Flynn (Oath of Honor #8)

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Clutching the edges of the quilt close, Taylor eyed Flynn’s grim expression. Whatever news he’d been given wasn’t good.

Another murder? She prayed that wasn’t the case.

“See you soon.” Flynn dropped the receiver in the cradle, then raked a hand through his hair, making the ends stick up as they had yet to shower after their swim in Peabody Lake. “Rhy will be here in about ten minutes.”

“What happened?” When he didn’t immediately respond, she narrowed her gaze. “Don’t keep me in the dark, Flynn. I’m in danger, and I want to know what’s going on.”

He sighed, then nodded. “The Brookland detectives went to the apartment shared by your cousins Lyle and Jake Paulson. There’s no sign of them or blood indicating they’ve been hurt,” he swiftly added. “But the place has been trashed. Like searching for something and getting angry when you didn’t find it trashed.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand. Why would a professional hit man do that?”

“Yeah, exactly the point. It’s not typical behavior for a man committing a triple homicide. It adds a wrinkle to the case.”

“But there’s no sign my cousins were killed?” she asked.

“So far the police are operating under the assumption they’re alive.” He hesitated, then added, “But the destruction of the apartment isn’t a good sign. It seems to indicate your cousins are involved with whatever is going on.”

“I understand.” She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She wasn’t close to her Paulson cousins, but they had played together as kids. It was difficult to comprehend how the youngsters she remembered had turned into criminals.

Because clearly they’ve gotten themselves involved in something dangerous. And Roman had already been brutally murdered as a result. “Maybe identifying the property owners on Peabody Lake will help point us in the right direction.” A sudden thought occurred to her. “Maybe Lyle and Jake are at that house now.”

“I had considered that, but if the gunman who found us on the lake and drilled bullets into the boat is the same one who trashed their house, then that’s not likely.”

“You’re right.” Her shoulders slumped. “I guess I was just looking for a reason to believe they’re still alive.”

“Don’t dwell on the worst-case scenario,” he said calmly. “Better to focus on trying to figure out who the gunman is and why he has killed so many people.”

“We know who he is, Nickoli Yurgis.” She still had trouble believing the gunman had ties to the Russian Mafia. “But why he was hired to kill the Millers is a mystery. I highly doubt he owns any of the property on Peabody Lake.”

“True.” Flynn rose and crossed the room to peer out the window, then turned to face her. “Have faith we’ll find him.”

She managed a smile, pulling the edge of the quilt up over her shoulder. Rhy couldn’t get there with replacement clothes soon enough. “I will do my best.”

“Me too.” Flynn held her gaze for a long moment, then glanced through the window again. “I think that’s Rhy now.”

She turned to look out the window in time to see a black SUV roll slowly through the parking lot. Seeing it reminded her of how the third black SUV she’d noticed while they’d been at Zeke’s place. “How do you know it’s Rhy and not the gunman?”

Flynn shot her a quick glance. “I recognize Rhy’s blond hair and his license plate. Don’t worry, we’re safe here for now.”

For now was the part that worried her, but she didn’t say anything. It didn’t take long for Rhy to get out of the SUV and grab what seemed to be a huge bag of clothing from the back seat.

Flynn opened the door. “Thanks for getting here so quickly.”

“You have Devon to thank for that; she helped make quick work of our little shopping expedition.” Rhy gave her a quick nod. “My wife was determined to make sure you had everything you needed.”

“That’s very sweet.” Taylor was touched by how Rhy’s wife had chipped in to buy her clothing. She had tried hard not to imagine Rhy buying her underwear. “Make sure you let her know how grateful I am for everything she’s done.”

“I will.” Rhy dropped the bag on the bed. “I’m pretty sure I have everything you need, including basic toiletries. And a pair of disposable phones.” Rhy glanced at the computer. “I’m glad you were able to salvage one of the laptops.”

“That was Taylor’s idea,” Flynn was quick to give her credit, as if she’d done something impressive, which she hadn’t. Flynn gestured to the two of them. “As you can tell by the blankets, we couldn’t take much with us.”

“Smart thinking to focus on getting out of there.” Rhy stepped back to give them room to access the contents of the bag. “You should both grab clean clothes, shower, and change. We’ll talk about next steps once you’re finished.”

Just thinking about a hot shower had her rummaging in the bag. She quickly found the clothes, undergarments, and shoes Devon had picked out for her. Gathering them close, she made her way through the connecting door to her room.

Thirty minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom feeling completely refreshed. Everything fit better than she could have hoped, from the soft denim jeans to the dark-blue fleece, and the best of all, thick socks and running shoes. The toiletries Devon had chosen were great too. She hadn’t realized how awful her hair had smelled until she’d gotten a whiff of the shampoo and conditioner.

