It was Hayden’s opinion that Peter’s accident was caused by another car hitting him multiple times from behind.
The who and why, however, were still a mystery.
Cole insisted on taking his car to Huntsville. I sat in the back, staring out the window into the bright sunlight of the warm winter afternoon, trying not to notice Cole’s hand resting on Amber’s thigh. There was a familiarity between them that hadn’t been there the other night. Something had changed, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I wanted Cole to be happy, but getting involved with Peter’s one-night stand didn’t seem like a good way for him to achieve happiness.
But who was I to judge them? My secretive fiancé left me at the altar.
I ran it all over in my mind again, thinking about the things that Daddy had told me about the papers in the manila envelope that Peter had left with Amber. Peter thought someone was selling fake licenses to the company’s software. He thought that they were using it for personal gain, at least that’s what Kurt had suggested. But it seemed to me that it was too easy to get caught, too easy for everything to come back into the lap of the person doing it. Wouldn’t that be incentive enough for them to cover their tracks a little better? Especially if it was someone still working for the company? To be that obvious about it, it would seem they would have a better reason to do it.
And that made me wonder if it really was someone at Bradford Telecommunications. Was it possible that someone who knew a lot about that type of software could have altered it enough to sell fake licenses to it? But what motivation would someone have to do that?
Daddy also said there was more to the paperwork, something about snippets of code that showed up in unusual places, code that didn’t fit where they were finding it. What did that mean? Was someone trying to use these phones and other devices the software was used with to do something with them they weren’t designed to do? And if that was it, what were they trying to get these devices to do?
And how did the CIA come into it all?
I wished Luke was here. He could answer so many of these questions for me, especially the ones about the CIA. He was CIA for several years. He could give me an idea of the kind of thing the CIA would be looking at with Kurt. Nothing specific, but enough insight that I might be able to figure it out on my own.
Damn, Luke! Why did you have to leave me?
Maybe it was the sight of Cole and Amber together. Maybe it was just the thought of PJ, of Peter and Amber, of all the things that’d been happening lately. But Luke was on my mind more and more. I thought I’d finally made my peace with the whole thing, accepted that something more important than me had taken him away. I believed for a while that he would come back to me. But Peter helped me realize that Luke would likely never come back. He made his choice, and that choice did not include living happily ever after with me. I thought I was okay with that, that I’d accepted that Luke was out there somewhere, saving the world. That he was doing what we both had always wanted to do with our lives.
I thought I’d accepted it. But…it hurt more than I could wrap my own head around, being without him and not knowing where he was.
I closed my eyes, and this one, very vivid memory started to play itself out in my head. Luke and I, our senior year of high school, taking a drive just like this one on a day very much like this. He took me down to Galveston, to the public beach where we spent most of our summer months before. We walked along the water’s edge, holding hands, not really talking. Then he suddenly stopped and turned to face me.
“I know we’re too young to think too much about the future, but I love you. Every time I think about being with someone else, I just…I want to be with you and no one else.”
It was intense. We were young, but we’d known each other for most of our lives. I’d known Luke even longer than Sam or Rebecca, my two best friends at the time. It was a moment that seemed to define us, that made it clear who we were, where we were going, and how we were going to get there. I never doubted that I was meant to be with Luke, and that moment just made that fact clearer to both of us. To be alone now…it was simply illogical to me.
I missed him like I would miss an arm if it was suddenly amputated.
“You okay back there, Megan?”
I opened my eyes, a little discombobulated. Cole was watching me in the rearview mirror, concern etched on his face.
“Are we almost there?”
“Ten more minutes.”
I leaned forward, resting my cheek against the back of his seat. “When we get there, I want the two of you to let me take the lead.”
“No problem,” Amber said. Cole squeezed her knee.
“You, too, Cole.”
“What exactly are we doing?” Cole asked.
“We’re going to barge in on this fellow and demand to know everything he knows about Peter and his investigation into this software issue. And then we’re going to hope that he gives us some insight that will help us figure out what happened to Peter.”
“Do you think these people—whoever they are—killed Peter?” Amber wanted to know.
“I do.”
Amber grew thoughtful. Cole squeezed her knee again.
“We’ll figure this out.”
“Has someone been following you again?” I wanted to know.
Amber shook her head. “Not as far as I know. But we haven’t gone out much.”
“I think this guy will give us some answers. And then, maybe, you’ll be able to return to something of a normal life.”
“I’m not sure I even know what that is.”
I touched her shoulder. “I think you do,” I said softly. “And I think it’s something the two of you deserve.”
She glanced back at me, a grateful smile transforming her pretty face into a gorgeous face.
We pulled into the parking lot of the chip manufacturing business not a minute later. The three of us climbed out of the car and stretched, each of us cramped from the long drive. The receptionist inside took one look at each of us and picked up the phone, warning someone of our arrival. A second later, a tall, bald man came toward us down a long corridor.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, looking wearily at Cole before he approached Amber. “Ms. Zavalas, I’d like to apologize for the misunderstanding between us.”
