Whistleblower (PALADIN Book 1)

I wake up alone, next to another note.

Well, a note of sorts. It’s my phone, lying on the unoccupied pillow next to me with an orange sticky note that reads: Call me when you wake up, with a phone number I don’t recognize.

I reach for my phone and quickly dial the number.

“Good morning, sleepy,” Linc answers on the first ring. His voice sounds echoey wherever he is.

“Good morning.” I sit up, feeling the cool air on my bare chest. I forgot I slept without a bra or shirt because I wasn’t chilly. Linc was my personal space heater last night, not to mention he spent the entire night cupping my breasts. Judging by his behavior in the bathroom at Martinis, I really thought he was an ass man…I stand corrected. “You ran out on me,” I tease.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “Emergency.” He doesn’t offer a further explanation.

“You know it’s funny, I didn’t really picture you with a cell phone.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I sort of thought you’d be completely untraceable. Life in the shadows. Maybe you’d sleep with one eye open. Actually, I’m surprised you sleep, period.”

He laughs. “Do you think I’m a vampire?”

Maybe a little. A very sexy vampire. “Where are you?”

“Can’t say specifically, but I’m very high up.”

Suddenly the aroma of coffee hits my nose. I sniff around for a bit before I find the source—a traveler’s mug of coffee sitting on my nightstand. Peering through the lid, I see it’s light in color, fixed with cream and likely sugar.

“Did you make me coffee, Linc?” I press the speakerphone button and put the phone on the pillow beside me before collecting the mug in both hands before I take a sip. Mmmm, perfect. Still hot.

“I had every intention of being there when you woke up. I’m sorry, something came up—”

“Linc, if you say it’s an emergency, it’s an emergency. I appreciate the morning call though, and the coffee. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but it’s not morning, Bambi.”

“Hm?” I check the time on the top bar of my phone and am shocked when I see it’s four o’ clock in the afternoon. Holy shit. I slept an entire day away.

“I waited as long as I could, but I didn’t want to wake you. I’m with Vesper and Lance. But when we’re done, how about I take you to dinner tonight?”

“Out?”

“Yes, why are you surprised? You asked last night and I told you I’m fine with dates.”

I grin into my coffee mug, remembering our antics. Linc was sexy, needy, and caring. He ripped apart every single assumption I’d ever made about him.

“It was more the ‘out’ part. Can you be seen in public?”

“Jesus, Eden, as I said—I’m not a vampire. We can go to dinner.”

I giggle. “All right. That sounds great.” I hear mumbling in the distance, maybe the sounds of radio static.

“I have to go. I’ll call you soon.” He doesn’t wait for me to respond. The line goes silent and it’s just me and my mug of coffee. I dawdle in bed for a while, enjoying the non-anxiety ridden occasion. Finishing my cup of coffee, I read a chapter from my book on the nightstand. I thought I’d be embarrassed if Linc saw my smutty romance book, but we broke a lot of barriers last night. I slept half naked next to him all night. I know what his precum tastes like. I wore his actual cum like war paint last night, right before he washed me, towel-dried me, and tucked me into bed. There’s nothing left to hide from him.

Not to mention, he could be watching me as we speak. I still have no idea where the cameras are. I’m not remotely put off by Linc’s extreme measures. I’ve reported break-ins and suspicious situations so many times to the police in the past year and they’ve always shrugged it off. They called me paranoid and unnecessarily hysteric. I’d officially become a nuisance to them and before Callen showed up, I wasn’t a priority for the FBI either. No one took me seriously until Linc. So he can watch me all he wants, I’m grateful.

Finally pulling off the covers, I set my coffee cup aside and make my way to the bathroom. I laugh out loud in utter glee when I see orange sticky notes everywhere.

On the mirror is another note right above my sink: You’re so beautiful. Next to the toilet paper: Don’t forget your button. On the back of the bathroom door: Remember, no cameras in here. On the glass of the shower door: You make me fucking crazy. On the shower handle: I already miss your tits. I collect them all before entering the kitchen where I find one more orange note next to a plate of Belgian waffles. It reads: I guessed chocolate chips.

I grab the fork Linc laid out for me and help myself to a big bite of the fluffy waffles with melted chocolate chips. I don’t care that they’re no longer warm, they’re still perfect. I must’ve been in a deep sleep for him to pull all this off without me noticing. I look at the sink embedded in my kitchen island counter to see a bowl, measuring cup, and a spatula washed and drying on the dish rack.

Linc might be the perfect man…job aside. I was expecting a really good fuck. I was not expecting…dreamy. Is this finally karma? I’ve tried so hard to be a good person. Is Linc finally my reward?

