Stone's Surrender: A SEALs of Honor World Novel (Heroes for Hire Book 2)

by Dale Mayer

  “Interesting. It definitely fits.” Stone thought about what such a drug could mean. “I wonder what the cause of death will end up being.”

  “Cardiac arrest at the moment,” Levi said. “I spoke to Merk earlier, and he’s found nothing on his pipeline. Neither has Rhodes so far.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Ice said. “Once we get into the pharmaceutical market that opens the world up for suspects.”

  “Charles mentioned a company called Narque Ltd. It’s well-known for being on the shady side of the law.”

  “Harold Jorgenson runs that outfit.” Ice smiled at the look of surprise on their faces. “I’ve heard my father cuss about him and his company in the past. Jorgenson’s reputation is pretty ugly.”

  “Right. So we need to send a message. Let them know Susan is dead and Kevin is missing. There is no drug or money.” Stone nodded. “Easy, right?”

  “Actually it might be.” Ice turned to Levi. “Call Bullard.”

  Levi’s eyebrows shot up. “Good idea.” He was already making the call.

  Stone walked over and sat on a spare chair. “I hardly know Sienna.”

  At that, Ice lifted her head and smirked. “I think you’ve got another girl on your brain, Stone. Sienna just didn’t quite make the cut.”

  “She’s a nice girl, but I think she’s much more Rhodes’s style.”

  Ice tilted her head to the side and looked at him. “Interesting. Why him?”

  He shrugged. “There’s a chemistry there.”

  Ice nodded. “You saw that, did you?”

  “Oh, yeah, I saw it. I think everybody did.”

  “Just because there’s chemistry doesn’t mean it’s right.”

  Stone stopped and studied her for a moment. “Is that directed at me or Rhodes?”

  She raised that flat gaze of hers to him and added, “Whichever fits.”

  He studied her for a long moment. “Do you have a problem with Lissa?” He’d really rather know up front because if he did start a relationship—hell, he was well past the starting point, but if something was developing here, they all lived in close quarters.

  She shook her head. “No, actually I really like her. She’s got gumption. And that’s worth a lot. But she’s also a softy. And you have the power to break her heart.”

  He winced. “Did you ever consider that maybe she has the power to break mine?”

  At that Ice smiled. And when she did, it was easy to see the goddess within. In a soft, gentle voice she said, “That’s how it’s supposed to be.”

  Levi finished his call and turned to join them again. “Bullard knows Jorgenson. He’ll make the call but can’t promise anything.”

  “Good enough. We’ve done what we can for now. This might get him off our backs.” Stone shrugged. “And it might not. If Kevin is still alive, he better have the goods, all their money, or one hell of a good hiding place to live the rest of his life.”

  Stone agreed with a short nod, then studied Levi a moment and said, “I know it’s really early yet regarding my relationship with Lissa, but aren’t a couple of the rooms being rehabbed into apartments?”

  Levi nodded. “And one of them was slated for you, no doubt about that. I don’t know what she does, or if she even needs to do anything jobwise, but that’s something that’ll have to be considered as well.” He studied Stone. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? You barely know her.”

  “I know. And maybe not, but let’s be prepared just in case it does work out. Besides, she needs a place to stay in the meantime. After this is over, who knows?” Stone stared off in the distance. It was fast. But it was also something he didn’t want to not be ready for. He nodded. “I don’t know the truth about her financial situation either. But she’ll have to make some decisions about that herself.” He settled down in the chair between the two of them. “I actually find myself in a position I hadn’t expected to be in.”

  “She’s young, but not that much,” Ice said quietly. “Remember, it’s only girls who would be upset by the amputation. For a woman, it wouldn’t even make her blink.”

  Maybe for the first time Stone believed that.

  He thought back to most of the women he’d spent time with, not just over the last year but decade. They’d all been short-term relationships. More of a good time, not a long-term type of thing. Although they might consider it fun having sex with a one-legged man, he really didn’t see any of them handling it for any length of time.

  That didn’t say much about his judgment where women were concerned. And yet … this situation was very different. He was pretty sure Lissa had noticed his leg at the beginning. Yet, in bed, she didn’t seem to care.

  Chapter 21

  When Lissa woke up the next time, it was like a homecoming. She’d been in Stone’s bed just long enough now that it felt right. She was also in no rush to leave. As matter of fact, she wished she could have what she’d called a pyjama day in which she didn’t have to get dressed but could just laze around in bed the whole day. Seemed like a long time since her life had been calm enough to allow for something like that. Memories came flashing back about the sniper and all the security crap that had gone on here of late.

  She shuffled around to sit up and lean back against the headboard. She reached for her new phone. She’d been asleep for hours according to the time.

  She studied her phone and then decided to try a couple people she knew from the refugee camp. She pulled out the napkin she’d written all her contacts on and saw Kevin’s name.

  She really needed to put them into her phone. She quickly dialed his number. It was a long shot. Half of the people involved in this nightmare expected Kevin to be dead. But she always had hope. Maybe it had just gotten to be too much, and he had walked away.

  Hell, she could see that happening at any time.

