Jake raised a brow. Who knew Dante could throw out a bunch of philosophical bullshit? But, damn. The man was right. “Fine. We’ll stick with the plan and get the evidence. After that, he’s dead. I don’t want Naomi to ever have to look over her shoulder again.”
“What are you going—never mind. None of my business.”
Jake released a sigh. “I just told you I’m going to kill a man. There’s not a whole lot out there that’s more personal than that. Say what’s on your mind.”
“Fine. Are you planning on getting back together with Naomi?”
Okay, now that was personal. Maybe he cared more about what people thought about him than he’d realized. If his parents and brothers knew the whole story, would they think he was pathetic and desperate? Naomi wasn’t the only woman out there and, if he bothered to try, he could probably find someone else and settle down. He’d been calling himself pathetic since he’d first visited her in Woodbine. He’d known she was lying, but had justified her lies to ease his conscience and his way into her bed. Maybe he wasn’t any better than Hunnicutt. Maybe what kept driving him back to her was obsession, the need to justify why she’d rejected him and to ease his resentment.
Or maybe he was in love with her.
“I told you it was none of my business,” Dante said and reached for his puzzle.
“No. It’s okay. I…normally I’d talk to my brothers about this.”
“But they’re not here.”
“And I don’t want to get deep or any of that kind of shit.”
Dante cracked a smile. “Yeah, that shit’s for pussies.”
He grinned and relaxed. For a badass Navy SEAL, he’d learned Dante was easy to talk to and had a logical and, yes, philosophical spin on things. “Okay, I love her, but feel like a jackass because I didn’t truly know her. What’s even worse, I don’t care that she lied to me. Pathetic, right?”
“I was watching you in the evidence and evaluation room when Naomi was talking about her brother and how he’d changed her identity for her. You didn’t know any of it, did you?”
He shook his head.
“Like I said then, she kept her secrets to protect you. I believe that’s what’s eating at you. Your woman was protecting you, when we men think that’s supposed to be our job.” Dante set the puzzle aside again. “Not sure if you’re aware, but I was married and had a baby. I’m not going to get into all the details because, no offense, it’s none of your business.”
“None taken.”
Dante’s jaw hardened and his eyes narrowed. “I couldn’t protect either one of them and I wouldn’t let my wife protect me from myself. Sometimes I think that maybe if I’d let her, things would be different. That maybe if I remembered why we’d gotten married, that we were partners who had each other’s back in every sense...” He heaved a sigh. “Look past your ego and pride, Jake. I don’t know Naomi, but I think I have a pretty good read on you. If you love her, what the hell do you care what other people think? And for whatever it’s worth, you’re not pathetic.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.” Dante was an all right kind of guy. Whatever had happened between him and his wife, he didn’t know. As for Dante’s baby, Jake couldn’t imagine going through life wondering if his kid was dead or alive. He didn’t know how the man held it together.
Dante picked up the crossword. “Yeah, you’re not pathetic. A little fucked up maybe, but not pathetic. Hey, what’s a seven letter word for pain?”
Jake chuckled, glad Dante lightened the heavy discussion. “Got any letters to go off?”
“Just a U.”
“Torture.” Naomi took the seat behind Dante. “Which is exactly what I’m going through after sleeping the way I did in that seat,” she said, shifting her head from side to side and rubbing the base of her neck.
Jake’s cell phone rang and he quickly checked the caller ID. “It’s Rachel.”
Naomi stood, climbed over his legs and took the window seat next to him. “Can you put her on speaker?”
“Hey, Rachel,” Jake answered. “I have you on speaker. Got any good news?”
“I guess it depends on the news and your idea of good.”
Dante dropped the puzzle in his lap and leaned across the aisle. “Meaning?”
