These guys mean business.
They exude authority as they stalk through the office. The blond waves around a wand as he slowly crosses from the door to the desk. “All clear.”
I’ve read enough books and watched enough movies to know he was searching my office for listening devices. I let out a sigh of relief knowing he didn’t find any. The thought never crossed my mind, and I’m surprised Rhett hasn’t done it yet. It doesn’t mean that he won’t at some point.
“Mr. Harder, I’m Agent Larson.” The dark haired man flips open a badge. His voice is deep…baritone. “And this is my partner, Agent Johnson.”
“How can I help you?” I sit up straight, trying hard not to show them how much they intimidate me.
“We’re here to discuss Lily Harder,” Agent Johnson informs me. “She contacted us last night. Says you might be able to assist us in taking down your brother Rhett.”
I’m not sure how to respond. I don’t know what I expected when Lily said she was working with the FBI, but it definitely wasn’t that she’d be working with men who look like they could kill me with both hands tied behind their backs while wearing a blindfold. Agent Larson stares hard at me with his blue eyes. My professional edge kicks in.
“I’d like to help in whatever way I can.” I think of Lily and Ollie.
“You do understand the threat level of this scenario.” It’s a statement not a question, and I don’t respond. “This is your brother we’re talking about. Once we read you in on everything, there’s no going back. From here on out, you’re working for us and will do exactly as we instruct. If you don’t think you can follow orders, or taking down your brother, you need to let us know now. We’ll leave and forget this conversation ever happened.”
I have no intention of backing down.
“Tell me what I can do.”
Agent Johnson opens his stance and places his hands behind his back. Larson takes another step forward, and I ease back into my chair. I’ve been around Marco long enough to notice the signs. Their posture tells me they both have a military background. “I don’t know how much Lily has told you about what she’s doing to help us,” Larson says. “Quite frankly, I don’t care. Our main objective is to keep her and her son safe. With you on board we can utilize you more and her less, which helps mitigate the risk posed to them. Do you understand?”
He’s telling me that I’ll be more of a target than Lily or Ollie.
I hesitate. My head and my heart are torn in two right now. I know I love Liza more than my own life. I know why I drank so much last night, the hangover and the heartache, are a reminder. It’s because I’m not enough for either of them. I wasn’t man enough to save Lily when she needed me and I’m not man enough to be honest with Liza. This may be the solution for both. Maybe I can help Lily and come clean with Liza about everything. Maybe I can become the man I want to be for her.
“I understand perfectly.”
“We’ll proceed, then. We know your brother has already been in contact with you several times.” Agent Larson pulls me from my thoughts. “We know he’s surveilling both you and your fiancée, but—”
That stops me cold. “Wait a minute…you already know this?” Agent Larson says nothing. “Then why the hell haven’t you done anything?” Anger rises in me.
“I understand your confusion, Mr. Harder. Your brother hasn’t committed any infractions yet. So technically, we can’t step in. We have him well within our sights for when that moment comes.”
I remember the photos…and the note. “He’s sending threats to me and my fiancée. Isn’t that enough to arrest him?”
“No, unfortunately.” Agent Larson’s voice stays composed. “We want to make sure when he goes down, he stays down permanently. You, Elizabeth and your mother are under constant observation.”
Mother? I hadn’t even thought about Rhett going after my mother. I’m angry at myself now. “It’s Liza.” I let out a small growl.
“Sorry, sir?” Agent Johnson asks.
“Her name is Elizabeth, but she goes by Liza.” I remember how much I feel for her.
“My apologies,” Agent Larson says. His stance doesn’t falter and he keeps his gaze on me. “We won’t let anything happen to her.”
That’s only slightly comforting.
“You seem to be your brother’s most definite target, which makes you a more likely candidate to draw him out than Lily.”
He says Lily’s name as if he has some personal stake in this where she’s concerned.
“I know how my brother works,” I tell him. “It’s highly likely he’s using Lily to get to me and will make his move on both of us simultaneously.”
“We have reason to believe that isn’t his objective at the moment.”
Agent Larson is starting to get under my skin.
“But you don’t know that for sure….what if he goes for Lily first?”
“I can assure you, she’ll be much safer. Now that you’re involved, we can take Lily out of play.”
That actually is comforting. I sit back in my chair and rub my face. “Okay. What do you need me to do?”
“Instead of you waiting around for him to come after you, we need to force his hand. We need to figure out how to use you to draw him out.”
He’s obviously hinting at something definite. “And what do you have in mind?” I’m struggling to read between the lines.
“Move the wedding up,” Agent Johnson says.
It’s like he’s asking me to jump off a bridge I can’t even climb anymore. “The wedding is off, in case your spies haven’t picked up on it.”
“It needs to. He’s expecting it in two months…if you move it up, he’ll be taken by surprise and have no choice but to make his move.”
Something hits me sideways about all of this. “What exactly do you think he’s planning to do at my wedding?”
