They’d worried that maybe her access had been revoked since someone clearly didn’t expect her to return, but it hadn’t been. With the touch of a button on his comm link, Jared could hear her as she made her way through the building, but without a visual he wasn’t entirely sure where she was. Unfortunately, Libby couldn’t hear him. They’d decided it was better if she wasn’t wearing an earpiece of her own. She had a tracker, and she had the microphone and camera that recorded everything. She also had a cell phone as a backup way to track her and communicate if necessary. That had to be enough.
Besides, she wasn’t accustomed to wearing a comm link and she might give it away with her movements when she pushed the button or if she stopped when there was a voice in her ear. They’d decided she didn’t need it with everything else, so she was in there without any encouragement from him.
He hated that, but he understood it. Still, the worry sitting like a stone in his belly hadn’t eased in the least. From the moment she’d walked toward the building, he’d been dealing with this low-level anxiety that twisted his guts and made him want to shove his way into Ninja Solutions and sweep Libby out of there before anything could happen. Not that he expected anything to happen, but since they didn’t know precisely who was behind Paul Hicks’s disappearance and Libby’s abduction, they didn’t know what that person would do when they saw Libby sashaying into the office like nothing had happened.
They had intel that Daniel Weir was at the Pentagon, but that didn’t mean Libby was in the clear. Somebody was going to be surprised when she walked in. If they were lucky, that person wouldn’t figure out what to do until Libby’d exited the building.
“Have you heard from Ian?” Jared asked no one in particular.
“He’s touching down in an hour,” Colt said.
“Do you think he went to Rome to meet with Calypso, or did it just happen?” Rascal asked.
“Knowing him, he went to Rome because he guessed she’d be there,” Colt said. He rubbed a spot over his ribs almost absently. It was where Calypso had shot him when she’d abducted Maddy from the safe house where Colt had been guarding her for Jace.
“What does Jace think about Ian trying to turn his sister?” Dax said.
“I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about it,” Colt replied.
“She shot Jace, too,” Jared said, in case anyone had forgotten.
“She’s cold-blooded,” Dax added. “Seeing her on that mountain when we were rescuing Tallie was a surprise. Even more surprising was her handing Tallie over and going after the doctor.”
“She killed him. Killed the pilot too.”
“Then she flew the damned helicopter.” Colt shook his head. “Didn’t see that one coming. I think Jace was stunned when Ian told him what’d happened.”
“Whatever happened to her in the years after Jace escaped is a mystery. But she’s a survivor. You have to give her that.”
“Yeah, she really is. I think that’s why the boss is fascinated with her.”
Jared cocked his head. “You think he’s interested in Calypso?”
Dax shrugged. “I think it’s possible. She’s a master of disguise, an assassin, and a pilot—that we know of. I don’t think the boss can help but be interested. Hell, I’d be interested too if I thought she had a soul.”
Jared frowned. “I hope you’re wrong. A woman like that could do a lot of damage before she’s through.”
“If she doesn’t kill him first,” Rascal muttered.
“Heads up. Libby’s walking into her work area,” Dax said, eyes fixed on the screen.
Jared hit the button to listen. She greeted her coworkers, who seemed genuinely happy to see her. They asked about her vacation and if everything was all right since it’d happened so suddenly. No one had known she was leaving so they figured it must have been a family emergency or something.
Libby played her part well. She improvised on the fly, telling them her sister had needed emergency surgery and she’d had to fly home to be at her side. It was a good lie, and everyone offered their best wishes for her sister’s recovery. She accepted them gratefully, but Jared knew it had to hurt to pretend like she had a relationship with her family. She hadn’t talked about them since she’d recovered her memory, which told him more than she thought it did. Knowing that her parents were gone, and that her brother and sisters were old enough to be her parents, he guessed that she didn’t have a close relationship with any of them.
