“I’ll explain, but I think we really need to leave.”
Simone took a deep breath and held it, watching as he repacked his belongings into his briefcase.
“We’re not going anywhere until you explain,” she started and then a commotion at the door pulled at her attention. She turned to see two of her brothers, Parker and Armstrong, and two uniformed police officers standing at the entrance talking with Jacob. Their chatter carried through the room, the conversation casual. They all appeared to be old acquaintances greeting each other warmly.
The two strangers suddenly began eyeing each other nervously. Their earlier bravado seemed to be momentarily eliminated. Simone shot Paul a look but said nothing. They continued watching and another quick minute passed before the duo finally rose from where they sat at the bar and moved toward the exit door. Sighs of relief seemed to billow throughout the whole room.
The Black brothers were slowly moving toward their table, both eyeing the other two men as they passed each other. Parker acknowledged them with a nod of his head but there was no response. As the two men exited the building, the uniformed cops followed behind them.
Detective Armstrong Black greeted them with a wide grin. “Well, well, well. Isn’t this a pleasant surprise!” he said. He extended his hand in greeting and the two men bumped shoulders. “How’s it going, Paul?”
“It’s good to see you, Armstrong.”
Armstrong winked an eye at his baby sister. “Simone.”
“Armstrong.”
Parker shook his head as he leaned to kiss Simone’s cheek. He and Paul shook hands. “Everyone okay?”
Simone nodded. “You two didn’t need to come. You could have just sent a patrol car.”
“We just wanted to make sure everything was good.”
“You two just wanted to be nosey.”
“That, too!” Parker said with a chuckle. His phone rang, pulling his attention as he stepped away to answer the call.
Armstrong took a seat at the table with them. “So, one of you want to tell me what’s going on? Why the concern?”
Simone turned toward Paul, folding her arms over her chest. Raising her brows, she gave him a questioning look.
He heaved a deep sigh, closing his eyes for a split second. “I made a mistake. I should never have called Simone. I just...well...” He paused. Then shrugged, as if unable to find the worlds to answer the question being posed.
Simone rolled her eyes skyward. “It’s nothing,” she said. “Those two just looked sketchy and I didn’t like how pushy they were being. I was worried that something might jump off and figured we were better safe than sorry.”
Armstrong looked from one to the other, perhaps sensing a half-truth and a blatant lie being told. Before he could question them further, Parker rejoined the conversation.
“My guys ran their license plate. It’s a rental car that came back to a man named Thomas Donald. That ring any bells?”
Paul and Simone both shook their heads.
Parker continued. “We didn’t get a hit on anyone named Thomas Donald and we don’t have any reason to hold either of them.”
“What about the gun I saw?”
“He had a valid FOID.”
“What’s that?” Paul questioned. “FOID?”
“Firearm Owners Identification card. It makes it legal for him to carry a concealed weapon,” Simone answered.
Parker nodded. “They’re gone now, so I wouldn’t be overly concerned. I think you may have just overreacted.”
“Simone? Overreact? Not my little sister!” Armstrong said facetiously as he pressed his palm to his broad chest. “My little sister never overreacts!”
“Don’t you two have someplace to be?” Simone said, annoyance painting her expression.
Armstrong shook his head. “Nope. We’re officially off duty!”
Paul chuckled, a moment of amusement washing over him. It passed quickly but Simone was the only one who noticed. She met his eyes and held the gaze a second longer than necessary before turning back to her brothers.
“You’re intruding on my date.”
“So, it is a date?” Parker asked, his grin widening.
“Mom will be very excited. I can’t wait to tell her,” Armstrong added.
Paul laughed out loud. “How is your mom?”
Simone tossed him another look. “Please don’t entertain them. If you talk to them, they won’t go away. And they need to go away!” She looked from one brother to the other.
“My feelings are hurt, Simone!” Armstrong said. He pushed his full lips out in a full pout.
“Mine, too, but the hint is taken,” Parker said. He rose from his seat, adjusting the jacket of his navy-blue suit.
“I need to get home anyway,” Armstrong added. “I have a wife waiting for me!” He grinned smugly as he waved his ring finger, like they needed to be reminded that he was a newlywed, having recently married another detective on the Chicago police team.
Parker laughed. “I have someone waiting for me, too, but she’s not a wife.”
“Not yours anyway,” Simone quipped.
Laughter rang around the table.
“It was good to see you guys again,” Paul said, the trio shaking hands one last time.
“Good luck,” Armstrong said, his voice dropping to a loud whisper. “She’s still mean as hell!”
“I heard that!” Simone exclaimed, her eyes rolling skyward.
The brothers grinned, both leaning to kiss their sister’s cheek one last time.
“Stay out of trouble, Simone,” Parker said.
“Please,” Armstrong echoed.
The couple watched as the two men strolled back toward the door, pausing briefly to chat with an elderly couple who sat near the front of the room.
“I see things haven’t changed much,” Paul said casually.
