Rank: Lighthouse Security Investigations Series

by Maryann Jordan

  She knelt on her bathmat, running her hands over the soft cats. Snuggling Prairie Dawn closer, she said, “I don’t think it’ll be too much longer before your kittens come.”

  Her phone rang and she rubbed the cats once more before she stood and dropped her towel onto the floor, scattering them. Sliding on a satin robe, she tied the sash as she walked into the bedroom. Snatching the phone off the bed, she saw Janice’s name listed as the caller.

  Before giving her friend a chance to speak, she answered and said, “Remind me to never take your advice, ever again!”

  “Why? What happened? Are you okay?”

  Feeling only slightly guilty for the worry in Janice’s voice, she continued, “Yes, I’m fine. Yes, I’m home. But sneaking out the fire escape door into an alley was one of the dumbest things I have ever done in my life!”

  Without hesitation, Janice quipped, “What about in college when you finally got up the nerve to go streaking across the lawn behind our dorm and didn’t realize that there were motion detecting spotlights? What about in your first job when you complained to the boss about one of your coworkers who was an absolutely lazy and conniving woman…only to find out that she was his daughter? What about when you decided to go on a carrot diet, and your skin turned yellowish? What about when you—?”

  Plopping down onto the bed, she interrupted, “Okay, I hear you! There’s no need to go over every embarrassing incident I’ve ever done in my life! God knows, there’ve been enough of them. But this one was really dumb and could have ended up horribly.”

  Picking up on the slight tinge of panic still in her voice, Janice, immediately contrite, said, “Oh, I’m so sorry. What happened?”

  Heaving a great sigh, she ran her fingers through her wet hair, separating the strands. “I didn’t realize that I would have to go down a moving ladder. I just assumed the stairs would go all the way to the ground. I was also wearing stiletto heels and that was a disaster on the grated metal. As soon as I got out on the landing and shut the door of course it locked and I had no choice but to go down. My skirt got caught so that when the ladder went down, I practically ripped my dress off—”

  Cackling laughter interrupted her tirade, all concern clearly leaving Janice as quickly as it had appeared. The woman had barely caught her breath before she struggled to speak. “Oh, my God, Helena! Only you…I swear, only you would end up having such a horrible time trying to leave the building!”

  Huffing, she continued, “That’s not even the worst of it.”

  Silence for a few seconds met her ears, before Janice’s incredulous voice asked, “There’s more?”

  Leaning forward, she dropped her head to her hand, wincing when her fingers touched her scrape. “Oh, it gets worse.”

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense.”

  While she had always told Janice her secrets, she began to feel that giving the details of her embarrassing night was a mistake. She’ll never let me live this down. Girding herself for more laughter, she continued, “The ladder jerked down so quickly, I didn’t have time to react. My legs flew off the rung but landed on a man who happened to be standing below. I ended up with my skirt up my back, my legs wrapped around some man’s head, and my arms flailing about as I tried to keep from falling all the way to the ground. We grappled around, slammed into the brick wall, and he was pissed as hell before he finally got my feet on the ground.”

  Silence greeted her instead of the mirth she expected. “Janice, did you hear me?”

  “You’re telling me that you landed on a man in the alley? Oh, my God, Helena. Like I said…that would only happen to you!” A giggle slipped out, soon joined by more peals of laughter. “I can’t believe you sat on a man’s face! What a glorious surprise that was for him!”

  Rolling her eyes, she flopped back on her mattress. “Are you quite done laughing at me?”

  Janice slowly gained control of her laughter, and said, “I really am sorry. It’s just the idea of you landing on some strange man, the two of you bouncing around the alley…well, you have to admit, it’s really funny.”

  Heat slid over her as she remembered each detail of the incident. Fear, shock, surprise, embarrassment. Then, the memory crystallized into the face of the man she had landed on. When her feet were firmly on the ground, she had looked up at him and realized he was huge. Well over six feet tall. She remembered the feel of his arms as he had slowly brought her to stand. After he gave her his jacket, she had noted the muscles barely contained in the shirt he wore. His dark blond hair, longer than was currently stylish, paired with the short beard on his face gave him the appearance of a lion. And his eyes…blue as the ocean on a sunny day.

