The Marshal Pt. 08

It was a perfect moment. She was spent, but she loved the feel of his still hard cock inside her womanhood as he held her, his hips rocking slowly, his lips dancing over her shoulder with sluggish kisses, and his hands cupping her breasts as his thumbs glided over her nipples in leisurely caresses. She wrapped her arms around his, holding him as he held her. Without the stimulation of fucking her, he began softening rapidly, their bodies relaxing into the warm glow of love and passion spent. She sighed deeply.

"I love you, Bo-bae," he murmured as his lips continued their slow, soft kisses.

"I love you too." She sighed as sleep pulled at her, but then his words penetrated her sleep drugged conscious. "Why did you call me that?"

"Because it's the name of woman I fell in love with."

She wasn't sure why his words touched her so, but they did. "Do you ever regret it?"

He pulled her into his chest more firmly. "Never."

"Even after everything that's happened?"

"Not for one instant of one day."

She pursed her lips so she wouldn't cry. She glanced at the bedside clock. They had at least another two hours before he had to get up. "Hold me?" she whispered.

"Always."

She sighed as she pursed her lips to stop her tears. She should let him go... but she couldn't. Just as she couldn't separate her yeonghon, her soul or spirit, from her body, she couldn't separate Rob from her yeonghon. He gave her life, and without him, she would be dead. Perhaps not in body, but in spirit.

She tightened her grip on his strong, protective arms, and he responded by tugging her more firmly into his chest. With a another sigh, she lay still, and allowed the darkness of sleep to take her.

"Britney," Rob whispered as he covered her lips in butterfly kisses. "Britney," he repeated.

"Too early," she muttered.

He smiled. "It's seven. You need to get in the shower."

"No... come back to bed."

"Can't. We have to go to work."

"Don't want to go to work. Don't have to be there until nine."

"My work."

She was quiet a moment before her eyes opened lazily. "Your work?"

"Didn't you know? Today is bring your fiancée to work day. Get up."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she stretched and groaned. "Why can't we stay here?" she murmured, her eyes closing again. "You can protect me."

He smiled. Britney wasn't much of a morning person. "I have to go in and try to find out who sent the goons last night. You want me to send someone else over to watch you?"

She rolled to her back. "No," she groaned. "Somebody tried to kill us last night. Doesn't that mean you can at least go in late?"

He chuckled. She was starting to come around. He kissed her again, more properly this time. "No. Come on, get up. I'm starving."

She heaved another huge sigh. "Yeah, me too."

She sat up and scrubbed her head furiously. He didn't understand how anyone could look so bed tossed and still be so damned desirable, but Britney could. He stood from the side of the bed, and after a moment, she stood as well. She melted into him and kissed him with a long, lazy kiss. If she'd kissed him like that at home, and on a weekend, he'd be shoving her back into the bed to satisfy a more demanding hunger.

She slowly pulled out of the kiss and patted him on the chest before brushing past and stumbling into the bathroom. The door shut as he started the small, in-room, coffee pot brewing. When she emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel, he handed her a cup.

"Morning," he murmured, pulling her into another kiss.

"Morning," she purred. She wrinkled her nose as she looked at the bruise on his cheek. "That's starting to look bad. Does it hurt?"

"You should see the one on my side... and a little."

She tugged at his shirt in an untucking motion. "Let me see."

He gently brushed her hands away. "Later."

She finished dressing and by seven-fifty, they were ready to leave. It was going to be tight, but they'd probably make it to the office on time. If not... well, someone tried to kill them last night, so the rest of the marshals could cut them some slack.

Rob wasn't too worried about someone taking another shot at her today. Any replacement hitmen couldn't know where they'd stayed last night, and it'd be almost impossible for them to be here from New York this soon. In addition, there probably were only the two original men. The sheriff's department had found and impounded a car with New York plates parked a couple of miles from their house on the side of the road, and the trash inside indicated there were only two passengers.

Despite his confidence, and the fact there were few places safer than the inside of a U.S. Marshal's office, he hustled her quickly into the building just in case he was wrong. The moment the doors closed behind them, he relaxed. He led her to their offices and parked her at his desk. None of the men in the office had ever seen Britney before now, and probably didn't realize who she was.

"Want some coffee?" Rob asked, placing the bag of breakfast in front of her.

