“Thank you. Can you tell me anything about who lives there?” Hunt pulled on his ballistics vest before grabbing his coat and heading out the door. Will followed close behind. They rushed out to the parking lot and took Will’s Bucar which was a freaking Dodge Charger.
“Property and truck is listed as belonging to an active duty soldier named Cory Slater who is currently on deployment. House is jointly owned by his sister, Beatrice Grantham.”
“Repeat that.” Hunt didn’t think he’d heard correctly.
“House owned by Cory Slater who is currently listed as being in Afghanistan and his sister Beatrice Grantham…”
“A Bea Grantham works for Universal Biotech Inc.,” Hunt said quickly.
Will glanced at him as they pulled away.
“I don’t like this. I don’t like it at all. Call McKenzie and tell him. I’ll talk to my SAC. Thank you,” he added to Hernandez.
“What? What is it?” Will’s fists were wrapped around the steering wheel like he was going to rip it out.
“Let me fill in Bourne at the same time.” Hunt dialed quickly and got his boss still in his office despite it being the middle of the night.
“Something weird came up. The last thing Fuller looked up on her cell is an address for a stolen truck that matched the description of the one used in the shooting yesterday. But the house belongs to a woman I met at Universal Biotech this week. Pete Dexter’s personal assistant. At least, a woman with the same name,” he corrected. No guarantee it was the same person.
Shit. This couldn’t be a coincidence. The name wasn’t a common one.
Bourne was quiet for so long Hunt thought he might have lost him. Finally, a drawn-out curse.
“I don’t want anyone taking any chances with this. I want SWAT on the house. You and Griffin are not to go charging in there.”
Will glared at him and Hunt’s mood plummeted. “Did you figure out where the professor filmed that video yet? Or how he infected the pilot?”
“Not yet. It’s early days, Kincaid, and you’re off the case, remember.”
Hunt knew that but those details ate at him.
“Stand down from going it alone to that house or I’ll have both your badges. Send me the address and I’ll have the SWAT there in twenty minutes.”
Hunt blew out a big breath. “Yes, sir.” He hung up on his boss and eyed Griffin. “You heard him.”
“I am SWAT,” Will growled.
“Not this time.”
“I can’t sit on the sidelines—”
“You don’t have a choice if you want to keep your job.” Hunt texted the address to his boss.
Will carried on driving and then pulled up on the side of the road with a screech of brakes. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if something’s happened to her.”
Despair ate at Hunt. He knew it all too well. “Fuller’s fine. She’s probably downing margaritas at some fancy bar, unaware we’re all freaking out.”
But something wasn’t right, not that he was going to worry his buddy with his sense of foreboding. Every time they thought they’d figured this case out it morphed into something else. Something more complicated.
Hunt felt his phone buzz in his pocket. It was Pip again with that unlistened-to voice message. He almost didn’t bother with it because he needed to find Fuller and Pip’s lack of faith hurt, but he wasn’t a coward.
“Hunt, It’s Pip. I went to Cindy’s house to grab some clothes and ran into Adrian Lightfoot.”
At this hour?
“I know I shouldn’t have done it and I am so sorry I broke a confidence and I know you might not forgive me and think you were right all along, but… He was having an affair with Cindy. Listen, I know I’m rambling, but Adrian said he saw Pete Dexter having sex with Cindy that night and he thought she was cheating on him. And I told him, I know I shouldn’t have. God, I’m so stupid. But I told him about the Rohypnol and then Adrian ran out of the house with Cindy’s dad’s gun and I know he’s going to try to find Pete and kill him, which I’m okay with to a point. But what I really want is for Pete to pay for what he’s done to Cindy, and God knows who else.”
Hunt swore.
She was probably referring to Sally-Anne and the drug dealer. But what if Dexter’s lies extended further beyond that? What if Dexter and his partners at Universal Biotech, along with Bea Grantham, were covering up a much greater crime and had framed the professor, the same way they’d framed the drug dealer earlier in the week?
