by Juniper Hart
“I’ll tell you what I think you need to know.” There was no room for argument in his tone, and Theo knew better than to press for information.
“What hedge funds?”
“Well, this is where things get interesting,” Michaels said. “His accounts have suddenly disappeared.”
“Disappeared?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
Theo chewed on the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from snarling. He could feel his body threatening to shift in his annoyance, but he steeled himself.
“Senator,” Theo began, checking his tone. “Do you have any real information for me, or did you just call to throw out some wild theories? Because we’ve had our fair share of doing wild chases around the world in search of this guy.”
The sharp intake of breath on the phone told Theo he had struck a nerve.
“I don’t make wild accusations,” Michaels hissed. “I’m telling you what I know so you can do your damned job. I shouldn’t have to be cleaning up your messes for you.”
My messes? Theo thought. This guy is the finest narcissist that ever was.
“Can you tell me the name of these hedge funds?” he asked, forcing a cajoling timbre to his words. “If Jackrabbit is here, surely you want me to find him before he does more damage.”
“I’m emailing you a list of the shell corporations, but as I said, they were being watched, and now they’re gone, vanished into thin air.”
“Well, it’s something,” Theo replied slowly. “A start after months of silence, right?”
“I’ve got something better than the accounts, anyway,” Michaels told him. “I’ve got the name of one of his accomplices, one of the people hiding his money.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. She works at Harper-Morris, and she’s hardly high up, but she’s the first person who has been dumb enough not to cover her tracks. She left the portal wide open for the accounts to be deleted.”
“How can you be sure she’s involved at all? If she’s working for Jackrabbit, wouldn’t she be smarter?”
“I guess that’s your job to find out, isn’t it? Or should I do everything for you while I pay you through the nose?”
Theo ground his teeth, watching his claws elongate. Idly, he wondered what it would be like to strike Trent Michaels in the face, if only one time.
“What’s her name?” Theo asked, his voice a low growl.
“Simone Ruiz. I’ll send you her personal information with the list of now-deleted accounts.”
“Fine. I’ll have the team look into it.”
“Captain…”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want any loose ends on this. This has already gone on too long.”
“There won’t be any loose ends,” Theo assured him, though he had no idea what he was really promising—or what the senator was asking. Then it occurred to him that from the start of the mission, he’d really had no clue what they’d committed to. He was filled with instant regret that he’d ever agreed to the deployment in the first place.
However, Theo Veriday was no quitter, and he would see it through as he had ever other mission.
“I’m on it, Senator,” he said. “Send me what you have.”
“No loose ends,” Michaels repeated, and there was an unmistakably ominous note to his words. “I want Jackrabbit alive. Everything else is collateral damage.”
The senator hung up the call, and Theo sighed deeply, dropping his cell onto the sofa at his side. Instantly, four emails popped up in his inbox, and he clicked on them to open the files.
His heart caught in his throat as he took in the picture accompanying the detailed file of Simone Ruiz. In a strange way, he felt like he was looking at a reflection of himself in her deep chocolate eyes, and he found it difficult to breathe.
The amulet pulsated against his chest. Theo suddenly had no doubt about who she was.
Oh, Simone. What did you do? he wondered with intense dread as he studied her classically beautiful face, taking in the creamy gold hue of her skin and her luxurious black hair.
He was, for once, overwhelmingly conflicted.
6
You better be on your way.
Simone grunted at the text from Toni and turned her attention back toward the mirror. She was in no mood to go to the party, and she reluctantly looked at the computer on her bed. She still had work to do.
She eyed the phone, half-tempted to cancel her arrival at the party, but she knew she’d never hear the end of it with Toni if she did.
Why does she have to have the next cubicle over? Simone grumbled, adjusting her necklace so that the clasp fell behind her pinned chignon at the base of her neck. If she worked on the other side of the building or something, I could avoid her if I didn’t go, but not when she’ll be right next door, giving me baleful looks.
Despite her reservations about going out that evening, Simone knew she looked lovely. She’d finally gotten enough sleep the previous night, and it showed on her glowing skin, her cheeks pink against the smooth bronze of her complexion. She hadn’t dressed up, per se, but the burgundy blouse accented her firm, full bust and tucked into her flat stomach. The jeans were slim fitting and showed off her curves perfectly.
Simone had always been lucky enough to escape wearing a lot of makeup, her naturally attractive face never calling for it and her patience level refusing to accommodate hours before a vanity. Still, she had to admit she was blessed with an attractiveness that others would kill for, an otherworldly aura which radiated around her, even though she thought herself a cynic.
It won’t kill you to get out there and meet some new people, she reasoned, trying to forget what had happened the last time Toni had tried to set her up with one of her husband’s friends. Dufus won’t be there. She promised.
With an exhale of breath, she pulled herself away from the glass and snatched up her cell and purse, making her way toward the front of her apartment, glancing at the time as she moved.
I’ll go for an hour, have a drink, and leave, she vowed. Then I can get back and finish those papers.
