I spent the flight researching the possible players involved and moving around certain assets we might find useful in New York. The closer we got to NYC the more dread I felt. This city did not hold any good memories and I had no sense of homecoming. I had thought I would never again set foot in this city. It was dangerous for me to be here. Yes, there were over 8.5 million people in New York City but if just one of the wrong people recognized me here, I was worse than dead. There was no telling what Malcolm would do to me if his associates got their hands on me.
As my dread started to turn into fear, I considered just dropping Liam off and retreating to somewhere safe. I wasn’t really a part of his team. I didn’t know his sister and I didn’t owe Liam anything. Returning to NYC meant risking my freedom and my safety. I was finally out and it had cost me so much to do it. Why the fuck was I jeopardizing everything to help someone I barely knew?
The answer to that was simple though. There was a young woman who needed my help. I was now in a position to offer that help when I felt powerless to help countless times before. I would not standby when I was able to help.
Not anymore.
I pulled a clean alias that I could use to keep the name Payton Taylor out of New York. Tiffany Pierce was a kept housewife from Houston Texas and I had borrowed her identity to set up some accounts in the Cayman Islands years ago. Most of my money was separated into different untraceable accounts but I also held a couple million in bitcoin that I could access in a pinch. I had three credit cards, a driver's license, and a passport under the name Tiffany Peirce along with fifty thousand dollars in cash, a couple of burner phones, multiple knives on my person, and three handguns in my bag. In the scheme of things, I felt woefully unarmed.
I was as prepared as I was going to get to reenter the city that I had grown up in, but nothing could prepare me for seeing Joey again. We had landed and taken a taxi to his apartment in Brooklyn and it was a little after eight AM. Liam had followed me to Joey’s door, but I turned and told him that he should be the one to knock because I wasn’t sure I would be able to make myself take that final step. Liam shrugged and moved in front of me to knock.
My heart was pounding so hard I was afraid it would re-crack my ribs and my hands started to sweat. Fear, simple unadulterated fear, pulsed through my system as I heard approaching footsteps. I heard the deadbolt unlock and I had to force myself not to bolt. I hadn’t seen Joey since before I had learned of his betrayal and I didn’t want to see him now. If I had it my way I would have never set eyes on him again.
The door opened to reveal a sleepy Joe McDonald holding a cup in his hand. Seeing his profile was like a kick to the stomach and I struggled to not react. Struggled not to pull my gun and shoot him through the heart so that he might feel the kind of pain that he had caused me.
Joey had Italian ancestry that presented itself in two-inch-long dark glossy hair, a narrow nose, and well-defined cheekbones. He looked younger than his age and I personally thought he mirrored the type of men that appeared in cologne commercials. My first instinct was to break his nose and permanently mare his perfection.
Joey took a step back away from Liam’s looming figure and his hand reached for something behind his door. But before Joey could draw the weapon that I knew he was reaching for, Liam introduced himself. “I am Liam Harris. You are investigating the kidnapping of my sister Grace Harris.”
Joey blinked and processed Liam’s words. “How’d you find me, Mr. Harris?”
It was then that he glanced behind Liam and saw me. Our eyes locked and recognition flooded Joey’s face as the coffee cup slipped from his hand and crashed to the floor. “Harper?” he said in shock as he stepped forward into the spilled coffee with an outstretched hand. White hot fury filled my veins and my fist had connected with his face before I made the conscious decision to hit him. His head rocked back, and he stumbled to regain his balance. I moved to put Liam between us, so I wouldn’t hit him again.
The fury running through my system kept my jaw locked as I stared at Joey with hatred. Joey barely acknowledged the hit before asking me, “Harper how are you here right now? I…” He tried to step closer to me again, but I kept Liam between us. “I wanted to find you, but they told me that you didn’t want to talk to me. That it was better that way. But I-”
“Stop,” I bit out, cutting him off before he could try to give me any explanations. I didn’t need or want explanations from him. I wouldn’t believe anything that came out of his mouth about the subject anyway. “I am not here to talk about the past Joey. I am here because we need to find Grace Harris.”
