Braden Security: Tied Up In Knotts Part 11

Angel pulled off the paved road onto a gravel lane. He didn't slow down, but the jeep seemed to handle it. Shortly, they were at a gra.s.s strip in the middle of nowhere. It seemed like a large farmer's field, corn was growing all around, except for a strip in the middle for the runway. If someone didn't know it was there, it was so well hid that they would have never find it. A small plane was running and waiting for them at one end of the strip. Stopping just shy of the wings, Angel opened his door and went around to help James with Avery. Minutes later the plane had taken off and they were safe. Avery hoped so, anyway.

Chapter Twenty-One.

James, Angel and Avery arrived back at the apartment and walked in to find the others sitting around the living room having a drink. Chase was among them, drinking his best Scotch.

"Hope you all made yourself comfortable and I hoped you left some Scotch for me?" Turning to his brother, he asked, "Did we adopt you? Why are you still here? Don't you have an opera to go to?"

"No, James, you took my last opera tickets. Don't you remember? I'm not leaving until I find out what was so interesting in that bank safety deposit box." Chase just leaned back on the couch and sipped at James's Scotch.

Avery, listening to their conversation, only picked up the last bit about the opera tickets. "They were your tickets? James told me he liked the opera. I'm sorry you missed it. It was great."

Chase started to reply to Avery but Clay b.u.t.ted in trying to get them back on track.

"Can we discuss our leisure time later? Did you have a hard time getting away? We persuaded them not to follow us, well, Brad did, he easily picked off their front tires. Carlos is getting sloppy with his hired help."

"Let's get to the interesting part. Where's the envelope? Did you open it?" Chase was eager to see what it contained.

"No, they didn't look at it. They starting cuddling and both fell asleep almost as soon as the plane left the ground. So as soon as they were asleep, I took the envelope and opened it," Angel told Chase.

James reached into his pocket and patted the envelope. "I still have it."

"Come on, James, you were so comfortable smuggled with Avery. I just picked your pocket, be glad it was only me." Angel's black eyes twinkled as he looked at James frown.

James looked a little unbelieving at having his pocket picked so easily, he usually was so aware of his surroundings. He had never had anyone get the drop on him. "I had other things on my mind and knew you were watching, So, I felt safe and knew I didn't have to keep my guard up. But don't make a habit of it." Pulling the envelope out of his pocket, James opened it and spilled its contents on the coffee table.

Looking up at Angel pouring himself a drink from the half bottle of Scotch, James finally asked him if he was going to tell them what he discovered. Or, did they need to go through the contents.

"Not much to tell yet, from what I could see. It contains some personal items that Avery would probably want. The one interesting item it contained was a small book with columns of numbers. I think some were lat.i.tude and longitude. My guess is that Avery's father kept track of all Carlos's operations. I really don't know the extent of it, with the first quick glance, but I'm sure Grant can work his magic and decipher it. I think it was an insurance policy against Carlos."

Grant pushed his gla.s.ses up more securely on his nose, then leaned forward, grabbing the small book amongst the other items scattered on the table.

Paging through the book, Grant looked up. "It looks like it has some kind of code written on some of its pages. Avery's father knew what he was doing, looking at this." Getting up, Grant strode to the door. "I'll get on this right away. Thanks for the drink," he said, closing the door behind him, his mind already wrapped up trying to solve the mystery the book contained Avery listened to their conversation with great interest from James's lap. He had pulled her down with him, when he finally sat down. Wiggling, she pushed out of James's lap and knelt on the floor, beside the coffee table. Picking up the items one by one spread on the table, Avery told the guys without thought, "One good thing I can say about my father is that he always very detailed in everything he did. He made sure Mom and I never lacked for anything important, I just wished that that he made his money like other parents." The box held her birth certificate, her parents' marriage certificate and a folded-up share certificate. "What's this?" Avery asked, pulling the certificate from among the other items and holding it up.

Unfolding it, Avery found that the shares belonged to a numbered company. The papers clipped to it, showed that it held a plot of land in Florida. She had never heard of the town that the land seemed to be part of. Turning to James she handed him the papers. "Look at this-Do you know where this is?"

Chase, who was sitting next to James, grabbed the papers before James could reach them. Opening it he looked at James. "Let me do my thing, I know land, money, stocks and bonds." Chase whistled. "Wow if this is where I think it is, you might be a very rich little girl. This looks like it's on the southern tip, where all the new development is going on. In fact some of my investment holdings are in the land down there. It's worth a bundle."