  Realizing she was waxing poetic about a man in an alley, she sat up quickly, and said, “Listen Janice, I suppose when all was said and done, it was better than spending the evening with that lecher at Mr. Tercelli’s table. But right now, all I want to do is crawl in bed and try to forget the entire ordeal.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m glad you told me and I’m glad that you’re all right. But since you didn’t say the man in the alley was a lecher, then I’m assuming he must’ve been a good rescuer of damsels in distress.”

  A snort admitted from her and she agreed. “You’re right. He was very much the gentleman. One I hope I never see again, or I might just die of embarrassment!”

  Disconnecting, she tossed her phone to her nightstand and moved back into the bathroom to finish drying her hair. While giving in and accepting that she wanted to live in a modest condo, her parents had insisted on upgrading the inside. The remodeled kitchen and bathroom had been their present when she moved in. She had wanted to wait but knew that allowing them to do this for her would take the sting out of her turning down working for her father’s business.

  Slipping out of her robe, she pulled on her flannel pajamas. Checking on the cats, seeing they were settled comfortably in their beds in the laundry room, she double checked her doors to make sure they were locked before heading back to bed. Crawling under the covers, she tried to plan when she could meet with Mr. Tercelli again to talk about the donations, but her thoughts centered on the man from the alley. Sleep eluded her for hours but when it finally claimed her, she dreamed of blue-eyed lions.

  Rank entered his apartment and threw his suit jacket over the back of the closest chair while jerking off his tie. Tossing it as well, he stalked into his kitchen. Opening the refrigerator door, he stared between the beer and the water, unsure if he wanted to drink to forget or drink to clear his head.

  Growling, he grabbed the water and chugged the contents before tossing the bottle into the recycle bin, successfully fighting the urge to throw it across the room. Years with the SEALs where missions were meticulously planned and carried out, promoting the ability to adapt to an ever-changing situation with no hesitation, was followed by several years of CIA Special Ops missions where all of that was put to the test ten times over…and never once had he had such a cock up. But then, who the fuck would expect a woman to fall from the sky!

  Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply, in and out in a rhythmic movement, searching to find a modicum of calm, but to no avail. Finally swiping his hand over his face, he pushed himself away from his kitchen counter and stalked down the hall, through his bedroom, and into the bathroom. Turning on the water, he stripped and stepped in just as it was getting warm. Not caring if it was ice cold or boiling hot, he showered, still attempting to settle his mind. The shower turned out to be as feckless as the deep breathing. He tried to ignore it, but he could still smell her…her delicate perfume enticingly tangled with the scent of her sex.

  How the hell am I going to explain this mess tomorrow at work? Stalking into his bedroom, he jerked back the covers and flopped onto the mattress. He knew he would need to make contact with Lawrence again and only hoped the man would agree to meet with him for a second time. New planning…reevaluating the mission. Forcing his thoughts to focus on a new plan, he slowly relaxed.

 
As he lay in bed, to his frustration, he could not help but think about the dark hair and green eyes of the woman. Who is she? Why was she with Frank Tercelli? What is her relationship with Anatoly Kozlov? And what the hell was she doing on the ladder above me while I was meeting with an informant? Is it all connected, or mere coincidence?

  Sleep came sparingly, but when he finally drifted off, he found himself fighting in his dreams with a green-eyed jaguar.

  5

  Deciding to take a run the next morning to help clear his mind, Rank found himself hustling into the LSI headquarters so he would not be late. Stalking into the house next to the lighthouse, he nodded toward Marge and Horace sitting at the kitchen table. Several cats swirled about their legs and he was once more struck with the idea that they looked just like an elderly couple, having coffee in the morning, discussing the daily news.