“You don’t get to do that,” Simone snapped. “You don’t get to pretend nothing’s wrong when clearly something’s not right. Now spill it! Why did you call me? Why are we not safe, and who were those two men?”
Contrition furrowed Paul’s brow. “I shouldn’t have called you, Simone.”
“But you did, so tell me why. What’s going on, Paul?”
Jacob interrupted the conversation, dropping two drinks onto the table. “Courtesy of Captain Black,” he said, smiling brightly.
Simone shook her head. “What is this?” The beverage was a beautiful shade of pink, topped with a fluff of cotton candy and skewered raspberries.
“We call it the Honeymoon Special.”
Paul laughed again, relieving the tension between them. “Your brothers have a keen sense of humor.”
“They really are not funny,” Simone responded, though she felt the slightest smile pulling at her mouth.
“Are you ready to order?” Jacob asked.
“I think we’re going to have to take it to go, Jacob,” Paul said. “I hope that’s not a problem.”
“Not at all, Dr. Reilly. Your usual?”
“Yes, sir. The Bad Burger with a side of fries, please.”
“I’ll take the mac and cheese,” Simone said. “Also to go.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll put that order in for you. And I’d like to throw in a dessert on the house. We have a spectacular carrot cake tonight. I’d also highly recommend the vanilla brownie.”
“The carrot cake sounds good,” Simone said. “Thank you, Jacob.”
“And for you, Dr. Reilly?”
“Whatever the lady is having sounds good to me,” Paul said.
“Two slices of carrot cake to go. I’ll be back shortly with your food,” Jacob said as he backed away from the table and headed toward the kitchen.
* * *
A pregnant pause bloomed full and thick between them. Simone stared, the look she
was giving him so intense that Paul felt his stomach flip as the air was sucked from his lungs. She was even more stunning than he remembered, and he remembered everything about Simone.
Her hair had been freshly cut, her lush curls cropped short in a style that flattered her exquisite face. Chocolate-chip freckles danced across her nose and cheeks, complementing her warm copper complexion. Her dark eyes were large and bright and light shimmered in her stare. And she had the most perfect mouth, her full, luscious lips like plush pillows begging to be kissed. It took every ounce of fortitude he possessed not to lean over and capture her lips with his own. He took a deep breath and held it, hoping to stall the emotion that had swelled between them.
If anyone had asked, Paul would have had to admit to falling in love with Simone at first sight. She’d been the most beautiful woman he had ever seen as she had skipped across the university’s quad. He’d stepped into her path and had introduced himself, asking for directions he hadn’t needed. Simone had walked him to the destination, talking a mile a minute, which she later admitted had been to calm her nerves about a class that had her concerned. Their friendship had been like spun sugar: threads deeply entwined, intensely sweet and delicately fragile. Simone treaded cautiously, wherein he was always ready to take risks.
After spending a decade together, he had never imagined life without her until the day she’d told him to leave, unwilling to follow where he needed to go. He was still in shock, still hurt by the loss, still hoping for a reconciliation, even if he never said the words aloud. There was just something about the two of them together that worked, making it feel like all was well in the world, even when they were off-balance with each other.
He finally spoke, Simone still waiting patiently for him to say something. “I think Lender Pharmaceuticals is poisoning patients who are taking their drugs.”
Simone blinked, her lashes fluttering as she processed the comment. “That’s a serious accusation, Paul,” she said finally.
He nodded. “I know, and I don’t make it lightly, but I believe that I have irrefutable proof that Lender Pharmaceuticals is purposely providing contaminated medications to doctors and medical facilities here in the United States and abroad.”
Paul continued to explain. “I’ve been working in a clinic in Ghana. In Accra. It’s not a large facility but it supports the local orphanages in the area and has been a refuge for the community. I have patients that I had treated for a measles-related virus on a previous trip who should have been well by now, but they’re either still symptomatic, showing rapid deterioration or have succumbed to the illness. And not one or two patients, but dozens! The disease is spreading too quickly in communities that should be thriving when you consider the preventive and curative medications that Lender Pharmaceuticals has been providing. On this last trip I think I may have poked a bear by throwing accusing questions at them that the company wasn’t expecting.”
“What’s the drug we’re talking about?”
“It’s a synthetic drug called Halphedrone-B, which is being used worldwide to treat patients with autoimmune diseases, most especially in impoverished communities, because allegedly Lender is practically selling it at cost. But I think it’s the drug that’s killing them.”
“What kind of proof do you have?”
“The drugs. The patients. The fact that since I called BS on their products, I feel like someone wants to stop me from going public with the information.”
“How? What’s happened that you haven’t told me?”
Paul took a deep breath. He hadn’t given the series of mishaps while he’d been abroad any thought until he’d spoken with his brother. He’d experienced several minor accidents that could have been potentially devastating. There had been a car traveling too fast that had just missed hitting him, and a fire, the cause unknown and devastating the hut he’d been sleeping in. Lastly, the close encounter at the airport in Africa with a stranger he’d dismissed as mentally ill, a man swinging a machete haphazardly in his direction until security had taken him down. Considering all of it together, and now the two strangers who’d clearly had him in their sights, had him concerned.
