The Consequences Series Box Set

by Aleatha Romig

  When Harry moved to San Francisco, Amber was living the dream. She had it all except the ring. Simon Johnson and Amber were living and working together. He was a great guy, very intelligent, a wonderful entrepreneur, and excellent to Harry’s sister. Harry and Simon became instant friends. It might be safe to say Harry enjoyed Simon’s company more than he did Amber’s; nevertheless, during that time, they all became close.

  Harry worked out of the San Francisco field office and occasionally left for undercover fieldwork. When SiJo started having issues with security, Harry offered his resources. Since he was employed by the federal government, he could only do contract work for SiJo. His friend, Lee, from the California Bureau of Investigation took over as head of SiJo’s security. Although Harry wasn’t officially with SiJo, he felt a connection to the company that his friend and sister were working so hard to grow.

  After his divorce from Ilona, Harry wasn’t interested in a relationship with anyone else. He promised himself that his days of falling fast and hard for a beautiful face or cheeky personality were over. The FBI was his life.

  It’s true, sometimes it felt as though life stacked the deck. Harry wasn’t always sure if it was in his favor or against him.

  The more Harry worked with SiJo Security and spent time with Simon and Amber, the more he questioned his vow of remaining unattached. Honestly, when he first met Amber’s assistant, they were just friends; however, the more their paths continually crossed, the more their relationship blossomed. Over time, they started seeing one another, meeting Simon and Amber for dinner, going to a movie, long weekends cohabitating.

  This time, Harry entered the relationship with full disclosure. They both agreed they were consenting adults with no intentions of a long-term commitment. Harry explained from the beginning that his work could call him at any moment, and he’d need to leave. He told Liz that their relationship could end suddenly if he needed to go undercover. Harry didn’t intend to leave another woman waiting for his return as he’d done to Ilona.

  When Simon finally proposed to Amber, Harry was equally as happy. Unfortunately, Harry was on an assignment when Simon’s plane crashed. As soon as he heard and received clearance, he traveled back to California. Following Simon’s death, Harry and Liz moved into Amber’s building. Perhaps it was the loss of Ilona and Jillian from his life, but Harry had finally recognized the importance of family, and he couldn’t leave Amber alone in her time of need.

  When Claire Nichols first contacted Amber, Harry remembered that his sister was upset, both by the content of the email and by the sender. Probably more out of curiosity, Amber chose to continue the correspondence. After they exchanged more emails, both Amber and Harry saw the logic behind Claire’s allegations.

  The investigation surrounding Simon’s plane crash had never fully been closed. Harry knew that uncertainty added to his sister’s angst and hoped Claire’s insight into Anthony Rawlings would help his sister have final closure.

  The preliminary results of the National Transportation Safety Board’s, NTSB, investigation regarding Simon’s crash centered on operator error. The agency painstakingly reconstructed the plane and looked into the flight plans. Simon Johnson was an accomplished pilot, weather conditions were ideal for flight, and there were no signs of malfunctioning equipment or tampering. The numbers didn’t add up.

  As Claire’s suspicions mounted, Harry decided to take this new evidence to his superiors at the San Francisco field office. He not only took the allegations regarding Simon, but the entire recalled contents of Claire’s prison delivery. Harry had no idea that he was presenting the FBI with information on one of their cold cases. In light of the new allegations, the San Francisco field office assigned a new team to revisit the bureau’s old evidence regarding Agent Nichols’ death.

  When Claire’s attorney unexpectedly contacted Amber and requested her help with relocating Claire to Palo Alto, Amber called Harry. Harry called the bureau. Since Harry wasn’t undercover at the time, SAC Williams decided, Claire would be Agent Harrison Baldwin’s new assignment. It was the FBI who recommended changing Claire’s reservations and having her travel via private plane. The bureau had multiple reasons for this change in plans: the intricacy of the case, assurance of Claire’s location, and time needed by the bureau to have their cover stories ready.

