THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

by Cynthia Eden

  She felt as if she’d just laid her soul bare for him.

  Goose bumps rose on her skin. She backed away from him, hunching her shoulders a bit. When lightning flashed again, Gabrielle didn’t flinch, and she was rather proud of that fact.

  But she was also curious. About Cooper. Always—him. “What scares you?” Gabrielle whispered.

  He didn’t move. No, he did. A small movement. He tensed. “What makes you think anything does?”

  Her lips lifted in a wan smile. “Everyone fears something. Even you, tough guy.” Even the man who jumped into fires.

  His eyes were on her, burning bright. “Maybe you scare me.”

  His response surprised her. “Why?”

  A phone rang then, vibrating from its position on the couch. Cooper’s lips thinned, but then he said, “Because I don’t want you hurt.”

  Her lips parted in surprise, but he had already reached for the phone. He answered it, even as his eyes stayed on her. “Marshall.” His eyelids flickered a bit. “Yes, she’s here.”

  The call was about her?

  He turned away from Gabrielle, showing her his broad back. “We’re not coming out in the storm. Why? Because she doesn’t like damn storms, that’s why.”

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  “When it’s over, that’s when we can talk,” Cooper growled.

  Another phone rang then—her phone. She instantly recognized the familiar beat of music that alerted her to the caller’s identity. Gabrielle hurried across the room, vaguely aware that Cooper had ended his call and followed her.

  Her fingers trembled a bit as she picked up her phone. She took the call saying, “Penelope, look, this isn’t a good time for me—”

  “Something is happening here,” Penelope whispered.

  “What?”

  “After you left a man and a woman in suits—you know, the boring, government-type suits—came in to the Inquisitor. They went into Hugh’s office. They closed the door, and now Hugh is about to leave town for a trip down to the Cayman Islands.”

  What? Hugh was heading off to the islands? That made zero sense to her.

  “Get in here!” Penelope ordered.

  Then the woman hung up on her.

  After her day, Gabrielle really didn’t need Penelope’s drama.

  Gabrielle hurriedly tried getting her boss on the line. Only he wasn’t picking up. The guy never ignored a call from any of his reporters. And Hugh also didn’t just rush out of town. In fact, he usually stayed at the Inquisitor until after midnight most nights.

  What’s going on?

  She looked up. Cooper had his eyes on her. “My boss is leaving town.” She rubbed the growing knot of tension in the back of her neck. “Some strange folks in suits came in, and Penelope was pretty much saying they’ve pressured him to leave.” Government-type suits. “Feds,” she muttered.

  Cooper’s brows climbed. “Uh, you think Feds are pressuring your boss to get out of D.C.?”

  Her gaze cut to the window. “I have to get down to the Inquisitor.”

  “You just told me that you don’t like storms.”

  “No, I don’t,” she agreed quickly. “They scare the ever-loving hell out of me. But I can’t let fear stop me.” She never had, never would.

  She headed for the bedroom.

  He blocked her path. “Maybe we should get out of town.”

  Her eyes widened. “What?” But, before he could reply, Gabrielle shook her head. “I can’t! I have a story, people counting on me—”

  “You have a killer calling you, threatening you. You need to get out of sight and get some place safe.” He gave a hard nod. “I can keep you safe. I can take you someplace that no one else would ever be able to find.”

  His words held an ominous ring that unsettled her. “I don’t want to vanish. I’m not hiding.” She brushed past him.

  “Fine.” That word was bitten off. “I’ll take you to the Inquisitor.”

  Gabrielle stopped at the bedroom door and swung back to face him. “Uh, try that again.” She motioned to the window. “I’m not getting on your motorcycle. We’ll take a cab. My whole facing-your-fears bit only goes so far.”

  For an instant, she thought he’d smile at her.

  But then he did that little trick of his—that trick where all emotion vanished from his face and eyes. “When you want to vanish, tell me. Remember that, okay? I can get you out of this game anytime.”

  “It’s not a game.”

  “Isn’t it?”

  Life and death shouldn’t be a game.

  And Cooper’s words shouldn’t have reminded her of the killer.

  But they did.

  The killer’s voice seemed to echo in her mind.

  “Winner kills all.”

  * * *

  HUGH’S COMPUTER WAS GONE. His files were boxed up.

  And he was sweating.

  Gabrielle stood in the doorway of his office, frowning. “Hugh?”

  His head jerked up at her call.

  “What happened here?”

  He cleared his throat and gave a shrug. “Vacation time,” he told her with a too-jovial tone in his voice. “Got some coming, so I thought I’d head out for a few days.”

  Bull. She glanced at Cooper. He shrugged. Raindrops clung to the sides of his hair.

  Gabrielle marched into Hugh’s office. “Come in and shut the door, Cooper.” Because this conversation wasn’t going further than the three of them.

  She slapped her hands against the surface of Hugh’s desk. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he watched her.

  “You don’t run from anything,” she told him. “And you taught me not to run.”

  “I’m not running.” That false jovial air weakened. “It’s a vacation, I told you that.”

  The door clicked shut.

