by Karen Anders
“I only have one nickname and it’s a SEAL handle.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“Machine.”
“Machine? As in robot with metal parts?”
“Machine. As in terminator. I don’t stop coming.”
“Oh,” she said a little breathless. “That’s sure a fitting nickname. I’d prefer you call me Piper, but I do like ‘babe.’” Her voice softened.
“Not Bulldozer?” he said with a wicked grin. “As in you bulldozed me right into calling Montgomery.” He shook his head. One of the richest men on the planet and she was on a nickname basis with him. “Yeesh, I can’t believe you call him Monty.”
She laughed and nudged his arm. “Bulldozer is better than Pippy.”
“I don’t know. I like Pippy.”
“Stop it, Dex. I swear...”
His hair stood up on the back of his neck and shortly after that he heard a furtive footfall. He cut her off by grabbing Piper by the arm and hustling her out of the kitchen, pulling her with him against the wall. She didn’t say a word, her eyes wide and so golden. He put his finger to his lips and pulled his weapon out of the small of his back.
He indicated that she should head to the bedroom. “Get your weapon. Come around the back,” he whispered. She nodded.
He checked his magazine, drove it home and chambered a round, thumbing off the safety, then he set his finger over the trigger, cupped his left hand under his right and took a breath.
He heard the sliding glass door open.
Whoever came through that door was a dead man.
Chapter 15
Austin moved into the sunny kitchen, his eyes roaming over the counter, immediately noticing the breakfast dishes and the coffee cups. He moved soundlessly up to the mug and pressed his fingers against it. Still warm.
He was just about to announce himself when a steely voice said, “Freeze.” He was partly shielded by the wall leading out of the kitchen. Austin raised his hands.
He wasn’t going to take any chances and piss off an armed navy SEAL. But the guy stiffened and he heard Derrick order Dexter Kaczewski to raise his hands and step into the kitchen.
Derrick and Dexter were about halfway to Austin when Derrick said, “Where’s Senator Jones?”
“Right behind you, and I’m feeling a bit wobbly after being chased and almost killed several times, so I would suggest that you get that gun out of Dex’s back and drop it.”
“Piper,” Dex warned, but it was too late. Derrick spun and disarmed her, but it was enough for Dex to get his gun up and pointed at Austin.
“Let her go,” Kaczewski said in a voice that said Austin only had a few minutes to live.
“Wait!” Austin yelled. “I’m going to reach for my badge.”
Dexter Kaczewski had some deep, penetrating intimidation going on there in his eyes. A cool, I-mean-business blue.
“Easy,” Dex said as Austin reached into his back pocket and pulled out the badge. “NCIS Special Agent Austin Beck, and that’s Special Agent Derrick Gunn.”
“NCIS?”
“We’ve been chasing you two around the globe. Just missed you in Afghanistan.”
“Is that so?” Dex said in an I-don’t-give-two-flying-hells tone. “Well, aren’t you the resourceful Boy Scouts? How did you find us?”
“We’re here to help,” Derrick said, letting Piper go and putting his gun away. “The boy genius hacker over there tapped your mother’s social media accounts and had this hunch you were here.” But Kaczewski didn’t move a muscle.
“Thing is. Her detail tried to kill her, so I’m not inclined to trust any alphabetfreakingsoup agency, no matter who they are.”
“I get that, Lieutenant. But you see, I can’t be bought. All I care about is surfing and, well, that whole karma thing always comes back to bite you in the ass. And Derrick, well, he’s already rich. I’m working on him to come around to the karma-is-a-bitch thing. He’s a work in progress.”
The lieutenant looked at Derrick and he shrugged. Piper reached out and clasped her hand around his forearm. “Dex...”
He lowered the weapon and Austin took a deep breath. Hoo-boy, nothing like having a gun pointed at you by a guy who’s a sniper and a SEAL. Who had the ability to throw a knife across the room with precision accuracy and kill a guy in one fell swoop.
Yeah, he was holding on to that karma thing.
* * *
Piper offered them coffee, but Dex didn’t relax. He watched them, his gun on the counter within easy reach.
“Thank you, Senator,” the smart-mouthed one said—the one who did look like a California surfer dude with his messy shaggy light brown hair and blond highlights. The other one looked like an assassin. Dark, cold blue eyes, and he’d disarmed Piper like he was taking candy from a baby.
He got a good vibe off them, though, and he was inclined to believe them. Actually, it was good they were here. He had something he wanted them to do. Piper came over to him.
“Stop glowering at them, Dex. They’re here to help.” Piper studied Derrick when he wasn’t looking and Dex got immediately jealous. The way she was looking at him got his hackles up.
He went to the coffeemaker and poured himself a fresh cup. He leaned back against the counter and met her gaze.
“You trust these guys? ’Cause it’s our lives on the line.”
“I do.”
They had already filled Dex in on the dead PI and the fact the police had no leads on who murdered him. No forensic evidence whatsoever. That meant a hired gun, black ops, probably former CIA.
When Piper went to take a shower, Dex went into the living room. “I have a job for you guys.” He held out a set of keys.
“What are these for?”
“Piper’s house. I want you to box up everything in her husband’s office, including his computer, and bring it here.”
