Traitor

Traitor
Impossible #2

By Julia Sykes

© 2013

Chapter 1

I sat ramrod straight in the cold metal chair, my fingers twisting together anxiously as I waited in the grey, cinder-block room. There was a large mirror taking up half of the wall to my left, and I could practically feel the eyes of Agent Clayton Vaughn watching me, staring through the glass from the other side. I took a deep, shaky breath to calm myself, telling myself for the umpteen-millionth time that I was doing the right thing. But Sean’s face, haunted by the pain of his past, kept appearing in my mind’s eye. I tried to shove it away, concentrating on the memory of his rictus snarl as he had ruthlessly twisted the knife in my attacker’s chest, mercilessly mutilating his flesh.

To protect you,
a small voice whispered in my mind.

But I shook it off. Sean was nothing but a criminal, a monster of a man to whom violence was second nature, deeply ingrained in his soul. Had his demanding, dominant touch on my body been a reflection of that ruthlessness that I had refused to fully contemplate beyond the satiation of my own lusts?

“You’re on your own now, just like you like it. Alone, isolated. Go back to your life of solitude that you love so much.”
His words echoed in my mind, tearing at me like a knife to my gut. I had become so dependent on him in such a short time; the idea of retreating behind my walls again was more painful than I cared to admit to myself.

But not as painful as the realization that Sean was involved in the same criminal activity that had claimed my parent’s lives. I hardened my heart, steeling my resolve.

The door clicked shut behind Agent Vaughn as he joined me in the room. He moved to a small video recorder in the corner and pressed a button, causing a red light to appear beside the lens. He was filming me.

When he sat in the chair across from me, his expression was kind, his light blue eyes regarding me softly.

“Don’t worry, Dr. Ellers,” he assured me. “This is a debriefing, not an interrogation. I just need you to answer my questions as thoroughly and as honestly as you can.”

I glanced at the camera nervously, but I swallowed, nodding my understanding. Still, I couldn’t fully force down the feeling of unease in the pit of my stomach.

“I need you to start at the beginning,” he said directly. “How did you meet Bradley Smith and Sean Reynolds?”

I closed my eyes, unwilling to face the fresh pain of reliving the memories of terror. But I had to do this. If I could do anything to take a blow at the mobsters who plagued this city, then I would.

“It was thirteen days ago,” I began quietly. “I left work for the night, and he… Bradley,” I forced myself to say his hated name, “he was waiting for me in my car. He held a gun on me and forced me to drive to his apartment.”

Agent Vaughn’s brows rose in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that. “So you were abducted?” He asked.

“Yes,” my voice was tremulous as the feelings of fear that had flooded my senses that night came crashing back down on me. I paused for a moment, overwhelmed.

“You’re in a safe place now, Dr. Ellers,” Agent Vaughn assured me. “Tell me what happened next.”

I forced myself to stay in the present, to remain in the grey-walled room where I was surrounded by FBI agents.

“Sean had been shot,” I continued finally. “He was bleeding out, and Bradley told me that he would kill me if I didn’t save him.”

But looking back, I knew that I would gladly do it again, even without being threatened. As much as Sean had hurt me, I couldn’t bear the thought of him dead.

“So I did,” I said. “But then…” I faltered. “Bradley was going to kill me anyway. Sean stopped him.”

That memory pained me. It was when I had first begun to think of him as my savior, the beginning of his deception, of his manipulation of my mind.

“Why?” Agent Vaughn asked. “Why did he do that?”

Why did he?

But in my heart I knew the answer.

“Because Sean isn’t a killer,” I said softly.

Agent Vaughn’s expression hardened. “He may not be a killer, but he has committed plenty of other offenses,” he informed me harshly. “I know that you might feel indebted to him for keeping you alive, but I need you to see past that. Can you do that for me, Dr. Ellers?”

