The Manhattan Encounter

by Addison Fox

  Campbell came up behind them and wiped his hands on his jeans before tapping on the screen. “Because someone with extraordinarily good electronic skills erased himself. Or he’s working with a partner who erased him.”

  Liam heard the distinctly complimentary notes layered over disgust. If it could be done with a computer, his brother had figured it out and even Campbell was impressed with this guy’s digital skills.

  Skilled or not, the timing still seemed off. “How is that even possible? I’m there in the frame. He’s not. That takes some time and effort to sync up two feeds. The police and the Feds had this footage within minutes.”

  “Which makes it a major slip. He’d have been better off wiping the feeds entirely. We might not have been all that useful to the Feds today, but they sure as hell aren’t going to believe Liam chased himself.”

  “So he planned it out.” Once again Liam had to give the guy grudging credit. This took time, effort and planning. It also proved their arrival at the airport hadn’t been treated as an opportunistic attack.

  “Wait, wait.” Isabella split the screen and he was again impressed with her speed on the equipment. “Here’s Liam running in and here’s the corresponding feed. There’s no gap. Look, the time’s even match—”

  She’d nearly said “matched” when they all saw it.

  A hair’s breadth of difference in the time stamp when it turned over to a new minute marker.

  “No, it’s not matched.” Isabella stood to give him room and Campbell dropped into her vacated seat. By unspoken agreement, they all backed up as Campbell went to work, his hands flying over the keyboard.

  Liam leaned toward her and pointed toward the wall of screens. “Your computer skills aren’t so bad. You knew how to get back and forth in that program pretty easily.”

  “Years on a computer.”

  He wasn’t sure if he saw pride or embarrassment and finally settled on both when a bright light filled her green eyes, matched to a light shrug of nonchalance. “Seriously. You’re good.”

  “People think of lab work as just microscopes but it’s a ton of computer work. Add on several lab partners who speak geek as their first language and it was either learn to keep up or perish.”

  “Hey!” Campbell hollered over his shoulder. “I speak geek as my primary language.”

  Abby bent and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “And it rocks my world, darling. But I still wouldn’t go bragging about it.”

  Campbell dragged her onto his lap and proceeded to drop a line of kisses along her neck. Liam wasn’t sure if he should avert his eyes or give them some privacy for their overtly affectionate display.

  Was this his brother? The one who’d spent so much of his adulthood behind a computer, or, in recent years out on ops, barely interacting with the world? The change was a welcome one, but it was still a surprise.

  And it only punctuated how much he’d missed by staying away.

  In all those years had he ever thought to make an outreach or attempt to get Campbell engaged in life?

  No. Not once.

  “Ewww. Get a room.” Kensington’s command rolled over all of them as she and Jack came back into the office, her laptop in hand. “Take a look at what Jack found.”

  “Me first.” Campbell pointed to the screen while still juggling Abby on his lap. “Look right there and there.”

  Liam followed Campbell’s index finger as he pointed out the time stamp on two split-screen images.

  “He’s good but he’s not perfect. Right there. When you blow out the time stamp. The feeds are a few milliseconds off.”

  “What do you have?”

  Kensington placed the laptop on the counter and did some pointing of her own. “Right there.”

  The screen was lit up by a series of numbers and Campbell and Kensington bent their heads over the screen as she hit a few keys to move the program up onto the wall of monitors for them all to review the figures.

  Again, Liam marveled at the funny shorthand his siblings had with each other and, by extension, their partners. Although the House of Steele had been a group endeavor from the start, he’d opted for more time in the field than here at home.

  And it showed, he mused to himself.

  “Those look like bank statements.” Isabella’s gaze locked on the screen. “Where did you get them?”

  “You probably don’t want to know.” Jack’s smile was oddly reassuring but Isabella wasn’t deterred.

  “No, I would like to know. I realize my current situation suggests I’m comfortable working outside the certain moral boundaries but I’m not. I also realize we’re fighting an enemy, but I want to do it legally.”

  Kensington dragged her gaze off the screen and gave Isabella her full attention. “I have government-secured access to certain data warehouses. Access I’ve not only jumped through several hoops for but which we pay through the nose for and are re-licensed to on a quarterly basis.”

  “Oh.”

  Liam laid a hand on Isabella’s arm. He had to give her credit, she was willing to hold her own for what she believed in. Much as he’d have enjoyed watching her go toe-to-toe with his sister, he redirected the conversation. “Your work doesn’t lack moral boundaries. I don’t think that and I don’t think anyone else does.”

  A series of agreements filled the room.

  “That’s a rather big change of heart since the other night at your grandparents.”

  “So it is. I’ve thought a lot about what you said on the plane. How you described your research. There’s value in your work. Advancements that will go a long way toward helping people live better lives.”

  “Thank you.” Her lower lip trembled and Liam fought the urge to run his thumb over that plump flesh.

