Avenging Kiss (Savage Security Book 2)

by Karen Tjebben

  “Everything we found is pretty basic,” Cole continued. He opened another screen. “Eric has no criminal record. His background looks good. He attended high school and university in the states. His family is associated with a large church in Texas.

  He’s a Texan, Jack thought. His opinion of Texans dropped a little at this knowledge. He’d known a lot of military personnel from Texas, and they were all badass. How could the mighty state of Texas produce such a dipwad?

  Cole continued, “He works remotely as an engineer for a semiconductor plant. He’s smart. It’s a high-paying job. His job reviews are above satisfactory. And he’s a saver.” He clicked the mouse and another screen opened. “His total net value is around $500,000.

  “That’s no shit,” Ryan said, looking at Eric’s bank information. That number rattled him. Most men in their late twenties didn’t have that kind of money socked away. He hadn’t started seriously saving that kind of cash until he began his job at Savage Securities. The military was great and had awesome benefits, but his salary hadn’t come close to Eric’s. “Did he actually earn all of that, or did a large amount seem to ‘slip’ into his account.”

  Logan cleared his throat and leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “The number was a flag for me, too. I traced it through his bank account. It appears he inherited about $50,000 of it when his grandmother died. His family gives him roughly $15,000 a year. It appears they do that for all their children. Eric is the youngest, and his parents are in their seventies. My guess is they are shrinking the estate to avoid paying higher taxes at their deaths. The rest goes back to basic saving. His company has a matching program, and he doesn’t seem to be a big spender.”

  Jack didn’t like it. Not many guys pushing thirty were worth half a million dollars. Sure, it helped the man came from money, but the number still irked him. It was a red flag.

  Logan hated the thought of his friends assessing Aditya’s background. What would he find? Did she have a ton of debt? Were there skeletons in her closet? Did she get arrested for running naked through her college campus? Were drugs a problem for her? Maybe he could push off digging into her background until he knew her a little better. It didn’t seem fair to snoop through her history without her knowledge.

  Cole rubbed his hand over his well-trimmed beard. “So for now, it appears that Eric James is a typical guy who enjoys beautiful women.”

  Jack snorted. Calling Bella beautiful was an understatement. Did Bella know how much money Eric had? Was that part of her attraction? The thought sickened him. He’d never thought of her as a gold digger, but then again, a lot of women craved security. Wasn’t the desire of finding the best possible mate ingrained in our DNA? Men were programmed to want youth and beauty. Women were programmed to want a male protector and provider. Those innate desires dovetailed nicely to strengthen mankind’s survival.

  Cole clicked out of the FOXZ folder and opened up the calendar. He quickly went over everyone’s tasks for the day, and then everyone left the conference room to begin their day.

  9

  Jack looked at Bella as he stepped out of the doorway and she came into view. She sat behind her desk, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She was absorbed in something. Was it a personal email? Was she communicating with the guy at this very moment? Right in front of him?

  He needed to stop that, thinking of her as somehow betraying him. She wasn’t his to love or to claim. He hadn’t taken charge of their potential relationship and let her know how he felt. Was that because he respected Cole and honored his wishes? Or was it because a part of him feared he couldn’t keep the relationship together? Just like his dad.

  No. He wasn’t his dad. He didn’t have to make the same mistakes his father had made. He was his own man. He’d carved out a life of honor and integrity for himself. He was the man that charged into danger while others retreated towards safety.

  He needed to do the right thing. If he truly cared about her, then he’d want her to be happy, whether that was with him or someone else. That was how love showed itself. Love wasn’t selfish. But he promised himself, that if her relationship with Eric tanked, he’d be there, racing towards the heartbreak and easing her wounds.

  Jack stepped up to Bella’s desk. She hit a few more keys and then her fingers froze. She tilted her head to the side and looked up at him.

