Blank Slate

Chapter 184 - Christopher Paxton

There. That look. The way that Payton was looking at the head FBI agent was everything and nothing like the way that I yearned for her to look at me.

I could see traces of deep-seated love, but they were mixed with distrust and wariness.

I knew that Payton had worked with this particular FBI agent before. He was the reason that Payton had known that Grace had been kidnapped in the first place. She had done something technical to his computer so that it altered her when Liam's name had been entered into a police report as Grace's next of kin. Liam had been fairly tight-lipped about the whole thing and especially cagey when it came to details about this guy, but I had learned enough to discern that Payon and Agent MacDonald had been romantically involved.

I had not known that she had actually loved the guy.

Fuck, that realization did not feel good. I had been assuming that she was so skittish with me because of everything she went through as a child. I had come to the conclusion that she wouldn't let me in because she had never really let anyone in. Payton had made it perfectly clear that she believed that Oliver was the first person in her life to really care about her. If that were true, then how in the world did she have an entire relationship with this guy before she even met Oliver?

Did that mean that while Payton had loved Joe McDonald, he had not cared about her in return? No, that couldn't be right. Right now Agent McDonald was looking at Payton with such respect, hope, and love that I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he cared about her. He fucking loved her.

I would know. I walked around with a similar look plastered to my face whenever I looked at her too.

We had all been freaked out when the camera feeds cut out. I, especially, was itching to use my credentials to get back into the prison and provide backup when we could hear Liam fighting the guards that had come to kill Sabrina on Joelle Brooks' orders. But the whole thing had been over before I reached the prison parking lot from the hotel. Liam was adamant that he had the whole thing under control and we needed to maintain my cover as a day shift guard.

So I had returned to the hotel where Ethan had stashed five FBI agents in the room next to ours. He was being vague about why he had called them in, but I understood that they were our exit plan. Ethan and I presented our case and handed over all of the evidence we had collected on both the pornography ring and the kidnapping of Caleb King. Lincoln King and his security team had been called and the FBI spent hours putting together a timeline and collecting evidence of what had happened over the last few days.

Agent McDonald was in charge and he was ruthless in his pursuit of warrants. He had no qualms in waking up federal judges in the middle of the night and drove into Vegas to meet with one to present the evidence in person. At that point, I had a growing respect for the man because he didn't seem to let anything get in his way. He ruthlessly cut through layers of red tape and state officials that tried to run interference, most likely because they were getting a cut of the porn profits.

It felt like Joe McDonald was on a personal mission to get into that prison and remove Payton and Sabrina as soon as humanly possible. And I guess he was. Because there is clearly more to this story than I am aware of. Some reason why he was spending personal favors and troding over political toes that normal feds would take the time to walk around. I would guess it had something to do with why Payton looked like she was deciding between either kissing or punching this guy.

Liam broke up the confusing moment by stepping into the cell and growling out, "McDonald!" Payton spooked and jumped away from Joe McDonald, quickly scanning the area looking like she just remembered the rest of us were even here. Joe cleared his throat and turned to direct his men.