Raw Edge of Danger (The Omega Team Series Book 1) Read online

  “You want to play in my playpen?” He was incredulous.

  “Wait until you hear what we have,” she told him.

  “We?”

  Grey heard the question in his voice, and Athena looked at him.

  He nodded, but mouthed, “Just say former military who is a victim of what we’re investigating.”

  When she repeated it, Adam said, “Athena, you gotta give me something more than just a hint. If I’m going to stick my neck out even a little, I need to have an idea of what might chop my head off.”

  “What if I told you a very high-profile politician is involved in massive illegal arms deals and has controlled politics in some countries to increase the lucrative nature of his deals.”

  There was dead silence on the other end of the call, a silence that stretched and stretched.

  “Adam?” Athena prodded. “You still there?”

  “I’m here. Listen, write down this phone number, give me fifteen minutes, and call me back.”

  Grey grabbed a piece of paper and a pen and wrote as Adam dictated.

  “What’s wrong with—”

  But she was already talking to dead air.

  “He knows,” Grey told her, tension gripping him. “This guy has to be on so many different radar screens.”

  “So, why hasn’t anyone ever done anything about it?” she protested.

  He would have laughed at her naiveté if he hadn’t felt the same way not so very long ago. Certainly, on the long flight back from Afghanistan, he’d asked himself the same question over and over.

  “Come on,” he told her. “You have to know the answer to that question already. Remember what drove you here in the first place?”

  She twisted her lips in a grimace. “Power and money.”

  He nodded. “When I began digging into this, I got an idea of just how far reaching his influence is and how much money he spreads around to continue what he’s doing.”

  “More than just what goes on here in Tampa,” Athena agreed. “I see that now.”

  “Which is why the last thing your friend sounded was surprised.” He looked at his watch. “Okay. Call him back.”

  Adam answered on the first ring. “This number will only work once,” he told her, “so we’d better get all our business taken care of with this call.”

  “You know who this is, and you’re already after him,” Grey guessed.

  Silence. Then Adam said, “If you know anything about the ATF, then you know he has been on our radar for a long time.”

  “That’s what we thought,” she agreed.

  “So give, Athena. What have you and your friend got?”

  “Don’t give him everything over the phone,” Grey mouthed.

  He coached her on what to say, just enough to let the man know they had serious business to conduct but not enough to get to the meat of it. Not yet. They would have to do this in person. But where?

  “Okay, we need a face to face,” Adam said at last. “You don’t want this out on the airwaves any more than I do. No phone is totally secure. We need to do this in person.”

  “Where?” she asked. “And when? We want to move on this as quickly as possible.”

  “How about this? I’ve got a few restaurants I’m comfortable using, dark enough so no one stands out and out of the way enough that people don’t go looking for them.” He named a restaurant.

  “I know where it is,” Athena said. “We can find it.”

  “Can you be there in thirty?”

  “Yes,” Grey said at the same time Athena responded.

  The call ended, and Grey studied Athena. “You know the man. Did he sound receptive?”

  “Oh, yes. He sure did. He’s very even-toned when discussing his business, but I know him well enough to gauge his reaction. He wouldn’t waste his time on us if he thought we were whistling in the wind. Let’s get going.”

  Grey found the restaurant with Athena directing him, an anonymous restaurant and bar, the kind that served great hamburgers and twelve kinds of beer.

  “Adam’s already here,” Athena said. “Booth in the far left corner.”

  They made their way over in the very dim light of the place, looking around and wondering if anyone had eyes on them.

  “We’re good,” Adam assured him as Grey slid into the booth. “This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been watching everyone coming in and out.” Then the smile disappeared. “This little project has zero chance of success if the wrong people see us together, so it’s to my advantage as well as yours to make sure we don’t have eyes on us.”

  “Just checking,” Grey told him.

  He nodded. “As I would expect.”

