Parker: A Reed Security Romance

a lot of people in on it. The senator took the papers, proof of what they were doing, and he hid it in his safe. He said he wasn’t getting involved, but he would be there to collect.”
“Did anything else happen?”
He shook his head. “He caught me eavesdropping. He tossed me down in the basement for a few days. When I was finally let out, I overheard him planning to kill me. That’s when I ran.”
I nodded and stood. “No one can know that I came here. Do you understand?”
He nodded. “Will I see you again?”
“Miss our training sessions?” I smirked.
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Maybe after I figure all this out, kid. Remember, not a word.”
He nodded and laid down, closing his eyes as I left the room. I quickly made my way back downstairs, turning up the volume on my earpiece to hear that the police were stationed outside and the reboot was almost done. I quickly slipped out the side door and locked it behind me. The officer couldn’t see me from where he was parked, so it didn’t take much to get away. Another fifteen minutes and I would be on my way home.
I tossed my keys on the desk in my office, then flicked on the light. Cap was in the corner, but I had known that as soon as I opened the door. It wasn’t locked like it was supposed to be. That was his first mistake. His second mistake was leaving my files on my desk slightly askew. I could see dust prints from where he had moved them. His third mistake was that he was sitting in the most likely spot to hide, and I knew what Cap smelled like. Some would think that was weird, but when you stayed alive by noticing that kind of shit, it stuck with you.
“Is there something you needed?”
“OPS called.”
“Yeah? What did they want?” I asked, sitting down in my chair.
“They called to say that they had some sensors out at the Fuller house. They assured me that nothing was wrong. They reset the system and had a cop outside the whole time, but wanted to let us know.”
I shrugged lightly. “Why are you telling me?”
“I was just wondering what it is you needed from Reid that you had to break into their house in the middle of the night.”
“Who says I broke in?”
He chuckled slightly. “Are we still doing this? After all these years, you still think that you can pull the wool over my eyes?”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“Yet you’re avoiding the question.”
I watched him for a moment, wondering if I should tell him. I didn’t really care if he knew, but I liked fucking with him. It kept both of us on our toes. On the other hand, I was getting too old to have so many fucking secrets all the time. And I promised myself the Christmas that I killed the senator that things would be different. I swore I would trust the men around me, as much as I could.
“I’m looking into something with the senator. I needed information from Reid.”
“And you had to do it in the middle of the night?”
“I’m not ready to let anyone know what I’m looking into. It could be nothing.”
“You still could have gone during the day.”
“And then people would know that I was looking into something. Let’s face it, Cap, I’m not the type to go pay friendly visits to people for no reason. Anyone would see through that.”
“Do I need to worry about anything?”
“Not yet. I’ll let you know if that changes.”
He stood and headed for the door, but stopped. “You know, you don’t have to keep doing everything alone. If you can’t trust us by now, I’m not sure you ever will.”
“I do trust you. If I didn’t, I would have shot you as soon as I walked into my office and saw that my files had been moved.”
He chuckled and turned for the door. “Well, thank God you weren’t monitoring Reed Security while you were gone. You might have seen the changes I made.”
“What changes?” I asked as he walked out the door. “What changes?”
His booming laughter filled the hall and I narrowed my eyes at him. He was fucking with me. He hadn’t changed anything. I went back and sat down, pulling out the file I had taken from the senator’s house, but as I read through it, I kept glancing at my computer. Fuck it. I needed to find out what Cap had done first.
I waited at the end of the alley against the wall, watching for anyone that shouldn’t be coming my way. He knew better than to show up with anyone else. He knew that I would end him immediately if he even thought about it. When I called Jim Caldwell, I knew I was taking a big risk. He was a fed, and the only reason I trusted him in the slightest was because I had saved his ass, and he had since helped me out whenever I needed it. I knew he didn’t like owing me any favors. Hell, if half the people that had come into contact with me over the years knew I was still alive, they would be shitting their pants, thinking I would be coming back to collect on favors. And if this was my old life, that’s exactly what I would be doing. But I had a new life with Kate now, and I wouldn’t screw that up by letting anyone know that I was alive.
Jim was a different story. I had to go to someone last Christmas. I couldn’t let the cartels continue with what they were doing. Not when I had evidence that could take them down. Jim had done as promised and my name was never mentioned. Not that anyone would believe him since I was officially dead. Still, it was always a risk to go to someone from my past.
When I last saw him, I told