Pip was still talking. “I figured I’d swing by Dexter’s apartment and try to stop Adrian from confronting him, but the lights are out and I don’t see any sign of anyone. I’m just sitting in the car now.” He heard her swallow. “I realized you were the first person I wanted to call and it wasn’t just because you’re an FBI agent. I’m a screw-up when it comes to getting involved. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I am sorry for letting you down.”
She hung up and he stared at the phone in shock. Letting him down? That was it? Shit.
“What is it?” Will asked urgently.
Hunt ignored his friend and dialed Pip’s number but the call went straight to voicemail. His heart was beating so hard he could barely hear the beep to leave a message. “Do not approach Dexter. Go back to the hotel. The FBI is on the way. Pip…” Fuck, what could he say? He was suddenly convinced Dexter was responsible for trying to develop and sell bioweapons for financial gain and had killed at least five people to cover it up. He hoped to hell Fuller wasn’t number six.
“Just, please, stay safe. I…” He tripped over things he wanted to say. Not confessions of love, surely, he’d only known her for a week. Not even. How could he love her? But there was something bubbling in his blood and it wasn’t the fear for a friend. “I need you to be safe. Call me back.”
He called Bourne again and told him what Pip had said as Will gritted his teeth, mute with worry. Hunt explained, “I’m thinking Dexter murdered Cindy because she was somehow in his way.”
Dexter had been one of Professor Everson’s students, too. Maybe they’d secretly tested their vaccines on that weaponized strain during their research studies. Maybe Dexter had taken a sample of the anthrax with him when he’d opened his company. And maybe Cindy was the only researcher capable of creating a vaccine against this even more deadly strain of the killer bacteria and after she’d served her purpose, they’d killed her?
Was that why Pete had dated Cindy, but screwed around with another woman? Maybe that other woman was the cute redhead?
“I’ll get an arrest and search warrants for his house and company. SWAT are en route to the PA’s house as we speak,” Bourne told him.
“Yes, sir.” Hunt hung up.
“What’s the next move, Hunt? Where the hell is Mandy?” Will asked.
If he was right about Dexter then the guy had to know the plan was unraveling. Sure, the professor’s apparent suicide would hold the investigation for a short time, but it wouldn’t be long before the holes in the story became caverns.
“Pip said there was no one at Dexter’s apartment. I think we should go check out the company headquarters. These assholes are going to make a run for it but they’ll be taking their goodies with them.” And even though it wasn’t looking good for Mandy, he refused to lose hope. “And if Fuller isn’t at Bea Grantham’s house when the SWAT team arrives, she’ll be at Biotech. Let’s go find her.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
The pain was overwhelming, but Mandy knew she couldn’t give herself away by making a noise. She didn’t know how she knew that, but the people she could hear shouting at one another clearly thought she was dead and were trying to figure out how to get rid of her body.
Fear made her shake. The tarp she was wrapped in made it hard to breathe. She’d been shot twice through the chest and it felt like someone continued to stab her with a red-hot poker. She felt nauseated, weak, and so very cold.
Yeah, she could definitely attest that slowly bleeding out via two bullet h
oles was not fun. She held back a sob of pain.
Had anyone missed her yet?
What about Will? But even if he had missed her, he was in the throes of a massive new case. He was busy. He’d never find her in time.
She could feel herself fading out of consciousness, and tried to concentrate on staying awake.
“Why the hell did you shoot her?” a voice asked. “You just had to say the truck was stolen and that was it. Now they’ll be coming after us.”
“I panicked.” It was a male voice. “Doesn’t matter now. We can’t un-kill her.”
“We have to get out of here before they figure out we are the ones who tried to sell the bioweapon.”
“Why?” The reply was sharp. A woman. There were four people all arguing over her dead body like she was nothing more than an inconvenience.
“The only blood at the house was on the gym mats which we hauled here with her. I got rid of her car in the quarry along with her cell and gun.”
