by Janie Crouch
Damn it, had she just thrown up in front of Roman’s mother?
At least she felt better now. Keira tied the trash bag off tightly, and without looking at either Annabel or Maureen, walked it outside to the Dumpster. The cold air helped clear her head and settle her stomach.
When she walked back in, Annabel had finished the wash and Maureen was back in the salon chair.
“Are you sick, dear? Perhaps you shouldn’t be working if you are ill,” Maureen said.
Annabel smiled over at Keira. “You look much better now. Sometimes you just have to reset your system.”
Keira knew what was about to happen, what Annabel was about to do, but she couldn’t figure out how to stop it.
Her assistant turned to Maureen. “Don’t worry, Keira won’t get you sick. I don’t think pregnancy is contagious.”
Annabel giggled and walked back toward the reception area, completely unaware of the bomb she’d just dropped.
Keira was left looking at Maureen in the mirror. She took out a hair dryer to dry her hair, and also to give them both some time to collect their thoughts.
But when she turned it off a few minutes later the silence was still thick with tension between them.
“Pregnant? I assume the child is my son’s, considering how much time he’s been spending here.”
Keira got out a small curling iron and began styling Maureen’s short hair. “Yes, the baby is Roman’s, but that’s really between us.”
“Surely, given the circumstances, you would be willing to submit to a paternity test once the child is born, to make sure the baby is Roman’s.”
Keira’s eyes met hers in the mirror again. “Exactly what circumstances are you referring to, Maureen?”
The older woman didn’t flinch. “I assume the financial status of both of you hasn’t changed since our conversation at the country club. To put it bluntly, Roman’s family has a great deal of money, and you don’t.”
Keira resisted the urge to “accidentally” burn Maureen with the curling iron.
“I wasn’t interested in your son’s money two months ago and I’m not interested in his money now.”
“Then perhaps you’re thinking you would get a marriage proposal out of this? I can assure you that is not going to happen.”
Keira was about to reassure the other woman that marriage was the last thing on her mind, but Maureen continued without letting her speak. “I know Roman works for that law enforcement agency right now.” Her tone dripped with derision at the words law enforcement. “But I have no doubt he will one day be interested in at least state-level politics, like his father, if not more.
“You can certainly understand,” Maureen continued, “that an ex-exotic dancer and hairstylist would not be the correct marital choice for someone like Roman.”
“I can assure you I have no interest in marrying anyone. Roman included.”
“Somehow I doubt that.”
Keira turned off the curling iron and placed it on the workstation. “I think you better leave, Maureen. What’s between Roman and me is just that—between us.”
She didn’t move from the chair. “I’m not trying to offend you, Keira. Truly. You just have to understand that some men are made for greatness, and I believe Roman is one of those. If you truly care for him you would just get out of his way.”
Keira didn’t respond. Just unwrapped the cape from around Maureen’s neck.
“Keira, I am nothing if not a practical woman. I don’t expect for you to leave the situation completely empty-handed. I’m willing to write you a check right now for you to take care of this pregnancy problem. You don’t have to tell Roman the truth. You could just say you lost the baby. Look at you—you’re not even showing yet.”
Keira couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“And I could buy the salon from you outright. Name any price within reason and I’ll make sure you get it. You could start a new salon, a bigger one, in a bigger town in a different state. Maybe one on the East Coast.”
Keira just stared at her. “You need to leave, Maureen.”
Roman’s mother finally stood. “I’ll give you a chance to think about my offer. Believe me, it is the best one you’re going to get.” She turned and faced Keira. “I know my son. He may think he has feelings for you now, but they are nothing he won’t get over. Roman has a great many talents, but his strengths have never been in looking at the big picture. He doesn’t see what being attached to you permanently would do to him in the future.” Her eyes narrowed. “But I do. Again, nothing against you personally. It’s just some people are not a good fit.”
Maureen turned toward the door and took a few steps before pivoting back yet again. “I know you find what I’m saying right now offensive. You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t. But you’re obviously a businesswoman, so I hope you will seriously consider my offer.” She edged slightly closer. “If you care for my son, you’ll do the right thing and remove yourself from his life. In the long run, it’s best for both of you.”
Keira watched as Maureen turned and walked over to Annabel, paid for the hairstyle, and briskly exited.
Annabel rushed to Keira. “Are you sure you’re feeling all right? To be honest, that wasn’t the best styling job you’ve ever done.”
Considering the woman had asked her to get an abortion and move out of the state in the middle of said styling job, Keira didn’t think it was that bad.
“Actually, I’m really not feeling very well. Can you cover the other appointments or reschedule them?”
Now Annabel looked truly concerned. “Yeah, sure. You just go rest.”
“Thanks, Annabel.”
Keira took off her smock, hung it on a peg and went up to her apartment, feeling more exhausted than she had in...forever. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and felt Roman’s note in one.
Trust me when I say there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here with you.
Keira crumpled it up and threw it away.