I whip out my phone to send a quick text, hoping it goes unread for a while. I don’t know what Linc’s doing, but I can’t imagine it’s the kind of thing that should be interrupted by a text message.

Me

You guessed right. Always chocolate chips for waffles.

I set my phone down but scoop it right back up when the soft chime tells me I have an instant response.

Linc

*kissy face*

I gawk at my phone. Stop. Was that an emoji? Did the cold-blooded assassin who has FBI agents shaking in their boots just send me a kissy-face emoji?

Me

*heart on fire emoji*

LINC

The wet concrete is starting to dampen my shirt and agitate my stomach, but I don’t get up. I don’t want to risk missing my window, so I stay low, on top of this high rise, my eye on the scope and one hand on the trigger of the sniper rifle.

I’ve been lying here for over an hour, even through the brief rainstorm, but at least I have company. Vesper impatiently paces. “Lance, what the fuck is he doing?” she whispers.

Lance, who is pretending to smoke at the back of the building across the street, is our ground operative, because while he’s better with a pistol, my long-range aim far exceeds his. Cricket’s our best sniper, but Vesper sent her out of the country for something I’m not privy to, nor do I care to be. There’s enough bullshit here to worry about. Plus, Cricket can handle herself. Everyone thinks I’m the fearsome one, little do they know that when provoked, Cricket’s the most terrifying of us all.

Through my scope, I see Lance put his phone to his ear, pretending to make a call. We can hear each other through our hidden earpieces, but he’s trying to act natural. We don’t normally complete hits in public where witnesses could see, but this is a special case.

“Hey, Mom,” Lance says into his phone, sarcasm lining his tone. He only calls Vesper “Mom” when he’s annoyed. He’s still pissed off he got ground detail for this job. “Lunch is going to take a little while longer. He just ordered another round of drinks…and dessert.”

“Fat fuck,” Vesper grumbles.

“He’s stalling,” I say.

“It’s out of character. He’s such a flight risk. He usually doesn’t like to be in the U.S. for more than a few hours.”

“Who the fuck cares, Vesper? He’s a trafficker, mass murderer, rapist, and degenerate. As soon as I pull this trigger, he won’t have a character to worry about.”

We’re here for Paris, or that’s what we call him anyway. Who knows what his real name is—he’s had so many. He bounces around continents so much the FBI and CIA can never find him to extradite him. Even if they did, it’s impossible to pin him to his crimes. This is the problem when warlords and criminals outsmart our legal systems. Enter PALADIN. We don’t need the paperwork to put a war-hungry menace in the ground. I’ve never known someone to enjoy evil as much as this piece of shit. I’m bothered he gets such a satisfying last meal at this swanky lunch locale we’re watching.

My phone vibrates on the ground and I see Eden’s reply. It’s a little heart with flames around it. I can’t help but smile to myself. I made the girl waffles this morning. Who am I? I don’t care. I think I like it.

“Lance,” I say, “in your experience, what should I say back to a woman who sent a fire-heart emoji thing?”

“Hold on,” he mumbles, barely moving his lips as he whips out his phone. My phone pings again almost immediately.

Lancelot

*peach emoji* *eggplant emoji* *splash emoji* *umbrella emoji*

“Does that help?” Lance asks. “Send it in exactly that order. It tells a story.”

“You need serious help.” I try not to laugh at his perversion.

“Who are you texting?” Vesper asks but I don’t hear her through my earpiece, I glance up to see her hovering over my phone. There’s no point in lying. Vesper knows everything.

“Eden,” I admit, pulling out my earpiece which automatically mutes my radio so I can momentarily shut Lance out. “I set up surveillance at her place last night.”

“Why?”

“Someone broke in.”

“Something to do with Empress?”

“How’d you know about that?” I furrow my brows, but I’m still looking through the scope. I don’t have time to check Vesper’s reaction.

“I knew about Empress before I knew who Dr. Eden Abbott was. The FBI made a huge fuss about it, then the whole case went dark—and I mean black-out dark. I asked a few people on the inside, including Callen. No one has any information besides a violation of civil rights and the dissolution of a tech company.”

“But you suspect there’s more?”

“Of course I do. But when do I not? Always expect for there to be more and pray you’re wrong, Linc.”

“I don’t care about the company,” I say, pinching my shoulder blades together, trying to relieve the discomfort of laying on a concrete roof top for so long. “As long as Eden’s safe.”

Vesper sits in front of me, resting her back against the ledge so I can see her out of my peripherals. “Linc, be careful.”

“About what?”

“Getting involved with her.”

