The Consequence

by Karin Tabke

  “Oh, Simon,” Katy softly said. How horrible! Hugging him close she pressed her cheek tightly to his chest. “It wasn’t your fault!”

  “I should have gone with my gut the day he brought her home and come clean with Mark. He may have disowned me but he’d still be alive today if I had.”

  “Simon, you didn’t pull the trigger. You’re not responsible. It was a terrible, unfortunate chain of events. You had no control over any of it. Please, you have to let go of the guilt.”

  His arms tightened around her. “It’s been two years and I’ve let the guilt eat away at me. Every time I look at Livy, I see Mark and the dad she will never know.”

  “And to compensate for that, you’ve allowed Amanda have her way with things because it eased your guilt.”

  “Yeah. It didn’t matter to me, her always being around.”

  He reached down and nudged her chin up. “Until you stumbled into my life.” He grinned. “I’ve never been so happy to be bumped into as the day you came out of that elevator.”

  m glad we bumped into each other too, Simon.” She smiled and snuggled into him wanting to move away from the sad subject of his brother’s death. There was no reason to push him for more because there was nothing else to say. She was thrilled that he had finally opened up to her and laid his heart on the table. Now he needed to work through his guilt issues and she would be there every step of the way.

  This was the first hurdle, him talking to her and sharing how he felt and why. She would take special care of his trust.

  His arms tightened around her.

  For a long time they sat quietly holding each other. But Katy’s brain was a whirlwind of activity, pondering ways to bring Evan down and save Simon’s job.

  “I want you to wire me,” she said, turning out of his embrace and looking up at his hooded eyes

  “What?” he asked not understanding what she was referring to.

  “Wire me,” she determinedly said. “I go to the gala this Saturday with a flash drive that has his texts on it and say, ‘this is what the cops could have on you. If I choose to give it to them.’”

  “No.” He scowled, pulling her back into his arms.

  “Why not? When he freaks out, I draw him into admitting what he did, then tell him I want half of the money since it was my research he sold.”

  “No.” He just as determinedly said.

  “I’ll also give him a heads up on getting out of the country fast because you know that he’s behind the bacterium lab break-in and you’re just waiting for a subpoena to confiscate all of his records.”

  “No.” His tone was adamant but Katy was going in for the kill.

  She pushed out of his arms and stood. Turning with her hands on her hips she demanded, “Why not?”

  “Because you have no training whatsoever and Evan Stone is a desperate man. Desperate men do desperate things. I will not put you in harm’s way under any circumstances.”

  “I’m not weak! Besides, Evan is a coward at heart. He won’t hurt me.”

  “He may be a coward who I will remind you put his hands on you in the gym, but the people he associates with are not.”

  “He was angry I broke his phone,” she defended weakly. He had been scary.

  “What do you think he’s going to be when you pull the rug out from underneath him?”

  “Simon, please. I want to be a part of this. I need to be!”

  “This is not debatable, Kat. I’ll find another way around this.”

  “Simon, this is the only way to get him for his crimes, and prevent that video from going viral so you keep your job.”

  “I could give two fucks about my job. If that’s why you’re so hell bent on doing this, thank you for worrying about me, but if I get fired for conduct unbecoming an officer, which I very well could if that video goes viral, I’ll deal with it. You getting hurt I won’t deal with.”

  Simon lifted her up into his arms and strode with her to her bedroom then into the bathroom. He reached in and turned the shower on, then stripped them both and pulled her in with him.

  “Simon, I’m going to do it, with or without you.”

  Grabbing her hands he drew them over her head and pushed her flush against the shower wall. “I have no doubt in my mind that you could get that turkey to sing. But that’s not your job, princess, that’s mine.” He dipped his head to her lips. “My other job is to protect you from bad guys, and you need to let me do that.”

  “But Simon I could—”

  “Shut up,” he roughly said, then kissed her senseless.

