Bulletproof & Locked, Loaded and SEALed

by Cynthia Eden

  “I’m just wondering who’s watching and following.” She hunched her shoulders. “Someone must’ve been watching Ginny. The man who approached her, whether that’s Patel or not, must’ve known the other two had left.”

  “Oh, they’re out there.” He gulped down the rest of his drink and crushed the can in one hand. “I’m just wondering if they know you have a bodyguard.”

  “Is that what you are?” She lifted one eyebrow, liking the sound of his job description.

  “The man who approached you in Cambridge might just think I got lucky in disarming him.”

  “Lucky? Yeah, I can’t see your average accountant or engineer taking down a guy with a gun like that.”

  “Of course, they might be wondering why we took off when the officer arrived on the scene and why you never reported the incident.”

  “The first they do know, but how would they know whether or not I reported the incident? We could’ve taken off because we didn’t realize the man approaching us was a cop.”

  “True, but don’t be so sure they don’t know what’s going on with the Boston PD.”

  She choked on her soda and it fizzed in her nose. “Really? They would have access to that information?”

  “Online information is out there for the taking—as long as you know how to access it.”

  “That’s a scary thought.”

  “Don’t you periodically get emails from stores or government agencies telling you that your personal information has been compromised? It’s the same thing—hackers hacking.”

  “Nothing’s safe, is it?”

  He tugged on her purse strap. “You’re safe—with me.”

  She stretched her lips into a smile. The way she’d felt when she discovered that Austin might be leaving proved that she wasn’t safe with him at all. How had she grown so dependent on him when she hadn’t even known him two days ago? She’d never been this dependent on anyone before—except Dr. Fazal.

  They spotted the accident scene a block away. Emergency vehicles formed a barrier around the corner. Sophia swallowed when she saw the coroner’s van.

  Her steps dragged, and Austin touched her shoulder. “Do you want to wait in the coffeehouse, or better yet, the donut shop?”

  “No.”

  Austin’s hand dropped to the small of her back and he kept it there as they drew closer to the scene, and she had no intention of shrugging it off.

  They hung out on the fringes of the crowd still clustered around the corner. Sophia couldn’t see Ginny’s body and didn’t want to.

  Austin turned to the man next to him. “What happened?”

  “Hit-and-run. Car hit a pedestrian, and he died.”

  The guy in front of the stranger cranked his head over his shoulder. “She. It was a woman.”

  Austin whistled. “Anyone see it happen? Anyone get a look at the car?”

  The shorter man in front answered again. “Not that I heard.”

  Austin took her arm and put his lips close to her ear. “Let’s retrace her steps.”

  Leading the way, Austin led her through a clutch of people that had formed behind them, and they walked through the front door of the office building.

  “Did Ginny drive?”

  “She took the T in.” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’m sure she was on her way to the T stop one block up.”

  They took the elevator up to the office, and she unlocked the door. Ginny and the others had done a good job of cleaning up.

  She stood in the middle of the waiting room and turned around. “This room wasn’t that messed up—nothing to search, but I noticed the magazines had been rifled.”

  “So, they could’ve been looking for something flat, a piece of paper or a disk of some sort.” Austin thumbed through a celebrity magazine and then stuffed it back in the rack.

  She pulled open the door to the back office and gestured to her right. “This was Ginny’s domain, the reception area. They trashed this.”

  “She didn’t say on the phone where the man approached her looking for you, did she? In the office or outside?”

  “No, but I’m pretty sure she would’ve kept the office door locked once the other two left. She’d been making patient calls.”

  “So, he knocked or waylaid her when she left the office.” He tipped his head toward the back of the room. “Do you want to show me your office and how Dr. Fazal’s body was positioned?”

  She squeezed past him and stepped into her office. “This is my space. I found the pink sticky note under my desk, here.”

  He got on his hands and knees and peered beneath her desk. “If it became unstuck when the intruders started searching in here, it probably floated to the floor and they never saw it.”

  “Even if they did see it?” She shook her head. “It wouldn’t have meant anything to them. That’s why Dr. Fazal wrote it that way. He didn’t want me talking to Patel…and I’m going to do just that.”

  “Dr. Fazal had no way of knowing I’d be here to help you.”

  “I think he would’ve approved. I know he held the guys who rescued him in high regard. I just never knew it was the SEALs.”

  “He was the hero. He sacrificed everything—his home, his safety—to help us bring down a very dangerous man.”

  She blinked. “Do you want to see where I found him?”

  “Yes.”

  She led him to the doctor’s office, which Ginny and Anna had put back together. Sophia laced her fingers in front of her, twisting them into knots as she moved around the desk. They’d never get rid of that blood on the carpet.

  “There. He was lying on his back, the gun next to his hand.”

  Austin crouched down and looked beneath the desk. “Did it look like he was down before the room was tossed? I mean, did you notice papers on top of him or beneath him? The cops would note that, but probably didn’t tell you.”

  “I think the search went on after his death. I just had that impression. The picture was beneath his leg, but that was the only thing I noticed. It was as if he grabbed it or swept it from the desk when he fell.”

