No, to make sure she stayed safe.
Especially since he knew she wasn’t too pleased that he was telling her what to do.
He hadn’t simply left, of course, when he had departed from her apartment. He had slowly walked the hallways of her building, watching and listening. Then he had done the same thing on the street.
But there was no indication that she was in danger. No hint that whoever had been following was anywhere around.
He nevertheless hung out in his car as he had done before for less reason, watching, for maybe an hour. Waiting for his phone to ring in case Beth called to tell him she was scared and wanted him to come back.
But she didn’t.
He eventually headed back to his place and dropped off to sleep in his own lonely bed, his phone near him. No more sounds of his ringtone that night.
When his alarm went off, he sat straight up and looked around. He knew exactly where he was. His first urge was to call Beth to reassure himself that she was all right.
But he made sure that reason prevailed. Instead, he first got up, dressed and made coffee in his kitchen, which was small but more functional than Beth’s. Then, a mug in his hand, he called Judge Treena to give her an update. At least now it was nine-thirty in the morning in D.C. rather than the middle of the night.
She answered right away. “About time you reported in, McManus.”
“I’m always available for you to call, Judge,” he said. “Unless, of course, I’m at Corcoris playing tech monkey and can’t talk.”
“Too early for that at the moment,” she observed. “Okay, tell all. Especially about that SUV. Greg informed me that you had him run some plates on a vehicle that turned out to be stolen.”
“That’s right, but I’ll get to it in a minute.” He wouldn’t tell everything, of course—at least not about how he and Beth were getting along. But he had plenty to tell the judge about yesterday’s events at the Corcoris offices, including the lunch and his “borrowing” of the password of one of the execs. “I saw some stuff that might have been interesting but couldn’t save it or study it more. Not then. I heard noise outside—Beth Jones warning me that Corcoris himself was walking toward the lab I was in.”
Daniel poured more coffee into his mug and sat down in the kitchen. He leaned his forehead onto one of his hands as his elbow rested on the table.
“Then she’s still there and you and she are actually working together?”
“In a way.” He then told the judge about what Beth had said about eavesdropping in the ladies’ room.
“Smart lady, even if she is in way over her head,” the judge said.
“I can get the list of all attendees at yesterday’s brunch for physicians,” Daniel said, “and I’ll also confirm with Beth which ones she heard talking. I think it’d be worthwhile for CIU to contact them about their experiences after prescribing Corcoris drugs to their patients.”
“I’ll do that,” Judge Treena said. “Okay, continue.”
Daniel related how Beth and he had gone out for dinner far from the Corcoris headquarters, then decided they needed more privacy and met at his apartment to strategize.
“When she was ready to leave—that’s when I saw that SUV start after her.”
He then described how he’d called Beth, then met up with her—with no further sign of the SUV.
“I followed her home myself and made sure she got in safely and locked her doors,” he finished.
“And that’s all?” Judge Treena asked.
“Everything except details about how we’re going to try to work together more in gathering evidence,” he said. The judge sounded as if she had accepted Beth’s presence there at last—or at least she wasn’t arguing about it now. He wasn’t about to even hint at their amazing attraction that nearly drove them into her bed for hot sex...for the second time. The judge didn’t need to know that.
Even so, Daniel had the uncomfortable feeling that she was reading between the lines.
He took a long drink of coffee, decided it was getting cold and stood to heat it again in his microwave.
“That’s it, then?” the judge asked.
“So far, but with us working in concert that way, I’m hoping that the concrete evidence that’s eluded both of us so far will finally flow into our hands. Despite now having an exec’s password, I didn’t have much success before hacking into anything beyond what a lab technician was allowed to see, let alone checking out other parts of the company server for useful information. Instead of doing anything that can be traced, I’ll download to a thumb drive rather than printing or forwarding, then hiding what I did...just in case there’s someone even more savvy than me who looks into it.”
“Fair enough. And Beth? Has she found anything while cleaning that can help?”
“Other than eavesdropping and recording some of what she’s heard, no, but we’re working on other things she can do. One thing I’m suggesting is that she bring samples of drugs or their ingredients out of the labs for CIU to get tested independently against the contents of what’s on the market. She carries a purse, so that’s a possibility, at least—but of course, she’ll still need to be careful. There’ll still be a chain-of-custody angle to work out, but if we find anything useful, that can be dealt with. I know she’s eager to find something really spot-on that she can pass along for you to use in prosecuting anyone.”
“Good. Keep at it...and you can tell her the same, from me. She might be surprised to hear that.”
“I suspect she will be.”
“By the way, Daniel. Here’s a heads-up for you. I’m working on another angle. The FDA is always checking on all pharmaceutical companies and their required periodic reports. That includes Corcoris, of course. I’ve worked out a new contact there, one who’s a grumpy old fool who always suspects fraud when he gets a new report and doesn’t trust the pristine results of the last Corcoris inspection. He sounded absolutely over the moon when I told him his suspicions are right about Corcoris even though we don’t have proof of it yet. He’s going to send another team in soon to perform another inspection. I don’t know when or anything else but I’ll keep you informed.”