Agent Larson and Agent Johnson trade stern looks. “We have no confirmation on that; we only have chatter centered around the date. Which is why it’s imperative that you figure out how to make it happen. You can make it happen, can’t you, Mr. Harder? If it means keeping Lily safe?”
I halt, realizing there’s no other way. “I’ll see what I can do.” That’s all the guarantee I can give. I don’t know how I’m going to make Liza forgive me and for the wedding to be still on, let alone moving up the date.
“Better that you actually do what you can do. This may be the only way to lure your brother out of hiding far enough to apprehend him.”
We talk a little more before I show them out, riding down in the private elevator to the parking garage. We walk across to their car, and I glance around the garage, secretly hoping Liza will be there. I need to talk to her and apologize for not coming after her.
Agent Larson and Agent Johnson shake my hand in turn. “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Harder. We’ll be in touch shortly about that wedding date.”
I guess I have a wedding I have to make happen.
I have no idea where to begin.
I turn and head back to the elevator, wondering how I’m going to make this impossible event occur now. I’m several steps away when I’m deafened by the angriest noise I’ve ever heard. I’m flying through the air, slamming hard against the ground again as a sharp pain sears through my body. I try to move, but my head feels like it’s weighted. I stay where I am instead. I push off the asphalt and sit up. There’s smoke burning my eyes. I rub them with the backs of my hands, but my vision is still blurred. My ears are ringing, and I can’t hear anything. I look for the agents and spot two blurry lumps next to me. I touch my fingers to the pain in my head and feel something wet. The fingers I pull away are covered in red. It’s blood. I can see that the agents’ SUV is engulfed into flames. Pieces of metal are scattered around us.
Something touches my shoulder and I yank away. I look up and see Agent Johnson. His mouth is moving but I can’t hear anything he says. I point to my ear and shake my head, trying to ignore the shooting pa
in I feel when I do. He holds his thumb up and I do the same in response to indicate I’m all right. I look for Larson and see him right next to me writhing in pain. A jagged bone has shredded the leg of his expensive pants. There is blood everywhere.
Bile rises in my throat, though I fight to hold it down.
Agent Johnson starts talking again, but I still can’t hear him. I rub my hands against my ears. He pulls out his cell phone out and says something. “Yes…explosion...goddamn...bomb.” I can make out a few words as he speaks.
I put the pieces together myself. It isn’t difficult. It was a car bomb. A goddamned car bomb caused the explosion in the parking garage. A few feet closer and none of us would have made it. My head starts to spin. My vision hazes over, and I lay back before my head hits the ground again.
All I see is the black behind my eyelids.
CHAPTER TWELVE
A STRONG ANTISEPTIC SMELL draws me out of the darkness toward a shadowed face shining a light in my eye. The light is blinding, and I squeeze my eyes shut and turn my head away. An annoying beep aggravates the dull ache in the back of my head.
“Mr. Harder, can you hear me?”
I turn toward the voice and open my eyes…slowly, carefully. White spots overwhelm my vision. I blink until they clear. I’m in a room with dull white walls; there are monitors all around, and wires coming from every direction.
“Mr. Harder?” the man says softly. I find myself staring into a pair of dark blue eyes. The tag pinned to his white jacket reads “J. Morgan, MD.” My throat is dry as I struggle to find my voice.
Nothing comes.
A young woman with fiery red hair steps forward and spoons a few ice chips into my mouth.
“Where am I?” I rasp.
“Longport Memorial.”
“Why, again?”
“There was an explosion in the parking garage of your office building. Aside from a pretty nasty cut on your forehead from the debris, you check out fine so far. A few stitches will take care of that.”
I reach my hand up and feel the bandage near my hairline. I wince as my fingers press on it.
There’s a knock on the door, and a dark haired, slightly overweight man in an aging suit steps through. “We still need to question Mr. Harder.”
“He’s coming to, Detective. A few questions will be fine, but he needs to rest, so try to make it quick, please.”
I push up into a more comfortable position as the doctor leaves.
The detective pulls out a small black leather notebook, flips it open, and then searches his breast pocket for a second before finding a pen. I wonder what he could be writing when he hasn’t even introduced himself yet.
“I’m Detective Arnold. This won’t take long, Mr. Harder.” His voice is calm and level, but it hurts my head anyway. “Do you remember anything that happened in the parking garage prior to the blast?”
I shake my head. “Not much.” My throat is thick, my voice hoarse. “I remember walking the agents to their car. There was a loud explosion. I blacked out.” Slowly, I remember Agent Larson’s bone protruding from his pant leg and getting sick. My stomach turns and I take a slow breath. “How are they?”
“They’re fine. Agent Larson suffered a broken leg from the blowback of the explosion. He’ll be fine. His partner has a few scratches.” He jots something on his pad. “Do you remember anything about the garage or the agents’ vehicle prior to the blast? Anything that would have indicated suspicious activity?”
My head spins a little more as I realize Rhett has friends in the department. I wouldn’t know my enemies from my allies where the police are concerned. This detective could be either…or neither, actually. Someone Rhett sent in to dig out information.
“No…nothing.” It’s not a lie.