  The morning Harry walked into Amber’s condominium he wasn’t sure who he’d meet. There was the woman Simon remembered fondly—and there was the gold-digging, ex-bartender, who tried to kill her rich husband, got lucky with a pardon, and was stupid enough to burn the real evidence woman. Without question, this was an unusual assignment.

  Harry understood the FBI’s interest in Claire Nichols and their hope that she could bring new information to the cold case involving her grandfather. He also knew that his assignment was one of right time right place. By all accounts, Harry should not have been assigned to any case that potentially involved Simon Johnson’s death. Truly, the case was personal from the beginning. There was no question, even before meeting Claire, Harry wanted to prove Anthony Rawlings’ guilt.

  When Liz and Harry started dating, she promised she understood his commitment to his career. Truthfully, she demonstrated that on numerous occasions. Each time Harry was called away, she’d go on with her life. She didn’t ask questions about what he did while he was gone, and if she had, he wouldn’t have been able to answer. It wasn’t that he had sexual exploits on each assignment. Claire was his first; nevertheless, Liz had shown Harry the support Ilona didn’t or couldn’t.

  Understandably, neither Liz nor Harry ever anticipated his undercover assignment occurring right under Liz’s nose. The evening the SiJo plane arrived with Claire Nichols on board, Harry relocated Liz from their condominium to an apartment of her own. He told her what he’d said a million times, when faced with the ultimatum, he’d always choose his job. He also told her that Claire Nichols was just another assignment—a job. It was what he believed at the time. Initially, Liz remained supportive.

  As Harry got to know Claire, her definition changed. With that change, came a change in Liz’s understanding. From Harry’s perspective, he was never unfaithful. He’d told her that, while on assignment, they were no longer a couple. It wasn’t Harry’s fault that when faced with seeing him every day she didn’t understand.

  For a brief moment in time, when Harry believed that he could be a father once again, Harry told Amber something he never thought he’d say. He told his sister that he wanted the job at SiJo; instead of pretending, he wanted to be the president of security operations and planned to resign from the FBI. Harry wanted to give this child the father he hadn’t provided for his own daughter. At that moment, sitting with his sister alone in the hospital cafeteria, Harry decided the only part of the undercover case he cared about was keeping Claire and their child safe from Anthony Rawlings.

  Again, life happened. This time, the damn cards were definitely against him. Claire informed him that he wasn’t the father of her baby. In retrospect, Harry didn’t know for sure if his decisions that afternoon in the hospital cafeteria were based on Claire or the baby. Now that he and Liz were reconciling, he leaned more toward the latter; nonetheless, he still wanted to keep Claire and her child safe.

  SAC Williams reviewed the case and Harry’s actions. He decided Agent Harrison Baldwin needed a break from the bureau; he wasn’t fired or demoted; instead, the FBI put him on temporary medical leave and required him to attend counseling sessions. These sessions with a bureau psychologist were supposed to determine why he overstepped his professional bounds with Claire Nichols. While he did as they said, it made Harry laugh. This was the first time he’d ever gotten personally involved with an informant; however, he’d been around the bureau long enough to know that it wasn’t a unique situation.

  In addition to personal counseling sessions, he was required to attend sexual harassment seminars. Apparently, if Claire Nichols were so inclined, she could press charges against Harry. In actu
ality, six months ago, he’d jeopardized the case and sullied the bureau. Now, by showing Rawlings the picture of Claire and him holding hands, Harry had done it again.

  He’d located and lost both of his assignments: Claire Nichols and Anthony Rawlings were missing in action. If Harry ignored the FBI’s text messages any longer, they would consider him MIA!

  Pacing around his hotel room, Harry contemplated the case. He didn’t want to be taken off of it again. He knew he shouldn’t have shown Rawlings the picture of him holding Claire’s hand. He knew that before he did it. It was unprofessional. Harry could argue that his intentions were honorable. He’d hoped that by creating a ruse, making Rawlings believe that he and Claire were together, it would keep Rawlings away from her. The bureau would never approve of his actions or even his motivation. They’d remind Harry that Claire never pressed charges against Rawlings. In fact, she explicitly said that Rawlings wasn’t the one she feared.

