“Hurry!” she yelled.
“He turned right at the light,” Adam told her. “We should be able to catch him.”
Aubrey clutched the door handle as Adam sped down the road. He took the corner too fast and Aubrey reached for the seatbelt.
“Where did he go?” her brother demanded.
Aubrey searched the empty streets. “Damn it!”
There was no sign of the old, beat-up car the guy had been driving.
“He couldn’t have gone far,” Adam insisted.
They drove around for ten minutes before Adam pulled into a parking place not far from where they’d first lost their suspect.
“You need to call your boyfriend,” he told her.
Aubrey didn’t think that was a good idea. No, it was a really
bad
idea.
She wanted to argue. But one look at his scowling face and she knew that she didn’t have much choice.
She muttered under her breath as she started to dial Cody. This wasn’t her fault.
* * * *
Cody sat in front of Adrian and his lawyer. Adrian looked a little worse for wear from spending the night in the holding cell.
“Morning, Mr Brown. I hope you decided to cooperate with us today,” Cody said pleasantly.
Adrian glared at him before he glanced at his lawyer.
“Mr Brown will give you details about the withdrawals and the payphone he called from—with the stipulation that it does not get out. It would not be in the best interest of the Cast.”
“We will do our best to keep everything confidential,” Cody assured him. “But any information we receive will have to be verified.”
Mac Douglas looked over at Adrian who nodded.
“Mr Brown is paying for private counselling. I have brought the receipts from his therapist.”
“That’s a lot of money for a therapist,” Cody noted.
Adrian clenched his jaw and his eyes narrowed. His lawyer placed his hand on Adrian’s shoulder.
“The amount is to secure confidentiality,” Mac provided.
Cody held out his hand and Mac passed the pages over. Cody glanced through them. They were indeed receipts from a local therapist’s office. There was also an appointment sign-in sheet.
Cody handed the papers to Ryder. He needed Adrian to provide him with more. The doctor–patient privilege would keep the physician from revealing why Adrian was there.
“I need more,” Cody told them. “Why so much money? Why did you withdraw cash, and did anyone else know about this?”
He wondered if Aubrey had known. She’d been adamant that Adrian was innocent. Was it because she’d already had this information?
“Only Gregory knew,” Adrian told him. “He was the one who actually set up the counselling.”
“Why?”
Adrian sighed. His hands were currently uncuffed and he started to tap his index finger on the table. “I have a problem…”
Cody waited.
“I’ve messed up some relationships in the past,” Adrian admitted. He met Cody’s eyes.
He was talking about Aubrey. He wouldn’t let Adrian push him this time. The small amount of time he’d spent with her the night before had him feeling better.
“With my position with the Cast, Gregory insisted that I get help.”
“Spit it out,” Cody demanded.
“I’m a sex addict,” Adrian announced.
Cody sat there for a moment. Well, shit, he hadn’t expected that.
“I’m unable to resist. Can’t help myself. I’ve tried to be faithful but…” Adrian shrugged.
The nonchalance irritated Cody. He knew how much Adrian’s unfaithfulness had affected Aubrey. For Adrian to blame not being able to keep his dick in his pants on an addiction disgusted Cody.
“You judge me,” Adrian said angrily.
“No,” Cody lied. “I’m just trying to put this investigation together. You say the withdrawals are for you to get help, except you didn’t reveal this last night.”
“I was embarrassed,” Adrian responded. “Not everyone understands what it’s like. I lost a great woman to this…compulsion. I would prefer that others not know.”
If Adrian brought Aubrey up one more time, Cody was going to do something he would regret.
“I’m getting help now,” Adrian continued. “Gregory was assisting me. He actually ordered me to do something about my problem.”
So if Adrian didn’t
want
to get help, what would Gregory have done?
“What did Gregory say?”
“If I didn’t get control of my problem, he would remove my rank,” Adrian answered quietly.
Well, there was his motive. To have one’s rank removed, especially someone who was second-in-command, would have screwed up Adrian’s life.
