Jonah (Chicago Blaze 7)

I’m not pretending I’m some sick fuck who gets off on victimizing women and children just to placate him. He laughs at my answer and I’m once again burning to punch him.

“Think big, my friend,” Shields says, his voice dripping with condescension. “If you could have anything, what would you want?”

I shrug and say, “I’ve already got it. Rey is everything I want and need.”

Shields tries to conceal his annoyance, but I see it in the way his eyes darken and his nostrils flare.

“Are you out here talking about me, babe?” Rey asks, walking across the patio toward us.

“Always,” I say, holding an arm out to her.

She comes over and puts a hand on my shoulder, and I wrap my arm around her waist and meet Shields’s eyes across the table, sending him a silent message.

Hands off, asshole.

“You guys aren’t going to believe who’s coming here!” Rey says in a bubbly tone. “Well, Darren, I guess you already know because they’re your friends.” She laughs before naming two A-list actors who recently became a couple. “I heard the security guys saying over the radio that their plane just landed and they’re being picked up soon.”

“Ah, I love those two,” Shields says, standing up. “They’re tons of fun. I think I’ll take the ATV down the hill and pick them up myself. “You guys want to come?”

“We’ll just see you when you get back,” Rey says. “I think I’ll put my suit back on and swim again. And I need a drink.”

Shields widens his eyes appreciatively and says, “Please wear that suit you had on earlier.” He puts his hands up in a begging motion. “Or better yet, nothing at all.”

Rey laughs, but all I can manage is to remain neutral instead of scowling. I’m not nearly as good at this as she is.Chapter Twenty-OneRey

“Ranger to base, we’ve entered the building.”

My head is bowed and I’m clutching Jonah’s hand as we listen to the raid on Shields’s compound over the radio from inside the FBI’s Chicago office.

This is the moment I’ve worked and prayed for. The intelligence I gathered from Shields’s home offices in Malibu and Bermuda was enough to make this raid possible. I desperately wanted to be there for it, but my supervisors said no way.

Shields won’t even know until he goes to trial that I was the undercover agent who exposed him. There was no reason to risk taking part in the raid and having someone from his Bermuda staff recognize me. This way, I can move on to the next undercover assignment when this one ends.

I look up from my seat. The dozen or so people in the secure conference room listen to the radio traffic from the raid in silence. A tactical team clears rooms one at a time, and we collectively hold our breath as we wait for them to find what we’re expecting.

Logan is here, too, standing on the other side of the room with a hand over his mouth as he listens. He’s worked this case hard, and I know he wants to see justice served every bit as much as I do.

“Exterior buildings cleared,” a muffled voice says over the radio.

My heart hammers as the raid continues. Shields isn’t at the property now, but a team is standing by here in Chicago to take him into custody the moment something incriminating is found. We have lots of intel, but what we need is solid physical evidence to slam the door on the case against Shields.

“Ranger to base, we’re breaching a locked steel door, stand by.”

The pounding of a ram slamming into the door several times is followed by the clang of it bursting open, and soon after, I hear the sounds of boots on stairs.

Why would he have a locked steel door, if it doesn’t lead to something he doesn’t want anyone finding? But what if that something isn’t what I’m expecting? I close my eyes, doubt creeping in as it always does.

What if it’s drugs? Or a sex dungeon full of whips and chains but cleared of people? What if this was all for nothing, and his victims are being hidden somewhere else?

“Ranger to base, we need a medical team, stat. We’ve got at least twenty kids in here, maybe more.”

I let out the breath I was holding, and Logan finally moves, putting his hands on top of his head as we all continue listening.

Tears prick at my eyes as I hear little voices in the background over the radio. A supervising agent in the Chicago office gives the order for Shields to be arrested by the other team standing by. We wait in absolute silence again until the radio message comes across that Shields was arrested at his Chicago office without incident.

And finally, I can breathe again. It’s going to take a lot of time for this case to work its way through the courts, and things will be stickier with the compound being located outside the United States.