She pressed two fingers against her left temple, where a headache was forming. “Do you really think my dad would talk to me? Do you think he would tell me what really happened?”
“You’d know the answer to that better than I would.”
“Not really.” Carina shook her head. “I don’t know him. Not anymore.”
“But you did know him.” Jay pulled his phone free of his pocket. “A friend of mine said he could come down here tomorrow after his wife gets off work. I’d like to have him stay and watch after Bianca this weekend. That will give us the chance to fly out to Colorado to talk to your dad in person.”
Carina watched him dial a number, unsettled when his eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Is something wrong?”
“Seth isn’t answering.” Jay stood up and went into the kitchen to use his laptop. He powered it on and took a couple of minutes to log onto his e-mail. Carina assumed he was making sure his signal couldn’t be traced. She followed him to the kitchen table and looked over his shoulder as he opened an e-mail. The content was simply a string of numbers.
“What is that?”
“A message from Seth.”
“How can you tell?”
“I recognize his code.”
“His code?”
“It’s like a code word with numbers. A certain string of numbers tells me which one of my teammates sent the message and includes some other basic information.” To Carina’s surprise, he turned off his cell phone and crossed the room to retrieve the house phone.
Jay dialed, and Carina could hear a man’s voice answer after only one ring. “Seth, what’s wrong?”
Jay listened to the other man speak for a minute and then stood to pace across the room. Jay’s side of the conversation was mostly one-word phrases. Then he ended the call, saying simply, “E-mail me when you get into town, or call me on this number.”
After he hung up, Carina stepped into his path to force him to stop and look at her. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m not sure.” Jay put the phone back on the charger and then stared down at her. “Not long after my friend ran all of those background checks for me, someone from the FBI showed up at our office.”
The mention of the FBI caused a ripple of anxiety to pulse through her. More than once, her father had taken her out to a park or the circus only to meet up with someone from the FBI, always handing off one of those thick envelopes that was undoubtedly stuffed with cash. “What did they want?”
“He wanted to know why Seth had run those names,” Jay told her. “I have to think that one of the names was flagged, but Seth said he hasn’t been able to figure out why. The agent also took Seth’s printout of the background so he has access to the complete list of names you gave me.”
“You think it was someone on my family’s payroll.”
“Oh yeah.” Jay motioned toward the guest rooms. “Why don’t you go get some sleep. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Carina shook her head and crossed her arms. “I’m not going to be able to sleep. Besides, I want to help.”
24
Jay should have known Carina wasn’t going to be satisfied with just sitting back and letting him handle things without her help. She didn’t just dress the part of some businesswoman; she possessed the tenacity to climb her way to the top of whatever ladder she chose. Despite the jeans and T-shirt she currently wore, she was all business when she followed him to the kitchen where he’d left his computer. “Does it really matter that my family knows their background checks were run?”
“It might,” Jay said with a shrug. He set about connecting to the Internet the way Seth had taught him so his signal couldn’t be traced.
“Why would it matter?” Carina persisted.
“For one thing, some of those names didn’t come back with any hits.”
“So?” She put a hand on the serving bar and looked over his shoulder.
He stopped typing and turned to face her. “So the fact that those names were lumped in with known criminals would tell anyone on the mob’s payroll that someone on the inside is feeding the government information.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Someone thinks I’m an informant?”
“Possibly,” Jay said, the latest information rolling through his thoughts as he tried to put it all in a logical order. “Lou also told me that the person in charge of the Chicago mafia is with the FBI. Or at least, he was.”
“What?” Fear vibrated in her voice, and Jay looked over to see that her face had paled. He couldn’t say why the look of vulnerability tugged at him when it had been her independence that had first impressed him.
He reached out a hand and ran it down her arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, but you need to understand what we’re up against. If someone shows up flashing an FBI badge, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a good guy.”
“I thought I was free of that life.” Despair hung in Carina’s voice, and her eyes were moist. She looked as though the past was drowning her, pulling her under until she could no longer see her future.
Without thinking, Jay stood up and turned her into his arms. Her arms wrapped around his waist as he pulled her close in a comforting embrace. He could feel the way her fingers curled into the soft cotton of his shirt, her grip tightening like she was afraid to let go.
Jay simply held her for a long moment, trying not to think about how well she fit into his arms. He tried to remind himself that she was only looking for comfort and tried to think of her as an assignment, someone he was sworn to protect. He breathed in the scent of her perfume, the spicy scent that reminded him too well that she was a beautiful woman, who, under normal circumstances, he would want to spend time with.
He considered her emotions and the confusion she must be feeling right now. He shifted so he could look down at her, and his voice was sympathetic. “It may be that the only way to truly be free of your family’s past is to find out exactly why your father is in prison.”
