Tough Justice: Betrayed (Part 7 Of 8)

TOUGH JUSTICE: Justice is worth every sacrifice.

Episode Seven: Betrayed

Lara Grant has just discovered Cass has been visiting her dad’s house. Why? There must be an innocent explanation. Now Lara has to wage two wars—one on the home front, while still playing those deadly cat-and-mouse games with Moretti. But they should both know something about Lara. When pushed to her limits, she never goes down without a fight. Especially when her target is in her sights...

Justice is worth every sacrifice.

A brand-new 8-part reading experience starting January 12, 2016!

FBI agent Lara Grant has finally put her life as an undercover operative behind her and started a new assignment in New York City. But her past and present collide and become ever more twisted as a spate of murders sends a message that is cruelly, chillingly personal...

Tough Justice: Exposed (Part 1 of 8) by New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy

Tough Justice: Watched (Part 2 of 8) by Tyler Anne Snell

Tough Justice: Burned (Part 3 of 8) by Carol Ericson

Tough Justice: Trapped (Part 4 of 8) by Gail Barrett

Tough Justice: Twisted (Part 5 of 8) by Gail Barrett

Tough Justice: Ambushed (Part 6 of 8) by Carol Ericson

Tough Justice: Betrayed (Part 7 of 8) by Tyler Anne Snell

Tough Justice: Hunted (Part 8 of 8) by New York Times bestselling author Carla Cassidy

TYLER ANNE SNELL writes and reads a little bit of everything but has a soft spot for thrillers, mysteries and sexual tension. When she isn’t writing or reading, she’s rewatching her favorite TV series or playing video games. The first book she finished in one sitting was a Mills & Boon Intrigue. It taught her to appreciate the power of a good book.

Tyler lives in Florida with her same-named husband and their mini lions.

Visit her: www.tylerannesnell.com.

Tough Justice: Betrayed (Part 7 Of 8)

Tyler Anne Snell

For Jen Fitzgerald, Janie Crouch and Elizabeth Heiter. Without the constant support from you I don’t know if I would have had the focus to write all of the words. Absolutely wonderful companions to travel through Deadline Land with! Thank you for everything.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About Tough Justice

About the Author

Title Page

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Why?

Lara stared at the spot on the ceiling with a good dose of detachment and yet intense interest.

Why had Cass been going into her father’s house?

The question hadn’t gone away since it had first cropped up. Like a tumor you knew no doctor would be able to cure. She couldn’t shake it, forget it or move past it. She also didn’t want to. The investigative side of her life, honed by her training and career, was being prodded by the stanch need to seek out the truth.

Which brought her back to the same blaring question.

Why?

“You look how I feel.” Lara tilted her gaze from the ceiling down to Xander. Behind him a scowling Ty was talking to Nick. Xander had circles ringing below each eye. She wondered if she was faring any better.

“And how’s that?”

“Frustrated.” His voice dipped low, menacing. “Angry.”

“That happens when you have more questions than answers.”

“And when you’re partnered with Mr. Chatterbox.” He cut his eyes back to Ty and Nick.

“That bad?” Lara asked, lowering her voice to match.

“Let’s just say we weren’t all smiles and cheer,” he deadpanned. “I mean, I feel for the guy, losing a partner...” He paused. A dark look shadowed his face before he seemingly rethought his words. When he spoke again, she could hear the difference in tone. He’d gone a different route than when he’d started talking. “I’ll just be happy when this is all over.” Lara nodded. She definitely agreed with that. “This probably won’t help our general confusion, but, then again, it might give us a good, solid lead to follow for once.” He produced a CD from his jacket pocket and grabbed a chair from Nick’s cubicle. “Do you mind?” He motioned to her computer.

“If it gives us a lead, no I do not.” Lara took the CD just as Nick and Ty made their way over. She loaded it into the computer. “What am I looking for?”

“It’s footage from our video surveillance from yesterday,” Ty explained. “We collected this after we chased and lost him. We looked through every business in the neighborhood searching for video of Mason Moretti the hours prior to us spotting him.”

