“No situation.”
“But I heard gunfire.”
“The guard’s gun discharged when Hedley and Archer arrived. No one was hit. Operation complete.”
“Complete? Jake, you didn’t even make it into the vault. What’s going o—?”
“Bentley?” Jake asked.
“I’m here with Wolfe, boss,” Bentley answered. “And wow. This diamond is the shit. Puts the Hope Diamond to shame. Man, oh man. I would sure like to keep this one for myself.”
Jake chuckled. “I’ve got an irritated gallery owner who might just take issue with that.”
“You bet your ass I would,” Wilson muttered.
Diamond . . . Bentley . . . Pierce was out in the van, not inside with the rest of the team. “Jake.” It was all Marley could do not to climb through the airwaves and strangle the man. “Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Jake cracked the vault earlier in the day when he went into the tunnels to do the system check,” Eve answered. “Tonight’s extracurricular activities were a decoy.”
Decoy . . .
The word echoed in Marley’s head, like the needle of a record player, skipping over the same note again and again as conversation continued through her headset.
“Gotta hand it to you, Ryder,” Sam Wilson said in a dim voice. “I thought our system was foolproof. Your team proved me wrong.”
“That’s why you pay us the big bucks,” Jake answered. “Just making sure you got your money’s worth.”
The men’s relaxed voices continued to ripple through Marley’s earpiece, but she barely heard the words. Jake had changed the op without telling her. She’d spent days planning this mission, and for what? So he could do whatever he wanted and leave her in the dark?
Shock rushed through her. Followed by a burst of stupidity. What was she doing? He clearly didn’t need her. The team didn’t need her. Everyone else had obviously been in on the change. But then, they were all in Washington and she was stuck in Kentucky. Right where Jake wanted her.
“Addison?”
Jake’s voice pulled Marley out of her self-induced trance. She blinked several times and realized she’d been staring at a blank screen for she didn’t know how long. He’d already turned off the camera in his hand. “What?”
Jake’s footsteps echoed through his mike, but the voices had dimmed, telling her he was leaving the vault room. “Nice work.”
Nice work? Yeah right. “For what? I didn’t do anything.”
“Not true. Your role was vital. Wilson knows us. His team was listening. I needed them distracted so they didn’t notice the changes in the vault room.”
“And tripping the sensor in the tunnels? What was that? Gloating?”
Jake chuckled. “I just wanted his team to see we could get to them twice.”
Clearly. Because Jake loved rubbing shit like this in.
Marley sat up straighter and fought back her temper. “You could have filled me in on your plan.”
“Wilson needed to believe we were really arguing.”
She clenched her jaw. “News flash, Ryder. That wasn’t an act.”
Jake chuckled again. As if it were no big deal. As if she had no right to be frustrated. But to him everything that concerned her was simply status quo. He expected her to do what he wanted, when he wanted, no questions asked. And because she put up with it, she had no one to blame but herself.
A door opened and closed, then other voices sounded dimly in her earpiece—Archer’s, Eve’s, Bentley’s—telling Marley that Jake was already outside in the van, celebrating.
She breathed deep while the team patted themselves on the back for a job well done. After tugging the reading glasses from her face, she flipped off the screens around her and pushed to her feet.
This was the life she’d carved out for herself. Hovering on the fringe of the action. Sitting back while everyone else made a difference and she watched from the sidelines. Being kept in the dark even though she knew the company would flop without her.
“Addison? You there?”
Jake’s voice brought the fine hairs along the nape of her neck to attention. A low burn lit up her belly as she reached for her notebook and pen from the table. “Not for long.”
“Wilson’s secretary is going to contact you tomorrow with final payment. She’s heading to India in the morning on a buying trip, so you’ll need to be in the office early.”
Of course Jake would think nothing of calling Marley in early. Forget the fact she’d worked late every night this week. Or the fact she was here before the sun most days. She ground her teeth to keep from telling Jake just what he could do with his final payment.
Laughter sounded in the background. “Addison? Did you hear me?”
She grabbed her bag from the floor and shoved the notebook and pen inside. “Yes, I heard you. But I’m not coming in early tomorrow.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not. If it’s so important for someone to be here, then you can get up early for once.”
“Marley—”
That was it. All she could take. She slammed her bag shut. “No, you know what, Jake? You want to do things on your own? Go ahead and do them. Be my guest and do them all. I’m done with this.”
“What does that—”
She pulled the headset off and tossed it on the table. Turning out of the com room, she marched down the hall and told herself it was way past time she set the man straight. She’d left her father’s company four years ago because he’d been doing the same stuff to her then that Jake was doing now—holding her back, treating her like an expendable member of the team, not trusting her when it came right down to it. The difference was she expected it from her father. From Jake she’d stupidly assumed there’d be more.
She moved into her office, tossed her bag on the desk, then pulled open the bottom drawer and grabbed her purse. She wasn’t taking any work home with her tonight. Wasn’t giving Jake another moment of her precious time.