His gaze makes me uncomfortable. “Okay.” He flips the cover of his notebook closed and takes his time putting it back into his pocket. He pulls out a white business card and sets it on the tray. “I’ll let you rest. If you remember anything, anything at all, feel free to give me a call.”
“Sure thing.”
The detective stares at me for a moment, like he’s trying to figure out if I’ve told the truth. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Harder.”
There’s a knock on the door and the nurse walks in. The detective breaks his gaze and leaves the hospital room without another word.
The nurse checks the monitors and scribbles a few things on my chart. I move around the extremely uncomfortable hospital bed. “How is your head feeling?” she asks.
I wince and shrug. “Like hell.”
“Here…this might help.” She smiles and hands me two white pills and a cup of water. “By the way, you have a visitor, if you’re up for it.” She flips her bright red hair over her shoulder and heads toward the door.
A visitor…
My first thought is Liza. I would be lying if I said I didn’t hope she came to make sure I’m okay. I slowly tuck a pillow behind my back and sit up as straight as I can. My muscles ache all over and I grit my teeth as I move, but I try my best not to show any pain. “I am, yes.”
The nurse disappears. There’s a rap on the door.
My heart skips a beat.
“Come in,” I rasp.
Eli rounds the corner and comes into view. “You look like shit.” His hearty laugh fills the room. I flinch at the sound and wish the pain meds will kick in soon. If I’m going to be stuck here with him, I’ll need something to help me survive.
“Where’s Liza?” I ask.
Eli’s eyes grow dark, and he looks away. “She sent me to check on you.”
“Do you really do everything she tells you to do?” I laugh at my own question and smile when I see the smile appear on his face. Of course he does. We both do. “How is she?”
“Better question is, how are you?”
Something has softened between us. I get the feeling he’s truly concerned.
I shrug. “Just a couple bumps and bruises.”
Eli pulls the rolling chair toward him, takes a seat, and shuffles across the floor until he’s next to the bed. “I hear you got a gnarly gash on your forehead.”
“Yeah…stitches.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t want to lecture you while you’re sitting in the hospital, but this shit just became way more serious. And violent. Add in that Liza is a total mess about everything, and it’s not looking too great for you.”
“Liza is a total mess right now?” I echo. I move to get out of the bed, but Eli stops me.
“What, you didn’t think she would be?”
“I, uh…I’m not sure.”
“You’re a total mess, Reid. Last night, you were a disaster. Imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t driven you home. And now, this. In the office parking garage….where Liza would have been, too, if things had gone differently.”
He’s right, and I have no argument. “I know,” I say firmly. “But we have a plan.” Suddenly, I realize who at least one ally could be in this whole situation. “I’m going to need your help with it.”
Eli rolls the chair back a little and stares at me. If I’m going to get Liza to forgive me and move the wedding date, I’ll need all the help I can get. Even if that means consorting with my enemy. Because right now, we have a bigger enemy at hand—one who won’t stop until hurts me however he can.
Eli raises an eyebrow. “Who are we?”
“The FBI.”
Eli rolls back in the chair. “It’s never good when the FBI is involved. You know that, right?”
“You don’t know my brother like I do. It’s the only way.”
Eli stands and paces around the room. He’s making me nervous. What if he decides he doesn’t want to be a part of this? Who am I kidding? Of course he will. It’s Liza we’re talking about.
Eli stops again, looks at me. “And this plan…?”
“My brother is meticulous. He has a plan he likes to follow and hates when his strategy gets trumped. The best tactic is to
throw him off his game plan. That’s how we bring him down.”
“And how exactly do we do this?”
My eyes dart around the room. “I get Liza to move the wedding up.”
“Oh…is that all?”
Eli inhales a sharp breath and I focus my attention to him. His body is tense; I can see the anger in his eyes. I knew he wasn’t going to like this plan but it’s the only one that seems logical. “She doesn’t even want to marry you anymore.”
“You can help get that taken care of.”
He laughs. It starts quietly, then it grows louder, until his body is shaking and the room echoes with the sound of it. “You’re crazy if you think Liza is going to agree with this,” he says as he calms down. “Don’t you know anything about the woman you love? Even if you come clean and she forgives you, you can’t count on having a wedding in two months. She’s a mess, Reid. I’ve never seen her like this. This is more than an unfortunate circumstance she found herself in. This is her heart we are talking about, and it’s been completely shattered.”
It hurts to hear that, knowing I’m the cause. “This is what the agents believe will draw Rhett out. I have to agree with them.”
Eli huffs. “You might want to figure out another plan, then. There’s no way in hell she’s going to forgive you so easily, or waltz down the aisle with you now. And add to that the fact that you’re making her a target, and using her wedding as a ploy to lure out a psychopath.”
His reticence is understandable. It does sound pretty ridiculous. “Moving the wedding forward is the only way for us to have control. He wants to hurt me, and this is how he’ll do it.”
He’s quiet as he lets it all sink in. “I can only think of one way you might get her to go along with this plan.”
If I Say No (Say Something #2) Page 8