“Great,” Daniel said without completely meaning it. “But...well, since the last time the feds were there they found nothing, why will this one be any different?”
“Because you’re there now. And if you can find at least preliminary evidence before and show them where else to look when they get there, it’ll be all the better.”
Daniel felt dubious—but also determined to work even harder.
“And you’ll let me know if you figure out who stole that SUV and chased our Beth,” the judge said. Not a question but a statement.
“Sure, Judge. And I will find out. Count on it.”
* * *
Beth hadn’t been asleep when her alarm went off that morning. She had lain awake a lot of the night rehashing everything that had happened the day before.
Including the apparent fact that she had been followed by someone driving a stolen vehicle—but why?
Now she was up and dressed and eating her morning fruit ration for breakfast. She wished she had a watchdog who could have barked if any of the sounds she had heard while lying in bed overnight had been from someone trying to break in rather than normal apartment-building noises.
But a dog might bark at those, too, and scare her all the more.
Too bad she hadn’t begged Daniel to stay last night. She suspected it wouldn’t have taken much to convince him. Only...well, here the only place he could have slept would have been in bed with her, so maybe sleep would not have been on the agenda.
Mindless, wonderful sex that could take her mind off her worries would have, though.
She shook her head as she put her dirty bowl in the dishwasher and prepared to grab he
r purse and leave for Corcoris.
Her ringtone sounded from her purse. She generally kept it turned on when not at Corcoris—or avoiding calls. Even so, the unexpected sound startled her, and she nearly dropped her bag as she reached inside to find the phone.
She saw right away that her caller was Daniel and started to relax.
But why would he be calling at this hour? Was something else going wrong?
“Hello?” She tried to make her voice sound unshaky and carefree.
“Your escort awaits, my lady,” he said in a formal voice.
“What?” She had no idea what he was talking about.
“Come on out to your car, Beth.” His tone sounded amused. “I’m outside. Oh, and if you’re checking out your windows and rearview mirrors, as I told you to do, and you see a vehicle following you, it’s fine—as long as it’s my dilapidated clunker and not a stolen SUV. I’m accompanying you to the office.”
* * *
Beth did as ordered...this time, at least.
She was careful as she left her apartment, checking the hallway before heading out. None of her neighbors were there, but neither were any strangers.
She carefully locked her door, then headed downstairs, where she did the same thing again, this time making sure not only that the door was locked but that the alarm was on, too.
She scanned the street before heading toward the parking lot at the side of the building.
That was when she saw the clunker that was Daniel’s.
She smiled but continued to watch her surroundings as she walked to her car. No errant SUVs pulling out to follow her, but she couldn’t identify all the cars on the street.
As she got into her car, she looked toward Daniel. There was a big smile on his face as he looked back at her.
A big sexy smile.
This man was doing strange things to her psyche. Turning her on just by looking at her.
Making her feel warm and fuzzy by his protectiveness, even though she knew why he was acting that way, and even though she had told him not to do so.
If she wasn’t careful, she might even fall in love with him.
Love? No, not that, and certainly not with Daniel. Even if he were inclined to form some kind of relationship, which he clearly wasn’t, she couldn’t afford to care for anyone, especially not until she was sure her family was safe.
And then? Until all risks were dealt with and Preston Corcoris and any other involved members of his staff were convicted of their crimes, she would have to return to her new Beth Jones life in Washington State—while Daniel returned to his job in Washington, D.C., where he would be sent undercover again on other assignments.
Somewhere far from her, which would be just fine with him.
It was definitely foolish to allow her imagination to even take baby steps in that direction.
She was inside her car now, its doors locked and its engine on.
She gave a quick, friendly but remote wave toward Daniel and headed toward the Corcoris office.
Chapter 14
Despite some contemplation of things she wanted to accomplish that day, Beth’s mind remained mostly on Daniel for the entire drive to the Corcoris campus. Not surprising. He was always there, either directly following her or a car or two behind.
She realized she was rehashing some of the things that had gone through her mind during her frequent sleeplessness the night before. The pros and cons of what she wanted to suggest to him had nearly driven her crazy. But she’d concluded that as long as she kept all emotion out of it—as he would—it was a good idea.
That was why, after pulling into a parking space and waiting a minute for Daniel to find a spot, too, she called him.
“We need to talk,” she said. “And what I say will give us a good reason to meet up right here, in the parking lot, before we both head to our jobs.”
* * *
How could a woman look so gorgeous and hot in a Corcoris Cleaning Staff T-shirt and jeans, her dark hair deliberately too short to be sexy, and her eyes continuously downcast to fulfill the role she played here?