Chapter Nineteen
Roman sat in Steve Drackett’s office along with Derek and Brandon a few hours later. The meeting was being kept as small as possible, since they didn’t know who the traitor inside Omega was.
To think that it could be someone they worked with every day sickened them all. But there could be no doubt it was someone with true inside information.
Roman and Derek had been at the hospital a good chunk of the afternoon. Lillian had made it out of surgery and the doctors were optimistic in their prognosis of her recovery. But Liam hadn’t awakened yet.
The nerve agent used by Freihof to lace the explosives was a version of tabun, not the most lethal chemical weapon, but certainly deadly. Despite the antidotes and drug regimens they were giving Liam, the doctors weren’t sure if he would ever be functional again.
Seeing the worry on Liam’s wife’s face was hard to stomach. Even worse was watching Vanessa try to explain it to Tallinn, their nine-year-old daughter, whom they’d adopted last year. Tallinn was particularly close with Liam, since he’d been the one to rescue her and her friends from a trafficking ring. As they paced the room, both Vanessa and Tallinn held one of the twins Vanessa had given birth to a few months ago.
When Roman and Derek had left the hospital, the doctors were calling it too soon to tell.
Steve walked in with a man Roman hadn’t seen before. “Gentlemen, this is Cain Bennett. He’s the assistant director of the Protection Division of Omega, offices of which are located in Atlanta. Cain, I think you know Brandon Han. This is Derek Waterman, leader of the SWAT team, and Roman Weber, SWAT team member.”
They all shook hands and took seats around the table.
Steve hit a buzzer on his desk. “Cynthia, could you please send in Sydney.”
A few moments later the same computer tech who had explained to Keira how h
er phone had been hacked walked in. She didn’t look any more comfortable now than she had two weeks ago.
“When Sydney heard about the leak in information, she started digging through the electronic archives to see what she could find out.” Steve turned to her and gestured for her to continue.
Sydney took a deep breath in and out, then began. “The call from Agent Han, after he’d questioned Spike, came in this morning at 9:32 a.m. If I’m not mistaken, the SWAT team breached Damien Freihof’s town house at 10:50 a.m.”
Derek nodded. “Yes, that’s correct. We were on-site probably fifteen to seventeen minutes before that, but the other town houses had to be cleared.”
“We don’t think Freihof was clued in by the team clearing the town houses,” Roman interjected. “We had an agent on the roof watching the back door, and uniformed officers at the front. But Freihof left in a hurry. He still had a pan on the stove, egg still in it, when we breached. That’s how I know he was definitely tipped off by someone.”
Sydney nodded. “There was a relatively small window between when Agent Han’s call came in and when the SWAT team rolled out. I searched through all outgoing transmissions during that time. I found this.” She handed out printed copies of a list of electronic transmissions during the time in question.
“It was pretty tedious, but I was able to eliminate all of the transmissions as going to acceptable locations except for the highlighted one. It was encrypted, and it was sent to a location matching the general vicinity of Freihof’s town house.”
“That’s our mole,” Brandon said. Everyone else nodded. “Can you tell where it came from?”
Sydney looked pained. “No, I’m so sorry. Whoever sent it knew what they were doing. As a matter fact, I have no doubt that, given the complexity of the encryption and the manner in which it was sent, whoever did it has probably gone back and erased the record of the transmission.” She turned toward Steve, her shoulders slumped. “This person is better than me.”
Steve shook his head. “You moved quickly and got the proof we needed that there is a traitor inside Omega Sector, so don’t be too quick to discredit yourself.”
“I’m just sorry I can’t do more.”
Steve gave her shoulder a friendly pat. “You’ve done a lot. We’ll take it from here for now. I don’t need to tell you that the information you brought to us needs to stay in this room. Until we figure out a plan, we can’t tip off whoever is behind this.”
Sydney nodded and Steve led her out of the office, then came back and sat down again. Derek jumped up and began pacing.
“Okay, so we have confirmation that there’s a mole and he or she is feeding info to Freihof,” Derek said, frustration clear in his tone. “But that doesn’t get us any closer to catching him. Damn it, Steve, I have two of my team members in the hospital. We almost lost Roman a couple of months ago.”
“That’s what Cain is here for.” Steve gestured to the man, who had sat silently through Sydney’s entire report. Roman realized it was because the information was not new to Cain Bennett.
“Right now, our biggest problem is knowing who we can trust,” Steve continued. “Besides the people sitting in this office and a few select others, there’s no one I trust one hundred percent. All we know is that the traitor is definitely from this office and that he or she has a technical savviness that goes beyond what Sydney is capable of.”
“Not to be an ass,” Roman said, “but are we sure Sydney is not our mole?”
Steve nodded. “She was the first one I checked out. Very thoroughly. Plus she’s only been here a month, and we had the traitor in place before that.”
There wasn’t much arguing with that logic.
Brandon looked at Cain. “So you have the technological ability to figure out who this mole is?”
