Expired Game (Last Chance County Book 5) Read online

  Or, they thought they knew the full extent of it.

  Ted strode back to his computer and pulled up the photo, desperate to change the subject. “We only have two days to figure out where the Founders next meeting will be. That’s got to be the priority, not me returning a phone call.”

  The image showed six men dressed in military fatigues. All young, given their ages at the time of their service in Vietnam. They’d come home and founded the town of Last Chance.

  Since neither said anything, Ted continued. “Of the six men in this photo, the only ones still in play are the fire chief and the owner of that restaurant on the highway.”

  “Pie flavor of the week is chocolate cream,” Basuto said. “If we have to arrest him, I’m not going to be happy.”

  Conroy’s lips curled up on one side. “The others are Chief Ridgeman, your father, the bank manager Silas Nigelson, and the doctor who tried to kill Ellie, right?”

  Ted nodded. “Then there’s whoever took the photo. We have three dead and one in FBI custody. But one of the other three has to be West, right? They’re all involved in running this town. Legally and illegally, most likely, given their occupations. We figure out which one is in charge, and we can close the case.”

  “You think they’re using burner phones to communicate?”

  Basuto nodded. “Ones we don’t know about.”

  “If they are,” Ted answered Conroy’s question, “which I do think is the case, then they don’t know we’re tracking their phones. Otherwise, they would leave their personal phones at home.”

  Conroy scratched his jaw. “There’s no way to predict where they might go next?”

  “No rhyme or reason.” Ted pulled up the GPS history he’d loaded onto a map. Three points were marked. “Once a month, in the middle of the night, they all show up in the same place. But it’s so random, there’s no way to get ahead of them.”

  “But we know it’ll be two nights from now.” Basuto folded his arms. “So we just have to follow them that night.”

  “Unless they get the impression we’re breathing down their necks and they change it up completely.” Ted thought about it. “And I’m not even sure we have two days. It’s never the same day or the same length of time between meetings. It’s far more general than that. Whenever their schedules converge, and they decide to meet up for whatever reason.”

  “One of them is West.”

  Ted heard Basuto’s tone. “I’m as motivated as you are to figure this out.”

  He didn’t even want to think about what’d been happening under their noses in this town. It turned his stomach what they had uncovered. What the bank manager had been involved in.

  Jess wasn’t the only one looking into it. But what she did on her own time put her at risk.

  Conroy said, “We have to stick with the book on this one. We have probable cause to surveil, but until we have evidence of wrongdoing, anything more would be harassment. We’re already skirting a line.”

  “Maybe your dad can tell us who is who.” Basuto lifted his chin, a hard look in his eyes as he stared at Ted.

  Because Ted had confronted him about his gung-ho determination? Maybe he just didn’t like the fact Conroy’s girlfriend—now his fiancé—had been hired as the Lieutenant instead of him. Ted didn’t have the mental or emotional energy to figure out what the sergeant’s problem was. He had enough going on.

  Basuto said, “Your dad is in that picture, so he’s involved. If someone in town is a crime boss and that person is also a founder of this town, then your dad probably knows who it is. Right?”

  “I’m not talking to him.” Just considering making contact with his father made him want to race for the door and run.

  No. He was going to stay here and fight his way.

  Basuto studied Ted’s expression in a way that made him want to squirm. “You’re not keeping anything from us, right?”

  Ted held back any sign of a reaction. Any move he made would reveal the truth to these two men he respected. Good cops. They didn’t need to know who Ted really was, or what he’d done.

  “Can we just figure this out?” Ted pointed at the police chief. “Conroy looks exhausted, and we’ve all had a long day. If Jess is going to get in over her head chasing down one of these men, then we need a way to mitigate the damage done.”

  Conroy said, “Damage to her, or damage caused by her?”

  “Yes.” Ted had no illusions Jess wasn’t going to get into trouble one of these days. She didn’t want to let this case go. Their investigation was being kept quiet, and she didn’t like how long it was taking.