  “That framed picture of the two of you? The one with the broken glass?”

  “Yes, the officer allowed me to take it with me that night.”

  Tapping his chin, Austin rose to his feet and took a turn around the room. “You said he kept a gun in his drawer?”

  “Yes, but I don’t know if it was the one in his hand. Maybe he went for it and had just enough time to shoot himself. I know he wouldn’t have killed himself without a good reason—a noble reason.”

  “He ruined their plans. They expected to get information from him and he made sure they’d never get it.”

  “But they obviously didn’t find it if they came after me and then…Ginny.”

  “They killed Ginny. I don’t think the man in Cambridge went after you with the same intention.” He pointed at her. “They think you know something or that Dr. Fazal gave you something.”

  “I don’t and he didn’t.” She wrung her hands. “Can’t I just tell them…?”

  “No! That won’t work. Do you think they’ll believe you? They might believe you after a few hours or a few days of…” He ran a hand through his short hair.

  She didn’t want him to finish that sentence. She didn’t want to imagine what they’d do to her if they captured her. The thought of it had been enough to make Dr. Fazal put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.

  She rubbed the scar on the inside of her left forearm. She wouldn’t be able to endure it.

  Austin looked around the room and peppered her with more questions, but none of the questions or her answers brought them any closer to figuring out what Dr. Fazal had been hiding from his killers—if anything.

  “Okay, let’s foll
ow Ginny’s probable path down to the street and see if we can discover anything.”

  “Do you think she’s still down there? It’s getting dark.” Sophia pressed her palm against the windowpane. The office faced a different direction from the front entrance.

  “Most likely. It can take hours for an accident investigation to wrap up in the case of a fatality.” She watched his reflection in the window as he approached her from behind.

  He looked almost unreal, like an apparition she’d conjured from her imagination. Then he touched her shoulder blade and she knew he was real…and he was the only thing standing between her and utter devastation and collapse.

  “Are you ready?”

  Her eyes met his in the glass and she nodded.

  They exited the office, and as she locked the door behind her, the elevator opened on the floor. A vacuum cleaner poked its nose out of the door followed by Norm.

  “Hey, Norm. Did you hear about what happened to Ginny?”

  “I did hear, Sophia.” He shook his head. “Crazy Boston drivers, and he didn’t even stop.”

  Austin pressed the elevator button with his knuckle to hold it open. “You didn’t happen to see anything, did you?”

  “No. I haven’t left the building since I came on duty a few hours ago. I just heard the sirens and a few people in the office were talking about it. Damn shame.” He shook his head. “She must’ve been still upset about her argument up here. She probably wasn’t paying any attention.”

  Sophia’s heart jumped. “Argument? On this floor?”

  “She was talking to a man in the hallway.” Norm rolled the vacuum a few feet forward. “Right here.”

  “What did he look like?” Austin had let the elevator go and was focused on Norm like a laser.

  Norm ducked his head. “Dark skin, dark hair, medium height. He had an accent, kind of like Dr. Fazal’s. I figured it was a friend of Dr. Fazal’s.”

  “Had you ever seen him here before?”

  Norm licked his lips and glanced at Sophia.

  “This is Detective French, Norm. He was looking into the accident.”

  “Oh, okay. I never seen him here before, but he sounded like the doctor. I thought maybe he was upset about, you know…the murder.”

  Sophia put her hand on Austin’s arm. His intensity was going to send Norm running for the stairwell. She asked, “Did you overhear any part of the argument?”

  “Naw, they were quiet. Just sort of whispering back and forth, but I could tell they were having a disagreement about something.”

  “You don’t think this man could’ve been the one driving the car that hit Ginny, do you?”

  Norm’s eyebrows jumped. “I thought that was an accident. Someone hit Ginny on purpose?”

  “We don’t know that for sure.” Austin crossed his arms. “So, how about it? Could the man talking to Ginny have had enough time to go down to the street, get in a car and drive around to the front before Ginny got to the corner?”

  “No. No way.” He leaned on the vacuum cleaner handle. “He got in the elevator with her. They went down together. So, unless she took some big detour when she got to the sidewalk, he probably left her right before she crossed the street and got hit. He could’ve even witnessed it.”

  “Okay, Norm. Thanks.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.” Austin shook Norm’s hand.

  “Do you have a card or something? The detective who was here for Dr. Fazal gave me his card in case I remembered anything else.”

  Austin made a show of patting his front pocket. “Fresh out. Ms. Grant knows how to reach me.”

  Norm turned and trundled down the hallway, pushing his vacuum cleaner in front of him and muttering. “I sure hope the hit-and-run was just an accident. ’Cause if it wasn’t, there’s something hinky going on with this building and that office.”

  Austin called the elevator again, and when they stepped inside, they looked at each other.

  Wedging his shoulder against the mirrored wall, Austin said, “The man arguing with Ginny was Patel, but is he working with someone else who ran down Ginny? Of course, why run her down if she’d given Patel your info? Patel would’ve had to signal someone that he’d come up short. It all happened too fast.”