  Much later when Simon was naked and snoring in her bed, she slipped out to her kitchen. Grabbing her cell phone and a yellow legal pad and pen, she began to decipher Evan’s texts using the Morse code cheat sheet Simon had made for her.

  An hour later, Katy blinked in stunned silence. Evan was expecting an info delivery from her this Saturday. He was also going to be exchanging more biological information with a certain Mr. Sung who would be giving him account codes to an offshore account. Fifty million dollars would be deposited after Sung validated the information Evan was going to give him.

  It was more important than ever that she catch Evan in the act because the info Evan was selling was the process to grow a deadly bacterium that had the potential to kill millions if inhaled. She shivered. If Simon knew, he’d be that much more adamant she did not become involved…

  Pacing the kitchen floor, Katy racked her brain trying to put together a plausible plan of action that Simon would approve of. He was afraid she would get hurt. She knew he’d do everything he could to protect her, but he’d have to be far enough away that Evan didn’t get suspicious.

  Maybe another cop could be her “date” to the ball? Someone from his team? Someone he trusted.

  “That’s it!” she squealed. She ran back to her bedroom and pounced on Simon. “Wake up, Simon, I know what we can do!”

  He grumbled, not the most pleasant man when he was abruptly woken from a deep sleep by a squealing woman.

  When she told him her grand plan, he hooked her around the waist with his arm and pulled her into the curl of his body. “One step ahead of you, Cinderella. I’m taking you in to meet the boys tomorrow. Now go to sleep.”

  For an hour she laid still and silent with a huge grin plastered against her face. Simon was bringing her deeper into his shadowed world. She couldn’t wait to meet the ‘boys!’

  They were not boys, not by any stretch of any definition. These were full-grown, big shot, grown ass men. When Kat had walked into the testosterone-laden office, she quite literally felt weak at the knees. She was the only female amongst a half a dozen men.

  Simon introduced them as: Avi, who was quiet with dark enigmatic eyes, Jack, who was one tall drink of water, Rigo with the million dollar smile, Flynn the golden Adonis, Cort the youngest and from the way his blue eyes sparked when he smiled at her, the naughtiest; and the enigmatic Maddox who nodded and quietly said, “A pleasure.” With the exception of Jack, who was a federal agent, all of them worked for a local Bay Area department and had come together as part of the task force.

  Simon nodded to Jack, who winked at Kat. She blushed at his audacity and Simon’s scowl. “Jack, should he survive this meeting, will be your date for the night, Kat. The rest of the team will be close by, mulling around you with their ‘dates’.”

  “Where will you be?” she asked not wanting anyone but Simon beside her, although she had to admit that Jack, who did not look like any FBI Agent she’d ever seen, intrigued her with his dark shoulder length hair, clear green eyes and teasing smile was a good second choice.

  “I’ll be parked out front in a listening van.”

  “We’re also working on a piece of jewelry that will have a small camera in it,” Jack said.

  “We’ll be able to hear what you’re hearing and see what you’re seeing for the most part.” Simon touched her shoulder. “You get into any trouble, the cavalry is right there.”

  She
swallowed hard and nodded, suddenly not feeling so brave.

  He sensed that. “You can do this, Kat.”

  “I know.”

  “Now, let’s sit down and go through how we’re going to do this, step-by-step, over and over, until you can tell me in your sleep what you’re going to say and do.”

  Hours later, her brain jellified, Kat left the federal building with Simon. Sitting amongst his team, listening and observing them as they methodically strategized the take down of Evan Stone, she was in awe. But despite their seriousness, she could see the easy camaraderie and respect they had for each other.

  Wow, just wow. What she would not do to be a part of a team like this. She smiled. Well, technically she was. She bet Amanda didn’t get to ever wear a wire to bring down a corporate spy.

  “I like your friends,” Kat said as they drove back to her place.

  Simon cocked a dark brow. “So long as it’s not too much.”