Being able to use a blow-dryer was a bonus. With dry hair, she felt warm for the first time in what seemed like eons but was only an hour or two.

Hearing the rumble of deep male voices, she pushed the door of their connecting rooms open. Both men instantly turned to look at her.

“Have a seat.” Flynn jumped to his feet. He was freshly showered and shaved and looked amazing. She hadn’t appreciated his good looks and strength when she’d met him back in October, but now she was acutely aware of him on every level. Most importantly, his consideration and thoughtfulness. “I’m making coffee if you’re interested.”

“That would be wonderful, thanks.” She took his chair near the small table and glanced between the two men. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing important,” Flynn hastened to assure her. “I filled Rhy in on the details regarding our incident on Peabody Lake. We’ve discussed the most likely scenario is that the man who hired the gunman to shoot the Millers lives there. Likely in the same house where the photograph was taken of your cousins Lyle and Jake.”

She nodded, having come to the same conclusion. “But then something happened that turned the owner of the house against the Millers and my cousins.”

“Yes.” Flynn crossed to the coffee maker. “And I still think that whatever they were doing somehow involves the bank.”

“Detectives Klem and Irving are interviewing the bank staff, but so far they have not come up with anything significant,” Rhy said, picking up the thread of their conversation. “The feds have also gotten involved, determined to make sure nothing illegal was going on with the bank’s financial statements.”

Flynn handed her a cup of coffee with creamer and sugar. Just the way she liked it. She cradled the cup between her hands. “I’m glad the feds are involved. Will that speed up the investigation?”

“I’m not sure.” Flynn glanced at Rhy, and added, “Brady Finnegan works for the FBI, but not necessarily in the finance division. Rhy wants to update his brother on the possible link to Peabody Lake.”

“Brady will keep us in the loop,” Rhy said. “He’s not as territorial as other feds.”

“I’m all for getting help from as many resources as possible,” she said. “Especially if that means Nickoli Yurgis is found and arrested sooner than later.”

“Great. I’ll contact Brady.” Rhy rose and moved to a corner of the room to make the call.

Sipping her coffee, she eyed Flynn. “How long do you think we can stay here?”

He had filled his coffee cup, too, and sat on the edge of the bed across from her. “Rhy and I have been debating that. He thinks we’ll be fine here for the next twenty-four hours.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure what to do. I’ve requested access to the safe house, but it’s currently in use. Rhy has put us on the list.”

That there was a list of people waiting to use a safe house was disconcerting. Not that she should be surprised by the criminal activity necessitating such a thing. Yet her role as a live-in nanny had isolated her from the harsher side of life.

Until now.

The brutal murders of Steve and Robin Miller changed everything. She sipped her coffee, doing her best to stay positive now that the feds were involved in the case. If the federal government couldn’t solve this thing, then she wasn’t sure who could. In all honesty, she had more faith in the feds working with Flynn, Rhy, and the other members of the team over the Brookland PD.

Still, it was difficult to sit back and do nothing while waiting for Nickoli Yurgis to be arrested.

Glancing at Flynn, she wondered how long he’d stick by her. How long it would be until he handed her over to someone else to deal with?

The thought filled her with dread. Maybe her attachment to Flynn Ryerson wasn’t healthy, but she didn’t care.

He was the only one she truly trusted.

The moment Rhy had mentioned contacting his brother Brady, Flynn had felt a sick sense of dread. Not that he didn’t trust Brady, or the other federal agents their team had worked with over the past few years. He didn’t like having more law enforcement officials involved.

Despite his early thought of handing Taylor over to someone else to watch over, his gut rejected that idea now. He couldn’t explain the rationale, but he didn’t want to walk away from Taylor. Not even if that meant she would stay in a safe house with the feds watching over her.

It didn’t make any sense for him to feel this way. After all, he’d nearly gotten them both killed out on Peabody Lake.

Still, there was so much about this case that was unknown. Back in July he’d helped Roscoe keep his pregnant fiancée, Libby, safe from the drug cartel. In the process, they’d uncovered a dirty DEA agent, a fact that had almost caused Roscoe and federal agent Doug Bridges to be killed.

In the big scheme of things, Flynn knew it was rare to run across law enforcement officials on the take. But knowing that didn’t shake the irrational fear that he should not leave Taylor alone with anyone else.

“Okay, Brady is going to talk to the agents in charge of the Miller homicide investigation,” Rhy said, interrupting his thoughts. “He’ll be in touch when he knows something more, but he is fairly certain the agents will want to talk to Taylor in person.”

“No way.” The refusal burst out before he could think about it. At Rhy’s arched brow, he quickly added, “I mean there’s no reason to put her in danger. She doesn’t know anything about Steve Miller’s bank practices.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep them from talking to Taylor.” Rhy spread his hands. “The FBI offices should be safe enough.”

