Chapter 28: A N?W PLAYER
The fed takes meto a small café overlooking Lake Michigan on the north side, far enough from Ashbourne Heights and Saints Hollow where no one we know will “happen” to drop by. The place is empty, but the heater is thankfully on. With its dated furnishings—peeling floral wallpaper, faded leather seats—it feels like a ghost town.
“Well, I didn’t expect this, Special Agent Clarke. This is unusual,” I comment as he hands me a cup of tea. “Do you treat all your interviewees this way? Take them out for tea in the middle of nowhere? I was expecting four white walls, fluorescent lights, and really bad coffee.”
He laughs, removes his gloves, and settles into the seat in front of me. “Tristan. Call me Tristan.”
His lips curve into a small smile, which normally should make me feel better, but there’s a hardness in him that gets my hackles up.
“I figured you’re used to more refined tastes, being an Anderson and all.” He stirs his drink but doesn’t take a sip.
“So was it you following me in New York City?”
“No. But you know my younger brother.” He stops stirring.
My mind whirs, going through my directory of names, when shock registers. The last nameClarke. “Emerson? My PI is your brother?”
“Small world. Almost meant to be, don’t you think?” Another smirk. This is someone who rations his emotions.Much like another man you know.I push the thought away. “And I had colleagues keep tabs on your family. The Bureau does that for high-profile people who have frequent brushes with the law.”
“That’s not fair! We were victims. It was—” I stop myself, not knowing how much I should share about The Association.
He stills, his brown eyes steady on mine. “Go on. You want to say it. The Association, right?”
“If you already have all the answers, then why am I here?”
“Well, to be frank with you, Miss Anderson—” He pauses, then cocks his brow. “Or should I call youMrs.Kent?”
“Lana will be fine.”
“Lana, then.” He leans back. “You’re an intelligent woman, so I won’t beat around the bush. I’ve had my eye on The Association’s activities for a while, but things are delicate given their connections. Unless we have definitive proof, my hands are tied.”
His jaw tics. Then, he flashes an icy smile again.Fake.I do it when I face the press.
“You aren’t telling me everything.” I lean forward, hands clasped on the table. “You see, Tristan. I spent years in PR, hearing bullshit and spinning bullshit. You’re hiding something. And this? As much as I like to think I get special treatment, I don’t think that’s it. This is all off the books, isn’t it?”
Silence falls as Tristan holds my gaze, the earlier softness vanishing into the ether.
Yes. This is personal. A vendetta.
“Smart woman. Whywouldyou marry Elias Kent?” he muses.
Heat creeps up my neck. I hate how my emotions are haywire when it comes to my husband.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I admit. “I don’t know anything about The Association. I was hoping you’d tell me something I could use.”
“To do what? You’re married to the dealer of secrets himself. The man’s as slippery as a snake, and we haven’t been able to find anything on him. All we know is whenever he’s involved, things get questionable and evidence disappears. What were you going to do with this,” he air quotes with his fingers, “‘information’ you think I’ll provide you?”
Blackmail the bastard back. Figure out what The Association wants with me when I turn thirty-five and escape.
Alive.
Tristan’s eyes sharpen at what he sees on my face. “You know something, Lana. Tell me. I can get you out of this.”
I bite my cheek, thinking about the man who threatened to blow my brains out at the vault, who comforted me amid the bloodshed, like he knew I was terrified.
Even to this day, I can’t reconcile that cold-blooded man with the arrogant mobster who helped my siblings repeatedly and showed up with Christmas gifts for the little ones.
The bastard even got Levi a toy train with real steam coming out. The little guy looked at him like he were a hero. And I hate to admit—Elias is a pro with guns. How could he missallof Maxwell’s vital organs with both shots?
