It was too bad that the Garcia’s were such coffee lovers. Ally could have really gone for a nice mint tea. Or a cup of chamomile, but she would have settled for anything soothing to calm her nerves.
But as it turned out, the cupboards were stocked with nothing but coffee, and right now Ally had enough caffeine flowing through her veins to keep a Roman Legion up for a week.
At least it was keeping her going. She’d been able to keep her eyes glued to the computer screen in front of her for the past two hours without blinking.
Not that it meant that she was any closer to understanding the strange scavenger hunt that Harvey Price had given her, but at least she’d been able to keep her mind occupied and not descend into a full blown panic attack because her life was in shambles.
As if it wasn’t enough that Fuller’s goon squad was after them, now they had every police department in the Central Valley hunting for them as well. And the only way out was to figure out this convoluted puzzle that Harvey Price had left behind.
Ally blinked a few times as the words in front of her started to dance on the screen.
Great. Now even coffee was failing her.
She bowed her head for a moment and rubbed at her eyes.
She perked up again when Carter’s phone rang. She swiveled around in her seat as he picked it up.
“Mason,” he said. “Talk to me.”
Ally jumped up and ran to where Carter was sitting on the couch. Finally. If he was calling maybe he had some good news.
Carter pressed the speaker button on the phone and placed it on the couch cushions between them.
“I would have called you earlier but the office has been crawling with cops. They’ve been everywhere this morning. Sounds like they’re going to shut us down.”
Carter’s jaw tightened. He closed his eyes as thick cords stood out on his neck. “How long do you have?”
“Probably just a couple of hours,” Mason said. “I had to sneak out just to call you.”
“It’s appreciated,” Carter said. “Use the time wisely. Back up everything vital. Erase anything sensitive. We have to assume that Fuller has men in there with the cops.”
“How are you doing? Did you get Miss Weaver somewhere safe?”
“We’re okay, Mason,” Ally said.
There was a brief pause, probably as Mason realized that he was on speakerphone. She figured that probably didn’t happen a lot.
“Glad to hear it, Ally,” Mason said from the other end. He sounded genuinely pleased.
Carter cleared his throat. “Did you get a chance to look at the files Charlie sent you?” he asked.
“I did,” Mason said.
“And did you see anything?” Ally asked. Even she could hear the desperation straining her voice.
“Not much,” he admitted. Ally felt the hopeful air rush out of her. “I’ll look again tonight once I’ve put out the fires here.”
“Of course,” Ally said, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.
“There was one thing that seemed odd right off the bat,” Mason said.
Ally straightened up. “What’s that?”
“Take a look at the Allied Dynamics earning projections. There’s a line in there for nearly half a billion in body armor and ballistic defense systems, but the bill that Fuller introduced to fund it was shot down by the Appropriations Committee.”
“Maybe it was just wishful thinking on the accountant’s part,” Carter said.
“No,” Ally said, slowly shaking her head. Her eyes brightened as the first piece of the puzzle snapped into place. “The projected earnings report was drawn up a full two months after the bill was voted down.”
“That it was,” Mason said.
“Mason, you’re a genius,” Ally shouted.
“That’s what they tell me.”
“No, they don’t,” Carter said. He glanced over at her. “No one tells him that.”
Mason laughed on the other end. “Charlie did tell me you were trying your hand at jokes.”
“I’m not joking,” Carter said.
“I have to go before they start missing me,” Mason said. “I’ll call you tonight. Stay safe.”
“Will do,” Carter said and hit the end button. He turned to Ally and raised his eyebrows. “A genius? Really? I save your life two times and Mason’s a genius?”
“What?” Ally asked, a slow smile spreading across her face. “You’re not jealous are you?”
“Jealous?” he asked, his voice shifting a little too high. “Of Mason? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Oh, I’m not the one being ridiculous,” Ally said, laughing. “I’m pretty sure it wasn’t him I was kissing last night.”
A wide smile spread across Carter’s face. “Well, when you put it like that.”
He leaned forward, and caressed her cheek with his open palm. His lips barely brushed against hers.
“And I seem to remember you doing a hell of a lot more than just kissing,” he whispered in her ear.
Ally’s blood heated at the reminder. She kissed him back, long and slow. Sure, the world might be turning in crazy circles, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take a little break from the madness.
Carter gave her a long look before pulling back. He adjusted the front of his pants before standing up.
“I should go take a shower,” he said.
“And I should get back to staring at a computer screen.”
***