“He was just being a good leader,” Adrian insisted. “I don’t know that he would have really done it, but I didn’t want to find out.”
Adrian wasn’t really helping his case.
“The calls?”
Adrian actually blushed. Cody lifted a brow at the man’s unexpected embarrassment.
“A prostitute.”
Oh, this was just getting better and better, Cody mused.
“She moves from motel to motel. She stayed there for two weeks before I left for my conference,” Adrian explained.
“You were already seeing your therapist when you were calling her,” Cody pointed out.
Adrian bobbed his head. “Yeah.”
Cody exchanged a look with Ryder. Did he really believe all of this?
“Where is this…woman now?” Cody questioned.
Mac slid a piece of paper across the table. “I located her last night. This is the motel she is currently staying in.”
“You spoke to our witness?” Cody snapped.
“Our witness,” Mac corrected. “I had to find her. Let her know it was okay to tell you about her and Adrian’s…relationship.”
Or pay her off to lie, Cody thought.
“We’ll have to check all of this out.” Mac pulled out one more sheet of paper. “This is a request for my client to be released while the investigation continues. We both know that you don’t have enough to take him in front of a court.”
“I’m not letting him go,” Cody announced with conviction.
“A judge disagrees. As long as my client keeps cooperating and agrees to wear a monitoring device on his ankle, he will be released,” Mac told him smugly.
So that was why Adrian had waited to give them the information. He’d delayed until he had a deal in place.
Next to him, Ryder grunted. Cody read over the last paper. A judge had signed off on it. Damn, they would have to let Adrian go.
“If you step out of line in any way, I will haul your ass back here and lock you up for good,” he threatened Adrian.
Adrian only sneered at him.
With a shake of his head, Cody pushed his chair back and stood.
Ryder did the same.
“I’ll get someone up here to put the locator on you,” Cody informed him. He headed for the exit.
“Agent?” Adrian called to him as Cody reached for the door.
Cody looked over his shoulder at the man.
“She may be messing around with you now, but she’ll come back to me,” Adrian told him. “She always does.”
Cody just turned the knob and pulled the door open. He didn’t even have to respond. There was no need. No matter what happened between him and Aubrey, she would never get back with Adrian Brown again. That, he was one hundred per cent certain of.
He’d just stepped out of the door when Byron came running around the corner.
“We got a problem, boss!”
Cody halted, as if his blood had frozen in his veins. Had there been another murder?
“Your phone’s on silent, so Aubrey Williams called the main switchboard,” Byron informed him.
“And?”
“She and her brother spotted the suspect. They lost him, but have a general idea where he disappeared to.”
Cody couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t even twelve hours since he’d spoken to her. “Where?”
“Right by the motel.”
Cody stalked forward, patting the pockets of his jeans for his keys.
“I’m going with you,” Ryder said, jogging to catch up with him.
“I’ll strangle her,” Cody confessed. “No, better yet, I will tie her down. Tie her to a chair and keep her in a closet or something!”
Ryder chuckled. “I can see you tying her to your bed, but I don’t think she’ll go for you locking her in a closet.”
Cody growled. He took the stairs with Ryder at his side instead of waiting on the elevator.
He slammed his palms into the bar to open the stairway exit, making it burst open loudly. A few guys standing nearby glared at him, but Cody ignored the looks.
“She’s going to get herself killed.”
“She’s done all right for herself so far,” Ryder commented.
Cody just glowered.
“Hey, man, I’m just saying. Plus, she did have her brother with her, so at least she wasn’t alone this time.”
“You’re not helping,” Cody snapped, as they finally reached the front exit.
He sprinted down the concrete steps to the garage and clicked the alarm button on his key fob. Ryder climbed into the passenger seat of his Jeep and Cody behind the wheel.
As the vehicle took off, the tyres squealed. Cody pushed the car hard to reach Aubrey quickly.
“You really need to calm down, man,” Ryder tried to appease him.
“She doesn’t even realise what she’s doing,” Cody replied.
Ryder sighed and sat back. The rest of the trip was made in silence.