Carina blinked back tears that threatened but kept her hands linked loosely at his waist. Then she took a deep breath and nodded before taking a step back. “I’ll call my boss in the morning and tell her I need a few days off. When do you want to leave for Colorado?”
“Seth will be here tomorrow afternoon.”
“I don’t know about having some stranger watch after my sister,” Carina said hesitantly.
“You can trust Seth. Besides, his wife is coming with him. Having another woman around should help Bianca feel a bit more comfortable.” Jay nodded toward his computer. “Come on. Let’s see when we can get a flight out.”
Carina slid onto a barstool at the counter beside Jay. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at him, surprised. “Why are you looking up flights out of Tampa Bay? That’s more than four hours away from here.”
“I know, but if someone really is looking for you, they might keep an eye on flights from the local airports. Our best bet is to fly out of Tampa or Orlando.”
“Orlando is closer.”
Jay considered for a minute. “If you were going to leave town and go somewhere to hide out, where would it be?”
“I’d either go stay with friends in New York or I’d go to Provo to stay with Gianna. Why?”
“We’ll use New York.” Jay gave a definite nod. Carina watched him, confused when he opened another screen on his computer and made a reservation for her and Bianca from Miami to New York.
“Wait a minute. Why are you booking us on a flight to New York? And what about you? I thought you were coming with me.”
“This one is just in case someone is monitoring airline reservations,” Jay told her. He then proceeded to make two more sets of reservations for her and Bianca, one from Tampa Bay to Philadelphia and the other from Orlando to Washington.
“I’m confused. Why are you booking all of these reservations?”
“Because I don’t want anyone to know which flight you’re really on,” Jay told her. He then booked himself on the flig
hts out of Orlando and Tampa. “When we figure out which flight we really want, I’ll cancel the others and book us another flight out to Denver.”
“Are you sure you’re not being paranoid? How would anyone even be able to access flight information? I thought that was supposed to be confidential.”
“It is . . . unless the FBI puts you on a watch list,” Jay told her. “If whoever is looking for you really is with the FBI, you’ll be flagged at the airport.”
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
Jay looked over his shoulder and spoke with confidence. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing.”
Carina stared at him, and Jay was surprised to see the trust in her eyes. When they first met, she would barely look at him, yet, somehow, over the past few days, he had managed to break down barriers that he suspected had been surrounding her for years.
Color rose to her cheeks, and she let out a sigh. “What can I do to help?”
“Look around and see if you can find Matt’s parents’ phone number.”
“You want to call Senator Whitmore?”
“Actually, I want to call his daughter or son-in-law. They’re supposed to be staying with the senator this week. If they aren’t, the senator or Mrs. Whitmore should know where they are.”
Although she still looked confused, Carina crossed into CJ’s kitchen, picked up the house phone, and started scrolling through the caller ID.
“I think I found it,” Carina told him.
He reached his hand out to take the phone from her. He glanced down at the screen to see a phone number listed under the name James Whitmore. Jay pressed the button to dial the number, wondering if Jim would even remember him. Jay had met him a couple of times over the past year, always when his whole squad was together for some type of social function in the DC area.
Jay tried to force some confidence into his voice when the senator answered the phone himself. “Senator Whitmore, this is Jay Wellman,” Jay began.
“Hi, Jay. What can I do for you?” Jim asked as though they were old friends. “Am I correct in assuming you’re looking for Brent or Amy?”
“Yes, sir.” Jay’s lips curved slightly. “I’d prefer to speak to the commander if he’s available.”
“I hope you aren’t just calling to get him out of doing the dishes.”
“No, sir.” Jay’s smile widened. “I actually need to ask him a favor.”
“Here he is.”
“Thank you.” Jay could hear the senator speak to Brent briefly before the commander came on the phone.
“Hey, Jay. What’s up?”
Jay balanced the phone on his shoulder so his hands were free to continue his search for flights. “Any chance you might be available tomorrow night to give me a ride to the airport?”
“In DC?”
“Yeah,” Jay said as he confirmed another airline reservation. “I’m coming into Dulles around six tomorrow evening, but I need to get over to Baltimore to catch a flight out at ten.”
“I should be able to do that. Where are you headed?” Brent asked.
“It’s a long story,” Jay said, his eyes shifting to look at Carina. “I’ll fill you in when I get there.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
When Jay finally said his good-byes and hung up, Carina asked, “What was that all about?”
“The commander is going to help us out with some of our travel plans.”
“This seems like an awful lot of trouble just so I can talk to my father for a few minutes.”
“If we can get answers, it’ll be worth it.” Jay finished booking their airline tickets and shut off his laptop.
“Are you sure you have enough frequent-flyer miles for all of this?”
Jay nodded. “I travel a lot for work. I’m usually on a military transport, but before I joined my current unit, I used to fly commercial most of the time. The miles really added up.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re doing all of this,” Carina said. “You barely know me.”
