The Deception

by Kat Martin

  Unfortunately, he was a little too attentive. She had a feeling he was going to expect something from her in repayment for getting her the job. So far she had been able to dodge his attentions without offending him.

  She had also met Arthur Wiedel, slightly older than Victor, black hair and harsh features. “Aggressive, hard-edged and unforgiving,” his employees said behind his back. Wiedel ran the company with an iron hand. Kate had no trouble believing he could be involved in criminal activities, even murder.

  His partner, Maximillian Schram, a man in his early seventies, was the top money man. He had started the business and run it for years before turning it over to Wiedel, who had brought in Victor Markum.

  She was learning a lot about the company, enough to write a credible report. By Thursday, everything was set. The only fly in the ointment came when Jason insisted on being inside the building while she completed the job.

  “How are you going to get in?” she asked, not happy he didn’t trust her to do it alone.

  “Walk in. It’s a real estate company. There’s a residential sales office on the bottom floor, a commercial division on the second floor. Lots of people in and out.”

  “You went into the building to check it out?”

  He shook his head. “Tabby emailed me a set of plans. I’ve already found a place I can stay out of sight while I wait for you. You can text me when you’re finished. You don’t text, I’ll know you’re in trouble.”

  “I don’t like it. You’re not exactly the kind of guy who blends into the wallpaper. People will notice you.”

  “Doesn’t matter. No way I’m letting you go in there without backup. If things go sideways, you’re going to need some help. You worked with me as a PI. You know how important that is.”

  She thought of Bran and Reese, Jax Ryker and Detective Castillo, people who had helped them. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”

  He leaned over and kissed her. The pact was sealed. They’d bring it home together.

  Friday night arrived. Jase dressed in a navy three-piece, pin-striped suit with a red power tie, a successful real estate broker there to make a deal. He drove the Yukon and parked in the lot across the street at fifteen minutes before closing.

  Realtors were in and out of the sales offices at all hours, though on Friday people tended to take off early for the weekend, the reason Kate had chosen that time.

  Jase passed a few people leaving as he walked into the lobby, took the stairs instead of the elevator up to the third floor without encountering anyone else. He managed to use up enough time that the offices were officially closed by the time he reached his destination. A few people were still working, but they were concentrating on their tasks, eager to finish and leave.

  At the end of the hall, he checked the glass window in the mail room door, found the room empty, went into the package room at the back and settled in to wait.

  As he checked his watch for the hundredth time, he thought of Kate and said a sinner’s prayer that she would be all right.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

  Kate had been working in the building all afternoon, moving from one location to another, as the employees were used to her doing. Just before closing, she carried her laptop into the accounting department and opened it on one of the empty desks. A few minutes after five, the last employee in the department walked out the door, leaving her alone.

  Kate headed for Solomon Daniels’s office, the CPA she believed kept the second set of books. The door was locked, but the lock was nothing out of the ordinary, just there for privacy.

  Pulling on a pair of latex gloves, she made short work of the mechanism, her hours of practice paying off. She opened the door, slipped inside, sat down at the computer and stuck in her earbuds. As soon as the computer booted up, she checked in with Tabby.

  “It’s asking for the password,” Kate said. Inside her gloves her palms were sweating.

  “I’m going to give you a code. Type it in, then sit back and wait.”

  Kate typed in the code and the computer went to work. “I’m in.” Blocking thoughts of the penalty for hacking, she focused on Tabby’s instructions.

  “Go to menu, then to the folder you want to access.”

  Kate clicked the menu tab and a list of folders popped up.

  “Click on the one you want.”

  She recognized the company names Atrias and Winman, clicked the first one up.

  “Highlight the files you want,” Tabby said. “Pick the ones that seem most important. The more time it takes, the more likely you are to get caught.”

  A chill slipped through her. Kate took a steadying breath and studied the list. With no idea what to choose, she picked files that connected to something she and Jason had learned during their investigation. Half a dozen with the word Houston in the title, two files that referenced Forrester Trucking. Three with Blue Bayou. The files started downloading.

  In the Winman folder, she found a list of residential apartment buildings in Dallas and Houston, motels in both locations, and also two big shopping malls. The computer was running hard.

  She was almost done when she heard someone in the outer office. Her heart lurched in fear, and adrenaline shot into her blood. The computer kept running. Only one of the files she had chosen remained. She ducked behind the desk, and prayed whoever was outside wouldn’t come into the office.

