Once finished, Coop pocketed the canister and headed for Gage standing near the front exit. He passed the conference room and glanced in. Kiera was working hard on the puzzle and didn’t even look up.
Coop approached Gage. “I need to talk to you before we go back into the conference room.”
“About what?”
Coop saw his teammates headed their way. “Let’s wait until the others take off.”
Gage nodded and turned to face the team.
Jackson slipped on his jacket. “Do you need us for anything else, or can I pick Riley up?”
“Go get him, and then you can turn in for the night,” Gage said. “If the solution to the puzzle means we need to deploy again, I’ll text you all.”
“Understood.” Jackson opened the door and held it for his teammates.
Coop waited for the door to latch before speaking. “There’s something you need to see.” He pulled out the canister. “Found this in a vase at Kiera’s apartment. She doesn’t know I have it.”
Saying the words aloud made Coop feel like he was betraying someone he cared about, making him the worst kind of guy, but he had a job to do. A job to find a deadly biotoxin. Not fall in love with a woman. That wouldn’t help the world at all, but would it help him?
Shut up, man. Just shut up.
“That’s why you were asking about the containers.” Gage’s eyes narrowed.
“Exactly. It’s filled with powder, and Kiera mentioned when we found the hands that the toxin would be in powder form.”
Gage twisted the lid off the container and stared at it, his jaw muscles working hard. “I’ll get on the phone to Oceanic right now and get someone started on testing this.”
Coop nodded and part of him was thankful Gage was moving forward with this. The other part of him hated that he was keeping this secret from Kiera.
Only time would tell which part won out.
Kiera pressed the last piece into the metal pentagon-shaped puzzle. After the team had left her alone, she’d completed the puzzle quite quickly. She doubted Hay meant for it to be extremely difficult, but the meaning behind it was another thing.
The center formed a picture of a lantern, but what did it mean? Was it related to their location on the Oregon coast? If so, it could have to do with ships or lighthouses, but which and where?
And what about the hands? Did they mean something? Did the colors he chose mean something?
There were two red and white hands, only one blue. The item she needed to find was most likely red and white with a hint of blue. What was red and white and nearby?
A lighthouse?
She’d toured several of them since Kevin had moved to the coast. Most recently, they’d driven past a private one on the way to the ferry that ran up the coast. Cape Outlook had been decommissioned and someone had bought the land and moved into the caretaker’s cottage. Then the owner got the lighthouse reinstated, but it wasn’t open to the public. The owner had died recently and left a confusing will. The local news covered the battle for the property, but for now, the building sat vacant. That lighthouse was white with red trim and had a blue warning light at the top.
Could this be where Kevin was being held?
She dug out her phone and searched for information on the Internet about the lighthouse. An article in the local paper titled “Many Hands Light the Way” popped up and her heart fluttered over the word hands. The story was written several months before the owner died. The lighthouse had fallen into disrepair, and the owner was too old to fix it. The community came together to make the needed repairs.
This could be it. The place. It honestly could be where Kevin was being held.
She jumped to her feet and ran to tell Coop.
She found him standing at the front door with Gage, their backs to her. Whatever they were talking about, their body language told her it was tense.
“No way, Coop.” Gage’s voice shot up. “The evidence you recovered in her apartment says Kiera could be involved in the theft. We need to keep this information from her for now.”
Wait, what? Her steps faltered. He found something at her place. But what? Whatever it was explained why he’d been standoffish since they’d left her apartment.
“I don’t blame Kiera for helping Kevin,” Coop said. “I would’ve done anything to save my sister even if she’d committed a crime. That’s why talking to Kiera could do some good. Maybe she’ll confess and help us out.”
“Help us what?” Gage sounded mad. “Help us bring in her brother to turn him over to Blake and go to prison? She’s not about to do that, and you know it. Or at least you would know it if you hadn’t gotten so close to her. This is exactly the reason we can’t form a personal attachment to our clients. We lose objectivity.”
Coop’s hands fisted. “She’s not a client, and I haven’t lost—”
“Don’t bother to argue. You have, and you’re off this case effective immediately. I’ll put someone else in charge.”
“I won’t have it,” Coop snapped out.
“You have no choice.” Gage shoved the door open and stepped outside.
Coop followed him. “We aren’t done talking about this.”
Kiera’s heart was racing. They didn’t believe her. Didn’t believe she was innocent. After all she and Coop had shared, he still didn’t trust her. And that meant she could no longer count on him to help her. She was on her own now. Kevin’s life depended on her alone.
She had to go to the lighthouse, and she had to go alone, but she wouldn’t go unarmed. She ran for the equipment room in the back. She punched in Coop’s security code, and hoped they hadn’t changed it. The lock clicked. She rushed inside, running straight for the section of handguns to grab one. Thankfully, Gage had labeled everything, allowing her to find the right ammo.
She tucked the weapon in her waistband in the back, put two magazines in her back pockets, and tugged her shirt over it all. After closing the door, she ran back to the conference room and pulled the puzzle pieces apart before dropping into the chair and pretending to try to solve the puzzle again.