  Marge stood and hurried over to the counter, grabbed an aluminum foil wrapped breakfast biscuit and handed it to him. “Figured you’d be out running this morning and possibly late. I held this from the others for you. You can get your coffee downstairs.”

  Wondering why she thought he would be late to work today, he looked toward Horace, catching the older man fighting a grin. Fuck…they know.

  “Best get on down there, Rank,” Horace said, giving up the battle and grinning widely.

  Sighing heavily, he nodded his thanks toward Marge and walked down the hall toward the lighthouse. With a quick flip, he opened the panel hidden in the wall and tapped in the security code before standing for the retina scan. Once the finger scanner was complete and his digital prints had been confirmed, he walked through the door, which had swung open on its own. Tapping in another security code into the elevator panel, he began his descent. After the doors opened, he moved into the hallway and stood at the next door, once more sighing deeply.

  Walking briskly into the cavernous main room of LSI, he halted as he saw the entire Keepers gathered around the main table. With a quick glance to the side, he observed Sylvie trying to hide a smile and Babs grinning widely at him.

  “Well, well,” Babs drawled. “Look what the cat drug in. Surprised you don’t have claw marks on your face.”

  Ignoring her, he walked over to the side counter, popped in a coffee pod and made a strong cup of coffee. With his breakfast biscuit from Marge and his fortifying cup of caffeine, he turned and walked back to the table.

  “Sorry, man,” Josh said.

  Before he had a chance to ask why, he caught movement on the large, wall screen and his mouth fell open. There, in all its glory, was the security video of the alley from the previous night. Plain as day, he and the mystery woman staggered and battled as he tried to get her off him. He closed his eyes briefly and Josh paused the video, right about where she began to tip over his back.

  A small cough, clearly an attempt to cover a laugh sounded in the quiet room before the whole group erupted into roaring laughter. Opening his eyes, he shook his head, recalling how the woman battled, fought, and screamed with him trapped underneath her desperately trying to untangle them safely. Josh had decently blotted out the woman’s almost naked derrière, her skirt partially around his head, but it only made him remember how she felt in his hands.

  Wanting to be pissed, he quickly considered the situation from their point of view and relaxed, unable to keep from laughing. Shaking his head, still in disbelief, he said, “Holy hell, y’all. Couldn’t fuckin’ believe she dropped down on top of me.”

  Laughter continued as he plopped down into one of the chairs at the table, still shaking his head. He knew the guys would probably have cracked numerous ‘pussy in the face’ jokes had Babs and Sylvie not been present, but with the ladies there no one made a crass remark—for which he was thankful. Sighing, he added, “All I could think of last night were all the missions I’ve accomplished and never one time have I had such a fuck up.”

  Raising his hands to settle the group, Mace nodded toward Josh, who took the video off the screen. Ready to get to business, he looked at him and asked, “What can you tell us? Start with Lawrence before everything went to shit.”

  Taking another fortifying sip of his dark coffee, Rank reported, “The meeting was going as expected until Thomas left right after the drinks. I could tell Lawrence wasn’t expecting that, but he went right along with it. I was giving them time to have their short meeting when this woman walked in and joined Frank. The way she sat down and he greeted her, it was obvious they knew each other. The next thing I knew, in walked Anatoly Kozlov, big as fuck in real life. I know he’s got legitimate businesses, but I was still shocked as shit to see him sitting down in public with Frank.”

  After another sip, he continued, “Kozlov didn’t seem to know the woman and I got the feeling that she wasn’t too pleased to have him there. I thought maybe she was a mistress of Frank’s but thought it was odd she’d be there with the dinner originally planned to be with his son. I didn’t stick around, because at that point I got the message that Lawrence was heading to the back. I made my way out, just as planned, and when I got outside, I didn’t see or hear anything.”

  When he paused, Mace lifted his eyebrows and prodded, “And?”

  “Lawrence is certain that Thomas has nothing to do with any money laundering, but that may be mostly wishful thinking. Says the young Senator is keeping his nose clean, with his eye on the presidency years down the road. Said Thomas also rides his staff about making sure they stay clean and don’t give the press any reason to wonder about them. Also said that Thomas hires key people who know what they’re doing, to also help keep things above board.”

