“Can we shut down the cameras in the Chavez building?” Seth asks. “And make it seem like they were never shut down?”
“I don’t know yet,” Nick replies. “But we could arrange a power outage for the entire county at just the right time.”
Seth glances at the road. “We’re headed to the Chavez warehouses. We’ll be back in touch.” He picks up the phone and ends the call. “Let’s hope like fucking hell that wasn’t a mistake.”
“Rick sounds like the best solution we have,” I say. “The only solution.”
“There’s always more than one solution,” he says, turning us down a street and almost immediately warehouses surround us. “The building on the right is the one the guard exited,” Seth informs me. “That’s a prime target.”
I scan it, looking for anything that stands out, but there is nothing exceptional about it. I do the same with every warehouse in our path, as we turn several times and pull into a parking lot where we park next to the Reynoldses’ car. “Here we go,” Seth says. “Let’s get this happy show over with.”
We exit the car and Karen is by my side, yacking instantly, linking her arm with mine as we enter the building. “It’s very dirty,” I say, playing the role I’ve created as we tour the giant empty space.
John laughs. “It’s actually quite clean for a warehouse.”
“But this is for a clothing designer.” I argue. “We have to keep the product in prime condition. What about offices? Can we build-out nice offices for our staff?”
“We’ll have to talk to the building owner,” John says. “But I’m certain he’d be fine with that happening.”
“What about this property makes it appealing?” Seth asks.
“Location, access to the labor and a bus line, as well as safety.”
The two men talk and I endure shopping chatter and bitching with Karen while studying the building structure. The doors. The docks. Looking at a setup that I hope matches every Chavez property.
Finally, we step outside, and John says, “I have another warehouse a few blocks over to show you that actually has built-in offices.”
We all climb into our cars and head to another warehouse. And another. Hours later, we are finally done with the Reynoldses, with a promise to have dinner in a few days and not much else. We exit the warehouse district and are just pulling onto the highway when a truck passes us from the opposite direction. I twist around and watch as it turns into the warehouse district while we are now stuck on a one way. “That was a bottled water truck,” I say, facing forward again. “It went to the warehouses.”
“And that works for the toxin distribution?”
“It would avoid the filtration issues that might dilute the drug,” I say. “And it stabilizes the toxin by sealing it in the water. It won’t lose its shelf life until the bottle is actually opened. That means twelve hours can still be long enough to kill a lot of people.”
“Fuck,” Seth murmurs, handing me his phone. “Call Nick. Find out if there’s a bottled water company here in this area.”
I dial Nick. “Bottled water,” I say, as he answers, placing him on speaker. “I need to know if there’s a company anywhere near the Chavez warehouses.”
“Hold on,” he says, seconds ticking by that feel like hours, before he says, “Yes. And I’m not up to date on this toxin, but I assume you’re thinking this is the target?”
“Yes,” I say. “I am. I have to get in that building tonight. And we all better hope the toxin is there and I can start working on an antidote, because if he’s planning to use this water company for an attack, he could be using others.”
“I can have our team ready to go in by tomorrow night,” Nick offers.
“We can’t wait until tomorrow night,” I say. “I have to get in there tonight.”
“Make plans,” Seth says, pulling into a random building and parking. “Or we’ll go in without you.”
“This is it,” I say. “And if I’m right,” I glance at Seth,” and I know that I’m right, Franklin will want to be here for the big event. That’s how he works. He’s close.”
“Then we’re close to getting him,” Seth says.
“But that means he is so very close to killing a lot of people.”
“Rick wants three hundred thousand,” Nick announces. “I just got a text.”
“Make it half a million,” Seth says. “All but the first hundred is contingent on the following, paid in hundred thousand dollar increments: getting Franklin, finding Amanda’s father, finding out who killed Amanda’s mother, and naming the dirty agent or agents who set Amanda up. There’s an extra two hundred and fifty thousand in it for him if he clears Amanda’s name.”
