by Nadirah Foxx
And the good cop was right. Suddenly, Mayor Beverly Dorian needed to protect Arcadia City’s assets. The mayor basically hung up a sign asking for help. Outside technological firms threw their hats in the proverbial ring. And the prize? Create hack-proof hardware and get to be THE firm of choice for all city services.
Such a major contract shouldn’t be the domain of one firm. But that’s my opinion, folks. It amazes me that the first person to enter the ring is none other than Covert CEO Adam Fairchild. As a matter of fact, Fairchild also made his bid on the Victoryville city project. I’d expect him to make a pitch for Liberty City too.
The document read like a tabloid article, which didn’t surprise me. Tristan Edwards wasn’t an award-winning reporter. His published piece about corruption was meant to make the industry take him seriously.
Nothing else was new in the document. I quickly reviewed the other files and was about to give up. Then, I clicked on the one labeled Further Research Needed.
I don’t have any proof yet, but I’m working on it, Tristan wrote. After Arcadia City awarded a contract to Covert Technologies, I should investigate Adam Fairchild. The CEO also made a pitch for government business in Victoryville but didn’t get it. Rumors have it he’ll be making a bid for the City Center project in Liberty. The man might just be a shrewd businessman, but he should be watched.
Add Dr. Marsha Upton to the watch list. She has managed to wrangle the prime position of police psychiatrist for all Tri-City departments. Preliminary research revealed that Upton had been brought up on disciplinary charges by the state board.
Well, that was news to me. I quickly jotted down the information.
Another suspicious character is Cedric Stratham. The police captain used to live in Arcadia City. He left that post nearly six months after crime worsened in the city. I did some snooping about and learned the man wasn’t a very good cop. So how did he become captain?
Good question.
Was Captain Stratham a part of the corruption, or was it a coincidence? It could be he just got lucky. Either way, it was my job to find out.
I shut down the file and ejected the thumb drive. Turning off my computer, I hoped Tristan had a copy of the storage device. Attempting to return it to him might be inviting danger on his part. Instead, I took the drive to my bedroom.
Scanning the area, I couldn’t find a not-so-obvious spot to stash it. Concrete walls and floors didn’t give too many options. Although there was furniture, most of the drawers were empty—I still hadn’t unpacked—and the closet wasn’t much better. I got down on my hands and knees and looked on the floor around the dark wood bed. That was when I noticed the headboard had legs that didn’t fit snug against the wall. I ran my finger in the space and discovered it was big enough to slide the thumb drive into. It was perfect. Standing up, I double-checked the spot to make sure I couldn’t easily see the object.
“You have a visitor,” the computer voice announced.
I dusted off my hands on the back of my jeans and headed to the living area. I was prepared to see Debbie but was kind of surprised to find Josh instead.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, meeting him in front of the tech lab.
“Just checking on you.” He pushed a stray hair from my ponytail out of my face. “Did Debbie tell you about the audio track?”
“Yes. We’ll figure something out,” I said absently. My mind wasn’t on the recording. Honestly, it was a bit of a long shot. We had bigger issues to tackle.
“Kerrie?”
“Hmm?” I must have zoned out. Plastering on a smile, I looked up and asked, “Did you say something?”
Josh’s brow furrowed as he stared at me. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe being down in this cave is getting to you?”
“Not hardly.” Being in the bunker was probably the best thing for me. It gave me a much-needed escape from the memories of my family. Suddenly, I didn’t want to lie to Josh. “Truthfully?”
He folded his arms and rocked back on his heels. “That would be nice.”
“I’m just missing Ryan and RJ.” My voice cracked. “Some days are easier than others. This isn’t one of them.”
Josh pulled me in for a hug.
“I went out for coffee earlier. While I was there, I witnessed a mugging. The woman didn’t want to report the crime. She said the police didn’t bother with people like her.”
Josh rested his chin on top of my head. “Let me guess. She lived in Shady Corners?”
