by Addison Fox
“She didn’t like the spotlight on the family, then?” Derek considered Landry’s memories along with Whit’s, adding another mental tally in the “Emmaline knew” column.
“No. And she hated the spotlight that hit the family once Kate made the presidential ticket and ultimately became VP,” Whit said.
“Mom has never liked her,” Carson added. “And while that’s not saying much, it’s the reasons why she didn’t like her that have always stuck with me.”
“What are those?” Derek pressed Carson, sensing there was yet another level of detail. For all they’d never known about Noah’s parentage, it was growing more and more evident there had been signs that all wasn’t right, either.
“Mom always felt she was a woman who let the world act upon her instead of making her own choices. Said she had a birdlike countenance that came off weak and needy and way too fragile.”
Derek knew circumstantial evidence was just that—more anecdotal than hard fact—but he’d always believed in trusting his gut. By all appearances, the Adairs had borne a traitor in their midst and it was up to all of them to now tread lightly enough to get Emmaline to confess.
“You’re all still here?” Noah came back into the room, color high on his cheeks.
“Where’s Landry?” Derek was on his feet first, immediate alarm ringing through his system in harsh, clanging waves.
Confusion stamped itself in Noah’s blue eyes, still hazy and dull with the news of the morning. “I don’t know. I never saw her.”
“She came to find you in the stables.”
“I didn’t go to the barn. I wanted to walk through the orange groves for a while and calm my thoughts. I was afraid of spooking the horses with my bad mood.”
The alarm bells that hadn’t quieted on Noah’s arrival ratcheted up to a five-alarm blaze. “You never went to the stable at all?”
“No.”
“So where’s Landry?”
* * *
Landry fought hazy memories and the harsh wash of light as she opened her eyes. Pain screamed through her skull and she stilled, focused on breathing through the pain and the sudden panic that gripped her chest.
Where was she?
The air had a dank, heavy smell, like a wet basement or a cave at sea level. She kept her eyelids at half mast and stared at the brownish, water-stained ceiling. Her mind whirled as she tried to piece together where she was.
The anxiety of the morning filled her mind in a wash of memories. The discussion with Derek about their future. She and her brothers’ announcement to Noah that he was their long-lost sibling. And the walk to the stables...
Thoughts of her family faded as the reality of what had lain in wait came crashing back.
Mark.
Derek’s partner and fellow agent at the FBI was dirty. He’d waited for her to arrive, then taken her—
A sob filled the air and Landry bolted upright at the evidence she wasn’t alone. Pain ricocheted through her skull and she held still, eyes closed, willing the agony to subside to a dull roar now that she was upright.
With delicate movements, she blinked open her eyes and stared into a dark brown gaze devoid of hope. “Who are you?”
The child’s whisper was raw, as if she hadn’t spoken in days, and whatever pain had accompanied Landry upon waking faded against the insistent hum of realization.
“You’re Rena.”
“How do you know that?”
Fear lit up the dark brown depths of the girl’s eyes and Landry tried to quickly reassure her. “I know the man who’s been looking for you. He’s from the FBI and he wants to bring you home.”
“No one’s looking for me.” The rasp was still there, but her voice now held wisps of bravado. “And the FBI’s the reason I’m here.”
She knew Mark was responsible, but she hated to think how he’d destroyed any image this child held of law enforcement. So many were working so hard to get her back. Not just Derek, but his entire team wanted to see this child rescued.
“No, sweetie, they’re not. They’re the ones trying to find you and bring you home.”
The heavy metal door to their room swung open and Mark stood in the entryway. Rena pointed toward Derek’s partner. “Then why have they been holding me?”
Her pulse spiked once more as adrenaline rushed her system and Landry fought to remain calm. She’d get nowhere if she didn’t keep her wits about her, especially since he had the upper hand. Because based on what she knew of the case, Mark had had plenty of time to prepare for whatever it was he had planned.
Derek’s partner strolled into the room, the trim cut of his suit at odds with the menace that rolled off him like heat lightning. “Glad to see you woke up. You’re surprisingly heavy for a woman with such a hot body.”
Landry ignored the insult—only made worse by the leer that traveled over her breasts—and forced a calm bravado she didn’t feel into her tone. “What have you done?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“No, it’s not. You’re a federal agent. Why are you holding this child?”
“She’s a means to an end.” Mark walked up and stood over her, that leer morphing into something far more menacing. Madness.
Sheer, utter madness.
“Just like you, Landry Adair.”
* * *
Derek and Landry’s brothers had already raced through the stables as soon as they’d ascertained Noah had never seen her after rushing from the house. Their hurried walk-through past the agitated horses hadn’t produced much and he was now back in the estate’s security room assessing what he could on the cameras.
The morning’s footage clearly showed her walking into the barn and then nothing.
“You find anything?”
“No. Damn it!” He dragged a hand over the back of his neck, frustrated at the evidence that the video feeds had been tampered with once more.