I knew that he was right. I had let Sean’s protective act lure me in from the start, blinding me to his true nature. Hell, I had even let myself forget the fact that I knew he had been involved in some sort of crime when he got shot. God, I had been so stupid.

“He told me that I couldn’t leave,” I said, my voice growing stronger as it was tinged with anger at the memory of Sean’s harsh refusals to let me go. “They kept me there for ten days,” I skimmed over the details of what I had been doing during that time, unwilling to admit how stupid I had been to think that I was falling for Sean. “Then he took me to Central Park, wanted me to get outside.”

Agent Vaughn was puzzled. “Why would he do that? Didn’t he suspect that you would run?”

“I…” I couldn’t hold back my blush, the shame that I knew filled my eyes. “I earned his trust. And then…” I took a deep breath, remembering the anguish in Sean’s features as he had ordered me to leave him. “Then he let me go.”

“How did you earn his trust?” He asked, pressing me. My face flamed crimson, giving me away. He speared me with a look. “Did you form some kind of relationship with him?”

Some kind of relationship.
I knew what he was asking.

“Look,” I said desperately. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know what he was. He protected me from Bradley. I thought he cared about me.” I buried my face in my hands, pressing my palms against my eyes to hold back the tears.

“It’s okay, Dr. Ellers,” he said gently. “I understand. It would be very difficult in your situation not to feel that way.”

My fingers twined in my hair, pulling at it. “I should have known better,” I said in a broken voice. “I’m a doctor. I even suspected… But I ignored it. Why would I do that?” This time I couldn’t hold back a sob.

I had allowed Sean into my heart, making myself vulnerable to him. How could I have done that when he was the last person in the world that I should have trusted?

“You were trapped with him for a prolonged period,” Agent Vaughn was trying to allay my distress. “And he showed you kindness when Bradley threatened you. He stood up to his friend on your behalf. It makes sense that that would mean something to you. You can’t blame yourself. This wasn’t your fault.”

Wasn’t it? Sure, Sean had made passes at me, and I had rebuffed him for days. But I was the one who had pulled him in for that first scorching kiss.

I just stared down at the table numbly, disgusted with myself. Agent Vaughn allowed me a moment of peace before pressing on. “I need to know, Dr. Ellers. Did either Bradley or Sean say anything about the crime they were committing when Sean was shot?”

I searched my mind. They had never revealed much in front of me, except for that one time. “Sean’s father came to the apartment,” I said quickly, remembering. “They told him about the shooting. Sean didn’t say much but he did mention something about a deal going wrong.”

“His father knew about the deal then? Ronan Reynolds?” He asked.

“It seemed like he did,” I said, feeling a surge of vindictive pleasure at drawing the repugnant man into this, satisfaction filling me as I thought of getting back at him after how he had hurt Sean…

“Did he mention a name at all?” Agent Vaughn snatched me away from my tangled thoughts.

“Yes,” I said, struggling to recall. “Santiago, I think.”

He gave me a small smile. “That’s good.”

Something strange stirred in my gut. Would they be able to catch the man who had shot Sean based on my information? I found that, despite everything, a part of me wanted the man to pay for hurting him.

“Will you…” I began hesitantly. “Will you be able to find him?”

“We already know who he is,” Agent Vaughn said. “He’s one of ours. Santiago has been in deep cover with the Latin Kings for over a year now. But it’s good that they trusted you enough to talk in front of you.”

I was confused. Surely federal agents, even undercover federal agents, couldn’t just go off shooting people?

“Oh,” I said, somewhat dumbly. “Can he do that? Just shoot people when he wants to?” I was surprised to find that I was getting angry at this faceless man who had almost ended Sean’s life with the full support of the law.

Agent Vaughn frowned at me. “The Westies – Sean and Bradley – shot first. It was self-defense.”

My stomach dropped. So Sean really was a ruthless mobster who would go to any lengths to protect his precious drugs. I had just told Agent Vaughn that Sean wasn’t a killer, but apparently it meant nothing to him to shoot another man. I again recalled his horrible snarl as he had tortured my assailant with his own switchblade. That was the real Sean Reynolds.