“That’s a lot of footage, let me tell you,” Xander added. Ty noticeably paused his story with a look of annoyance. The two men working as temporary partners obviously had not enjoyed their time together. Lara imagined Xander had grown used to not having a permanent work companion, as Ty had gotten used to Mei’s company. Lara refrained from following that thought any further. She may not have known her for years like the others, but she felt the loss nonetheless. Mei had been a part of their team. That, in a way, made her family, too.

“As I was saying,” Ty said, rallying, “we finally spotted our very own twin cowboy.”

He moved around Lara and sped up the footage to a strip of sidewalk outside of a bookstore. They watched in silence after he hit Play, waiting until Mason Moretti and a woman walked into the corner of the frame.

“That’s definitely him,” Nick commented.

Mason had ditched the cowboy hat and was smiling at the woman beside him. Her head turned away, but they held hands. He said something that made her laugh before lunging forward and kissing her. What might have been a timid kiss, shying away from PDA on the somewhat busy sidewalk, turned into a scene of two lovers doing everything but taking their clothes off and having sex right there next to the street. Something Lara was sure would make it on to the cameraphones of several New York onlookers.

“That escalated quickly,” Nick said. “I think it’s safe to assume this woman is definitely familiar with Mr. Moretti.”

They watched as the couple continued to move against one another, only parting to breathe twice, before the two cooled down completely. Mason turned and began to walk away, pulling the woman along with him. His momentum spun her around, showing a clear view of her face.

Lara’s blood ran cold.

Katya Auerman.

The men continued to talk, taking guesses at the woman’s identity. Xander even moved Lara aside to pause the frame of the couple and print a copy out. Lara’s eyes stuck to the woman’s face. Sure as she was tired, she knew it was Katya. The former Moretti trafficking victim. The woman who Lara had seen talking to Cass in Battery Park. Cass and Katya had seemed more than familiar that day. Chummy even, embracing each other before parting ways.

Now Katya and Mason were paired up? What the hell was going on?

Her mind hopscotched to the Cape Cod she’d grown up in. Then Lola’s voice.

“No, you passed her—the last photo. That’s her.”

Cass.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Lara said, interrupting whatever conversation the guys had fallen into. She muttered something about the bathroom and quickly moved down the hall. Once she was inside she checked the two stalls to be sure they were empty. Not knowing why exactly, but after everything she’d been through so far—being followed, being watched—she felt better knowing her thoughts were even more secure. She rubbed her hand down her face before sidling up to the sink. Now, completely alone, she let her mind pick apart the main thoughts that had begun to rush in. Small, unsettling memories involving Cass prodded her, begging to be reviewed.

So, averting her gaze from the reflection in the mirror, Lara decided to meet them head-on.

Cass had almost unlimited access as well as technological know-how to easily gain information about each and every one of them. That didn’t preclude their individual pasts. Lara’s father, her mother, Meghan... Not to mention the professional side of her life.

How did Bartholomew’s house figure into it all? What had she been looking for?

“How could you have even kissed him?”

The anger, pure and unfiltered, had been there. Even if for a moment. And, wasn’t that all it took? One moment of raw anger could change the world. Why couldn’t it also make Cass do something out of character? Was she trying to knock Lara off balance as some sort of revenge?

Katya. What was her role in all of this?

Katya had been involved well before yesterday. If she and the FBI agent were indeed working together, then that meant Cass must have found out the full truth about Lara and Moretti.

Cass said she only overheard about the kiss. Was she lying? Lara moved her eyes back up to the mirror. She looked younger than she felt.

But so what if Cass knew about Lara and Moretti? Why would she go to all the trouble to slowly destroy Lara’s peace of mind? Lara’s stomach dropped. Could she have had a hand in Mei’s death?