  Drew lifted his eyebrow, and asked, “Are you sure he’s a politician, or is he running for sainthood?”

  The others chuckled and he shook his head.” Yeah, I thought he sounded too squeaky clean myself.”

  “What about Frank?” Mace queried.

  Grimacing, he said, “Guess that video just about showed it all. Lawrence and I were just getting to Frank when suddenly I heard a noise just above me and the warning in the radio about movement above. I whirled around but barely had time to get my hands up when her body slammed into mine. Hell, I must’ve been right under her, cause her legs wrapped around my neck and her hands started clawing—”

  The chuckles renewed, this time including Mace, and Drew looked over, saying, “A real little hellcat.”

  “Shit, man,” he grumbled. “Cat is right. Thought I was being mauled.” Shaking his head again, he looked up and asked Josh, “You get a lock on her identity? I mean, what the fuck was she doing on the fire escape above me, right at the time that I was supposed to be having a secret meeting?”

  Josh nodded, and said, “Yeah, I know who she is and you’re not going to believe it.”

  A strange melancholy moved through him as he waited to see what Josh would report. Realizing he wished she were not part of the dirty dealings between Frank and Kozlov, he gave a slight mental shake, and sent a hard stare toward Josh. “Give it to me.”

  A photograph filled the screen and he looked up at her face, his breath hitching ever so slightly at her beauty. Dark hair, green eyes, and ruby lips curved in a sweet smile.

  “Damn, she doesn’t look like a hellcat there,” Blake said, his grin wide as the others agreed. “More like someone you could get to purr.”

  Ignoring the commentary, Rank stared at the words underneath her picture. Helena Jernigan. Owner of Jernigan Nonprofit and Charity Organization. His brows drew down and he jerked his head back toward Josh. “What? I don’t get it. Who the fuck is she?”

  “I only had this morning to work on this, so my information is basic right now. Helena Jernigan. Daddy is Paul Jernigan, CEO of Jernigan Financial Planning. Daddy’s got big bucks, both from having come from money and knowing how to run a business, and doesn’t mind helping others make it as well. She graduated from Brown University with a business degree but it looks like she didn’t want to go work for her dad. Instead, she started her own business
where she is the liaison between businesses that want to give funds and the nonprofit or charitable organizations that need those funds.”

  Shaking his head at the information, he said, “She was there on business?”

  Lifting his shoulders in a shrug, Josh continued, “From tapping into Frank’s calendar, I saw where he had an appointment to meet with her yesterday afternoon at his office. I haven’t got a lock on his phone yet, but hers was easy to tap into. He sent a message yesterday asking her to meet him at the restaurant. It doesn’t take much digging to see that he and her father have known each other for years. With their money, it figures they run in the same circles.”

  Mace asked, “I assume there’s nothing in Frank’s calendar about meeting with Kozlov?”

  Josh shook his head, “No.”

  “Frank’s good at covering his expressions, but I could tell he was surprised. My take on it was that Kozlov knew Frank was there and decided to make a public appearance.”

  “Curious that Thomas had already left the table by the time Kozlov got there,” Tate added. “Coincidence, or do you think Kozlov was waiting?”

  “I don’t think Kozlov gives a fuck who he’s seen with, but surely he knows it would not go well for a senator to be seen with him,” he concluded. “I tried making contact with Lawrence last night but was unable to. I’m going to try today and see if he’s willing to meet again.”

  As though with a mind of its own, his gaze slowly moved back to the picture on the screen. Though he would not admit it aloud, he found it easier to breathe knowing that Helena did not appear to be part of Kozlov’s world.

  Cobb, who had been quiet up until that point, spoke up. “Think there’s any way this Helena woman’s business is just a front for money laundering? I mean, think about it. She gets money from Frank to match up to a charity, but who’s to say the charity actually gets it or gets all of it? Maybe she’s in with Kozlov.”