Black Surrender (A Kelly Black Affair Book 7)

  Black Surrender

  A Kelly Black Affair

  CJ Thomas

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 2018 CJ Thomas

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author and/or publisher. No part of this publication may be sold or hired, without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the writer’s imagination and/or have been used fictitiously in such a fashion it is not meant to serve the reader as actual fact and should not be considered as actual fact. Any resemblance to actual events, or persons, living or dead, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication / use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  cj@cjthomasbooks.com

  About the Author

  CJ lives in the Green Mountains of Vermont. You can find CJ skiing, hiking, and spending time with family when not typing away on the latest hottest read.

  Connect with CJ:

  cj@cjthomasbooks.com

  Black Surrender, Book Description

  There was a hole in my heart that needed to be healed.

  If it wasn’t Madam, then it was Blake Stone and the threat of Mint being exposed that would bring Kelly’s untimely downfall. The cloud of deception still hung overhead. Dark and ominous, Kelly was distant and there were secrets he was after. I needed to save our relationship before I lost him for good.

  Though I wasn’t sure if that was even possible. I had to try—or die trying—and I’d do whatever it took to make him see me again. We were the best and worst for each other. Broken, yet determined to survive. Flawed but hopeful. With him, I was home.

  Then, a surprise from the mayor and one note from my father changed everything. We each had choices to make. Decisions that would seal our fate. Together, we had to accept the truth, or surrender to those who controlled it.

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Afterword

  Also by CJ Thomas

  Acknowledgment

  1

  Kelly

  I didn’t want to leave her but had no other choice.

  As Kendra backed away from my window with a quizzical look on her face, I turned my attention forward and stared at Agent Tyler Mark.

  The flashing lights and sea of dark sedans mixed with gleaming SUVs slowly dissipated as we removed ourselves from the warehouse where it had all gone down.

  Pulling my brows together, I began connecting the dots. Kendra’s surprised face; the agent’s knowing wink. They knew each other. He’d been sent out on a reconnaissance mission to befriend the woman Madam turned into her runner.

  Mark’s eyes met with mine in the rearview mirror.

  “You were there,” I said. “I remember now. You were at Tonya Craig’s funeral.”

  “I was many places.” His eyes fell back to the road.

  Tapping my index finger on my thigh, I thought back to that day Jerome took a shot at me. “Why did you run?”

  He readjusted his hand on the wheel and lowered his head.

  The wheels hummed as they spun faster once hitting the highway. “If you knew, if you truly cared, why did you disappear and let Kendra get taken away?”

  Mark merged into traffic and kept his foot on the accelerator. “We can hash out past events once we get to the station.”

  Feeling my gut clench, I asked, “Do you know what happened to her that night?”

  He turned his head and glanced out his window.

  Taking the back of his seat in each of my hands, I tipped forward and said, “No, you don’t. Because if you did, you would know what Madam did to her because of your decision to flee.”

  He remained silent for a minute before running his hand over the top of his head. “Ms. Williams is a wonderful woman. I got to know her well—”

  “But you didn’t care enough to make sure she was safe.” Heat pulsed through my throbbing veins.

  “Look, Mr. Black,” he flicked his gaze back to the mirror and narrowed his eyes, “I understand you’re frustrated with what could have come of the situation, but I assure you that we had her best interests in mind. The bravery it took to do what she did—it’s something few have.”

  I held his stare, knowing better than most the truth to his statement.

  “Between you and me,” his gaze firmed, “our case against Madam was solid, but we didn’t have enough to get Oscar Buchanan. That is,” he lifted his eyes to me, “until Kendra was able to bring them together.”

  With glowing eyes, I was eager to get back to my Bella. I wanted to hold her, comfort her, feel her finally relax in my arms with the knowledge that she could no longer be manipulated by Madam.

  As feelings of exhaustion swept over me, Agent Mark said we could talk more about it at the station. Going along with his suggestion, I knew he couldn’t reveal much about the details to their lengthy investigation into Madam and the DA. I closed my eyes, bumping and rolling the remainder of the ride with my thoughts stuck on Kendra.

  We parked in the back, having entered the parking lot through the gated private entrance, making sure to keep the reporters flocking out front at bay. Word had already gotten out and the race to be the first to break the news was on.