"I'd love some," she said as she dug into the bag, pulling out breakfast sandwiches.

When he returned with two cups, half her bacon, egg, and cheese muffin was already gone, and her container of orange juice had taken a major hit.

"So good," she mumbled around the muffin.

He snickered as he unwrapped his own breakfast and took a big bite. He was so hungry he might just eat the wrapper too.

When they finished wolfing down their breakfast, he noticed the deputies trying to ignore them, but Britney was hard to ignore. Eventually someone would gather the nerve to ask the boss who the dame was, but until they did, he had work to do. He picked up his phone and dialed the New York Marshal's office.

"United States Deputy Marshal Nicholson. How may I help you?"

"Steve. Rob Cogburn. I--"

"Hey Rooster! Good to hear from you. What can I do for you?"

"I need some intel. Someone took a crack at Bae last night. I need--"

"No shit?" he exclaimed. "Is she okay? How do you know that?"

"No shit," Rob said, ignoring the second question. "I need to know what's going on down there. I'm trying to track down who sent the gang bangers."

Steve was quiet a moment. "She's up there with you, isn't she?"

"Yes," Rob said, his tone flat and emotionless. He'd told Steve earlier he didn't know where she was.

"You lying bastard," Steve said, but there was no heat in his voice. "That's why you left for Maine, isn't it? You're her handler."

"Yeah."

"I should have guessed."

"Keep that quiet, okay? It's official and approved, but I don't know how far up the chain that goes, and I don't want to get Marshal Graves in a tub of shit."

"Your secret is safe with me. Anyone else know?"

"Only Marshal Graves, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"You got it. What was your question again?"

"A pair of goons took a swipe at her yesterday. I assumed Kwang-hoon sent them, but now I don't think so. What's happening down there? Any idea why someone in the Han organization would want to take her out? From what you said earlier, I'd think they'd have bigger problems to worry about."

There was a momentary pause. "That fits."

"What fits?"

"The shit is getting deep down here, Rooster. Han is in full on war. There are five factions vying for control. Rumor has it that three of them have teamed up. They think if Bo-bae would step in, she--"

"Hang on a second, Steve. I'm going to put Bae on the line so she can hear this too." He punched a button to put the call on the speaker and then hung up the handset. "You're on the air with Bae and Rob," he said. "Start at the beginning."

"As I was saying, the shit is really hitting the fan down here. There are five factions fighting for control of what's left of the Han organization. Three of the factions, headed up by Mong Dea-seong, Ko Min-jun, and Tak Sun-jin, have agreed to rally behind Bo-bae. They're looking for her. They want her to come back and take over the organization in her father's place."

"Are you shitting me?" Britney asked.

"Is that Bo-bae?" Steven asked.

"Yes," Rob replied.

"That's the word on the street."

"Why would they do that?" she asked. "I've never been part of the business."

"Han is tearing itself apart. They need someone to pull them together. Ko has put the word out that he's looking for you, along with Mong and Tak, and they would be willing to support your return. They didn't like the way Kwang-hoon ran things, and they think you would be more like your father."

Rob watched Britney. She was staring at the phone like she couldn't believe what Steve had said. "They're crazy!" she spat.

"They're desperate. Apparently none of the five can agree on who will lead what's left of the Han organization, so these three assholes compromised on you."

"What about the other two?" she asked.

"That's Gim Hyun-woo and Ye Chan-yeol. They're the most bloodthirsty of the bastards. Most of the hits have been linked to one or the other of them. They know if you come back and take control, most of the organization would fall in line behind you. They're trying to wipe out the competition."

"You think one of them sent the goon squad up here?" Rob asked.

"That'd be my guess, yeah."

Rob stared at the phone. He knew Steve was giving him what he had, but Rob didn't know much more than he did before he placed the call. "Any idea which one?"

"No," Steve said as Britney shook her head.

He glanced at Britney. "Where does that leave us?"

"I don't know. You tell me," Steve said. "NYPD's got blood running in the streets down here in Queens, and the mob isn't being very careful. We've had some very public executions, and it's been a wonder that the only people killed so far have been known members of Han. Everyone else is expected to recover."

"Anything else you can tell us?" Rob asked.