Cain shook his head and spoke for the first time. “Not me. But I know someone who does. She and I will be working off-site so as not to cause the mole to panic and go to ground.”
Cain Bennett’s eyes were hard. Roman had no doubt the man took every aspect of his job seriously.
Good. Because Omega couldn’t continue to take hits like they had been.
“Do you have a backup plan in case Hayley Green is unavailable?” Steve asked. “Or if she just refuses to have anything to do with you, since, you know, you sent her to prison?”
Cain crossed his arms over his chest, one eyebrow raised. “Don’t worry about Hayley Green. I’ll handle her. When she finds out that she could stop someone like Damien Freihof, she’ll help us.”
If Cain had put her in jail, Roman wasn’t so sure. But he didn’t say anything.
“Like I told Sydney, we need to keep this to the smallest circle possible. If the mole gets wind that we’re onto him and have a way of closing in, we may lose him—or her—for good.” Steve stood. “If we get anything usable back from Freihof’s town house, I’ll be sure to let you know. Until then, unfortunately, we’re back to the waiting game.”
* * *
ROMAN WAS MORE than ready to get back to the salon and Keira by later that afternoon. He’d stopped at the hospital on his way, but there was little change in Liam’s status. Lillian’s rage at being trapped in a hospital bed had her ready to kill everyone within a fifty-mile radius, so Roman didn’t stay there long, either.
At Fresh Starts, he checked in with the agent who had been watching over the salon and Keira while he’d been gone. There seemed to be nothing to report except that Keira had gotten a little ill, and had canceled some of her afternoon appointments.
When Roman found Keira up in her apartment, she seemed to be fine. If fine could be considered reorganizing your closet rather than working. She was muttering to herself as she changed the arrangement of her shoes.
“Hi,” he said from the doorway of the large closet. “What are you doing in there?”
She didn’t look at him, didn’t turn, didn’t smile. “I’m going to need room for baby stuff. I might even need to turn this entire closet into a small baby’s room.”
Keira’s voice sounded different. Strange. Not the normal confident tone she usually spoke with.
“Okay. But I think we’ve got a little bit of time. You don’t necessarily have to do it all today, since the baby’s not coming for another six or seven months.” Roman kept his own tone as soothing as he could make it.
“I need to get started. It’s always better to be prepared than to get caught unawares.”
She still hadn’t looked at him.
“The agent downstairs said you got a little sick today. Are you feeling better? Do you want me to take you to the doctor?”
She put down the shoes she had in her hand and turned to him for just a second, before quickly turning back around. “No, I’m okay. That was just a reaction to...a client’s perfume.”
He supposed stuff like that was to be expected, and wished he knew more about pregnancy.
“Do you want me to make us some dinner? I’m not much of a cook but I could do omelets. Or if that’s not appealing, I’ll certainly order us something.”
“I’ve already eaten,” she muttered, stacking another pair of shoes.
Okay. Obviously, something wasn’t going right here. He tried a different track. “How’s Heather today? The DEA arrested Spike, and he’ll be going to jail for a long time. Won’t be bothering her again.”
Keira nodded. “It’s amazing the difference in her. She’s almost a completely different person, knowing she doesn’t have to deal with him ever again, or at least for a really long time.”
All right, Heather was fine, so that wasn’t what was bothering Keira.
“I left you a note this morning. I didn’t want you to think I just ran off. I tried to wake you up but you weren’t having any of it.”
She turned to him slightly now. “Yeah, I saw it. Thanks.”
He sat there
watching her for a couple minutes when she didn’t say anything else. It didn’t take long to realize she was taking the same four pairs of shoes and just moving them from place to place.
What exactly was going on here?
“You know, I was thinking that maybe instead of you making this closet a baby room, maybe we could knock out the south wall and connect your apartment to the one next to it. It would give us more space.”
The thought had come to Roman a few days ago. He had realized that Keira was never going to leave Fresh Starts. This was her heart’s work. If Roman wanted to be in her life on a permanent basis, he was going to have to be a part of Fresh Starts and its mission, as well.
Her apartment really wasn’t big enough for a family, but if they knocked out the wall into the apartment next door they could have a reasonably sized three-bedroom living space, with two bathrooms.
Roman planned to be a part of Keira’s and the baby’s life in whatever way he could.
“But that would be too much space for me, even with the baby.”
“But it wouldn’t be too much space for the three of us.”
Now she turned around and looked at him. She stood and he moved forward to help her, but she held her hand out to ward him off. Roman stopped.
“You know I’ll never try to keep you from the baby,” she said. “But we don’t have to be a traditional family.”
“What if I want to be a traditional family?”
“To be honest, I don’t know if I even have that in me. Not to mention, what about your political aspirations? I’m pretty sure the baby and I don’t fall into those.”
“Any political aspirations I have damn well better include you and the baby, because you’re a part of me now.”
She brushed past him as she left the closet. “You think that now, but you’re not really considering the future. You’re not good at looking at the big picture.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed as it suddenly all made sense to him. “You talked to my mother today.”