“That still leaves your bed at the townhouse. Which would be the first place I’d go to get some sleep. I don’t need a PhD from MIT to riddle that one out.”
The thought of a comfortable mattress minus Ben’s annoying prattling almost made Adam move off the sofa. Almost. If only his old man had cashed the damn check.
“When does Marin get back?” Adam asked.
Ben tapped his pen against the desk. “How would I know? She’s not my fiancée.”
He was tempted to text Griff and ask him, but suddenly moving required too much energy. Ben ceased his tapping and the room grew quiet. The whir of the servers in the back of the lab slowly lulled Adam to sleep.
Josslyn was naked beneath him, her lips moving lower on his body. “I’m not going anywhere. You should know by now I’m not leaving you.” Adam liked the sound of her words. Especially the way she was murmuring them against his skin. He could get used to having a woman worship him. Especially if that woman was Josslyn.
“Why don’t you come out and admit it?”
Ben’s random question in the middle of his dream had Adam nearly jumping off the sofa.
“Shit, Ben,” he yelled. “I was finally asleep.” And about to get to the good stuff, damn it.
His friend ignored him. “You can’t avoid your dad forever.”
“Actually, dude, I can.”
He settled back down on the sofa and shut his eyes. Thankfully, Ben was silent again. Adam dipped into his sniper training and altered his breathing to relax his body. The sooner he got back to sleep, the sooner Josslyn would be worshipping him.
Just as he dozed off, Ben was at it again. “I’d give anything to have another five minutes with my dad.”
Adam gave up the pretense of trying to sleep. “Your father was a cop. Killed in the line of duty. Probably by someone just like my old man. The two aren’t the same thing. I don’t need a PhD from MIT to figure that out.”
“You don’t really believe your father is that bad.”
Very slowly, he rose to a sitting position trying to tamp down on the anger building inside of him. “You’re stepping perilously close to a very fine line that you don’t want to cross, Bennett.”
“I read the trial transcripts,” Ben persisted. “The man who killed your sister wasn’t the same man who served honorably in the army for twenty years. Or the same man who his friends described coaching your Little League teams with, and I quote, a big heart and the patience of a saint.”
His head was pounding again. “You read the damn transcripts?” Hell, Adam had never bothered to read the stupid things. “Invade my privacy much?”
Ben sighed. “Okay, yeah, a little. But you know I have to have all the pieces to solve the puzzle. And you go to complete radio silence whenever anyone asks about your past. I was curious. It’s in my DNA.”
“My past is exactly that, my past. If I wanted to share it with people, I’d go on the damn Dr. Phil show! You’re my friend. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought the basis of friendship was trust.”
“It is,” Ben conceded. “But as your friend, I wanted to know how this man hurt you so I could prevent it from happening again.”
“If you read the transcripts, then you know exactly how he hurt me. By killing my sister. By locking me in a damn tomb and never bothering to tell anyone where I was.”
“He wasn’t in his right mind, dude.”
Adam shot from the coach. To his credit, Ben didn’t even flinch. Like any good soldier, he would take a punch if he deserved it. And he one hundred percent deserved it. But something in his friend’s eyes made Adam pull back. They stood there, face-to-face for a long moment before Ben spoke quietly again.
“Surely, there are some good memories of your dad. Or did you bury them so deep in that thick skull of yours that you’ve forgotten they exist?”
“Why do you care?” Adam snarled.
“Because you’re like a brother to me. And brothers look out for one another. Your dad showed up for a reason. And I think you should hear him out. For no other purpose than to close that chapter in your life.”
Adam shoved his fingers through his hair. Why was everyone so hell-bent on closure? His life was just fine the way it was.
“You sound like Josslyn.”
“Well, we do both have big brains,” Ben joked. “And we both care about you.”
