Page 17 of Illicit

All in or …

Nothing.

The last two years should not surprise me. Teagan gave new meaning to being all in before shutting me out for good.

But she’s back. And I just made a deal to help her with something that I have no fucking clue what it’s about other than my employer is on her shit list.

And I’m just a DEA agent with barely three years under my belt.

I have a feeling I’m fucked.

“This isn’t some story about a man who drove to the store and disappeared or wandered off and doesn’t know who he is because dementia set in. Heath Hayes is healthy and is of sound mind. He was still running his farm on a daily basis when he disappeared. He left the country when he’s never traveled outside the southeast region of the red, white, and blue. The red flags are endless, Rocco. Heath was issued an expedited passport. He left the country and didn’t tell his family. When Stella hit a dead end with the government, she got desperate and came to A Life for Justice. I was assigned to her case with a local attorney who also volunteers his time. I even made it the subject of my thesis. We traced Heath Hayes all the way to Nigeria. After that, he disappeared.”

I set my beer down again and cross my arms, because this just went from zero to sixty. “Nigeria?”

She nods. “And he’s gone. Just … gone.”

“I’m not going to lie. I had no idea what you were up to, but I never thought it would end in Nigeria. The State Department makes sense now. Not the FBI, but I’ve got to give props to Stella for effort.” I sigh. “But I give—where does Jules Robichaux come into the picture?”

A satisfied expression settles on her face as she gives me a little shrug. “Jules was the last person Heath Hayes communicated with before he disappeared. He even arranged the expedited passport. I have a feeling he paid for Heath’s plane tickets, but I haven’t confirmed that yet because I can’t trace the money transfer back to Jules. I do have the email from him with instructions for which flights to book—the same string of flights that ended in Nigeria.”

I shake my head. “You put yourself on Robichaux’s radar for volunteer hours? You’re about to graduate, and I know your thesis passed with flying colors—Annette told me. What the hell are you thinking?”

Teagan stands and downs the last swallow of her beer. She proceeds to lick a drip off her bottom lip before shoving the empty bottle into my chest. I have no choice but to take it. “I’m doing what I love and helping someone in the process. Despite what you and everyone else thinks, I can take care of myself.”

I point the bottle at her. “You have no idea what someone like that is capable of. Don’t underestimate him.”

She shifts around me, and I’m forced to watch her walk her fine ass to the bathroom. The same ass that I know is fine even if I can’t see it because it’s hidden in my sweats that are a million sizes too big for her. Giving her those to wear was no accident. I could barely focus while she was in that damn dress.

She turns at the threshold of the bathroom and levels her eyes on me. “I know exactly what he’s capable of. Jules is responsible for the disappearance of a sweet, old, desperate man. I pretended to be his granddaughter, there’s no way he knows who I am. But you’re the one with his phone number who promised to make it worth his while to give me the information, and I’m not giving up. I need that number, Roc.”

I cross my arms and think about the direct line to Robichaux that I have no plans to share with Teagan. “You expect me to give you his number so that you can meet up with that shithead again? Because that’ll only ever happen over my dead body.”

She shrugs like the thought of my dead body doesn’t faze her in the least. “It might not be as fast as a phone call, but I can still contact him. I emailed him the first time—I’ll do it again. In fact, I have access to all the correspondence between him and Heath. You can’t stop me, so you might as well give me the number.”

I want to rip the fucking number to shreds and throw every electronic device she has access to in the Mississippi River. While I’m at it, I’ll confiscate her car keys.

“You’re playing with fire,” I tell her the truth. Probably too much of the truth. “I don’t like it.”

She leans her shoulder on the jamb and crosses her arms. I barely recognize the woman standing in front of me, and it has nothing to do with her new look. Her hair is shorter and her curves are…

Curvier.

But it’s not that.

It’s her eyes.

Her aura.

Teagan has changed in the last two years.

I decide to call her on it. “When did you become so…” I flip my hand between us. “Like you are.”

“Are you kidding? You must be dense or have amnesia.” She tips her head to the side and hikes a brow. “Actually, I hope it’s the latter. One less thing for me to be mortified about.”

“My memory is as sharp as ever, Teag.”

She rolls those eyes again that are nothing like they used to be. They’re cold, angry, and audacious.

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