Carson took the seat next to Derek and ran the surveillance footage, his fingers surprisingly nimble and well versed on the keyboard.
“And my contacts at the Bureau haven’t gotten any more details on the tampering last week, either. It’s like the footage simply evaporated. They’ve tried tracing it and nothing’s worked. All they get are some bouncing shadows that suggest there was footage but it’s been thoroughly erased.”
“I thought you couldn’t do that anymore. Not with digital technology the way it is.” Carson tapped a few more keys.
“I thought so, too. And when I say the Bureau team is the best, I mean it. They can do amazing things with the smallest amount of footage. Heck, I saw them recreate an incident off a slivered image from a building’s surveillance thirty yards across the street from another building.”
“You send them the new stuff from this morning?”
“Yes.”
“If they can work with cameras at a distance, what about our neighbor in the sky?”
Derek had his eyes on the screen, willing something to show up when Carson’s comment registered. “What neighbor? You’ve got all the acreage for nearly half a mile.”
“I know, but we’ve also got a cell tower in our backyard. It’s a bit of an eyesore but my father was never one to turn down money. And it ensures we always get outstanding reception here. He camouflaged it in the trees just past the stables.”
“Give me a minute.”
Derek made quick work of the information and had his Bureau contact on the line in moments. “Can you get at it, Brad?”
The hard grunt and quick tap of a keyboard was all the confirmation Derek received and he knew it was more than enough. In moments, Brad was giving instructions on how to pull up the feed on the house computers.
Derek put him on speaker, then leaned toward the screen, orienting himself to the angle of the cameras. �
��There, Brad. What’s the time stamp on Landry’s arrival?”
When Brad gave him the same time as the house computers, Derek pressed him on. “Good. We’re in sync. Go ahead and back it up. Someone got in there and we need to find out who.”
Footage whizzed past, nothing visible but the stable dwelling growing increasingly dark as the time moved earlier and earlier in the morning. As the screen grew darker, Derek worried they’d miss something when an image caught all of them at the same time.
“There,” Carson said.
“There it is.” Brad’s voice smacked of triumph through the speaker. In moments, the man had the image manipulated, using the lights surrounding the barn to maximum advantage. He zoomed in on the individual hovering around the doorway, his gasp evident when a face became visible through his work on the resolution. “I don’t believe it.”
“I do.”
Derek’s acknowledgement was grim and devoid of any emotion. Landry had been right all along.
Mark Goodnight was dirty.
* * *
Derek worked through the specifics with Leo and Brad as they developed a sting operation. Mark still needed to show up for work, but they couldn’t be sure he hadn’t created some sort of remote detonation on wherever he was keeping Landry. Brad was given authorization to dig into Mark’s files and phone records, but so far he’d found nothing on Bureau assets that was useful.
Although he wanted to leave immediately, the chances were high that Mark was holding Landry in LA. He owed it to Landry’s family to fill them in before he left. He kept the updates short, walking them through what he knew of his partner.
Whit spoke first. “And you’ve never had any signs?”
“None. I’ve worked with the guy for years.” Derek hesitated before the well of grief and regret that threatened to swamp him spilled over. “How couldn’t I have known something?”
Elizabeth had been quiet in the telling, her hand on Whit’s shoulder, but she moved next to him, her voice warm and soothing. “People know how to hide their true selves and their true feelings. You can’t beat yourself up over that.”
Derek knew Elizabeth and Whit had cared for each other for a long time, neither admitting to their attraction, but somehow he couldn’t see this as the same thing. Their love for each other was something that made each of them better when they’d finally admitted the truth. Mark’s deception, on the other hand, was like a cancer, eating away at the core of the Bureau. Hell, at the core of his life.
How much had the man known that he’d never shared? And how much of the recent cases they’d worked had Mark messed with out of sheer spite or ill will? There was no time to go through it now but once this was over—once he had Landry back—he’d find out.
Because he would get her back.
Failure was simply not an option.
* * *
Landry had spent the better part of the day calculating what time it was based on the movement of the sun through the windows. Rena had slept off and on and in the child’s quiet moments Landry had observed her.
What horrors had this poor young girl seen?
Derek had said she was kidnapped with the intent of using her in a human trafficking ring. Had that happened and Mark rescued her, only to then use her as an expedient resource? Or was Mark a part of that, too?
She shuddered, humbled by a reality she’d never acknowledged before. She’d believed herself well aware of the problems brought on by poverty and lack of opportunity, but did she really have any idea? She’d spent the better part of the past two months feeling sorry for her own personal situation, yet here she sat with a young girl who had nothing.
Landry was entitled to her own grief and pain, but something shifted inside her as the day progressed, one long hour after another.
Reginald and Patsy’s inability to love her and parent her in a functional, positive way was on them. She’d done nothing to deserve their lack of care and yet the longer she wallowed in it, the greater disservice she did to herself.