  “So talk to her.” Basuto lifted one dark brow. “After you talk to the FBI. Jess will listen to you because you guys are…you know.”

  Ted stood again. “What is with you?”

  “Sit down.”

  He obeyed Conroy, but said, “The Sarge needs to back off.”

  Conroy shot Basuto a look that said, “enough.”

  “They have a thing.” Basuto lifted his hands.

  “Not right now.” Ted didn’t look at either man. He kept his attention on the computer instead.

  “Woman troubles?”

  “Sergeant.”

  Both men fell silent.

  “I’ll do what I can to make sure she’s safe, just like everyone else in this department. What’s going on personally between Jess and I is our business.”

  He glanced at them, the sergeant and the chief. Ted wasn’t a cop, but working for the Last Chance Police Department was the only legitimate job he’d ever had in his life. And it had kept him from spending years in jail.

  “This is about Chief Ridgeman and the debt we all owe him,” Ted said. “Keeping his granddaughter safe.”

  That was all it was. Ted’s feelings for her were wrapped up in the gratitude he owed her grandfather. And the guilt that while the old man had done so much for him, Ted never quite managed to leave his old life behind.

  The last thing he needed was for the people in this town—least of all his brother, or Jess and her sister—to find out the truth.

  “If that’s what you’re going for, fine.” But Basuto shot him a look. “Sure. It’s all about respect and loyalty.” Before they could argue with that, Basuto stood. “I have to get home.”

  His shift started early, so that made sense. But there was still more that Ted didn’t get about the sergeant. He’d been working more since Conroy was injured, and he seemed to grow terser and terser with every day that passed. Hopefully Conroy would be back to work soon. Or the lieutenant would figure out what was going on and intervene.

  Ted didn’t want to be alone where Conroy could ask questions he didn’t want to answer, so he shut the laptop. Basuto was already at the front door.

  Ted said, “I should be going too. My brother will be wondering where I am.”

  Conroy lifted his chin. “Send me everything. We’ll put together an operation; see if we can catch the founders together and record their conversation.”

  Ted nodded. “Understood.”

  He wound up walking with Basuto through the parking lot of Conroy’s condo complex. Ted wanted to ask him what his problem was. But what would be the point? He needed to keep things simple, not get tangled up in interpersonal issues.

  There was enough of that with Jess and their shared kiss.

  Now, instead of getting together, they were in some weird, not-friends/not-dating zone he didn’t know how to get out of. Ted had to watch everyone around him pair off with someone and find happiness. Conroy and Mia were engaged. Tate and Savannah had eloped and were currently on their honeymoon. Stuart and Kaylee had gotten married in a quiet ceremony. Now Dean was asking Ted to help him work out a proposal for Ellie, Jess’s sister.

  His own brother. Her sister. Together.

  Thanksgiving dinner was going to be a nightmare unless they could be around each other without things getting emotionally charged. Yeah, right. He should book a vacation and disappear for the rest of the year
.

  “Later.”

  Ted glanced across the parking lot at Basuto. Lifted his chin. After the sergeant turned away, he sighed and leaned against his car door. Sometimes keeping up the pretense of being an upright member of the police department and the community they served was too much. Even going home where he lived with his brother and their friend Stuart and a whole private security team of four guys wasn’t exactly comfortable.

  None of them knew, any more than Conroy did.

  As much as Ted tried to bury the past, it was still very much alive and part of his life. Only in the stolen moments when he was alone could he take a full breath and be honest.

  He’d thought for a while that he might be able to tell Jess the truth. But he couldn’t. She would turn him in for sure.

  Ted’s cell phone rang. He tensed for a second before forcing himself to relax. You need a vacation. This couldn’t last forever. Holding all the dissonant fragments of his life together. His grip was slipping.

  The screen illuminated.

