Lucas blinked several times. “Your godfather is the Larry Martin, Director of the DIA?”
She smiled ruefully. “That’s why he said he would arrest Commander Dwyer as soon as he saw the evidence. If only I’d gotten it to him, Lieutenant Mills wouldn’t be facing general court-martial for something he didn’t do.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Lucas said, eyeing her thoughtfully. “Maybe there’s something you remember in the evidence that could help him.”
She dropped her head against the back of her seat thinking. “I can still remember most of the details in the files on Lloyd’s iPad, but my memories don’t replace the evidence. For example, there was a video of Dwyer meeting with a bunch of men in a cabin in the middle of the night—all Entity members, no doubt—but that’s gone. There was also an audio file of him chewing out Lowery for not killing Jonah Mills when he had the chance. Either one of those would’ve gotten Dwyer in big trouble.”
“What about the document files? Can you remember any information in his documents that we could use, even if it’s just a starting point for Jaguar’s defense?”
Charlotte searched mental databanks. “I don’t know. I’d have to picture each file individually and kind of reread them, so to speak. I kept asking Holden for a pen and paper because the memories are fading already, but, of course, he wouldn’t give me either.”
“I’ve got a pen and paper with me under my seat,” he offered half-jokingly.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t concentrate on a plane.”
“Understandable,” he assured her, then added, “No pressure, but if you remember anything that proves Dwyer is a liar and a thief, that would be a big help to us.”
“No pressure,” she repeated with irony. “I’ll give it my best shot once we’re back on the ground.”
“Actually, I forgot to tell you this,” Lucas added. “Even if Jaguar gets convicted, the FBI special agent who coordinated your rescue promised to get Jaguar’s conviction overturned once The Entity is rounded up. So, really, there is no pressure.”
Charlotte realized Jaguar was Lieutenant Mills’s code name. “I’d rather spare Jaguar the humiliation of a dishonorable discharge than wait for Fitz to undo everything that’s done to him.”
“Me, too.”
“And wouldn’t it be nice to expose Dwyer publicly?”
Lucas sent her a hard smile. “Yes, it would.”
“Then I need to remember something useful.” All at once she did. “Wait. Lieutenant Mills showed me a journal that described how Dwyer’s executive officer was sending classified emails to unauthorized recipients.”
“Lowery’s dead now, too,” Lucas informed her. “Did you know that?”
“Lowery was the XO?”
“Correct,” Lucas affirmed. “Supposedly he shot himself in the head.”
“How awful,” she breathed.
“Exactly. Anyway, you were saying you saw Blake LeMere’s journal. When was that?”
“Lieutenant Mills—Jaguar—invited me over to look at it right after Lloyd was killed. I took pictures and emailed them to my godfather. He probably still has them in his inbox.”
“Well, that would give us something, anyway,” Lucas agreed, “since we don’t have the original anymore.”
Charlotte frowned. “Yeah, I heard it was stolen out of Master Chief’s desk by Dwyer’s secretary.”
Lucas’s jaw muscle jumped. “That’s correct.”
“Too bad,” she commented, noting the sudden tension in him.
“I sure wish Agent Elwood was still alive,” Lucas commented.
A shaft of sorrow pierced Charlotte’s heart. “Me, too.” Lloyd had been more like a father to her than a supervisor.
“Ever since his death, NCIS has been on Dwyer’s side,” Lucas continued, his tone resentful. “They ignored Saul’s statement completely, even though he was there at the skeet-and-trap range and even saved Jaguar’s life.”
“Someone in NCIS must be a member of The Entity,” Charlotte concluded.
“Exactly.”
“Makes perfect sense,” she agreed. “On a Thursday, I got the news that Lloyd was killed. The next day, men in suits came in and cleared our office, yanking the hard drive from his computer. And I was told to take a vacation!”
“Yeah, you went to the Bahamas, right?”
She made a face at his tasteless joke. “Ha ha. Yes, I did. But first, I went and found Lloyd’s body at the medical examiner’s office way out on the Northern Neck.”
