by Arianna Hart
He held his position, waiting for the guard to pass. Lex kept his eyes down so no hint of light could glint off them and alert the goon. There wasn’t going to be enough time to re-wire the alarm. But if he broke the window, he wouldn’t have time to hack into the computer.
Crap. He needed a plan B. Unfortunately, Jane was his plan B.
As he waited for the guards to move on their way he tried to find another way to get in that didn’t put Jane at risk, but it was useless.
The pain in his legs from holding his crouched position was nothing compared to the pain squeezing his heart.
Chapter Thirteen
Jane stared at Lex like he’d lost his mind. He’d gone to the ministry last night without telling her. He could have been killed.
“So let me get this straight. The only reason you’re asking for my help now is because you couldn’t get in last night?”
“I wouldn’t ask you at all if I had any choice.”
“I see.”
She really didn’t want to go back to the Great Hope Ministry. Just the thought of facing James Robert again had her knees knocking with fear, but she’d do it. She had to.
And it wasn’t just to prove something to Lex, but because it was the only way to stop James Robert. All night long, she’d had dreams of Margret having a heart attack because she refused to take her medication.
That bastard had to be stopped and she and Lex were the only ones who could do it.
No, she was the only one who could do it. Lex hadn’t been able to get into James Robert’s office last night. Jane hadn’t even realized he’d left until she’d woken up alone.
“Can you think of another way to get me in there? I’ve racked my brain, but I can’t come up with anything.” Lex paced across their tiny campsite with barely leashed frustration.
“I can get into the office. I know how to work James Robert. For heaven’s sake, I spent eight years studying human behavior. If I can’t get him to leave me alone in there, no one can.”
“I know that, but I don’t have to like it.” He took her hand lightly in his and traced circles on her palm with the pad of his thumb
“He has to be stopped. Whether or not he’s involved with the drugs, we need to find a way to shut him down.”
“You could be risking your life. Are you sure you’re willing to do that?”
Her heart lurched. No, she really wasn’t willing to die, but now that the tiny seed of strength inside her had bloomed, there was no going back.
“Yes. If for no other reason than he’s suckering lonely grandmothers into quitting their medications so they have more money to give him. I owe it to my Aunt Betty. I couldn’t live with myself if I just gave up and let him continue to destroy people’s lives. Doing the right thing is worth taking the gamble with my life.” She just prayed luck would be on her side for a change.
“I hate asking this of you.”
“I know.” She took a steadying breath. “How do you want to do it?”
Lex’s eyes hardened. He was all business now. “I’ll sneak in through the woods. You take the shuttle. Ask Jim Bob how you can donate money to his cause. Tell him you have a trust fund lying around collecting interest and you want to do something with it. That should get you in his office fast enough. When you get rid of him, open the window so I’ll know you’re in place. I’ll sneak in that way. We’ll get what we need and get the hell out.”
“Just like that? If it’s so easy, why couldn’t you get in last night?”
“Because the window was alarmed, for one thing. The alarms should be off now. Also, during the day the guards aren’t going to be as suspicious if they see someone walking around as they would if they spotted me at night. Not that I plan on them spotting me, but you get the idea.”
“If you say so.”
It still seemed dangerous to her, but she’d do it anyway. If this was the only way to stop James Robert from ruining people’s lives, she’d do what she had to.
She released a pent up breath and stared him right in the eye so he wouldn’t misunderstand her. “Thank you.”
“For risking your life?”
“No, for trusting me.” It meant more to her than she could say.
“Hey, I’m no idiot. I know better than to mess with a tough broad like you.” He drew her close and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
Laughter and tears spilled from her. “No one has ever thought I was tough before. I never thought I was tough before.”
“Yeah, and you didn’t think you were passionate either but I think we disproved that stupid idea more than adequately last night.” He cupped her face in his strong hands and stared into her eyes.
Jane’s heart flipped over and her pulse rate shot through the roof. “About last night—”
“Last night was beautiful. Now let’s go get Jim Bob.” He kissed her quickly on the lips and melted into the trees.
Jane remained stunned for another moment before she pulled herself together. Digging through the clothes they’d bought, she searched for something a little more dressy than her sweatshirt.
Her options were very limited. Finally, she settled on Lex’s button-down shirt and tucked it into her jeans. She wished she had time to get some more appropriate clothes—James Robert might have a hard time believing she had a trust fund dressed like this—but she’d make do.
Releasing a quivery breath, she walked toward the shuttle stop. Lex’s lemony scent drifted up from the collar of the shirt and memories from last night flashed through her brain. He hadn’t given her a chance to say anything before he left, which might be a good thing.
What could she say? Last night was a unique experience for her. How could she tell him that she felt more comfortable with him after less than a week than she’d ever felt with her ex-husband after years of marriage?
That wasn’t something she could admit. Thank God, he hadn’t given her a chance to embarrass herself. He thought she was a strong, passionate woman. It wouldn’t do a bit of good to let him know she was a nervous wreck who’d developed an attachment to him.