“Yes, but that shouldn’t matter. The woman had two small kids. She’s a resident of the city. So I went to report the crime. As soon as the officer found out the woman was from Shady Corners, he stopped writing. He said nothing could be done, and it was out of his hands.”
“That sucks,” Josh admitted. “Where was his concern for a citizen?”
“Tell me about it. I gave the woman my last fifty dollars so she could feed her kids.”
“That’s my big-hearted friend.”
His words made me pull away. “I’m not big-hearted. I’m a bitch. You know it, and so does everyone else. I’ve been treating Debbie shitty, and she called me out on it.”
“Yeah.” Josh’s voice wavered as his gaze dropped to the floor. “About that?”
“She told you?” Maybe I was wrong to believe I could trust her. “What else did she blab?”
Josh glanced up. “It wasn’t like that. Debbie needed to talk to someone. She’s done a lot for Sentinel Security. If it weren’t for her, Ryan would have had to do more work on his own. Or hire more employees.”
“So?”
“So he ran a tight ship.” Josh ran a hand through his wavy hair. “Ryan only hired as many people as needed. He kept his expenses as low as possible, but everyone who worked for the man respected him. Your husband treated his staff like family.” When I looked at my friend cluelessly, he added, “Debbie is family.”
“Oh.”
Not the way I would do things. Companies couldn’t place people before profits.
“Kerrie, a little advice?”
I dipped my chin.
“You’re going to have to learn to bend a little. If you treat these people the way you did our co-workers, you’re going to lose the business,” he said plainly. “Your life would be vastly different without the income.”
Not what I wanted either. I walked out of the lab and into the apartment. Going to the refrigerator, I was happy to see Debbie had stocked beer. I looked at the bottle of dark ale—it was Ryan’s favorite brand. I twisted off the cap and took a deep swig.
“That’s not going to help,” Josh said.
Wiping the back of my hand across my mouth, I said, “Maybe not, but it won’t hurt.” I gazed down at the vessel. “I’m not Ryan. I can’t do shit the way he did it.”
“Maybe not, but you can try. The Kerrie I know—”
“Died when those bastards put a gun in my husband’s face.” I narrowed my eyes. “You do remember me, right? The bratty track star who got her ass kicked off the team for being too arrogant?”
“Yeah. I remember her.” He opened the fridge and pulled out another bottle of beer. “She didn’t show up much once Ryan became her boyfriend.”
I shrugged and sat on a stool. “He was my better half in every way.” The tears started up again. “How am I supposed to live without him?”
“One day at a time, my friend. In the meantime, you lean on those who love you. It’s all you can do for now.”
I twirled the bottle between my hands. “And if that’s not enough?”
“Then maybe you find someone better than Dr. Upton.”
I gave him a thin smile. I’d had enough shrinks in my lifetime.
22
Stealth Mode
Deep down, I must have had a death wish. There was no other explanation for what I did that night. Maybe stupidity and grief played a part too.
Honestly, I could have avoided my rash behavior. It seemed as if everyone I knew wanted me to dine with th
em that evening.
Josh asked me to go home with him for dinner and a movie. Debbie held out an olive branch. When I handed her the paperwork for the house, she suggested I come to her place for dinner. Even my mother tried. She phoned and asked me to come have a meal with her and Walter.
Did I suddenly look like I was starving to death? Although the offers were appreciated, I turned each one down. Some things were more important than food.
Once I was certain my friend and my assistant had both left the premises, I returned to my bedroom and dug out the box. Staring down at the prototype triggered tons of questions.
Did I honestly want to test the suit? What if it didn’t work? Would the bad guys kill me for snooping around? What if it did? What if I learned something I couldn’t handle?
The questions continued pouring through my mind. Honestly, I could have stood there for hours debating why I should or shouldn’t put the damn suit on. Finally, I kicked off my shoes and stripped out of my clothes.