  Abby was the first to speak and of anyone, Liam knew she had the best sense of what Isabella was going through. Her telecommunications company was a leader in technological advancements, one of which was used to spy on her and Campbell the previous fall. “Science is filled with examples of advancements that have been misused or abused. Hell, every technology brings with it challenges and risks for abuse. That doesn’t mean we don’t advance or move forward.”

  Campbell pressed a quick kiss to his wife’s forehead before chiming in. “We’ve got your back, Isabella.”

  “All of us,” Liam added. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere in the last twenty-four hours he had gone through a change of heart. He gestured toward the screen, refocusing them on Kensington’s data. “So what does this say?”

  “Jack reminded me of the oldest piece of detective work in the book and we followed the money.”

  “And just to add one more cliché to the mix, we found something rather odd. It seems dead men do tell tales.” Jack filled in Kensington’s gaps as he pointed to several dates on the screen. “Isabella’s benefactor has had several transactions on his bank account.”

  * * *

  “Daniel?” Isabella shook her head, shock coursing through her with all the force of a gunshot. “It’s not possible. He passed away more than three years ago.”

  “Is there anyone else who could be on this account with him?”

  Liam’s voice was calm and she took solace in those even tones. “I suppose anything is possible but he was never married. No children and parents long since passed. I don’t know who would be on the account with him. That’s part of why the will was never contested by anyone when he provided the funding for my research. There was no one to contest it.”

  “This is his account. Jack and I traced the dates and it’s had steady activity going back years. No gaps and nothing to suggest the holder stopped using it at any point in the last three years.”

  Isabella struggled to keep up with the facts flying at her with lightning speed. Daniel had died. She’d gone to hi
s memorial service and had been at the reading of his will. He’d died.

  Even if there hadn’t been a body to cry over.

  The thought crept in and she fought the suggestion. Daniel Stephenson was her mentor. Her friend. There was no way he was still alive without her knowing it, especially with how badly he suffered at the end.

  “This simply isn’t possible. Daniel was ill for many years. A disorder of the nervous system that steadily weakened his muscles. It weakened him until he’d deteriorated so badly—”

  She broke off. It had been so hard to watch him those last few months, struggling in the lab to get through each day, his exhaustion so deep she wondered how he could stand it.

  Ire and bone-deep anger struck like a hammer on an anvil. Who would dare to steal from him? To abuse his memory and steal his legacy? “We need to get the Feds to look into this. Here’s the real criminal.” She flung a hand at the screen. “Someone’s been siphoning off of a dead man, sponging at money that’s not theirs.”

  “We can’t do that.” Liam spoke first but she could see the anxiety painted on everyone’s faces.

  “We’re not turning this over to the Feds. Especially not until we can dig in further and understand what we’re dealing with.”

  “But they were here and grilling me. We can’t hold back evidence. They can use this.” Isabella fought back the shock thrumming down her spine at the blatant withholding of information. “They can find the guy who threatened us. Who’s abusing Daniel’s legacy.”

  Liam didn’t give an inch. “Or they can throw more red tape at you and drag you down to their offices. I want you to stay here where we can watch you.”

  “So I can be your prisoner instead of theirs?” The words flew out, a byproduct of her confusion and utter shock at knowing how badly her mentor had been betrayed.

  As if sensing the brewing storm, Campbell butted in. “They’re going to figure the video out soon enough. Their electronics experts aren’t slouches and they’re going to do the same thing I just did. But on the bank accounts, they’re likely not going to know where to look without Isabella’s inputs.”

  “I still see no reason to hand any of it to them on a silver platter.” Liam’s words brooked no arguments and it registered on her once again how formidable the man could be when he demanded his way.

  And then he turned those penetrating blue eyes on her and her stomach cratered at the impact. “And for the record, you’re not a prisoner.”

  Whether it stemmed from desire or the simple need to prove to him they were equals, Isabella wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t have held back the challenge if she’d tried. “Then stop dismissing my concerns. I want to understand what’s happening to me. What forces are at play around me.”

  “And I want you to trust us to work on your behalf. I won’t put you at risk again.”

  She fought off a small mewl of frustration and moved into his space. A tight, cloying sense of claustrophobia built under her skin, like a subtle itch that grew more and more persistent. “I hired you, or have you conveniently forgotten that?”

  “And I’m doing my job.”

  Isabella suddenly noticed the room had emptied, leaving the two of them to battle it out.

  “Nice job. I haven’t gotten away from my siblings in two decades.”

  She ignored the lame attempt at humor and pressed her point. “I want to know what you meant by that.”

  “By what?”

  She wasn’t a short woman, but his solid frame took up all the space in her vision as she stared up at him. “That you won’t put me at risk. Again. You didn’t put me in this situation.”

  “You’re on my watch now and I will make sure you can safely present your work.”

  “As I sit in this house and twiddle my thumbs.”

  A cheeky grin lit up his face, the cocky move as infuriating as it was unexpected. “Don’t worry, Kenzi will put you to work if that’s what you want.”

