Identity: Classified

by Liz Shoaf

  “Geordie, close in,” she commanded calmly.

  The dog quit barking and flanked the other side of Henry. Ethan was so impressed by the efficiency of her movements and her coolness under pressure, he momentarily froze. He could easily fall in love with this secretive, unique woman. He snapped out of that train of thought when she scowled at him.

  “Anytime now, Sheriff Hoyt.”

  Everyone close to them in the park was scattering as fast as they could run. He nodded at Chloe to move forward and he covered their rear. When they reached the street, he flagged down a taxi. When one pulled to the curb, Ethan herded them forward and Henry looked at him with the light of battle in his eyes. The man might be ancient, but Ethan thought Henry was almost enjoying himself, even though he’d just been shot.

  Ethan scanned the area again before ripping open the back door of the taxi. Chloe helped Henry and the dog in, then she squished in beside them and started tending to Henry’s arm.

  Ethan hopped into the front passenger seat of the taxi and looked at Chloe for an address. She rattled it off and the taxi merged into traffic. He glanced at the back seat. Geordie was in Chloe’s lap—his tongue hanging out.

  Chloe was so calm and focused; Ethan didn’t think he’d ever get used to her casual manner toward danger. He wondered again at what kind of life she’d lived. “We should take Henry to the hospital.”

  Henry ignored him and addressed Chloe. “It’s just a flesh wound. Bullet went straight through. We should go to my place. You can patch me up. If you need the kind of help I think you need, sooner’s better than later. I have special equipment at my place.”

  Ethan glanced at Chloe and saw the worry in her eyes. Maybe the casual manner she presented was a cover. If it was, she was very good at it.

  Henry must have seen the same flash of worry, because he released a put-upon huff. “Fine. There’s a retired doc who lives a few doors down. We’ll stop there, let him fix me up.”

  Ethan was shocked when the taxi pulled up in front of a high-rise apartment building. It even had a doorman helping people inside. He shot Chloe a questioning glance.

  Her lips curved upward. “Surprise.”

  He shook his head. “Stay in the taxi until I check things out.”

  He hurried around the hood of the cab, noting they’d both ignored him and piled out of the vehicle. The doorman rushed forward to open the door. Henry kept to the side so the doorman couldn’t see his wrapped arm and probably start asking questions. The man was wily, that was for sure, and Ethan was beginning to wonder where the old man got the money to live in an expensive apartment.

  Ethan quickly herded them inside the building. A man dressed in an expensive-looking suit standing behind a tall desk nodded to Henry as they passed by. The lobby was more ornate than Ethan cared for—not his taste—and once again he wondered about Henry’s financial status.

  They entered an elevator and Ethan’s questions about Henry increased when a man stationed inside the elevator asked which floor. The place was very high-end. Almost as if Henry could hear Ethan’s thoughts clicking away, he peered up at him from beneath bushy eyebrows. The old man had a sneaky smile on his face, as if he enjoyed confounding people. “Was married once. Wife’s family had money. She left me pretty well off after she passed away. We never had kids. I saved my money and made several good tech investments through the years.”

  “I didn’t ask.”

  Henry grunted. “Wouldn’t be worth your salt as an officer of the law if you weren’t wondering.”

  The rest of the ride was quiet.

  They exited the elevator and Chloe helped Henry down the hall. Ethan figured his arm had to be hurting pretty bad by now.

  Henry stopped in front of a door and rang the bell. A tall, slim man with salt-and-pepper hair opened the door and glared at Henry. “What have you done this time?”

  By now Henry was holding his arm, and quite a bit of blood had seeped through the makeshift wrapping.

  “Got myself shot, and I’m in a hurry.”

  The tall man glared at Ethan, Chloe and the dog, but Henry forwent the introductions.

  “You don’t wanna know. Just patch me up and I’ll be out of your hair in a jiff.”

  The man Ethan assumed was a doctor raised an imperial brow. “My fee will be your 1986 Barry Bonds baseball card.”