“Where is that?”
“Couple of hours north of Virginia Beach, between the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.”
“Did he have family there?”
“No, his family is in Illinois. Lloyd was there on vacation, supposedly. Even so, I knew he never went anywhere without his iPad and, sure enough, he had it in his jacket when the accident happened. It was still there when I went to the morgue and identified his body.”
“That’s when you called your godfather, who promised to arrest Dwyer based on the evidence you described in the iPad.”
“Exactly.” Charlotte glanced out the window and was pleased to see the Virginia Beach oceanfront practically underneath them. Lucas had taken her mind completely off the fact that they were flying. “We’re almost there,” she marveled, as they sailed over the boardwalk and the roofs of the tall hotels, bound for the airfield not too far ahead.
Suspecting he’d distracted her on purpose, she looked back at him and experienced the same tug of attraction she’d felt upon first seeing him without paint on his face.
“Thank you,” she told him, touched by his thoughtfulness. “Are you sure you’re not Captain America?”
His shout of laughter awakened Saul, who sat straight up, reaching for the weapon he wasn’t wearing because he’d stowed it in the front of the plane.
“No one’s ever called me that before,” Lucas said, looking highly amused.
“I don’t know why not,” Charlotte drawled.
Not only did Lucas look and act like an all-American hero, but he had kindness and integrity to match. Good thing she had plans of her own that left no leeway for falling in love. Otherwise, she might already have a crush on him.
Chapter 4
Escorted by the two SEALs, Charlotte crossed a hot, windy tarmac at Norfolk airport, headed for the small terminal for private plane owners. Awaiting to debrief her was the FBI special agent who’d coordinated her rescue. Saul held the door open, and Lucas gestured for Charlotte to precede him. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee greeted her as she stepped into the cool interior. The small terminal came with a coffee shop, which was empty save for two employees and a gentleman seated at a table.
Meeting his gaze, Charlotte faltered to a halt. Lucas, who was close behind, bumped into her, propelling her forward another few steps. His hands flashed out, keeping her on her feet.
Whirling to face him, she whispered urgently, “He’s the man who cleared out Lloyd’s office. He took his hard drive and all of his paperwork!”
“Easy,” he said, steadying her with a look and a firm hold. “That doesn’t make him the enemy.”
Charlotte drew a calming breath and nodded. But maybe she’d been wrong in assuming someone in NCIS was responsible for clearing out Lloyd’s office. Maybe it had been the FBI who hadn’t wanted Lloyd’s findings falling into the wrong hands.
Concealing her suspicion behind a bland mask, Charlotte faced forward again and continued her approach.
Pushing back his chair, Casey Fitzpatrick stood with a polite yet ironic smile on his freckled face. Wearing a pale-yellow jacket and white slacks, he scarcely resembled the man in an austere black suit who had raided Lloyd’s office, but his auburn hair and green eyes gave him away. The word leprechaun sprang to mind as he came around the table to greet her.
“Miss Patterson. It appears you recognize me. Special Agent Casey Fitzpatrick, but everyone calls me Fitz. Welcome home,” he said, thrusting out a ha
nd.
Returning his firm grasp, Charlotte murmured her thanks to him for enlisting the SEALs to rescue her. Then they all sat down, with Charlotte on Fitz’s right side where he’d pulled out a chair for her, and Saul and Lucas dropping into the other empty seats. One of the employees came over to take their order.
While surveying the menu, Charlotte was aware of the agent’s scrutiny.
“I’ll have an iced tea and a croissant, please,” she requested.
“You’re looking good,” he said, once the waitress disappeared, “despite your ordeal.”
She found herself wondering if he was the mastermind behind her disappearance. After all, if he was that eager to seize Lloyd’s hard drive, perhaps he’d seized the iPad, as well, if only to keep it out of the DIA’s hands. Arranging her rescue would have been a piece of cake if he knew exactly where he’d stashed her.
“Thank you. I didn’t like being drugged or stuck in a room, but at least I wasn’t starved.”
“Can you tell me anything about Roger Holden?”
