Iron Willed Warrior (Last Refuge Protectors #5)

21. Brynn

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Brynn

I wanted to know what Westwick and Masterson had been doing out in the desert today. But first, we had to make it through another dinner.

Somehow, I had to once again smile at the head of Stillwater. Flirt with him. As if I was really Brianna, and nothing important had changed since the last time I’d seen the man.

Even though everything between me and Cole had changed.

Cole zipped up the back of my dress, his touch gentle, lingering at the nape of my neck. He’d already changed into his clothes for dinner. “B, from here on out, we stick together. No running off alone. No more risking yourself. Agreed?”

“For tonight, yes. We have a different agenda. Get through dinner, act friendly toward Westwick, and make sure he’s not suspicious before we head out to the desert.”

“I don’t just mean tonight.”

I sighed. I had known Cole was going to bring this up again. But my opinion hadn’t changed. “Just because we’re sleeping together doesn’t mean you’re suddenly in command. We need all options on the table. ”

Even our contingencies had relied on me getting Westwick alone in some capacity. Maybe something would change after we investigated the man’s solar plant tonight, but if it didn’t? We were back to the original plan.

I could tell Cole wanted to keep arguing, so I pointed out the time. “We need to go.”

“This conversation isn’t finished.”

“But for now, it is.” I marched to the door and opened it. With a wry look, Cole followed me, putting our security measures in place as we left.

Gentle music played as we walked into the restaurant. The hostess showed Cole and me to a table. Unlike last night, there were no plans for the seminar attendees to eat together. Everyone was relaxing tonight before the start of the event first thing tomorrow morning.

Cole was quick to take the seat facing the dining room, leaving me with the one facing the wall. I smiled when the hostess handed me a menu, but my expression turned cutting when I focused on Cole. “I know what you’re doing,” I muttered. “That spot should be mine.”

“So you can wave and make eyes at Garon when he arrives?”

“ Exactly ,” I said through gritted teeth.

“I can wave at him for you.” Cole smirked.

Like I didn’t know what he was doing. But that was fine. Did he think I wanted to use myself as bait? Of course not. Allowing that man to touch me was the last thing on my wish list.

Last night, Cole had said he didn’t want any other men touching me. The truth was, I didn’t want that either. There wasn’t a single man in the world I’d rather have in my bed than Cole. I was already attached, foolish as that was.

Cole lifted his water glass. “Westwick just arrived. And Masterson is with him. ”

I glanced up. There was a framed photo behind Cole’s head, and in the reflective glass, I spied the two men. Westwick and Masterson were taking seats at a table in the middle of the restaurant. A large chandelier made of driftwood hung over their heads.

Interesting. Dining at that table was as good as a neon sign with an arrow. Eric Masterson is here . And yet, it fit with our theory. As a Senate candidate, it might be hard for Masterson to keep his movements secret. The resort visit was a cover. Maybe he was attending the seminar. Or maybe he was just visiting his friend. Either way, nobody outside their circle would know about their side trip into the desert.

Except Cole and me.

Twisting in my seat, I put on my most brilliant smile and waved. I caught Westwick’s eye. He smiled back, tipping his head in my direction and reaching out to gently touch the shoulder of his companion.

Eric Masterson turned, one eyebrow lifting as he looked me over.

I wiggled my fingers in a friendly hello to them both before turning back around. “Are they still looking?” I asked Cole under my breath.

“Yep,” Cole grumbled, slumping forward. “I’m sure they’re talking about us. Or rather, you . I’m guessing O’Hanlon has reported what we were up to on the hiking trail.”

My face heated, but not because I was embarrassed that the men knew we’d fooled around. It was the memory of how shameless I had been when Cole touched me. Plus the incredibly hot interlude with Cole on the couch… And in the oversized tub.

I crossed my legs. “That was the idea.”

Tomorrow we would be spending all day in the seminar with Westwick. And maybe Masterson too, if he stuck around. With how quickly everything had been shifting, I was hesitant about making any assumptions.

