RELENTLESS

by HelenKay Dimon

  “Anything upstairs?” he asked Joel.

  “An old balcony. Ed says there used to be a second floor, and the architect who did the redesign put the balcony in for aesthetics and some sort of ode to the place’s former glory.” Joel pointed out the walkway above them as he talked. “We went up and the only way out is through an emergency door to the roof and then down a ladder to the outside.”

  Jocelyn grabbed the closest stack of deposit slips and tapped them on the table, lining up the edges with precision. “So, the robbers just went up there for a walk? Doesn’t make sense.”

  “I think we’ve established they weren’t robbing anything.” Joel watched her but again had the good sense to stay quiet.

  Ben hadn’t shared the compulsive behaviors. He probably didn’t have to. Joel had helped him check her bedroom that first night. Clothing lined up with the exact amount of space between each hanger. The color coding. The perfect edge where she lined up her shoes.

  Having been in the military, Ben recognized the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. She never used the term. He doubted she’d been diagnosed. She talked about behavioral adjustments. More than likely, she handled the whole thing herself.

  “Let me ask this.” Jocelyn had them both staring at her now. “If this wasn’t about taking money or things out of safe deposit boxes, then why didn’t they just grab me and run?”

  There was only one answer to that, so Ben gave it to her. “Because they had to make it look like a robbery.”

  “That guy seem okay to you?” Joel leaned against the table and nodded in Kent’s direction.

  The man sat at his desk in full-on fidget mode. Sweat dotted his brow and he kept wiping his hand over his mouth.

  Ben had noticed the nervous tics before. They struck him as even more pronounced today, which made no sense at all. The danger had passed. He should be celebrating living through it or at least look more relaxed.

  “To be fair, his bank was robbed, kind of,” Jocelyn said.

  Joel nodded. “While he was out.”

  There was a clicking sound as Jocelyn tapped the pile of slips against the table. “Still thinking it’s too convenient?”

  “Connor will break him.” Even now Ben admired Connor’s work. He kept his voice low and his gestures smooth as Kent unraveled into a bucket of sweat.

  “No question.”

  Ben turned around to agree with Joel and saw Ed usher a man in the front door of the bank. “Hey, you can’t be in here.”

  That was the deal. They had all come to get the search done faster. That meant bringing Jocelyn outside the house again, and Ben had laid down a bunch of rules to make sure that happened. Being in the bank with only Ed and Kent was one of them.

  The new guest walked right over, just a few steps behind Jocelyn. Joel moved to block the direct line to her and Connor came up out of his chair with his hand on his gun. Ben beat them both. Ignoring the pull of the stitches across his stomach and the tightness over his shoulder, he vaulted around the table and put his body right in front of hers.

  “Not one more step.” And he would put a bullet in the guy to back up his threat if he had to.

  Forget the expensive black suit and successful-businessman trappings. The guy was fortysomething and fit and could be a killer for all Ben knew. He wasn’t about to play wait-and-see on that one.

  The man’s eyebrow lifted. “Since my money is in this bank, I believe I can do whatever I think is appropriate.”

  Connor shook his head as he walked over and through the wall of tension. “Sir, you have to—”

  “It’s okay.” Kent rushed in with his hands in the air. Nervous energy radiated off him as he flailed. “This is Gary Taub.”

  Gary stood in direct contrast to the bank manager. A good five inches taller and totally put together. He frowned when he saw the sweat pouring off Kent, then dismissed him by turning to Connor. “I own the building next door.”

  “I’m guessing you don’t mean the coffee shop,” Joel said.

  Gary didn’t break eye contact with Connor. It was as if he knew who was in charge and refused to deal with anyone he deemed lower on the food chain. “Worldwide Securities.”

  “What kind of business is that?”

  “Financial.”

  “What can we do for you, Mr. Taub?” Connor shifted away from the group and took the spotlight off the place where Jocelyn stood.

  She hadn’t said a word. She was too busy digging her nails into Ben’s back.

  “Gary, please.” The man almost bowed as he said it. “I’m checking on Kent.”

  That made almost no sense in Ben’s mind. If Kent weren’t a complete mess, maybe. As it was, Ben couldn’t imagine Gary hanging out with schlubby, balding Kent unless Gary needed something from him. Gary just seemed that type.

  “Are you two business associates?” Ben asked.

  “We share an interest in keeping the area safe.” Gary’s gaze finally landed on Ben. Did a quick flick over his shoulder to Jocelyn, then back again. “And you are?”

  “Connor Bowen,” he said before Ben could answer. “This is my team.”

  “Of what?”

  “Investigators.”

  The corner of Gary’s mouth eased up. “For the police?”

  “Maybe we could ask you a few questions.”

  Gary folded his hands in front of him. “I notice you’re not answering any.”

  “That’s how this game is played.”

  A terse silence followed the verbal volleying. If this Gary guy wanted a battle, Connor was not the right guy to pick as an adversary. Connor didn’t blink. Didn’t call any attention to the rest of the team, which was good because if Ben guessed correctly, Joel was using that fancy phone, held low in his hand, to get a photo of Gary.