Amber glanced at Cole, who moved up behind her and slipped his hand down the length of her back. The sight of such a simple act of affection hit me right in the stomach. But then the bald guy was inviting us to follow him down the corridor from which he’d just appeared.
John Fuller. That was the name on the door of the office into which he led us.
A secretary followed us inside and asked if anyone wanted a drink. When no one answered right away, Mr. Fuller sent her away.
“What can I do for you?” he asked when we were all alone.
I leaned forward in the chair I’d taken. “I’m Megan Bradford, owner and president of Dragon Security. This is my brother, Cole Bradford. And you’ve already met Amber Zavalas.”
“Not met, but I know who she is.” Fuller nodded toward each of us. “Again. What can I do for you?”
He was polite, but there was clear annoyance in his voice.
“We need to know what you know about Peter Bradford and his investigation into misused software.”
Fuller’s eyes narrowed as he studied each of us. I noticed each time he looked at Cole, he flinched a little, as though remembering the feel of the gun against his temple. I wondered briefly if we could use that to our advantage. We could use any advantage we could get.
“I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do,” Cole said, leaning forward in his chair, too. “You said his name to me that night on the side of the road.”
“You must be mistaken. I’ve never set eyes on you before.”
“Of course you have.”
The man looked from me to Cole, then back again. Finally, his eyes settled on Amber.
<
br /> “Again, I apologize for what happened between us, Ms. Zavalas. I understand that you got your phone turned off, and that’s why I was unable to get ahold of you. And I’m sure you understand why I turned up in Ada looking for you.”
Amber glanced at Cole and me. She clearly had no idea what the man was talking about.
“I don’t understand,” Amber mumbled.
“The night we met, you were very kind and suggested I look you up. I wanted to talk to you, but you were so busy.”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” she said to Cole, a touch of a whine in her voice.
“Sure you do,” Fuller insisted. “We spent that lovely night at your trailer—”
“Enough!”
Cole stood and shoved Fuller back up against his desk as he passed him to get Amber.
“Cole…”
I watched them walk out of the room—or storm was a more apt description. Fuller seemed surprised, his eyes widened a little as he studied the door.
“I don’t know what’s going on here, but we’re going to get the answers we need.”
Fuller focused on me.
“You should be very careful where you ask your questions, Ms. Bradford.”
Amber and Cole were standing in the parking lot when I came out a few minutes later. Amber was agitated, pacing beside Cole’s car. He was talking to her, but she wouldn’t stop and didn’t seem to be listening. When she saw me, she marched over and confronted me.
“I don’t know what he was talking about. I only saw that guy once before he started following me around—and that was the night he came to talk to Peter. I don’t know why he would—”
“He’s scared.”
Amber tilted her head. “What?”
“We shouldn’t have come here to his place of work. He’s obviously got people watching him. He doesn’t want them knowing who we are and what we’re after.”
“You think his office is bugged?” Cole asked.
“I think he thinks it is.”
“Great. So we just wasted our whole afternoon.”
“Not necessarily. I think we know more now than we did. We know someone else is investigating the same leads Peter was checking out. We know that someone’s not just watching Kurt Sanchez, but this guy, too.” I dragged my fingers through my hair. “I think Peter stumbled onto something that was much bigger than someone in his company selling company software without a license. I think whoever was doing that was connected to something much, much bigger.”
“What?”
I looked at my brother and shook my head. “That’s what I still haven’t figured out. But it’s big.”
We stood there, looking at each other for a minute, then Amber moved into Cole’s arms, and he wrapped his arms around her. It killed my soul to look at the amount of affection being exchanged between the two of them. It made my own loneliness just that much more acute.
I stormed around them and climbed into the car, leaning back and closing my eyes. I needed to think this through. It felt like there was an answer just in front of me. I simply couldn’t grasp it long enough to figure it out.
I needed to get out of here. I needed to go home and soak in a hot bath. Maybe then I could clear my head enough to start making the connections.
Maybe.
Chapter 20
Cole
I took Amber’s face gently between my hands and forced her to look up at me.
“Your sister thinks I’m some sort of whore.”
“She does not.”
“Sure she does. First I get pregnant by your older brother. Now I’m clearly involved with you. And what that guy was saying—”
“Megan doesn’t think that, babe. I promise.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know Megan. I know all she’s thinking about right now is how to solve this puzzle. She’s always been like that, the logical one, always working one strategy or another out in her head. You don’t even come into the picture—except for the part where you saw Peter as he was following the trail of this mystery.”
“I wish I…”
She stopped and began to chew on her bottom lip in that way she did when she was trying to figure something out. Then she looked up at me, her eyes wider.