  “No.” That number was…

  Ted threw the phone away like it had caught fire. It bounced off the front seat and fell to the floor. Only his dad knew that number, and he was in federal custody. The guy couldn’t make phone calls.

  The alternative was that he’d told someone else how to contact Ted. But who had his dad revealed that secret to?

  And what else had he told them?

  Three

  “This is a warrant.” Jess held it out for the new bank manager, a sixty-year-old man in a suit to replace the previous sixty-year-old bank manager who also always wore suits. Silas Nigelson not only happened to be a founder of Last Chance, but also a Russian sleeper agent from way back in the seventies. No one had seen that coming.

  Jess continued, “The warrant grants us access to Silas Nigelson’s computer along with any other electronic device he had access to through the bank.”

  The bank manager took the paper. His gaze drifted down from her face to the nameplate on her uniform shirt. She saw the tiny inflection in the skin around his eyes.

  Yes, her last name was Ridgeman. The police chief before Conroy had been her grandfather. Maybe he was just confused because Jessica Ridgeman, normally a blonde, had gone brunette for her last undercover assignment. Who knew? Don’t care.

  “So if you’ll show us to the right office, we won’t need to disrupt any of your employees.” She motioned as she spoke to Ted, who stood beside her in his customary black skinny jeans and red Converse shoes. In deference to the fact they were out of the office today and representing the department, he had a blue button-down shirt pulled on over his rock band T-shirt. Though the shirt remained unbuttoned.

  His hair fell over one eye in a way that made her want to brush it back while he looked at her with those caramel-colored eyes. He’d shaved this morning, but she preferred the stubble he got after a long shift or if he skipped a day.

  The new bank manager said, “Right this way.”

  As they passed the counter to the back hall, Jess swiped a business card from the stack. Garfield Thieles. She pocketed the business card and had to fight the urge to shake her head. Where did they come up with these names? Made her and Ted look almost normal. Which was just a crazy thought.

  Garfield trailed ahead of them, his shoes clipping the floor as he strode faster than necessary down the hall. Ready for them to get this done and get out.

  She glanced at Ted. His attention was on the artwork, so she elbowed him in the arm.

  “What?” Those caramel eyes.

  She didn’t know what to say. If he let her in, she might be able to help with whatever had him twisted up in knots. He thought he was hiding it, but she could read him. She knew he wasn’t all right. No matter that he tried to convince everyone otherwise.

  In the end, she settled on a neutral, unemotionally-charged conversation. “Where do you want to go for lunch?”

  “I don’t have time for lunch. Too much to do.” He looked at the screen of his smartwatch. “Soon as we’re done, I have to get back to the office.”

  “I could get lunch and bring it to you if you need help.”

  “I’m surprised you have time, what with your solo investigation into the criminal world of Last Chance.”

  Jess stiffened. He knew. How on earth did he know? Of course she hadn’t been able to keep anything a secret.

  “Yeah, I know. So does Basuto. And Conroy.” His gaze darkened. “Newsflash, Jess. You aren’t fooling anyone.”

  “I wasn’t trying to.”

  “Then why go vigilante in your off hours?”

  “I’m trying to help. What if I find something?” Even the tiniest chance she might be able to find a clue, a lead. Something they could use to identify West and uncover the horrible operation that had been going on in town—and likely still was. Their actions could save the women involved. Get them free and in a place where they could heal and rebuild their lives.

  They stopped just outside the door, and he turned to her. “You could get hurt.”

  Jess motioned to her uniform. “I could get hurt every day. Just like you. Anything could happen, and we’d never know it was coming. But I’m not sitting on the sidelines because I’m too scared to take a chance. Not if I can help someone.”

  This time things would be different. She wasn’t going to let those women down.

  “You help people every day.” He frowned, about to say something else, when the bank manager interrupted.

  “The terminal is in here.”

  Ted stepped by her and into the room which opened into an expansive office space where half a dozen people worked. Most turned to see her and Ted at the door with their boss.