“Is there any other information you can give us?” He cut through my dark thoughts. “Do you remember them saying anything else about their activities?”

I searched my mind, and all I found were memories of terror, pain, confusion, and lust. No, there was nothing else. All I had done was spend time skirting around Bradley and bantering with Sean. And fucking him. God, how could I have…?

“Dr. Ellers?” Agent Vaughn prompted me.

“No,” I breathed. “Nothing.” Then Sean’s furious, twisted visage flitted across my brain again.

“Well…” I said hesitantly. “Sean did stab one of the Latin Kings last night.”

Agent Vaughn’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh? And how do you know that? I thought you said that he let you go the day before yesterday.”

“He… He must have followed me,” I said tremulously. “I was coming out of work, and… And a man attacked me.” I gestured to the small cut across my cheek. “He knew my name. Said that he had a message for Sean from the Latin Kings. He…” I swallowed. “He was going to hurt me. But Sean was there. He stopped him.”

Agent Vaughn eyed me levelly. “So Sean killed the man?” He asked.

“No!” I said quickly, hardly able to contemplate the thought of Sean murdering someone, despite all of the mounting evidence that he was fully capable of doing so. “No. But he did hurt him. Badly.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re alright,” Agent Vaughn said. “And I’m sure that having him save your life again must have made it that much harder for you to call me.”

My resolve hardened. “That’s
why
I called you,” I said, unable to keep the disgust from my tone. “What he did to that man… It was terrible. That’s when I knew… When I knew that he wasn’t who I thought he was.” I took a deep breath. “Sean is a dangerous man, and he shouldn’t be out on the streets.”

Agent Vaughn nodded in approval. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “I’ll get some of our forensics team over to that parking lot to see if we can salvage some DNA evidence. Then we can start building a case against Sean Reynolds.”

I swallowed hard at the thought of Sean in handcuffs. It seemed all wrong. And the orange jumpsuit. He might be sexy as hell, but it would clash horribly with his hair. Okay, so maybe I was getting jittery at what I was doing, my thoughts turning flighty in an effort to avoid the feeling of guilt that was growing in my gut.

“That’s good,” I said, but my voice sounded hollow in my own ears.

Agent Vaughn’s eyes were searching mine. “You’re doing the right thing, Dr. Ellers,” he assured me.

“I know,” I said softly. Then my mind turned to Bradley. “And what about Bradley?” I asked, my voice hard. “Will he go to jail too?” I definitely had no qualms about putting that jackass behind bars.

“With your testimony, we have a good chance of putting him away for kidnapping and attempted murder.” He paused. “But I won’t lie to you; it will be hard to get a conviction without any physical evidence. We’ll see if there are any surveillance cameras that caught your abduction, but I can’t make any guarantees.”

“Oh,” I said faintly. The idea of Sean going to jail while Bradley stayed free made me feel sick. Sean didn’t deserve that. Not when what his friend had done to me had been far more heinous. Not to mention if he found out that I was responsible for testifying against Sean but didn’t put him away as well I would be in danger. Without Sean to keep him in check, who knew what Bradley would do to me? I shuddered. I couldn’t think about that.

Agent Vaughn regarded me seriously. “There is a way that you could ensure that we had enough evidence against him to put him away for life,” he said, his tone careful. “In fact, with your help we might be able to take down the whole organization, get all of them off the streets.”

“How?” I breathed. I wanted to do anything that I could to help bring that about.

“You resume your relationship with Sean Reynolds. You watch and wait, and report anything about their activities back to us. We haven’t been able to plant anyone inside the Westies for years. This could be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for.”

I gasped. “You… You want me to go back to him?” I could hardly comprehend what he was asking of me. “After everything he put me through? You want me to resume my…
relationship
with him?”