As I’d said to Cole earlier, every option had to be on the table. We simply had no idea what tomorrow would bring.

If we were lucky, tonight’s recon mission would open up some other avenue to use against Westwick. Some other means to infiltrate the inner workings of Stillwater.

But if it didn’t? If we had no alternatives? I had to go back to my original tactic.

We couldn’t let personal feelings get in the way of this mission. Could not allow this to fail.

Cole stiffened, a frown hardening on his face just before a voice spoke behind me.

“Ms. Waverley?”

I looked back. It was the hostess. She held a flute of champagne. “On the house, courtesy of Mr. Westwick.”

I accepted the glass, lifting it in the man’s direction. He grinned smugly.

“Didn’t even send me one,” Cole complained.

But less than a minute later, the hostess returned, carrying a lowball of scotch. She set it on the table, saying again that Westwick had sent it over. Yet another gesture to smooth over any hard feelings about the incident with Ryker last night.

We ordered, and while we waited for our food, I kept an eye on the dining room using the reflective glass behind Cole. Westwick’s bodyguards weren’t here tonight. “Did you notice who’s missing?” I asked.

Cole nodded, taking another sip of his water. He’d ignored the scotch. “All three of the bodyguards. I dunno what to make of that.”

Neither did I.

The important thing was that we’d cemented our cover story. Cole was doing an excellent job of playing my possessive, jealous boyfriend. I did my best to seem restless, even if what I really wanted was to lace my fingers with his and gaze into his eyes like I could never get enough. His leg brushed mine beneath the table, and our knees pressed together.

What are we doing? I wondered. Not for the first time that day. And probably not for the last.

Darkness surrounded us almost as soon as we left the resort. As a city girl, I’d always been amazed how quickly civilization faded once you were out in the wilderness.

We couldn’t see a single thing beyond the glow of the headlights on the two-lane highway. Like we were headed straight into nowhere.

When we pulled off the highway, the desert made itself known as soon as we switched off the engine and lights. Hoots and howls, insects and larger things wrestling in the brush. Yet I felt infinitely safer out here than I had back at the resort. I would take vicious, hungry animals over Westwick and his crew any day.

Well, maybe my heart wasn’t safe with Cole. But I was taking all sorts of risks with this mission, wasn’t I?

Cole opened the trunk and used another key to unlock the special compartment at the back. “Let’s gear up.”

For tonight, mobility and stealth were paramount. We both changed into all-black head to toe. A black knit cap covered my bleached hair. I had wanted to work with the Protectors in the first place because they were well funded and equipped. And for this mission, they hadn’t disappointed. We had plenty to choose from.

I strapped on my gear, checking that my weapon was ready and loaded. Grease paint blotted the paleness of my face. While I waited for Cole to finish, I took a swig from my water bottle.

“All set?” I asked him.

He popped the magazine of his handgun. Once he was satisfied, he inspected the items in his various pockets. I did one last inventory of my own.

“Yep, you?” he said.

“Let’s roll.”

Neither of us spoke much on the hike toward the facility. We had night-vision goggles, but I didn’t put them on right away, just letting my eyes adjust to the sliver of moonlight in the sky and the brilliant blanket of stars overhead.

The air was cold and crisp. The trees and far-off mountains in silhouette.

Every so often we stopped and checked the map. Despite the late hour, after midnight, I was invigorated. Just being out here, kitted in tactical gear like an operative instead of masquerading as an influencer almost ten years younger than me.

This, right now, felt like the real me. Having Cole beside me only accentuated that feeling, like he had been my trusted partner for years instead of a matter of days. Like we fit , hand in glove or lock in key.

A mile out from the solar plant, the terrain got more variable, and we had to pick our way through hills and narrow canyons. Animals skittered away. Others watched us with glowing eyes from their hiding places.

“There are scorpions and rattlesnakes out here,” I said, my upper lip curling. “Better be careful.”

“Bringing back memories of the sandbox,” Cole muttered.

“No kidding.”

Once we found a high vantage point and checked for creepy-crawlies, we lay side by side. Cole’s body was solid and warm against mine. I lifted a monocular for a closer view.