That would be the kind of thing that bothered someone as sunny and sweet as Libby King. He vowed to ask her about it the moment this was over and he had her safely in his arms again. Then he vowed to tell her how he felt about her. He didn’t know what this was, precisely, but he knew it was more than he’d ever felt for anyone before. That scared the hell out of him, but he was in it now. He wasn’t turning back, and he wasn’t bailing.
He realized Colt was watching him. Jared met the other man’s gaze evenly. “Welcome to the club, brother,” Colt said.
Before Jared could say a word in response, he heard Libby’s voice in his ear.
“Where in heck is my plant?”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Once Libby badged into the building and security didn’t come running, she was able to let out the breath she’d been holding. Jared and the others were listening for any signs of trouble, which was a comfort. She just had to continue up to her cubicle like normal.
She headed for the elevator, greeting a coworker who held the door for her as she scooted inside. Once she reached the third floor where the administrative offices were, she sucked in a deep breath and strode from the elevator like she had every day before someone had tried to kill her.
Lisa Norton, her cubicle mate, was coming out of the copier room when she saw Libby. “Hey, girl! I missed you last week.”
“I missed you too,” Libby said as they walked back to their cubicle together. She liked Lisa. The other woman was her age, but she already had a husband and toddler at home and never had time outside of work to herself. She chatted amiably about things that had happened last week and didn’t seem surprised by Libby’s return. Not that Libby had suspected Lisa for a moment. The girl would need a clone to have enough time to get into trouble.
Some of Libby’s other coworkers stopped her progress through the building to express their happiness at her return.
“Is everything okay?” Susie Jenkins asked. Susie was an older lady, severely dressed in all black, and nosy as the day was long. But sweet. Susie would give someone the shirt off her back if they needed it. “You took leave so suddenly, we wondered if you’d had a family emergency. Kristin didn’t seem to know either.”
Libby smiled. She hadn’t seen Kristin yet, but she couldn’t wait to talk to her friend. Not about Jared, of course, because that was still a secret. But maybe Kristin would know if anything weird had happened last week. Not that Libby could ask about that either. But if it had, Kristin would spill. She wasn’t a secret keeper.
“My sister had to have emergency surgery. I went out there to help with the kids and everything. She’s going to be fine, though. It was just so unexpected I didn’t have time to tell anyone. And I lost my phone,” she added. “On the plane. The airline is still searching for it, though I have a temporary one a friend loaned me. You know how that goes.”
“Oh, honey, yes,” Susie said. “My niece lost her iPad on a trip to Florida and never did get it back. I think one of them flight attendants took it.”
Libby very much doubted that, but she didn’t argue. It wasn’t worth the breath when it came to Susie. The woman believed what she believed. Finally, Libby got herself away from everyone and headed for her cubicle. Lisa was already there. Libby rounded the barrier and stopped. Her desk looked the same as she’d left it. With one exception.
“Where in heck is my plant?”
Lisa glanced up, her eyes widening. “Oh no! Crap. It’s my fault. It was getting some brown leaves so I took it to the kitchen and pruned them off Fr
iday morning. I was going to bring it back but I got a call from the daycare and forgot about it. I think it’s still there.” She jumped up. “I’ll go get it.”
Libby held up a hand to stop her. Inside, she was shaking. Outside, she tried to project calm. “It’s fine, I’ll go. Thanks for looking after it for me.”
Lisa looked contrite. “I’m so sorry. I should have brought it straight back, but I forgot everything then.”
“Is your son okay?”
“Oh yes. He’d gotten into an ant mound and got stung, but he was fine. I had to go get him and take him to the doctor, of course. He cried a lot, but he’s not allergic or anything.”
“I’m glad he’s well.” Libby hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ll just go get my plant.”
She turned to go, then reached into her purse and grabbed her new phone to slip it into her jacket. She’d been without one for more than a week and though this one didn’t contain anything to do with her life yet, she felt naked without it. She knew the guys were watching and listening, but what if something happened to the feed and they couldn’t see or hear her? At least she’d have a phone.