“Let’s start with the riverboat explosion. At first I didn’t find the entire Rose Wood connection. Our contact at the FBI told me he thinks there’s one, but a couple of his counterparts began thinking this might have been a copycat bombing.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Naomi pressed against Jake as she angled her head closer to the phone. “There wasn’t another bombing anywhere else, and Ric made it perfectly clear that Christian wouldn’t stop until he saw me.”
“We’re the only ones who know that,” Rachel said. “Plus, the parts of the riverboat that are still intact are half submerged in water. The debris from the explosion is either at the bottom of the river or floating on the surface. Finding evidence is going to be tough. I was told divers are in the water searching for survivors. Once they’re done, they’re going to look for what caused the explosion.”
“Good luck with that,” Dante said with a shake of his head.
“True, but I actually know what caused the explosion. Before I get to that, I was able to confirm the Wood link to the Delta Rose bombing, which means no one is dismissing it as a copycat.”
Then why bring the whole copycat thing up at all? Owen was right about his wife. She was not only a piece of work, she also had a thing for melodrama. “So what’s the link?” Jake asked.
“Hazel Wood. She’s a banjo playing country singer who was supposed to perform on the Delta Rose. She had an emergency surgery and cancelled last minute. So there’s your Wood connection.”
Naomi rested her elbow on her knee and her chin in her hand. “I wonder how Christian handled that?”
Jake shifted his gaze to hers. “What do you mean?”
“He doesn’t tolerate mistakes.” She drummed her fingers along her cheek. “Not that it matters at this point. At least there’s one innocent person who survived. So, Rachel,” she continued, her tone weary and hopeless, “what caused the explosion?”
“Keep me on speaker and go to your email.”
Jake opened his email. “Got it,” he said, and studied the photograph of a small piece of circuit board.
“Thanks to our FBI contact, we know how the devices are planted. We also know that Hunnicutt used C-4. It’s stable and will only explode when a detonator is inserted into it and it’s fired. The picture you’re looking at is what’s left of the detonator used for the bombing in San Francisco. We also learned that similar pieces have been found at both the Nevada and Wyoming bombing sites. Authorities are still searching the other locations for the exact cause, but are fairly certain the same type of bomb was used.”
“If the C-4 needs a detonator,” Naomi began, her focus also on the image Rachel had emailed, “how did Christian manage to trigger it?”
“Jake and Dante are familiar with explosives. Either of you want to chime in on this one?”
Dante tapped the pen against his thigh. “I can answer that. A detonator is basically a smaller explosive.” He pointed to Jake’s cell phone screen. “In this case, he would have used an electrical charge to set off the C-4. A lot of times you’ll hear about terrorists using a cell phone or a watch to send a signal to a detonator. The phone or watch works as a shockwave and gives off heat, which is what C-4 requires to explode.”
“Exactly,” Rachel said. “If you haven’t already, scroll down to the next picture I attached in the email.”
Jake ran his thumb along the small screen. “Got it.”
“It looks like the security key pad I have in my house,” Naomi said.
“That’s exactly what it is and that’s what I believe Hunnicutt used as the detonator.”
“How do you know for sure?” Jake asked.
“Because the very helpful FBI agent told Ian they found part of the mo
del number connected to one of Guarinot security systems. A system the San Francisco restaurant does not own. Same goes for the hotel in Nevada and the nursing home in Wyoming. Most security companies now give their customers the option to control their systems from their TVs, tablets, smart phones and computers. You can’t use a disposable cell phone to connect wirelessly to any of these systems. Which is good for us. This means that whoever detonated the bomb had to be connected to the Internet. Which also means that they could possibly leave a digital footprint giving us the location of the server they used.”
“He obviously didn’t do this alone,” Jake said. “He could have people planted across the country just waiting for the right time to pull the trigger.”
“True,” Rachel agreed. “Either way, if Christian Hunnicutt doesn’t know about digital footprints, then he wouldn’t know that there are ways to eliminate them. Meaning, we could possibly arrest at least one of the guys setting off the devices.”
