Page 49 of Targeted By Vengeance

I leaned back in the seat and put my boots up on the desk. It was showtime.

The lock on the office door turned with a soft click. The silver doorknob twisted a second afterwards.

“Fucking imbeciles,” a familiar voice grumbled as a silhouette stepped through the door. “Can’t even follow a tail without being spotted.”

The door slammed shut, and keys clanked against the glass bowl sitting on the small table beside the door. Leather shuffled against cotton as he shrugged off his coat.

“Now, I’ve gotta figure out a new way to keep an eye on - holy shit!” His muttering abruptly stopped when he flicked on the lights and finally noticed he wasn’t alone.

“Hi, Mr. Tommy,” I said with a small wave.

The sight of me sent him reeling back against the door, his hand flying to his chest and his eyes widening. “Simone,” he breathed, the color flushing from his face with every syllable. He blinked a few times, trying to will away my image. “No…you’re…you’re not really here. You’re…”

“Dead?” I finished for him. “I am. Your other protege killed me - the same way he did my father.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. He turned on his heel and grabbed the doorknob. He tried to twist it, but it was too late. The door jam was already in place.

“Why the rush to get out? Aren’t you happy to see me?” I asked as I watched him struggle.

He whipped around, taking me in again. The panic in his eyes faded as he assessed the situation, rationalizing his next moves. “I am,” he said. He faked a wide smile and stepped towards me. “I’m relieved, actually. When I heard about your death, I was shaken to my core. I couldn’t imagine something had happened to Xavier’s little girl. I’d let him down once. I was so disappointed I’d done it again.”

“Wow. You are a hell of a good liar.”

He continued towards the desk, his steps taking a slight turn towards the right where the file cabinet was. “Simone, you know me. I don’t lie. Especially not to you.” He leaned his back against the file cabinet, and his hand discreetly slipped around one of the handles. The ordinary eye wouldn’t have caught him slowly pulling it open as he continued. “Whatever’s going on - whatever you’re thinking right now - I’m sure it’s just one big understanding.”

“Hm, I’ve heard that one before.” Sighing, I bought my feet off the desk and straightened up in the seat. “Tell me: what exactly am I missing? You weren’t laying in bed with the criminal my father just happened to be chasing?”

He laughed. “What? Who told you such an absurd story?”

“The criminal himself. Well, his documents, anyway. Lots of offshore accounts with transactions between other accounts that so happen trace back to not only you, but a few of your brass buddies too. It’s crazy what lengths people will go through for money.”

His wrist slipped back and forth behind the cabinet door. “Those transactions aren’t what you think.”

“Then, what are they? I thought the FBI paid pretty well. Unless you’ve got a gambling problem. Or the criminal has something you can’t risk getting out. Or was it a little bit of both?”

His jaw muscles jumped as he clenched it. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I raised a brow. “I don’t?” Keeping my gaze on him, I clicked some keys on his computer’s keyboard. “So, I shouldn’t send your wife these photos of you at the poker table with some noticeably young, droopy-eyed, women draped over you? I’m sure she’d love to know where her husband goes during those long work trips.”

“Oh, you little bitch,” he snarled, his hand moving more rapidly in the drawer.

“Looking for this?” I asked, holding up the gun that was stored there when I first arrived. “Come on, Tommy, even my father taught me better than to walk into a confrontation unprepared.”

Blood rushed through his face, becoming redder than a tomato. The friendly facade had since disappeared, leaving me with the true devil he was hiding underneath. His livid eyes stared me down. “What the fuck do you want?”

“I want to know how your problems trickled down to the rest of the department. Marcos had you, and only you, under his thumb for a while. How did so many others get involved?”

“Regardless of what you think, the arrangement with Marcos came with perks. Money, women, properties, intel that boosted my status. Imagine being respected in the agency and the crime world. Others wanted in on that, and I’m not one to be stingy. Especially not when it only opens doors for more benefits.”

“Always comes back to greed, doesn’t it?” I tsked. “So predictable. I was hoping my father’s life was worth taking over something more interesting than that.”

“Look, I didn’t want to kill your father. He was one of my best. One of my favorites. But, all the things I loved about him were the same ones that would jeopardize not only my career and life, but so many others too. I…I couldn’t let that happen.”

“But you could let a man be murdered?” I scoffed. “Has anyone stopped kissing your ass long enough to tell you you’re kind of pathetic?”

“You know what’s pathetic? Carrying around a torch for someone no one gave a fuck about.” He abandoned the file cabinet and stepped towards me. “How long after his funeral was his desk occupied again? How long did it take for Logan to brush off the dirt from the fall he had to take? Hell, how long was it before your mother hopped on a new dick? Bought you a new daddy quick, didn’t she?”

I didn’t even think as I rose from the chair and slapped him straight across the face with the gun.