It wasn’t until she reached the underground that a peculiar sensation crept down her neck. Instantly, she knew what it was, and she casually paused at her Civic, looking around as she pretended to fumble with her keys. Someone was watching her.
Simone couldn’t say how she knew it, but she had no doubt that was it. A bubble of fear formed in her gut when she saw no one around, and a thousand thoughts filled her mind. The cops, maybe?
There had always been an inherent paranoia that had followed her, since the day she had started her illegal side jobs. Logically, she knew that no one cared about a freelancer who sold her talents for cash, even if that meant enabling underqualified kids to pass their exams. If anyone was looking at trouble, it was the students who paid her hundreds of dollars for the essays and dissertations she could spin in a matter of hours.
I’m an independent contractor. I have nothing to fear, Simone always told herself, even though she knew that an overzealous DA might not see it that way and use her to set an example. She thought of what she had on her in terms of papers, but to her relief, she remembered she hadn’t brought any work with her.
Pressing the fob, she unlocked the car and again looked around. There was no one there, only the heavy presence of someone’s eyes boring into her body.
You’re losing it, Simone tried to convince herself, but she had learned long ago not to dismiss her gut instinct, no matter how irrational it felt. Despite the fact that she knew someone was there, it did not alarm her in the way it would be if there was a man lurking in the shadows with bad intentions. She knew that feeling well. Like any other woman, Simone had had her fair share of unwanted advances.
This, however, was something else.
Well, it’s nothing now, she thought, zooming out of her parking spot. Whoever it is can kiss my ass. Her eyes danced up toward the rear-view as she exited the garage, but just like before, she s
aw nothing to cause her alarm.
Yet the feeling remained, as if whoever it was sat in the car with her.
“You came!” Toni’s face was a puddle of relief when she opened the door. She pulled Simone into an unexpected hug, and Simone was suddenly happy she had decided to attend, even though she was already regretting it from a social aspect. Toni looked oddly out of place in her own home, and Simone wondered how she put up with living like that.
This is her place, she thought. Why does she let Josh host these parties when she hates them so much? This makes me glad I’m single. A mocking voice in the back of her mind reminded her that she wasn’t exactly single by choice, but she silenced it instantly.
“Come in!” Toni gushed. “Let me get you a drink.”
“Yes, please,” Simone agreed, shrugging out of her jacket and dropping it on the banister of the stairs, which was already overrun with coats.
“What’ll be? Beer? Wine?”
“Got anything harder?” Simone half-joked. She hoped Toni would say yes.
“Come on. I’ve got everything. Hey, Rachel’s here,” Toni added, and Simone looked at her in surprise.
“She is? I didn’t realize you guys were close,” she muttered, following Toni into the kitchen, her eyes scanning through the throng of people milling about.
“She kind of invited herself, actually. I thought maybe you had asked her to come.”
“Me?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Toni insisted. “More people on my team. Notice how not one of those bitches said hi as we were walking by? This is what I have to contend with.”
Simone swallowed her thoughts on the matter. If this was my house, she began to think but stopped herself. It wasn’t her house.
“Hey, Simone!” Josh called jovially when they entered the kitchen. He clapped her on the back as though she was one of his army buddies, and Simone eyed him warily.
“Hey, Josh,” she greeted him. “How’s it going?”
“Just great!” It didn’t take Simone long to glean that he was loaded.
“Looks like I have some catching up to do,” she mumbled, reaching for the vodka on the counter. As she did, her hand brushed against another who moved for it at the same time.
“Sorry,” a deep voice said from beside her, and goosebumps exploded over Simone’s skin even before she turned and looked at the tall, muscular man at her side.
“You go ahead,” Simone heard herself say, meeting his dark eyes. Instantly, she felt a flicker of electricity inside her.
“If you promise not to drink it all, I’ll let you go first,” he replied disarmingly, and Simone’s heart began to race erratically while she studied his handsome face. Their eyes seemed to have locked, and if not for a brash blonde obnoxiously pushing herself between them, Simone was sure she would have stayed staring at him forever.
“Excuse me!” the blonde chortled. “You’re blocking the alcohol!” She put her back straight up against Simone and smiled up at the dark-haired man. “I don’t believe I know you,” she cooed, pressing a hand full of fake nails up against his chest. “I’m Brandy Ellerson.”
“She’s married to Lieutenant Ellerson over there,” Toni interjected before Simone or the man could answer. “But that doesn’t stop her from being shameless, does it, Brandy?”
Simone cast Toni an appreciative look as Brandy spun to scowl at her.
“I’m just being friendly,” she retorted. “You could learn from me.”
“You certainly know all the tricks, don’t you?” Toni answered evenly. There was an animus in her co-worker’s tone, which made Simone realize that there was something else going on there. Brandy and Toni glowered at one another, and Simone had a feeling that she needed to diffuse the situation.
“You came for a drink, didn’t you? Why don’t you take it and go, Brandy?” Simone offered tautly.
Brandy sniffed at Simone, as if she had only just noticed her for the first time, but she didn’t bother with the booze. Instead, she sashayed off, leaving the women alone with the stranger. Simone turned her head toward her friend.