So many doubts entered my mind as I tugged on the extremely tight garment. It was so snug I was afraid it might cut off the circulation in my legs. Before I slipped the balaclava over my head, I noticed a pair of low-heeled, lace-up boots. They were the same gray-blue as the one-piece. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I put them on and then added the mask. I tucked in my hair and then walked toward the bathroom.
Turning on the light, I looked in the mirror. I knew what I should have seen but didn’t. Unsure whether or not I might be imagining things, I went for my phone. Pulling up the camera, I took a couple of selfies. My heart raced as I accessed the photos app.
And then my heart froze. Each picture showed the bedroom wall behind me. Convinced it must have been a fluke, I took more pictures. Twenty photos later, it sunk in. The suit had indeed made me fucking invisible.
Under different circumstances, I might have had a different reaction.
Joy?
Disbelief?
Excitement?
Instead, I was a little apprehensive. I wanted to go out and find the bad guys. Take down those fuckers who stole my family. But I didn’t have a weapon. I didn’t even have a plan. The best thing I could do was put the prototype through my own set of tests. The first one had to be discovering the degree of stealth.
I walked up the stairs to my office and slipped out of the closet. As soon as I entered my office, I heard Debbie’s and Josh’s voices. What were they doing there? I could have sworn they’d left. An opportunity for my first test?
The sounds came from Debbie’s office. Thankfully, the door was open. I slipped around the corner and leaned against the wall.
Debbie sat behind her desk, and Josh was on a chair in front of it.
“Hey, I tried to get her to come home with me.” He leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “I’m worried about her.”
“You’re in love with her.” Debbie took off her glasses. “You have every right to worry.”
Josh exhaled and stared at the floor. “I don’t know how else to help her. Kerrie’s a good person but losing Ryan and RJ has changed her.”
“But that’s normal. You don’t lose your husband and a child and not change.” Debbie shut down her laptop. “If she went about her life as though nothing was different, then you should really be concerned.”
Maybe I was wrong about Debbie.
“If I tell you something,” Josh started, “will you keep it between us?”
Debbie’s brow furrowed briefly. “Sure, sure.”
“Years ago, Kerrie had some issues. Her father was shot while on duty. Mrs. Walker didn’t handle it well at all. Kerrie had to step up and take care of herself and her mother.”
“I didn’t think she was an only child. Ryan had mentioned a brother.”
“Yeah, she has a brother. Jeremy cut out for France right after the funeral. He was really close to his dad. When the man died, Jeremy kind of fell apart. He left when Kerrie needed him most.”
“Well, that sucked.” Debbie opened a drawer and pulled out a bottle and two glasses. “Want a drink?”
He nodded.
She twisted off the cap. “You said their father was shot while on duty?”
“He was a cop for the LCPD. It happened before they moved out of Shady Corners.”
Debbie set the bottle down a little too hard. “Kerrie lived in Shady Corners? I would have thought she grew up in one of the suburbs.”
Josh grinned as he took a glass from Debbie. “Not Kerrie. Her family would have kept on living in the SC had it not been for the shooting. Her father was at the corner store when a couple of thugs held the place up. They shot everyone, including her dad.”
I remembered the night as if it happened yesterday. Mom had a headache, but we were out of aspirin. She didn’t like acetaminophen or any of the other remedies. Dad only wanted to make her happy, so he went out to get her precious aspirin. He never came home.
“Ever think that might be part of the reason why Kerrie is so driven about Ryan and RJ?”
“Yeah. And that scares the hell out of me.” He paused for a moment. “Don’t ever tell her I know this, but she spent some time in a mental hospital.”
“Really?” Debbie let her jaw drop, feigning shock.
“She was under a lot of pressure.” Josh raked a hand through his hair. “Kerrie sent me an email saying she was traveling abroad with Jeremy.”
“How did you find out?”