  Gary finally broke the quiet with a quick nod. “Well, I can tell you what I saw on the day of the incident.”

  “You were here?” Ben ran through his mental roll call of faces from that day and knew this guy was not on it.

  “Next door.”

  Connor stepped back and gestured in the general direction of Kent’s abandoned desk chair. “Then have a seat.”

  Everyone pivoted. Ed took up his old position at the door while Connor sat with Gary and ran him through a series of questions as Kent watched. No, while Kent stared at the large clock on the wall by the safe. The guy didn’t sit still. Gary must have noticed because more than once he glanced up and scowled at his supposed business friend.

  It took Ben a second to realize he stood alone. He spun around and found Jocelyn back at the counter in the middle of the room with Joel hovering over her shoulder like the bodyguard he was.

  Ben walked back to her. He was about to make a joke but he noticed her hands. She’d stopped straightening. She turned the slips over and studied the back.

  He knew something ran through her mind. “What’s wrong?”

  “Something.”

  He balanced his palms against the edge of the table and leaned in, keeping his voice at a whisper level. “Can you be a little more specific?”

  “The deposit slips.”

  He still wasn’t getting it. “One more detail might help.”

  “What about them?” Joel asked.

  “No one gave me anything except Pamela.” Jocelyn held up a slip.

  From what Ben could see, it was blank except for the preprinted blocks. “What are we talking about?”

  “The first attacker talked about me having something.” The slip flapped when Jocelyn shook it.

  Ben remembered the question the first attacker had asked her. They’d all turned it over many times. The team took turns asking her about it, trying to get to the heart of it. Was it something from a patient or doctor that the guy was after? But none of t
heir questions had gone anywhere. “I thought we decided that was some sort of line to throw you off.”

  “The last time I saw Pamela, I did some banking and she gave me the receipts. She put them in an envelope, just like she always did.” Jocelyn smiled. “Don’t you see what I’m saying? She handed me something.”

  “And now she’s missing.” It didn’t take long to put two and two together and figure out Pamela was dead. When Jocelyn kept talking, Ben knew she hadn’t made that leap yet.

  “I forgot because it was so mundane, and I assumed the attacker was talking about something that happened at the hospital.” Jocelyn’s voice rose as she talked.

  Joel answered her in a whisper. “I’m thinking we can now assume Pamela is dead.”

  The color ran right out of Jocelyn’s cheeks. She morphed from excited to pale in a second.

  Ben hated the look of defeat he saw on her face. “Joel.”

  “Being realistic here.” He shrugged.

  Jocelyn waved her hand in front of her face. “It’s okay. I need to know.”

  “But do you have any clue where you threw this slip or whatever it was away?” Joel blew out a long breath. “I mean, the chances of finding it are...what?”

  “No.” Ben kept shaking his head. “She didn’t throw it away.”

  “I have it,” she confirmed.

  It took Joel a few more steps to catch up. “At your apartment?”

  Still ghostly-white, Jocelyn managed to smile. “At Corcoran.”

  * * *

  GARY STOOD AT the front door, just inside the bank, and watched the Corcoran Team rush out of there. After a tap on his shoulder from Ben, Connor had listened and then hustled them all out of there. The man asked one wrap-up question and they were gone.

  Kent rocked back on his heels. “They didn’t act like they knew you. I don’t think—”

  “You shouldn’t because you’d be wrong.” Kent didn’t see it, but Gary did.

  Kent frowned. “What?”

  “Up until five minutes ago, she didn’t know she had the note.” From a few feet away, Gary had watched the realization dawn on her face. She went from mindlessly playing with the papers to holding one up. Her excitement spilled over until one of the men said something and then they mobilized.

  She knew. In a few minutes, they would all know. Gary couldn’t control what was in the note from the teller, but he could get his hands on it.

  “How do you know what she knew and when?” Kent asked.

  Gary didn’t feel inclined to explain to a man who wouldn’t survive until morning. “The look on the woman’s face and the way they ran out of here.”

  “The transfer is in a few hours.” Kent looked around but Ed was on the other side of the room. “You promised to let my wife go.”

  Whether he promised or not didn’t matter because Gary had no intention of letting that happen. Neither did his silent partner, since Sharon had most definitely seen his partner’s face when he grabbed her. That made her collateral damage.

  Yes, the Beane family would not survive the night. They’d die and the attempted bank robbery would be linked back to Kent as an operation gone wrong. Sharon as the innocent victim unaware of her husband’s money issues and schemes. In Gary’s scenario, Sharon found out, a fight ensued and the resulting murder-suicide would stand as one more horrific tale of a marriage on the edge and a desperate man who took a terrible turn.

  At least that was where the evidence Gary manufactured would lead the police to believe.

  “I have a very small window in which to fix your mess,” he said to the man who would provide access then soon be dead.

  “I didn’t—”

  “Stop.” Baiting this man proved quite enjoyable. “For Sharon’s sake, you better hope I can do it.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jocelyn drew the envelope out of her purse and put it on the Corcoran conference-room table on top of the files and papers and everything else they had thrown all over the place. She beat back the urge to organize it all. This wasn’t their first job and they knew how to do their work, but still.