  “Hi, Jack,” she said, hoping to hide her nerves. He’d always affected her. The other guys at work didn’t do that to her. But Jack made her stomach tie up in knots. He was like the super-hot guy that you enjoyed staring at but knew you could never attain. She’d always been drawn to him, but she’d ruined any chance she had with him when she told him how to do his job. Apparently alpha-males don’t like being told what to do. And now, as she looked at him, she felt tension radiating from him. “Can I help you with something?”

  Jack cleared his throat. He made eye contact with Mike as Mike walked towards the door. Jack gave a little head nod, and Mike went outside to wait at the truck.

  With a quick look around the room, Jack ensured that they were alone. He wasn’t sure how to begin, so he just went for it. “I wanted…, no,” he took a deep breath. This was harder than he thought. “I needed to apologize for my behavior the other night.”

  Bella’s eyebrows rose. Was she hearing him right? Was he apologizing?

  He noted the puzzled look on her face, and continued, “I didn’t give Eric a chance.” He tapped a finger against her desk, not sure how detailed to get in his apology. He wasn’t about to call her a fool for liking the man. If he looked logically at the issue, on paper, Eric was a good catch. “If you like him, then he must be an okay guy. You wouldn’t waste your time on a loser.” A smile broke free on her face that ripped open his heart.

  With that apology, the man who intimidated her a little smoothed off a few of his rough edges. “Wow, Jack. Thanks for saying that.” She knew that had to be a hard thing for him to say. She’d never seen him apologize to anyone. His typical response to the banter in their workplace was to flip someone the finger or hurl a string of foul words. She’d never minded the profanity. She’d always thought he was funny, until that day she stepped out of her role as office manager and threw her zero-experience opinion on security details into the ring.

  So now she sat there, staring at him with joy in her heart. She opened her mouth to say something, but wasn’t quite sure what to say. She didn’t want to embarrass him or say anything stupid. So she kept it simple. “I appreciate that.”

  He stared at her. He wanted to say more. He wanted to tell her to dump the coward and give him a try, but that would destroy the value of his apology. No, he needed to wait this out, but that didn’t mean he’d given up. He just needed to regroup and come at the problem from a different angle.

  “I’ll see you later,” Jack said and walked towards the exit to join Mike outside. He was glad he was partners with Mike. Mike was easy, and they could read each other’s minds.

  Mike sat in his truck waiting for Jack. He figured whatever Jack had to say to Bella wouldn’t take that long. At least he hoped it wouldn’t. They were expected at Trellis Architecture, and he was never late.

  Jack slid onto the passenger seat and closed the door with a thud and buckled up.

  Mike glanced his way and wondered what the right question was. He eased the car out of the parking space and decided that Jack wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut in a minute, so he might as well enjoy the silence.

  Jack reached forward and turned off the radio.

  “Hey, I was listening to that,” Mike gestured to the radio. Here it was, the levies were about to crumble and he’d be deluged by too many of Jack’s unfiltered thoughts.

  “Yeah, sorry man, but we need to talk.” Jack smoothed his pants down his legs and leaned back against the seat to get more comfortable.

  Setting his laptop on his legs, he started typing. He glanced at Mike as he typed in his password to be sure Mike didn’t see it. Logan would be
proud of him for being so protective of his password. It seemed as if Logan dragged them into a refresher class on internet security and password privacy on a monthly basis. It would be comical if it wasn’t so mind-numbingly boring.

  Mike kept his eyes on the road and chuckled. “I’m not interested in your password,” he said. He shook his head and smiled. “Like I care to dig into your search history. I might stumble into a bottomless pool of porn and never claw my way out.” He looked in the mirror, checking for a tail. “Besides, I’m with Alisha.”

  “Woah,” Jack held up his hand. “I don’t want to know anything about your sex life, especially any details that involve Alisha. I don’t need those images slashing through my brain.”

  “You better not be thinking about Alisha like that,” Mike warned, giving Jack a hard look. “I’d hate to have to kick your ass.”

  Jack rolled his eyes and snorted. “As if.” He was confident that he could take Mike. He had a few inches on him, although Mike was bulkier. “You go ahead and think that.” Sometimes Mike was hilarious.

