AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She peered up at me with a slight grin. "I appreciate that, but you trust them, right?"
"With my life many times over." It was true. She'd never know the extent that my team had gone to for me and me for them.
"Okay, then I trust them too." She put on a brave smile and set her shoulders back.
I moved aside and cleared her view of the crowd sitting in the small living room.
"This is Vander, Celeste, Steele, Brandy, and Fiona, who you met. Everyone, this is Wren Song."
It was subtle, but her muscles tensed up and she smiled stiffly. I could see how this group might've been intimidating. The women wore stylish clothes, and the guys were covered in beards and tattoos. Plus their faces were grave, obviously concerned after they'd heard about the explosion last night.
I took her hand and guided her to sit on a couch next to me as they all muttered hello to her and then grew quiet. She pulled out of my grip and tucked her hands in her lap.
"Y'all didn't have to come up. I could've briefed you via telecon."
Vander leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and leveled his gaze on me. "Let's say I called you on Tuesday and asked you to look into my brother's crypto dealings. Then let's say that Friday afternoon, I call you to tell you my brother's missing, and I got a mysterious tail on me."
I did call him after the wedding ceremony.
"On Saturday morning, I'm asking you to look into a notorious drug kingpin while I have Talon install a security system in a random bakery."
Wren looked up at me when he said kingpin and the fear was fully back in her eyes.
"Zero one hundred hours, Sunday, I'm requesting you send someone to meet the cops after an explosion in said bakery while asking for safe house access. You telling me you wouldn't get in a car at dawn to make the two hour drive to see if I needed backup?"
I grinned and sat back on the couch, knees spread wide. "I'd probably have been on your ass on Tuesday asking what the fuck your brother was up to."
Everyone chuckled at that because Vander and his brothers owned the company, so I'd be checking on one of my own bosses. "Right. Sorry I'm late. What the fuck is your brother up to?" Vander asked sardonically.
The joking between us seemed to relax Wren's stiff posture. I turned to her and raised my eyebrows.
She nodded subtly. She was ready for me to share.
I turned back to the group who was sitting opposite us on chairs and couches. "I'll give you the whole story now. I was vague when we talked because Wren has some personal issues that I didn't feel it was my place to share, but she's telling me now that she trusts y'all based on my word, so it's okay for me to bring you in."
Vander nodded, and I had everyone's full attention.
"I haven't heard from my brother since Tuesday when he told me he was marrying Wren."
I felt all eyes shift to Wren. I was sure before now that they thought she was mine, but she wasn't. She belonged to Gavin, and I was covering for him in his absence, as usual. "He didn't show up at his wedding at the courthouse onFriday. Wren made it clear that it was urgent she got legally married that day. I didn't know why she needed this on that day, but I stood in for my brother and signed his name on the marriage license." I glanced at her, and she was looking down. That was probably the part that embarrassed her the most. Getting stood up on your wedding day was not cool.
"Wait a minute," Brandy interrupted. "You stood in for him? So you're married to her?"
"No. I pretended to be Gavin. She already had the license. She just needed the ceremony part. So I signed Gavin's name."
Brandy shared a glance with Steel, and they looked to me to continue.
"After the ceremony, I spotted a Merc tailing us and lost him en route to the hotel Gavin had planned for their honeymoon. She eventually told me a guy named Kenny Zhao had been threatening her for money in exchange for protection of the bakery that her grandfather, who passed, owned."
I felt her deflate beside me at the mention of her grandfather, and I placed my arm behind her on the couch as a sign of support. "The bakery is in Chinatown in LA. Not the best neighborhood. Commercial, run-down tourist trap. She worked all alone in that shop with an ancient alarm, so I had Talon set up a system and had plans to do the doors on Monday. Saturday night, last night, Kenny or one of his men, breached the door and tossed in a small explosive device. I got her out in time. She wasn't hurt except for some glass in her scalp and upper arms. I brought her here until the situation stabilized. Now, we need to go back and inspect the bakery for damage."
"Talon and Helix are already there," Vander said. "They'll secure it and then meet us here."
"Good. So my plan was to feed her breakfast and then take her down to San Diego to meet with Locke and Shadow tomorrow because she has intel about Kenny's activities on the dark web."
"Oh. I don't really have any uh...intel," she added softly, stumbling on intel like she wasn't familiar with the word.
"Whatever you know, you'll tell them."