  If she’d just lost her husband, was stuck in a foreign country, and didn’t have a way to handle any of the logistics involved in dealing with the police investigation, or burying her spouse, she could see being so stressed she might just walk away. And they could all be looking for a boogeyman.

  The phone rang and rang and just as she went to shut it off, a man picked up and said, “Hello?”

  She grinned. “Kevin?”

  “Yes, who’s this?”

  She bounced in her bed, shuffling higher against the headboard. “It’s Lissa,” she cried. “Oh, my God! I finally reached you.”

  But an odd silence fell on the other end of the phone. And then the man said in a hard tone, “I’m sorry. Wrong number. Don’t call here again.”

  And he hung up.

  She stared in shock. “I could swear that was his voice. And he said yes to his name,” she said out loud to herself. She stared down at the phone but didn’t know what to do. And then she realized she had to tell someone. She slipped out of bed, phone in hand, and headed up to the control room. She didn’t know if Stone would be there, but she was sure somebody would be at the monitors.

  She hoped so. She gave a quick rap on the door. She didn’t remember the specific number Stone had used earlier, but if they were watching the monitors, somebody would see her here.

  Stone opened the door with a big smile on his face and said, “That was a short nap. I didn’t expect you up so soon.”

  “I had a wonderful one though.” She smiled at him. “Look, something odd just happened. I don’t know if it means anything, but I thought I should tell somebody.”

  He opened the door. “Come inside.”

  Ice was there, as well as Levi.

  She held out her phone and quickly explained. Levi slowly straightened in his chair and said quietly, “Did you recognize his voice?”

  Instantly she nodded. “I’ve spoken to him several times on the phone over the past months,” she said. “Even though it’s a different phone with more background noise, I still recognized his voice.”

  “Interesting.” Stone brought up the last number she dialed and held it for Ice to see. She
wrote it down and then quickly did something on the keyboard.

  Lissa looked over and asked, “What are you doing with it, Ice?”

  “A search to see if I can find out who owns it.”

  “Do you think it was him and he just didn’t want to acknowledge you?” Stone asked at her side.

  It was a rhetorical question as she already knew that’s exactly what he had done. “I don’t understand why though.”

  Silence.

  Her gaze went from one face to the next. “You think he’s involved?”

  “We don’t think anything at this point,” Stone said reassuringly. “But it would be nice to ask him some questions and clear up some issues.”

  She thought about that and realized she’d like to ask Kevin some of those same ones herself. “Okay, that makes sense. I imagine he’ll be doing his damnedest to get another phone as soon as possible if he is involved.”

  “Of course. We’ll do what we can right now. See if we can find out what country he was in when he answered.” That came from Ice. “That will tell us a little more.”

  “Can you do that?”

  “I’ll make a couple calls. Run down what I can.” She reached for a phone and within seconds spoke to whoever answered the other end.

  Stone motioned the two of them out of the small room. Hard for Ice to have a conversation on the phone with other people talking. He shut the door and said, “Not to worry, Lissa. We’ll figure this out. How about you go to the kitchen and see if there is any coffee?”

  “Sure, that might be nice. If you’ve got a few minutes, come join me?” she asked Stone.

  “I’ve definitely got some. Has there been any contact from the insurance company yet? Do you need to go to town for anything else?”

  “Honestly, I keep my phone off most of the time. I really don’t want to deal with very much more right now.”

  “You just turned it on to call Kevin?”

  They walked down the hallway toward the kitchen. “I was planning on contacting some of the other people in the refugee camp. I made a lot of friends there.” She looked at him and added, “I remembered that I copied all the numbers down from my old phone while we were on the plane to London.” They walked into the kitchen, and she finished with, “I saw Kevin’s number and just dialed.”

  “Nice,” he said in an admiring voice.

  She shook her head. “I should have tried earlier.”

  He laughed. “Good job anyway.”

  In the kitchen he poured two cups of coffee. With her at his side they walked to the small table in front of the windows and sat down.

  They hadn’t been here for more than a few minutes when Stone’s phone went off. He pulled it out and said, “It’s Ice. She needs to see me for a few minutes.”

  Lissa waved him off. “Go. I’ll be fine here.” He stood and looked at her. She smiled up at him. “Go.”

  “Okay, I won’t be long.” Leaving his coffee cup behind, he strode quickly from the room.

  She pulled out her cell and took a look at it, then brought out the napkin with the rest of the numbers on it. It was almost the same as the last one, just updated. She entered the numbers. She put in her father, mother, and then her lawyer’s. That was always a good one to put in there. With a smirk she continued to enter the rest. When Marge’s came up, she froze as grief overwhelmed her once again.

  Surely Kevin couldn’t be involved in something so horrible. He was a doctor. He was all about healing, not killing people. And even if he had needed a drug or ingredients to make something of his own creation, why wouldn’t he have made alternate plans before?

  Maybe Susan had had something to do with it. Lissa considered her quick decline. The fact that the couple’s luggage hadn’t been with them had Susan asking about it a lot. They had been told it was coming, but it never did.