“Got some history there?” she asked lightly, but Toni didn’t smile.
“Stay away from that tramp,” she told the stranger and stalked off, leaving Simone staring after her in surprise.
“Well,” Simone said, turning back to the man. To her amazement, he had disappeared into the crowd of people.
Great. Now I’m alone. She shook her head in disbelief before turning back to the vodka, though she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was still being watched. Hopefully by that hunk of man—
“There you are!” Rachel breathed in her ear. “I need to talk to you!” Simone looked at the techy and was taken aback by how disheveled she looked.
“You look like shit,” Simone commented. “Have you slept?”
“How can I sleep?” Rachel demanded, a near hysteria in her eyes. “I’ve got to figure out what happened at work!” Simone hadn’t told her that the hard copies of the Lanthcomb files had gone missing, too.
“Did you come here to talk to me?” she asked as Rachel grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the pantry, away from the rest of the party.
“I’ve been doing some digging,” Rachel whispered when they were closed into the space. “Into Lanthcomb.”
“Okay…” Simone wasn’t sure how much she wanted to know about what Rachel was doing. It was one thing to keep quiet about the hack and quite another to get involved in corporate espionage. The last thing she needed was to get tangled up in snooping into the financials of their clients. “Rach, I’m not sure—”
“You need to hear this, because we need to go to the cops,” Rachel insisted. “Lanthcomb Corp is a front for something illegal. I’m sure of it!”
“Rachel, this has nothing to do with us. If we go to the cops, you’ll have to expose the hack, and—”
“You don’t understand!” Rachel hissed urgently. “This isn’t just money laundering. I think it’s got ties to terrorism.”
The word sent shivers through Simone’s body. “Rachel, you’ve only been on this for a day. How can you possibly know that for sure?”
“It’s beyond the scope of what I can do, for sure,” she agreed. “Which is why I need to get the FBI involved.”
Simone gaped at her. “You’re nuts. Don’t do it.”
“I can’t very well sit back and do nothing!” Rachel exploded. “What if something happens that I could have prevented? What if—”
“Rachel, yesterday, you were afraid of losing your job. Do you have any idea how much shit you’ll be in if you blow the horn on one of our companies? We sign an NDA for a reason, Rachel! Moreover, do you think that Lanthcomb is the only company in our portfolio that is involved in illegal activities?”
Rachel stared at her, unspeaking, and it occurred to Simone then that the tech had never considered it before. She inhaled and put her hand on Rachel’s arm.
“Rach, just make sure you close out the hack and forget this ever happened. I’m telling you—this is not a can of worms you want to open.”
“How can you be so stoic about this?” Rachel finally managed to ask, her disdain palpable. Simone grunted.
“How can you be so naïve?” she replied coldly. Rachel shook her head again, as if she was trying to make sense of what she’d been told, but Simone could plainly see that she was not happy with what she had learned.
“I don’t know if I can be quiet about this,” Rachel muttered, lowering her eyes. Simone’s annoyance was immediately replaced with panic.
“You listen to me,” she hissed earnestly. “If you go to the FBI or the NSA or whoever you think will help you, remember that I warned you. And you keep me out of it. Do you understand?”
Rachel nodded miserably, but she didn’t meet Simone’s eyes.
“Do you understand, Rachel?” Simone pressed. “I have enough shit to worry about without some government agencies knocking at my door!”
“I understand!�
� Simone exhaled, realizing that her fingers were still firmly on Rachel’s arm, and she backed away.
“Just think about it before you do anything stupid,” she told Rachel. “Have a drink. You’re at a party, after all.” Simone let herself out of the closet, her heart thudding dangerously in her chest as she moved.
She’s going to do it, she thought worriedly. And she’s going to drag me down with her. I need to get out of this thing while I’m one step ahead.
But how? How could she save herself without selling out Rachel?
Simone wandered out of the kitchen toward the back door, suddenly in desperate need of air. She’d forgotten her drink on the counter, but the need to escape the suffocating house was more important than her need for alcohol at that moment, and she flopped against the side of the house, relieved that there was no one in the backyard.
I need to tell Everett about Rachel’s snooping, she thought. It’s the only way I can protect myself without getting involved.
Self-preservation. That had always been Simone’s game. If she didn’t protect herself, who was going to protect her? Not her dead mother or her deadbeat father. She could only depend on herself, and she was finally in a place where life wasn’t suffocating her. She couldn’t afford to lose her job because Rachel didn’t know how the real world worked.
Still, Simone couldn’t deny that she was intrigued by what Rachel had found, but she was too smart to pursue it.
Whatever it is, she told herself, it’s way above my pay grade. I don’t care. I don’t.
“You a smoker?”
Simone jumped and whirled as the stranger from the kitchen appeared. “Uh… no. You?”
He chuckled, and Simone was almost blinded by the white of his teeth. His closeness caused her pulse to quicken. Simone idly tried to recall a time when anyone else had ever had such an effect upon her.
Did I even get this giddy around a high school crush?
“No,” the man answered. “But I’m not used to running into people outside unless they are smokers. Not when it’s fifty degrees outside.”