I thought about Liam’s little sister scared and alone and swallowed my pride before asking Joey for help. I was still looking directly into his eyes when I forced myself to ask, “Will you help us find her?” That simple question cost me way more than I was willing to admit. If it had been anything remotely related to only me, I would have never come to Joey for help. But this was bigger than me, this was about an innocent girl. This was about Grace.
To his credit, Joey didn’t even hesitate before answering, “Of course. I will do anything you need, Harper.” I tasted bile in my throat when I heard the name Harper from Joey’s lips.
“It’s Payton now. And stay the fuck away from me Joey. If you try to touch me again, I will do more than give you a black eye.” Joey acknowledged that he heard me and then turned to lead us into his apartment.
When Joey turned his back Liam raised his eyebrows and asked, “What the hell was that?”
I kept my eyes on Joey’s retreating form as I responded. “Told you it wasn’t going to be a pretty reunion. Joey is a good FBI agent but don’t trust him, Liam.” He gave me a look I didn’t understand before we walked into Joey’s apartment. I looked around and felt a weird sense of déjà vu. I had never been to this apartment before, but it was filled with things that I recognized and connected with the Joey that I had known. The Joey that was a lie.
Joey was by the sink in the kitchen holding a dishrag that I guessed he was going to use to clean up the spilled coffee when he asked, “How did you even know that I am in charge of looking for your sister Mr. Harris? I just started looking into it last night and Grace hasn’t even been formally reported missing.” His question was directed at Liam, but his eyes were focused on me. I really didn’t want to talk with him, so I ignored the question and moved to the table where he had all the evidence spread out.
I was starting to sort through it when Liam finally spoke up. “Payton did something to your computer. It alerted her when you typed my name. We flew in from Havana as soon as possible.”
“Havana?” Joey asked. “Like as in Cuba. What were you doing in Cuba, Har-“ I cut him off with a sharp look before he could finish calling me Harper again. When neither of us answered the Cuba question, Joey tried again. “How do you two know each other?” The clear note of jealousy in his voice brought another wave of rage and I had to clench my jaw to regain my control. Joe McDonald had zero right to be jealous about anything involving me. He didn’t even have the right to know anything about my new life.
Liam must be trying to build rapport with the FBI agent because he started answering his questions. “Payton and I work together. We were down in Cuba for a job.”
“Oh I see, what kind of work?” Joey pushed
“Private security.”
“Private security? I guess that makes a certain kind of sense. Do you like the work, Payton?” My new name sounded weird coming out of Joey’s mouth. My past was colliding with my present and I did not care for it.
I let out a deep breath and silently asked for patience. “What I would like is for you to tell us what you have on Grace’s kidnapping. It looks like there were three other girls that went missing from the area over the last couple of weeks.”
“Yes. I suspect the Los Zetas Cartel. I have been working on a way to bring the Cartel down for a couple of months now. Stumbled onto the girls about three weeks ago. The first girl that I know of, Molly, was taken out of The Church three weeks ago and no one has seen her since. Julie and Cara were taken from the club across the street called Push. Julie ten days and Cara three days ago.” He pulled three photos from the piles of paper on the table and handed them to Liam. “If we can find where they are selling the girls, we can nab some of the lower guys on trafficking charges and hopefully get them to flip on the bigger operation.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Of course, he would be more concerned about taking out the entire cartel than saving four girls. I didn’t know why I was surprised. It fit into what I had discovered about him to a tee. I needed to make my position very clear to Joey.
“We are going to find where they are keeping Grace and the other girls and then you are going to call in the big guns to ensure they are rescued as safely and as quickly as possible. I am not here to help you take down another crime syndicate Joey. I could give a flying fuck about the Los Zetas Cartel. I only care about getting Grace back.” I paused to make sure he was hearing me. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Is that all you really care about?” Joey asked with a desperate look in his eye.