More than you already know? She was tempted to ask. “He said he was from Texas and he used to be a senator.”
Fitz nodded at Lucas and Saul. “I asked these two to recon Holden’s island for me. They found no evidence of a warehouse, though we have to assume Holden’s a member of The Entity. Did he say what he does now?”
Charlotte thought back to the conversation she’d had with her host right before she strangled him. “He said he was a businessman. He seemed to host a lot of parties.”
Fitz nodded thoughtfully. “Did you see any of his guests?”
“I saw people come and go through my window—mostly men—but I didn’t recognize anyone,” she answered. “He probably put up his guests in the other bedrooms.” Remembering the key still in the pocket of the dress loaned to her, she pulled it out. “This key might actually open their doors. I took it off Holden.”
Fitz’s eyes lit up. “May I have it?”
Suffering slight misgivings, she handed it across the table to him and watched him pocket it neatly.
The conversation halted as the waitress returned with their orders, placed drinks and pastries in an efficient manner before them, then withdrew again.
As Charlotte dumped three packets of sugar into her tea, Fitz pulled a photograph from the pocket inside his jacket and passed it to her. “Do you recognize this couple?”
Adrenaline flooded her bloodstream as she studied the photograph.
“They’re the ones who took me,” she affirmed, before handing the photo to Lucas. “Do you know who they are?” she asked Fitz, who would certainly know if he’d hired them himself.
“He’s a former SEAL,” Fitz affirmed, sparking Saul and Lucas’s interest. “Jason Dunn.”
Peering at the photo, both SEALs claimed the man looked familiar.
“And the woman is his wife, Laura,” Fitz added.
“How’d you figure out they took me?” Charlotte quizzed.
Fitz’s mouth quirked. “Facial-recognition software. A security camera caught the man carrying you onto Holden’s yacht.
“What happened to my car?” she demanded as Lucas handed the photo back to the agent.
“It was towed to Quantico and gone over with a fine-tooth comb. You can have it back once it’s safe for you to return to life as normal.”
Life as normal? She stared at him hard. “I don’t suppose you found an iPad under the driver’s seat.”
His expression betrayed disappointment. “We did not. We did, however, recover some of your personal effects.” Reaching under his chair, he produced a plastic bag and gave it to her.
“My badge from work,” she exclaimed. “And my purse!” she added, pulling it from the bag and digging into it, relieved to find her wallet, driver’s license and credit cards all intact.
“Obviously, they weren’t thieves,” she commented, looking back into the bag for her cell phone. To her disappointment, it wasn’t there. “They took my cell phone, though. Shoot, how am I going to call anybody?” she muttered to herself.
“There’s something else in the bag for you,” Fitz prompted.
With a quizzical glance at him she pulled out both a box and a manila envelope, then set them on the table. Opening the envelope first, she found a credit card inside it and some kind of form to fill out.
“What’s this about?” she asked him.
The agent leaned closer and pitched his voice low. “Listen carefully.” His green-as-grass eyes bored into hers. “The Entity will have heard by now that you escaped Holden’s island, but they don’t know if you’re back in the States. I’d like to keep it that way. I need you to alter your appearance.”
Charlotte squelched the urge to laugh.
“They’ll be looking for you,” Fitz added ominously. “The gift card has five hundred dollars on it. Use the funds to alter your appearance. Don’t touch your own credit cards. Once you’ve changed the way you look, take a passport-style photo of yourself, pick a pseudonym, and fill out the paperwork enclosed. Mail everything in the envelope provided and you’ll get a new ID in two days. Carry on under your alias, and don’t contact anyone you know.”
Intrigued by the idea of disguising herself, Charlotte cracked open the box and found an android cell phone and a charger inside. “What’s the phone for?” she asked, doubting it was meant to replace her stolen one.
“I need to be able to reach you at a moment’s notice,” he explained. “Keep it charged and carry it with you at all times.”
“Can I call my brother?” she asked, though she had already called him from Eric’s home in the Bahamas.