So much for being a “tough broad”.
***
“I know my boyfriend will be upset, but I need to give this money away. I want to have meaning in my life. I want to walk the true path.” Jane sobbed into a tissue.
James Robert sat next to her on the arm of the leather chair and held her hand. Every once in a while he’d murmur a consoling platitude and stroke her shoulder. It was all she could do to keep from shuddering at his touch.
“The one true way isn’t easy, dear.”
“I want to do something with my life. I want to do more with my trust fund than go on vacations and buy stupid cars and boats. You’re doing such wonderful things here. I want to be part of it.” She looked up through tear-filled eyes and blinked rapidly, causing those tears to fall delicately down her cheeks.
A benevolent smile crossed his face and he crouched down in front of her. “Do you really mean that, Barbara? Do you truly wish to become a member of our flock? I don’t want you doing anything in the spur of the moment. If it’s your ardent desire to join us then I welcome you, but you have to honestly want it.”
“Oh I do. I really do. I’ve been searching for something like this for so long.”
“I’m happy to see you’ve found what’s been missing in your life. Why don’t we go into my office and you can sign the necessary papers?”
Jane looked down and wiped her face with the tissue to hide the exultation burning through her. Yes!
“Papers?” she asked when she had her emotions under control.
“Just a few formalities. You need to sign a release so that we can contact your bank to transfer the funds for the foreign missions. You do want to help the starving children overseas with your donation, right?”
“Yes, yes of course.” Yeah right.
James Robert led her into the office and sat down behind his enormous desk. Jane saw him quickly minimize a document on
the screen before he pulled some papers out of a file drawer.
“Now, if you have your bank account and tracking number handy, just put those down here. You’ll need to sign at the ‘X’ and initial here and here,” he said pointing to various lines on the pages. “This one is a release of liability that our lawyers insisted on using. It’s a terrible thing when you have to take time away from God’s work because of a greedy person’s misguided need for money. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins, you know.”
“Yes, I remember that from your sermon.”
Jane held off signing the paper as long as she could. She had to find a way to get James Robert out of the office for a while so she could let Lex in through the window. What could she do to get him to leave her alone?
“I don’t have my bank account number memorized, I’ll need to look in my check book,” she said at last.
“No problem, dear. Where is it? We can go get it right now.”
“It’s in my purse. Oh no! I left on the shuttle bus,” she lied.
“Don’t worry. We’ll have one of the drivers bring it back.”
“But what if they don’t? What if someone stole it? How will I be saved then?” She sobbed into her tissue again.
“There, there. Dry your tears. I’ll take care of everything. Just wait here while I have a word with my lieutenant.”
Gotcha.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” He patted her hand and slipped out of the office.
Jane got up and waited by the door. The slam from the waiting room rattled the walls and left no doubt James Robert had left. She scampered behind the desk and threw open the window.
Blood rushed through her veins so fast she could hear her heart pounding. Her hands shook as she brought up the document James Robert had minimized. It had a bunch of names like “Lucky Strike” and “Nobody’s Fool” and numbers after them.
Jane had no idea what they were but she saved a copy on the little jump drive Lex had given her. Where was he? She brought up the open file menu and clicked randomly, hoping something she saved would be what Lex needed.
“What have you got?” he whispered as he slid through the window like an eel.
How could such a big man move so quietly? He’d scared the hell out of her.
“I have no idea. I’m just saving everything I find. This was what he was looking at when I came in.” She brought up the document. “Do you think those are drug names? They don’t look like anything I’ve ever heard of before.”
“Nobody’s Fool? He’s a horse. That’s a betting sheet for horse racing.”
“Oh for the love of God. He’s robbing old ladies of their pensions to play the ponies?”
“Looks that way. Move over, I need to see what else is in there. Stand by the door and let me know if someone comes.”
Jane slipped out from behind the desk and opened the door a crack. The sound of Lex’s fingers on the keys was as loud and fast as machine-gun fire to her heightened senses.
“Crap. There’s nothing here. Nothing.”
“What do you mean?” Jane asked, turning to look at him.
“I see plenty of information about the ministry scam, but nothing like Sarah sent me. He must have that on a completely separate computer. Damn it! This isn’t going to do anything but give him a slap on the wrist. There has to be something else.” He rolled from the desk in frustration.
“There is, but you won’t be here to find it.”
Jane spun around and saw Susie pointing a gun at Lex. She stood in the doorway of what Jane had thought was a closet. Apparently it wasn’t.
“Hello, Susie. Fancy meeting you here.” Jane tried to edge closer to Lex but stopped when Susie pointed the gun at her chest.
“I’m sure it’s a big surprise.” She gestured with the barrel of the gun for Lex to move out from behind the desk.
While Lex complied with her demands, Susie pulled a cell phone from her pocket.
“Tank, I need you in the office. Use the cellar stairs.”
“This isn’t really what you think,” Lex said.
