant deposits.Not traceable to Vaughn but not traceable to anyone else either.”
“Because as agents, they’re smart enough to require cash.”
“Likely.”Cam tapped the screen.“But where does a fed get a sudden cash deposit of fifteen thousand dollars?”
“Other than family money or stock...”
“And we’d have records of those given that amount.Nothing.And the Bureau sure as hell didn’t issue fifteen-K bonuses to junior agents.”
“No, we did not.”Aidan shifted back in his seat.“We’ll question them.”
“Not Cole.”