When he finished detailing the incidents, Simone shook her head, the gesture slow and methodic. “What else?”
Paul took a deep breath and blew it past his full lips. “I overnighted blood and tissue samples, and drug samples to my brother. I asked him to run some tests for me. The samples have disappeared.”
“Define disappeared.”
“Someone took them. They knew he had them and they stole them right out of his lab.”
“Do you think that someone is tracking you?”
“I don’t know what to think, Simone. Hell, I’m not even sure what to do with what I do know.”
“So, you called me?”
“I trust you.”
There was a moment that passed between them as Simone remembered what that trust meant to them both. How important it had been to protect and nurture each other. To have complete and total faith in what they shared. She suddenly resisted the urge to wrap her arms around him, wanting to pull him close to tell him everything was going to be okay. To say it, even if she wasn’t certain that it would.
“You probably shouldn’t go back to your apartment. Not until we’re sure it’s safe. You can stay with me while we figure it out,” she said instead.
“I need to go to the hospital. I need to follow up on patients I have here.”
She started to argue and then she didn’t. “I need to do some research. I also have a sorority sister at the FDA. I’ll call her tomorrow to see if they have any open investigations against Lender. I hope you’re wrong, Paul, but if you’re not, I’ll do whatever I can to help you take them down.”
Paul reached for her hand, his palm sliding warmly against hers as he entwined her fingers between his own. For as much as he trusted her, he knew Simone trusted him, too. He’d spent most of his adult life assuring her that he would never walk her into trouble he couldn’t get her out of, and until now, he’d been certain that he could do that. Now he had doubts and that uncertainty felt like a sledgehammer to his abdomen. “Thank you, but I don’t want to drag you into this. Especially if it looks like it might get ugly.”
“You should have thought about that before you called me.”
“I honestly didn’t think you’d come.”
“You knew I’d come.”
Paul held the look she was giving him. He didn’t bother to acknowledge that she was right. Nor did he admit that he hadn’t really thought it through. He knew he didn’t need to tell her that he was suddenly feeling like he was out of his element, or that he was scared. But with her by his side, he had faith it would all work out. He didn’t need to say it because Simone knew. She knew him better than anyone.
Minutes later he had paid for their meals and they were walking back up the block toward her car. Neither had spoken, nothing else needing to be said. Both had fallen into their own thoughts, planning what needed to come next, or not. Paul carried the bags of food and Simone had looped her arm through his, lightly clutching his elbow as she steadied herself on her high heels.
The car lock disengaged when Simone pressed her hand to the door latch. Paul opened her side door, closing it after she was settled in the driver’s seat. He moved around the back of the vehicle to the passenger side, pausing to rest their dinners on the back seat. He had just opened his door when a gunshot rang loudly through the late-night air. The windowpane in the storefront behind him shattered, glass sounding like breaking chimes against the concrete sidewalk. The building’s alarm rang loudly, the harsh tones loud enough to wake the dead. A second shot shattered the car’s back window.
Panic hit Paul broadside, rising fear holding him hostage where he stood. He was discombobulated, but he ducked, his gaze sweeping the landscape for an explanation. Simone shouted, the words incoherent as s
he shifted the car into Reverse. Paul jumped awkwardly into the passenger seat as she pulled forward, grazing the bumper of the car parked in front of her. A few quick turns and they were driving seventy miles per hour on Highway 41 until both were certain they weren’t being followed. When she finally slowed to the speed limit, Paul cussed, the profanity moving Simone to toss him a quick look.
“What now?” she asked.
“Whatever it takes,” Paul answered, still trying to catch his breath. “We’ll do whatever it takes to shut these bastards down.
Simone nodded. “Let’s not get killed trying to do it.”
Paul took a deep breath into his lungs and held it. His mind was racing, his thoughts a mishmash of questions with no answers. Confusion had settled deep into every crevice in his head; it felt like sludge was weighing down his thought process. “We should find somewhere to lay low,” he said. “Until we can figure it all out.”
“We can go back to my house...” Simone started.
“No. Now that they’ve seen us together, I don’t trust that they won’t find us there.”
“Then we should go to the police station.”
“Let’s just get a hotel room. I don’t think we should involve the police just yet.”
“Someone shot at us, Paul! We need to file a report! My brothers need to know!”
“I know that, Simone! But I need to think this through. Please, just give me a minute to think!”
“We might not have a minute, Paul!” Simone’s voice rose an octave and the tension between them suddenly increased ten-fold. Before either could blink, the conversation took a sharp left turn and they were yelling back and forth, each determined to prove a point when there was none. It was Bickering 101 and reminiscent of when their relationship had gone all kinds of wrong.
Copyright © 2019 by Deborah Fletcher Mello
ISBN-13: 9781488041495
Under the Agent’s Protection
Copyright © 2019 by Jennifer D. Bokal
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor, Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada.
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