by Woods, Karen
He smiled. “As usual,” he said indulgently, “you do single-handedly in an evening a project that I would have assigned a committee to do over the course of a couple of weeks.”
“Well, I don’t waste time arguing with myself. Practically no one knows R&D here as well as I do. And what I don’t know, I can access on the computer network,” she said. “Besides, it’s peaceful here on Friday evenings. The security in the building is good. And I feel safe enough to work.”
“Oh, yeah, you feel safe, all right. That’s why you had this,” he said as he picked up the pistol. He looked the gun over. “Beretta. How does it shoot?”
“Well enough to do what I need to do with it. I’m comfortable with it.”
“I can think of other makes of small arms I might prefer.”
“Perhaps. Yet, that pistol does what I need it to do. May I have it back, please?”
He nodded as he put the gun back on the desk. “Come on. I’ll put you up for the night.”
“I can’t stay with you, Josh. Your offer would be seriously misconstrued by people.”
He picked up the phone again and punched in another number from memory. “Kathy, Josh Sutherland. I need to have a 24/7 guard put on my right hand gal… Starting tonight… Well, if that is the best you can do… Fine. Tomorrow morning then.”
“You have no choice. You stay with me tonight. Tomorrow, you can go back home with a bodyguard,” he said firmly after he hung up the telephone.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I take care of my people.”
“People will talk if I stay with you.”
“We’re both single. What’s the worst they could say?” he dismissed.
Oh, yeah, he was single. Very recently single. Amanda, his wife of more than thirty years, had died only weeks after Geri’s mother had passed. Josh had gone into a tailspin after her death. It had only been the last few weeks he had seemingly been back to near normal. He had stopped drinking so heavily. He hadn’t missed a day of work in the last seven weeks.
Geri shrugged. “What’s the worst they could say? They could say I slept my way into my position in the company. While I don’t care what anyone says about me, I do care about your reputation.”
“No one who knows either of us would think that.”
“Rumors aren’t usually started by people who know the people in question.”
“Be reasonable. You need help.”
“You can’t afford that rumor. It could establish a precedent in the rumor mill that could open you up to similar allegations being made in law suits. I won’t protect myself at your expense.”
He picked back up the telephone and punched in another number. “It’s Josh. Could you put up one of my senior people for the night? Yes, the one I spoke to Dave about. You know her, Geri Erikson. I don’t want her to be alone tonight. I can’t get bodyguards on her until tomorrow. And she refuses to stay with me…She’s worried about both our reputations…Yes, I rather think she has. Thanks, Sis. I’ll bring her over.”
“You rather think I have what?”
“An old-fashioned set of values.”
“You aren’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer, are you?”
“You have a choice. You can stay with me tonight or with my sister and her husband. Make your choice.”
“I have other options. I could sleep on my office couch, then get a shower in the morning at the employee’s gym. Or I could simply go home.”
“If you go home, I’m sleeping on your sofa.”
“My home is an efficiency apartment,” Geri said, as she unsuccessfully fought back a blush. “The sofa is where I sleep. I don’t think you’d find it very comfortable.”
He looked puzzled. “Since when are you living in an apartment? Last I knew you owned a very nice house. You had us all over for a party two years ago at Christmas. Mandy really liked your eye for color and design. You were still living there when I took you home after your mother’s funeral in April.”
“I sold the house the week after the funeral. Besides, I’m never home long enough to need more than what I have. It’s just a place to crash. It was different when Momma was alive.”
“There’s more to it than that,” he demanded. “Out with it.”
She sighed. “If you absolutely must know, Momma’s final expenses were well over two million dollars. I signed her into the hospital and guaranteed payment. Her health insurance policy didn’t have an annual out of pocket cap.”
“She was the widow of a Marine. Didn’t she have military insurance?”
“Momma was covered for the first year after Nate died. Then, because she had medical coverage at work, she didn’t see the point in paying the premium to continue the military insurance. When she was too sick to keep working, she maintained her medical coverage as long as she could. Even then, her insurance coverage expired months before she died.”
“So what was the bottom line?”
“After all the insurance came in, there was just over five hundred thousand in bills between the doctors, the hospital, and the funeral home.”
He nodded. “Which is why you no longer have a house and why you now drive a small, ten year old, Ford instead of your BMW?”
“It gets me where I need to go. I sold everything I easily could sell except for my grandmothers’ and mother’s jewelry and a few small family heirlooms. I liquidated all of my investments except my 401K and my IRA. Virtually emptied out my savings account, keeping a little back for reserves. I streamlined my life to the barest essentials. Debt service takes most of what I don’t absolutely need to live on. With luck, I should have the debt paid off completely in another three years.”
“You could have come to me,” he offered, a hurt undertone in his voice. “I would have gladly helped you.”
“No, I couldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I can manage this by myself. So, it involves a little hardship. Big deal! It was the last gift I could give my mother. I owe her that much.”
He smiled and nodded. This was very much in keeping with the woman he knew her to be—loyal, honorable, and self-sufficient. “Okay, let’s go by your apartment, and you can pick up the clothes and things you will need for tonight and tomorrow.”