Now all she had to do was get out of the compound without anyone seeing her. Shoot, it was a fortress. And even if it wasn’t, she had to figure out how to get away from Coop. She’d tell him she needed rest. She’d go straight to her bedroom, and slip out the window. The gate had cameras and alarms. She’d have to figure that out, but she would. She had to.
An even bigger question was—could she handle Hay on her own? Last she’d seen him, he didn’t have the build that would create much of a physical threat. And she’d be armed. She could take him. But what if she got to the lighthouse and he’d moved Kevin again? If she was lucky, Hay wouldn’t think she’d figure out this lead so quickly.
She felt the solid form of the gun under her shirt and took comfort that her father had taught her how to handle a handgun. She could do this. She had to do this. For Kevin, and quickly, before Coop had his way and her brother was rotting behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.
She heard Coop step back into the room. She took a breath and looked up at him. His face was dark with anger, but when their eyes connected, he washed it away.
“Any luck with the puzzle?” he asked.
She shook her head. She wasn’t a liar and had to try not to outright lie to him. “And I’m wiped out. Maybe you could work on it while I rest.”
He watched her for a long moment. Right, he didn’t believe her before. Now he totally must not trust her. He stepped back. “Let’s take it back to the cabin.”
“Thank you.” She gathered up the pieces, put them in her jacket pocket, and slid her arms into the sleeves, keeping her back from his view. She would have to be careful on the way out that he didn’t press his hand on her back. The last thing she could explain was why she’d stolen one of their guns. She could only hope he wouldn’t even want to touch her now.
Then why does that thought make you so sad?
“Where did the rest of
the team go?” she asked to find something to talk about and keep him from questioning her more about the puzzle.
“Jackson went to pick Riley up.”
Perfect. If she could get to the gate on time, she might be able to slip out after Jackson pulled in.
“The others have gone to bed,” Coop continued. “But they’re on standby if we solve this puzzle.”
“And if we don’t?” She backed out of the room to prevent him from touching her back.
“I’ll wake them up one at a time and let them have a go at it.”
“Sounds good.” She hurried to his SUV and got in. She looked out the window during the short distance to the cabin. When he shifted into park, she raced inside, the gun at her back feeling like a burning coal.
She dropped the puzzle pieces on the table and started for the bedroom.
“You haven’t gotten much rest the last few days. Sleep as long as you possibly can. I’ll keep the team working on the puzzle and let you know when we have anything.”
This could be the last time she ever saw him. Her heart ached, but she forced a smile to her mouth. “Thank you.”
Inside the bedroom, she locked the door. She’d done so every night and it wouldn’t raise any suspicions from him. She went to the bed and stuffed pillows into a pile under the covers to mimic a sleeping body—in case he came in to check on her—and clicked off the light.
After a few seconds to let her eyes become accustomed to the dark, she moved across the room to the window. She held her breath and turned the lock. Silence.
Thank you, Father! Now the window.
She eased it up slowly, the frame gliding smoothly. Thank goodness Gage kept his property in such good shape.
In seconds, she was over the sill and breathing in the pine-scented night air. After closing the window, she made a beeline for the front gate, darting between buildings and trees to prevent anyone from seeing her. She reached the gate and found a spot to hide and wait for Jackson. If he hadn’t already returned, she had to time things perfectly or he’d see her.
She crouched down and was soon rewarded with the sound of tires on gravel. The gate swung open. The SUV rolled through. She wanted to bolt. Run.
She couldn’t. Not yet. She counted.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five.
She took off, staying low. The gate clanked closed behind her. She dove into the scrub and looked back. The SUV continued down the drive and rounded the bend.
Yes! She’d made it. Exactly what she’d intended.
So why did her heart clutch at the thought of setting off on her own?
20
Coop watched Jackson move the puzzle pieces over the small dining table in Kiera’s cabin. Gage had assigned Jackson to Kiera’s detail, and Coop shouldn’t even be there, but he hadn’t been able to step out the front door. What a shock. Even worse, he’d figured out in all likelihood, he was in love with her. He’d fallen for a woman who had most likely played him for a fool.
And yet, he couldn’t leave, and he couldn’t stand still. So he paced. Back and forth. One side of the cabin to the next. He should take the advice he’d given Kiera. Take a nap. Just fifteen minutes would do him a world of good. He’d always been like that. Catnapped before missions. In out-of-the-way places. In transport. You name it, he could catch a few winks. But not tonight.
Not with Kiera invading in his mind. He’d been so thankful when she’d said she wanted to sleep. That way he wouldn’t be tempted to go against Gage’s directions. Against his own common sense and his obligation to his team and ask her about the canister.
Gage would soon let Coop know what it contained. Gage had texted three hours ago that he was standing in Oceanic Labs behind a chemist who confirmed the canister was one they used to store chemicals. And he promised he would tell them in short order if the white power was the biotoxin.
“Slow your roll,” Jackson called out. “I can’t concentrate with how fast you’re wearing a hole in this floor.”
“Sorry,” Coop said.
“Why so jittery?”
Coop shrugged, but the reason was clear to him. He knew in his heart it was connected to a pair of velvety brown eyes that could see to his soul, but had also likely held lies he’d been too blind to pick up on. “I’m gonna take a walk.”