“It’s not like gunmen haven’t targeted both our precinct and the federal office building before.” He strove to keep his tone level. “I don’t like it.”

“We’ll work with Brady and Doug to protect Taylor,” Rhy said.

There was a long silence as he and Rhy eyed each other warily.

“I’m right here,” Taylor finally said. “You’re talking about me as if I don’t have a say in this matter.”

Hiding a wince, he turned to her. “You are a part of this, but I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“From the feds?” she asked in exasperation. “Come on, Flynn. I doubt they’re involved in anything illegal.”

“And you’re willing to bet your life on that?”

“Come on, Flynn,” Rhy said. “We’re more than capable of keeping her safe.”

Outnumbered, he suppressed a sigh. “Fine, but that means you and I go with her to the FBI office building. If you can’t come, I’m happy to have someone else from the team accompany us. Once we arrive, we’ll wait for Brady to come out to the SUV and escort us into the building.”

Rhy nodded. “Okay, that works. But you’re right in that I can’t be the one to ride shotgun. I have a meeting with Assistant Chief Michaels this afternoon. I’ll send Cassidy in my place if that’s okay.”

“Fine with me.” He would have been happier to avoid the meeting all together, but if that wasn’t an option, then the extra precautions would have to do.

“And I’m in agreement too,” Taylor said. “Not that anyone has asked my opinion.”

He turned toward her. “Your opinion matters, but we are the experts when it comes to staying safe.”

She grimaced. “I understand that and trust your judgment, Flynn. But I don’t appreciate being talked about as if I’m not a part of this. As if I didn’t hear the murders and see the gunman walking by.”

He was about to apologize when Rhy spoke. “By the way, Gabe has been trying to look into the gunman, Nickoli Yurgis, but so far there’s hardly anything online about the guy. The only tidbit Gabe uncovered was that Yurgis had supposedly returned to Serbia, his place of birth, after being released from jail.”

“He’s not in Serbia now,” Taylor said with a frown. “I know I saw him last night at the Millers.”

“I believe you and so do the feds,” Rhy said reassuringly. “But that’s the other reason I needed to get Brady involved. Yurgis adds an international aspect to the homicide investigation. Only the FBI has the resources to coordinate with law enforcement officials within foreign countries to get information on the guy.”

Flynn could only imagine how Detectives Klem and Irving felt about having the feds swoop in to take over their case. They wouldn’t like it any better than he did. Yet everything Rhy said was true. They needed resources to get to the bottom of this mess.

Which meant there was no way to get around the upcoming interview.

As if on cue, Rhy’s phone chirped. His boss glanced at the screen, then said, “Brady says the feds would like to speak to Taylor at four o’clock this afternoon.”

Flynn glanced at his watch. “That only gives us an hour.”

“I understand, but it’s better to get this done and over with,” Rhy said.

“Fine. Go ahead and tell Brady we’ll be there at four.”

“Done.” Rhy moved toward the door. “I’ll send Cass over too. You know where the FBI office building is in Ravenswood, right?”

“Yeah.” The building itself was nothing special, at least from the outside. He followed his boss to the door. “Thanks for everything, Rhy.”

“Don’t forget to give my thanks to Devon too,” Taylor called.

“Will do.” Rhy smiled, then headed out to his SUV.

Flynn locked the door behind him, then turned to Taylor. “While we wait for Cassidy to arrive, I plan to review the list of property owners from Gabe. I think the email popped up while we were talking.”

Her eyes widened with interest. “I’d like that. I feel like knowing who hired Nickoli will help put an end to the danger.”

He wasn’t as convinced but quickly took control of the keyboard. He would have preferred to print the list out on paper, but he didn’t want to head inside to Gary’s small business office to do that. Pulling up the list, he made the print large enough that they could both see the names without squinting.

“Let me know if any of the names looks familiar,” he said as he began to scan them.

“Okay.” Taylor leaned so close he could smell the citrusy scent of her shampoo.

For long moments, there was nothing but silence as they went through the names. Flynn wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but none of the names leaped out at him.

Taylor leaned back in her chair. “None of the names on the first page ring a bell for me.”

He was impressed she’d gotten through the names so quickly. “You read faster than I do, so give me a minute to finish up.”

She grinned. “Reading is my superpower,” she joked.

After finishing the names on the first page, he moved on to the second. But much like the first page, none of the property owners’ names jumped out at him.

“What about this one?” Taylor asked, tapping the screen. “Investments, Inc.”

He hadn’t gotten that far, but as he scanned the page, he saw it. Gabe had separated the list by property owners that were identified as individuals first, then there was a break in the list for corporations.