  Instead, a key slid into the lock, the door swung open. It was Solomon Daniels’s assistant, Tobias Reeves, a young man with high ambitions. One of the commercial real estate salesmen from the second floor was with him, Dapper Don she had jokingly called the slender blond man whose last name she couldn’t recall.

  “Looks like Mr. Daniels forgot to turn off his computer,” the salesman said.

  “I’ll turn it off for him.” Tobias started forward and Kate held her breath. The machine had stopped running, but the screen was still lit. As Toby rounded the desk on one end, Kate quietly slid around the desk on the opposite end, keeping low and out of sight.

  “Maybe he left it on for a reason,” the Realtor said. “I do that sometimes.”

  The assistant paused. “You might be right. I’d better leave it alone.” Turning, he walked back around the way he had come, grabbed the file he needed, and the men left the office.

  Kate’s heart was still racing, pounding in her chest, when her earbud crackled to life. “Got it, Kate,” Tabby said. “Time to go home.”

  Relief poured through her. “Thanks, Tabby.” Shutting down the computer, she pulled off her gloves and stuffed them and the earbuds into her pocket, walked out and closed the door. Shutting down her laptop, she grabbed the handle and hurried across the room.

  Her heart was still beating a thousand miles an hour with the remnants of fear and exhilaration. She was smiling as she texted Jason, opened the door and stepped out into the hall. Her smile slid away when she came face-to-face with Victor Markum and Arthur Wiedel.

  * * *

  Jase got the text, but he couldn’t breathe easy till he met up with Kate on the bottom floor. It wasn’t part of the plan. She was supposed to leave the building and head directly for her car. He was supposed to leave separately and meet her in the parking lot.

  But the back of his neck was tingling, a sure sign that something was wrong. He wasn’t a guy to leave loose ends, and if he left the office and Kate didn’t show up outside, he might not be able to get back in—or at least not in time.

  He was standing in the lobby, watching the elevator descend, the weight of his Kimber comforting where it rode in its holster beneath his pin-striped coat.

  The doors dinged open and Kate walked out, but she wasn’t alone. Jase recognized the men from their photos—one polished and sophisticated, the other rough-and-tumble, like a dockworker in a borrowed suit. Victor Markum and Arthur Wiedel.

  “This way, Ms. Gallagher.”


  Jase pasted on a smile as he strode toward her. “Kate! There you are. What happened? You’re late. We’ve got to hurry. Turtle Creek won’t hold our dinner reservations.” He took her arm and started leading her away.

  “Just a minute!” Markum caught up with them. “I’m afraid Ms. Gallagher is going to have to cancel. She has some work to do before she can leave for the weekend.”

  Jase looked at Kate, saw that her face was pale. “That doesn’t seem fair. How about if Kathryn makes up for it by coming in early on Monday?”

  Kate turned to the men. “It’s a special evening. I’ll have your report on Monday, just as I promised. I hope you don’t mind.”

  Markum looked disappointed. He smoothed back the sides of his sandy brown hair, clearly hoping for a little more from Kate than just a report.

  “All right, fine,” he said. “I’ll see you Monday, Kathryn.” Markum and Wiedel left the building together. Jase gave them time to reach their cars and drive away, then he and Kate walked out to the parking lot.

  “Thank God,” she said as he opened her Camaro door. “I thought I was going to faint when I walked out of the office and they were standing in the hall.”

  “I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right.”

  “Victor insisted Arthur and I come up to his penthouse apartment and go over some recent information. It was a ruse. Wiedel would have left me alone with him.”

  Jase lifted an eyebrow. “You sure you don’t want to rethink this private investigator business?”

  Kate just grinned. “Not a chance. I’ll just have to make sure I’ve always got good backup.”

  Jase chuckled, leaned over and kissed her.

  * * *

  The following day, Jase picked up the flash drive Tabby had remotely downloaded. Back at Kate’s apartment, they reviewed the files together and both of them felt sure they were exactly what the FBI was looking for.

  A deal was struck and a meeting set. The flash drive with the evidence against Briton was handed over to Special Agent in Charge Quinn Taggart at a small café not far from The Max. In return, Jase and Kate were out of it. No longer connected to the investigation in any way.

  With any luck the FBI would find enough on the flash drive for warrants, undercover surveillance, whatever they needed to complete their investigation. Taggart believed the files would ultimately lead to the arrest and conviction of the entire criminal organization.

  Kate turned in her management consulting report Monday morning, as promised. She made it clear to Victor Markum that if he expected anything more, he was out of luck.