“Since when do you care who I’m sleeping with?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant. I don’t know who I’m kidding, Vesper knows me better than anyone—she raised me since I was sixteen.

“I care when there’s a woman who makes you smile like an idiot when she texts you.”

I blow out a breath. “I’m still well aware of the rules, Vesper.” It’s not like I’m planning to propose. I doubt Eden would ever be interested in marrying someone like me anyway, she’s still jumpy every time my pistol is in view. Little does she know, it’s the tamest weapon I operate.

“Do you know why we have the rule of no families?”

“Because you don’t want us kissing anyone’s ass except yours?” I snark. She kicks my shoulder with the heel of her boot, hard. I try not to wince but she’s freakishly strong.

“I was married once.”

For the first time in an hour, I pull my eyes away from the scope. Vesper’s brows are raised at me expectantly. She has her earpiece in her hand as well. Whatever she’s about to say, she doesn’t want Lance to hear.

“You never told me that.”

“It was before I found you. While I was working with the FBI, the first time around, I thought I’d try my hand at a normal life.”

“Was he an agent?”

Vesper snorts. “No. Not even close. He was a high school math teacher. He had the muscular integrity of a teddy bear. But he had these really sexy glasses…” She trails off as she gets lost in a memory. Shaking the thought away, she continues, “We were chasing this thug, Marlin. A few bank robberies, a couple of drive-by shootings, but the amount of cocaine he was pedaling was unrivaled. We planned a big raid, we got his drugs and a couple of his goons, but he slipped away. It still pissed him off to no end.”

“I get a call a couple of days later to get to the hospital and I find my husband lying in a bed with his face and body so swollen and bruised he was unrecognizable. He stayed in the hospital for two weeks. Another teacher found him in his classroom after school let out. He was unconscious and had a note taped to his back from Marlin.”

I keep my eye locked on the scope. Lance is on his third fake cigarette in ten minutes and if Paris doesn’t come out soon, we’re going to have to blow his brains out through the restaurant window. The FBI wouldn’t be thrilled about that, but better we make this look like a rival gang retaliation than a government-approved hit.

“Was your husband okay?”

“Physically, yes. But he was traumatized.”

“Who wouldn’t be?”

“We eventually got Marlin, but my husband was never the same. He was skittish and depressed. He quit teaching. He wouldn’t leave the house. I know he tried to put on a brave face for me, but he lost something that day. He never looked at people the same way again. His blissful ignorance was lost, all he saw were monsters. I did that. My job did that. I didn’t want to put him in harm’s way ever again, so I left him. I set him free so that maybe he wouldn’t have to live in fear for the rest of his life. The rules aren’t for you, Linc, they’re for her. Evil likes easy targets. The best way to get to you is through someone you love.”

Fuck. I know she’s right. I’m quiet because there’s no valid argument against it. I can swear to protect Eden, but I’m the threat. I’m the thing that could put her in harm’s way.

I pop my earpiece back in as I see Lance swipe at his nose. “Go time. He’s on the move. North door.”

I draw in a breath and hold it. I picture Eden’s panicked eyes at Martinis after someone had broken into her home.

“Less than ten seconds. His car is pulling around the corner. It’s our last chance.” I hear Lance in my ear one more time before he disappears behind the building. Paris can’t get into that car. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s bulletproof. No. This slippery coward is done living…today.

I feel the tension build in my lungs. I am so sick of the assholes of the world. I am so sick of all these fuckers that make my existence necessary. I am so tired of the kind, worthy people being easy targets. We need change. I don’t know how, but until then I’ll be here, taking out the trash, piece by piece.

The back door of the building opens and I yank the rifle’s trigger in one fluid motion. The vehicle peels away and leaves the motionless body behind. I wait to ensure he’s not moving before I let out my breath.

“Clean shot,” Lance says through my earpiece.

“Well done, Linc,” Vesper says in front of me. “The FBI will take it from here.”

“Who will they pin it on?” I ask. Paris is a high-profile target, this won’t go unnoticed.

“Don’t worry about it. Get out of here and enjoy your evening, just—”

“I hear you, Vesper. I understand.” No longer needing to stare down the rifle’s scope, I’m able to see her cloudy eyes, the aftermath of dredging up something extremely painful. I stand and stretch feeling the stiffness in my back slowly dissipate. “Do you ever look him up? Your ex-husband?”

I hold out my hand and Vesper takes it, hoisting herself off the ground as well. “I do, often. He’s re-married. Beautiful woman. Three kids. And he’s teaching again. So, all in all—a happy ending.”

I look at Vesper’s sad eyes.

For who?