  And Lissa’s mind made a giant leap. Maybe it was a good kind of drug. Maybe Susan had a particular disease and the drug kept it at bay. But the minute she couldn’t get the next dose, she’d gone downhill quickly—within days. When they had no access to their luggage. By the time they had reached England, still without it, within twenty-four hours she was taken to the hospital. That would also explain why Kevin had disappeared. Because if anybody knew about the drugs, they would’ve questioned him.

  And that meant Lissa needed to talk to the others again. She stood up, grabbed her coffee, and turned around, only to see Stone walk back in again. “There you are,” she cried.

  He raised his eyebrows. “I was only gone a couple minutes.”

  She nodded. “I’ve thought of something else. What’s the chance Susan was using the drugs that customs found in my luggage? And without it, she died.”

  He froze—his mind churning through the possibility. And then with a quick nod he said, “I’ll be back in another minute.” At the doorway he turned, stopped, and said, “Stay here.”

  With a laugh she sat down and took another sip. But inside she was feeling much better. They were on the right track. If they could just get a few answers, they could put this to rest. No reason for anybody to still be coming after her.

  She looked at the phone, wanting to say something to Kevin. He probably didn’t know her luggage never made it to her. If he had been in contact with anybody from Charles’s, then he would know the luggage was being held in customs. And now that Susan was dead, what was the point?

  Unless the drug had been successful at doing what it was intended to, which is prolonging life and delaying the onset of the disease.

  She opened her phone and quickly dialed Kevin again. This time when it rang, it went immediately to voicemail. A computer-automated voice that left no names. She said quickly, “Kevin, my luggage didn’t come with me to the States. It was seized by the British authorities. If you’re looking for something, I don’t have it.”

  And she hung up, she realized her hands were trembling.

  “That’s an interesting message,” Stone said, standing beside her. He leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. “Why would you do that?”

  She twisted in her seat to face him. “I didn’t want him to think if he hid something in my luggage, there was any chance I still had it.”

  “Because that also sounded as if you were telling him you lost the package.”

  Her jaw dropped. “What?” Then she understood and bolted to her feet. “Oh, my God! You can’t think I actually knew I was carrying this drug.”

  “No. It never crossed my mind until I just heard that message you left.”

  She shook her head emphatically. “I was only trying to tell him to lay off. That if he had hidden something with me, I don’t have it.”

  “Unless he sent it to you another way. More of it perhaps.” Stone’s intense gaze studied her.

  She frowned. “What do you mean, sent it to me?”

  He shrugged.

  She stared. “He could have, but it would still be sitting in the post office because I haven’t been there to grab my mail for the last eight months.”

  “I thought Marge picked up your mail?”

  Lissa frowned and said, “Yes, she did collect what was in the house, but parcels would still be at the post office, wouldn’t they?”

  “Unless she picked up the notice and took it in to retrieve the packages for you.”

  “But she’d have to have my ID,” she protested.

  “Or somebody would have to.”

  She sat back in shock. “Hang on a minute. Are you saying it’s possible Marge picked up the mail that could have had a parcel pickup notice in it? And the killer grabbed it and got the package? Or the notice is still sitting in Marge’s house?”

  Silence came first, then he gave a clipped nod.

  “I need my mail anyway. Can we go back and see?” she asked.

  “We’ll go now.” Stone checked his watch and said, “We have a couple hours still left in the business day. I’ll tell the others.”

  She sat quietly. Her thoughts
were confused. Did Stone trust her? Or was she really a suspect? And if so, did they actually have any kind of relationship, or was she just fooling herself? Was this some kind of a ploy for her to be kept under close watch in case she slipped up? “In which case, in their minds, I just slipped up,” she muttered.

  With a heavy heart she walked back to the room she’d just woken up in and grabbed her purse. She caught sight of her single bag of belongings from the day before. She’d added bits and pieces to it and realized how easy it would be to just take it with her right now. She could stay at a hotel overnight. She didn’t need to remain here. In fact it was probably better if she left now.

  In which case, she should drive her own vehicle so she had her wheels too.

  Stone walked into the room behind her. “You ready?”

  She turned and picked up the bag of her belongings and said a defiant, “Yes.”

  At her tone his gaze went to the bag and then to her. “Are you moving out?”

  “That’s probably a good idea, considering you don’t trust me.” She took several steps toward the doorway, but he stepped in front of her, crossing his arms, blocking her way.

  “And,” she added, “maybe you never did.” She waved her arms around the room behind her. “Maybe this has all been just a sham, making sure you stuck close to the suspect.”

  The look on his face went from shock to incredulous and then he broke into boisterous laughter. He stepped forward, took the bag from her hand, and tossed it on the bed. Then he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her up against his chest.

  “I might do a lot of things in the name of getting the job done in order to save somebody else’s life,” he said, “but I’ve never slept with anyone because of that. And I wouldn’t. Yes, you threw me with that message, but your explanation is also reasonable. These are tough times right now, and we have to consider all possibilities. No, I never thought you were guilty. And, no, I do not think you are now.”

  She looped her hands behind his back. “You’re making me crazy,” she wailed. “I used to have a normal life.”