"OK, Chase. Now you've impressed us. Can you tell us what the h.e.l.l you're talking about?" James asked "You must have heard about the reconstruction down in Florida. They're doing a complete overhaul of the beach area, with new condos, shopping mall and a new casino. They're buying up all the old cottages and stores for a new development. It's to be a new playground for the rich and famous, very pricey when completed. It looks like Avery's dad had a prime piece of real estate in the area. This could be worth millions." Chase plopped the papers and share certificate down on the table.

Clay, who had been listening to Chase, jumped up. "That's not the only thing this represents. I bet it's where the drugs are hid. It makes sense. Think about it, the majority of Avery's dad's dealings were mostly in Florida. How the h.e.l.l did the Feds miss this? It should have been discovered when Avery's parents died."

"That's what so brilliant. It not in anyone's name. It's a numbered company, probably buried under other companies off sh.o.r.e. If I'm right, and I think I am, in the end we will find that one Avery Knotts owns the property, or is the trustee," Chase added "That does make sense," James spoke up. "The Feds' report I was shown only mentioned digging into the estate of Avery's dad and mom. They probably didn't look any further. Remember Avery was still living at home with her folks when it all went down. This plot of land being in a numbered company's name wouldn't have hit their radar."

"Chase, do you think you can dig deeper into this for us? No one will suspect your firm looking into prime real estate. Find out the ownership of shares, if you can," James asked, turning to Chase, a serious, thoughtful expression on his face.

"Sure, now you want my help." Smiling, he put his gla.s.s of Scotch on the table and eagerly took his cell phone out of his pocket. Leaving his chair, he walking into the kitchen where they could hear him talking to his office.

"So, now we have to wait to hear from Grant and Chase. I want to know about the opera?" Avery persisted. "You took me on Chase's tickets. I though you said Clay got them from a client and gave them to you. In fact, you said that Clay loved the opera." Avery turned her body on the floor so she could see both James and Clay in one glance.

Clay blanched. Turning to James, Clay blasted him with, "Why did you tell her that? Couldn't you think of a better lie? Does your brain always take a ride when she's around?" Clay looked down at Avery. "I hate the opera and if James was truthful, he hates it, too. He just wanted you to change clothes and I guess that was the first thing that popped into his head."

"Thanks for outing me, Clay. You talk about Angel, but you're just as bad at putting things out there." James was now p.i.s.sed that Clay had turned it back around on him Angel, who had been sitting quietly sipping his Scotch, raised his head when Avery glanced his way. "Keep me out of this, I like the opera. I like every kind of music." He had only taken in part of their conversation, his thoughts were still wrapped up thinking about the book that they found in the safety deposit box. Angel seemed to go into his own little world when something was troubling him.

Avery turned the attention back to James. "What was so wrong with my outfit that you'd make up a lie to get me to change?"

"I thought you looked very pretty, I told James, too." Clay grinned at James, just rubbing it in. He knew James would have a hard time explaining that he was so possessive, that he would only allow Avery to wear clothes that he approved of.

"Now Clay," James spoke up without thinking. "I thought she looked great, but too great to go out and advertise it to all the sundry."

"What do you mean, James? Advertise-I was just trying to get your attention." Avery was now getting steamed.

"Oh, you got my attention and would have had every man's attention if I would have allowed you to go out in that outfit." Clay was now starting to laugh. James was just digging himself in deeper.

"Allow, Allow...Who the h.e.l.l do you think you are? First I'm advertising and then you tell me you wouldn't allow me to wear the outfit. Well I'll have you know, I'll wear that outfit anytime I want. You're not my keeper." Avery had now risen to her feet and stalked over to the bar.

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry about wearing those clothes again. Did you forget, they burned in the fire? One of the good things that the fire did." James innocently looked at her, like his speech wasn't condescending and insulting to her. He thought he had every right to tell her what to do.

Avery now had a full head of steam from James's words.

"You a.s.s!" Picking up the bottle of Scotch, she walked over to James and poured it over his head, dropping the bottle on his lap.

"Let's see if that will put out the overblown ego that you seem to have developed." Turning, Avery stomped down the hall to the bedroom and slammed the door.