The solar farm lay below us. A seemingly endless sea of panels beyond a high, chain-linked fence. Bright lights marked the main gate to the facility. Just inside, there was a parking lot with a smattering of cars.

“There’s one guard at the gatehouse,” I said.

Cole held up his own monocular. “I’ve got eyes on a vehicle. A jeep patrolling the dirt road that borders the perimeter fence. Driver is alone.”

I checked my watch, marking the time. The patrol drove along the west side of the facility. I switched my view to the other areas of the plant, but not much was visible from here. We would need to get closer.

At least the fence didn’t look electrified. No signs of cameras on the fence line either. Once we had the patrols timed out, we’d be able to go over.

“What do you think they’re really doing in there?” Cole asked.

I lowered my monocular. “From the info River sent, it seems like the solar panels are real. They’re generating a lot of energy. Sending it on to the local utility.”

“Sure, but all of it? I’ve been thinking. They could be using some of the energy for something else.” Cole shifted, his hip bumping mine. “We know Stillwater has storage locations scattered around the Southwest. The Protectors and I struck one in Hart County. Loads of cash, documents. Plus those gold medallions Stillwater likes to hand out to its members like calling cards.”

I huffed a laugh. “Stillwater gave up on those medallions last year after they realized what a liability the coins were. Wouldn’t be surprised if they dumped the rest of them into the ocean somewhere.”

He hummed. “Maybe. But I don’t think this place is for storage, anyway. The storage facility I saw before was nothing like this. It was hidden in the mountains. Manned by a single guard. Guaranteed, Garon Westwick would never have stepped foot near it. But today, he brought a potential senator here. So this is something far more significant.”

“True. Even if they tried to keep the visit quiet, having either of their names tied in any way to this location means potential exposure. This is a risk. Something bigger than we’ve seen from Westwick before. But the reward must be worth it. Whatever he’s got going here, it’s valuable enough to justify the potential downsides.”

Nobody outside Stillwater’s ruling circle, not even the FBI’s double agents, knew exactly what Garon Westwick was planning for the future of Stillwater.

Were we looking at it right now?

“If this is something bigger than we’ve seen from Stillwater before,” Cole said, “then it’s fucking frightening.”

“Do you know much about their activities outside the United States? That’s something else that our double agents don’t know, since they’re all people working for state and federal authorities domestically.”

“Some,” he grunted. His lips pushed into a thin line.

I lifted my eyebrows at his vague, clipped answer. Like we were back to the first couple of days of trying to navigate this partnership, instead of…whatever we were now.

Cole turned his head toward me. I couldn’t see him well in the dimness, but what I did see was conflicted. “There’s something I haven’t told you,” he said.

My mind went to places I didn’t want to go. Revelations I hadn’t seen coming because I had been so eager to trust. “What’s that?” I prompted.

You’re keeping things too , I reminded myself.

I saw his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed. “After I hit that Stillwater storage facility with the Protectors last year, I started looking for signs of them on my turf. It wasn’t easy at first. You know how Stillwater works. Pulling strings from the shadows.”

“Right.” The anxiety burning through my stomach made me want to hurry him along. But Cole didn’t seem to be in a rush.

He faced forward again to resume watching the dirt road that bordered the fence. Then he continued. “Given Stillwater’s ties to human trafficking groups, I paid attention whenever word about traffickers crossed my radar. Somebody passed on my name to a mother, Luciana Rojas, who was searching for her teenage daughter Daniela. The girl had gone missing several months before. Luciana was desperate. Willing to do anything, seek help from anywhere, to find her kid.”

Cole’s voice was a monotone, a quiet drone in the desert bleakness. He paused briefly, and I thought of the similar stories I’d heard myself. “Awful,” I murmured.

“Luciana suspected that Daniela had been taken by traffickers when the girl went to apply for a job. A common ruse to lure people in, and then they’re spirited away, never to be seen again. I tracked Luciana’s daughter to a warehouse on the coast, a way station for young trafficking victims on their way to being smuggled into the United States.”