  “It’s kind of hard not feel in awe of all that testosterone. Holy hell, I can’t imagine all of the hearts those guys have broken. Are any of them married?”

  “Not a one.”

  “Dayum.”

  “If you don’t stop it, I’m going to get jealous.”

  Katy giggled and snuggled against him. “I kind of like keeping you a little off balance.”

  “I don’t like it at all.”

  “Welcome to everyone else’s world, Simon.”

  They parked in her designated spot, but instead of going straight up, they popped in at her favorite Thai place around the corner for a quick bite, then walked back to her apartment. “I still want you at my place until this is over, Kat.”

  “I can do that, but first I want to formally introduce you to Rosie and Elliot.”

  Simon shivered as if afraid.

  “Oh, stop! She doesn’t bite. Not hard anyway.”

  When Rosie opened the door she was decked out in her Tae Bo get up with Billy Blanks shouting encouragement in the background.

  Rosie’s smile faded when she caught and locked gazes with Simon. He put his hands up and said, “I come in peace.”

  Rosie harrumphed but stood back, opening the door wider.

  “Rosie,” Katy said, “I thought it would be a good idea if I formally introduced you to Simon and also gave you proof of life.”

  “I knew you were alive. These walls are thick, Katy, but not soundproof,” Rosie smirked.

  Heat flushed Katy’s cheeks. Simon chuckled. “You didn’t have to tell me that!”

  “Trust me, if I thought for one second those screams were in pain—I take that back, in duress, I would have come running.” She winked at Katy then grinned at Simon. “It’s not like you haven’t heard the same coming from here.”

  “I don’t tell you about it, Rosie, I just turn up my TV!”

  Rosie extended her hand past Katy to Simon, “I’m Rosie Lowenstein, my husband Elliot and I think of Katy as our daughter. You mess with my family, we mess right back.”

  Simon smiled, taking her hand in a firm grip and shook it. “Duly noted.”

  “Where is Elliot?”

  “After your scare the other night, he’s back in his office reprograming the codes for the front door key cards. Which brings me to a little incident I want to share with you.”

  With Billy Blanks quieted, and the three of them sitting on the sofa, Rosie explained, “I caught your ex picking your lock this afternoon.”

  Katy gasped and Simon scowled.

  “Was he alone?” Simon asked.

  “Yes, but after I shooed him away, I took the stairway down and watched him get into a black Lincoln with two other men in it.”

  “Were you able to get a plate number?” Simon asked.

  Rosie made an ‘as if’ face. “Of course.” She retrieved a piece of paper from the kitchen and handed it to Simon. “Elliot ran it and it came up registered to a Mitch Rand.”

  “He’s the head of security at Genomtec!” Katy said.

  “Which explains why the bacterium lab was so easily breached,” Simon mused out loud.

  “My God was I the only person in that building not involved?”

  “It’s beginning to look that way.” Simon stood and brought Katy up with him. “I’m taking Katy home with me until this all blows over, Rosie,” Simon said. “I assume that’s okay with you.”

  “Hah, even if it weren’t you’d tell me to hit the road, but I’m in complete agreement. Get her out of here. Keep her safe.” Rosie hugged Katy tightly. “I’ll let Elliot know he can put his damn guns away.”

  Katy hugged her friend back hard. “Thank you for everything, Rosie.”

  “Any time, kiddo. Now get out of here and listen to what Simon says!”

  As Katy packed, she asked, “Simon, what do they want from me?”

  “Information. Information they think you have. Information you have but don’t know you have.”

  “I do have the pass codes to several data banks.”

  “Who else has the codes?”

  “No one, it’s my research data, therefore my codes.”

  “Did Evan know what you were working on?”

  “Most of my tenure was spent sequencing, but there were a few byproducts of my left turns.”

  “Those left turns could be patented and whoever owns the patent would corner the market?”

  “Yes, but they weren’t fully realized.”