  Henry took in a sharp breath and released it in short, jerky puffs. “You’re a thief.”

  “And you’re a troublemaker. I won’t ask why you refuse to go to the hospital.”

  “Fine,” Henry said. “Just patch me up and I’ll get the card later.”

  Ethan couldn’t believe Henry was standing in the hall of a high-rent apartment, bleeding, and negotiating a baseball card trade. He looked at Chloe and she shook her head. He got the hint: stay out of it.

  Henry slipped a key card into Chloe’s hands. “Y’all go on ahead. I’ll be there soon.” Then he disappeared into the apartment.

  They walked two doors down, but before Chloe opened the door, Ethan wondered aloud, “How much is a 1986 Barry Bonds baseball card worth?”

  She grinned up at him and her dimples popped. “Over thirty-six hundred dollars.”

  He almost keeled over at the staggering amount, and his suspicions rose again, but it didn’t matter how Henry made his money. They needed a secure place to try to figure out what was on the disc—or rather, Chloe’s computer now—and this apartment building was as secure as any for the time being.

  Geordie bounded ahead of them after Chloe opened the door, and at a first glance, Ethan decided the apartment itself went with the man more than the location did. A ratty sofa sat beside a very lived in recliner. The huge flat-screen TV mounted on the wall stood in stark contrast with the Hawaiian hula lamp perched on a side table beside the recliner.

  The apartment was large and open. It would have been stunning if properly decorated.

  Chloe dropped her duffel bag on the floor, took the leash off Geordie and headed down a hallway. When she opened one of the doors and Ethan followed her in, he stopped in his tracks. He’d never seen anything like it.

  * * *

  Chloe kept a tight rein on her emotions as she entered Uncle Henry’s private office. She went straight to the main computer, sliding into a chair after her fingers had already started typing.

  A strangled sound came from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder. “I told you Uncle Henry worked in the FBI cyber department.” She faced forward again. Time was of the essence. “He likes to keep up.”

  Chloe felt more than heard Ethan move close behind her. She was becoming more and more tuned in to him, and she didn’t know if that was a good thing.

  “Is this legal?” he asked. “What Henry is doing? Is it legal? This place looks like a computer center, and are all those screens hanging on the walls showing things going on in different countries?”

  Chloe figured Stan tracked everything Henry did and allowed it. “Probably.”

  “Probably?” he all but shouted in her ear.

  She kept typing. “At the moment, what Uncle Henry does in his spare time is none of my concern. This is the most secure system outside of FBI headquarters.”

  She swiveled the chair around on its rollers. “I should have given the killer the disc with everything on it. I’ve placed my friends in danger, but it’s worse this time. The killer is angry.” She closed her mouth and swallowed the fear trying to crawl up her throat. She looked up at Ethan. “H-he shot Henry.”

  Chloe was a master at concealing her emotions, but this time, it was too much. Ethan looked down at her, then knelt in front of her. She knew he was going to wrap his arms around her before it happened, but she allowed it—no, she wanted it, needed the closeness of another human being. Betty always hugged Chloe when she visited her adoptive parents, but this was different. She needed the comfort Et
han was freely offering.

  She heard Geordie whimper in the background as she melted into the strong arms wrapping her in warmth and security. Security, what an interesting word, she thought. She had always prided herself on her independence. She could take care of herself, but maybe just this once she’d let someone else carry the load for a few minutes.

  He held her close for a short time before pulling back, his strong hands cupping her face. Then slowly, ever so slowly, as if giving her time to object, his lips moved toward hers. She shouldn’t let it happen—there was no future for them—but she needed the closeness, just this one time.

  His lips touched hers, and they were so soft and gentle. She took what he offered: gentleness in a world of violence, comfort in place of chaos, a promise of what life could be if she were someone else.

  Her last thought had her pulling back. His hands fell away and she saw the apology in his eyes. She didn’t like it, but life was like that, always snatching the good things away from her.