When she reached the kitchen, her plant was sitting on the counter. Libby hurried over and grabbed it. The plant wasn’t big, a spider plant because those were hard to kill (though she was convinced if anyone could kill it, she could), and it did look a bit better now that Lisa had removed the brown leaves. No matter how much Libby watered it, or didn’t, she couldn’t seem to prevent the dang thing from getting brown on the edges. For a farmer’s daughter, she definitely didn’t have a green thumb.
“I heard you were back.”
Libby spun around. Kristin stood in the doorway, looking a little bit angry. She felt guilty for making her friend worry, because of course Kristin would have. But Libby couldn’t explain why she hadn’t texted or called.
“Yes, I’m back. I had to go to Ohio for a family emergency.” It had sounded so good when she’d told the others, but saying it to Kristin, she could taste the lie. If anyone would see through the story, Kristin would.
Kristin walked into the room, arms crossed. “You don’t talk to your family. Why would you go to Ohio for any of them? And why didn’t you tell me? I’ve been so worried!”
Kristin threw her arms around Libby and squeezed. Libby clutched the plant as she squeezed back. Then Kristin took a step back and dabbed at her eye with a tissue she pulled from her sweater.
“I’m sorry, Kris. It was very last minute. I was rattled, and then I lost my phone. I’ve been out of touch with everyone.”
“Still, didn’t anyone have a phone where you were?”
“Yes, of course. But I don’t know your number. It’s in my phone. I couldn’t recite it if you paid me.”
Kristin blew out a breath. “Well, fine. Still.” Her dark brows drew down as she focused on Libby’s face. Libby knew it couldn’t be the scrape on her head because she’d covered it with makeup and styled her hair over it. But then Kristin’s gaze dropped a fraction before she grinned. “Did you meet a man in Ohio?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“Your neck. Looks like a love bite—or a beard burn.”
Libby felt herself coloring. The guys were listening. Not that they hadn’t heard an earful already this morning. Jared was listening, too. And Kristin was still waiting for a reply.
Libby put her hand up to her neck where she could still feel the slight tingle of Jared’s mouth as he’d nipped and sucked. “One night stand. I, um, was feeling sort of blue and the kind of man you don’t want to turn down showed interest. So yeah, that’s what happened.”
Oh god, her face was on fire.
Kristin waggled her brows. “Oh my. I want to hear all about it. Every juicy detail. We can go to lunch and you can tell me everything.”
“Sure. Anything fun happen around here when I was gone?”
Kristin shook her head. “Nah. Same old, same old. Daniel’s running around like a chicken with his head cut off, and Nate’s growling at everybody. I think his ex-wife petitioned for more child support.” She seemed to hesitate, but then she came closer and glanced behind her. “There’s a rumor that Paul Hicks had something damaging about the company, but nobody knows what it is.”
“Really? Wow. I thought he quit, though.”
“He did. But he used to talk to you a lot, didn’t he? Did he ever mention anything?”
Libby’s belly twisted. Her friend was staring at her expectantly, but she wasn’t about to drag Kristin into this. “Paul mentioned a lot of things. I didn’t listen to half of them. I was just being nice. He was a lonely guy and nobody around here ever really talked to him.”
“The rumor is he had proof. But nobody’s heard from him since he quit.”
“I haven’t either. I wonder what he knew? Maybe it’s not about the company at all. It could be about Daniel, which is almost the same thing. What if he’s having an affair or something? He might not want anyone to know that, especially now that he’s engaged. The congressman could pull his support for RIM. No more appropriations. No inside track with the Army.”
Kristin frowned. “That would definitely be bad for the company. But I got the impression it was more to do with something technical.”
“Well I definitely wouldn’t know anything about that. I’m the least technical person on the planet. Don’t even try to explain how computers work to me. I just know that they do.”
Kristin laughed and looped an arm inside Libby’s. “Girl, I hear you. Oh well, I just thought he might have said something to you. Or gave you something since he was so sweet on you.”