Jay looked up at her, and he forced himself to consider the same question. He tried to convince himself that he would try to help any friend in need, but he had to admit that Carina wasn’t exactly a friend. She was more the promise of one. He smiled. “I guess I like a fun challenge.”
“Figuring out my life is fun?”
Jay shook his head. “No, figuring out who’s after you is necessary.” He stood up and looked down at her. “Convincing you to go out with me is the fun part.”
Carina eyed him warily. “You could have just asked me out instead of coming to my rescue like this.”
“I already did, but you never actually said yes,” Jay reminded her. “Besides, coming to people’s rescue is what I do.”
“It’s what you do?”
“Yeah. Volunteering to help you out just kind of happened.” Jay reached for her hand. “You do understand that I jump out of moving vehicles for a living, right? I already know that my idea of fun isn’t exactly the same as the next guy’s.”
“You may want to rethink your definition of fun.”
Jay simply shrugged. “We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow. You should really get some sleep.”
“What about you? Where are you going to sleep?”
“I’m just going to crash on the couch.” He waved absently toward the long leather sofa in front of the television. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
“Thanks, Jay.” Carina looked up at him. “I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
25
“You know, I could just stay with Amber this week. Or Lou,” Bianca suggested as she toweled off her hair from her morning practice.
Carina shook her head and continued to pack her suitcase. “Sorry, Bianca, but I want you somewhere that I know you’ll be safe.”
Bianca draped the towel over her shoulder, and her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think you’re acting a bit paranoid? No one is after me. I’m perfectly fine.”
“And it’s my job to make sure you stay that way,” Carina insisted. She zipped up her suitcase and turned to face her sister. “I know all of these security measures may seem extreme, but I need to make sure that if someone from our family really is looking for us, they can’t find you.”
“What’s to say that someone wouldn’t show up at my school?”
“For one thing, you go to school out of district, so anyone who knows where we live would look for you at the wrong school anyway.” Carina gave her an apologetic look. “Besides, you’ll have a bodyguard with you just to be safe.”
“Seriously?” Bianca’s voice came out with a huff of disbelief. “Do you have any idea how embarrassing it was yesterday having my coach follow me around?”
“Let me guess.” Carina’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “He didn’t let you eat french fries at lunch.”
“I’m serious, Carina.”
“So am I.” Carina tried to look past Bianca’s defiant attitude and consider how she would have felt if someone had been assigned to follow her around when she was in high school. Her sympathy stirred, and she tried to find the balance between understanding and necessity. “Look, it’s only for a couple more days. After I get back, hopefully everything will go back to normal.”
“It had better.” Bianca stepped toward the door. “Because I don’t think I can stand this much longer.”
“That makes two of us,” Carina muttered.
* * *
Special Agent Curtis Graham pulled into the alley, surprised to see another car facing him. The plain dark sedan was similar to what his informant drove, but he couldn’t remember him ever being so early for a meet. Then again, he had never received a message from him that sounded so urgent before.
Slowly, he pulled forward so he could talk to his snitch through the drivers’ side windows. That’s when he saw that the man in the driver’s seat wasn’t who he expected.
A smile lit his face when he recognized
his friend, and his shoulders relaxed. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think you were coming into town for a couple more days.” He looked around the alley, and his eyes darkened with confusion. “And why are you parked back here? I’m supposed to meet an informant here in ten minutes.”
“I was coming to look for you,” Alex told him. “Any chance you have those background checks with you that I needed?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “They’re locked in the trunk. I kept them with me like you asked.”
“Good.”
Alex’s next movement was swift and unexpected as he leveled his gun at Graham’s head.
* * *
“Are you all set?” Jay asked, shifting the duffel bag on his shoulder with one hand and lifting Carina’s suitcase with the other.
“I think so.” Carina gripped the strap of her briefcase.
Jay’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do with your gun?”
“The ammunition is in the dresser in the bedroom,” she told him, running her fingers back and forth over the leather strap of her briefcase. “I put the gun in the cabinet over the refrigerator. I wanted to make sure it was out of reach in case CJ comes home early.”
Jay nodded his approval. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t trying to bring it with you. The airlines frown on that sort of thing.”
“So I’ve heard.” With a wry smile, she motioned to his full pack. “What all do you have in there? We’re only going to be gone for a day or two.”
“Just being prepared.” Jay headed for the backyard. “Come on.”
“Why are we going this way?”
“Just a safety precaution.” Jay walked past the swimming pools and crossed the swatch of grass on his way to the dock where the Whitmores’ boat was moored. He stepped nimbly into the boat, securing their luggage before turning and reaching out a hand to help Carina board.
“I thought we were going to the airport. Why are we on a boat?”
“Because I want to make sure no one follows my friends here.” Jay cast off the lines. “Grab a seat.”
“I thought I was being overly cautious, but you take paranoia to a new level.”
Code Word Page 16