  “In which case, the guy in the car who hit Ginny is not working with Patel.” She held out her phone, tilting it back and forth. “And now I have Patel’s number.”

  “Are you ready to call him?”

  “What should I say?”

  “Tell him who you are, and ask him what he wants. Don’t let on that you already know about him. Play dumb.”

  “That’s not going to be very hard to do since I have no idea what he wants.” The elevator opened onto the lobby floor and she stepped out first, still clutching her phone. “Now?”

  “Let’s get back to the hotel so we can have some privacy. I’m going to be listening to every word on Speaker, and my phone has the ability to record the conversation, too.”

  Sophia pushed through the lobby door first and stepped onto the sidewalk, glancing to her left. The emergency vehicles were still there, although not as many, and the crowd had thinned. As dusk had settled, the accident investigators had lit up the area with bright white lights, giving the scene the quality of a movie set. She wished it were just a movie, not her reality…not Ginny’s.

  Hunching her shoulders, she huddled into her jacket. As they drew up beside the accident scene, Sophia noticed the coroner’s van, no longer blocked by the fire engine, and beside it a gurney draped with a white sheet.

  A gust of wind whipped down the street and lifted a corner of the sheet at the top of the gurney. For a moment, Ginny’s red hair streamed freely in the breeze.

  Sophia gulped back a scream and stumbled heavily against Austin’s body.

  He caught her around the waist and pulled her close, steadying her against his solid frame. “It’s okay. You’re going to be okay.”

  Was she? Or had her violent past caught up with her and wrapped its icy fingers around her throat again?

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Through some miracle he made it back to the hotel without having to sweep up Sophia in his arms and carry her for five blocks—not that he would’ve minded.

  She must’ve gotten a glimpse of Ginny on the stretcher. He should’ve taken her out of the building a different way. She hadn’t said one word to him during their walk back. She’d allowed him to keep hold of her and guide her as they walked.

  He had to get her out of Boston, away from this investigation. If the men who’d killed Fazal thought she had something they wanted, they’d never let her escape.

  When they got to the room, Sophia collapsed into the chair by the window.

  “Do you want something? Water? I think there are some tea bags by the coffeemaker.”

  Without answering, she closed her eyes. When a few minutes passed, he thought she’d fallen asleep. Then she wriggled upright in the chair, and her eyelids flew open.

  “I have to call Patel now.”

  “Patel can wait. You need food.”

  “I’m not hungry.” She brushed her hair back from her face and gathered it in a ponytail in one hand. “I need to contact Patel and ask him what the hell he’s doing here and why he brought this misery down on Dr. Fazal. I need to ask him what he said to upset Ginny and if he got her killed. I need to demand answers, and I’m gonna get them.”

  “Hang on.” He held up one hand as he marveled at her quick turnaround. What resources had she just mustered to come out of her shock and fear over Ginny’s death? “You don’t have to do anything right now until you feel better.”

  “Oh, I’m fine.” Her glittering dark eyes kindled with sparks of anger. “Dr. Fazal and Ginny are dead. There’s nothing I can do for them now except get justice—
and that justice starts with Patel.”

  He scratched his chin. He knew exactly how she felt. Hell, he’d lived it after his brother died.

  “Are you ready to do this? Ready to keep your temper?” He squared his shoulders and looked deep into her fathomless eyes. “Because if you’re not, you can blow the whole thing sky-high. You want answers from Patel, you’re going to have to come in with a measured approach. Can you do that?”

  She took a deep breath and released it slowly, rolling her shoulders. “I can do it.”

  He removed his phone from the charger and handed it to her. “Then do it.”

  “Do I have to do anything special to record the conversation?” She eyed the phone cupped in her hand.

  “It’s all set up to record and it’s already on Speaker. All you have to do is enter the number Ginny gave you.”

  She swept her thumb across her phone’s display and then tapped a number into his phone. The phone rang three times.

  “Hello?” a man answered in accented English.

  “Hello? Is this Mr. Patel?”

  “Who is this?”

  “This is Sophia Grant. My coworker Ginny Faraday gave me your number.”

  “Is she dead?”

  Sophia’s eyes flew to Austin’s face, and he nodded.

  “Sh-she is. It was a hit-and-run accident. How did you know that?”

  “It happened right after I spoke to her.” He cleared his throat. “Do you know who I am?”

  She raised her brows at him and he mouthed Dr. Fazal and patient.

  “I do recognize your name from Dr. Fazal’s patient files. Y-you know what happened to him, don’t you?”

  Patel let out a sigh. “That’s why I’m calling you, Ms. Grant. May I call you Sophia? I feel like I know you from Hamid’s letters.”

  “His letters? I thought you were his patient.”

  “Sophia, your life is in danger.”

  “Because of Dr. Fazal’s murder? Was Ginny’s death an accident?”

  “No. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I should’ve never come here.”

  “Are you going to tell me why Dr. Fazal and Ginny were murdered? Why I’m in danger?”