He feared that if he didn’t get out soon, he and his friends would become just like them.
Chapter Seven
By the time they reached the Edge’s main office on the outskirts of Dallas, the sun was beginning to lighten the sky.
Jake’s journal and all his letters were tucked into a shopping bag, clutched on Roxanne’s lap. Her mind kept going to dark, bleak places. What if Jake needed her? What if he was hurt right now? What if he was trapped, praying she’d come save him?
What if it was already too late?
Tanner’s hand slid beneath her hair, cupping the back of her neck as he drove. “Hang in there. I’m sure he’s fine.”
The comfort of his touch and kindness of his words sank into her, helping to drive away some of the more horrible thoughts plaguing her mind. “I hope you’re right. I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
Sure, he wasn’t around much, but he was the only family she had left. Hell, he and his mom were the only family she had ever really had, if you counted the people who truly cared about her.
She knew exactly how far her parents’ love had extended—to exactly three percent of their net worth. That was the sum total of her value to them.
Roxanne shoved away the memory, refusing to let it add to her anxiety. Jake was what mattered now, not some old wound that had long ago scabbed over.
Tanner kept an eye on his mirrors, checking their backs.
“Any tails?”
“I didn’t see any, but I didn’t see any on the way to the storage facility, either.”
“Were you looking for company?”
“Not as hard as I am now—that’s for sure.”
Tanner parked in the private, underground lot and they took the elevator up to the main floor. The doors opened in the reception area, but most of the lights were still off.
“I don’t have access to the vault, so we’ll have to wait for Bella to show up. We can wait in her office.”
Payton Bainbridge came around the corner from the break room, bearing a cup of steaming coffee. He wore his usual perfectly tailored suit, and despite the early hour, his tie was neatly knotted and exactly straight. While he had to be in his fifties, he still had the kind of dashing good looks that made women much younger than him take notice.
Or perhaps that had something to do with his sizable fortune.
Payton ran in the same social circles that Roxanne’s parents had, but he hadn’t seemed to have that same hollow spot where his soul should have been that so many of their friends did. Despite his wealth and status, Payton actually worked for a living, and that was something Roxanne couldn’t help but respect.
“Razor, Tanner, what are you two doing here so early?” he asked, smiling in greeting.
“I could ask you the same thing,” said Roxanne.
Payton shrugged. “Bella’s away, so it falls to me to keep things going in her absence.”
“Where is she?”
“Overseas on a mission. Something hush-hush, apparently.” He waved a hand as if dismissing the details.
“I need to speak to her. When will she be back?”
“In a few days. Is there something I can help you with in the meantime?”
Roxanne hesitated. She didn’t know Payton all that well, but this couldn’t wait. And Bella trusted him, which was going to have to be good enough. “I need to put something in the vault.”
“Something belonging to one of our clients?”
“Not exactly.” And then she realized a new option—one that might save Jake’s life. “Actually, yes. He is a client, and I’ll be paying his bill.”
Payton frowned and held out his hand, indicating they should precede him. “This sounds like something we should discuss in my office. Shall we?”
Roxanne turned to Tanner and lowered her voice. “I don’t know how Bella’s going to feel about this. I think now would be a good time for you to disengage yourself from this whole mess. I don’t want to risk your job.”
He stepped in front of her and bent his knees, bowing his head until their eyes were only inches apart. “If you think I’m going to walk away after you were attacked, after finding out that your friend is in trouble, then you’re crazier than the guy who thought you were a flower. We’re in this together, and if that means I lose my job, then I’ll find another one.”
“Do you two need a moment alone?” asked Payton.
“No,” said Roxanne, seeing certainty in Tanner’s eyes. “I think we’re ready.”
The truth was, she was relieved to have him at her side. She only hoped he didn’t regret his decision to stay there.
They filed into Payton’s office, and he shut the door behind them. Roxanne waited until he sat behind his desk before she began.
“I have this friend, Jake Staite.”
Payton nodded. “I remember him from your background check. He’s in the army, right?”
Roxanne nodded and clutched the bag of letters tighter to her chest. “You have a good memory.”
Payton sipped his coffee, ignoring her compliment.
“Anyway, he sent me this journal. I didn’t realize that was what it was. I was in the middle of moving, so it got packed up with the rest of his things.”
“You two live together?”
“Yes.”
Beside her, she saw Tanner stiffen. “You didn’t tell me that.”
“It’s nothing romantic. Just pure practicality,” Roxanne hurried to add. “We’re friends. He’s hardly ever home. It seemed silly for him to rent an apartment when I had that huge house all to myself. Besides, he grew up there, too.”
“Ah, right,” said Payton. “His mother worked for your family. I remember that now.”
“She did.”
“Whatever happened to her?”
“She passed away from a massive heart attack the year Jake went into the service.” Grief made Roxanne’s voice tight. It had been her senior year in high school. Jake was gone, and then so was the woman who had been more like a mother to her than the woman who’d given birth to her.