“No way,” Lara said to the empty bathroom. Cass wouldn’t kill an innocent woman just to make a point. Not Mei. Plus, Cass didn’t stab herself with the knife, didn’t attach that note to her own leg. Forensics had already proven it was done by another. “Maybe I’m wrong.” Maybe Lola was, too. Maybe she hadn’t seen Cass but someone who looked similar. Maybe Lara was jumping to conclusions because there was nowhere else to jump.

Or maybe...

Moretti had used his brother to get to Cass. They used the young woman’s rage and anguish over her sister’s fate and used it to their advantage. Taken her ever-simmering bitterness and used it to manipulate her. Created a well-connected, well-resourced pawn. A puppet to be played with and strung along.

Lara’s reflection showed a hardened woman, an expression of silent anger staring back. It softened for a moment, but the moment didn’t last long at all. She glanced at the reflection of the bathroom door leading back out to their everyday offices.

Despite her motives—her tragic, heart-wrenching past with her sister—Cass was out there. The Bureau was her playground. One she knew how to play with. One that made her privy to everything in their investigation.

Lara let out a shaky exhale. She turned the water on high and splashed her face. It cooled the heat of frustration.

How had the case of a jumper snowballed so phenomenally out of control?

A knock sounded on the door. Lara turned the water off and grabbed a handful of paper towels.

“Yeah?” she called. The door wasn’t locked.

“It’s Nick,” her partner answered.

In that moment Lara made a decision she normally would have shied away from. She dried her face off and exited the bathroom. Nick’s brow was knitted together, concerned.

“Sorry, but you looked a little spooked,” he explained, voice low. “I wanted to make sure you were good.”

Lara nodded but didn’t meet his eyes. She was looking over his shoulder down the hall. They were alone. Lara switched her gaze towards Cass’s office.

But were they really?

“Are you okay?” he prodded.

Lara snapped back to attention. “Me? Oh, yeah, just hungry,” she hedged. “Hey, want to go grab something to eat?”

“Um, sure.” His brow rose. Nick was too good. He knew she wasn’t telling him something. “Let me grab my jacket and see if Ty and Xander want to come with. They don’t seem to be getting along too well.” Nick turned and began to walk back to the cubicles, but Lara grabbed his arm, stopping him. He looked down at her hand and its too-tight grip. She met his questioning stare as he inclined his head back up.

“I was thinking it could be just a me-and-you thing,” she said with a shrug. “Maybe grab something and go back to your place?”

If he hadn’t already looked as if he was questioning her actions, she was sure this request would have been a glaring red flag for him. Though her voice hadn’t suggested anything beyond eating, she thought she saw the notion of them repeating their earlier romp cross his expression. But, as he waited to respond, she watched as his eyes took her in. She prided herself on the walls she’d built to protect her innermost thoughts and the drama that came with them, but at that moment Lara believed Nick saw exactly what she needed him to see.

Lara needed to trust someone.

And she was choosing him to be that person.

Chapter Two

“Nick,” Lara started, “as you know, trust isn’t easy for me. I could give you excuse after excuse as to why I’m like this but, well...” She paused, not wanting, while simultaneously needing, to continue. The smell of their fresh coffee filled her senses, as if it was trying to egg her on with a jolt of caffeine. Though, as she fought to figure out her next words, it didn’t seem to be helping. Nick picked up on her hesitation.

“Lara, what’s this about?”

“You and I. We’re partners,” she stated.

“Yes, we are, but what does that have to do with this?” He motioned to her obvious discomfort. Lara shuffled her weight from one foot to the other. She was taking a huge risk, but she didn’t know who else to trust. Nick’s eyes roamed across her face. His concern egging her on.

Bite the bullet, Lara.

“Cass,” she said, hesitating at the relief that pooled at the simple fact of saying the name aloud. “She’s been going into my father’s house. Twice now that I know of.”

“Okay...”

“Without my knowledge or permission,” she added. “And without any reason why she should.” That changed his tone.

“Wait, our Cass? As in Cassandra McDonner?” Lara nodded. “Why?”

“I don’t know, but I’d really like to,” she admitted.

“You haven’t asked her about it?”