The FBI hated when agents lost their creds and guns.
“Tell the Feds she never came to your door. Tell ’em you weren’t home or didn’t hear the doorbell. No one knows she saw you.”
“You really think we can get away with it?”
A male voice laughed and Mandy wanted to eviscerate him. “We’ve gotten away with everything else. In the meantime, we play it cool while we get the factory in Chile up to speed. By the time they figure it out we’ll be long gone and probably have several government contracts to provide vaccines to the troops.”
This mess was connected to the anthrax case, Mandy realized. How ironic she thought she’d got the shitty deal when in reality she’d honed straight in on the UNSUBs. They’d probably shot at Pip West because she was asking too many questions, then were blindsided by Hunt firing back at them.
“Oh, hell. Who the fuck is that?”
An alarm went off.
“That lawyer guy Cindy was seeing.” One of the women shouted. “Simon, go get rid of him. I’ll call the fire department and tell them it’s a false alarm.”
“I’ll fire up the incinerator.”
That last voice sent fear vibrating through her bones. Mandy closed her eyes and fought back a sob. No way in hell were they burning her alive. Someone dragged the tarp across the floor and she had to bite down so as not to scream in surprise and pain. God help her. She needed to figure out a way to escape.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Pip parked in the same place she had when she’d surveilled Universal Biotech Inc. on Wednesday before she’d been shot at. It seemed like a million years ago now.
The SUV was higher off the ground than her noble little sedan, giving her a clear view when the cavalry turned up. She didn’t intend to do anything stupid. If she saw Pete leave, she’d follow him at a safe distance and call the cops.
She scanned the scene. The guard house at the entrance was dark and presumably empty. Lights dotted various windows in the building. The main foyer was lit up like the midday sun.
A car parked in the lot looked a lot like the fancy Audi the bastard Pete Dexter drove. There was a big black SUV pulled up near the side loading bay. Her palms grew damp and she wiped them on her jeans. Angela Naysmith’s? Was it the vehicle that had almost shoved her off the road on Monday morning before she found Cindy?
A squeal of brakes drew her gaze to the main road that separated her from the building. Someone was accelerating fast and swung into the access road without slowing down.
Oh, crap. Adrian.
The vehicle burst through the barrier and the tires screeched as he headed straight for the building. The car smashed into the glass door at the front, but clipped the edge of the concrete entrance with the crash and grind of steel. The car came to a shuddering halt.
“Oh, hell.” She started the SUV and put it in gear, dialing Hunt with her left thumb.
“Hunt, I’m at Universal Biotech. I just saw Adrian Lightfoot plow straight into the front of the building there and I have to go see if he’s okay. Send an ambulance. There are other vehicles here, too. I have the feeling something bad is happening…” As she said it she realized what that meant. These people were very dangerous. They hadn’t just killed Cindy, they’d also been doing something despicable with pathogens, even if she didn’t know exactly what that was.
She took her foot off the accelerator and hesitated. Then she saw the glow of flames under Adrian’s car and remembered how Cindy’s parents and brother had died. He might be trapped. Maybe even seriously hurt. She couldn’t see anyone coming to his aid.
She realized she was still connected to Hunt’s voicemail. “By the way. What I said earlier.” She cleared her throat. “I was scared. Being alone at your place isn’t the issue. I’m alone nearly all of the time. It was the fact I was falling for you that made me run, but maybe that isn’t enough for a real relationship.” She waited a beat. “Adrian’s car is on fire and I’m going to help him get out. Sorry for being such a coward.” She hung up and let out a big breath.
She drove through the shattered remains of the gate and pulled up around the side of the building far enough from Adrian’s wrecked car that her SUV wouldn’t catch fire, too. Flames flickered in the broken glass. She pushed down her fear and ran to the damaged car, terrified it was going to explode. She glanced inside. Damn. He wasn’t there.
The alarm started screaming. She spotted movement inside. Adrian, heading toward the elevators. He had a gun in his hand.