“And if there is no footprint?” Jake asked, not fully understanding how Rachel could even find this digital footprint when the device was no longer intact.
“Then we’re out of luck. But, what we do have that the FBI doesn’t, is two very useful things.”
“And that is?” Dante asked.
“Me, for one, and the fact we know who’s behind the bombings.”
“No one will deny that you’re a genius.” Dante looked at Jake and rolled his eyes. “But explain how this is going to help us get the evidence we need to go to the Feds.”
“So glad you asked. And, by the by, thanks for calling me a genius.”
Dante shook his head and grinned. “You’re welcome.”
“I told you about the digital footprint. Because the detonators were destroyed in the explosion, there’s no way to use them to trace back to where the signal came from. But because we know who sent the signal, I can sic my spiders on Hunnicutt.”
“Spiders?” Naomi shook her head. “Pretend none of us has a clue what you’re talking about.”
“Which we don’t,” Jake added.
“Sorry,” Rachel said. “A Web spider, which can also be known as a Web crawler, ant or Web scutter, is typically used by Web search engines. It’s an Internet bot that searches through the World Wide Web in order to perform Web indexing. For our purposes, I’ve written code that will have these spiders scurrying through Hunnicutt’s company server looking for any signal sent to the locations of the bombings.”
“Will you be able to launch this code into Christian’s server?” Naomi asked.
“It’s already done,” she responded. “Considering what Hunnicutt’s done today, I thought for sure he’d have a more secure system. Lucky for us, I hacked into it without a problem.”
“Any luck?” Dante asked.
“No, not yet. Next to the FBI, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Oh, my God.” Naomi gripped his wrist. “It’s five after three. Rachel, was there another bombing and you just didn’t tell us?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel said and Jake could hear her tapping away at her computer keyboard. “I can’t believe I didn’t pay attention to the time. So far I’m not finding anything.”
“Maybe he decided not to send another message,” Dante said.
“Or maybe he knows we’re watching.” Jake rubbed his temple. “Could Hunnicutt’s IT personnel detect your spiders?”
She sighed and continued to type. “No way. Not with the code I wrote.”
“Could be something went wrong when he tried to detonate the bomb,” Dante suggested.
“Could be,” Rachel said. “I’ll keep looking and let you know if I find anything. Regardless, call me when you land. Naomi’s GPS chip is working, but I want to confirm Jake has a lock on her before Hunnicutt’s driver heads off with her.”
When Rachel ended the call, Naomi stood and climbed over Jake’s legs. He snagged her hand when she reached the aisle. “What’s up?”
“I’m going to get on my tablet and see if I can find anything. I don’t believe Christian opted not to set off another explosion. Trust me. If he says he’ll do something, he will.”
After Naomi walked to the back of the plane, Dante glanced across the aisle. “Something else you want to talk about?”
“Nope. I’m good.”
“Then why are you still sitting by me and not in the back of the jet with your woman?”
Right. In less than twenty minutes they’d turn her over to Hunnicutt. Although confident she’d be fine considering they had the GPS, using Naomi as bait was still a big risk. There were too many unknown variables. They had no idea where Hunnicutt planned to take her, or how many of his men he’d have with him. In the meantime, he could take advantage of their current situation and spend time with her.
“You’re shitty company anyway,” Jake said and, crouching to avoid whacking his head on the jet’s low ceiling, moved toward where Naomi sat.
Dante’s laugh followed him down the aisle. When he sat next to Naomi, she glanced up from the tablet. “What’s Dante laughing about? I could use something to lighten my mood.”
“I told him he was shitty company.”
She grinned and nudged him with her shoulder. “Seriously.”
“I am being serious,” he said and took the tablet from her hand.