“No,” she replied, firm. Nick’s eyebrow rose in one perfect movement. It made her think about the night they’d shared a passionate moment. Right before she’d fled. It led to the idea of other memories they could make together. Ones with no clothes and certainly more contact. Lara rolled her shoulders back, trying to refocus. Nick unknowingly had a way of distracting her when she least expected it.

“Why wouldn’t you ask her? Is that why you wanted us to leave the office?” Lara heard the sigh before she felt it leave her lips. “Lara, what’s going on? You have to give me more to go on here.”

“I didn’t want to talk about it there because I didn’t know who I could trust. I think Cass is involved, in some part, in this case.”

“Connected? Again, you’re going to have to give me more to go on than that.” Nick was starting to get frustrated. Join the party, she thought.

“A few days ago I saw Cass at Battery Park. She was talking to a woman, definitely intently. There was no doubt that they more than knew each other. Before they left, they even hugged. The entire exchange seemed intimate, familiar. A friend for sure.”

“Okay.”

“I recognized the woman but couldn’t remember where from until later. Her name is Katya Auerman.” She paused, seeing if the name carried any weight for the man. His expression didn’t change. Lara hadn’t expected him to know all of the faces surrounding the Moretti crime syndicate and its lengthy run. “Katya was held by the Moretti organization for six years as a trafficking victim, brought in when she was seventeen.” Nick’s face hardened. “I had read up on her—her dossier—and she seems to have adjusted well to life post-syndicate. No criminal record, works as a hostess at an upscale restaurant. Seems as okay as you can be, given all that she’s been through. I assumed Cass sought out a former victim for information or some kind of closure for what happened to her sister Allie.”

“But now you don’t think so,” Nick guessed.

“The security footage we saw today, the woman that Mason Moretti was all over...” She didn’t finish. His eyes widened a fraction.

“That was Katya.”

Lara nodded.

“I think Cass has been playing some dangerous games with me as some kind of payback over Allie’s death and the Moretti case.”

“Why?” he asked, clearly confused. “You brought down her sister’s murderer. Something no one else was close to doing any time soon. Isn’t that one of the reasons she transferred over to the task force? You’re her hero. Why would she want to fuck with you?”

Because she might know everything.

Lara didn’t respond aloud. If she answered him in any way she’d be betraying a secret she’d wanted to keep buried.

She needed to keep buried.

Nick picked up on the pregnant silence. “Ah, this is the ‘more’ you haven’t been willing to tell me.”

Lara hated the way his tone had gone cold. It truly bothered him she wouldn’t wholly confide in him. I can’t, Nick. Not yet, she thought, hoping he’d understand without her having to explain.

Then again, wouldn’t she be upset if he wouldn’t have enough courage to trust in her? Hadn’t she already felt that when she’d found out that he and Mei had briefly been together?

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, barely able to keep eye contact as Nick stood and walked close.

“When you’re ready to trust me—really trust me—with what’s in there, Lara—” he placed his hand against her chest, over her heart “—I’ll be here for you.” The gesture both surprised and touched her, but she couldn’t find the words to apologize again. For a moment all she could do was feel the warmth of his hand seeping through her shirt. She was almost sad when he took a step back. “But, until then, I’m just your partner.” He took another step back, emphasizing the distance he was putting between them. “So, what do we need to do with Cass?”

Relief and appreciation created a cocktail of emotion Lara was more than happy to drink. Another pro on the Nick checklist? He could compartmentalize. That was a trait she’d used tenfold while undercover. It was one she valued in their line of work but hadn’t often seen.

“I don’t know what we should do, really,” she answered, body already loosening. “What I do know is that confronting Cass could go sideways on us quick.”

Nick agreed. “If she’s mixed up in any way to either Moretti or whoever is pulling the serious strings, then having our personal tech guru know we’re on to her could make us the vulnerable ones.” He shook his head. “Cass is a serious asset to our team. I don’t want to have her against us. At least, not with the notion she has nothing else to lose.” A new thought occurred to the agent. “You don’t think she had a hand in Mei’s death?”