“I can tell you cared deeply for her. My condolences.”
She swallowed down the sense of loss and forced herself to focus. She refused to let Jake leave her, too. “Thank you.”
“So, can I assume that the item you’re clutching in that sack is the young man’s journal?”
“Yes.”
“And you want to house it in our vault? You know we don’t let just anything get stored there. Storage that secure demands a high premium.”
“I know. There’s more—just hear me out.”
Payton nodded for her to continue.
“I’ve had the journal for weeks. I’d been moving, and it came when I was working eighty-hour weeks. I wasn’t even sure Jake had meant for me to open the box.”
“So why did you?”
“Yesterday, I went to my parents’ estate because vandals had broken in and torn the place apart. While I was there, I got an e-mail. It was written in a code Jake and I used as kids, telling me to burn everything.”
Payton set his coffee down and leaned forward, his full attention focused on her. “So, rather than doing as he asked, you read the journal.”
“Yes. And I’m glad I did. I think Jake’s in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“He was recruited into some secret military group. After being there awhile, he started to suspect they may not even be part of the US military at all. And if they are, what they’re doing has to be illegal.”
“What kinds of things are they doing?”
“They’re giving him drugs. He says some of the men are changing, becoming violent. One of his friends killed himself.”
Even the thought of someone doing that to Jake made her want to scream. He was a good man—the best. He’d committed his life to serving his country, and now someone had tortured him. Perhaps they still were.
Tanner’s hand settled on her knee as he spoke. “Razor was attacke
d last night at the storage facility where she kept the journal. The man was well trained. He was also out of his mind and covered in needle tracks.”
Payton paled and his voice shook as he asked, “Where is that man now?”
“The police took him in. I imagine he’s in a padded room by now, undergoing a psych evaluation. But he said ‘they’ wanted the secrets back. He may not have been alone.”
“Which is why I want Jake’s journal and letters locked up,” said Roxanne. “It may be the only proof we have that something bad is happening to him.”
Payton folded his hands, and an eerie kind of calm settled over him. “You both look tired. Why don’t you get some sleep in one of the on-call rooms, and I’ll lock up the journal and make a few calls.”
“To whom?” she asked.
“Sloane’s father is a general in the army. I’ll speak to him and see if he can track down your friend. We’ll locate him and make sure there’s nothing to worry about.”
Sloane was one of the best employees the Edge had. If her father was half as capable as she was, he was going to be a valuable asset. “And if there is?” Roxanne asked.
“No sense in borrowing trouble. Get some rest. I’m sure you’re exhausted after what you’ve been through.”
“How can I rest when Jake might be in trouble?”
Payton stood, holding out his hand for the sack. “How can you help him if you can’t even stand up straight? Besides, do you have any idea where to even look for him?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Then sleep. I’ll do some legwork, and we’ll figure out where to go from here.” He gave an expectant nod toward the bag she held. “May I?”
What choice did she have? She didn’t have the same connections Payton did. And if he could use them to find Jake, she had to trust him enough to let him try.
Roxanne handed him the sack, praying she wasn’t making a huge mistake.
Tanner followed Roxanne to the on-call rooms and saw her safely inside one before heading to the vacant one across the hall. He turned and nearly ran smack into the uncomfortable meeting he’d been avoiding since interviewing for a position at the Edge.
Reid O’Connell, Tanner’s brother, stood with his hands fisted on his hips, his feet braced apart as if expecting a fight.
Tanner wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.
He nodded in greeting. “Morning.”
Reid shared the same blue eyes as all the O’Connell men. His head had been shaved a few days ago, showing the shadow of new growth. Only the long, thin scar bisecting his scalp over his left ear was left pale and glowing under the fluorescent lights—the scar Reid had earned protecting Tanner when they were kids.
The two years that separated their ages had given Tanner a serious case of hero worship for his older brother when he was a kid, but now the gap was much wider. Dad and Brody were dead, and a river of grief stood between Tanner and Reid. They were the only two men left in the family, and it had been a long time since they’d seen eye to eye.
“What are you doing here so early?” asked Reid.
“Doing my job, like Bella asked. Why are you here?”
“I have a ton of paperwork to do, but I’m leaving early for the picnic, so I’m making up the time now.”
“Picnic?”
Reid simply stared at him for a moment, as if he were slow. “Millie’s first birthday. Don’t tell me you—”
“I didn’t forget,” lied Tanner.
“You’re going to be there.”
While his older brother’s order didn’t sit well, Tanner ignored his irritation. Their youngest brother was dead. Their sister-in-law had her hands full with two small children—one with serious health problems. Millie was turning one year old today, and Tanner was going to be there.
“Of course.”
“You had forgotten,” accused Reid. “Shit, Tanner, it’s not like we have all that many parties these days. If you don’t show, Mom will—”
“I’m not going to make Mom cry again.” She’d done enough of that, both while he was away serving his country, and after the death of her husband and youngest son. “I said I’ll be there. I don’t need you—”
“Apparently you do. If I hadn’t mentioned it, you would have forgotten. Just like—”
“That was different. I was in another time zone. I called her on her birthday, just not in this part of the world.”