James just sat there and looked at Angel, Clay and Brad laughing their heads off with 12-year-old Scotch running down his face. f.u.c.k! James raised his hands and wiped at his face. You have to love a woman with a temper. He knew he would have to do serious damage control with Avery, but Clay was his first concern. Glaring at Clay James barked, "This is all your fault. Couldn't you just have kept that to yourself?"

"I didn't want to be known as opera guy. I'll leave that to you and Chase." Clay just laughed at James's p.i.s.sed off expression.

James got up from his chair, putting the now empty bottle of Scotch on the table, his clothes soaked. He was starting in to berate his friend again when Chase walked in from the kitchen.

"What the h.e.l.l happened to you? I know you don't share well, but I thought that was just with the ladies, not your 12-year-old Scotch. Couldn't drink it all, so you decided to have a bath in it instead. Well that's a sure way to stop any party."

Chase sat back down and picked up his gla.s.s of Scotch. "Well I'm going to enjoy my drink. For G.o.d sakes, James, go and change. Then I'll tell you what I found out."

James walked down the hall to his bedroom. Turning the k.n.o.b, he found it locked.

"Avery, open up. I've had enough of your hissy fit. I want to change."

"Go away, James. Why don't you strip down and advertise? You seem to be the expert on it," Avery said in a loud voice from the other side of the door.

James shook the handle. "Let me in, Avery, your a.s.s is going to be red. And I can a.s.sure you this time, you won't like it."

Clay, hearing the exchange, wandered down the hall. "You're really losing it, James."

Pushing James aside, Clay pulled out his tools from his wallet and proceeded to unlock the door." I would advise you to always have your set handy, if you're going to take up with Avery. I can see you needing them in the future." Clay spread the door open just in time to see Avery scramble into the bathroom and hear the lock click on that door.

"Leave her alone for a while, change and come out and we'll find out what Angel is stewing about. He hasn't said a word, but those black eyes of his are telling me he's got something on his mind." Clay turned and left James to change.

James looked toward the bathroom. He knew Clay was right, he wasn't going to get anyplace with Avery right now, he didn't have the time. Pulling jeans and a T-shirt out of the dresser, James dried himself off with another T-shirt he pulled out of the drawer and hastily changed. He didn't want to miss Angel's insight.

Arriving back at the living room dressed in dry clothes, he smelled like Scotch and really needed a shower, but that would have to wait. James found that Angel seemed to have all the guys' attention. Clay was arguing with him.

"What did I miss?" James asked, sitting down and reaching for the new bottle of Scotch that Clay must have got from the bar.

Clay spoke up. "Angel just reminded us that we weren't hired to recover the drugs. Just tell the Feds what we find and they would take it from there. I was explaining to him, that if we tell the Feds right now what we suspect, Avery will be implicated. I don't think they will believe her word that she knew nothing about this property."

James agreed, looking at Angel. It was strange for Angel to want the Feds in on what they were doing, before they had a chance to check things out thoroughly. He always went out of his way to avoid any government figure, since they had been left out to dry with their last army mission. It didn't make sense to James. Turning to Angel with a puzzled expression he asked, "Why the change in thinking?"

Angel sat up from his slouch on the couch, his intense black eyes directed at James. "I have a bad feeling, this could be a trap and I would rather the Feds take the fall then us. As I see it, we did our job, Let them handle the s.h.i.t this time."

"But what about Avery? We can't let her take the fall for her father. I think we can all agree now that we know her better, that she knew nothing about her father's deals. If we lead the Feds to this place and it contains the drugs, we will be just asking for a jail sentence for her. I won't have that. I'd rather take the fall myself than allow the Feds at her again." James had a grim, no-nonsense look on his face, he was determined that Avery was not going to be the scapegoat.

Chase spoke up. "But what if we could make it look like she had nothing to do with this property, change the shares into someone else's name? After all, Grant is having to dig deep to find anything. I say that we get Grant to do his magic and change the records. You know Grant can wipe out a trail or create one that no one would question. You've bragged enough times about his ability. I've heard you say he works the computer like a conductor with a twenty-piece orchestra. Well I say we let Grant conduct the Feds the way we want it to play out."

James looked at Chase. "When did you get so smart?"

"By listening to all the times that you would tell Dad about your adventures. Well I'll admit most of the time, I was jealous, but I did listen carefully. You didn't mention names, but I have gotten to know the guys pretty well now. So names don't have to be pa.s.sed around for me to know what all your specialties were in the army. The only one I haven't figured out is Angel, he's a big scary dude, I don't mind admitting." Chase looked over at Angel with a grin.