Three corporations, but the other two were well-known companies. One was owned by an insurance company, which he found odd. The second was owned by the Herbert Kohlmann Foundation, which he also found interesting.

But the third was Investments, Inc.

He reached for his newly charged-up disposable phone. “Gabe? It’s Flynn. I need you to dig into Investments, Inc.”

“I started looking into that one,” Gabe admitted. “But so far I haven’t found much. It was created three years ago, which is about when the house on Peabody Lake was purchased.”

“And how long has Steve Miller been the CEO of Brookland Bank?” he asked.

“Three years, why?” Gabe asked. “Oh, you think they’re related?”

Flynn had no idea what to think. “Maybe. The timing is suspicious enough.”

“I’ll see what I can come up with,” Gabe promised.

“Thanks. Later, Gabe.” He disconnected from the call, still thinking about the property on Peabody Lake and the three-year time frame of Steve Miller being the president of the bank.

Cassidy arrived twenty minutes later. “Hey, I heard about how you went swimming in Peabody Lake. Are you okay now?”

“Yeah, we’re fine.” He felt like an idiot for putting himself and Taylor in that position in the first place. “Thankfully, Rhy came through for us.”

“He always does,” Cassidy agreed with a smile. “Are you guys ready? We should hit the road.”

Glancing at his watch, he realized they only had thirty minutes to get out to Ravenswood. Normally, it was only a twenty-minute ride, but he hated to keep Brady waiting.

“Okay, we’re ready.” Rhy had purchased two winter coats for them, which was nice. He found Taylor’s and held it out for her. “Nice to have one that’s dry, huh?”

“Yes, and I’m glad you have one too.” She flipped her hair over her collar as Cassidy reached for the door handle. “Thanks for coming with us.”

“Anytime.” Cassidy opened the door, glanced outside, then gestured for them to follow. “Let’s go.”

Flynn knew it was likely overkill to have Cassidy along for the ride, but he would rather be safe than sorry. He had his gun tucked into his coat pocket, although he suspected he would not be allowed to bring the weapon inside the FBI offices. Normally, he would have wanted to take the time to clean and oil the weapon, but there hadn’t been time.

At least Cass was armed too. He didn’t argue when she slid in behind the wheel, quickly opening the back passenger door for Taylor.

They were on the road less than a minute later. He couldn’t seem to relax, turning to glance frequently through the rear window.

“I made sure I wasn’t followed,” Cass said, a slight edge to her tone. “I backtracked twice.”

“Sorry.” He tried to settle down. “I trust you. It’s just been a little hairy over the past few hours.”

“Rhy mentioned how you lost the boat.” Cass glanced at him. “He had a budget meeting with the assistant chief this afternoon.”

“I heard.” He did his best to shrug off the guilt. Rhy hadn’t blamed him for the incident, but that didn’t mean his boss wouldn’t take heat for the budget variance. Replacing a boat didn’t cost any less than replacing a damaged car. The only good news was that the boat was small and used. Not a large speedboat like the one the gunman was using.

“Did you find anything interesting in the list of property owners?” Cass asked. “Gabe told me he sent it to you.”

He filled her in on Investments, Inc. “The only reason it caught my attention was because of the Brookland Bank angle,” he admitted. “It will be interesting to see if the feds can dig up anything more about the company.”

“I’m sure they will.” Cass waved a hand. “That’s their job, right? I think Gabe has spoken to the Bureau tech guy, Ian, a time or two.”

Two nerds bonding over data , Flynn thought with a smile. Cassidy talked about Gabe as if he was just one of the guys, unlike the way Gabe seemed to hang on to her every word.

Not my business , he reminded himself. He turned to glance at Taylor, then narrowed his gaze at Cassidy’s knowing smile.

He caught the sign indicating they’d reached the city of Ravenswood. “The FBI office building isn’t far from Lake Michigan,” he said for Taylor’s benefit. “Must be nice.”

“I don’t get the impression they have much time to enjoy the view,” Cass said. “That’s the building up ahead.”

“I see it.” He leaned forward raking his gaze over the parking lot. There were a few cameras mounted on the structure if you knew where to look for them.

He used his new phone to call Brady. Rhy had been nice enough to program his brother’s name and number into the device. “We’re here,” he said.

“I’ll be out in a second.”

Cassidy pulled into the closest parking space to the main entrance. He pushed out of his seat at the same time Cassidy did. Then he opened Taylor’s door. “Stay close to me, okay?”

She nodded but didn’t seem worried. He waited for Brady to come out of the building before escorting her around the front of the car.

A crack of gunfire had him throwing himself on top of Taylor.

His heart thundered in his chest as he waited for the next bullet to strike.