My lips part in silent shock.
“Got it,” Nick says. “Details soon.” He ends the call.
I face him. “Seth, who is paying that seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars? Because you do know that’s what you just offered, right?”
“Me,” he says. “I told you. I’ve made lot of money.”
“How much money?”
“Ten million or so.” He drags me to him, the way he had that first day he’d found me in the college campus parking lot, his fingers tangling in my hair. “And I’d spend every dime for your freedom, but if we don’t get it, we leave. As soon as this is over. We leave. I’ll make the arrangements. Agreed?”
My heart clenches. “I don’t want to do that to you. I love you and I don’t—”
He kisses me, a deep, demanding, hard kiss, before he says, “I can’t breathe without you, woman. I’m not losing you again. We leave. Say it.”
“We leave,” I breathe out, because the truth is, I can’t breathe without him, either.
Chapter Six
On the way to the hotel room, I call Bear and update him, arranging for him to meet us at the room. Then I move on to another pressing matter that refuses to be ignored. “When was the last time we ate?”
“Too damn long ago,” Seth says. “I was just thinking about ordering about five pizzas, but with Bear headed in our direction, I’m making it ten.”
And he’s not joking. He calls the hotel, gets a number for Pizza Hut, and orders ten pizzas. We enter our suite before the order, or Bear, arrives, opening the door to a happy kitty greeting, complete with purrs and cute meows. God, how I love this little animal. Seth locks the door, and I pick up Julie, turning to face him. “If I go, she goes.”
He closes the two steps between us and kisses my temple. “I know, sweetheart. And we’ll talk to Bear about being our backup plan. If we have to leave suddenly, which is likely, we’ll make sure he gets her to us later. Good plan?”
“Yes,” I say, pleased that he’s gone from “agents don’t have cats,” to being thoughtful enough to already have an answer. “Good plan.”
“One problem solved,” he replies. “Let’s go solve a few more.” He heads down the hallway, shrugging out of his jacket as he walks, muscles rippling beneath his T-shirt. That’s another thing I love. That man’s body. It’s an appealing thought that turns to a frown, and my mind tracks back to our declaration of “we leave.” Suddenly, I’m worried about how that affects him again. Acutely aware that I could be on the run as soon as tonight, and that’s a good thing from the standpoint of ending the Franklin threat, I’m determined to talk to Seth about this before Bear arrives.
Setting Julie down, I pursue Seth and catch up to him as he’s unlocking the dining room doors we’d sealed off before leaving. Waiting for him to finish, I set my purse on the counter next to his jacket, and then shrug out of mine and drop it on top. By the time I’m done, Seth has opened the doors and is entering the dining room.
“You can’t leave with me,” I say, as Seth sits down at the end of the table.
He casts me one of his piercing stares. “I can,” he says. “And I am.”
“That makes you a fugitive,” I say, walking to the edge of the table to stand above him. “I don’t want that for you.”
“
Come sit,” he says, patting the spot next to him that I’ve been claiming as my workspace.
“You can join me later,” I say, rounding the table and sitting down. “You can’t just disappear with me.”
“We’re going to clear your name,” he promises. “And if we have to, we’ll find a remote, sunny beach to hang out on until we do. Or a snowy cabin. Or both at different times.”
“We might not clear my name.”
“We will,” he insists, taking my hand and kissing it. “Because we have the right tools in place now. But no matter what, we stay together. You, me, and Julie.”
“What about your apartment in New York?”
“Our apartment,” he says. “And it will be waiting when we get there. Together.”
There’s a knock on the door and he repeats, “Together. And don’t start thinking of crazy ideas like taking off without me. Don’t do that to us.” He lowers his voice. “Don’t do that to me.”
There is just a hint of torment in his eyes that Seth never allows anyone, even me, to see. And it tells me how much I hurt him when I left. “I won’t,” I whisper. “I promise. I just—”
“Love me?”
