Stolen. Part 24

A risk taker. Loyal. Arrogant. He was working with Thayer because he thought that not only was the cause just, but they'd get away with it.

Duke had to convince Sean that he wouldn't get away with it. Duke didn't want to see his brother in prison. He wouldn't do well. The few times he'd been in jail, never more than a couple of days, Sean had lost it. What would happen if he was in prison for years?

Duke knocked on the door of apartment 402. Sean didn't answer. Duke knocked louder but heard no movement. Sleeping? Possibly, especially if he'd been up late. Duke picked the lock and slipped in.

He announced himself so Sean wouldn't think there was an intruder. "Sean, it's Duke. Sean-are you here?"

Duke found a light switch and flipped it on. The apartment was spa.r.s.ely furnished. A large living area took up the corner, a kitchen was against the wall, and a small, separate bedroom was to the right. Sean's computer was here. He was not. Neither was his phone, keys, or wallet.

Duke searched the place. It was not only spa.r.s.ely furnished, but there were only a few changes of clothes and not much food. Sean wasn't using the s.p.a.ce to live, at least not to do more than to sleep.

He turned on Sean's laptop and realized this wasn't his primary unit-this was new. Sean had full security protocols on it. Duke tried the RCK security key; it didn't work. If Duke wanted to crack the code, it would take time.

He searched deeper in the studio, all the places Sean might hide something he didn't want Duke to find. In high school, it had been computer disks that stored computer viruses and malware that Sean had created-for the joke, not data corruption. Like the time he hacked into his high school's network after his favorite teacher was fired for some charge that Sean thought was bogus and he had every computer in the facility spontaneously rebooting for two days.

But Duke found nothing personal, nothing that told him where Sean was or what he was up to. Duke would just have to wait.

The front door sprang open and Duke jumped up. He backed up when he saw two large men enter. "Sean Rogan, it's about time you returned home," one said.

The other frowned. "That's not Rogan."

"Looks like him."

"It's not. Rogan's younger. And taller."

Duke didn't have a gun on him and he hadn't found one in Sean's apartment.

"Take him."

Duke sidestepped the first guy and tripped him. The second guy pulled a gun. "I'll shoot you now, let Rogan find you as a warning."

"What do you want?"

"None of your f.u.c.king business, but I know who you are. Look just like him-you're the brother."

Goon number one got up and grabbed Duke. Duke decked him.

"Keep him quiet!"

The second guy pistol-whipped Duke and he fell to his knees. "Shut up," the guy said. He pulled a zip tie tight around Duke's wrists, then stuffed a rag in Duke's mouth. "I'll kill you and resort to plan B; don't doubt it."

Duke squeezed his eyes shut and tried to clear the ringing from his head. The two men stood on either side of the door, talking quietly. It was clear they were waiting for someone. Sean. And by the bits and pieces of their conversation, he was on his way.

There was a knock on the door. Why would Sean knock on his own door?

The k.n.o.b turned. The men on either side of the door had their guns out. The door pushed open. Duke saw a blond woman standing in the doorway. She had a gun in her hand. Who was she? She looked familiar-why did she have her gun out?

Duke grunted, trying to warn her, and she turned to face him.

One of the goons slammed the door shut behind her. She turned, brought her gun up, but he easily disarmed her and shot her three times with her own gun.

She fell to the ground, in death her face a mask of surprise.

Deanna Brighton. The FBI agent.

Duke didn't know who these men were, but they were far more dangerous than the types Sean usually worked for.

The goon dropped the gun next to her body. The other guy said, "What the f.u.c.k? Everyone in the building heard that!"

"Grab the brother; let's go."

"You were supposed to use the silencer. It's all f.u.c.ked to h.e.l.l, Billy. And why do we need him?"

"This is Rogan's brother. Leverage, Tommy. Rogan is already on the run; he might not come in even when the cops find the Fed's body. With the brother, we'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

"Like he ever had a choice," Tommy said, pulling his mask back over his face.

Duke fought, but his fight was short-lived. One of the goons. .h.i.t Duke over the head, and as he slipped from consciousness he felt his body being dragged across the floor.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

Sean landed his friend's plane later than he'd planned. It was nearly eleven in the morning, and fog had kept him from lifting off until after nine. He'd dumped all his cell phones in D.C. and picked up a burner phone on the way, just in case someone was tracking him. Before he did, he got the message from Noah that they'd IDed the blond guy outside the carriage house. Kurt LeGrand. Sean didn't know him by name or appearance, and when Noah said LeGrand was a financial consultant, nothing popped, either.

Sean was surprised when Colton was waiting for him at the private airstrip.

"How did you know I was here?"

"When you called me last night, I triangulated your call from here. I figured when you returned, this is where you'd land."

"Why didn't you think I was going to leave for good? A f.u.c.king federal agent was shooting at me for no reason."

"Deanna Brighton. She's had it in for you for years."

"How do you know this?"

"Because a few months ago she summoned me for an interview and had a bunch of questions about you. She's only been in New York for a year or so."

Sean stared at him, disbelieving. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you were still working for Duke. There's no way she could touch you; I figured she was just blowing smoke. I didn't think she was dangerous. Based on her questions, I realized she'd been trying to put you back on the wrong side of the law for some time, but had nothing to go on."