  Jack moved the cursor and clicked on the file FOXZ. “I know Logan did a cursory background check on Mr. Eric James.”

  Mike noted the hint of dislike in the way Jack said Eric’s name. He chuckled as he interrupted, “I don’t think Logan would appreciate you second guessing his work.” Perfectionists tended to be sensitive to criticism.

  Jack turned his head to look at Mike’s profile and cleared his throat. “As I said, Logan did a cursory background check on Eric.” He looked at the information Logan had gathered. “First, I don’t trust anyone with two first names. Plus, I don’t know, doesn’t Eric’s past seem a little too perfect?”

  Mike eased onto the highway and chuckled. “The name thing is hilarious considering your ridiculous name. Jack Black,” Mike said with exaggeration and mockery. “If anyone’s name is open to ridicule, it’s yours. And what do you mean by his past is too perfect?” He knew exactly what Jack meant, but he wanted to hear the insanity for himself.

  Jack took a moment to stare at Mike for asking such a dumb question. “You know what I mean. Look at his profile. No brushes with the law? Not even a speeding ticket or parking violation. And you have to admit that the $15,000 dollars a year from his parents looks suspicious.”

  “Lots of people give their kids money.” Mike couldn’t believe he was defending the dork. He wasn’t thrilled with the guy either, but it really wasn’t any of his business. He’d always thought Bella would end up with a manly-man. She was certainly around enough of them. But, regardless of what he thought, Bella did have the right to make her own choices.

  “What about the $50,000 from grandma? That’s a huge chunk of money.”

  “It was an inheritance. Logan traced it. Everything is detailed in that report.” Mike pointed to the open screen on the laptop. He would look over the information again later himself, but he was smart enough not to tell Jack that. He wasn’t going to give credence to Jack’s jealousy induced paranoia regarding Eric James.

  “How much did your grandparents give you?” Jack asked, his voice full of attitude. “When mine died, her possessions were divided between her kids.” He said the word ‘kids’ with enough snarky attitude to get his head knocked in by a pissed off security specialist. “I got nothing.”

  Jack made a good point. Most of the time grandkids didn’t get money, at least not a huge amount. They may get a possession if it held sentimental value to the grandparent or grandchild. Mike tossed his hand out as he began, “I got my grandpa’s watch. He was a Navy pilot. We had the military connection, so he left it to me when he died.” Mike turned on his blinker and looked over his shoulder as he changed lanes.

  “Look at Eric’s high school grades. They were average at best. And then he gets an engineering degree?” Jack snorted. “Engineers tend to do better in high school than the average Joe.”

  Mike wasn’t sure he wanted to continue this conversation with Jack. He looked at the clock on the dashboard. They had to be at Trellis in less than five minutes. “I don’t know man. Maybe he got his act together once he hit college. Maybe he realized his life would be a whole lot better if he got a good education and then a good job. It happens.”

  Jack grunted and tapped on the keyboard of his computer. “Sure. That’s possible, but it’s a flag to me. If he was average in high school, I’d expect him to be average in college.”

  “Look, I was never in the running for Valedictorian in high school,” Mike started. “I did what I had to, and any extra time I had was spent having fun. It wasn’t until I started my military career that I got my head out of my ass and focused on my future.”

  Jack recognized the logic in Mike’s argument. As much as that could be a possibility, it still felt wrong. The money, the inconsistency in Eric’s grades and achievement, the look in his beady eyes, Jack knew something wasn’t right.

  Mike turned the truck into the Trellis parking lot. “I understand your desire to protect Bella. She’s awesome, and you like her.” He pulled into one of the visitor parking spaces. “But Logan didn’t find any red flags. It might be in your best interest to let it go. Don’t do anything now that will hurt your chances with her in the future.”

  A crooked smile formed by satisfaction worked its way onto Jack’s face. “So you don’t think her relationship with Eric will last either?” he said with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

  That hadn’t been the point of Mike’s statement. He cut the engine, rested an arm on the window and turned his upper body to look directly at Jack. “I don’t know.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “But do you want to be the one picking up the pieces if it falls apart?”