  The first few minutes of the meeting were like a jousting tournament, each of the men testing the other with the point of his sword. Grey especially was alert for any residual sexual tension or threads of desire between Athena and Adam. Any hints that whatever they’d had between them was only on the back burner. He relaxed a fraction when he realized she’d been right. They were just friends now, nothing more. And maybe that was all they’d ever been.

  And exactly why the fuck did he care? He was having a bitch of a time wrapping his mind around what was happening between the two of them, and in such a short span of time. This was so out of character for him. He—

  “Grey?”

  He realized Athena had spoken to him. Had he spaced out again? Shit!

  “Sorry. I’m good,” he told the other man. “Are you?”

  Adam nodded. “I trust Athena’s word on you.” He leaned across the table in the booth, lowering his voice. “So let me get this straight. You have the goods on he who shall be nameless, but you need to figure out what to do with them.”

  Grey nodded. “That’s correct. And we’re expecting more information, just as soon as I can get home and check the equipment again.”

  “Okay, let’s go over it in detail, if you don’t mind. We’ve been gathering a file on this fucker for a long time, but we’re missing a lot of key information. Proof positive of what he’s doing. That’s what I’m hoping you brought to the table here.”

  “I can promise you that’s what we have,” Grey assured him.

  Focusing on the specifics of what he’d learned, he laid out for the man everything he’d pulled from the thumb drives: arms deals, drugs for arms, paid assassinations to control the political situation in third world countries. Chapter and verse, names and dates. And, of course, the ribbon and bow on the package, the account records of offshore banks.

  A muscle twitched in Adam’s jaw as he listened. The expression on his face and the look in his eyes made Grey wonder if this was as much personal as professional for the man.

  “There’s something more than just doing your job behind this,” he guessed, pinning the man with his gaze.

  After a long moment, Adam nodded. “Maybe when this is all over, I’ll tell you. Meanwhile, let’s figure out what to do next. I shouldn’t even be sharing this next with you, but I’ll tell you, for your ears only, that since we began an active file on Senator Bostic we’ve had our forensic accountant guys doing their best to track his money.” He shook his head. “He’s a slippery bastard. Just when we think we have him nailed, he makes the money disappear again and we have to start all over.”

  “Shit.” Grey spat the word.

  “Tell me about it.” Adam gave him a searching look. “I swear, sometimes I think he’s got someone tapping into our computers the way he always manages to slide away from us. Okay, then.” He sat back. “Time for me to contact my boss and arrange for you two to meet with him.”

  “Wait a minute.” Every muscle in his body tensed. “The more people we bring into it, the greater the chance of a leak and another disaster.”

  “Grey, this is nonnegotiable,” Adam insisted. “Especially with Bostic being an ATF priority. Besides, if you didn’t trust the ATF, you wouldn’t have agreed to let Athena contact me, right?”

  Grey tensed. “That’s true but—”<
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  “I’m thinking you were in some kind of Special Forces group,” Adam guessed. “When you planned your missions, there were far more than just two of you involved. Right?”

  “Yes.” Grey had to really control himself at the thought of that last fuckup because so many people were involved. “That’s how my friend got killed.”

  “That’s not going to happen here,” Adam assured him. “The ATF is one of the tightest federal agencies in existence. I’ve worked for Ezra Burns for ten years. He’s got one of the best reps in the agency. Maybe in the whole alphabet series of government agencies. And all of his people from the investigators to the support people are handpicked by him after being thoroughly vetted. I put my life in their hands every day and that’s saying something.”

  “Exactly who is this Ezra Burns?” Grey asked.

  “He’s the special agent in charge of our team,” Adam explained, “and he has pretty broad latitude in what he can do. The ATF doesn’t like people running guns, especially to terrorists and the narcotraficantes.”

  “Yeah?” Grey lifted an eyebrow. “How do I know I can trust him not to just take what we have and cut us out of this? As a matter of fact, how do I know I can trust you?”