Libby stiffened, then covered the lapse by pulling away and coughing. “Sorry. Think I might be coming down with something. Plane air.”
“Oh, I hope not. That’s the worst!”
“I’ve been drinking orange juice and popping vitamin C. I think it’ll be okay.”
“Good. Because I want to hear about this man you got busy with at lunch! I don’t want you to cough through it.”
Libby hugged her plant. “I can’t wait to tell you all about him. Not that I expect to hear from him again.” She waved her hand around. “One night stand and all that.”
“Must have been a good one considering how red your face is right now.”
Libby winced inside. The guys were listening. Not that Maddy, Tallie, and Angie hadn’t told their men the gist of what Libby had said to them, but it was somehow worse when she knew they could hear her talking.
Kristin went over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water. “Well, better get back to work for now. Only two more hours of drudgery until lunch.”
Libby laughed and they left the kitchen together. When she got back to her desk, she smiled reassuringly at Lisa, who was on the phone. Libby gave her a thumbs up, then put the plant down and sat in her chair. Her nerves were on edge as she logged into her computer. She kept glancing up and looking around, waiting for someone to swoop in and ask her what she was doing there, but nobody did. When she felt like no one was watching her, she stuck a finger into the dirt and pushed downward until she felt a hard ridge. Relief rolled over her.
“It’s still here,” she said softly for the benefit of the BDI guys. She pulled the plant closer as she dipped a second finger in. Then she slowly pulled the media card upward, keeping an eye on her surroundings as she did so. Once she had it free, she dropped it to the floor beneath her desk and put her foot over it. Then she raked the dirt back into place around the plant and set it into its usual spot.
Libby shook the dirt off her fingers over the trash can. She wanted to pick up the card and unwrap it, but first she took out the cell phone and sent a text to Jared using the code word he’d told her.
Got your order. What do you want me to do?
His reply was swift. Leave now. Make up an excuse if you have to, or just walk out. I’ll meet you in front.
She typed back. Okay.
She hated to bail when she’d just g
otten back, but she couldn’t keep the media card with her now that she knew what was on it. She couldn’t pretend to work all day and then waltz out of there later like nothing was wrong, carrying information that would probably ruin Ninja Solutions and take everyone’s jobs with it. She hated to be the one who ruined it for everyone, but it wasn’t really her fault in the end. It was Daniel’s for lying about RIM and trying to push the development forward when it wasn’t ready.
Libby put the phone in her pocket, then reached down and picked up the media card after making sure no one was watching. Lisa’s back was to her and nobody else could see the floor of their cubicle unless they stopped in the opening. Still, she was afraid of someone seeing so she slipped it from the plastic and tucked it into her shoe, beneath her toes, while pretending to scratch her foot. Then she gathered her purse and stood.
“Heading to the restroom if anyone asks,” she said to Lisa, who nodded.
She waved at a few people as she walked between the cubicles, then kept going once she reached the hallway that led to the elevator. All she had to do was step into the elevator, take it down to the first floor, and then walk out the doors like she had so many times before. Easy peasy.
She punched the down button, then glanced at the door to the stairs. She could run down them quicker than waiting for the elevator. She started for the stairwell door when the elevator dinged. The doors slid open. Nate Anderson stood inside.
“Libby,” he said cheerfully. “Welcome back.”
Kristin stood behind him, holding her iPad dutifully as she accompanied him to some meeting or other. She rolled her eyes and made a face behind Nate’s back. Libby tried not to laugh. He was handsome, but definitely stuffy. Kristin had often said that if it wasn’t for his ex-wife troubles, he’d be husband material. Older, rich, and easy on the eyes. But he couldn’t take care of a new wife when the old one was giving him such hell—and threatening his wealth on a regular basis. Besides, he was boring—and that was unforgivable in Kristin’s eyes.
Black Knight (A Black's Bandits Novel): HOT Heroes for Hire: Mercenaries Page 20