“Yes. Very much.”
“Then stay with me.”
The knock sounds again and he kisses my hand again, before standing and walking in that direction. I watch him exit the room, and I know then what I forgot three years ago. We’re alone without each other, even when other people are in the room. And while I used to believe that alone was good, alone was safe, you don’t know alone until you’ve been something other than alone. And after three years of knowing alone intimately without him, I now know alone is not a good thing to be. And I didn’t just do that to me. I did it to him.
And that means I can’t save him without being with him.
And he can’t save me without being with me.
It’s with those thoughts that Seth and Bear appear in the doorway. Bear indicates the pizza boxes in his hands. “Pizza. Even better, pizza that I know you haven’t had a chance to poison. Color me happy.”
“I suppose I deserve that joke,” I comment, as both men set boxes on the dining room table.
“You do,” Bear agrees. “And you will for a long time to come.”
“I don’t think he’s afraid of you,” Seth comments, leaving the room, and it’s not really a joke. He knows that I have a love/hate thing about the fear I invoke in people. “Getting plates,” he calls over his shoulder.
I glance at Bear, who already has a slice of pizza in his hand, sans the plate. “Are you?” I ask.
“Afraid of you?” He snorts. “No. If it’s my time, it’s my time, but do it fast next time. I don’t want to sit and contemplate the fucked-up shit in my life when I go. That part sucked.” He takes a bite and then adds, “Poison is okay. Just fast poison. Got it, chica?”
I laugh. “Yeah. I have a few options, should it become necessary.”
Seth returns with the plates from what is apparently our fully-stocked kitchen, and in a matter of a few more minutes, we’re all sitting around the table with pizza in front of us. “Bottled water,” Bear says. “It never crossed my mind Franklin might take that route and it should have. So how do we want to play this?”
“We’re going in tonight,” I say. “We have no option. We don’t know how close Franklin is to making this happen. It could be now.”
“Once Nick’s men get here,” Seth adds, “we’ll be able to plan better. But whatever you can get for us on that water company, we need.”
“I haven’t talked to the local Feds about this yet,” Bear says. “And I’m not going to. I get that Nick feels they are decent guys, and I agree, but let’s keep them out of this. Let’s not tell them about Nick’s men. Let’s not tell them about tonight.”
“In other words,” Seth says, “you don’t trust them.”
“More like—why would we invite witnesses to the party that will end how we know this one will end?”
My gaze slides to Seth, who remains focused on Bear. “Witnesses?” Seth asks, narrowing his eyes on Bear. “Where are you going with this?”
“To the white elephant in the room that we all know I’m here to talk about.” He looks at me. “You’re going to disappear again and I’m going to help you.” He glances between us. “So let’s talk about how and when that’s going to work.”
Seth leans forward, lacing his fingers together in front of him. “In a perfect world, outside of you playing dumb, and taking care of Julie until we can get her,” he says, “the less you know the better.”
“Since we don’t live in a perfect world,” Bear replies, “what are the plans B, C, and D?”
“You’ll know if you need to know,” Seth says. “But I can promise you, that you’ll not only be protected, but I’ll be in your debt.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” Bear says, his mood dead serious, all his jokes set aside. “Because we all know that in this world we occupy, friends and favors can save lives.”
Seth’s phone rings and he fishes it from his pocket, glancing at the number. “Nick,” he announces, answering on speaker. “I’m here with Amanda and Bear.”
“A number of things,” Nick says, getting right to the point. “We found your security guard at a strip club. If you need him, we’ll know where to find him. Next. Rick Morgan is in.”
Seth looks at Bear and says, “We’ll explain when we hang up,” before he returns his attention to Nick. “When does he start?”
“An hour ago,” he says. “And he’s already spouting off about a bite on Franklin. Stay tuned on that. We’ll see if he talks big or performs big or both. In the meantime, Seth, I’m loading your remote data folder and we’ll share everything we find, as we find it. Starting with everything you might ever not want to know about the bottled water company.”