  Adam nodded to Athena, who sat next to Grey with her hand on his knee beneath the table in what he assumed was meant to be a calming gesture.

  “Athena trusts me. If you trust her, that should be enough, at least for the moment.” He drank a swallow of coffee. “And again, I swear to you, I’ve known and worked for Ezra Burns for a long time. He’s solid. You have my word you’ll be included in whatever happens.”

  “We’ll see.” Grey was still skeptical. He’d seen agencies take over and shunt people aside before. At the moment, however, it appeared he didn’t have a choice.

  “We’ll take each step slowly and double check everything along the way,” Adam promised. “Besides, if we did what you think, no one would ever help us again. Or cooperate with us. Or work with us in any capacity.”

  Grey stared at the man opposite him for a long, pregnant moment. Finally, he nodded.

  “Then please trust me. For whatever my word is worth, you’ve got it. You did the heavy lifting, and I’m willing to keep you in the loop all the way. If you want me to trust you, it has to go both ways.”

  Grey let out a slow breath. “Just so you understand—”

  The other man held up a hand. “I got it, okay?” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

  Grey listened without showing any emotion while Adam spoke to his boss and set up a meeting for the four of them.

  “Okay, here’s the deal,” the other man said, disconnecting the call. “He wants a meet ASAP but not here. We have a place we use, and we’ll all travel there separately.”

  “Meet where?” Grey knew all about stealth and covert ops, but he’d never worked with people he knew little about. He was putting a lot of faith in Athena.

  Adam gave him the name of a hotel.

  “It’s not a place that’s in the spotlight a lot,” Adam said, “so there is zero chance of anyone spotting us. The agency keeps a couple of rooms there for just such a purpose. So, here is how we’ll work it.” He laid out the details then looked at Grey. “Too much cloak and dagger for you?”

  Grey shook his head, irritated the man would even ask him. “You do know what I did for a living, right?”

  Adam at least had the grace to look uncomfortable. “Just checking, that’s all. I’m assuming you have different ID to get a rental car?” He shook his head. “Never mind. Stupid question. Okay, let’s set our watches and meet in forty minutes at the hotel in room 510.”

  “I have to tell you,” Grey said, as he wheeled the car out of the parking lot, “I still have reservations about your friend. Too much of a company guy for my taste.”

  Athena barked a laugh. “That’s funny coming from someone who worked in the ultimate company situation. The military.”

  “Yeah, and look how that worked out. Some company asshole’s loose lips and hunger for money led to Lucky’s and who knows how many others’ deaths.”

  She reached over and squeezed his arm. “I told you, I trust Adam or I wouldn’t have come to him with this.”

  “But you know nothing about his boss,” Grey reminded her.

  “I met him once when he came to Tampa. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him.”

  “You don’t care if I reserve judgment, right?”

  She laughed again, a slightly gentler sound than the other one. “I’d expect no less.”

  Grey had Athena drive, so he could check out Ezra Burns on his cell phone. According to everything he pulled up, the guy looked solid. Strong agency history. Excellent record. Grey knew he was just a suspicious son of a bitch, especially after what happened the night Lucky was killed, but that was how he’d stayed alive for so long. Old habits never changed.

  At the hotel, they parked the car at the far end of the parking lot and entered through a side door. They rode up in the elevator in silence, Grey tense in anticipation of trouble. At the door of room 510 he knocked, and Adam opened it at once.

  “Come in.” He stood aside to let them enter.

  Grey didn’t know what he’d expected of Ezra Burns, maybe another suit-and-tie guy like Adam Wahlberg. It certainly wasn’t the dark-haired man in jeans and a plaid shirt wearing cowboy boots and a deep tan. He had all he could do to restrain himself from some smartass remark.

  Burns laughed. “I kind of surprise myself,” he joked. “But I just came back from an extensive operation near the Texas border. This was the uniform of the day.” He held out his hand. “Ezra Burns.”

  Grey shook the proffered hand, noticing the firm grip. “Grey Holden.”

