In His Sights

by Justine Davis

  She managed to distract her grandmother and escape further inquisition. Then she turned her attention to the things that had to be done today. And as had become an unpleasant but necessary part of her routine, she checked her desk and her computer for any sign either had been used or tampered with since she was last here. Finding no signs on either, she went to work.

  She had the routine stuff out of the way by late afternoon, and she sat back in her chair for a moment. Everything else could wait, and there was no putting it off any longer. The next shipment had to be boxed and loaded, and she’d given orders they weren’t to start until she was there to observe every step.

  When she arrived at the stockroom, they were waiting for her. There was an undeniable tension in the room; everyone here knew what was going on. Brian, the security guard, looked particularly nervous; Kate was sure he was afraid he’d be losing his job if they didn’t resolve these thefts soon. She could relate to his worry; she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t lose hers, either.

  Then she personally walked with the shipment to the loading dock. She watched as the boxes were loaded into the delivery van, and the back and side doors were locked. She drove it herself over to the mechanic’s shop, and put the keys in the night mechanic’s lockbox and secured it.

  Knowing she’d done all she could for the moment, she went back to her office. She adjusted the miniblinds so that no one could see in, then opened the sliding closet door to the right of her desk, revealing the two new video monitors that had been installed over the weekend. One was trained on the exit gate, the other on the mechanic’s shop itself. They both appeared to be working perfectly. She could see Brian standing just inside the shop door, his gaze trained steadily on the loaded truck.

  They had worked this out ahead of time, and she knew the young man would do his job diligently until she relieved him. She quickly finished the last details for the day, then closed and locked her office. She announced to all that she was leaving, putting the next phase of her plan into action.

  She drove home, quickly put together something to eat and a snack for later, then curled up on her living room sofa for a nap. The hoped-for sleep didn’t come.

  So much for trying to rest out here, she thought.

  She’d decided it would be better out here than in the bedroom where memories of last night would intrude. But she was beginning to realize those memories weren’t going to be easily fought off, nor was the longing she couldn’t quite tamp down. She’d gone into this thinking as long as she stayed casual about it, she’d be all right. She clearly hadn’t spent enough time considering if she’d be able to accomplish that casualness.

  When at last she dozed, she might as well have laid down in the bed that still held his scent, because images of him, naked and golden, still populated her restless dreams.

  She awoke to the sound of the kitchen timer she’d set. Twilight was already fading; it would be dark soon. She got up, slipped her sheepskin boots back on, went to the kitchen and splashed some cold water on her face to clear her groggy head.

  “Probably would have been better off just staying awake,” she muttered to herself.

  She dried off, took the grocery bag she’d tucked some cheese and crackers and a couple of caffeine laden sodas into out of the fridge, then went to get her long, heavy coat, in case she got stuck outside somewhere.

  She carried it all out to her car. Once she was loaded up, she started the car and headed down her long driveway through the trees. She turned onto a side street about a hundred feet before the Redstone driveway, drove to the end where there was a gravel driveway that led to an empty building lot. She turned the car around, and backed up off the road, so she was parked heading back toward the street. She got out, gathered her things and locked the door.

  And then she set off through the trees to try and catch a thief.

  Chapter 17

  Rand got out of his car and stood for a moment, gauging the chill in the air. He weighed the temperature against how long he was likely to be out in it, and then reached in for his heavy jacket. He pulled it on, then grabbed his large cup of coffee, thinking he might be wishing for a thermos of the stuff before the night was over. And this time, he took out his .38 and clipped the holster at the small of his book.

  He found his way to his observation spot easily even in the dark now. He settled in with the replacement night-vision binoculars he’d had shipped to him from the security team locker at the airport near Redstone headquarters. It wasn’t dark, so he didn’t turn them on yet.

  He looked into the complex below. There were a handful of cars parked in the lot. He recognized them as belonging to the people who worked the night shift. Everyone who was there was inside, as far as he could tell. Not that he could blame them, when it was this cold out.

  You’ve gotten soft, he chided himself. Too much time spent in sunny California.

  He waited, thinking that this was the last time he was going to do this. If there was another theft and he didn’t find or see anything, then this method obviously wasn’t going to work. He’d have to try another approach. Of course, if it did work, then he’d be done here. As far as his job was concerned, anyway.

  Kate was a different matter.

  A sudden burst of heat warmed him against the cold. It happened every time he thought about last night, thought about how amazing it had been. He’d known it would be good between them, but he’d never imagined just how good.

  He still wondered why she’d changed her mind. She’d apparently gotten over her mistrust of him about her grandparents. But she’d still seemed pretty hung up on the age difference between them, although it was something he hadn’t even thought about last night.

  Whatever it was, he certainly wasn’t going to question his good fortune. If she’d managed to put her reservations out of her mind, or better yet, her feelings had overcome them, then he was not about to remind her of them. He didn’t want anything to get in the way of what they had found together.