"That's it, man. When that old fucker Han Kyun-ki gasped his last breath, he--"

"Hey!" Rob barked. "Show a little respect! She's his daughter."

There was a lengthy pause. "My apologies, Ms. Han. I was out of line."

"I know what he was, Deputy Marshal..."

"Nicholson," Rob supplied when she ground to a stop, clearly trying to recall Steve's name.

"Nicholson," she continued. "It's why I wanted to have nothing to do with his business. No apology necessary. What were you going to say?"

"When Mr. Han passed, there was no clear right of succession, so his empire has begun to crumble. If it weren't for the fact innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire, I'd say let them destroy themselves."

Rob nodded, satisfied with Steve's sudden change in tone with regard to Bae's father. "Yeah, maybe, but there are few things more dangerous than an injured and cornered animal."

"Yeah," Steve said, still clearly smarting from his comments and Rob's rebuke.

"Thanks for the info, Steve. If anything changes, give me a call, okay?"

"Will do. Best of luck to you, Ms. Han. If I can help you in some way, call me."

Britney flashed a crooked smile. "Thank you for the offer."

"Thanks, Steve," Rob said as he ended the call. "What a fucking mess."

"I'm not surprised, though. I know all those guys. Dea-seong, Min-jun, and Sun-jin are old school. They're close to Dad's age. The other two, they--"

"Gim and Ye?" Rob asked, scribbling names to help keep everything straight.

"Yeah. They were Kwang-hoon's guys, and they don't care about shit. They control by fear, not respect. They probably only toed the line when Dad took over again because everyone else respected him, and they'd have been shut out if they got out of line."

He nodded in understanding. "So the three old guys, they want to use you to try to maintain their power, and the other two want to get rid of you to prevent the other three from ganging up against them?"

She shrugged. "I guess, but I'll never join them. I've spent my entire life trying to stay away from them."

"Shit. This is just fucked up. Just when I get you out, they try to drag you back in. You can bet your ass our two friends last night passed the word to whoever sent them it was actually you."

She looked down. "Yeah."

He looked up the number he needed from the cheat-sheet he kept in his desk, picked up the phone, and dialed. It took twenty minutes to explain to the witsec people that Britney had been compromised and she needed new documents.

"Two to three weeks," he said to Britney as he hung up the phone. She stared at him, clearly upset, her eyes damp and her lips pulled tight. He held out his hand. When she took it, he squeezed her hand gently. "We'll get through this, just like we've gotten through everything else."

She sniffed. "I feel like the whole world is against us."

"It's not. Once Han falls, that will be the end of it. It was just bad luck they found you before it happened."

"Restroom?"

"Down the hall, to the right. You okay?"

"No," she said softly as she rose and turned away. He followed her, but she put her hand in his chest as he started to follow her into the bathroom. "No," she said softly. "I'll be okay. I just need a few minutes."

He returned to his desk, gathered the papers and bags from their breakfast, and threw them into the trashcan as hard as he could. He glared around the office. It wasn't any of these men's fault, but he was beginning to seethe. He was putting on a good face for Britney, but he wanted to go to New York and shoot all those Han fuckers right between the eyes.

He sat down at his desk, but he couldn't focus. Everyone was looking at him. They'd overheard enough to know what was going on. "Don't you people have something you should be doing?" he snapped.

In New York the supervising deputy marshal had a private office, but here he was just another deputy with a few more responsibilities. He could do nothing else on the Han case at the moment, so he surfed the internet until he found the number he needed to start the process of getting the doors replaced on his house. He was placing the handset in the cradle when Britney reappeared.

"You okay?" he asked when she threw herself into his guest chair.

"No. I'm done with this shit," she growled, her voice flat and hard. His heart froze in his chest, but before he could respond, she continued. "Where can I go use a phone in private?"

"You can use the conference room."

"Where?" she asked.

He swallowed hard. He didn't know what she was up to, but he didn't like the direction this appeared to be going. "I'll show you."

He led her down the short hall to the small conference room. He opened the door and stepped out of the way. She nodded as she passed. He started to close the door behind her.

"Aren't you staying?"

"Do you want me to?"

"You need to hear this, but don't say anything, and don't let anyone interrupt while I'm on the phone."

He stepped into the room, closed the door, and locked it as she sat down. She placed her cell on the table, tapped and swiped as he sat down across from her. After a moment, her phone purred, and he wondered who she was calling.