“What do you think you’re going to find?”
“I don’t know. Since his death was deemed an accident, they didn’t disturb any of his stuff, but Piper did say she had a break-in the day after Brad’s death. I think someone was looking for something.”
The surfer dude nodded. “I’d be happy to go over the computer.”
“He went to Cornell,” Derrick said dryly.
“And you went to the School of Hard Knocks,” Dex said, but Gunn just shrugged again.
When Piper emerged from the shower, she looked around and set her hands on her hips. “What did you do with the nice federal agents, Dex?”
“Sent them on an errand.” He came up to her and brushed at the hair on her forehead. “Why don’t you call Monty back and see if he’s uncovered anything?”
“What are you up to and what errand?”
“Hopefully something that will shed some light on this whole situation.”
Piper wasn’t going to like that he’d violated her husband’s office and her privacy. She’d told him she hadn’t been in there since he died. Everything was exactly where he’d left it. What if there was something in his papers or files that indicated whether he was dirty or vindicated him? Something on his computer. He wasn’t sure Piper wanted to know, but he was going to press the issue. Maybe he was digging up dirt on one of his fellow senators. Robert Mullins came to mind, the senator that was giving Piper a hard time about this corporate change bill. As far as Dex was concerned, he was at the top of his list of people who might want Piper dead.
His search for any information on the guy was limited by his abilities and his access.
Piper narrowed her eyes at him, but even though her stare was right up there with one of his Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL—or BUD/S for short—trainers, he didn’t budge. She would find out soon enough.
She walked over to the counter and dialed, then
put it on speaker.
“Hello? Pippy?”
“Hi, Monty. Did you find out anything?”
“Yes.” His voice was subdued. “After some digging, I found that the lead cop was paid off. Don’t ask me how.”
“I want to talk to him. What is his name?”
“It won’t do you any good. He was killed in the line of duty. The incident report he filed said your crash was an accident.”
“Killed?” She threw Dex a look that said the conspiracy was covering their tracks. “When?”
“A week after the accident. I can try to follow the money trail for you and see where that leads.”
“That would be great. Thank you, Monty.”
As she hung up, Austin and Derrick came in through the garage carrying boxes. They set them down and went out for more. Finally, they ended up with ten stacked in the hall. Austin handed Dex back the keys.
Piper’s mouth thinned and she eyed the boxes. “What are these?”
Dex didn’t answer and Austin and Derrick exchanged glances. She marched up to one of the boxes and pulled off the lid. Her breath caught and her eyes went moist and Dex felt like the biggest asshole on the planet.
“These are my husband’s...things. You went to my house and packed up his office. You think he’s dirty.”
“Piper,” Dex said, drawing her to the side. “I don’t know. I know this is hard, but we can’t find out any information if we leave everything where it was when he died. This will give you a chance to move on. Put this behind you. Maybe get answers.”
“I can’t see him doing anything illegal to get ahead. I’ve thought about it since last night, and I swear I’m being as objective as I can be. He wouldn’t, Dex. Not this. Not to me, not to his constituents, his backers. He just... It’s not who he was any more than it’s who I am. For any price.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but what if he wanted the White House? You said he was ambitious. What if he was willing to do anything to get there?”
“He would have told me he was going to run for president. I would be affected by that.”
“Would he, Piper?”
“You didn’t know him.”
“No, but you did. You told me you did everything for him. Maybe he just expected you would be on board for the presidency. Political royalty, politician’s wife, just a couple of steps to First Lady. I’m not saying he’s dirty, but we have to keep all options open.”
She looked into his eyes for the longest time, then gathered herself and said, “I know. I understand. But you’ve talked a lot about gut instincts. That’s why I told you about Brad. It’s why I’ve kept nothing back, ever. I knew I trusted you instinctively. I won’t believe it’s true until I see some proof.” Her eyes looked bruised. “I can’t believe you did this.” She turned and left the room.
Austin and Derrick looked at him. “Let’s get this stuff into the dining room,” Dex said, watching Piper walk away. He’d give her some time. He was sympathetic to her feelings, but he cared more about getting to the bottom of this and making sure the threat to her was neutralized. He wanted her safe, no matter what it cost him. Even if it cost him her. “There’s a big table in there we can use.”
They started hauling. After about ten minutes, Derrick sat up straighter.
“What is it?” Dex asked.
“Maybe nothing, but there are several articles from the Net that Jones printed out.”
“Investment?”
“Maybe. Worth noting.” Derrick picked up his cell and punched in a number. “Hey, Amber, I need you to do a search for me. Omni Corp, Sundown, LeesonGroup and JackTrades. All you can find. Also, do me a profile of Senator Robert Mullins.” He listened for a minute. “Yup, that would be the guy.” He smiled a rare smile. “Yeah, yesterday.”
“Amber? Amber Dalton? You work with her?”
“Yeah, we know she’s marrying your brother’s best friend. We’re keeping her in the dark. Personal connection and all.”
Dex nodded. “She’s good people.” He relaxed a bit. If these guys worked with Amber, they had to be on the up-and-up. She was a really good judge of character, as evidenced by her falling for Rock’s best friend.
