Page 57 of Operation Delta
I wasn't sure that was enough.
"There's so many people involved in this mess. Atkins has a huge network. Someone has to be helping him."
"Well, it's not Officer Brody," Andrew said. "He might only be on administrative leave while they investigate his involvement in this fiasco, but Hank got one of his buddies to follow the dude. He's been sitting in his corner bar every day drinking his sorrows away."
"I'm not sure there's enough evidence to convict him of anything," I admitted. "I haven't really been able to find anything important in my search."
"If it's there, you'll find it."
I hoped Ian was right. I wanted every last one of these fuckers to go down.
"What about Professor Bradley?" I asked. I was still totally pissed at the man for his involvement in this mess. "Are they going to charge him with Michael's death?"
Someone needed to pay for the man's death.
Ian nodded. "The DA said that the professor was going to be charged with Michael's murder, but they are still hoping get him to turn over on Atkins so they are delaying the trial as long as they can to get him to talk."
My hands clenched. "So, what? They're not going to hold him accountable?"
"Oh no, he'll do time," Ian said. "How much time he serves in prison depends on what he gives them on Atkins."
"I hope he gets life."
Professor Bradley might not have pulled the trigger, but he'd been involved in Michael's death. He deserved what he got.
"Well, they're keeping him behind bars until he goes to trial, so that should make you feel better."
"Not really," I replied. "I'd feel better if Michael had never been killed, but I guess that's not going to happen." I heaved a sigh. "I still don't understand how Professor Bradley and Atkins even knew each other, let alone why they were working together."
"That I can answer for you," Ian said. "According to Bradley, one of the reasons he was so interested in your project was because Atkins wanted it."
I frowned. "Why? It was just a data base program."
"It was a data base program Atkins wanted access to so he could get to the Harvard University student records. He planned to use it like a dating website for all of his rich buddies. They could go through it, pick out who they wanted, and Atkins would arrange for that person to be kidnapped and taken to their new master."
I sucked in a painful breath. "He wanted to use my program to sell people into slavery?"
"From what we understand from all the evidence, once Max's little scheme went under because he got busted, Atkins had to find another way to procure his merchandise."
"What a sick bastard."
My cell phone buzzed. I reached over and grabbed it, smiling when I glanced down at the text message. "I need to go," I said as I slid it into my pocket and headed for the door. "Lock up when you leave."
"Wait," Ian called out. "Where are you going?"
"Out."
"But you don't like to go out."
I grinned and winked at my friends over my shoulder. "Abe found a new way to convince me to leave the house."
I never in my wildest dreams would have thought I'd like sex in public, but apparently, we'd discovered my kink. I didn't like doing it in front of people. I liked hiding in public and the thrill of possibly getting caught in a compromising position.
Luckily, Abe was all too willing to give in to my kink.
I had a definite pep in my step as I walked out of the house and hurried down the sidewalk, heading to the local park. I wasn't sure where exactly in the park Abe was hiding. Part of the fun was trying to find him. It helped hone my tracking skills and Abe's hiding skills.
I let out a small scream when I was grabbed from behind and pulled into a thicket of trees, but it was quickly stifled under the hand that covered my mouth. Warm breath blew out across my skin as whoever had me leaned in close to my ear.
"Hello,liefling."
I turned and smiled up at the sexy dark-skinned Marine who owned every bit of my heart, the man who had fulfilled all of my fantasies, the man I planned to spend the rest of my life with.
"Hello, love."
THE END