  Mark opened my door and ushered me inside. Together, we meandered through the belly of the station where I was soon met with a friendly face.

  Giselle’s eyes glimmered above her folded arms hugging her legal pad to her chest. A small smile tugged at her lips as I was pulled in her direction. Without taking my eyes off hers, I didn’t stop until I could touch her if I wanted.

  “I’ll give you two a moment before we begin,” Mark said.

  I nodded.

  “Can I get you anything before we start?”

  “A water would be great.” Mark’s eyes drifted to Giselle before nodding.

  As soon as Mark disappeared, Giselle stood on her toes and tossed her arm around my neck. “I’m so glad everyone is okay.�
� She breathed a sigh of relief.

  Slowly, I wrapped my arms around her. Closing my eyes, I thought about Kendra. “Me, too.”

  Though the outcome could have been much worse, I still feared the lasting consequences of what Kendra had to endure to bring us all here. None of it was fair, and I certainly felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for putting her in such a vulnerable position. If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened. The story of my life.

  When the balls of Giselle’s feet hit the linoleum floor, she immediately got to work. “You haven’t been charged with a crime. The reason you’re here is to share what you know so the FBI and local authorities can understand the bigger picture of what was happening.”

  “Hey.” Giselle swept her gaze off the legal pad and lifted them to mine. “I’ve got this,” I said before briefly catching her up on recent events. Then I warned her, “Drake was undercover.”

  Giselle cast her gaze to the center of my chest.

  “He’s also somewhere in the building.”

  She frowned before tilting her head away. “I’m here for you.”

  “And I’m here for you.”

  She lifted her hand and touched my arm. “Then we better get on with this so we can get you back to Kendra.”

  I felt bad for Giselle. When she was struggling to end her relationship with John, Drake came out of nowhere and quickly perked her mood up to elevations I hadn’t seen on her in a long while. That was what I wanted for her. To be happy. Be the person I saw when she was with him. Have someone she could go home to after a stressful day at the office. Now, even that wasn’t guaranteed and, again, I couldn’t help but blame myself for that.

  I followed Giselle inside the small box of a room where Tyler Mark pushed off the wall and nodded to the cold bottle of water he had waiting at the table. I took the seat in front of it. With Giselle sitting next to me, Detective O’Brien entered the room. “How is Kendra?” I asked.

  “She’s as well as you would expect,” O’Brien said, and I respected his honesty. “She’ll be in the building shortly. You two will be reunited once we’re finished here.”

  Nodding my appreciation, I asked how long he anticipated my debriefing to take.

  “That depends on you, Counselor.”

  I turned to Giselle. She had pen to paper, ready to act as my advisor as soon as I was ready. “What do you want to know?” My gaze swept across the room, ready to cooperate.

  “What we discuss here in this room today, it stays between us. Even if Madam calls you, requesting your services as soon as you leave, you keep your mouth shut. We can’t have you sharing information or details into the types of questioning—”

  Bringing my elbows to the table, I leaned forward and said, “Madam is on her own.”

  O’Brien’s eyes glimmered back with the trust I’d come to expect from him. Then, once he knew my sincerity was real, the questions lobbed in from the pitcher’s mound one after another. They questioned me about the role I played in Madam’s business, if I did anything criminal. “I was lawyer and client,” I told them honestly. “She had me on a monthly retainer,” I said, insisting I’d done nothing wrong.

  Giselle reminded them to fact check my answers with what was taken during the search of my office. “You’ll find the information there to back up what Mr. Black is telling you.”

  Finishing my bottle of water, I glanced to Giselle’s several pages of notes before flicking my eyes up to the clock. I didn’t want to rush the process. It was important we got this right the first go around. I wasn’t planning on coming back, but I was also anxious to get back to Kendra as soon as possible.

  “Did you suspect Madam was trafficking narcotics into the country?”

  Taking a second to think through my answer, I said, “Toward the end, I suspected that things weren’t right.”

  “What made you suspicious?”

  “The way Kendra was acting—how she was keeping details of her life from me.”

  “Kendra Williams, your girlfriend?” Mark didn’t bother looking up from his notepad.

  My gaze landed on the voice recorder, knowing he was only asking for clarification to be referenced later. “Yes. But not just her. Sylvia Neil also knew Madam was up to something.”

