Jerome gave her the super condensed version of the story, and Mason watched as her face changed from anger to confusion to rage. When she finally dropped the gun, he took a calming breath and let his hands fall to his sides.
“Darrell,” she growled, and stomped to the couch where she opened her laptop. Mason and the guys huddled in and sat on the sparse furnishings. “Looks like he’s in North Carolina.”
“How do you know that?” Jedrek asked. Her head snapped toward him, seemingly just realizing the man was here.
“Tracking device.” She shrugged. “Rick had me tag everybody on the team. He wanted cars, suitcases, briefcases, jackets, anything that anybody might be traveling in or have on them. He wanted to know where everybody was when this mission started.”
“So you know where Shelby is,” Mason said, hope flaring in his chest.
She shook her head. “Not yet. I put one in her wallet behind an old prescription card. Nobody uses those things unless you need to scrape ice off your windshield. Give me a few seconds, and I’ll see if she’s carrying it.”
A few seconds turned into minutes, and Mason started bouncing his knee. He didn’t like sitting idle when he could be out looking for Shelby. Yes, he knew he’d have better luck using Viola’s skills, but his analytical side was panicking, too.
“Hmmm.” Viola frowned.
“What?” All three guys asked at the same time. Mason glanced at them and noticed he wasn’t the only one feeling on edge.
“She’s in North Carolina, too.”
“I knew he had her.” Mason grabbed his phone and called the charter service his company used after selling their private jets several years ago to help their company image. After the housing market crashed and the economy tanked, corporate excesses had been frowned upon. Right now, he praised having that connection with the company. He could get there much faster with them than if he took a commercial flight. They answered on the third ring, and he rattled off instructions to get ready to fly out, and because they appreciated his business, they’d be ready in an hour.
“She’s not with him, though,” Viola said, frowning. “The signals are miles apart.”
“Maybe he’s stashed her somewhere. I don’t give a shit about him. I’m going wherever she is.” He stood and pocketed his phone. “You can come with me if you want. Plane will be ready soon.”
“And what if she is with Darrell?” She pointed to her computer screen. “All this tells me is where her wallet is, and you can’t go off half-cocked with just that. Besides, you are not law enforcement. I’ll call Rick and have him notify the FBI office out there. Her signal isn’t moving. His is. Those agents can get there before we can, and if she’s there, they can retrieve her. If she’s not, then that’s one less place we have to look.
“Fuck,” Mason breathed. He gritted his teeth as he stared at her. “Fine. Make the call.”
“Wasn’t asking for permission,” she muttered as she whipped out her phone and called her boss. She relayed what Mason’s intent was, and she seemed to be defending the need to go to Shelby…until she mentioned Shelby and Darrell’s locations in another state. The atmosphere changed at that moment. When Viola got off the phone, he knew their boss was playing ball.
“He’s getting Carson and we’re headed to North Carolina. You’re not going.”
“The hell I’m not—”
Viola held up her hand. “Listen. Rick will not allow you to travel with us. What you do on your own is your business. I can’t keep you from showing up, even if I stepped out of the room and you happen to look at my computer to get the address.”
Mason nodded, immediately understanding. Viola would go with her team, but he would still take the private jet. “Darrell is still moving, though.” An address to his current location wouldn’t help Mason when he landed in a few hours.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” She shook her head. “Give me your number. When we touch down, I’ll give you an update. Happy?”
Not yet, but he would be once he knew Shelby was safe. Thank God she had a friend like Viola. Then she asked the one thing he hadn’t prepared for. “Mind telling me how you found out she was an agent? Parker seemed to skip that part of the explanation.”
He shut his eyes and silently cursed her husband.
“I’ll tell her,” Jedrek said, and Mason’s gaze went to him as he slowly stood, his chest expanding as if challenging Mason for the right. Jedrek was an oddly quiet man who didn’t like to get in the middle of other people’s shit, but he’d obviously taken a liking to Viola. If the big brute wanted to break the news to her that her husband was a worthless piece of shit, Mason would let him. He’d rather focus his energy on finding Shelby anyway.
So he nodded and turned away, concentrating on his own problems while Jedrek exposed Viola to one of her own.
When Mason found Shelby, he wasn’t sure what he’d tell her. He loved her, so he’d stop at nothing to make sure she was safely away from Darrell Tobin, and they needed to clear the air between them. It would not change what happened or the lies she’d told him, nor would it change their relationship. Mason was a Dom at his core. He craved sexual obedience, but he demanded trust.
He no longer trusted her, and that was the core of the problem. He might never be able to again. He had to prepare himself for that. The thought also occurred to him that none of this would matter. He was, after all, just an assignment for her. He didn’t know how intricate the web of lies was. She could have a boyfriend. He doubted it. He also completely rejected the possibility that she could be married. No way would a husband let his wife get close to another man like that. He’d seen it in the lifestyle—poly relationships—but those were molded out of communication and trust. Two things that he and Shelby sorely lacked.
“Why didn’t you contact me?” Viola screeched, jerking Mason out of his reverie. He looked at her and Jedrek only to realize she’d directed her question at Mason. She stared daggers at him, her hands fisted in her lap.
“He’s been in the middle of a pity party,” Jedrek said softly, and Mason gaped at how tenderly he was looking at Viola, as if witnessing her pain was hurting him, too. Oh, hell. The man was clearly smitten. He didn’t know much about him, had never seen him with a woman more than once, but the man couldn’t take his eyes off her. It would never work, and Mason knew the man would never act on whatever attraction he felt. Jedrek didn’t believe in relationships, and the woman was married. Her husband was worthless, but he was her husband nonetheless.
“Yes. Major pity party. I’m sorry. You deserved to know the truth right away,” Mason said, trying to ease her.
“And you told Shelby?”
“Not about how I found out, but she knows I know the truth about the investigation, which, I apparently know a whole hell of a lot more than she does.”
“Oh my God,” Shelby breathed. “She was a mess when she left your place. You hurt her, you son of a bitch.” She stood and Jedrek rose with her. Great. Just what he needed—a pissed off woman with a gun and a behemoth of a man ready to avenge her. “What did you do?” she asked slowly.