  It wasn’t just the connection with Claire. Harry didn’t want to be relieved of the case because even before he’d been officially assigned, he’d been researching it. With each passing day and new nugget of evidence, Harry knew that Rawlings was exactly the person Claire Nichols should fear. It was his goal to make the powers that be realize that Anthony Rawlings was connected, not only to the death of Agent Nichols, but multiple others. Some of the deaths, like Claire’s parents and Simon Johnson’s, had been classified accidents: car crashes, airplane crashes…

  That didn’t matter. Claire had told Harry about Rawlings and accidents. Harry had a gut feeling that there was more to this case. He was on the hunt for hard evidence, but in the meantime, he had his gut feeling. To an FBI agent, that was significant. At one time, even Claire had told Harry that she believed Tony may have been involved with these accidents. Harry figured that if he could prove to her that her previous suspicions were correct, then maybe she’d see the light.

  Not only had Harry messed up the case, he’d messed up any possible reconciliation with Claire as well. No longer could he or the bureau rely on her feelings of familiarity with him for insight. In Harry’s opinion, the only feelings Claire currently had for Harry were anger and betrayal. The way Harry saw it, he hadn’t betrayed Claire. In fact, the truth was the exact opposite. He’d been placed with her to protect her and learn from her. Without a doubt, in Harry’s mind, the protecting was paramount. Besides, he reasoned that if Claire could forgive Rawlings for his plethora of recognized sins, once she learned the whole truth of Rawlings’ doings, then Harry’s considerably shorter list of transgressions could also be forgiven.

  Above all, Agent Baldwin didn’t want Claire Nichols in danger. Even if she refused to believe it, Harry knew Rawlings jeopardized her safety. Closing his eyes, he remembered the look on Rawlings’ face when he showed him the picture of him and Claire. Reading people was part of Baldwin’s training. The wrath he saw in Rawlings’ eyes was palpable. It didn’t frighten Baldwin—as a matter of fact—he would’ve loved for the man to attempt an assault. The rage Harry saw in the man’s eyes made Harry’s blood boil. Claire’s stories came rushing to the forefront of his mind. More than anything, at that moment, in that pub in Geneva, Harry wanted to give Rawlings some of what Rawlings had given to Claire years before. In his mind, Rawlings was a ticking time bomb, and he didn’t want him exploding around Claire or her child.

  Harry’s motivation that evening in Geneva was to keep the two of them apart. He believed he could accomplish that personal goal as well as the FBI directives. Harrison figured he could keep Rawlings in Italy, disinterested in pursuing Claire while locating Claire and keeping her safe. It was a great plan. Unfortunately, the results didn’t provide the intended consequence.

  Agent Baldwin’s phone vibrated again. This time it wasn’t a text, it was a direct call. When he read the screen, Harry expected to see SAC Williams’ direct line. His heartbeat accelerated as he read the name: Deputy Director. Straightening his stance, Agent Baldwin knew that ignoring this call wasn’t an option.

  Clearing his throat, he hit the RECEIVE button and said, “Agent Baldwin here.”

  “Baldwin. We need to talk.”

  The use of his name without the title wasn’t a good sign.

  In the shadow of the vegetation intertwined through the trellis, Claire rested on the lanai, reading her iPad. The scent of the fragrant flowers and soft breeze from the sea combined to bring her peace. While listening to the waves, Claire read the news from around the world. According to her window to the world, she and Anthony Rawlings were still missing. Rawlings Industries was floundering as temporary CEO Timothy Bronson reached out to the stockholders, asking them to have faith in their founder as well as the companies he brought under the Rawlings’ umbrella. Claire wondered about Sue and worried how Tim’s stress would affect his family.

  Every such thought directed Claire back to Catherine. Ripples of vengeance continued to expand in all directions. It was like throwing a rock into Claire’s lake. The resulting circles of water went out and out until they faded away. Momentarily closing her eyes, Claire relished the thought of Catherine fading away. Never could she remember feeling such vengeance for one person. When she hated Tony, it was for what he’d done to her. This was different. Catherine’s ripples were reaching people who never deserved this vendetta.

