Unwanted Heat

Nicholas

“Where are we with the investigation, Carter?”

“Richard Westbrook has not left the state of New York since we’ve had him under surveillance; if he is the leak, he’s not the one watching you.

We haven’t been able to determine who is partner is.”

“What are his financials like? Could he be paying someone?”

“We’re tracing some funds that he has in an off shore account, but you know how difficult it is to obtain details on those transactions, sir.”

Of course, I know-I personally have one myself for that very purpose. It was how I paid for my membership at The Blue Moon and to Bridget when I had a contract with her. By using the off shore account, no one could trace the money, which meant no one would learn that I was paying a service for Kenzie. Now it seems that fucker is using an off-shore bank account to do the same thing I didto hide his moves.

“Anything from Asher? He must be able to hack into the email account?”

“He did and so far has only been able to find the emails sent to the reporter, which match the ones she provided to us. There’s nothing from another email address, so whoever his source is, they must be using an alternative email address to communicate.”

“Tell Asher, nothing is off limits. He needs to do whatever is needed to find out who the fuck this bastard is working with. I don’t care the cost.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Has he found anything that can tie Westbrook to the email account?”

“Not yet, sir.”

“Normally I would insist that we keep looking, just to make sure we’re not overlooking someone by concentrating on him, but everything points to Westbrook being responsible.”

“Agreed, sir. The only missing link is his partner.”

“I assume he inherited money from his father’s estate when he passed?”

“Not as much as you would think. It appears the senator left most of his money to several local charities and a very large portion to his longtime assistant-”

“Interesting…”

“Richard only inherited a small portion of his father’s estate, but it would have been enough to pay a partner.”

“No other threats have been received? Nothing against PFS? No other red flags?”

“No, sir.”

“Kenzie hasn’t mentioned any other texts-”

“She isn’t receiving them, sir, because Asher has changed the settings on her phone so that she no longer receives calls or messages from blocked or private numbers.”

“So we don’t know if the texts are still being sent?”

“We don’t, sir.”

“Have you looked into Bree, like I asked?”

Although Bree wasn’t the only woman I fucked at The Blue Moon, she was the one I refused to fuck the last time I was there. I don’t know her wellhell, I can’t even tell you where she lives or what her last name isso I can’t say if I think she would have sent those text messages.

“It took some work to find out her identity before we could run a background check, but everything we have found has come up clean, so far. However, Asher believes the texts sent to Mrs. Parker were coming from a disposable cell phone, therefore it is unlikely we are going to find the phone registered to Bree that the text messages came from.”

“Anything else come up about her that I should know?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, sir. Based on the text messages that Mrs. Parker received, I think it’s obvious whoever sent them was a member of The Blue Moon and likely knew you from there. But as you know, we cannot access their client list so we don’t have a full list of suspects.”

“Keep an eye on Bree; I am fairly confident she would be the one behind texts out of everyone I was… with there.”

“Understood, sir.”

“I will be returning to work tomorrow, Carter. Make whatever arrangements are necessary, but I’m done putting my life on hold for this fucker. I have several events on my schedule that I can’t ignore any longer.”

“Understood, sir. I have been in contact with Melody regarding your schedule and have already started looking into some of the events.”

“Any that concern you, especially at this time?”

“Honestly, sir, they all concern me to some degree, however, I think with extra security on site prior to and during the events, we should be fine.”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Hire whoever is necessary, but I’m done hiding. The press is getting suspicious that I haven’t been seen in public in several weeks.”

“Yes, sir. We will be prepared for you to return to PFS starting tomorrow. What are Mrs. Parker’s plans?”

“She will not yet be returning to the bakery, at least not during normal business hours. The risk is still too great-”

“Agreed, sir.”

“If she leaves Accord Towers, I want two people on her at all times -one needs to be Hunter. She is most comfortable with him, and he knows her well enough to know if something were to bother her suddenly.”

“Yes, sir, I agree that Hunter should primary for Mrs. Parker as well.”

“There’s a campaign fundraiser on my schedule for this weekend

-”

“Yes, sir, in Boston.”

“I’d like to attend the fundraiser; the senator is proposing a bill that could have significant tax implications for clients doing business there. A client I’ve been trying to bring on board is scheduled to attend, so with the tax reform being suggested, the timing is ideal. Plus, there will be a few other key players there that would be worth talking to. While I’d prefer to be there myself, if you tell me the risk is too great I will send Alex in my place. I know the location isn’t ideal since it’s outside of New York-”

“I have already looked into it, sir, and actually this is probably one of the safest places for you to be-”

“Meaning?”

“In addition to the senator, there are several high profile officials expected at the meeting, therefore security will be at the highest level. Attendance is by invitation only, so we do not need to worry about anyone sneaking in who does not belong there. The security firm that is contracted to provide services for the event, is ran by an old army buddy of mine, who I trust completely. I can arrange for a few of his staff to assist us while we are on the ground there.”

“Any transportation concerns?”

“PFS’s jet has been under video surveillance since we identified Westbrook as a probable threat, and we have moved it to a different facility for storage. Alex flew on it late last week with no problems.”

“Make the arrangements necessary. I would like to fly in on Friday and fly back on Monday, possibly Tuesday. I’d like to spend some time with

Kenzie in Boston…”

“Yes, sir. I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Nicholas?” Kenzie knocks softly on my office door a couple of hours later.

“Come in, baby,” I meet her half way across the office and immediately kiss her, loving the way her lips feel against mine. As much as I want to get back to PFS tomorrow, this is the thing I will miss the most about working from home. Over the past few weeks we’ve had lunch together every day-it started on one of the first days I was working from home. Julie asked me what time I wanted lunch but instead of her bringing it in, Kenzie brought it in along with a lunch for herself. We would sit at the table in here and eat together; sometimes I would be on a call, but Kenzie would still stay and have her lunch with me. Ever since that first week I have had Melody leave at least a thirty minute opening in my schedule each day so we could have lunch together.

“What’s wrong?” I see the worry in her eyes the moment the kiss ends.

“The press-”

“What did they do now?”

She hands me her phone with the browser already brought up:

Is there trouble in paradise already?