"Ko Group," a voice said.

"This is Han Bo-bae. Let me talk to Min-jun." There was a short pause of stunned silence. "Do it now before I reach through this fucking phone and rip out your goddamn throat," she growled as she stared at the cell.

"Yes, ma'am. Please hold."

"Bo-bae?" a man's voice said after a moment. "Is it really you?"

"It's really me."

"It's so good to hear your voice!"

"I wish I could say the same, Min-jun. Gim or Ye tried to whack me last night. I was going to stay out of it and let you carve up what Dad built up among yourselves, but now I see I can't."

"No shit?" the man's voice on the phone exclaimed.

"No shit."

"Those two saekkideul aren't worth a shit."

Rob didn't know what saekkideul meant, but he could tell from context and the tone of Min-jun's voice it wasn't a compliment. Britney saw him looking at her in curiosity.

Fuckers, she mouthed. "I know, and that's the problem. You know I never wanted to be part of this, and I still don't. You were always there for Dad, so I want you to take over the operation."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Can you think of anyone better? You were always Dad's go-to man, right? The one who got things done? Before I support you, I need to know that once you eliminate the other groups, you'll let me live in peace."

"Yes, of course, Bo-bae. That's what Kyun-ki wanted. You'll... come out and openly support me taking over for your father?"

"Absolutely, but there's one condition."

Rob had heard the eagerness in Min-jun's voice at the thought he was going to get an endorsement from Bae, but now there was wariness. "What?"

"You have to stop Gim and Ye from coming after me. You do that, and you'll have my endorsement."

"That won't be easy."

"I didn't say it would be, but you're the man that can get it done. Show Dea-seong and Sun-jin you have what it takes to hold Dad's legacy together."

"Dea-seong and Sun-jin, they want you back too. We could work together and--"

"I don't trust them, Min-jun. That's why I came to you. You're the only one I trust. They might say they're willing to work with you, but I think that's just them hedging their bets. My source says that Dea-seong has cut a deal with Gim and Sun-jin with Ye. I think they're playing you until they know who's going to prevail."

"I don't believe it!"

"Trust me, it's true. Kwang-hoon said he'd give his blessing to either Ye or Gim, whichever of them killed me. Dea-seong and Sun-jin are trying to play both sides of the fence."

"How do you know that?"

"My bodyguard. Before he blew the man's brains out, he spilled his guts."

"Aren't you in witness protection?"

Britney snorted. "Are you shitting me? I slipped that almost a year ago. Once Han Bo-bae was dead, I was free to be anybody. I had contingency plans already in place in case I had to disappear. You know how Kwang-hoon was, and now you can see I was right. He tried to whack me. The Feds simply cleared the path for me. I spent a few months playing the good little girl, and when they stopped watching me so closely, I simply vanished. That's why I don't want to come back and take over. That will put me on the radar again."

There was a long pause. "How sure are you about your information?"

"As sure as a man afraid for his life can make me."

There was another pause. "I'd heard Gim and Ye were looking for you. I didn't know Kwang-hoon had a hand in this, and I damned sure didn't know they were going to try to kill you."

"It's true. Check around. I think you'll find a couple of Gim's or Ye's men have gone missing."

"This guy sent to kill you, he didn't say who he was working for?"

"He did. There were two of them, and they couldn't keep their story straight. One said Gim and the other said Ye. I somehow doubt they were working together, though. That's why I don't know for sure which of them tried to do me. If I did, I'd tell you."

"And you killed them?"

"Not me. I have a man for that, and he's very good at his job. One's on ice and the other... well, the cops showed up before he could finish answering my man's questions. That's the only reason he's still alive." She paused and pitched her voice slightly lower. "We're just waiting for him to make bail, if you know what I mean."

"Jesus, Bo-bae. You're your old man's daughter, all right."

"I'm not Kwang-hoon. I don't enjoy hurting people, but I'll protect myself. Don't cross me, Min-jun, and you won't ever have to worry about me. That's where Ye and Gim made their mistake."

"How will I reach you?"

"You won't, but I'll know when it's done. I still have contacts. Once you hold up your end of our arrangement, I'll contact you. We can discuss the best way for me to announce my support."