  Jase figured he was the lucky man. He was the guy who ended up with Kate.

  EPILOGUE

  Over the next few weeks, the FBI arrested Victor Markum, Maximillian Schram and Arthur Wiedel. The men were charged with a list of criminal activities that would keep their attorneys fat and happy for years.

  All three were currently out on bail, but Agent Taggart was sure they would eventually be convicted and spend a good portion of their lives in federal prison.

  Then Kate got a thank-you call from Callie Spencer. Which resulted in Jason flying her down to Houston to visit the teen and her mom.

  “You saved my life,” Callie said tearfully. “I’ll never forget what both of you did for me.”

  “We were just glad we were there when you needed us,” Kate said, fighting tears of her own.

  “I told my mom the truth about why I ran away,” Callie said. “But she had already figured it out. When we got back to Houston, my stepdad was already gone.”

  “We’re glad to hear it, Callie,” Jason said.

  “Mom made me promise never to hide things from her again. She said she would always believe me—no matter what.”

  Kate thought of her own mother and how much she missed her. “Moms are good that way.”

  The evening of the charity benefit finally arrived. Kate wore an off-the-shoulder white chiffon gown while Jason looked amazing in a perfectly tailored black tuxedo. A sight she couldn’t have imagined when she had met him that night at the Sagebrush Saloon.

  Kate sat at a table with Jason, Chase and Harper, and Reese and his sophisticated, fashion-model date. Filling out the seating—to Kate’s amazement—were her dad and his wife, Jennifer.

  Jase and her father had put the trip together as a surprise, and Kate was touched by the gesture. She was thrilled to discover how well she liked her stepmother. Jen was kind and smart, and she worshiped Frank Gallagher. Kate was happy for both of them and looking forward to spending time with them and the siblings she had never met.

  Priced at an outrageous sum, tickets to the benefit sold out completely, which meant a great deal of money was raised for the New Hope Rehabilitation Center.

  It was a wonderful night, topped only by the next night when Jase took her country-western dancing at the Sagebrush Saloon.

  A slow song was playing. They were dancing cheek to cheek, their bodies snuggled together. Jase did a graceful turn and pulled her back. He smiled. “I knew you were the one for me when I saw you dancing with that scrawny biker.”

  “You did not.”

  “I did. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t true, but deep down I knew. I went back to the bar the next day, but your car was already gone. I went back on Friday night, but you never showed up.”

  “You didn’t tell me.”

  “I never told you I loved you, either. But I do. More now than ever.”

  That first night he had been a cowgirl’s fantasy. As far as Kate was concerned, he still was. Her heart swelled with love for him.

  They two-stepped the next song, then Jase led her over to the bar and lifted her up on a stool.

  “I was going to wait till next Wednesday, same night we first met, but I couldn’t take the pressure any longer.” He nodded at the bartender, who set a shot of tequila down in front of her.

  “What’s going on?” Kate asked.

  “There’s something in the bottom of your glass. I’m hoping like hell you like it.”

  She slid the shot glass over, reached in and pulled a beautiful diamond solitaire out of the clear liquid. Her throat closed up. “Hawk.”

  “I love you, Kate. So damn much.”

  Her eyes stung as she looked down at the ring. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I fell a little in love with you that first night. I’m crazy in love with you now. You’re it for me, Kate. Everything I’ve ever wanted and more. Will you marry me?”

  She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I love you, Jason. So much.” Her hand trembled as she slid the ring on her finger. She grinned and threw her arms around his neck. “I’ll marry you, cowboy. Anytime you say.”

  Jason laughed with relief and kissed her.

  She agreed to marry Hawk Maddox at the Sagebrush Saloon. Her life had taken another unexpected turn. And nothing had ever felt so good.

  * * *

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  I hope you enjoyed Kate Gallagher and Hawk Maddox in The Deception, book two in the Maximum Security series. In my next novel, Brandon Garrett meets Jessica Kegan. Jessie’s brother, killed in Afghanistan, once saved Bran’s life. When the search for her father’s killer puts her in grave danger, Jessie comes to Bran, a man who owes her family a debt he can never repay.

  I hope you’ll watch for Bran and Jessie in my next Maximum Security novel. Till then, all best wishes and happy reading.

  Kat

  ISBN-13: 9781488054327

  The Deception

  Copyright © 2019 by Kat Martin

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information
storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

  ® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.

  www.Harlequin.com