Dex went to the bedroom to try to talk to Piper one more time. He felt like hell that he had to force this issue, but she would have pushed back on this. As he approached, he stopped dead. Muffled sobs drifted to him as he stood outside the door. His gut clenched and he put his hand on the jamb to steady himself.
And he knew there was no protecting himself from this. Or from her.
* * *
Hours passed and midnight came and went, with disheartening results. The computer was wiped, completely and unrecoverably wiped. Austin couldn’t restore anything. Of course, they weren’t sure who had wiped the system, but it couldn’t have been Brad because it had occurred after he was dead. On the night of the break-in. Not a coincidence.
Derrick’s cell rang and he tapped the speaker. Amber’s voice said, “Hey, guys. I got that information you needed on Omni Corps, Sundown, LeesonGroup and JackTrades, which are all Fortune 500 companies trading on the stock exchange. They are also heavy supporters of Robert Mullins, according to what I could find. No red flags there, but I did find that Mullins was connected to a CEO of—” she ruffled some papers “—Markset Limited, who was found dead in his penthouse apartment in New York just before Brad Jones died. It might not be anything.”
“How did he die?”
“Alcohol poisoning. Ruled an accident.”
“Did he drink?”
“It seemed moderately. I couldn’t find much about him drinking in excess, but people in the limelight don’t broadcast that. Also, there was a PI killed in New York that same week. Sam George. I thought it was interesting because he worked out of Brad Jones’s office.”
“It seems a lot of people surrounding Mullins end up dead.”
“Seems so.”
“You got a profile on him?”
“Yes. Robert Michael Mullins. He’s fifty-seven years old, a former New York governor who is well-known for revitalizing the FDNY. He also served as New York’s attorney general, intelligence briefer for President Sharons, CIA station chief in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and before that he was an analyst for the CIA. Education, BA Princeton University, JD Harvard Law School. Married to Crickett Ames of the Texas oil baron Ameses with two college-age daughters. He’s pugnacious and unapologetic and brings a brash style to everything he does. He was known for being a hard-charger when he was attorney general. He’s often accused of embracing an ego-driven and needlessly abrasive style. Otherwise, guys, Mullins profile reads like he deserves to be the next president of the United States. The guy’s Mr. Clean.”
“Thanks, Amber.”
“Anything else you need researched, let me know. Bye, Derrick.”
“Bye, Amber.”
An hour later, Austin jerked in his seat at the halfway point with five boxes down. He rubbed his eyes. Dex was losing steam, too. “Good job, Hang Ten.”
Austin grinned and held up his fist for a bump. “You gave me a call name, so maybe you’re warming up to me?”
Dex sighed and fist bumped him. “We’ll see.”
Austin looked at Dex and nudged him. “What call name would you give Derrick?”
Dex never hesitated. “Assassin.”
“Yeah, I see that. He’s got that dark and deadly thing going on there.”
Derrick just rolled his eyes and set down the file he had been riffling through.
“Let’s call it a night, guys. There are three other bedrooms in this place. Choose whichever ones you want. I will see you in the morning and we’ll go through the rest of this stuff.”
Austin groaned when he stood and stretched. “Don’t worry, man. She’ll come around. It is be
tter to know.”
Dex nodded. He took a step forward and his foot kicked a box, tumbling it to the side. He bent down to scoop the spilled contents inside and saw a manila envelope. He picked it up.
“What’s that?” Austin asked, looking over his shoulder.
The corner was stamped with the name of Washington Hospital Center MedStar Unit. He broke the seal and dumped the contents out. There was a wallet, keys, tickets to a cancer fund-raiser, small pink booties, some change and a cell phone.
“Jones’s personal effects,” Austin said, picking up the phone. “It’s dead, but we can charge it overnight and see if there’s anything useful on it.”
Dex nodded, his eyes riveted to the booties, wondering why Brad had them on him when he’d died. Had he been planning to give them to Piper? His heart twisted for her. He walked toward the master bedroom. He slipped inside and stripped down, sliding into the warm bed. Piper was sleeping as far away from the middle as she could get without falling off the edge of the bed, telling him that she was still mad at him.
He closed his eyes, drifting, aching to pull her into his arms. They felt empty without her snuggled up against him, but maybe this was for the better. He clenched his jaw. Better for whom? Certainly not him.
When this was finally over, what kind of future did the two of them have? She lived in DC. He was based out of Coronado. He was a SEAL. She was a politician.
He squeezed his eyes closed and his heart beat painfully.
Dex was in love with her.
She was still in love with her husband.
And he was jealous of a dead man.
* * *
“Oh, Brad, the baby is kicking.”
They were leaving the very long, very boring fund-raiser and Piper was ready to get into something more comfortable, although Brad had said she was a glowing stunner in her little black dress.
She’d snorted then because there was nothing little about her dress or her. Her stomach was full of their baby daughter—Sophie. Brad, looking good in his tux, slipped his hand over her stomach as they stopped walking to the car. For a moment, they waited.
“There it is,” he murmured, and sure enough the fluttery kick turned into several really strong ones. “I can feel her foot,” he said as Piper’s stomach bulged.