Emotions swirled inside me and I had to focus to push everything I was feeling to the side. Of course, I cared about a lot more than just the kidnapped girls. But right now, all that mattered was getting to Grace and the other girls. Untangling the mess of my past would have to wait. I needed Joey to focus and hand over information we could use. So, I pulled out the big guns. “You owe me, Joey. After everything that went down you fucking owe me. And this is what I want. I want you to do everything in your power to help us find Grace Harris.”
“If I help find her, will you please let me explain my side of things?” If? It was his fucking job to find the girls and he was trying to blackmail me into a conversation I had zero interest in having. Years of being blackmailed, corhoursed, threatened, and beaten flashed through my mind and my tried and true defense mechanism of shutting down all emotions slipped into place. Showing any reaction just gave them more power over me. The cold numbness washed over me and I straightened my shoulders to face Joey head-on. In this state, all my hate, fear, guilt, and passion were stripped away and I was able to stand before my former lover with a clear head.
I was about to tell Joey that after Grace was safe I would talk to him when he took a step back away from me with a look of horror maring his handsome face. “Fuck Harper, I didn’t mean it like that. Please stop looking at me like I am one of them. You know I would never hurt you like that.”
I didn’t know that. Truth was that I didn’t know the real Joey from Adam. The entire time we had been together he had been playing me and the one thing he had done as himself had hurt more than any beating.
I let his words wash over me in my emotionless state and replied in a cold dead voice, “You will have your conversation after Grace is safe. Now, please take us through what you have.” Joey looked like he wanted to say more, but after a moment he let his shoulders fall and moved to sit down at the table to take us through every piece of evidence he had.
He didn’t have much. Most of what he had he was using to build a case against the leaders of the cartel and he had very little on the kidnappings. Joey had no leads on where the girls were being held or how the cartel was getting them out of the city. But he did have the security footage of Grace being taken from The Church. I replayed the scene several times before I realized what I was seeing. Grace was clearly drugged when she was led out of the club, but she only had one drink and never put it down. That meant the only person that could have drugged her was the bartender. I was willing to bet that he was part of the kidnapping ring.
Liam and Joey were busy looking into properties owned by the cartel, so I took the time to do a little digging into the bartender. I wasn’t going to tell Joey about this angle yet. I wanted to be able to lean on him without the federal government stepping in and ensuring he had all his rights. After I found what I needed, I stood and started gathering my stuff.
“Where are you going?” Joey asked me. Liam looked at me with the same question in his eyes.
“We have got all we can from you right now. Liam and I are going to check out some stuff in the city.” This caused Joey to stand so quickly that his chair fell over.
“Harper you CAN NOT go sniffing around your old contacts. You shouldn’t even be in this city to begin with. You know they will do more than just kill you if they find you.”
It was like he thought I was born yesterday. I was well aware of the risks involved in a continued stay within this city. I had been the one to grow up within The Family for fuck sake. Noone knew their retribution better than I did. I just happen to think saving a young girl from being sold as a sex slave was worth the risk. But Joey clearly didn’t agree with me, so I decided to try to use his fear to get more information. “It’s Payton. And if you don’t want me going to my old contacts, you’re going to have to provide me with some new ones.” I let that sink in for a moment before asking, “Who’s your agent on the inside Joey?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit,” I bluntly stated as emotion started to creep back in, “If you have been working the cartel for months, we both know you have at least one undercover agent within their ranks. I can find out who it is on my own, but it might be more circumspect if you were to set up a meeting.” He stared at me and visibly clenched and unclenched his jaw.
“I will see what I can do.” Joey finally said through his teeth. I reached into my bag and pulled out one of the burner phones and threw it at him before stalking out of the apartment. I didn’t stop to wait for Liam until I hit the street outside.
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