  “Maybe they were realized enough for someone else to figure out?”

  “Yes, that’s true. Most of it wouldn’t require any more than Evan’s level of capability to fully prove.”

  Simon smiled and shook his head. “It must have bugged the hell out of Evan that you have so much more gray matter than he does.”

  “I never realized his ego was so delicate until he showed up at the gym.”

  “Let’s keep that hot button of his in mind for our script.”

  “What if the bad guys know where you live?”

  “My information is off the grids. I never go home the same route from here. I never drive the same route coming here. I always have an eye on my rear view mirror. Despite all of that, if they do manage to find me, they’re going to have to get past me to get to you. Once I have you safely tucked away at my place, for both our peace of mind, I’ll post round the clock guards outside and dispatch a deputy to do regular drive byes.”

  Finally packed, he grabbed her suitcase, and said, “Time for my castle, Cinderella.”

  t was late when they exited her building. Katy was anxious and on edge. Tension hardened Simon’s features. He reminded her of a hunter anxious to capture his prey, but wary. She was scared, and beginning to wish she hadn’t pushed to be wired. Men, dangerous men, were after information they thought she had, which technically she did, and then some, but they didn’t know about the “and then some” part. That part would surely get her killed.

  Simon wrapped his arm tightly around her shoulders and brought her into the secure fold of his body. “I give you my word, I will not allow one hair on your head to be touched.”

  Nodding, her courage soared. She knew as long as Simon had her back, she would be safe.

  Once he turned onto 280 instead of 101, Simon was a relentless soundtrack of do’s and don’ts.

  “If you think, for any reason, Evan suspects what you’re doing, use the kill word.”

  Katy steeled herself against the shiver pushing to rush across her body. “What is the kill word again?” she innocently asked.

  “Are you kidding me?” he demanded incredulously.

  “Yes, Simon. I know the kill word is cavalry. I know not to go into a dark corner with him where no can see me. I know not to taunt him. I know not to leave the building with him. I know if a second, third or fourth person shows up on his behalf to cut and run. I know what to do!”

  Abruptly he pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway. He pulled the brake and turned angrily toward her. “Do you know how fucking nervous I am about this? Do you have an
y idea how much I don’t want this?”

  “I—”

  “No you don’t.” He jammed his fingers through his hair. “I lost my brother because of something he had no hand in, and here I’m putting you smack dab in the middle of a shit pile.”

  “Simon, I’m sorry, I—”

  “I know putting you in lockdown would have you hating me, and I know if I didn’t you’d do something on your own. At least this way I can control the situation. That and I have the best mother fucking team in the state. They’re highly trained. What’s important to me is important to them. Every one of those guys would take a bullet for you because you’re important to me.”

  Hot tears stung her eyes. “I see. You have confidence in them, but not me.”

  “It’s not that. You’re not a trained pit bull who can snap a man’s neck with one hand while taking out his backup with the other.”

  His job terrified her. She didn’t want to think about the future nights of worrying, of pacing as she waited for a word, a text, a call that he made it through yet another life and death situation. “That may be true, but I have something your team doesn’t have. A personal stake in this. Not only for myself but for the man I love. And while I may not be trained to kill, I have half a brain and I know what drives Evan, now more than ever. I know what buttons to push. So you’re going to have to put a little faith in this princess to do what you and your fellow prince charmings can’t do.”

  Simon reached out and cupped her behind the head and drew her to him. “You’re damn sexy when you get your dander up.”

  She resisted his sexual pull. “I want to you take me seriously.”

  “I do, more than you know.”

  She kissed him chastely then pulled out of his grip leaving him with a slight pout on those full lips. She cocked a brow. “Are you pouting, Simon?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Aww, that’s so cute.” She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. “But it’s not working. I’m not going to make out with you on the shoulder of 280. Let’s go, home. I’m tired and I’m hungry.” She grinned looking straight ahead, “And horny.”