Naomi let him. She’d grown tired of bad news and would, for a few moments, prefer not to look at any more death and destruction. She’d like to pretend they were jetting off to a private, exotic island retreat. That once there, she and Jake could walk along the beach and then later go back to their luxurious room and make love. After their conversation back in his office, and that kiss he’d given her, his demeanor had changed. The concern remained, along with the tension lining his face and shoulders, but at least he didn’t look at her as if she were the enemy. Instead, his eyes held warmth and love.
I never stopped loving you…
She’d spent five years waiting to hear him say those words. Now that he had, what came next? Obviously they had to stop Christian, but then what? If they were able to gain enough evidence to put Christian in jail for life or, better yet, send him to Death Row, she’d no longer have to keeping running and looking over her shoulder. She could, if Jake was interested, resume her relationship with him. He knew the truth about her past, about her family and Christian. Now that the truth had been aired, there wasn’t anything left to hide. They could settle down together, start fresh and no longer have secrets and lies standing between them.
Only…there was one last thing she hadn’t told Jake. If they were to have a future together, she needed tell him. But how to bring it up now when they were supposed to be preparing for her meeting with Christian?
Her stomach flipped and her head tingled with unease. She didn’t want to see the bastard. After everything he’d done, the thought of seeing him made her want to vomit. He had a sickness that couldn’t be cured. He took what he wanted without a care or any remorse.
She glanced over at Jake. The man she loved was the polar opposite. If Jake wanted something, he went after it, but he did so with good intentions. He was a good man, and she wished she could have told him everything from the start. But she could tell him now. If something went wrong and she didn’t survive, she wanted to die without any regret lingering and following her into the afterworld. She wanted to die with a clear conscience and also wanted Jake to have the closure he’d need to move on after she was gone.
Tears burned her eyes. She didn’t want to die. She wanted peace and love.
She wanted a future with Jake.
“There’s something else I need to tell you,” she said before she changed her mind and allowed cowardice to creep in and stop her.
He stopped scrolling through the tablet and set it on his lap. “Another secret?” he asked, keeping his focus on the empty seat in front of him.
“Yeah, but I planned on telling you, only I ended up leaving so I—”
“Wait, leaving from
where? Bola?”
She nodded. “The day before I found out my brother was murdered, I’d gotten test results back from my gynecologist.” She drew in a deep breath hoping to bolster her confidence. “Jake, I can’t have children.”
He turned in the seat and took her hand in his. “That’s your secret?” His eyes searched hers.
“What, not big enough for you?”
He touched her cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—I’m an insensitive jackass.”
She rested her hand along his. “No, you’re not. I guess when you look at everything else I’ve been hiding, not being able to have kids isn’t that big of a deal.”
“Liar.”
“We’ve already established that.”
He grinned and gave her forehead a quick kiss. “I meant, you’re not being honest with me. You used to talk about having a big family. I’m sorry you can’t have children, but if you’re worried this changes things on my end, don’t. All I’ve ever wanted was to be with you—for you, not the kids you could give me.”
His words gave her comfort, but didn’t lessen the guilt. “You come from a big family, your brothers now have families and I know you always wanted a big family, too. This is hugely import and something you need to consider if we…”
“If we what?”
“If we got back together,” she answered. She’d come this far, she figured she might as well place all the cards on the table. He’d told her that he’d never stopped loving her. Prior to the bombings, they’d tentatively planned on trying out a long distance relationship. After spending too many years living with uncertainty, she wanted to solidify the future.
He caressed her cheek before running his hand through her hair. “If?” He cupped her head and drew her face closer to his. “There are no ifs or doubts allowed in this conversation. I want you. I want to be with you. I’ll be honest. I might’ve lied to you when we were back in Woodbine.”
“Good, now I don’t feel as guilty.”
He half smiled. “You shouldn’t feel any guilt. Not anymore. What I lied about was where I saw us heading. I suggested a long distance relationship, but had no intention of doing one. Once I had you in Chicago, I wasn’t letting you go.”
Ultimate Kill (Book 1 Ultimate CORE Trilogy) (CORE Series) Page 22