Angel just gave him the finger. "Keep guessing, I don't fit in to any pattern and that's how I like it. Our people could never fit in any pattern that was acceptable to the white people and they paid with their lives. So don't waste your time trying to figure me out. Just accept me like the other guys do and you and I will get along just fine."

"Angel's right, Chase, you will never figure him out and we have stopped trying to. We just know when Angel has a gut feeling to listen. That feeling has saved our a.s.ses many times. We don't question him anymore. If he thinks this is a trap of some kind he's right. I also agree with your a.s.sessment of Grant. That guy can make anyone believe what he wants them to when he get on that computer of his," James explained to Chase.

"We'll just have to be smarter than the Feds and Carlos at the same time. I think we should wait to hear what Grant can find out from the notebook then devise a plan.

"We all should all take the night to think on it. We will gather in the office in the morning, by then Grant will have more information," James told the men surrounding him in the living room.

"Chase why don't you look into the surrounding revitalization of the area the property is situated in?" He really liked having his brother involved in this case. They were usually on two different wavelengths with their very different occupations. James would never tell Chase, but sometime the ease of Chase's moneymaking skills amazed him. He was grateful, after all he had enough money for a couple of lifetime from Chase's investments. James finally felt as if he could give back and teach Chase in a small way that there was more to life that sitting behind a desk.

Clay rose from his seat. "Let's go, guys, I think James has another problem to deal with tonight. I want us all to be able to think straight when planning this. It could come back to bite us on the a.s.s if we're not careful."

Looking directly at James, as he made his way to the door, he added, "And James, make nice and fix this. We don't need any extra s.h.i.t on our plate right now and Avery is still a loose cannon. We don't want her to go off on a tangent and let the cat out of the bag before we are ready. She's smart, she probably came to the same conclusion we did. She just might get it in her head that telling the Feds where she suspect the drugs are will let her off the hook. She's still too trusting. Make her see that our way is the only way."

Angel and the other guys followed Clay out the door. Chase remained in his seat. Waiting to ask the very personal questions he had for James, after they left.

As soon as they had closed the door, Chase turned to James. "You're really serious about Avery, aren't you? I know you're always by the book, if you can be, but this time you're putting the firm's whole reputation on the line. What if this all goes south? Does she mean that much to you? I didn't think any woman would make you take this kind of risk with the company. Maybe you should rethink this? After all, as Angel said, we can just tell the Feds everything and your job would be done. You don't have to go the extra mile, that's not what you were hired for." James could hear the concern in Chase's voice "With any other woman, you would be right. I would probably walk away now. But it's different with Avery ever since the Feds first informed me of the case and I first saw her picture." James hesitated. How to explain to Chase when he really didn't understand it himself?

"I don't know, her eyes seem to be pleading to me from the picture. I could tell she was innocent from that first glance. Knowing she didn't have anyone on her side or looking after her drove me crazy.

"I just claimed her in that moment. I know I sound crazy. After I got to know her, the feelings just got stronger. It's like there's a rubber band that keeps pulling us together.

"She's a brat most of the time, but when it goes right between the two of us, there's that snap of the rubber band pulling us together that I can't resist." James paused, gathering his thoughts.

"It's hard to explain, but she speaks to me on another level. And, yes, you don't have to say I sound like Angel. I know from experience that there is something or someone higher than us guiding everything we do. I know it sounds corny, but I think I've met my other half. Angel keeps on saying he's looking for his soul mate. Well I think I've found mine."

In disbelieve Chase looked at James to see if he was serious. He could tell from James's face that he believed everything he was saying. Getting to his feet he walked over to James's chair. Grabbing James's shoulder he said, "I hope I'm half as lucky." With that Chase left the apartment, closing the door softly behind him.

Chapter Twenty-Two.

James sat in his chair, thinking and sipping his Scotch a long time after Chase left. He didn't know how to make Avery understand that he did like her look that night, but only if he was the only one looking. He was a possessive b.a.s.t.a.r.d and wouldn't allow her to flaunt her wares for anyone but him. G.o.d, she always took his breath away whenever she stepped into a room. Thinking of her dressed as she was that night, his c.o.c.k was as hard as a board. His only thoughts that night were to get her under him as fast as possible. If that was all he could think about when he looked at her, he knew others would have the same idea. Her body was his and it would be his decision if anyone got to see more of her, that was the norm.