“You’ve already called him,” Fitz said, proving himself aware of that fact. “Now that you’re stateside, you can’t do it again.”
She balked at his restrictions. “Why not?”
The agent smiled thinly. “Because The Entity expects it. They want to find you, and they want to keep you quiet until you’re no longer a threat.”
“How long will that be?” she demanded.
He shrugged one shoulder. “That depends on you. You’re only a threat to them as long as you remember something that could set off a renewed investigation. In the meantime, indulge me,” he requested on a hard note. “And don’t contact anyone.”
Charlotte thought of the photos she’d taken of LeMere’s journal, the one stolen by Dwyer’s secretary. She had emailed the photos to her godfather. “Not even the director of the DIA?” she pressed, thinking Jaguar could use LeMere’s written testimony to make Dwyer look bad.
Fitz sent her a tight smile. “Not even him. Trust me, The Entity is fully aware of your relationship with Larry Martin. They’re hoping you’ll reach out to him. If and when you do, they’ll know you’re alive. They’ll know where you are. And they will pick you up as they did before and keep you somewhere until your memories aren’t a threat anymore.”
“Maybe at a resort in Switzerland next time,” she proposed sarcastically.
Draining his coffee, Fitz forbore to comment. “Not to rush off, but I have a very busy schedule today. Keep your seats,” he added, as the SEALs started to stand. “Miss Patterson.” He put out a hand for her to shake. “Be careful.”
Is that a threat or a warning? she wondered, returning his firm grip.
“I’ll be in touch,” he promised. Looking at both SEALs, he said, “Don’t let her out of your sight. Not even for a second.”
“Yes, sir,” they answered in unison.
With a final nod, Fitz headed for the exit and promptly disappeared.
Charlotte looked back at Lucas and found him frowning at her. “What?” she asked him.
“You could have been a little more grateful,” he stated with bemusement.
“Was I rude?” She looked to Saul for confirmation and got a nod. “Well…,” she trailed off and crossed her arms, pondering her intuition. “Maybe I don’t trust him. I feel like he has an agenda.”
“Clearly he does,” Lucas agree
d. “Keeping you safe while tearing down a syndicate.”
Charlotte inspected the phone Fitz had given her plus the envelope with the gift card in it. “Okay,” she agreed. “I’ll trust him if you trust him.” Picking up her croissant, she eyed it hungrily. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”
“I’ll say grace,” Lucas offered.
Charlotte set her pastry down while heaving an inward sigh.
Lucas groaned aloud as he and Charlotte pushed through the glass doors at MacArthur Center mall in Norfolk and found the place packed. Eyeing the crush of humanity in the food court, he put a hand on the small of Charlotte’s back and propelled her toward the nearest locator map.
“Where do you need to go?” he asked her.
His terse tone earned him a quizzical glance. “Aren’t you going to take off your sunglasses?”
“No,” he said, using the dark lenses to conceal his roaming eyes. “Why couldn’t we have gone to a thrift shop or somewhere else? This place is way too busy.”
“I already told you,” she said, studying the mall’s layout. “The mall is the only place I can get everything I need.” She lifted a finger to the map. “Here’s where we are now.” Consulting the legend several times, she traced their route.
“We’re going here to the wig store, here to get glasses, then down to Nordstrom for makeup and for clothing.”
“Let’s do it,” he agreed, catching up her hand in his, just in case he needed to pull her to safety.
The self-conscious glance she cast him made him wonder if having her hand held bothered her. It felt perfectly natural to him. Maybe he was just used to having a girlfriend—though, come to think of it, Monica hadn’t liked holding his hand in public. And this was different anyway. He was keeping Charlotte Patterson safe. Touching her was part of the job, but he ought to get permission first.
“You okay with me holding your hand?”
“Of course,” she said on a breezy note.
Good. Then he didn’t have to let go. Besides, Fitz’s words about The Entity picking her up and whisking her away again still echoed in his head. Keeping a sharp eye out, he marched her briskly from the food court toward the first stop on their shopping spree.
Every Secret Thing Page 5