  “Who got to you? Did the cops put pressure on you because of that call I—”

  He reached across the desk and grabbed her left hand. “You’re in too deep.”

  Gabrielle shook her head. “I’m a reporter. You taught me that there can never be a ‘too deep’—this is our job. To follow the truth, no matter where it might take us.”

  “What if it takes you to the grave?”

  “Hugh...”

  He freed her and rolled his shoulders. “Feds confiscated my computer. They told me they believed that the killer had hacked into the system here at the Inquisitor, that he’d been using my own intel to get close to you. That was how he knew where you lived, knew your phone number... The Feds said they traced him, they found evidence he’d been in your personnel file. Every bit of info I had on you...” He paused and his chin lifted. “The killer’s got it now, too.”

  “How do they know that?” she demanded. “They can’t know! They—”

  “Were they just trying to come up with a reason to take my computer? My files? Maybe,” Hugh allowed, “but they had a court order, so it wasn’t like I could stop them from taking everything.”

  Cooper, standing just behind her, remained silent.

  “Why the trip out of town?” Gabrielle asked.

  Hugh’s gaze slid away from hers. “I’ve made a lot of enemies with my stories over the years.”

  “And you never ran from any of those enemies.”

  His head inclined. “But I’d leave in an instant if it meant I could keep my people safe.”

  He’s leaving for me. The knowledge was twisting her insides into knots. “What did they tell you?” Gabrielle demanded.

  Hugh reached for his bag. His attention shifted to Cooper. “Should have realized it sooner,” Hugh mumbled. “But maybe it’s a good thing that you’re here.”

  Her blood iced. No, no, no.

  Hugh’s
smile stretched across his face. She knew that smile. It was his fake smile. One he gave when he was in the presence of an enemy.

  She wasn’t Hugh’s enemy. That just left...Cooper.

  “If anyone can keep her safe, I guess it will be you, bodyguard.” Hugh walked around the desk, clutching his bag. He paused for just a moment beside Gabrielle. “I’ll be seeing you again. You can count on it.”

  Her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest.

  Hugh didn’t trust Cooper. She sure got the message he’d sent her—loud and clear—should have realized it sooner.

  Hugh reached for her. He hugged her—and slipped a small flash drive into her hand.

  Her fingers curled around the drive, concealing it completely.

  He pulled away. This time his smile was real. It reached his eyes. “You know I can’t turn away from a good story,” he said.

  No, he couldn’t.

  “I’ll be back.”

  He strode toward the door. Cooper started to slide out of his path, but Hugh stopped him. Hugh slapped a hand down on Cooper’s shoulder. “If Gabrielle gets so much as a bruise...”

  Gabrielle slipped the flash drive into her back pocket.

  “...you’ll answer to me.”

  Then Hugh was gone.

  Cooper glanced her way. “What the hell was that about?”

  It was about Hugh not trusting him. About Hugh being forced out of D.C., but by whom?

  Her money was on the EOD. She needed to access that flash drive, but Hugh had concealed it from Cooper for a reason, and she didn’t want his eyes on it, not until she’d seen for herself just what material it contained.

  “He’s gone!” Penelope poked her pretty head in the doorway. “Actually gone—with a serial killer loose in the city! Am I crazy? Or is he?”

  Gabrielle’s heartbeat drummed so loudly she was sure that Cooper and Penelope had to hear it.

  “And there’s someone here,” Penelope continued as she smoothed back her hair. “Some woman who said she’s from the FBI.” Her perfectly manicured index finger pointed to Gabrielle. “She keeps asking to see you.”

  The situation was going from bad to worse.

  Cooper was frowning now as he glanced through the doorway.

  Penelope smiled at him and she batted her lashes. “The FBI lady is right down the hall, second door on the left.”

  Cooper hurried out.

  Gabrielle crept toward Penelope.

  Penelope’s smile vanished. “What is going on?”

  “I’m not sure.” She didn’t want to mention the EOD to Penelope. Until she figured out more about what was happening, Gabrielle didn’t want to risk the other woman’s life.

  Sure, Penelope was flighty, she was flirty, but she was also one of the few people that Gabrielle counted as a friend.

  “What can I do?” Penelope asked. “Hugh’s worried, I can tell, and when he worries...I worry.”

  Gabrielle eased out a slow breath. “I need to use your computer, and I need you to keep both Cooper and that FBI agent busy while I do it.”

  Penelope nodded. “Done.” She started to walk away, but then stopped. “When this is all over, you’d better share your byline with me.”

  “I will,” Gabrielle promised. She would have promised just about anything right then.

  Penelope bustled away. “Oh, Cooper, the agent is this way, in the conference room...”

  They only had one conference room. It was down the hall, in a location a good thirty feet away from Penelope’s desk.

  Perfect.

  Gabrielle all but ran for the empty desk.

  * * *

  AN FBI AGENT. What were the Feds thinking? To get involved in an EOD case like this just wasn’t protocol. Mercer should have shut them out immediately.