“Jeremy. I contacted him and asked how things were going with Kerrie in France. He told me the truth.” Josh took a swig of the amber-colored liquid. “I never called her out on it. If she’d wanted me to know, she would have told me.”
Debbie polished off her drink. “You’re a good man, Josh. Don’t give up on Kerrie. She needs someone like you.”
Sadness crept into his voice. “She doesn’t think so.”
“Josh, it’s too soon. Give her some time. When Kerrie’s ready, she’ll let you know.”
I didn’t want to hear anymore. Honestly, I didn’t know whether to be upset with Josh or be happy he knew my secret. I wasn’t too crazy about Debbie knowing the truth. The woman was smart, though. She was bound to figure it out sooner or later. I’d given her just enough information to make it possible.
Slipping through the hidden panel at the back of the closet, I realized something. The suit did work. Neither of them noticed me in the room. I would have to check with Debbie to see if Ryan created a prototype for any weapons.
In the meantime, I wanted verification. At least that was what I told myself as I pushed open the double-glass doors and walked through the lower-level parking structure. I’d see if I could slip past crowds of people and then come back.
But in my life, nothing was that easy or that smooth.
Rather than head south toward the stadium, I went toward City Center. Ideally, I would have gone to Shady Corners but that was too far of a walk. I had to keep it close to home. Just a few miles away I noticed a ruckus through the window of Colossal Burger. Patrons were huddled together, and two masked robbers held a gun on the staff behind the counter.
I didn’t have my phone on me, so requesting backup wasn’t going to happen. I also couldn’t simply walk through the front door. The prototype made me invisible, but it didn’t allow me to walk through glass. Going around to the back of the building, I found the back door propped open. The voices of two men filtered through.
“Just clear out the registers and let’s get going. It’s supposed to look like a regular burglary.”
“Did you get the hard drive?” It couldn’t be him! I knew that voice. It was singed into my soul right along with everything else about the night my family was murdered.
Carefully, I slipped through the open door and moved toward the sound. The two crooks were in a small room. It could have been used for storage or the manager’s office. These were the same buffoons who robbed my house! Short and Fat huddled over a desk while Mr. Average unscrewed the back of a computer.
&
nbsp; “Why are you bothering with that? This isn’t on the list,” asked Short and Fat.
List?
“You heard the boss. We grab all hard drives. What if there’s a security system within the computer? If it’s backed up on the hard drive, the police get evidence we were here.”
I pressed my body against a wall. Was it a stroke of luck that Mr. Average didn’t think about security footage at my home?
“Got it,” he said. “Let’s go.”
“What about the guys up front?”
Good question. I stepped farther into the room and saw Mr. Average touch his ear.
“Hey, it’s time to go. We have what we need… Just bag up the money and meet us at the warehouse.” The guy dropped his hand, gathered the hard drive, and walked toward me.
I slipped into the shadows.
He kept walking with his partner-in-crime following.
At that moment, I had two choices. Return to Sentinel and contact the police. Or I could trail behind those two, learn all I could, and then contact the police. Like I said, I must have had a death wish. I went with option number two.
Every crazy thought flew through my mind as I walked away from the restaurant, including how I would trail the bad guys on foot. The answer easily presented itself when they approached a dark-panel van. When the back door opened, I slipped past the guy and hopped into the back.
I had no idea how long I sat there in the dark. The driver, hitting every bump in the road, could have used a few lessons at maneuvering a vehicle at night. Horns blared as he came close to plowing into other cars. His partner swore the entire ride.
After what felt like an hour, the van came to a stop and the back doors swung open. In the distance, I heard a plane. Once the crooks stepped away from the vehicle, I got out and looked around. We were in the warehouse district close to the airport.
Not wanting to chance my footsteps being heard, I kept my distance behind the two men. Suddenly, two motorcycles pulled in front of them. Two more men—possibly the ones from Colossal Burger—hopped off.
“How much?” asked Mr. Average. He must have been the one in charge.