  Garfield waved Ted to a desk. “From here, you can access the network. Nigelson had files saved locally on his computer, and those are on a flash drive which contains a copy of his hard drive.” He glanced at her, a politely bland smile on his face. “Of course, his computer is now my computer. But we copied everything just in case. I’ll have that brought over.” Garfield snapped his fingers, and a woman hurried over.

  She wasn’t much older than Jess and wasn’t familiar. Sally Peters was printed plainly on her ID badge. Garfield gave her orders, and she rushed to obey.

  Jess wondered how much of Nigelson’s files they’d altered in the process. A way for the bank to save face after their name was tarnished when the truth about Nigelson—and his daughter, who had also been employed here—came out. Silas and his daughter were both dead now. Whatever they might find here would be added to the FBI’s case against Ted’s father, who had been behind an international operation that had agents undertaking all kinds of missions. Assassinations, intelligence gathering, and so much more.

  Garfield left him to it. Ted typed on the computer keyboard faster than anyone she’d ever met. It was almost mesmerizing, though she couldn’t get drawn in by him. Not only did he need space to get on with it, but she was also here to protect him. Partners watching each other’s backs—except she was the one carrying a gun.

  Jess paced the space in front of the door. Then wandered the length of the room. Five minutes later, she made it back to Ted’s side.

  He didn’t look at her. “Find something to do.”

  Jess sighed. Inactivity sucked.

  “Somewhere else.”

  She walked away, ambling around the room like she had a place to be. Like she appreciated doing nothing.

  As she passed, Garfield’s lackey tensed.

  Jess kept moving. No sense giving away the fact she knew she made Sally Peters tense. Jess’s gaze strayed to the woman’s computer screen and snagged on the image of a woman she’d met once. A long time ago.

  She turned towards the desk and planted one hand beside Sally’s white-knuckle grip on the mouse. Jess put her other hand on the back of Sally’s chair and leaned down. “Huh.”

  She read Sally’s post on social media. It linked an article from a small, sensationalized Brooklyn newspaper—
online only—and Sally had added commentary of her own. An article Jess had not yet seen.

  The mouse hovered over the Send button.

  “Did some research on me?”

  “Uh…I…”

  “Don’t bother.”

  Sally shoved her chair back, running over Jess’s shoe. She didn’t let on that it hurt. Sally backed up in the chair but didn’t stand. “You have no right to be in my personal space.”

  Jess grabbed the mouse and clicked, “cancel.” The woman’s image remained, in her mind. Rest peacefully, Nicole. She would see that face when she closed her eyes tonight and tried to sleep.

  “That’s my business, not yours!”

  “No? That’s slander. Or is it libel?” She tapped her lip. “Ted!” She called out to him across the room. “Remind me, what’s the difference between being nice and keeping your mouth shut about things you know nothing about, and mouthing off using bully tactics for everyone’s online entertainment?”

  She couldn’t quit seeing the photo, even though it was gone. Pain sliced through her chest as though she’d been wounded. The memory she’d buried since she came here resurfaced.

  Trying to wash away the past hadn’t worked; it was still there in her. Ready to jump up at any moment, whether she liked it or not.

  Across the room, Ted said, “I’m busy. I’m sure you can handle whatever it is.”

  Jess turned to Sally. “He’s right. I can.”

  She should at least look guilty, but the woman’s cheeks had pinked. Shame that she’d been caught. Not embarrassed and sorry for what she was about to say about Jess online—as though social media gave anyone permission to tear another person apart and get away with it.

  Jess decided to give Ted a pass for not jumping up and wading in. The fact she would have and always did, was just her. He was right. He was busy. Her thing didn’t need him, because she could handle it. That was true as well.

  “What are we going to do now, Sally?”

  “Get out of my face.” Her cheeks reddened further. “You think just because you’re a cop, you can throw your weight around, and I’ll do nothing? That I’m supposed to just let this go, roll over and play dead?”