“You always have an excuse. There damn well better not be any more today.”
“I said I’ll be there.”
Reid stared at him for a minute before finally nodding, letting it go. “Bella said you’re assigned to Razor for a few days.”
Tanner hesitated to confirm it, wondering how his brother could twist something so simple around and make him feel like more of an ass than he already did by forgetting Millie’s party. “That’s right.”
Reid looked up and down the hallway, making sure they were alone. He lowered his voice, but the warning ringing in his tone was clear nonetheless. “Razor’s tough, but not as tough as she thinks. And she hates working with a partner.”
While he could see her resistance to teamwork, Tanner thought she’d done well when faced with danger last night. She hadn’t lost her head or panicked. She’d used the weapon at her disposal and acted before it was too late. That soldier would have pulled the trigger. Had Roxanne hesitated, the O’Connell family would be mourning today instead of celebrating a birthday. “I think you might be underestimating her.”
“I’m not. And you’d better not overestimate her. She’s been through hell.”
“You make it sound like the two of you are close.” And the thought made jealousy spread out through Tanner on rotten wings.
Reid shrugged. “Not really. But there are a lot of rumors floating around about her and what happened to her when she was a kid.”
“What kind of rumors?”
“I’m not going to spread gossip. If you want to know, ask her. But I can tell you that she’s not tough like some of the other women Bella employs. That’s why you got guard dog duty. Even Bella knows she needs a keeper.”
A slow, simmering anger began to build behind Tanner’s eyes. “I’m not sure if that’s more judgmental or condescending. You’ve taken a turn toward prick since I left.”
“I’m a hell of a lot more realistic than I used to be. If that hurts your feelings, so be it, but you need to know what you’re dealing with. I put my neck on the line to get you this job. If you fuck it up, we could both be out—”
“I’m not going to fuck up anything. I may have been a dumb, scrawny kid when I went into the military, but I’m no longer the baby brother you remember. I don’t need you to hold my hand anymore, so stop pretending the world will cease to exist without you.”
Reid’s jaw clenched in anger. “While you were away doing whatever the hell you felt like, I was the one taking care of the family and—”
“Doing whatever the hell I felt like? Is that what you think I was doing overseas? Lounging on a beach, drinking—”
“Might as well have been for all the good it did the family. You were on leave for only three days after the accident. I was with Mom and Karen every day. I held them while they cried. I was there when Millie was born, because Brody couldn’t be. I’m the one keeping this family together, and now that you’re home, it’s my job to take care of you, too. If you won’t take my advice, fine, but don’t blame me when Razor is true to form and takes off without you.”
Reid was right about having to do the heavy lifting after their dad and Brody died. Tanner had only managed to get a few days of leave. He’d had no choice but to return to the battlefield and abandon his family to deal with the loss on their own. But at least they’d had one another. All he’d had was the crushing loss of his brother and father with no one around who knew what he felt. He’d kept it hidden, secret. He’d stayed tough and shoved the grief away so he could do his job. Some days that had been all that had kept him sa
ne. “If she does ditch me, I’ll find her.” Again.
“Before or after she gets herself—”
“I’m on it,” said Tanner. “I don’t need your help.”
Reid shook his head. “I guess we’ll see.”
They would. Tanner would make sure he did whatever it took to handle things on his own, because, despite Tanner’s never having really lived up to his dad’s expectations the way Reid had and despite the chasm between them having widened over the years, Tanner still loved his brother.
Reid was carrying too much weight. Not only was Tanner determined not to add to it by fucking up; he was going to find a way to lighten his brother’s load. After months of shouldering the burden alone, it was time for Reid to accept some help—whether or not he wanted it.
Payton took no chances. He locked himself in the vault and read the young man’s journal from beginning to end. What he saw had to be a mistake.
Jake Staite mentioned Dr. Stynger—who was dead. Payton had killed her himself, trapping her inside that burning lab so she’d go up in flames with Dr. Leeson and all of his research.
She couldn’t be alive. It had to be a coincidence—someone else with the same name.
Even as the thought entered his mind, he dismissed it. The things the young soldier described in his journal were too familiar—just like the photos of that lab Bella had destroyed in Mexico.
Payton’s worst fears were being confirmed. The Threshold Project wasn’t dead and buried as he and the others had wanted to believe.
He left the journal behind in the vault, then went to his office and locked the door. The security of his phone line at work was good but not as good as what he had in his basement at home. Sadly, it would have to do. He couldn’t waste any time driving home.
General Robert Norwood was an early riser, and he answered his personal line on the first ring.
“We have a problem,” said Payton.
“Is it Sloane?”
“No. She’s fine. This has nothing to do with your daughter.”
Bob let out an audible sigh of relief. “Then talk fast. I have a meeting.”
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