"You should have told me on Sunday after I was followed."

"I didn't know it was Brighton."

"It would have been a good guess!"

Colton shifted uneasily on his feet. "I didn't want you to leave."

Sean didn't know what to make of Colton's lies and misdirection. "What's going on here?"

"I told you-I told you everything."

"Only after I pulled it out of you." Sean wasn't getting anywhere with this. "When did Brighton first talk to you?"

"Beginning of August."

That was right after Paxton blackmailed Sean. The timing was not a coincidence. "She's in bed with Paxton," Sean said.

Colton's brow wrinkled. "They're having an affair?"

"No-Paxton blackmailed me about Martin Holdings at the end of July. It's no coincidence that Brighton starts asking you questions about me in August. Did she have any evidence about Martin Holdings?"

"No. But-she did say something suspicious. That she knew you were a criminal and she would prove it."

"And even with a federal agent with a personal vendetta against me you wanted me on your team?"

Colton motioned for Sean to walk over to his BMW. "Sean, remember in college, it was the day Travis would have been twenty. I wasn't in a good way: My pet.i.tion for records using the Information Act was denied, and then I was almost caught hacking into the PBM facility."

"I remember. I covered your tracks so they'd think it was a network failure."

"You did more than that. You saved my life." He stopped walking and faced Sean. "I was so depressed. It was Travis's birthday and I failed him."

"You've never failed him."

"You said that, and other things, but mostly, I realized I'm not the only one. You'd never told me about what happened to your parents until that night. I knew they'd died in an accident, but I didn't know it was in a plane crash; I didn't know that you were supposed to be with them."

Sean looked away. He hadn't ever told anyone else about that, not even Lucy.

"Yet you became a pilot. You faced your fears. And what you did at Stanford took courage."

"It was prideful," Sean said. "Looking back to Stanford, and to what we did in college, we didn't do it to change the world. We did it because we could. We did it for the rush."

Colton didn't say anything for a minute. Then, "Maybe part of it was the rush. But you can't tell me you didn't believe in what we were doing."

That was true. "I was never as n.o.ble as you, C. You always believed in the greater good. You would have gone to prison for what you believed in. I didn't want to go to jail."

"You're selling yourself short, Sean. Most of what we did no one ever knew. Just us. How can you say that's prideful? Maybe-personal satisfaction?"

"I learned from what happened at Stanford that I didn't need public accolades."

"It's because of you that everything I earn I put into Travis's charity. Real research to end leukemia. It's why I don't have a lot of money, why I took this job. Senator Paxton funded me and I'm getting the proof that Pham-Bonner Medical is responsible for Travis's death. You taught me to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. You never backed down, Sean."

"I did-"

"No, you didn't. You just didn't think I knew."

Sean was wholly uncomfortable with the praise Colton was heaping on him. He had been lying to Colton for the past month, and now Sean felt worse. "Don't make me into something I'm not," he said.

"There's no one I would rather have with me when I find the evidence of what PBM did to Travis in my hands. You're the only one who understands what this means to me."

"I'm a danger to you right now," Sean said. He almost told Colton everything. Noah wanted Sean to read Colton into the investigation and get him to help, but considering the truth about Travis was at stake, Colton would not do it. And could Sean stop Colton from learning the truth? "I shouldn't go to the carriage house, and I can't go to my apartment," Sean said. "I don't know if the feds are looking for me, or what."

"Well, I've been manning the police chatter and there's no APB out on you. Maybe she wasn't able to identify you at Hunter's."

"She knew exactly who I was," Sean said.

He and Colton got into the BMW and Colton sped off. He didn't say anything and Sean feared he was getting suspicious. Sean would be.

Sean said, "Do you know who killed Hunter? Any idea at all?"

"I wish I knew."

"It's connected to what we're doing."

"Maybe PBM found out about our plans."

"One of the reasons I went to D.C. was to run facial recognition on that guy who was at the carriage house yesterday. His name is Kurt LeGrand. He has no connection to PBM. You didn't recognize him, but do you know the name?"

"No."

But Colton had hesitated just a bit. Sean didn't know if Colton was suspicious by nature or if he did know LeGrand.

"Someone met LeGrand at the carriage house, Hunter saw him on the camera, and now Hunter is dead."

"Then it's a good thing that we're changing the plan. If PBM suspects we're going to break in, we have to move up the timeline. We're doing this tonight, Sean, not tomorrow. I didn't tell anyone yet, but they're all waiting at the safe house."

"Safe house?"

"Completely secure, no communication, in or out." He glanced at Sean. "If you want out, tell me now."

Sean should. But he couldn't. He had a bad feeling that one of the others was about to double-cross Colton. Someone needed to watch his back. If nothing else, Sean owed him that.

"I'm in."

Noah looked at the phone message from Sean: We've been ordered to power down. Will try to reach you later.

Sean had told Noah they'd be powering down twelve hours before the operation, but a day before? Did Colton suspect someone was a traitor? Was Sean in danger?

Too many unanswered questions, too many unknown variables. Noah wished he could pull the plug, but there was no way to reach Sean. And Noah doubted that Sean would back down now that he was so close to getting the goods on Paxton.