He fell back onto the sofa. The thought of Josslyn caring about him took the edge off his anger. But it was quickly replaced with fear. Despite all of her vows to never leave him, everyone he cared about always did. His mom. His sister. Even his old man. While Griffin was still around as one of his best friends, if Griff had to choose, he’d pick Marin any day. Eventually, Ben would find someone—or build her in his lab—and Adam would be back to being odd man out.
Josslyn cared about him, sure. And Adam was afraid his heart was already engaged in whatever was going on between them. But was it enough for him to take that giant leap of faith that she’d stick around for the long haul?
Ben’s computer pinged, interrupting his thoughts.
“Hmm, that’s interesting,” Ben said.
“You finally found the girl who ditched you at your high school prom?”
“Screw you,” Ben responded. “This is about your friend, Tseng.”
“There wasn’t anything in the wallet Ngoni found that would incriminate him. Hopefully, the Twin Towers are singing his song in Taiwan.”
“Except this is about him and Sumner.”
Adam snapped to attention. “You think she’ll roll on Tseng?”
“Not the wife. Christian Sumner. The undersecretary,” Ben explained. “All this time we thought the connection between the two was simply the affair Tseng was having with his wife. But it turns out, Tseng and Christian Sumner go way back. All the way to their days at Oxford together.”
Ben clicked a few keys on the keyboard and an image of a class photo came up. “Do you want to know who it was that got Tseng kicked out?”
“I’ll bet I can guess. Sumner.”
Nodding, Ben opened an article from the university’s newspaper. “Tseng didn’t take it well. He claimed Sumner was the one cheating. According to this article, he promised to get even.”
“When was this?”
Ben scanned the article. “Ten years ago.”
“Sleeping with the guy’s wife certainly counts as getting even,” Adam said.
“Yeah,” Ben’s voice trailed off as he leaned back in his chair and began tapping his pen again.
Adam knew that look. “Where is that oversized brain of yours going with this?”
“Tseng’s tech companies are all underproducing,” Ben said. “So his money has to come from the animal trafficking. Right?”
“But he told Josslyn that business was his dead uncle’s and he got out of it,” Adam added.
“A guy with his vices doesn’t walk away from a moneymaker like that.” Ben shook his head. “Nor does he suddenly grow a conscience.”
“Then what are you saying?”
Ben was back to furiously attacking his keyboard. “The Twin Towers want access to the poaching ring to cut out the middleman and get the animals for medicinal purposes. Once it gets out that the company is involved in poaching, their stock will take a nosedive. If I’m a majority stockholder, I’ll lose my shirt.” Ben sat back and stared at the computer screen. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“What?”
“The Twin Towers are only minority shareholders.”
Adam’s heart began to race.
“The majority of the company’s stock was a wedding gift to none other than Christian Sumner,” Ben continued. “And Mrs. Sumner didn’t like that her father put her inheritance in the hands of her husband.”
“So she seeks out Tseng and begins an affair with him?”
“Or she was in on the plan from the beginning.” Ben shrugged. “The result is that Sumner is ruined financially.”
“And even more damaging, he
’s ruined politically.” Adam thought back to what Griff had told him yesterday. “He’s an ambitious guy working in Africa. This will be a huge blow to his career.”
“If our theory is correct, Tseng had no intention of stepping away from the animal trafficking ring. He used Shaw to set up the Twin Towers and ruin Sumner.”
“As much of an ass as Sumner is, I hate to see Tseng take him down like this.”
Ben grinned. “Joke’s on Tseng because political appointees are required to put their investments in a blind trust. Whatever bad happens with the pharmaceutical company can’t be pinned to Sumner. Besides that, he’s from Texas oil. His trust fund will bail him out of anything.”
“He’ll still take a political hit. I think someone should at least warn the guy. Seeing how he’s close personal friends with the president’s family. It might reflect on them if he’s blindsided.”
“Hmm.” Ben looked at him skeptically. “Already taking up the family mantle, I see.”
“Just doing my job protecting the president.” Adam grabbed his jacket.
“What, getting hit on the head with the lead pipe wasn’t enough?”