“If it makes you feel better, you can follow me,” she allowed as she picked up her keys. “But, I am not going to sleep anywhere but my own bed tonight.”
As they walked out of the building, she pressed the button on the remote starter for her car.
Geri had rigged that remote out of sheer paranoia her tormentor just might get desperate enough to plant a bomb. Tonight, her paranoia transformed into simple judicious caution. The car went up in an ear shattering explosion and fire with the first electrical impulse of the starter.
Chapter Two
He pulled her to the sidewalk during the explosion, shielding her with his own body. “Stay down,” he demanded on a hoarse whisper as he scanned the area for any sign of the assailant. He didn’t expect to see anything. People who planted bombs tended to do so because they wanted to kill from a distance. Still, cowards could be dangerously sneaky.
At this moment, Josh would have gleefully strangled whoever was terrorizing her. Of course, he had wanted to do so since she had told him what was going on. He had wanted to have serious words with her about friendship meaning people could actually ask for help. There wasn’t another person on the face of the earth who would have gone through this without giving any outward sign of stress or without asking for help. There was such a thing as being too self-reliant. She would hear about it if they either one survived this.
At the moment, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do more— yell at her or kiss her senseless. The depth of desire he felt for Geri surprised him. He wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. She was seeing someone fairly steadily—a barracuda of lawyer named Bradford Bennet. Yet, before he could do anything about this desire he felt for her and which he suspected w
as quite reciprocal, they had to survive the next few moments.
* * *
Geri reached for both her pistol and the cell phone. She dialed 9-1-1 as she scanned the parking lot. It amazed her how much light a burning car could produce. She gave the dispatcher her plea for help and address.
They re-entered the building. It was the first time that she had ever gone into a building on her stomach. But, then again, tonight seemed to be a night for firsts, all the way around. It was the first time she had ever pulled a gun on Josh, the first time she’d let him know just how deeply she was in a financial hole, the first time she had ever given him a hint of how she felt for him, and the first time that she had ever seen a car explode—in person, at least. Of those firsts, she wasn’t quite sure which would prove the most destructive in the long run, but she had the strong impression that it might be the hint of her feelings for him she had given to Josh. More than anything else, that could rearrange her life. She hated to think about leaving the corporation. But, she wouldn’t stay here and see pity in his eyes.
They entered the first office they came to, the human resources office. Geri settled in on a sofa facing the door. The pistol remained in her hand.
It didn’t take long for the fire department to arrive.
The Fort Bend sheriff’s department rolled out promptly, as well. The night security staff directed the deputy to the office. The deputy was somewhere in his early sixties, a bit pudgy, but not really overweight, and bald as a cue ball.
“Ms. Erikson,” he said in a tone that was half way between gruff and downright abrasive. “Seems you’ve had some excite-ment tonight.”
Geri forced a cynical smile. “Excitement like this, I can do without, thanks anyway, Deputy.”
Josh placed his hand on her shoulder as he stood just behind her. “Take it easy, Gerianne.”
She turned her head and looked up at him. “I don’t want to take it easy, Joshua. I’m angry, and I have every right to feel this way.”
Josh nodded. “Yeah, I’d feel the same way. We’ll get him. Trust me.”
She smiled at him, touched by his selfless offer. That was so like him, she thought, to make the troubles of others his own. But, this was just too dangerous. She knew that she shouldn’t let him involve himself. Yet, knowing him, the only way to stop him from getting involved would be for her to simply disappear. That wouldn’t even be in the realm of practical solutions. Oh, she could go to ground. That wasn’t the difficult part. Hiding from Josh, if he decided to find her, that would be difficult, if not utterly impossible.
“You were obviously anticipating something like this?” the deputy asked.
“I couldn’t rule it out. Look, why don’t you just get the file from Detective Matthews at the Houston P.D.? It covers all of this,” Geri said, her voice too weary, too defeated, to be really angry. “The long and the short of it is that I am being stalked.”
“So, you installed the remote starter on your car because you were frightened?” the deputy asked.
“Yes. Of course, there are at least a dozen different ways to detonate a bomb on a car. The ignition is only one of them. But, I couldn’t figure out a way of remotely checking all of them without making the car fully remote controllable. That would have been entirely too dangerous, Deputy. I wouldn’t have wanted to have a car someone else could have seized control of while I was driving. That would have been just too dangerous.”
The deputy was quiet for a long moment. “How long ago did you install the remote starter on the car?” Deputy Jones demanded.
“April third,” Geri said.
“Just how did you know how to make a remote starter?” the deputy demanded.
“Oh, for Heaven’s Sake, Deputy! Kits to do this sort of thing are available at most auto parts places. It’s really not brain surgery. Besides, I do have a doctorate in electrical engineering. There’s not much with circuitry I can’t figure out.”
“Easy, Geri,” Josh warned.
She stood. She made certain the pistol was on safety, then she put it in her skirt’s back waistband. “I don’t want to take it easy, Josh. Haven’t we covered that before? Excuse me, I need a few minutes alone.”