  “Right here,” Penelope said, her perfume seeming to swirl in the air around him. She threw open the door. “Agent Noelle Evers, this is Cooper Marshall. He’s—” Penelope broke off, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I think he’s working with Gabrielle,” she murmured, sounding confused.

  “I’m her partner.” Cooper crossed the room and offered his hand to the slim redhead. He’d never seen the woman before. Her handshake was brief but solid, and he had the feeling the woman was assessing everything about him—probably because she was.

  He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Gabrielle.

  But Penelope was the only one there, and she was shutting the door.

  He pulled away from Agent Evers. “Gabrielle...”

  “Oh, she’ll be right in. She just stopped by the restroom.” Penelope lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Talking with Hugh got her emotional. She hated to see the old guy go. He was like a father to her.”

  Her real father had left her too soon and with a fear of storms and a quest for justice that wouldn’t end.

  He headed for that door. If she was upset, he wanted to be with her.

  Penelope blocked his path. She smiled at him, but her gaze drifted to the FBI agent. “You’re here about the D.C. Striker, aren’t you?”

  The D.C.—

  “Yes,” Agent Evers said, voice smooth, “I am.”

  Excitement lit Penelope’s gaze. “He’s a serial killer, isn’t he? Hugh was right about that. You’re here because that’s what the FBI does. You hunt serials.”

  “It’s one of the many things we do,” Agent Evers said, still in that smooth voice that didn’t give away any emotion. “We hunt them, and we try to figure out why they do the things that they do.”

  Her job was very different from his.

  He didn’t try to understand the killers. He just eliminated them.

  * * *

  GABRIELLE SANK INTO Penelope’s chair. Her fingers were trembling as she pushed the flash drive into position.

  A few clicks of the mouse, and she had that drive open.

  There were two files stored there.

  One was titled...EOD.

  She clicked that one first.

  Her gaze darted over the document that opened. It looked like it was a series of notes that Hugh had made.

  Ex-military. Covert Ops. Specialize in hostage retrieval and unconventional warfare. Lockwood and McAdams...military records are sealed. Possible EOD agents.

  Then Hugh had listed what appeared to be a series of locations and dates. Were those EOD missions?

  A phone rang beside her, and Gabrielle jumped. She glanced up, made sure no one was watching her then she went back and clicked on that second file.

  That file was labeled Striker.

  She expected to find more notes within that file. Instead, she found data on—Cooper.

  Military records. She had no idea how Hugh had gotten access to these files. Lane had tried and come up empty-handed.

  Should have known Hugh would be more resourceful. Somehow, he’d managed to get access to sealed records. Hugh had contacts in all the right—and wrong—places.

  She leaned forward as she read the service details. Cooper had joined the Air Force the day after he graduated from Yale. She scanned through the file, noting the commendations, the awards.

  There’d been so much training for him. The notations were seemingly endless. Combat Dive School. Army Airborne certification. Military Free Fall Parachutist. He’d been on a special tactics team, and even gone in for Advanced Skills Training.

  Her fingers trembled as she clicked the mouse. No wonder the guy could move so soundlessly. He was some kind of super soldier.

  Then she saw that Cooper’s service ended five years ago. Ended...with an annotation that said Cooper Marshall had been killed in the line of duty.

  Her breath choked out.

  Killed?

  Of cour
se, he hadn’t been killed. He was alive and well, and right down the hall in the conference room.

  But Hugh had scanned a death certificate. It was right there for her to see, plain as day.

  According to those files—files that clearly had a “Confidential” stamp on top of each page, Cooper Marshall was a dead man. There was even a picture of him included. A younger version of Cooper, but definitely him.

  She pulled the cursor down and reached the last page of the file.

  Hugh had written a note to her.

  According to my source, Cooper Marshall is a ghost. Watch your back with him. This story—these murders are all about the EOD.

  You’re the reporter covering the kills, and all of a sudden, Marshall is shadowing you. He lives in your building, he has access to you...

  I think your “guard” knows a whole lot more than we do. Be careful with him.

  He was connecting dots that she should have connected herself.

  But she’d been blind.

  Sometimes, you couldn’t see the enemy that was right in front of your face.

  Or in your bed.

  She scrolled back up and read the details of his “death” one more time. Cooper Marshall had been attempting to rescue a downed pilot behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. He’d gotten that pilot to safety, but Cooper had sustained extensive injuries. He’d died before making it back to base.

  Gabrielle’s fingers rubbed together as she remembered the scars that marked Cooper’s stomach and chest. He had been injured, grievously. But he hadn’t died.

  “Look, I get that you’re into her,” Penelope’s sharp voice called out, “but give the woman a minute of privacy. I told you already that Gabrielle is going to join us—”

  She shut the file and jerked out that flash drive. Her heart raced in her chest as Gabrielle shot up from the chair.

  And came face-to-face with a dead man.

  Chapter Nine

  To be dead, he looked incredibly good. Damn him.

  But she had to look shaken because Cooper frowned at her. His hand came up and skimmed her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

  Have you been lying to me?

  She should have put the puzzle pieces together sooner. Gabrielle felt like a fool as she stared up at the man she’d made love with just hours before.