Page 14 of Heartbreak Hero

“Fuck…” Levi muttered, running a hand down his face.

“Yeah. We’ve been trying to get to the head of the organization for the past year. His name is Edward Stewart.”

“What’s that got to do with the lounge?” Levi frowned.

“Through sheer luck, we found out that Stewart’s right-hand man, Chester Miller, stops by the Velvet Lounge on a regular basis,” Nash said.

“You’ve gotta have more than that,” Levi pointed out.

“Two months ago, the DEA sent in undercover officer Brenda Webb.”

When Nash went silent, Levi rubbed at his chin. Okay, he’d bite. “What happened?”

“Brenda was killed in a car accident,” Nash said.

“That happens.”

“Hit and run,” Nash added.

“Well, that’s just fucking great,” Levi muttered. “You think this Edward Stewart took her out?”

“According to our sources, it was a hit, but we can’t prove it.”

“You know… I want to retire,” Levi muttered.

He’d become a bodyguard so he could eventually get completely out of covert ops.

“Aries needs you in on this one, buddy.”

That puzzled Levi. Aries was a black ops unit that worked beyond the law. Why were they involved in a DEA case?

“Since when does Aries collaborate with law enforcement?”

The black ops unit didn’t do this kind of thing. The members of Aries were ghosts with one main objective—eliminating high powered people who did some very bad shit.

“Since a few months ago. It was after you started bodyguarding,” Nash said.

“I’m trying to retire,” Levi said firmly.

“Yeah, but you’re still active Aries,” Nash said. “Plus, you used the Aries database to put a trace and ping Sara’s phone. Not to mention, you recently searched for her work address…and that alerted Aries, who was working on the joint task force.”

“I’m a bodyguard now.”

“You are so far from retired.” Nash gave a bark of laughter. “You just did a job with us. Remember the yellow file? You handled that with us five months ago without blinking.”

Levi closed his eyes. The yellow file had been an exception, and he’d only taken the job because the SecDef had personally called him for help. The mission—take out a house official who had been caught molesting young children.

“Right, I helped on that because Will called me beforehand,” Levi said. “Besides, things like the yellow file fit what we do. Aries doesn’t handle human trafficking and drugs.”

“Suspectedhuman trafficking,” Nash said.

“Yeah, okay, but dirty politicians are our specialty, not drug crime lords,” Levi pointed out.

“Like I said…We’ve been handling those types of cases over the past few months,” Nash informed him.

Levi groaned. “Isn’t that what the cops are for?”

“Let me cut to the chase here,” Nash said. “King says…you will be working this case because you opened the file using our database. And let’s not forget you are still part of Aries.”

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