Geri looked at her face in the mirror over the sink in the ladies’ room. Lord, she was a mess. And apart from that, her knees sported abrasions.
Her pantyhose were a total waste, having been shredded by impact with the pavement. She pulled them off and cleaned the road rash on her knees. There was some antiseptic cream in the medicine cabinet. After checking the expiration date on the tube’s crimp, Geri applied the cream to the scrapes. And then she bandaged the slight wounds. At least, now, she felt marginally more in control.
She washed her face and took down her hair. She brushed her hair and braided it, letting the braid hang down her back, not wanting the pressure on her head of twisting her hair into the businesslike knot she almost always wore it in. She had to relax before this threatening tension headache completely robbed her of any ability to function. Heaven knew she couldn’t afford to be knocked out for as long as her headache pills would put her out for. Not with the threat level having escalated as it just had. Taking the pills tonight just wouldn’t be a safe move.
Returning to the outer office, she saw Josh appeared both tired and worried. She went to him. Placing her hand on his arm, she said gently, “Don’t worry so. There are only three possible resolutions: A) He’ll get to me; B) I’ll stop him permanently; or C) He’ll bother someone else who will put him out of both of our miseries. I’m not fond of option A. But, options B or C, those I could easily live with.”
He rewarded her with a smile. “Sit down and answer the rest of the deputy’s questions.”
“You never had any problems with the remote before tonight?” the deputy asked when she had resettled onto the sofa.
It’s not the Deputy’s fault he seems to be an idiot. Things like this just don’t happen here. Naturally, it was a lot for the man to absorb. “It was a bomb, Deputy. He planted a bomb in my car.”
“You seem awfully sure of that,” the deputy said.
“Here’s what I am sure of, Deputy. Someone tried to throw a substantial fear into me. He wasn’t trying to kill me, just get my attention. If he had been trying to kill me, he wouldn’t have put it on the starter. The bomb would have gone on the brakes or been triggered by a certain gear on the transmission. But he saw the remote starter and put the bomb on the starter anyway.”
“Why do you say, ‘he’?” the deputy queried.
“The threatening phone calls have been made by a man’s voice,” Geri answered. “Granted with the electronic disguising, it could have been a woman, for all I know.”
“It would be a good idea if you kept people who you trust around you,” the deputy advised.
“That’s what I told her,” Josh chimed in.
“Rather than hurt the corporation, I’ll tender my resignation, effective ten minutes before this happened,” Geri offered.
He shook his head negatively. “There’s not a chance I’d accept your resignation. You are too valuable a member of my executive team. I can’t afford to lose you either by resignation or by letting this animal harm you. Is that clear?”
Deputy Jones rose from his chair. “I can arrange for you to go into protective custody, Ms. Erikson.”
“I don’t think so, thank you anyway, Deputy.”
“She has round the clock bodyguards beginning tomorrow morning,” Josh stated.
“That’s good,” the deputy replied. “I’ll be talking to the bomb squad people and the ATF and FBI will roll out on this as well, I’m sure. Someone will let you know what they find out when they’ve had time to go over your car.”
“Thank you. I’ll be here at work on Monday.”
The deputy nodded.
Josh looked at Geri. “Come on, Geri. I’ll take you home to get some things, then you are going to my sister’s house.”
“I’m up in Montrose, right near downto
wn.”
He looked at her and shook his head. “You can afford better than that.”
“No, I can’t. And that’s the truth. I’m only there to sleep and shower anyway. What difference does it really make where I live? The place has a roof that doesn’t leak, four walls, and a floor. I don’t really need anything else.”
They sat in the back of Josh’s big Lincoln, ten minutes later. Geri wasn’t used to being driven about by anyone. But, she understood why Josh always traveled with a driver and a bodyguard. He was a wealthy man who could easily be a target for kidnapping or worse.
“Okay,” he said, breaking into her thoughts. “Let’s go over your finances. I know what I pay you. Talk to me about your mother’s final expenses.”
They discussed her financial situation for better than a half-hour, even though she would rather not have had him involved. But, she knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
* * *
“You’ve done a good job with this. It’s not everyone who would have honored their mother’s debt,” he said after they had discussed the ins and outs of the situation.
“She was my mother. It’s up to me to pay her debt.”
“You didn’t have to do this all by yourself.”
“Yes, I did,” she told him. “It’s my problem. I’ll fix it.”
“Stubborn woman!” He was more disturbed by this than he wanted to admit. She was depriving herself of so many things, reducing her life to the barest of essentials, just so that she could pay off her mother’s medical bills. It was so like her. She was going through all of this, and she had not given even a hint to anyone about it. She hadn’t complained. She had simply gone about her business with the same quiet grace that she handled everything with.
As they approached her neighborhood, Josh asked in disgust, “Couldn’t you have found a worse area, Geri?”
“Actually, I could have. This isn’t so bad. Not really. I’ve lived in much worse areas. So, don’t be a snob.”
“When?”
“When I was an undergrad, in grad school, and working on my doctorate. Trust me, this really isn’t so bad. It’s a working class neighborhood. But it’s reasonably safe.”