  A shiver rippled through him that had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with memories of the hours spent in Kate’s bed. His body clenched at the images that flashed through his mind. He already resented spending tonight freezing up here on this hillside when he could have been back in her warm, cozy house, learning more about her delicious responsiveness.

  And, he realized, learning about her. It surprised him a little, how much he wanted to know about her. Not just her taste in things, food, movies, books, but how she felt and thought about…well, about everything.

  He snapped out of his reverie when he realized full darkness had descended. He reached for the night-vision binoculars, turned them on, and began to scan the plant below him.

  He’d not even finished his first scan of the area when a rather furtive movement caught his eye. He moved the binoculars back to where he’d seen the motion. After a couple of seconds he spotted what he’d seen; a slim human figure moving toward the main building, keeping close to the wall, staying in the shadows.

  He worked the focus ring to sharpen the image. The green tint made it look odd, but he knew that courtesy of some speeding electrons he was seeing a lot more than he would with the naked eye. And since this was the first suspicious thing he’d seen, he knew it was significant. Whoever it was, they clearly didn’t want to be seen, and that alone made them suspect one just now.

  The figure paused, then looked around. He saw the face.

  His gut knotted in instant, intense protest. He didn’t want to believe it. Felt faintly nauseous at the thought that he might have to believe it. Because there was no denying what the binoculars were showing him.

  It was Kate.

  With only her small desk lamp and the glow of her computer screen for light, Kate worked on the various projects she’d set aside to do tonight. She had turned her chair to face the closet, where the two video monitors were turned on and registering absolutely nothing unexpected. The delivery truck she had parked and locked herself sat exa
ctly where she had left it, just outside the shop door. The only thing that had happened at all was the arrival of the night mechanic a half an hour ago. The man had parked his own white van beside the delivery truck, and then got out and walked toward the shop. The main lights inside had gone on shortly after that, but so far nothing else was happening.

  She glanced again at the two screens. In the movies or television, there was always one of the bad guys who managed to tamper with the feed or substitute a tape of nothing happening to hide the criminal activity. But in this case, no one but she and Brian even knew the cameras were there, so there was little chance they’d be interfered with. Still, she kept her attention firmly divided and watched regularly for long periods.

  Finally, the next time she glanced up she saw the night mechanic step into the pool of light from the floodlight above the shop. She saw he had retrieved the keys she’d locked away. When he unlocked the delivery truck’s driver’s door, she set down the reports she’d been working on and focused completely on the video monitor.

  The mechanic reached into the cab of the truck and bent slightly. She saw the hood move, and realized he had pulled the inside release latch. He backed out of the cab, straightened the baseball cap he’d apparently bumped during the maneuver, and walked around to the front of the truck. He lifted the hood the rest of the way, and bent over to peer into the engine compartment.

  Kate recognized the familiar motions of checking oil and the other fluids. The man stepped out of the light, then back in as he went about his business, twice walking toward his van, vanishing, then returning with a tool. The brim of the cap shadowed his face, but she could see his actions clearly.

  Then Kate watched as he got down on the ground and scooted under the truck. They had a rack in the shop, she knew, but guessed for whatever quick once-over he was doing he’d decided it wasn’t worth it. She watched for several minutes while he did whatever he was doing underneath. She was starting to wonder if he’d found something wrong when he finally reappeared. He pulled a rag out of the back pocket of his Redstone overalls and wiped his hands off. He walked back to the front and lowered the hood. She saw him put some weight onto it to be sure it latched.

  She watched as he walked around to the back of the truck, which was in full view of the camera. She leaned forward, thinking that if anything was going to happen, it would be now. But all he did was reach up and tug on the door handle, as if making certain it was still locked. It didn’t give, and he patted the back door.

  She watched as he disappeared between the two vehicles. A minute or two later, she saw his van pull away. Her forehead creased when he drove out of the yard and headed for the exit; she didn’t think he was supposed to be off until midnight.

  She switched her gaze to the exit camera, and just about when she expected it she saw the van pull through the gate. She’d have to ask the shop manager in the morning about the night guy’s hours. Maybe he’d made arrangements to leave early.

  For a long time she sat there watching the truck, wondering if and when the thief would show up. Eventually she went back to her other tasks, but still kept an eye closely on the monitors. After another two hours, even the extra caffeine she’d consumed wasn’t enough, and she began to yawn.

  Finally dawn arrived. She walked to the window, opened the blinds and watched the sky grow lighter, too tired to control her tumbling thoughts any longer. They careened back and forth between her problems here and her fledgling relationship with Rand. She wasn’t sure where either was headed, and she didn’t like the feeling.

  At last she saw the truck driver’s car pull in. She filed away the things she’d been working on, then shut down and secured her computer. She slipped on her coat, got her purse out of the drawer and headed outside.

  “Good morning, Jim,” she said as she neared the van.

  The man spun around, as if she’d startled him. “Oh, Ms. Crawford. You’re here early.” He grimaced. “Guess you’ve got reason.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I’d like to look in the back, if you don’t mind.”