Her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, saw Jake’s name on her screen, and hit Decline. All she wanted right now was a bubble bath, a giant bottle of wine, a good book, and peace and quiet. Reaching into her purse, she found her keys and headed for the door.
Her phone buzzed again. She glanced at the device in her hand as she turned out of the office and moved down the stairs to the lobby. A number flashed on the screen, one she didn’t recognize. Jake clearly knew she was upset, and he was smart enough to realize she wasn’t going to answer. The man had grabbed someone else’s phone.
She hit Decline again, crossed the lobby, and typed in the security code on the panel near the main door. Once the system was armed, she moved outside, locked the door, and headed across the dark and empty parking lot toward her Audi parked under a lamppost.
Her car door creaked as she opened it, reminding her she needed to oil the damn thing. She tossed her purse on the passenger seat. The phone in her hand buzzed again.
Dammit, she’d had enough of this. She was done being his beck-and-call girl.
She hit Answer and held the phone to her ear. “Look, as far as I’m concerned, you can—”
“Marlene? Oh, sweet baby Jesus. Marlene, is that you? I wasn’t sure you had the same number. I took a chance.”
The words died on Marley’s lips. The voice was familiar but . . . No, there was no way it could be him. Jake had gotten her so riled up she was hearing things.
“Who is this? I’m not in the mood for games.”
“No games. It’s me, Marlene. It’s Gray.”
The air caught in her lungs. And for a moment, time seemed to stand completely still.
Grayson McKnight. No, it wasn’t possible. Five years he’d been gone. Her heart beat hard against her ribs, and all those emotions she’d buried after
he’d been lost in South America came screaming to the forefront. “This isn’t funny. Grayson McKnight is dead. Whoever you are, I don’t appreciate your sick joke. Go—”
“I’m not dead. And this isn’t a joke. Marlene, it’s me. It’s Gray. I guarantee I’m very much alive. But I’m in trouble, and I need you.”
She tightened her hand around the phone. “I don’t know who you are, but—”
“Freckles, it’s me. Please don’t hang up on me right now.”
Freckles . . . The nickname stopped her cold. Perspiration dotted her spine, and her hand shook against the phone pressed to her ear. Gray had only ever called her that in private. None of their friends had known he’d used that silly term of endearment. Not even her father. Her heart kick-started in the center of her chest with both disbelief and confusion.
“Gray? How . . . ? Where . . . ? What the . . . ? You’re alive? Where the hell have you been for five years?”
“Yeah, Freckles. It’s me. I’ll explain everything, I promise. But right now I need your help.”
Voices echoed in the background, and Marley shifted her weight as she stared out at the dark hills around her and tried to clear the lingering cobwebs from her brain. “Gray, what’s going on?”
He didn’t immediately answer. The voices grew louder. Shouts echoed, then dimmed. And as she waited, the hairs on Marley’s nape tingled. “Gray? Tell me where you are.”
“Look,” he said quickly, his voice just above a whisper, “I don’t have a lot of time. If they find me, they’ll kill me. I gotta get out of this damn country.”
“If who finds you? And what country? I don’t understand what’s going on. If you’re in some kind of trouble, my father will—”
“No! You can’t tell your father. I’m in this hell because of him. You can’t call anyone. If you do, they’ll find me. You’re the only person left that I trust, Marlene. You have to do this for me. You have to come and get me.”
Marley swallowed hard, and a quick shot of apprehension rolled through her belly. “I don’t—”
“Go to the Hotel Chilimaco in Puerto Asis, Colombia. Check in under the name Sophia Alvarez. I’ll call you there and tell you where to reach me. Bring documents, Marlene. I won’t be able to get out of the country without them.”
Colombia? Marley’s mind spun. When she’d worked for her father she’d been a pro at faking documents to get his guys in and out of different countries under numerous aliases. And since working for Jake she did the same thing now and then. But still . . .
She pressed her hand against her forehead. “I can’t just drop everything and fly down to South America. I have a job. Responsibilities. I have—”
“And I had a life before your father left me in this shithole to rot.”
There was a bite to his voice, one Marley had never heard before, and it sent a chill straight down her spine.
“Look,” he said softer. “I’ve got no money. No way to get out of this mess on my own. No one else to turn to. I stole this phone so I could call you. I just need you to come and get me. I’ll explain everything when I see you. Please. Please say you’ll help me. If you don’t, I can’t . . .” He swallowed. “I don’t know what I’ll do.”
The desperation in his voice touched a piece of her she’d closed off years before. Memories bombarded her. The day she’d met Grayson McKnight when she’d been working for her father at Omega Intel. The weeks Gray had pestered her until she’d finally agreed to go out with him. The months they’d dated. And the moment her father had called to tell her that the op in Colombia had gone terribly wrong and that Gray had been killed.
A piece of her had died the day she’d gotten that news. Another part had been oddly relieved. She’d known before he’d left with her father’s team that he wasn’t the guy for her, and she’d planned to break it off with him when he got back. Then he’d died and she’d found herself off the hook. The guilt she’d felt over that relief and the frustration she’d experienced when her father hadn’t given any explanation had formed a wedge between father and daughter. It had also been a major reason she’d left Mason Addison’s company and never looked back.