And to Derek.
She’d recognized her error on the walk to the barn, but it was only now, when the risk she might never see him again became all too clear, that she truly understood. Love was a gift. An offering of the heart that shouldn’t come with strings. If he wanted to accept her love and share his in return, then they’d figure out their life together.
And if he didn’t, then she was still better for having loved him.
Rena cried out from her cot and Landry went to her, pulling her small body close. The child clung to her in sleep, desperate for the comfort and warmth she’d been denied for who knew how long. Landry crooned to her, soothing her with gentle words and soft strokes over her hair.
She let the moments drift, puzzling through the information she already knew. Did she have anything she could use against Mark? Anything she might hold over his head that would get him to at least release Rena?
The loud thud of the door woke her, and Landry realized she’d fallen asleep herself while holding the girl. Rena was still wrapped around her but the room was darker than earlier, the light through the window holding the sheen of early evening.
“Get up!”
Rena whimpered awake, her thin arms squeezed tight around Landry’s waist. Landry shifted them both to a sitting position, unwilling to cower in the face of Mark’s bullying.
Now was the time to get the information she desired.
But as she stared into his eyes, she had to question why he had done this. And how many others had he possibly hurt?
If she could get those details, she might find some way to use them, either to trip him up or to leave some bit of evidence behind for Derek and his team to use.
“You don’t have to yell. You’re scaring her.”
“Kid’s been scared for a month.”
A month?
A renewed burst of anger filled her chest but Landry held on. “Why did you do this?”
“I rescued her from that human trafficking ring. She should be thanking me and instead all she does is whine and complain.”
“Maybe because she’s still locked up, away from her family. Her life.”
“She’s got three squares and a better life here than she would have.” Mark’s eyes grew dark, the sneer he perpetually wore firmly in place. “But what would you know about that? Miss Overprivileged and Overindulged. Daddy’s little princess is now horrified to see the seamier side of things, is that it?”
“The only horror is you. You have a position of honor and bravery and you’ve thrown it away on some twisted, petty jealousy.” The words spilled forth and she refused to hold them back. “What made you crack? Was it the proof that you’ll never be as good a man as Derek?”
Mark’s face narrowed in anger but he stood his distance. It was curious, she realized. She’d have expected him to strike her for her comments. Instead he stood back, distancing himself.
The impression of cowardice she’d had wasn’t far off the mark. Despite his anger and rage, he clearly found it distasteful on some level to exact punishment directly. Other than his rough handling after he’d knocked her out with something in the stable, she was untouched. And she’d gently questioned Rena earlier to find out the girl hadn’t been physically harmed throughout her ordeal.
So why was he doing this?
“Winchester’s an ass. The office golden boy. Damn protector of the vice president so everyone thinks that makes him a hero.”
“He’s a good man.”
“He’s a phony. He acts like he’s this big family man yet he never appreciated what he had.” Mark slammed a hand over his chest. “I appreciated it but could never have it.”
Landry stilled as raw fury mottled his face in a vivid red. “What didn’t Derek know how to appreciate?”
“Sarah.”
“His fiancée?”
“Ex-fiancée.” Mark spit the word out on a snarl, the “ex” more significant to him than she ever could have realized.
This was all about Sarah? Mark had thrown his life away—and clearly his sanity—over a woman?
“Does she know?”
“You think I’d taint her with this?” Mark tossed a hand in Rena’s direction. “She already thinks brats like Rena take up too much of the job. Too much time and focus and attention. Why would I tell her this?”
Landry couldn’t imagine that his subterfuge had come off without considerable time and planning, as well, but she held her tongue. He was obviously riled and now that she had her information, her only goal was to get her and Rena out as smoothly as possible.
“Maybe you would let me talk to her? Sarah.”
“Why would I do that?”
Landry forced as much of a bored, rich girl tone as she possibly could into her voice. “I’m the new woman. It’d be easy enough to let Sarah know how right she was and what a good idea it was to walk away.”
Interest sparked in Mark’s gaze, a small, predatory smile coming to life. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“Of course it’s not.”
Mark frowned and Landry nearly thought she’d overplayed her hand when she realized his gaze had slipped away from her completely.
He swore, long and low under his breath, before slamming them all back against the wall. “Looks like your good idea is going to have to wait.”
“For what?”
“I need to go kill your boyfriend.”
* * *
The old warehouse in downtown Los Angeles brought back a series of memories Derek had pushed to the back of his mind. On his first sting after he joined the Bureau, they’d uncovered a flophouse for one of the city’s major criminal networks.
The warehouse looked abandoned—purposely so—but the place was used as a transition stop. They primarily trafficked drugs, prostitutes and any young girls they were shipping out of the country, but their capabilities far exceeded simple transportation.
Though the building appeared condemned, it had state-of-the-art security and computer capabilities that rivaled NASA.