“Who owns it?” I ask.
“A long-time tenant of Chavez,” Nick says. “They golf together. And you know what they say. Those who golf together . . .”
We wait for him to finish the sentence and when he doesn’t, Bear helps out with, “Knock balls together?”
I laugh and shake my head as Nick says, “Sorry about that,” clearly having tuned out a moment. “This just in. Bear sent me the photo to research.”
Bear glances between us. “The man you thought you recognized at the border checkpoint,” he says. “I was impatient since that list we wanted has yet to appear.”
“Good thing, too,” Nick says. “We have an interesting development. The man’s name is Casey Miller, Amanda.”
My brow furrows. “That name might be familiar.”
“He worked for your father from 2004 to 2006. Which means he was with your father when you were age eighteen to twenty.”
“We were working on this toxin during that time period.” I struggle to recall him. “I can’t believe I don’t remember him with more detail.”
“It gets better,” Nick says. “He returned to your father’s employ two years before the kill order, and was still there, up to a month before its issue.”
“In other words,” Seth surmises, “he was close enough to Amanda’s parents to help set them up.”
“Exactly,” Nick says. “We’re working on the review of his phone, banking, and internet records for the entire span of time. If he did it, somewhere in there will be the proof that he did.”
Seth looks at me. “A way to clear Amanda’s name.”
“That’s the hope,” Nick says, “among other things. Unfortunately, since the CIA wiped out Amanda and her parents’ existence, we can’t cross reference Casey’s information to their data. But his data alone that could prove informative. And we’re resourceful and we’re fast. And this hacker kid might just do the impossible and find information we believe to be lost or destroyed.”
I inhale on hope I almost hate to feel.
“And that swings me back to this lab tech. Amanda’s parents have their entire existences wiped out, as is pretty standa
rd for the CIA with a kill order. Casey has plenty on file, and Rick has it all on deck for our review while still digging for more.”
I sit up straighter. “And?”
“He’s working as a chemist for a company there in Dallas. Three blocks from the water company.”
Seth and I share a look. “They’re doing this and doing it soon,” I say.
“Agreed,” Seth says. “The question is, is the lab or the water company our target tonight? Because we will only have the resources for one or the other.”
“That was my question as well,” Nick agrees. “And Amanda is going to have to be our guide on this.”
“Before Amanda answers that,” Bear says, “do we have eyes on Casey?”
“Not yet,” Nick says. “This is all ripe new information, but we’re on it.”
“Regardless of where he is,” I say, “the water company is the direct disruption spot. If the toxin is already there, we’re in trouble. If we don’t find what we need, we can set up surveillance. We have to stick to that plan and hit the lab the next night, if necessary.”
“The water company it is,” Nick says. “And let’s hope like hell there isn’t another water company, or ten or twenty, already targeted and in play. We need to send out alerts to officials on this but with all the dirty player potential, we can’t do it without the risk of alerting Franklin.”
“Which could trigger a mass attack,” Bear says. “It’s a slippery slope either way we go.”
“We need to decide what to do if we get there and we find the toxin,” Seth says. “And what to do if we don’t. We don’t want Franklin to get away and we don’t want the toxin to get out.”
“If the toxin is here, so is Franklin,” I say. “He likes to be close to see his work do its damage.”
“Unless this is only one of many places he’s planning an attack,” Bear points out. “We can’t know for sure he’s here.”
“If Casey is their main chemist at this point,” Nick says. “A bet on him being at ground zero seems like a good one. We’re aware of this. Finding him and ensuring he’s here is a priority.” He shifts the tone to a wrap-up. “There’s a lot we’re doing here in a small window,” Nick says. “I need to go make it all happen. It’s three now. If we plan this mission for two in the morning, then we have some time for our hacker genius to dig up some more dirt for us. My guys will be there by six and settled by seven. That gives us seven hours for critical decisions.”