“Oh please. I’m not Jim Bob. I recognize an agent when I see one, Mr. D’Angelo.”
“How do you know my name?”
“I have my sources,” she said smugly.
Jane’s heart pounded furiously and fear made sweat drip down her back. She was so stupid to think they could just slip in here and get the information without getting caught.
“I know all about EIS and what you do for them. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was how the good doctor got involved. My sources had no information on her at all.”
“That’s because she’s not involved. She was doing me a favor coming in here so I could find out what you were up to.”
“Please. How stupid do you think I am? Do you think I didn’t notice her working James Robert? That I didn’t see her scoping the place out? I’m not so focused on her boobs that I couldn’t see what was going on.”
“And what exactly is going on? I know it’s more than Jim Bob’s shell game, but I can’t figure out what.”
Susie laughed at Lex, but it didn’t sound like she was amused. There was an edge to her laughter that sent a shiver down Jane’s spine.
“You have no idea what sort of shell game I’m playing. Forget what he’s doing.”
It looked like she was going to say more but an enormous man stepped into the doorway where Susie had come from. The same man who’d shot at them at the hotel.
They were so dead.
“Take them downstairs and tie them up while I try to convince that idiot to cut and run while we can. He’s going to ruin everything.”
Lex stepped in front of Jane as if to protect her. Tank took out a gun that looked ridiculously small in his mammoth paw and put it against Lex’s head.
“If you don’t want to see lover boy’s head blown off don’t try anything stupid. We’re taking a little trip downstairs.”
Jane’s knees turned to water. Terror flooded her when Tank roughly yanked Lex’s arm behind his back and pushed him toward the secret door. Sunlight glinted off the gun he held against Lex’s head.
Jane was terrified this would be the last time she ever saw daylight.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m so sorry. I should have been watching the other door. I thought it was a closet.” Jane bit her lip while Lex struggled against the hard, plastic ties that held him to the chair.
Tank had taken them through a maze of underground hallways to a storeroom where he’d had Jane tie up Lex with the thick plastic ties. She’d tried to leave them on the loose side, but Tank had yanked them tight enough to cut into Lex’s skin.
“Assigning blame doesn’t do us any good right now.”
“What are we going to do?” Jane winced as the wire ties dug into in her wrists. She was frightened enough to break her own arm if that’s what took to escape. While Tank secured her to the chair, he’d whispered violent suggestions about everything he was going to do to her when Susie turned her back.
Panic rolled over her, but she refused to fall apart. No matter what Lex said, she knew it was her fault they were down here. But he was right, wringing her hands over her stupidity wouldn’t solve anything. She needed to focus on helping Lex to get them out of here.
“Do you have any give to your ties? That bastard pulled mine so tight they’re cutting off my circulation.” The muscles of his arms bulged as he strained against his bonds.
Jane tugged at the plastic holding her wrists together behind her back. Abject fear had made her hands sweaty. “I can slide them up and down a little, but not much.”
“It’ll have to do. Try to rub the tie against the back of the chair to weaken it.”
“Will that really work?” She felt around for something rough to work the binding against.
“Probably not, but it’s better than sitting here doing nothing.”
Great.
“What’s that smell?” A strong chemical
odor pervaded the cellar. It was so strong it burned her nostrils and made her eyes water.
She rubbed her hands harder, for all the good it did. Her arms ached from the awkward position and her wrists had started to bleed from the friction.
“Meth lab. You said the teens got busted for dealing crystal-meth. I’ll bet Susie is the supplier.”
The plastic tie wasn’t weakening in the least, no matter how hard she rubbed the damn thing against the back of the chair. It was all she could to hold back a whimper of pain, but she kept going. What other choice did she have?
“I can’t believe I didn’t put it together before. The information Sarah grabbed was the distribution list. The names were the dealers Susie worked with and the amounts were what they owed her.”
“But why here? Wouldn’t it make more sense to operate closer to the city where there’d be a bigger demand?” Blood dripped down her hands, making it harder to hold the tie tight while she rubbed.
“No. Meth is the new suburban drug of choice. Labs are easy to set up in basements and sheds. Kids in the ’burbs have a lot of money to spend on recreational drugs.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yup, but reality. Think this through. Susie had the perfect cover with Jim Bob’s operation upstairs. The location was secure. She had manpower and could ship her product out with Jim Bob’s promotional materials. What do you want to bet that some of those videos he mailed out didn’t contain his message but a nice supply of meth instead?”
“Who would inspect a shipment coming from a Bible thumper like James Robert? She could send her drugs anywhere in the country without anyone the wiser. That’s sick.”
“But very smart.”
“Why thank you, D’Angelo. I thought so too,” Susie said.
She strode into the storeroom like a queen entering her throne room. Jane noticed a huge difference in her body language and the way she held herself.
When Jane had seen her before, Susie had appeared to blend in with the background. She’d played second fiddle to James Robert’s charismatic personality.