She made her way gingerly across the broken glass which crunched beneath her trainers.
“Adrian!” she yelled over the squealing alarm. The man looked back at her. “Don’t do this!”
He simply shook his head and stepped into the elevator.
She backed away. She’d get back in her car and wait for the cops. The FBI were hopefully also on their way, and Pete Dexter would pay for whatever he’d done.
The fact Cindy had kept Adrian a secret suggested to Pip she’d cared a great deal for him and respected his wishes to keep their affair private. Cindy had loved the guy.
Emotion clogged Pip’s throat. That her friend had been raped and murdered made her want to skewer Dexter, too, but prison would be better. Let the arrogant bastard rot. He could match wits with criminals and psychopaths. Show him he wasn’t smarter than everyone else.
She gingerly stepped over shattered glass and mangled pieces of steel, keeping as far away from the wrecked car as possible because she was worried it was going to explode. Relief flooded her as the fresh breeze rushed over her and she drew in a deep breath and turned towards where she’d left the SUV.
Something connected with her skull and she went down with a silent scream of agony and curled up in a wretched ball. Someone rifled through her pockets, took her phone. Where was the fire department? Where was Hunt?
Her stomach tightened but she made herself limp and unresponsive. She’d made a big mistake and it looked like she was about to join Cindy much sooner than she’d planned. And her biggest regret was not justice or revenge, it was walking out on Hunt Kincaid.
* * *
Hunt got Pip’s voice message just as they came in sight of the Universal Biotech building.
“Fuck. Pip’s here. She says Adrian Lightfoot crashed his car into the building and she’s gone to see if he’s okay.”
When he heard her telling him she’d run because she was falling for him he got that tight sensation in his chest.
His feelings for Pip couldn’t be minimized or ignored just because they didn’t fit in with his life plan. He understood her. He wanted her. He was terrified he was in love with her. And she was trying to prove something to him about the sort of person she was by running into a burning fucking building. He was so angry he could barely speak.
He called it in. Asked for immediate backup. Held on as Will careened around a corner and up through the broken barricades. The vehicle that had crashed into the doorway had flames licking under the hood. If the fuel tank blew it might
set the whole building ablaze.
“Where’s the extinguisher?” Hunt asked.
“Under your fucking seat.” Will was barely keeping his shit together.
Hunt was worried, too. Mandy was missing and Pip was here somewhere. He looked around but didn’t see her. Why the hell couldn’t she have stayed safe in bed?
Because life didn’t work that way, and even if someone stayed home there was no guarantees they’d be safe.
He knew this. He knew it. But he’d fought that reality his whole life.
Pip’s red SUV was parked around the side of the building. Lights were on upstairs and Hunt spotted a bay door open on the right.
The small extinguisher barely made a dent in the flames and he and Will were forced back by the intensity of the heat. He tossed the empty extinguisher aside.
“Leave it. Let’s go find out where the hell our women are.”
Will looked at him, startled, as Hunt pointed to the loading ramp. Will jumped in his Bucar and they pulled it in front of a white van that was parked there.
He and Will pulled their raid jackets over their vests. Will grabbed the shotgun from its rack above his head. They moved together, rolling under the bay door. It was dark inside the loading area, and cold. They headed toward the door and eased inside the main building. The door had been wedged open. Someone was hoping to make a quick getaway.
Hunt checked up and down the corridor. Empty.
“We’ll cover more ground if we split up. You take the offices on the second floor and I’ll take the labs in the basement.” Hunt had been here before and knew his way around better than Will.
Will nodded. “I’ll use the stairs and clear the floor. I’ll call you if I find Mandy or Pip.”
Hunt’s throat tightened. His buddy hadn’t reached the terrible realization yet that if Fuller were alive, she’d be leading this charge.
He took the stairs, grateful for the incessant noise of the fire alarms covering his progress, although it also masked everyone else’s movements.
Cold Blooded Page 32