  “Yes.” Jack nodded. “I really like her.” Maybe he was a wus. His heart literally ached when he thought about her.

  “I know,” Mike said. “So don’t screw this up.” He opened his door and got out, making his way to the Trellis office building.

  Jack shut down the laptop and followed Mike. He was good at compartmentalizing his life. He closed his mental file on Bella and opened his ‘work’ file. The next few hours belonged to Trellis.

  10

  Aditya pulled into the parking garage and parked. She locked her car and headed for the sidewalk. Her breath puffed before her in the cold air. The sun shone bright even though the temperatures had fallen. That was not unusual in this part of the country. The nation’s capital had brutally hot, humid summers but still got slammed by snow and ice in the winter.

  Pulling her coat tighter around her body, she stopped at the intersection. The pedestrian sign was lit, the hand up telling her to wait. She looked both ways, ensuring that the road was clear, and walked with determination towards her destination.

  The neighborhood was low rent, and the buildings were grungy. Some sort of grimy haze covered many of the storefront windows. Apparently the store owners were not overly concerned with appearances. A few men stood on corners, smoking, drinking, and probably selling drugs. She huffed out a breath in disgust at the sight of them. She hated drugs. Drugs destroyed the lives of people too weak or too dumb to avoid them, and drugs funded terrorism. She hated to think about her sister like that: weak, stupid, and vulnerable. But Riya had known the dangers of drugs. They’d been raised better, but it hadn’t mattered. When the opportunity arose, Riya experimented. It didn’t take long for her to get hooked, and then her life spiraled out of control.

  Well, Aditya was in control now. She may not have been able to save her sister, but she was capable of bringing Riya justice. That’s what consumed Aditya’s life now. She didn’t see herself as a vengeful person. No, she saw herself as a punisher, a hero for the underdog. She punished men who abused and sold women. She punished men who facilitated the abuse of the weak or stupid. If she died saving people from the wolves of society, she’d die happy. Her life had purpose, and she wouldn’t waste it.

  As she passed storefronts and alleys, the strong stench of urine irritated her nose. She wanted to br
eathe in through her mouth, but that grossed her out too. Would she breathe microscopic urine droplets into her lungs?

  She glanced at the homeless man curled up on the stoop in front of a doorway. His gray hair was matted, and a scraggly beard covered his face. His cheeks above his beard were red, either from too much alcohol or sunburn. He reeked of alcohol and mumbled unintelligently. Aditya wasn’t a monster. She pitied the man. He was probably mentally ill, which had left him helpless. He was a victim of his own mind, and sadly, society had failed him.

  She walked on and came to the restaurant. Pulling open the door, she stepped inside Sultan’s Feast. A scattering of people sat at worn tables and chairs. A large mural of men on horseback hunting gazelles took up one wall. The other walls were bright saffron. The delicious aroma of pita bread and pungent spices filled the air. As she walked past the patrons, she recognized several different languages.

  This restaurant was one of the best places in this low income area. However, a few blocks south was the outer edge of the revitalization project that residents of the city hoped would improve the economy and living standard in this side of town. She likened it to the growth of neighborhoods in rural counties. As the various greenspaces and forests were torn down to provide land for homes, the animals are forced to find new homes. That’s what would happen to the poor and homeless in this area. As the neighborhood improved, they would be displaced. The lost and discarded would be forced to find new hideaways.

  She walked to the back of the restaurant and went down the little hallway that led to the restrooms. She noted the kitchen staff through the tiny window in one of the doors. They worked in a hurried fashion and talked loudly. She passed the women’s restroom and knocked on an unlabeled door.

  A Middle Eastern man opened the door. The burly man took his time looking her over. She wasn’t sure why he took so long in his inspection; she was modestly dressed with a bulky coat that covered her form. She figured he was letting his imagination play out what she hid under her clothes. “Welcome,” he said. His voice was deep and scratchy, and not at all welcoming. He stepped to the side and motioned with his hand down the stairwell.