Catch Me

CATCH ME DANGEROUS ENTANGLEMENTS BOOK 3 ANNE ROMAN La Noir Media, LLC Copyright © 2023 by Anne Roman All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Created with Vellum For my Granny. Who loved romance books, Patrick Swayze and on more than one occasion told me I didn’t have the sense God gave a billy goat. I miss you every day. CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Acknowledgments About the Author PREFACE “Here's what I believe, I think the FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in the history of the world but I think there was some bad apples over there.” John Kennedy CHAPTER ONE Hannah They say if you don’t learn from your mistakes, you’re doomed to repeat them. I had no freaking clue who ‘they’ were, but as I looked up at the ugly grey building in front of me, I wondered if I was going to end up a victim of the cliche. Just a few weeks ago, I’d stood in the same spot, on the same busy street corner, filled with the self-assurance that I was going to be delivering the hand of justice. Today, though, doubt clouded my thoughts, and I glanced down nervously at my phone for what seemed like the millionth time in the past few hours. Still nothing. I could turn around. I could go back to my apartment, smash the burner phone I was clinging to like a desperate hope, and put the entire thing behind me. Sybil had disappeared. No one had seen or heard from her in weeks, and I suspected she’d gone underground when she realized I was closing in on her. They had temporarily lifted my suspension pending a full investigation, but I could still take a leave of absence. I had vacation days to burn. Whatever happens in the secret hearing today could stay there and I could stay out of it. Preferably somewhere in the Bahamas with a mai-thai and endless supply of sunshine. I heard the engine before I saw it turn down the street and took a step back as a blacked out Triumph motorcycle flew past me. Simon. My heart stuttered. The imaginary taste of rum and coconut soured on my tongue. It wouldn’t matter how far I ran, leaving Simon to rot in a prison he didn’t deserve to be in was not an option for me. Reality crashed through me. I wasn’t afraid of the consequences of this hearing or that I would likely lose my job forever. I was afraid of seeing Simon again. Of seeing the accusations in his eyes, or worse. Not seeing anything at all. He’d poured his heart out to me in Helsinki. Shared all his fears and regrets over how he’d treated me, only for me to turn around and betray them all. I didn’t know if I’d be able to forgive myself, either. But I would do this. I would look him in the eye and take whatever he offered. And then he could disappear from my life and into the shadows where he belonged, like the Ghost he was. Only to haunt me forever. * * * I was back in a conference room and I realized I would be perfectly happy if I never saw the inside of a room like this again. Agent Reed sat to my left, shuffling a stack of papers and clearing his throat just about every thirty seconds. I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to keep my eyes trained on the door as we waited for everyone else to arrive. He cleared it again, and I tasted blood. “Cough drop?” I reached in my purse and pulled out a wrapped cherry flavored drop, sliding it towards him. He looked down at it and then looked back up as he pushed his glasses further up his nose, giving me a blank stare. “No, thank you Agent Kelly.” And then he cleared his throat again and went back to reading through the papers in front of him. I huffed and squirmed in my seat. Most of the courthouse was empty. It was after hours and all the cases on the dockets for the day were done. The only people left in the building were the janitors, the security guards, and us. The quiet of the room and the heavy emptiness of the building seemed to press down on me. Agent Reed chuffed again, and I picked up the cough drop, slamming it on the stack of papers in front of him. “No really, I insist.” Watery brown eyes turned towards me, widening at my outburst before he slowly reached out and picked it up, twirling it through his fingers. “You seem a little stressed, Agent Kelly. Is everything alright?” The question was innocent enough, but his voice was filled with an underlying venom. I shifted in my seat and turned away, my eyes returning to stare at the door. “Nope, just looking out for my fellow agent, Agent Reed.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his lips twitch and he leaned forward. I could smell the scent of coffee and cheap aftershave. “I heard that about you Agent Kelly, that you like to look out for your fellow Agents.” He tapped the cough drop on the back of my hand, where I had placed it on the table, gripping the wrapped end and drawing a slow line from my finger up to my wrist. Then he turned my palm over, placing the drop in