Daniel didn’t know, but he suspected that the knowledge he had about what was inside—both her clothes and her sharp mind—were factors.
Only...was whatever she had to say worth the risk of their being seen together here? She obviously thought so, and that intrigued him.
He hoped she was right.
He knew where she had parked, but she hadn’t seen exactly where he had driven, so they had arranged for him to walk back to her car and join her.
Since it was the beginning of a regular workday, he passed a lot of cars in the lot on both sides of the garage and many still entering.
There were quite a few other people around, too. He was new enough there that he doubted he’d be recognized by many. The same was probably true for Beth.
But those who did recognize either of them, and saw them together outside the rooms where they might just coincidentally run into each other because of their jobs, could be a problem.
She stood beside her driver’s door now as he joined her. “Hello, Beth,” he said, not sure whether to sound jovial or angry or completely casual. That depended on what she had in mind.
“Hi, Daniel.” She, on the other hand, obviously knew how she wanted to play this—as her usual persona, a shy member of the cleaning staff. She moved her bent head to look up at him with her eyes, then back down. “I gave this a lot of thought last night, and I now believe we’re going about part of this wrong. Want to know how?”
Her voice sounded normal now, although very quiet. Interesting. But her body maintained her usual uneasy quality, with her shoulders bent, head down.
“Of course,” he replied, concerned that she was going to tell him to get lost, that she didn’t need his input, let alone his concern about her.
If so, he would have to convince her otherwise.
“Okay, then,” she said. “We don’t know who stole that SUV and followed me, but we can assume it’s someone who works here or was given instructions by someone who works here. They started following me from your apartment. That means there’s some knowledge—and maybe curiosity—about how well we know each other.”
“Right...” He drew the word out as if urging her to continue, which she did.
“That means it could be someone who saw us together in the lab. Or when we’ve eaten together in public. Or even Preston Corcoris seeing me apparently try to slip into the lab where you were working—and speaking loudly enough to warn you that you were about to have company that wasn’t me. So instead of trying to hide what might be clear to anyone watching, that we know each other, let’s use it to our advantage.”
“We should somehow flaunt it?” He wasn’t thrilled about the idea, yet maybe she had a good point.
“I know I thought otherwise before,” she acknowledged. “But why not act like we have some kind of romantic relationship that we know isn’t necessarily applauded between a tech guy and cleaning-crew member? If we do that, whoever may be checking us out might accept that we’re not looking for anything around the offices and labs but each other. Unless the worst has happened and they know exactly who one or both of us is, they could be less suspicious of us that way. And if that worst is true, then we can watch each other’s backs more easily.”
“Interesting proposition.” Daniel knew he’d have to ponder this even more before accepting it. But it did sound feasible. And it was a whole lot better than her telling him to buzz off.
Would it hurt either of them, and their efforts to dig up evidence, to try to pull this off?
Unlikely. And the way Beth had presented it, it might even help them.
And...well, hell, even just appearing to be attracted to Beth, whichever persona she happened to be using at the moment, wo
uldn’t be hard at all. The difficult thing was pretending otherwise.
“Your opinion?” she pushed.
“All right,” he said, bending down and smiling as if whispering sweet nothings into this cleaning-staff member’s ear. “Let’s give it a try. As far as anyone here can see, we’re just a horny couple who’re hiding their mutual sexual interest from the world while at work.”
Beth grinned, then looked down again. “Great. But now I want to really challenge you.”
He stepped back and looked at her quizzically. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been considering how we need to check out the other building on this campus. There’ve got to be things there that could help us. And I suspect you have the better shot at grabbing something helpful.”
“I’ve been there a few times since I started working here,” Daniel said. “It’s just a big manufacturing and packaging facility, and they don’t let people who aren’t involved in either of those activities onto the floor. I’ve only been able to observe from an area above.”
She looked disappointed. “That’s all I was ever able to do there when I...you know. But I thought now that you, as a lab guy, could at least find a way onto the floor to grab some samples to compare with what’s sent over for the quality-control tests.”
“Not that I’ve been able to figure out so far.”
“Well,” she said, turning her head to smile grimly at him. “That’s the challenge. It’s for both of us. I’m going to find a way to get into that building today and see what I can do, and maybe you can, too.”
* * *
When Beth had signed in and gone downstairs for her day’s cleaning assignment, she made her mind focus not on how Daniel and she might be interacting here from now on—or how, possibly, it was a bad idea after all. Instead, she considered how she was going to get into the manufacturing building.
When she entered the long room filled with cleaning carts, she had to wait to get Mary Cantrera’s attention. But as soon as she did, she smiled briefly at the scowling older woman, kept her gaze downward toward the bottom of Mary’s Corcoris Cleaning Staff T-shirt and asked, “I know this may be wrong, and I know they have their own specially trained people there, but is it ever possible for one of us to get assigned to clean in the manufacturing plant?”
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