  Anger welled from the deepest part of her, fast and thick like an oil strike. “No, damn it, that’s not what I want. I want you to consider me a part of this. I’m in charge of my life. I’ve been doing a fine job of it for the past thirty-three years and I’ll be damned if I stop now.”

  “Right. You’ve done great, Isabella.” The smile fell, replaced by an ire that matched her own, blue fire snapping in his gaze. “That’s why you’re in this position. It’s why you don’t have any family. Or friends. Or a lover. It’s why you’re all alone, you’ve been doing such a damn fine job.”

  Something dark and raw churned under her fury, erupting from her in a wash of flame.

  “You know nothing about my life. About the humiliation of what I’ve lived with. About the betrayal of not one parent, but two.”

  She dashed away the hot tears that fell freely down her face, clogging her throat in a tight fist, determined to get out the rest of it. “And you sure as hell don’t know what it’s like to live like a freak. Someone whose intelligence and drive and innate sense of freaking order scares the hell out of everyone around her.”

  “Isabella—” He reached out but she flung off his hand, stepping back from the sheer weight of the pain that threatened to drag her to her knees.

  “You can’t know what it’s like. You have a family who loves you even though you keep them at arm’s length for some puzzling reason known only to you. You have a reputation that’s sterling. You even have an endless parade of women content to share their time and attention. I have nothing.” He reached for her once more, but she flung him off. “Nothing!”

  And then he had his hands on her and he was dragging her close and she was trying to breathe through the tears and the need and the most desperate desire to connect with someone.

  No, she amended as his mouth crashed on hers with the force of a hurricane. She had the desperate desire to connect with him.

  With Liam.

  Hot, wild need sparked under her skin everywhere he touched. His hands were on her shoulders, on her lower back, roaming over her stomach before reaching up to cup her breasts.

  She should have been shocked or felt some sort of embarrassment that she’d been wearing the same clothes for nearly twenty-four hours or that her stomach wasn’t flat enough or that her slacks hadn’t been ironed but none of it seemed to matter to the man who had her in his arms and demanded she give him everything she had and then some.

  And oh boy, did she own up to the task.

  Her hands matched his for fervor, the hard lines of his shoulders a sensuous feast for her fingertips. She explored his body, even as their mouths never broke contact and as he walked her backwards toward the wall. She willingly let him lead, ready to follow him anywhere.

  His tongue thrust into her mouth, a carnal feast that mimicked a joining of their bodies and she sucked hard before biting his lip.

  Isabella felt his fingers lock with hers and then he had her hands up on either side of her head, holding her steady as he plundered her and still, she gave it all back to him, every move countered with one of her own.

  The temptress she never knew lived inside of her skin came to life under his tutelage and, if the low moans echoing from the back of his throat were any indication, was having a grand time teaching Liam Steele a thing or two about desire.

  * * *

  “Fifty bucks they don’t come back downstairs.”

  Kensington threw a fresh wine cork at her brother and shot him a dirty look. “That’s why we closed the door.”

  Campbell dodged the missile and smiled, the look of the family imp riding high on his cheekbones. “Did you see the way he looked at her?”

  “Like he wants to strangle her and make love to her, all at the same time.” Abby’s dreamy voice floated down the table.

  Kensington couldn’t hold back the giggle when matched expressi
ons of horror crossed Jack’s and Campbell’s faces at the image Abby painted but it was her brother who voiced their feelings. “I do not want to think about that. Ever.”

  Abby swatted Campbell’s hand when he reached for yet another cookie from the near empty plate. “You certainly don’t seem to mind when you’re dragging me onto your lap like a caveman.”

  “That’s because you’re my woman.”

  Abby’s eyebrows rose in an arch almost high enough to touch her bangs. “Want to run that by me once more, Cowboy? I believe those vows were better or for worse, not ‘you may possess her like chattel.’”

  Campbell took Abby’s hand in his and pressed a quick kiss to her knuckles. “And I count myself the luckiest of men.”

  “Damn straight.”

  Kensington glanced down where her hand already rested in Jack’s before pressing her larger point. “I realize I started this hen fest, but I do think Liam has a point. We can’t let her leave here. And we need to keep an eye on him. Whether he wants to admit it or not, they’ve both been targeted.”

  “Sure, because keeping up with Liam is just that easy.”

  Jack squeezed her fingers before snatching a cookie with his free hand. “Campbell’s right. You guys can’t keep up with him on a good day. What makes you think he’s going to sit still and ask for help on this one?”

  “He has no choice. He might have signed up for this gig but it’s going to take all of us to work this one.”

  Campbell snatched the last cookie off the plate. “I vote we make Rowan tell him.”

  * * *

  Liam fought to surface from the sexual haze that had gripped him the moment Isabella began yelling at him. He’d gone from irate to turned-on in the blink of an eye.

  He had to admit he preferred the latter.

  “Are you still mad at me?”

  They were still plastered against the wall, hands locked tight. Liam disengaged their fingers to play with a curl that rested on her shoulder.

  “Are you going to keep acting like an overbearing, obtuse male?”