Objective (Bloodlines #2)(75)

“No. It looks like the goal of a sting operation, run by the Phoenix office of the ATF, to allow straw purchasers to illegally buy weapons in the U.S. so agents could learn the traffickers’ routes into Mexico. The agents were supposed to intervene before the guns were sold to drug cartels. But agents lost track of roughly seventeen hundred weapons. The ATF’s field supervisor on the southwest border sent a series of emails last year to the director of North American Affairs on the National Security Council detailing the agency’s efforts to stop weapons trafficking into Mexico, and there’s mention that a botched sting operation already allowed hundreds of guns to flow to drug cartels. That field supervisor is dead and ballistics put the bullet that killed him on a gun legally registered to Ezra. There are files on here that list wire transfers to the supervisor's bank account as well. He took payment for those missing guns and Ezra supplied them. They were working together. If this information leaks out it puts the credibility of the Phoenix office at risk and ties them to a big scandal, not to mention putting Ezra away for life. How he managed to get this ballistics report is beyond me. There’s got to be a mole. That officer's death was ruled unsolved. This is f*cking huge, Magnolia.” He turns to me, smiling triumphantly. “You’ve been sitting on a landmine of evidence for almost two years.” He stands abruptly and circles his arms around me, lifting me up. Aster sighs as she watches him manhandle me.

“Bentley, stop.” He sets me down and looks me over. “Oh no. NO, Magnolia.”

“Yes,” I nod. “I need the leverage to get Cane back alive. Give me contact information for him.”

“NO. This information will be sent to my boss and they will handle this. You’ve had a Goddamned death wish for too long now,” he growls.

“No, Bentley, Cane is in danger, Brock is unconscious and I have the one thing he wants. I have to do this. Copy all the data and put it onto a new USB drive for me to give him, but I’m taking him what he thinks I have. I am going to make this right by everyone. You will get all the evidence you need to put him away, I will get Cane back, and God-willing Brock will pull through this. It’s a win-win for you all.”

“What about you?” he asks, slightly shocked.

“My win is him dead, but I doubt I will get to kill him at this point,” I say bluntly. “Now make the call, Bentley, I need Ezra's number.”

“Damn,” Aster whispers. I forgot she was even in the room with us.

“What?” Bentley and I crow in unison. She throws her hands up in mock surrender.

“I didn’t know how hot it could be watching two badasses bicker. Plus, Cypr...Magnolia, is like totally amazing now that she’s clearly embraced her inner bitch,” she chirps lightly. Her whole face is lit up with awe and excitement like this is just a rehearsal for a movie instead of reality. People’s lives will be in danger, are in danger. Bentley shakes his head and rolls his eyes at her before swatting my ass hard and pouring himself some bourbon and retiring outside to his usual spot. I squeal with surprise as it happens but a small piece of me almost misses when it was just him and me accepting each other in silence, that is until I remember that he knew me all along and I was the only one in the dark.

“I’ll call in the morning!” Bentley shouts from the stairs.

“Come on Aster,” I call to her after pouring myself a drink and heading to the door.

“Welcome to the world of Bentley and me.” I plop down next to him and let my head rest on the back of the chair and gaze up at the velvety night sky lit up with tiny diamond stars. Aster sits on the ground in front of me, letting her head rest on my knees, and Bentley’s hand finds mine on the armrest and gently holds it.





Chapter 24





“It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go.”- Yann Martel


“You know that spot?” I asked quietly as we laid in bed.

“This one?” he murmured back before kissing just below my ear.

“Mmmhmm...” I hummed.

“What about it?” he asked. His fingers moved slowly, but deliberately over my skin softly making my stomach feel like butterflies were taking flight.

“I think you’ve ruined that spot for anyone else. It’ll always be yours,” I babbled.

“It’ll always be mine because you’ll always be mine. Don’t you understand, Mags? With you I’m someone worth being.”



I wake up disoriented, confused and tearful. One. Two. Three. I open my eyes at ten and blow out the last deep breath. Cane. I wake up every day loving him. I sneak out of the bed so I don't wake Aster and prowl to the kitchen hoping I still have coffee to make. Bentley sits at the table, two to-go coffees sitting near him and one in his hand.

“Couldn't really sleep,” he shrugs.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know. We could arrange to extract Cane for you,” he offers.

“He’d never give up the location that way. We don’t even know if Cane’s alive.” I shudder at the thought.

“Okay,” he laments, and slides a piece of paper toward me with a number on it and takes a swig of his coffee. I grab a coffee and a phone and move outdoors. My fingers shake as I try to dial the numbers. I hit send and wait. Ten rings and voicemail. I sigh, feeling relieved and let down all at once, and wait for the beep as I mentally rehearse what Bentley instructed before we crashed last night.