Lara shook her head adamantly. “No, Cass wouldn’t kill someone. She may instigate and help perpetuate mind games, but killing someone in cold blood? I don’t think she’d do that.”

Nick agreed again, though she could have sworn she saw a glimmer of doubt behind his eyes.

“She was stabbed and seemed genuinely scared because of it,” he added. “She might have bitten off more than she could chew. Maybe the puppeteer became the marionette.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Lara’s phone vibrated in her pocket. It didn’t vibrate again. “Whatever hand she’s had in this case so far doesn’t seem like it’s a means to an end but more of a way to throw us—me, really—off-kilter.”

Nick ran a hand through his hair. A deep exhale in the motion’s wake. “Joining this task force I knew I’d most likely get into some difficult cases, but this one...” He let out a low whistle. “It has more twists and turns than a corn maze.”

Lara paused from opening her new text to look at the man. She raised an eyebrow. “A corn maze?” she asked, before letting out a small laugh.

“Hey, I saw a movie where a cop said that once. I thought I’d give it a spin.”

She smiled and returned to the screen of her phone while Nick expanded on whatever movie had taught him the Southernism. Its origin didn’t intrigue her quite as much as the incoming text.

It was from Lola and set Lara on high alert.

I caught that redheaded chick trying to get into your dad’s house again. I told her you know and will be changing the locks. You should have seen her face. She ran off.

Lara read it again before closing her eyes. Why hadn’t she told Lola to not approach Cass if she saw her again?

“Dammit!”

“What?”

“Cass knows,” she answered, fingers already flying across the phone’s keyboard.

Thanks, Lola. But now you need to disappear for a while. There’s some dangerous things going down and that woman was linked to it. Please lay low for a while and be extra cautious. Call me immediately at the sign of any trouble.

Once the text was sent, Lara relayed the original message back.

“So now Cass knows that I know,” she said.

“That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not,” Lara agreed. She moved off of the counter and began to pace. If she’d only told Lola not to approach Cass sooner...

“She’ll have to make the next move now,” Nick said, voice low, unhappy.

“I know, but what do you think it’ll be? And when?”

Trying to picture what a woman like Cass McDonner could do versus would do was making Lara’s stomach knot. If she did indeed know the entire truth behind the Moretti case, then she could do a lot more damage than even Nick realized. How had everything gotten out of hand so fast?

“We’ve completely lost whatever upper hand we had,” she said. Hearing the words out loud made their situation seem even more shitty. “I definitely feel like this is a corn maze we’ve been dropped into.”

“Now that the surprise offense is out of the question, we’ll need to attack first,” he said after a quick smile. “We need a game plan before she can come up—” Lara’s phone vibrated again, stopping the man mid-sentence. Lara quickly read it, the knots in her stomach only twisting further.

“It’s Cass, isn’t it?” Nick asked.

Lara nodded. “And she’s faster than us.”

Nick came back over, taking the phone from her hand. Over his shoulder she reread the text message. When he was done he looked Lara full in the face.

“No,” he said. “Don’t even think about it.”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice, Nick. You said it yourself, she’s one enemy we don’t want to force into a corner.”

If she was even an enemy at all, Lara reminded herself.

Loss made people do things they normally wouldn’t dream of doing. Cass could be in just as much danger as they were. Jumping to conclusions could do them more harm than good.

“She’s not this stupid though.” Nick motioned to the text on the phone. “She has to know I—we—wouldn’t let this happen.”

Lara shrugged. She wasn’t going to argue because, whether or not Nick already knew it, Lara was going to do it regardless of the danger. She wanted, needed, and would fight for, answers.

And, apparently, Cassandra McDonner had at least a few.

Lara’s eyes roamed back over the text once more. As if reading it three times would give her more clues.

Meet me at South Street Seaport, Pier 17 at 8. Just you.

“It’s a trap.” Nick had his arms crossed over his chest, his face pinched in only a way that deep skepticism could make a face pinch.