  Joel grabbed the envelope as soon as it hit the table. “You kept a receipt from more than a week ago?”

  “I keep everything.” She snatched it back and waved it in front of him from across the table. “Sometimes being a woman on the edge helps.”

  Joel frowned. “Excuse me?”

  She turned to Ben at his position next to Connor at the end of the table. For some reason she wanted Ben to be the one to see it first. “Here.”

  “In your purse.” Ben shook his head. “No wonder the guy couldn’t find it at the house. Also makes sense we missed it. I’d never think to tell a woman to dump her purse. Seems like a surefire way to get my butt kicked.”

  “We will from now on,” Joel said.

  Connor rested his hands on the back of her chair. “I’m not sure I knew she had it here.”

  “I keep receipts in my purse and reconcile every Friday. I was attacked before I could.” It sounded crazy when she said it out loud.

  Never mind how smooth and perfect they fit together and how she had them lined up inside the envelope with not one edge sticking out. Just when she thought she’d come so far, she ran smack into evidence she had some work to do.

  Ben shot her one of his sexy smiles. “I love your need for order.”

  One look at that mouth and her bones melted. After living with the anxiety as a curse for so long, she had her first moment of clarity. Maybe this one time he was right and it saved her. “Right now I do, too.”

  She glanced down at the words on the paper. The last two stood out to her as if they were set off in flashing lights.

  Worldwide Securities transfer. Sharon kidnapped.

  He read the words and Jocelyn jumped in with the first question. “Who is Sharon?”

  “Kent’s wife.” Joel sat down and started typing. “Let’s see where she is.”

  Jocelyn glanced at Ben. “More kidnappings.”

  “Yeah, I know.” The sadness in his eyes translated to a vibration of anger in his voice.

  After a series of ultrafast clicking, Joel made a noise. “Hmm, not good.”

  “What?” Connor asked.

  “A teacher who, from what I can see here, is out on unexpected temporary leave. Kent said she’s very ill.”

  “Funny how he forgot to mention that fact.” Ben blew out a long breath. “Guess her being gone explains his constant sweating.”

  That made three women—Pamela, this Sharon and her. Jocelyn’s chest ached at the thought she might be the only safe one. “So, someone is planning to take money from the bank? I still don’t get it. They were in the bank and didn’t steal anything.”

  “It all comes down to Gary Taub, owner of Worldwide and our sudden visitor this afternoon,” Ben said.

  Joel kept typing. “Thought that seemed a bit too smooth.”

  “So did he.”

  Ben’s dislike for the guy had been immediate. He didn’t exactly hide his feelings, with all that grumbling at the bank. Jocelyn had chalked it up to his protective instincts and having someone break through their security barrier thanks to Ed. Now she wondered if Ben’s anger went deeper. The instant hate could have something to do with his innate ability to sense danger.

  If so, she wanted to know. “What was this Gary guy doing? Why walk in and risk giving himself away?”

  Ben shrugged. “More than likely checking us out.”

  “Then we should be fine.” One business guy against all of them. Add in Pax and Davis, and Jocelyn tried to imagine how quickly Gary would go down. Then she noticed the three of the guys in question staring at her...waiting. “Oh, come on. This team is scary. What sane person would take you all on?”

&n
bsp; Joel burst out laughing. “Thank you, I think.”

  “Let’s go through the blueprints, construction grids, anything that could connect these two buildings in physical ways.” The usual stern thread moved through Connor’s voice but the look on his face came off suspiciously like a smile. “Anything on the bank security tapes?”

  Joel shook his head. “All wiped clean. The most recent is from three weeks ago.”

  “What did Ed and Kent say about that?” Ben said as he took the seat next to her.

  “They can’t explain it.”

  In a few moves, they all shifted into their regular chairs, her next to Ben and Connor at the head. It was so natural that she wondered if they secretly practiced the maneuver.

  With the head seat came the power, and Connor immediately stepped into the role. “Maybe this Gary person can.”

  “You think he’s planning a bank robbery?” she asked, because she still couldn’t wrap her head around the attacks being separate from the pile of money that sat in the bank safe.

  “He’s next door to the bank, which appears to be the epicenter of whatever’s happening there.” Ben punctuated each word with a thump of his finger against the table. “I’m willing to bet that balcony leads to Worldwide somehow.”

  Joel paged through the papers and flipped the blueprints out and on top. “Not that I could see.”

  “What do we know about him or the company?” Ben asked Joel.

  “Wealthy financial guy. High-end brokerage. Lost his wife to cancer and a brother in a freak accident overseas. There’s no one else as far as I can tell.”

  “So, we’ve got a guy with nothing to lose. That’s the worst kind.” Connor snatched a folder off the desk behind him and opened it. “We missed something. I want it found in the next thirty minutes. Call Davis and Pax and get them in on this by video conference.”

  Ben was too busy swearing under his breath to look at anything. “Fine, but in thirty-one minutes I’m taking Jocelyn to the garage.”