Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(25)
Marc nodded. “You know that’s the…well, that’s the stupidest story I’ve ever heard. Is any of that true?”
She nodded. “Yes. Every bit of it. The kids at the orphanage made fun of me all the time. And when I was in college, it was very difficult to sign up for classes. It’s the reason I ended up working for Kirby Mann.”
Jack looked at Dylan. He came toward her as all the pieces fell into place…everything; the house, the pool, and the man she worked for. She didn’t realize she’d been sat down with her head between her knees until someone said that she was to stay there. She struggled enough that she was finally set free.
“I need to talk to Caitlynne. She has to know what Mann is doing.” She looked over at a man she’d yet to meet yet knew. “Is that the president?”
“Yes. He was also the tiger. He told me that you were a pushy thing and he’d like to hire you.” She nodded and looked up at Dylan. “What?”
“I thought I worked for him.” She nodded to Caitlynne as she pulled up in front of them in a large SUV. “And her. I knew who she was, but didn’t make the connection until just now. She’s going to have me put in prison if what I thought was true isn’t.”
“She won’t. She knows there’s something going on, and until now, she’s not had anything to get things all lined up.” Dylan kneeled down in front of her. “I was coming out here to find you and seduce you. I had this idea that I could make you scream out a climax and a promise. One that said you wouldn’t be ashamed of your body again.”
She nodded and looked at the president as he talked and joked with Khan as he put his wife in the vehicle. When he looked at her, the president nodded, and she nodded back. She wondered what she’d just agreed to, and asked Dylan.
“He can hear us. Everyone here can. As a cat, our hearing is very good. We can hear most any whisper. He knows you’re upset, baby, and he understands that you might have been caught in the middle of something.”
“I was…I am. Mann is looking for me. I didn’t know who before, and now that I do, I’m more afraid for your family. He won’t stop. Not with what I know.” She wondered if Casey was still safe, and hoped so. “I’ve done so many things in the name of the covert company I worked for. So many horrible, horrible things. Things I don’t even know if I can forgive myself for.”
They got into the truck that Reed had driven over. Khan was so happy that he kept pulling her into his arms and hugging her. The fourth or fifth time he came toward her, she told him if he didn’t behave she was going to knock him on his ass. He laughed and hugged her, anyway. The man was sappy, that’s all there was to it.
An hour later she was sitting in a room with Marshall, Caitlynne, and the president, who’d asked her to call him Warren. She declined. And Dylan was there, as well. He was there because he threatened to simply listen in and tell everyone in the room with him what was being discussed. She was never so happy to have him near her in her life.
~~~
“I started working for the agency right out of college. I had a degree in criminal science, but it wasn’t going to do me much good because I had a record.” She looked at Caitlynne when she asked her for what. “Grand larceny. I stole a car. I was fifteen and thought that I could sell it and use the money to eat on for a while. I had no idea that the car was worthless; and worst yet, it belonged to a cop, Richard Davenport. He was restoring it.”
“Did he have you arrested?” Marshall asked. She smiled at him. “Or did he just have you given community service and put you into some home?”
“Yes, he had me arrested. But he and his wife also took me in. I spent the next four years living with them and going straight. They helped me get into college and made me save my money. He also taught me to trust no one. He saved my life a great many times with that bit of sage advice.”
Marshall nodded. “You went to work for Kirby Mann. What was the—?”
“I didn’t work for Mann until later. The first man I worked for was Conrad Garrett. He got promoted right after I joined the team. I think he’s dead, though.”
“Yes, he killed himself about a year or so ago.” Caitlynne looked down at something on the desk. “Tell me who else is on the team.”
“There are about fifty-three of us. Two of them are now dead as of the night I ended up at the Clements’s house. I killed them both when they fired at me. Would you like to see their files?” Caitlynne looked at the president. “If I’m going to go before a firing squad, I might as well make it worth my while.”
“You have them on you?” She stood up and went to the front of the house. Dylan went with her. She went to the first step and pulled it up. It was still where she’d left it. Going back to the study, she handed the thumb drive to her. Caitlynne in turn handed it to Reed, who’d been asked to join them when she said it was on a drive.
“The files are marked, and you should be able to figure them out.” She went to the computer with Reed and stood behind him, pointing them out as she explained. “This is the names and complete files of each member of the group. Mine is there as well, but little of the information is correct. I didn’t alter it. I just never gave up the right information.”
Reed closed that one and opened the next. He stared at if for several seconds before he looked around the room. He didn’t say anything when she told him to open the first file.