  She made light of the situation, hiding what she longed for deep in her heart. A normal life. “Thanks, I needed that. Let me grab my computer and we’ll find out what was on that disc.”

  Ethan looked as if he wanted to say something; instead, he got to his feet and nodded.

  Chloe hopped out of the chair and hurried to her duffel bag where she’d dropped it in the foyer. Pulling the laptop out of the bag, she went back to Uncle Henry’s computer room. She shoved the kiss out of her mind. They had to decipher the code and catch the killer before someone else got hurt. Ethan pulled up a chair and Chloe had just plugged her laptop into Henry’s secure system when a noise at the front door had Ethan quietly leaving his seat, gun in hand.

  She heard Henry’s voice and went back to work. She looked up when they came into the room. “You okay?” Henry’s arm was in a sling, and he looked a little pale, but other than that, he was his old, feisty self.

  “I’m fine,” he grumbled. “Can’t believe a man of medicine swindled me out of my Barry Bonds card. Thought doctors had a code or something...”

  His words trailed off as lines of information filled the big screen in front of Chloe.

  “Move over, girl, let me have a crack at this.”

  He kept talking as Chloe got out of his chair and he slid in. She grabbed another chair and scooted it to his side.

  “How did you protect the download?”

  Chloe leaned over and watched Henry’s arthritic fingers move over the keyboard. “I built a new firewall and closed internet access, hoping the killer wouldn’t be able to break through before I could get here.”

  Henry cackled. “He’s been trying, but you did good, girl. He hasn’t gotten in so far. Now let’s get this information protected and off your laptop, then we can get to work.”

  Chloe took a deep, grateful breath when the transfer was complete. Henry’s system was virtually impenetrable. Not impossible to hack into, but it would give them time to find the killer.

  She looked at Ethan, standing a short distance from the desk. His lips were curved in a wry smile.

  “This technology is so far beyond me, I feel out of the loop. I’m used to solving crimes the old-fashioned way.”

  “That’s why we have cyber departments in the FBI, to help you guys in the field,” Henry responded, his fingers still moving across the keyboard. “Nothing to be ashamed of.” But the smugness in Henry’s voice said otherwise. Without taking his eyes off the computer screen, Henry got nosy. “Y’all got something going on I need to know about?”

  Chloe frowned, looked around the room, then glared at Henry. “You have cameras in here?”

  “Sure do, and me and the doc saw y’all in a lip-lock on my smartphone.” He swiveled his chair around and glowered at Ethan. “You hurt my girl and I’ll come after you, ya hear? I got more resources than you could ever imagine.”

  Chloe bit back a grin. Ethan’s eyes were darting around the room, no doubt looking for a camera. He’d never find them. Some of the new, experimental cameras were the size of a pinhead.

  “That’s our business, and I don’t appreciate your spying on a private moment.” Ethan stared Henry down until Henry turned back to the computer screen. Chloe had to give Ethan credit; he gave Henry as good as he got.

  Henry muttered as he worked. “Haven’t seen anything like this in a good while.”

  Chloe scooted her chair closer to the bank of computers. “What is it?”

  “Old code. I recognize it from my early days in the FBI. Good thing you came to me. Those young bucks working there now would never have been able to decipher it. It’s a lost art.”

  “Can you break the code?”

  Henry snorted. “Piece of cake.”

  Henry lifted a hand with flourish and hit a final key. Chloe and Ethan moved in closer when the jumbled numbers and symbols changed. They formed lines of ten-digit numbers and Chloe’s heart dropped.

  “Bank account numbers.” She breathed the words and looked at Ethan. At a loss, she asked, “What were my parents involved in?”

  Henry snapped his head around. “Your parents? The missionaries?”

  Chloe nodded. “Yes.”

  Ethan jumped in when she finished. “We haven’t yet proven they were involved.”

