Stolen (27 page)

“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 petition 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 noble 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.

And this new player Kurt LeGrand made everything more complicated.

Suzanne ran down the hall toward where Noah was using a small desk on the fringe of the violent-crime squad. “Noah, we have shots fired at your apartment building. NYPD is on the scene, one dead female inside unit four-oh-two.”

“That’s Sean’s apartment.” Noah grabbed his gun from his drawer and holstered it. “Any word on Duke?”

“We know his flight landed and he used his credit card to take a cab, but we’re still waiting to find out where he was dropped off. NYPD can get it faster than me.”

“My bet is on Sean’s apartment. He wouldn’t have come to New York unless he knew where to find his brother.”

If Duke could track down Sean, someone else might be able to as well.

Suzanne drove to the apartment in SoHo. “Any ID on the victim?” Noah asked.

“The coroner is en route. I explained to the lead detective that this is connected to an FBI case, and he’s keeping a lid on everything.” She glanced at Noah. “You don’t think Lucy is in town?”

“She’s in Stockton’s office in D.C. Rick isn’t letting her come up. It’s safer for everyone if she helps from headquarters.”

“So she’s involved?”

“Not until last night when Sean paid her a visit at Quantico and told her everything.”

“Why would he do that?”

Noah had wondered the same thing. “My guess? He knows this just got a whole lot more dangerous. From the beginning he told me that he wanted to be the one to tell Lucy. He didn’t like keeping her in the dark, but agreed it was for the best.”

“He thinks he might not have another chance.”

“He will. No way in hell am I letting him get killed.” Noah had brought Sean into this; he was responsible for him.

“Where’s Sean now?”

“I don’t know.”

“How can you not know?”

“This is Sean we’re talking about!” Noah slammed his fist on the dashboard. “Don’t you know a shortcut or something?”

Suzanne’s knuckles whitened on the steering wheel. “Don’t take it out on me.”

Noah let out his breath. “I’m sorry.” His jaw was tight and he thought of a dozen different ways he could have gone after Jonathan Paxton without bringing in Sean Rogan. Yet all of Noah’s other plans had holes. Was this one any better?

“I saw his video. Bold.”

“That’s Sean for you.”
What woman could be in Sean’s apartment?
Noah had a sick feeling. He called Rick Stockton. “Did you get my message about the body?”

“Yes, are you there?”

“ETA three minutes,” Noah said. “Where’s Duke?”

“I just spoke to JT Caruso in Sacramento. RCK staff tracked Sean down through a wireless signal on his laptop, and Duke was heading to his apartment straight from the airport.”

“His flight landed more than four hours ago.”

“JT hasn’t been able to reach him since he landed. The last person who spoke to him was a staff member, Jaye Morgan, just after nine a.m.”

“I have to go,” Noah said, and hung up on the assistant director.

“That didn’t sound good.”

“It’s not. Sean’s brother is missing.”

Suzanne parked behind the coroner, and both she and Noah walked in through the garage.

Suzanne pointed to a black Mustang. “Isn’t that Sean’s car?”

“He wasn’t driving yesterday.”

They showed their badges to an NYPD officer manning the elevator, then took the lift to the fourth floor. The coroner had just released the body for transport, and his assistant was bagging it up. But Noah saw who it was.

“It’s Deanna Brighton,” he said.

“Oh shit,” Suzanne said.

Detective Hayden Tucker was already on scene. “I got your call, Suz, and my boss cleared me to take jurisdiction because of the connection with Hunter Nash, since this isn’t my precinct. Frankly, when the responding detective found out the feds were involved, he was happy to pass it to me.”

“I appreciate it,” Suzanne said. “What do you know so far?”

“First, I got my boys pulling all the surveillance in the building and any street cameras, so hopefully we’ll get something from that. Shots fired at ten thirty-seven this morning. First responders on scene at ten forty-eight. In eleven minutes, the shooter cleared out.”

“What’s been going on for the last two hours?”

“We had to wait for the coroner to arrive. Nasty pileup in the tunnel. Couldn’t touch the body except to confirm that she was dead. The address was flagged; that’s how you were notified.” He handed Suzanne the victim’s wallet and badge, which were in an evidence bag. “I recognized her as soon as I arrived, but you were already on your way.”

“Her gun?”

“Not here.” He motioned for one of the uniforms to bring him over another evidence bag. “We found this phone. It’s been ringing, but we haven’t answered it.”

Noah took the bag. The last missed call was from JT Caruso.

“I think this belongs to Duke Rogan, Sean’s brother. He flew in this morning.”

“We only have one body.” Tucker looked from Noah to Suzanne. “Are you certain Sean Rogan didn’t return?”

Noah wasn’t certain of anything. “I know he was in D.C. early this morning. I don’t know where he is right now.”

“This was the fed who claimed he shot at her. Why would she come here without backup?”

“Good question.” Noah had several more, including finding Sean, Duke, and Brighton’s gun.

“Suzanne, call her partner; I need to talk to him ASAP. Get her address, I want to check out her apartment. Did she have a phone on her?” he asked Tucker.

“Didn’t find one.”

Noah said, “We’ll need all calls in the last twenty-four hours in and out of her FBI-issued phone and any personal phones she has in her name.”

“I’m on it.” Suzanne stepped away.

Tucker was listening to his earpiece, then said to Noah, “My boys said the security footage was jammed from ten twenty-five until ten forty-five. They might have something from the neighboring building and are looking at the tape now. They also got confirmation of a man slipping into the garage at ten-oh-eight a.m.”

Noah would bet that was Duke. “I want a print, but I suspect it’s Sean’s brother.”

Noah walked around Sean’s apartment. Like Noah, he hadn’t really personalized it, but there was a picture of Sean and Lucy on the desk. His laptop was gone, but that didn’t surprise Noah. Sean probably had it with him. There were holes in the wall that had been patched, but Noah didn’t remember those being there last time he was here.

Duke had dropped his overnight bag in the entry; it had been kicked aside but left behind. Why did the killer take Duke instead of killing him? Why kill a federal agent?

Noah motioned for Suzanne.

She said without him asking, “I had a cop check out Deanna’s car; her phone wasn’t there.” She hesitated, then said, “Torres wants to see you in his office ASAP.”