  “No problem,” he said, and walked to the back of the truck.

  “The keys were in the lockbox?” she asked.

  “Yes ma’am,” he said. “Right where they were supposed to be.”

  She nodded as he unlocked the door. She looked in and saw the cartons neatly stacked. She did a quick count and came up with the correct number. With a sigh, she watched as Jim closed and relocked the door.

  “I’d say I’ll do my best, but I have been all along,” Jim said.

  Kate reached out and patted his arm. “I know you have, Jim. We just have to hope this time will be different.”

  She watched him drive off. Then she headed for her own car, wondering if the thief had been scared off, or simply decided not to go for this shipment. Could he have found out about the cameras? They were well hidden, and had been installed late Sunday night, but it might be possible someone had seen it.

  Which would prove that someone had to be on the inside, that Redstone indeed had a spy, or the actual thief, under their own roof.

  Wearily she walked to her car and started home.

  Rand put the night-vision binoculars back into the case with exaggerated care. Not that they weren’t expensive and didn’t need to be handled carefully, but he concentrated on the task as if they were made of spun sugar.

  Kate.

  Damn it, Kate….

  He tried to rein himself in. There was no denying or changing what he’d seen. On the night before a shipment, she had shown up after dark, sneaking in, staying in the shadows, obviously worried about someone seeing her.

  But…he also knew she’d had the surveillance cameras installed. That had been St. John’s message.

  He couldn’t think about it now. He had a job to do. He went down the hill at a run, and cleared the fallen log between him and his car in a leap. In less than a minute he was on the road, and in less than two had the delivery truck in sight. He knew where they were going, he had the delivery schedule, but he wanted to keep the vehicle in sight, to see what, if anything, happened en route.

  Nothing did.

  He had the truck in view all the way to Tacoma, where the first boxes were due to be dropped off at a medical supply company. He quickly picked his spot across the street, and parked to watch the delivery.

  Rand knew the instant the man in the white coat picked up the first box. He didn’t have to see them open the box. There was no mistaking his puzzled look and the awkward movement of a man picking up a box he’d expected to weigh something but didn’t.

  They did open it, and as he expected by then, found it empty. They opened the rest of the boxes, with the same results. And he didn’t need to be a lip reader to grasp the driver’s profanity laced reaction.

  Rand didn’t like how this was adding up. They’d been hit again. And it hadn’t happened after the truck had left Redstone, nor did he believe the driver was involved; the man’s fury was palpable even from here. Which meant the thefts had to have happened while the shipment was still at Redstone. Which also meant someone on the inside was involved.

  And the only person he’d seen doing anything at all suspicious was Kate.

  He couldn’t believe it.

  You don’t want to believe it, was his rational mind’s quick response.

  He wasn’t sure which was the truth. Maybe both.

  He couldn’t stand this. He had to know. Had to know before he got in any deeper than he already was. He pulled back out into the midday traffic and headed back north. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to do, only that he had to find out once and for all if Kate was the thief. Only then could he go on with getting his job done. If she wasn’t, then he could focus elsewhere with out this powerful distraction. If she was…

  If she was, he didn’t know what he’d do. Rand groaned inwardly as he realized he was already in way too deep to escape unscathed.

  Chapter 18

  He was about to
turn into Kate’s driveway when his cell rang. A glance at the ID readout showed him the call was from Redstone headquarters. He pulled over and flipped the phone open.

  “Singleton.”

  “Hi, sweetie.”

  He smiled at the sound of Sam’s voice. “Hey, lady.”

  “Any news?”

  “All bad, I’m afraid.”

  “Got hit again?”

  “And not after the shipment left.”

  “Ouch,” Sam said, instantly realizing what his words meant. “Any idea who’s on the inside?”

  “There’s…a possibility or two.” Even to Sam, one of his closest friends and his frequent partner, he couldn’t bring himself to mention Kate in that context.

  “Well, I’ve got some info for you on one of your possibles. St. John handed it off to me before he left.”

  “Left? For where?”

  “Who knows? You know how he is.”

  He did. Anybody who worked at Redstone for long did. There was little that went on that St. John didn’t know, and Josh himself often said that if anything happened to him, St. John could take over in a heartbeat and run it all. While everybody agreed the man was uncannily omnipresent, none of them would ever wish him in Josh’s place, because he lacked the one thing Josh had in abundance—the ability to deal with the human factor. St. John tended to expect everyone to be like he himself—cool, controlled and un-emotional in all circumstances.

  There had been, for a while, a contest at headquarters to see if anyone could make the man laugh. No one had ever won the pot. That hadn’t really surprised anyone, but they’d all been startled when St. John calmly claimed the prize, saying since they’d all lost, he must have won. No one knew how he’d found out, and it had only added to his reputation of knowing everything that went on at Redstone.

  “What he left me,” Sam said, “is the financial report on Katherine Crawford you asked for.”