  Claire knew Catherine wouldn’t be stopped until she told the FBI the truth. She looked at the table and read Harry’s card for the millionth time. He was her contact. He was Tony’s contact. In the three days since Tony arrived, neither of them had bothered to connect their contact. Before she made a decision one way or the other about her impending call, Phil’s voice refocused her thoughts.

  “Claire, do you have a few minutes?”

  She grinned. “Well, you know, I’m super busy.” He pulled out a chair at the umbrella table beside her. Although it was still morning, the intense sun warranted shade whenever possible. Phil’s shorts and shirt amused Claire. It was a much more casual look than he normally wore. “I thought you were going into town with Tony and Francis?” she asked.

  “I changed my mind. I’d like to talk to you privately for a minute.”

  Immediately, she bristled. She and Tony hadn’t breached major topics in the last few days—no specifics; however, they had talked about trust, giving and receiving it. “Phil, I won’t lie to Tony.”

  “I’m not asking you to. I want to discuss something with you alone. I’ve no doubt he’ll give his opinion, but nevertheless, I’d like yours first.”

  Claire pulled herself up and sat taller as her legs remained outstretched on the soft chaise lounge. “What do you want to discuss?”

  “You know I have a few different phones?”

  Claire nodded.

  “By using a remote server with multiple redirections…” Phil paused, as if knowing Claire didn’t need the technical reasons. “…never mind the how. Anyway, I’m positive the phones aren’t traceable, nor are the ones you and Rawlings have. Earlier today, I turned on my old phone.”

  Claire wasn’t sure if it was his voice or his tentative cadence, but something about Phil’s speech brought concern to her consciousness. “I don’t know if you’re trying to or not, but you’re making me nervous. Please just say whatever it is. Do you want to leave?”

  “Do I want to? Not really. Security on this island isn’t a bad gig. Many would agree that I have the ideal job. The thing is that, when I turned on my phone, I had multiple messages from Ms. London.”

  Claire’s heart stopped, and she felt the blood drain from her face. “Why did you want to talk to me privately about this?”

  “I’m assuming that I still work for you?”

  The way he emphasized the last word, Claire knew he wasn’t referring to her as part of a couple. “Theoretically, yes, you work for me.”

  He cleared his throat. “In my previous experience, it’s usually the person with the bankroll who tells me what I should be doing. Like when I was trailing you, Rawlings
told me what he wanted. I don’t mind watching the sky for planes or the horizon for boats, but I think I could be more useful to you, to both of you, back in Iowa.”

  “Why?” Claire asked with increased volume and pitch coming through her one word.

  “None of her messages asked specifically about you. She asked if I’d completed my job. If so, she has another one for me. If I go, I could keep an eye on her and report back to you.”

  Claire knew it was selfish to want Phil to stay on the island; however, she couldn’t help it. She never would have predicted that having both Tony and Phil nearby would give her such an overwhelming sense of comfort. After the last few months, she didn’t know she’d ever experience this sense of peace again; she didn’t want to lose it so soon. Claire responded, “I don’t know what to think. I think we should discuss it with Tony.” Claire saw Phil’s grin and imagined his green eyes with golden flecks smirking behind the dark glasses. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Three days. Don’t you dare let the woman I spent a month with in Europe disappear in three days.”

  She looked down at her lap and exhaled. “I haven’t disappeared.” Looking back up, she went on, “It’s called team work. Part of that is refraining from making unilateral decisions.”

  Phil nodded. “All right, I’ll buy that. Now, how about that instinct we talked about? What’s your instinct saying about this idea?”

  Claire considered and replied, “It’s saying this is a good idea. If we don’t have someone back there keeping us informed, we’ll have no idea what she’s doing.” Before Phil could respond, Claire added, “That’s my instinct. My heart is telling me not to let you leave. Everyone is safe here. If I could, I’d give you a list of people and tell you to have them all brought here. I’d even authorize kidnapping. I know from experience that it’s an effective means of relocation.”