couldn’t stop thinking about the woman who’d been following him. The more he thought about her, the more he thought, Fed.
Who was she? What did she want? More important, what did she know? Did she know what happened with Martin Holdings? Did she have evidence that pointed to Sean? Why did he care? He had immunity. He had Rick’s word.
Except twelve years ago Sean had the promise of the FBI that he wouldn’t be arrested for exposing his pedophile professor, but he’d spent three nights in jail. He’d had the promise that he wouldn’t be expelled from Stanford, but he was.
Promises didn’t mean much. Rick’s intent was one thing, but Sean knew that anything could happen when all was said and done.
Noah could have brought someone in and not told Sean. Or was she the mole? Was she following him at the behest of Senator Paxton?
Sean needed to find out, because information was power and the lack of information could be deadly.
CHAPTER NINE
Duke Rogan sat at his desk Monday morning doing the one thing he hated about his job: paperwork.
The last month had been hell without Sean. Patrick was handling all East Coast assignments; it was everything he could do to keep up with the workload, and Duke was turning down new clients until they could replace Sean. He couldn’t risk overworking his people and putting themselves or their clients in danger.
No successful business could survive on the presence of one person, but Sean’s leaving had definitely hurt RCK in ways that Duke hadn’t expected. He’d known his brother was a vital cog in the wheel but hadn’t realized he’d been doing the work of at least three people and still had time to play. It was the way his brain was wired—when it came to computer systems, it just didn’t take him as long to do the job.
Duke had considered sending Mitch Bianchi and Claire O’Brien, two of his top people, to help Patrick run RCK East. Mitch had the added benefit of being a former FBI agent. He’d even had a preliminary conversation. But Duke wanted Sean to return. He couldn’t make major decisions like transferring staff until he had a long conversation with Sean—without emotion.
Duke had gone from being furious with Sean to being worried that he was going to get himself in such deep trouble that Duke wouldn’t be able to get him out of it. He was still angry that Sean had put RCK in this position—by both leaving them and potentially damaging their reputation. JT, who’d always sided with Sean even when Duke disagreed, was more than a little livid. JT didn’t want Sean to return at all.
“He made his damn bed, Duke, when he decided to work off-book for Colton Thayer,” JT had said when Duke told him what had happened. “You can’t clean up this mess.”
Duke could smooth things over with JT if he could just talk to Sean and find out what was going on. He’d been trying to reach Sean since he quit, but he had ignored Duke. Sean shut off his phone and Duke didn’t have a new number for him.
Maybe Duke should have cut Sean some slack when he found out about his reconnection with Thayer. Twelve years ago, their lives had been different. Sean had been both wild and angry after what happened at Stanford. Colton had been there when Duke wasn’t. Yet Colton wasn’t a good influence on Sean and had been under investigation multiple times. Colton had to have an insider in the FBI to never have been indicted, but Duke didn’t know who or how. He’d asked people he trusted, but no one knew much about Thayer.
Duke didn’t want Sean sucked back into the life that he’d escaped when he left Boston.
Had Duke not appreciated Sean enough? Was that it? What more did he want? Duke let Sean open RCK East, even against Duke’s better judgment that Sean wasn’t ready to be on his own. He was still susceptible to breaking the rules, and while skirting the law was Duke’s job, he never allowed himself to cross the line. They’d worked too long
Who was she? What did she want? More important, what did she know? Did she know what happened with Martin Holdings? Did she have evidence that pointed to Sean? Why did he care? He had immunity. He had Rick’s word.
Except twelve years ago Sean had the promise of the FBI that he wouldn’t be arrested for exposing his pedophile professor, but he’d spent three nights in jail. He’d had the promise that he wouldn’t be expelled from Stanford, but he was.
Promises didn’t mean much. Rick’s intent was one thing, but Sean knew that anything could happen when all was said and done.
Noah could have brought someone in and not told Sean. Or was she the mole? Was she following him at the behest of Senator Paxton?
Sean needed to find out, because information was power and the lack of information could be deadly.
CHAPTER NINE
Duke Rogan sat at his desk Monday morning doing the one thing he hated about his job: paperwork.
The last month had been hell without Sean. Patrick was handling all East Coast assignments; it was everything he could do to keep up with the workload, and Duke was turning down new clients until they could replace Sean. He couldn’t risk overworking his people and putting themselves or their clients in danger.
No successful business could survive on the presence of one person, but Sean’s leaving had definitely hurt RCK in ways that Duke hadn’t expected. He’d known his brother was a vital cog in the wheel but hadn’t realized he’d been doing the work of at least three people and still had time to play. It was the way his brain was wired—when it came to computer systems, it just didn’t take him as long to do the job.
Duke had considered sending Mitch Bianchi and Claire O’Brien, two of his top people, to help Patrick run RCK East. Mitch had the added benefit of being a former FBI agent. He’d even had a preliminary conversation. But Duke wanted Sean to return. He couldn’t make major decisions like transferring staff until he had a long conversation with Sean—without emotion.
Duke had gone from being furious with Sean to being worried that he was going to get himself in such deep trouble that Duke wouldn’t be able to get him out of it. He was still angry that Sean had put RCK in this position—by both leaving them and potentially damaging their reputation. JT, who’d always sided with Sean even when Duke disagreed, was more than a little livid. JT didn’t want Sean to return at all.
“He made his damn bed, Duke, when he decided to work off-book for Colton Thayer,” JT had said when Duke told him what had happened. “You can’t clean up this mess.”
Duke could smooth things over with JT if he could just talk to Sean and find out what was going on. He’d been trying to reach Sean since he quit, but he had ignored Duke. Sean shut off his phone and Duke didn’t have a new number for him.
Maybe Duke should have cut Sean some slack when he found out about his reconnection with Thayer. Twelve years ago, their lives had been different. Sean had been both wild and angry after what happened at Stanford. Colton had been there when Duke wasn’t. Yet Colton wasn’t a good influence on Sean and had been under investigation multiple times. Colton had to have an insider in the FBI to never have been indicted, but Duke didn’t know who or how. He’d asked people he trusted, but no one knew much about Thayer.
Duke didn’t want Sean sucked back into the life that he’d escaped when he left Boston.
Had Duke not appreciated Sean enough? Was that it? What more did he want? Duke let Sean open RCK East, even against Duke’s better judgment that Sean wasn’t ready to be on his own. He was still susceptible to breaking the rules, and while skirting the law was Duke’s job, he never allowed himself to cross the line. They’d worked too long
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