  Agent Mark narrowed his gaze. “Maybe you can help me understand something.” He paused and stared, trying to get me to shift in my seat. I didn’t move. “How is it that you could be innocent of any sort of criminal activity when so many surrounding you weren’t?”

  I felt my lips pull and curl. “Agent, that’s my life. Do not forget, I’m a criminal defense attorney.”

  O’Brien chuckled. “So, how did you come to work for Madam?” His tone lightened, became friendlier, as if we were two strangers talking over drinks.

  Feeling my lungs squeeze, my brain suddenly took me back to the darkness that had shadowed over me. “My son was in an accident. He died. Shortly after that, my wife took her own life.” My eyelids drooped as I felt my head sway back and forth. “It was Madam’s way to put me on retainer.”

  “Are you suggesting she had a hand in killing your family?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” My hand balled into a fist on top of the table. “Except their deaths were never ruled a homicide.”

  2

  Kendra

  He didn’t know how much I needed him; how many people weren’t who they’d said they were. Including the man driving Kelly away, leaving me to gasp with disbelief.

  It all happened so fast. My head was still spinning, reeling to keep up.

  Lucky Charm, a cop, too.

  I shoved my fingers through my hair, holding my locks up off my shoulders as my jaw dangled loosely on its hinges. Lucky’s taillights faded into the distance as I tried not to be disappointed in myself for not recognizing it sooner.

  Dropping my hair, I blew out a shaky breath.

  My nerves were jumping with uncertainty as I thought about how Lucky was there for me every step of the way. He’d looked out for me, brought me to known places of danger understanding the risk that maybe things would get hairy and he would have to rescue me. It made sense now. Lucky was not only someone I was quick to trust, but someone who knew where I lived. That should have been my first clue. Instead, I’d labeled him a bad guy.

  Agent McGurk joined me. She followed my gaze without speaking.

  “Is he going to be arrested?” I asked with hope swirling inside me that Lucky would shower Kelly with the same grace he’d offered me. When McGurk answered with silence, I could feel her anxiety to officially close out my agreement.

  “We should get you back to the station, debrief so you can get back to living your life.”

  Feeling my eyelids grow heavy, I wasn’t sure what life I had left to live. It seemed everything had been taken from me. Truths had come out when I preferred they remain hidden. Not knowing what was going to happen to Kelly, I wasn’t sure life was worth living without him by my side.

  “C’mon, Kendra.” McGurk wagged her head in the direction of her car. “We’re done here.”

  I followed her to her car with a wrinkled brow. Opening the front door, I lowered myself inside. Once McGurk was behind the wheel and putting the car in drive, I muttered, “Madam, she admitted to killing Kelly’s family.” I turned to stare at an equally tired agent. “Please tell me that you got her confession on tape.”

  McGurk drove, barely looking in my direction.

  “You heard her confess to killing Kelly’s family, right?” I asked again. Knots tightened in my stomach.

  McGurk looked at me out of the corner of her eye and held my stare for longer than she had before. “You did good work today.”

  Knowing the conversation wasn’t going anywhere, I turned my head to the window. Allowing my neck to rest, my head hit the back of the seat and I closed my eyes. My mind wouldn’t stop. I replayed the events of today over and over again like the relentless newscast this story was sure to be.

  McG
urk received a phone call just as we were pulling into the station. “Your lawyer is waiting inside,” she said as she lowered her phone away from her ear.

  My breath caught in my chest as I looked down to my fingers fiddling in my lap. I hadn’t called a lawyer, and though fear boiled up in my chest—plenty of it still left over from today—I refused to let my true emotions show.

  I walked the corridor one step behind McGurk. Inside, I felt Kelly’s presence. He was here. Alone. Being questioned for his affiliation and work with Madam. I didn’t know the details to his work, but I understood the pressure we both felt leading up to now. It was serious and I was certain that the authorities weren’t going to treat him as nicely as they did me.

  We stepped into a room where a man’s eloquently framed eyes hid above a welcoming smile. “Ms. Williams, I’m Colin Cobbs.”

  Slow to shake his hand, I couldn’t place his face or his name.

  “Kelly called me suggesting I personally represent you from here on out.”

  Of course, I thought as my head floated to the ceiling like a balloon.

  “Lucky for you, I happened to be in the city.” He turned to the table. “I brought food and water for you. I thought maybe you would be hungry?”