Cody slowed down at the motel, but didn’t see Aubrey. He continued down the block, staring out of the windshield at the people walking around. Still no sign of Aubrey.
They turned right at the first street and continued on. He passed a black Land Rover and slammed his foot on the brakes. He jerked the wheel to the side and parked unevenly.
Cody flung his door open and stomped around the back of his vehicle. He paused at the front bumper of the SUV and crooked his finger at Aubrey.
She slowly pushed her door open.
He met her on the sidewalk and hauled her closer.
“What were you thinking?” he asked her quietly.
The relief from seeing her cooled some of his temper.
Aubrey looked up into his eyes. “Adam wanted to see the motel. We were walking around, showing a picture of Adrian to various people and not getting anything, so we were headed back to the car. We’d just reached the motel parking lot when I saw him.”
Cody shook his head. “You could have been hurt. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you. I was so scared.”
“You said I could help,” she pointed out.
“I know… I know I did. I was just planning on something less visible. Something where you could use that sharp mind of yours and wouldn’t be in danger.”
“That isn’t me, Cody.”
“I know that too. I overreacted. I admit it. But just the thought of his guy getting his hands on you terrifies me.”
She gripped the front of his shirt. “Cody… He recognised me.”
“What?”
“When our eyes met. His widened. He knew who I was.”
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!”
“How is that possible?” she questioned.
Cody threaded his fingers through her hair and drew her closer, resting her forehead against his chest. “I don’t know, but we’ll find out. You have to stay away from this, though.”
Someone cleared their throat and Cody glanced to the side. Aubrey’s brother stood at the kerb, hands in his pockets, an amused smirk on his face.
Chapter Fourteen
From the hotel, Cody set up a search that encompassed eight blocks. He was certain that they had narrowed down their suspect’s home base.
If Aubrey and Adam had seen him driving in the area, the suspect had to be staying there.
He called in three additional teams along with his own, including Jamie and Zak and their squads.
Cody led his unit up the back stairs of a two-storey building. They approached the apartment doors with stealth, not knowing how the suspect would respond once cornered.
He motioned for Byron and Chloe to continue on the first level before resuming his way onto the second floor. He stepped out into the short hallway and held up his hand for Ryder to stop behind him. He breathed deeply, using all his shifter senses to guide him.
There were four apartments on this floor. He stepped forward slowly and listened at the first door. He heard a television programme and two small children arguing.
He shook his head and moved to the one across the way. All was silent. He also didn’t pick up any bird shifter scent. But every floor had to be searched.
He moved forward to the other two units.
The scent of spicy food came from the door on the right. A woman spoke in Spanish to someone else. Cody pointed to the last residence. Cody and Ryder both took a side of the doorframe.
A baby cried inside.
Cody dropped his head in disappointment. Ryder huffed. They were running out of structures to search.
“Boss, we think we have something on the first floor,” Byron said through his headset.
“On our way,” Cody told him before he and Ryder hurried to their other team members.
They rushed down the stairs and onto the ground floor. Byron and Chloe were standing on either side of the last apartment door.
He and Ryder joined the other agents, making sure to walk quietly.
Halfway down the hall, Cody picked up the scent he’d been searching for. A bird shifter, falcon, had been up and down this corridor.
“I don’t hear anything inside, but I’m sure this is the room the shifter is staying in,” Byron whispered through the mic.
Cody positioned himself right in front of the entrance and pounded.
He paused to let the others listen.
Byron shook his head. He didn’t hear anything.
Cody lifted his fist and battered the door again.
When silence remained, he stepped to the side and nodded to Byron who braced his weight on one leg and kicked with the other. The door splintered, but did not open. It took Byron two more strikes before he smashed it open.
Cody entered, weapon drawn, his team right behind him.
“Clear!” he shouted, searching through the living room.
The echo of his unit checking the rest of the apartment sounded around him.
Once they had made sure that the residence was secure, they met in the living room.
“Start going through everything,” he ordered. “I want to know every detail about this man’s life.”