“Nope.” Adam headed for the door.
“Nap time is over, I take it,” Ben teased.
“I’m off to the zoo. Sumner is there trying to eke out money from corporate donors interested in investing in Africa.”
“Adam,” Ben called after him. “Make sure Sumner knows to watch his back. Tseng went to a lot of trouble to make him look bad. Once he figures out he wasn’t successful, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
That man is a little unhinged. Josslyn’s words echoed in his head causing a tremor of unease to run down his spine. He hurried out of Ben’s lab.
*
As dusk settled over the National Zoo, Josslyn was grateful for the warmth of Ngoni’s hand in hers. They dodged the crowds of costumed children ambling down the path between exhibits.
“Are they going to have candy everywhere we stop?” Ngoni asked as he munched on a Blow Pop.
“You betcha,” Trevor answered.
They were both in costume—a one-armed Batman and Robin—and it was difficult to tell which one was having the better time. Or eating more candy.
The throng of people, coupled with the descending darkness, was starting to make Josslyn apprehensive. Logically, there was no threat to Ngoni any longer. And he was impossible to recognize in his costume. Still, she was beginning to feel guilty for sneaking out of the White House without telling anyone. Especially Adam.
“You’ve both had quite enough candy,” she said. “Once I finish at the Elephant Trails, we’re headed back.”
“Of course, Mommy Dearest,” Trevor joked.
Josslyn ignored him. She guided Ngoni through the front doors of the elephant house and waved her badge to the guard monitoring the backstage area.
The security guard grinned. “Evening, Doctor Benoit. Your friend Dax is having a great time tonight showing off for all the kiddos.”
Josslyn relaxed. She’d missed the big elephant these past few days.
“Can we go see him?” Ngoni pleaded.
“In a minute,” she said. “First I have to find someone. Has Undersecretary Sumner arrived yet?”
The guard pointed to one of the teaching platforms. “He’s in the middle of that crowd. Been asking for you, too.”
“Trevor, can you keep an eye on Ngoni? I won’t be more than twenty minutes.” She pointed to the exhibits lining the walls. “Go look at the elephant poop. That should give both you boys something to giggle about.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.” Trevor saluted her.
“I mean it, Trevor. Don’t leave this building.”
Trevor’s eyes softened. “Relax, Josslyn. He’s safe with me. You go and get some money to help the elephants.”
Ngoni was already tugging Trevor in the direction of more candy. Josslyn nodded before heading toward Christian and his entourage.
“There you are,” Christian hissed quietly when she joined the others. “I was beginning to think you didn’t care about the elephants after all.”
Josslyn was now really regretting sneaking out of the White House. But then one of the corporate CEO’s she recognized from the Kennedy Center the other night was asking her a question about the elephants’ diminishing herd size and Josslyn found her groove. She explained how she and others were working on efforts to preserve the herds both through science and by eliminating the practice of poaching.
“Many of the tribes have no other viable income stream, so that leaves poaching as the only means to provide for their family. One way to stem this problem is for economic development.” She turned to Christian. “Undersecretary Sumner has some wonderful ideas on how to bring that about. I hope you’ll give each of them some thought.”
Donning her campaign smile, she pumped hands and posed for selfies until she felt she’d put in the requisite amount of time to make everyone happy. She caught a glimpse of Trevor and Ngoni out of the corner of her eye. They were both wrestling with the huge tractor tire trying to gauge if they had the strength of an elephant. Josslyn figured she had a few minutes to slip back into the barn and check on Dax.
She weaved through the crowd and had just reached the door to the staff area when a hand grabbed her arm. Josslyn gasped loudly.
“Dr. Benoit,” Agent Groesch said. “What are you doing here?”
Josslyn silently chided herself for being so jumpy. She turned to see the agent with two young boys in tow.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Josslyn grinned. “How are you feeling?”
The agent touched her head. “No double vision. Just a little headache. But I have a wicked bruise on my hip where I went down on the pavement.” Agent Groesch looked around. “Where’s Adam?”