My gorge rose with fury. And with a sense of powerlessness, because the FBI fought against these kinds of evils all the time and none of it ever stopped.

“I was too late,” Cole said. “Her daughter was gone. But you know what I did find? One of those gold Stillwater medallions. Proof that the traffickers used Stillwater’s services. Guess they hadn’t gotten the memo that the coins were out of fashion,” he added bitterly.

I edged closer, wanting to feel Cole’s warmth and hoping he could feel mine. Still no sign of the security patrol on the dirt road.

A rustling noise came from nearby, startling us. In a split second, Cole had his weapon out, pointed into the dark. Two glowing eyes looked back. Then loped away.

It was another minute before my pulse started to slow, and Cole returned to his narrative. “I passed on the tip to a friend in the Mexican police. They raided the warehouse, seized computers and documents, but it was the same old song-and-dance that you and I have seen too many times before. Where it gets hushed up by corrupt officials. Wrapped in red bureaucratic tape. I tried rattling a few cages. Even contacted the Protectors, but River couldn’t pull up any new leads for me. Eventually I concluded it was hopeless. The trail had gone cold. But Luciana wouldn’t give up.”

“What happened to her?” I asked, even though the resignation and frustration in his tone told me there was no happy ending.

“Luciana’s body washed up on a beach.”

I cursed. My eyes stung. “I’m so sorry.”

“Her sister found my number among her things and that’s how I heard.”

“It sounds like Luciana meant a lot to you.” I was ashamed at the jealousy that pricked my insides, imagining how close this woman had gotten to Cole. That shouldn’t have mattered.

“She did mean a lot, but not the way you’re thinking. It’s because she was a good person who needed my help, needed protection, and I failed her. I’m convinced that either the traffickers or Stillwater killed her. Either way, every single person in the chain, from the scum who snatched Luciana’s daughter all the way on up to Garon Westwick, are responsible. They all deserve to burn. ”

Everything about his body language, his voice, his eyes told me he meant that literally. Cole wanted blood.

“When you suggested we drive Westwick into the desert, you weren’t kidding.”

“No,” he said with that flat, unwavering look in his eyes. “I wasn’t. I’ve never intended to let Westwick walk away from this and trust that the FBI would eventually put him behind bars. That’s the reason I initially accepted this mission. Not out of some vague sense of duty or the fact that the guys in the Protectors are my friends.”

I exhaled, shaking my head. “And that’s why you didn’t quit when you found out I was an FBI agent.” He had almost walked away. Now I knew why he’d changed his mind. Yet I wasn’t sure how I felt about these revelations. Back in Silver Ridge, Cole had insisted up and down that he was worried about me going into this alone. Had that just been a convenient excuse? “Everything you said about us being equals…”

“I meant it. Even if I didn’t necessarily agree about the endgame here, I knew I would need you to make it happen. As much as you need me.” Cole shifted onto his side, gloved fingers reaching out to turn my chin so I would look at him. “I had a lot of reasons for sticking with this. What happened to Luciana was a big part of it, yeah. But from the moment I met you, I wanted to protect you, even if you didn’t really need protecting. And now B, you mean so much more to me.”

You mean a lot to me too , I wanted to say. But the words wouldn’t come.

I hadn’t told him about my communications with Stanford, either. I couldn’t be too mad that Cole had come into this with his own agenda from the start.

But what now? Where did this partnership go from here?

“I understand why you didn’t tell me about Luciana before. You didn’t trust me. I didn’t trust you. It’s different now, but?—”

“It is different,” he said emphatically. “That’s why I’m telling you all this. I want you to?—”

The faint rumble of an engine interrupted whatever he was about to say. We watched the same jeep slowly make its way along the fence line before turning out of sight again.

I checked my watch. “Twenty minutes between patrols.” There hadn’t been any other signs of human activity. The guard in the gatehouse hadn’t budged.

“You were saying something before,” I prompted. Cole hadn’t finished his sentence.

But he shook his head. “Never mind. We should go and see what we can find out.”