He grabbed his jacket and pushed outside. He marched down the drive, his feet crunching on the gravel. He had to work this thing out before Kiera got up. He was a good operator. He’d always been levelheaded and able to read people. How could he be this far off with Kiera? No, he couldn’t be wrong. Even if he was attracted to her or in love with her. She was who she said she was.
Or did he just want that to be true because he’d fallen for her?
She could have gotten an empty container from Kevin as a souvenir on one of her visits. And maybe it held bath powder or something else innocuous. Yeah, then why hide it inside a vase?
“Enough. Just ask her.” He spun to go back to the cabin and wake her.
His phone rang. Gage.
“Yeah,” Coop answered tersely as he was still irritated with his boss for taking him off her detail.
“The substance in the container is the biotoxin,” Gage said.
Coop’s knees nearly gave out. He’d only felt this weak once before. The day he learned his sister had died. And now? Now, the woman who he freely admitted he loved had lied to him for days. Had misled him. Had made a fool of him. And he had no idea what he was going to do about it.
“Did you hear me?” Gage asked.
“Yeah,” Coop muttered and searched for a more logical explanation. “You know, with Pointer having Kevin, it means he has access to the toxin. So he could have planted it in Kiera’s apartment.”
“To what end?”
“To disgrace her and make her lose her career. You know, like the way he was discredited.”
“I suppose that’s possible.”
“Yeah, even likely.” Coop started liking the idea more. “Would explain why she left me in the room alone with the canister. She didn’t know it was there. And why it wasn’t hidden more carefully.”
“I suppose.”
“But you don’t believe it.”
“Not really.” A long silence filled the phone. “You with her?”
“No.”
“Jackson?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll call him and tell him we’ve gone from protective mode to guarding her until Blake can pick her up.”
“Roger that,” Coop said, but he desperately wanted to figure out a way to keep that from happening.
“You okay?”
“No, I’m not okay, and you know it.”
Kiera peered out the window of the old beater of a pickup truck. She’d never hitchhiked in her life, and she’d been terrified when the truck had stopped for her. But when she discovered a lovely young woman behind the wheel, Kiera’s fears fled. She’d almost lectured the girl about picking up a hitchhiker, but Kiera didn’t want Molly to think she was crazy and toss her out of the truck. Fearing each car that had approached would be Coop in his SUV coming to haul her in for arrest, she’d let several newer model vehicles pass by. Molly’s truck was the only one Kiera had felt comfortable stopping.
Coop. Oh, Coop, how could you not believe me? How?
Tears threatened, but she wouldn’t cry. He didn’t deserve her tears. She got how he had to doubt Kevin. He didn’t know her brother. But he knew her by now. Knew her well enough to want to kiss her anyway. Shoot, maybe that was just a physical thing. Or maybe he was leading her on the entire time to get her to share information on Kevin so his team could find her brother and get paid. Money made people do all kinds of things, but she didn’t believe Coop was like that.
“We’re almost there,” Molly said. “Just around the bend.”
“Stop here and let me out.”
Molly eyed her. “Hey, look, I can take you all the way.”
“No! Here. Please.”
Molly shook her head and slowed the truck. “You know the lighthouse is private, and you can’t get inside. I mean, even if it was public, it wouldn’t be open at night.”
“I don’t need it to be open,” Kiera said, but didn’t explain herself.
Molly parked. “Why not come home with me, and I can bring you back in the morning?”
“Thanks, but no.” Kiera opened the door.
The rusty hinge groaned into the night, and she was very thankful she’d gotten Molly to stop short of the lighthouse.
“Thank you for the ride.” Kiera shut the door before Molly could continue to try to talk her out of her plan. She tapped the door to tell Molly to move on, and the truck started off, coughing into the misty night.
Kiera stepped into the scrub and sat down. She forced herself to sit there. The wheezy old truck might have caught Hay’s attention, and he could be watching out a window. She’d give it thirty minutes. Then she’d head for the lighthouse and finally free her brother.
“I’ve solved the puzzle,” Coop said, bringing Jackson out from the kitchen where he was pouring a fresh cup of coffee.
Jackson dropped into a chair and tapped the middle of the puzzle. “A lantern? What could that mean?”
“It’s time we wake Kiera to see if she has an idea.” Coop got up and strode to the door. He didn’t care if he was off her detail. While they tracked down this lantern lead, he would be right by her side, and Gage would just have to deal with it.
Coop had plenty of time to reflect on his life while Jackson worked the puzzle, and Coop had decided he would trust Kiera. Yep. Him. The guy who wasn’t big on trusting. He loved her and had to believe he’d had enough time to figure out that he hadn’t fallen for the wrong woman.
He knocked on the door. “Kiera. I solved the puzzle.”
He waited for her to answer. She didn’t. He knocked louder. “Kiera. Wake up. I solved the puzzle.”
He let a beat of time pass before his gut got tight and tried the knob. It was locked.
He pounded harder. “Kiera. Kiera. Open the door now!”
Cold Truth: (Cold Harbor Book 2) Page 19