“Peter said something to me once. It was a month or two after he started coming into the diner. He said that some puzzles are misleading. He said that with some puzzles, you think you have it figured out, but then you pull the string and it leads to another puzzle and another after that until you realize you’re in much deeper than you ever thought you’d be. He said that sometimes the first puzzle is just a mask to hide the real one.”
I glanced at the car, at Megan sitting in the back seat, thinking about what she said about the CIA investigating Kurt Sanchez.
“Do you think this software thing is just the first thread in a bigger conspiracy?”
Megan shrugged without opening her eyes. “Possible.”
“Do you think Peter suspected that, and that’s why someone killed him?”
She peeked at me. “What do you mean?”
“Peter said something to Amber about a puzzle being a mask for another puzzle. Do you think he knew?”
She sat up a little. “I think he suspected.”
“If Kurt’s a terrorist—”
“And he put Peter on the software to distract from something else…” She shook her head. “I don’t know, Cole. But I think this thing goes so much deeper than we will ever know.”
I was pretty sure she was right. What had Peter gotten involved in? What had he dragged Amber into?
I turned to Amber. She came into my arms most willingly, melting the length of her body against mine. I kissed her, the taste of her lips like honey on the sweetest croissant.
“We’re going to be okay.”
She studied my face. “I want to believe everything you tell me.”
“Then believe me. You are going to be okay.”
We kissed one more time, then I helped her into the car. She was anxious to see PJ; she even called my parents on my cell as we found the interstate and headed back to Houston. We were just outside Huntsville, about to pass into Ada, when a white panel van that had been sitting on the side of the road suddenly veered up behind us and began following too closely behind.
“We have company.”
Megan twisted in her seat. “Looks like the CIA van Dominic infiltrated yesterday.”
“Why are they following us?”
“Maybe we should find out.”
“You want me to pull over.”
“Not yet. Let me call Hayden and Dominic and see where they’re at.”
I heard the code word—my code word for this case—and listened to the low rumble of her voice as she spoke to someone—probably Sam—on the other end. She handled her business as if it was a constant special ops mission. That was something I could appreciate. I’d do well as an employee of a business like hers. But I was beginning to wonder if working for my sister was really the brilliant idea I’d thought it was. Megan and I…we got along most of the time. But there were times when we butted heads, and maybe that wasn’t the greatest thing for a business situation, especially where she was my boss.
“They’re going to meet us in Conroe. Just drive normally and wait until I tell you, then pull over.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
We drove in silence for quite a while. Amber laid her hand on my thigh, squeezing from time to time almost unconsciously. I glanced at her, wishing I hadn’t let Megan talk me into bringing her along. She’d been through enough already. She didn’t need this bullshit.
I spotted Hayden before Megan did. He was in a huge Hummer, pulled over to the side of the road with his flashers on, like he was having car trouble and was waiting for a tow. I thought I saw Dominic in the passenger seat, too. Dominic was…the man was insane. He was in the paper a year ago for dragging some guy through the streets of Katy because he’d been harassing the CEO
of some technology company. The only reason he didn’t go to jail for it was because the guy confessed to attempting to rape the woman a month earlier. Dominic was hailed a hero for stopping him from doing it again. How could the prosecutors bring a case against a public hero?
“Pull over here,” Megan said, pointing out a little turn off at the side of the highway.
I pulled the car into the little semi-circle drive and parked in the center. As expected, the white panel van followed, moving up behind us as if we were friends caravanning down the highway together. I grabbed my gun—even though Amber gave me a look that suggested she’d prefer if I didn’t.
“Cautiously,” Megan warned, pulling her own weapon from a tiny holster attached to her ankle.
“This family is completely insane,” Amber whispered.
We got out of the car on the same side and turned to face the van. I wished that I could move in front of Megan, but she’d accuse me of sexism, and it would complicate an already complicated situation. Instead, I moved along side of her, checking down the length of the van for any movement. We could see the driver—he was watching us, sunglasses blocking any visible expression—but there didn’t appear to be anyone else in the front of the van.
I moved around to the driver’s side door, hiding my weapon behind my back, and snatched the door open.
“Out,” I demanded at the same moment Hayden and Dominic yanked open the side and back doors of the van. Sunlight highlighted the inside of the van, and I could now see that there were two more men in the back along with a ton of surveillance equipment.
“Hello, boys!” Dominic called quite loudly. “Fancy meeting up with you again.”
Someone uttered a few curses, but all three men got out of the van and lay on the sidewalk at Hayden’s orders. Or maybe it was simply the barrel of the automatic weapon he had pointed at their heads that inspired them.
“Are these the same guys?” Megan asked.
“One in the same,” Dominic confirmed.
She shook her head, studying them as she walked along the sidewalk in front of them.
“Were you following us?”
None of them even acknowledge her.
COLE (Dragon Security Book 1) Page 12