  He looked around and realized they were in a combination bedroom/sitting room, kind of a mini-suite.

  “Like I said,” Adam reminded him, noticing him sweep the room with his gaze, “we use this for meetings now and then.”

  “We’re waiting for one more person,” Ezra began.

  “More people?” Grey tensed. Damn government. On something important, everyone wanted a piece of the pie and all the glory. Unless, of course, it got all fucked up. Then they walked away. “Why don’t we put an ad in the paper,” he snorted. “Or better yet, just send a report to Bostic himself.”

  “I understand your feelings,” Burns said, “but this unfortunately is government. You’ve had experience with that yourself. I can only assure you this is the last person we’re reading in, but it’s a necessity.”

  At that moment, a keycard slid into the lock and the door opened. Grey noticed that this man wore the expected suit and tie and was older than both Ezra and Adam.

  “Sorry I’m late.” He closed and locked the door. “You must be Grey Holden and Athena Madero.” He held out his hand. “Lige Riddick. Special Agent in Charge of the Tampa field office.”

  Athena’s eyes widen fractionally as she shook the man’s hand, but that was her only reaction to the fact the almost-top dog had come to meet with them. He himself was a little stunned, but he should have figured something like this. For a case this hot, the top brass would insist on being involved. That could be both bad and good.

  “Thanks for meeting with us,” he told both men after all the handshakes had been exchanged.

  “Why don’t we all have a seat over here.” Ezra gestured to a table and several chairs set in front of a window where the drapes were closed.

  When they were all seated, Lige Riddick fixed Grey with a hard stare. “Adam gave Ezra the rundown of what you told me,” he said, “and Ezra passed it along to me. However, I’d like to hear it directly. It seems you have concrete evidence of a lot of the pieces we’re missing. This is one pretty big fucker we’re after, and I don’t want to make any mistakes.”

  Grey inhaled and forced himself to remember the man held the keys to the kingdom on this and wanted to make sure Grey wasn’t feeding him a line of bull. He’d certainly had to jus
tify his information enough in the military. This was no different. So, very slowly, in as much detail as he was willing to share at the moment, he told the man how he’d come to focus on Senator Drake Bostic, what he’d done, and generally what he’d found out. What evidence he’d collected.

  “Adam tells me you have the hard data on thumb drives.” Riddick’s voice reminded Grey of a rake on gravel.

  “I do.”

  “I’d like to see it.”

  Grey had emailed the files to himself on a secure server and could download them at any time. He just needed to make sure he wasn’t making a mistake, so he hesitated, not saying anything.

  Trust no one, his commanding officer used to drill into the team. For Grey, that was a good mantra. It still startled him that he’d violated it for Athena. Even in this situation, just thinking of sex with her made his dick get harder than a railroad spike. He shifted slightly in his chair, hoping no one noticed his discomfort, especially the woman sitting next to him.

  “Look.” Burns leaned forward. “We have no reason to trust each other except on someone else’s recommendation. But here’s the thing. Bostic and his illegal arms deals have been a thorn in the ATF side for a long time, not to mention the danger he puts our troops in when he arms terrorists. Or our cops, when he arms the cartels. For you, it’s personal, and I can dial into that.”

  “I have the apparatus to make his downfall possible,” Riddick added, “and you have the information I need to put it in motion. Maybe if I tell you about myself, you’ll feel a little more at ease. Then you can do the same for me.”

  As a good mission leader, Grey knew there were always compromises and adjustments, as long as you didn’t endanger the operation. These men were his best chance of success, so, for the moment, he had to put any reservations aside.

  “Okay.” He nodded. “I can buy into that.”

  Grey fed them as much information as he needed to in order to convince Burns and Riddick he had the real goods. They listened intently, not interrupting him, while he fed them the data.

  When he finished, Riddick fixed him with a penetrating look. “I’d say it’s safe to assume you didn’t get a warrant for this, right?”