Page 61 of Seeking Vengeance
Ian shook his head. “Doesn’t look like it. From what I’ve been able to find out, your woman fractured a few rules and took a leave of absence.”
“They can do that?”
“Not typically, though Nicki’s good enough that they’d look the other way as long as she was careful. Except …” Ian paused, shifting his eyes away from Sean’s.
“Except what?” Sean asked, the dread pooling in his stomach.
“Except they picked up on my sniffers and started paying closer attention. They might have been willing to overlook Nicki spending time with Nick and Charlene once they determined she never revealed herself for what she was.”
“But?”
“But … once they realized she was sleeping with you, they got nervous and yanked her out right away. It doesn’t appear that Nicki knew who you were—outside of being Nick’s boss, of course. She probably guessed something of your background but wasn’t aware of your active status until they told her.” He let that sink in for a few moments.
“So, how does this tie in with Marscone?”
“You guys already know the history there, so I don’t need to cover that.”
Sean shot Ian a look of gratitude; the last thing he wanted was to hear any more about what Marscone had done to Nicki and her brother.
“But here’s the thing: at some point in the last year or so, Nicki caught wind that Benny was still operating and took it upon herself to do a little investigating of her own.”
“That’s why she took the job at Angels.”
Ian nodded. “That and the fact that she needed a cover. Her last assignment out in Vegas was a perfect lead-in. All she had to do was ask her team to delay scrubbing the work records for a bit. No one looked beyond that when she applied at Jason’s place. He’s furious, by the way.”
“You think Nicki took out Marscone?”
Michael spoke up. “Nicki and her two partners, I’d guess. They must have had a professional cleanup team come in. The place was squeaky clean on the surface, but we found minute traces of blood in the flooring and a couple of the walls, nothing that could be picked up without professional equipment. On the first floor, we picked up at least four. In the second-floor master bedroom, two.”
“Two?” Sean had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like what came next.
Michael met his eyes. “One male, matching the DNA footprint on file for Benito Enrico Marscone. One female, unknown.”
Sean closed his eyes, willing the rage under control. Just the thought that Nicki had been hurt had him ready to explode. He didn’t consider the other possibility—it was unimaginable.
“Don’t even think that way,” Shane said softly. “She’s alive. We know they stayed at a motel about twenty miles out before vanishing. One of the ladies working housekeeping that morning said she saw three people matching their descriptions leaving, and all of them walked out under their own power.”
Sean released the breath he’d been holding; his heart started beating again.
“So, you’ve got a contact with the Chameleons, right? Can’t we use them to track Nicki?” This was from Jake, who knew exactly what Sean was feeling at that moment, having gone through something similar with his wife, Taryn, a couple of years previously.
“It’s not quite that easy.”
Sean fixed Ian with eyes like ice. “Find her. I don’t give a shit what it takes.”
Ian hesitated. “Sean, there’s something you need to know about the Chameleons. It’s not just something you walk away from. It’s a lifetime commitment.”
“Excuse me?”
Ian looked uncomfortable. “Just what I said. The organization is very particular about who they accept. Potential candidates have to be extremely intelligent, have some natural skills, and possess an iron will. But their most important qualification? They have to have nothing else to live for.”
The room was silent for a few moments as the weight of that last statement settled upon them.
“What about her brother?” Shane asked.
Sean wanted to clasp his brother on the back. From the little bit he knew of Nicki, he found it impossible to believe she’d be capable of completely cutting her twin out of her life.
“Given the fact that she’s been contacting him over the past eight years and spent a couple of weeks with him, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