Gray wasn’t really dead, though. He was alive, alone, and in trouble. She didn’t know what had happened, but if her father had lied to her and purposely left Gray behind, then she owed him her help. And at the very least, maybe she could make up for all those awful things she’d thought and felt after he’d disappeared.
Her throat grew thick. Her hand was sweaty against the phone. Her mind tumbled with options. What she’d need. How she could get there. She glanced at her watch. “I-it’ll take me a few hours to arrange things.”
“Thank you.” He exhaled a long breath. “Thank you, Marlene. I’ll call you at the Hotel Chilimaco in two days. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I don’t . . .” His voice hitched. “I knew I could count on you. I knew you wouldn’t let me down. Thank you.”
All that guilt she’d felt five years before came rushing back. But she swallowed it down and told herself she was doing the right thing now. “Where can I reach you?”
“You can’t. I’ll call you. Just hurry, Marlene. Get to Colombia as fast as you can. I need to get out of here. I need . . .” He hesitated, then his voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re my last hope.”
The line went dead in her ear. Marley pulled it away, looked down at the phone in her hand, and swallowed hard.
Yeah, she’d agreed to help him, but she wasn’t stupid. Colombia wasn’t exactly the safest place for a single American female to travel alone. She couldn’t go by herself. She needed to take someone with her for safety. Jake’s irritating face popped into her head, but she immediately dismissed him. He’d made it clear tonight that he didn’t need her, so she definitely wasn’t turning to him for help. She could ask one of the other guys at Aegis, but they all gossiped like schoolgirls. Even if one of them agreed to go with her, it would inevitably get back to Jake, and she didn’t need any kind of lecture from him. Especially not when it came to her personal life. That left her father, but Gray had said something had happened between the two of them and that he didn’t trust the man.
She bit into her bottom lip and glanced around the dark parking lot, the damp pavement illuminated by a shimmer of lamplight from above. She loved her father, but she knew how Mason Addison worked. He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and screw the consequences or what it meant for anyone else. In that respect, he was a lot like Jake Ryder.
She pushed thoughts of Jake aside and ran through her options. There was only one person she could trust with this. The only question was whether or not he’d agree to help.
Screw it. She was out of options.
She paged through her contacts and dialed. A male voice answered on the second ring. “Hamilton.”
“Hey, Ronan. It’s Marley.” She hesitated, praying the whole time that he’d say yes. “I know it’s been a while, but I need a favor.”
“I’m done with this.”
Jake Ryder slammed the door of his Escalade and crossed the parking lot toward the back entrance of Aegis headquarters. A light fog hovered over the damp ground and snaked through the barren limbs of the tall oak and hickory dotting the rolling Kentucky farmland in the morning light, but he barely noticed it. All he could think about were Marley’s words from last night.
He tugged his jacket up to ease the cool March morning chill and stepped around a pile of dirty snow pushed up against a light pole from last week’s storm. What did she mean by that—I’m done with this? Done how? And why wasn’t she answering his calls? He’d left her a voicemail, but she’d yet to respond. Nor had she responded to his handful of texts.
Annoyance pushed at him from every side as he unlocked the rear door in the east wing of the twenty-thousand-square-foot monstrosity that used to be his father’s house. He keyed in the security code, then moved u
p the back steps toward the Aegis offices on the second floor, his confusion growing thicker by the minute. She’d said no last night when he’d told her to come in early. She never said no to him. Yeah, he knew she was ticked he’d changed the op without telling her, but in the three and a half years she’d worked for him she hadn’t once flat-out said no about anything he’d asked her to do.
He slid his hand into his jacket pocket and fingered the small white box holding the sapphire teardrop pendant he’d talked Wilson into selling him. The last thing he needed was for Marley to get the wrong idea, but he’d bought the pendant as a peace offering—a bonus really, for all her long hours and hard work. But as he reached the office level and heard her opening drawers and slamming them, rolling her chair along the hardwood floor and muttering under her breath, he wondered if instead of trying to keep the peace, the safer move might be to slink out of the building altogether.
“I’m done with this.”
No. He didn’t like what those words implied, and he definitely didn’t like how she’d said them. Regardless of everything she did for the company, the decision for how the ops were run still fell on his shoulders, and she had no right to be upset with him. Tugging his hand from his pocket, he decided not to give her the pendant just yet. Instead they needed to have a chat about the whole employer-employee dynamic.
“Marley,” he said loud enough so she could hear him, “my office. Now.”
He turned for his office door, twisted the handle, and pushed the right side open with his hip.
“She’s not here,” a female voice called from the direction of Marley’s office. “And where in the name of all things holy does she keep extra print cartridges? I can’t find a damn thing in this place!”
Jake’s brow lowered. He dropped his coat on a table near the door, then marched toward Marley’s office. Evelyn Wolfe sat behind the massive desk, rummaging around in a drawer, her chestnut hair falling over her cheeks.
He looked around the empty room. “What are you doing here, Wolfe? And where is Marley?”