This was the tricky part. Josslyn gnawed on her lower lip, but the other woman was already narrowing her eyes at her. “You snuck out again, didn’t you?”
“I’m headed back right now. Promise. I just want to check on Dax.”
Agent Groesch let out a beleaguered sigh. “Let me find my sister so I can hand off these two. I’ll take you back to the Crown.”
“That’s not necessary. Trevor and Ngoni are here with me.”
“Easy way or hard way?” Agent Groesch threatened. “Easy way, you let me escort you back quietly. Hard way, I call Adam. And the director.”
The other woman left her no choice. “Fine,” Josslyn acquiesced. “But you’re not as cute as you look.”
The agent grinned broadly. “Gets ’em every time. Wait here.”
“I’ll just stop in to check on Dax while you drop off your nephews. I’ll meet you back here in ten minutes.” She pointed to Trevor. “I have to come back to get them anyway.”
“Make it five minutes and you have a deal.”
Josslyn nodded and slipped through the doorway into the barn. Because of the openness of the exhibit, the noise from the crowds carried throughout this part of the facility. Most of the elephants were immune to it, including Dax who was contentedly crunching on a stalk of tallgrass. He looked up as if sensing her presence.
“Hey, there, big guy.” She rested her forearms on the cable fencing. “I’ve missed you. Have you been good while I was away?”
The elephant flapped his ears before slowly waddling in the direction of the fence. Josslyn grabbed a veggie biscuit off one of the trainer’s carts and held it out to him. Dax stopped suddenly. The skin at the back of Josslyn’s neck tingled. Flipping his ears out wide, he lifted his trunk and trumpeted ferociously. She scrambled out of the way as he charged the fence.
“Dax!” she cried.
“That thing is crazy!”
Heart in her throat, she whirled around to find Christian hovering behind one of the trainer’s carts. She hadn’t heard him arrive thanks to the noise of the party echoing throughout the barn. Josslyn shivered with relief that it was only Christian.
“Oh for heaven’s sake.” Jo
sslyn drew in a deep breath to calm her racing pulse. “Dax is not crazy. He just doesn’t like people sneaking up on me.”
“There you go again thinking I’m following you,” he accused. “You’re the one who slipped away back there. I came looking for you to say thanks.”
Josslyn studied his face. There was always another motive with Christian, but tonight, she only detected sincerity. That had to be a first. Dax snorted possessively when Christian moved in closer and Christian froze in place.
“You don’t need to thank me.” Josslyn spoke softly as much for the benefit of Dax as the man standing four feet away. “We’re not enemies. I want to keep these guys alive and flourishing in their natural habitat. And now that you’re working in Africa, you want to see the continent’s economy succeed. Just as I said back there, the two are mutually beneficial. You have nothing but my support.”
He looked at her in amazement. “That’s very magnanimous of you. I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear it. There are some committees I work with that could use your expertise.”
Josslyn knew an olive branch when she saw one. And this one would allow her to continue following her passions without the constant embarrassment to her family. Or risk to her life. She knew one sexy Secret Service agent who would be especially happy with the arrangement.
“I’d like that,” she said.
Dax snorted his approval and they both laughed. She patted the elephant. “You be good. I’ll be back to see you tomorrow.”
They were headed to the exit when Dax trumpeted in alarm again. Josslyn turned just in time to avoid the blade of a familiar-looking samurai sword as it slashed through the air. Christian, however, was not so lucky.
Chapter Nineteen
Adam took the metro to Woodley Park and hoofed it the rest of the way to the zoo. The event was in full swing when he arrived. Orange lanterns swung from wires suspended in the trees giving the park a festive, if not eerie, glow. He was surprised to see tables set up at all the entrances to the normally free zoo.
“Do you have a ticket, sir?” a woman wearing a Friends of the National Zoo sweatshirt asked.
Shot in the Dark Page 23