Avery opened the door of the bedroom silently. She knew the others had left by the silence now coming from the living room. Did James leave also? she wondered.

She had been rethinking all that James had said to her. After she had cooled down, she had to admit that James might have had a point. She had dressed to seduce him that night, but they were going out in public. She couldn't stop other men from getting the same signal she was trying to send to James. She finally admitted after sitting for hours on the john stewing, that she only wanted James. He might be bossy, but she knew that her heart didn't care.

She knew he had crept in, when she realized she really wanted to know everything about him. While she admired his muscular body and tight a.s.s, she wanted more. Her mind had seen the whole package and without her knowing when, she had given her heart to the man.

d.a.m.n! She was going to have to do some fancy dance to get out of the spanking that James had promised her. She kind of liked the ones he had already given her, not that she would tell him. But this time was different. She had seen the angry disappointed look on his face, this spanking would not lead to anything but a sore a.s.s.

Tiptoeing down the hall, Avery spotted James in the same chair that he had been sitting in earlier. He was sitting in a halo of light shining down from the lamp beside him, leaning back and every now and then, Avery watched as he sipped at his Scotch. He seemed to be deep in thought, looking off into s.p.a.ce.

He looked to Avery as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and was looking for a solution from the heavens. With the soft glow on his raven black hair, he looked like a fallen angel to her and she almost laughed at her musing. She didn't think anyone would mistake the man sitting there with anything holy. Avery couldn't wait, she had to tell him how she felt, if she didn't she thought she would burst.

Rushing up to James she threw her arms around him, making him jump and spill his Scotch in his lap. James had been so deep in thought he hadn't heard Avery's approach.

His thoughts came to a crashing halt when he felt the cold wetness of the Scotch soaking into his now quickly deflating c.o.c.k, which had been hard while he thought of her.

Springing out of his chair and breaking the hold her arms had around him, James muttered, "G.o.d d.a.m.n," pulling his wet pants away from his body. Turning to Avery James said without thought, "What were you thinking? Do you want to waste all my Scotch?"

Noticing the disheartened look on Avery's face, James forgot about his wet clothes. He hastily put his gla.s.s on the table and enfolded her into his arms. Scotch didn't matter, she was what truly mattered. He just held her close to his body and kissed the top of her head, that was now laid over his heart as she cuddled up to him.

She belonged in his arms, the feeling of being whole enveloping him. James just stood there and took in the calm feeling settling through his whole body. Nothing could replace this feeling of being complete. He just had to make her understand.

Slowly he unwounded her arms from around him. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he led her into the bedroom. Stopping beside the bed, he turned her to face him, softly grasping her chin and raising her head, his focus on her lips.

Her lip were slightly trembling. James lowered his head and took them with his. He wanted to devour her at his first taste. Holding himself back, he lightened the kiss and let her lips go, to look up into the pools of green that were looking at him with love shining brightly in their depths.

"Is this the build up to my spanking? Because, if it is, I think we should just skip it and keep going and see where this leads us instead." Raising both hands, she caressed his cheeks with one of her fingers, then got up on her tippy toes and brought her mouth to his.

"I love you, James," she said as she released his lips. "I just wanted you to know. I also understand what you were trying to say earlier about my outfit. I don't think I would like women gobbling you up with their eyes, if you wore something that, as you put it, was advertising. I'm finding I am very possessive, too. I know I don't have a claim on you, but for tonight can we forget everything and just be together?"

Gripping Avery around the waist, James hugged her close to his body, and then laid her down on the bed with his body following hers every step. James made himself comfortable between her legs. His c.o.c.k making a place for itself between her folds.

Reached up, he gently brushed the hair from around her face and looked down into the green eyes staring back at him.

"You might thing you don't have a claim, but I was yours the first time that you laid eyes on me. I just wanted to grab you out of that diner and run away with you. So baby, what I'm trying to say is, I love you too and everything I have is yours, you only have to ask." Lowering his head, he reclaimed her lips. His left hand held her head just where he wanted it as he devoured her mouth, now he knew she was his.

His right hand made its way down to her cloth-covered breast, where he found a hard nipple poking into his hand without any stimulation. Going lower, he gripped the bottom edge of her T-shirt and raised it to her chin, unclasping the front clasp of her bra and peeling back the cup and teasing her nipple.