  Deep in her gut, Chloe knew they were involved. To what extent was the question. She ignored the small voice telling her they didn’t love her, that whatever they were involved in was more important to them than she was. She reached out and hugged Henry. “Thank you so much, but we have a lot to do. Are you going to be okay?”

  “I just lost my Barry Bonds card. What do you think?”

  Chloe hugged him again. “I’ll be back around soon.” And she’d make sure to visit him more often. There weren’t many people she cared about or who cared about her. Henry didn’t have many more years left, and she made a promise to herself to go fishing with him as soon as she could.

  They were preparing to leave when Henry called after them, “I’ll keep digging, and I wanna be invited to the wedding.”

  SEVENTEEN

  Ethan brooded about the kiss while Chloe rounded up Geordie, hooked the leash to his collar and grabbed her duffel bag. She must have picked up on his mood. Before opening the front door, she turned back to him.

  “Don’t worry about what happened before Henry came in. It didn’t mean anything.”

  She was talking about the kiss, and he was confused about it himself, but he sure didn’t like her telling him how he should feel about it.

  Stubbornness rooted his feet to the floor. “Speak for yourself.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized it. He didn’t know what the kiss meant, but he didn’t like that it meant nothing to her, and that made the whole thing even more confusing.

  He stepped in front of her before she got to the door, but stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “We’ll discuss it later.”

  Her chin lifted. “No, we won’t.” Her face softened. “Listen, Ethan, you’re a squeaky clean type of guy. It would never work, and my life is a mess right now.”

  It was the sad look in her eyes that did him in. “Tell me your secrets, Chloe, and let me decide whether I can live with them or not.”

  She stepped away and he felt her withdrawing from him both emotionally and physically. “My past isn’t relevant to the case, Sheriff Hoyt. I suggest we get this show on the road. We’re getting closer, but the longer it takes to find this maniac, the longer my friends are at risk.”

  He backed off. He didn’t know why he was pushing the issue. It wasn’t like he was ready for a relationship anyway, and she definitely wasn’t his type. “Fine. I think we should visit your adoptive father. We need help.”

  She surprised him when she said, “I agree. I’ll call Stan, tell him to meet us at his house.”

  He nodded, went out first and checked the
hall. They took the elevator and were in the lobby within minutes. Henry must have been three steps ahead of them and set up the rental car earlier because the guy at the desk pointed out the door.

  “There’s a rental car waiting.”

  Ethan shifted his duffel bag on his shoulder and stepped out first. He opened the passenger door of the rental car, and Chloe and Geordie hopped in. He rounded the hood of the vehicle, and the guy who’d delivered the car handed him the keys and headed toward the subway entrance on the corner.

  Chloe gave Ethan the address after he slid into the driver’s seat. He put it in the GPS and they were on their way. She looked calm, but Ethan had a better feel for her now. Problem was, he didn’t know what was going on in that busy mind of hers.

  “How far to our destination?”

  “Between one and two hours, based on the traffic. Stan and Betty live in Queens. Stan commutes every day.”

  “Wouldn’t it have been quicker to meet him at his office?”

  “Not unless you want me to be tied up at the police station for hours. Don’t forget I’m a person of interest because a dead body was found in my apartment.”

  Ethan tapped the steering wheel with his index finger and processed everything that had happened. He thought about Chloe having to revisit her past. A past filled with pain and loss.

  “Tell me about Stan and Betty.”

  Her lips curled in a genuine smile. “Stan looks like a poster child for the FBI. He’s tall, muscular but slim, and has salt-and-pepper hair. He’s always been firm, but fair. Betty volunteers a lot.”

  “I’m sure you were a handful.”

  “Sarcasm, Sheriff?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Please go on.” He found himself more and more intrigued by Chloe Spencer and wanted to know everything about her.

  Chloe stared out the passenger window. “It didn’t take but about a year for Stan and Betty to work their magic on me. It was good cop, bad cop. Stan would dole out the punishment when I misbehaved, and Betty would sneak me cookies while I was grounded.”