I came in a little earlier than normal and the file was the first thing Elspeth, my secretary, handed to me.
One very thick file with drawings and details of when Saunders came up with the ideas. Things like that helped, but kind of counted for nothing if they weren’t filed with the Patents and Trademarks Office. Saunders believed Kevin filed the details under their business name, except he didn’t. Sneaky bastard.
He’d filed it under his own name as the inventor. Saunders’ name was nowhere to be mentioned. So I definitely had my work cut out for me. This was exactly the kind of case I’d wanted. Challenging and interesting, because I was going to have to flesh out all the evidence that supported my client’s claims.
It was exactly the kind of case to put me on the map and path to where I wanted to be. But so was Bradley’s, and with Bradley’s case came Sam. Sam, who shifted me off kilter. Mind, body and soul. If I could have, I would have taken this week off work too.
It was so unlike me to even contemplate doing such a thing, but it was like I couldn’t rest until I knew there was something positive happening to clear Sam’s name. Things were happening but not enough. Nothing substantial to hold onto.
There was a little knock on the door.
“Come in.” I called out, bringing my hands together and stared at the door as it swung open. There was only one person who that could be, and I was glad to see him.
Marcus stuck his head in and gave me a warm smile.
He’d had his hair shaped up and it gave him a sharper look. He looked good.
He walked in, suit crisp, oozing confidence, just like the man he was.
“Morning. Hope I’m not disturbing you.” He tilted his head to the side, observing the thick file on my desk.
“Not at all. I was just going over this new case. Did you send it to me?” It was the first thing I’d thought when the file was handed to me. Cases like this were allocated by the senior partners. I assumed because he knew I was hungry for a case like this he’d send it my way. But he shook his head.
“Nope, Miss Lady, you were handpicked by Cash Matthews. Sullivans are representing Kevin Walton, so we need our best person.”
My jaw dropped and I had to blink several times. They picked me to go against Sullivans? And…Cash Matthews picked me. The only other firm that was as good as Silvermans was Sullivans. It was a family-run practice that had taken over the nation. We were good, but they were damn good.
Wow. That was seriously big, and a massive honor.
“Oh my God.” I placed a hand to my heart.
“I know. You’re being noticed. Does it look alright?” He gave me a lopsided grin.
“No, it doesn’t.” I chuckled. “Do they ever? I’ll do it, though. There’s always something somewhere I can hook my claws into. Something to twist up the other side. Plus I’ll go in for the kill on the fact that Kevin was in the pursuit of the business interest when he filed the trademark ownership and inventions details under his name. Rather malicious, don’t you think?”
“Damn girl.” Marcus smirked. “You gonna be better than me soon.”
“Impossible.”
He gave me a tight-lipped smile now and straightened up, signaling an air of change in our conversation. I was pretty certain that last time we spoke was possibly going to be our last. I feared it was and hoped I was wrong. I never wanted to hurt him.
“Olivia, I came to apologize. I didn’t want you starting the day out with this tension between us.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I do. I really do. I was out of line for the way I behaved last week. I shouldn’t have acted that way. Your business is your own, and you trusted me by telling me something personal to you.”
“I just wanted to be up front with you,” I confessed.
“I know, and I appreciate that. A lot. I guess I got so upset because I actually did like you and I saw us being more. But you’re right. We’re friends. I’d rather have you in my life as a friend than not at all.”
Relief loosened the tension in my shoulders. I hadn’t even realized I was carrying the worry over him that much until just now.
I smiled and got up, moving to hug him.
He gave me a quick hug and planted a kiss on my forehead.
I was about to continue our conversation when I saw Sam standing at the door, which was ajar. Looked like he was either about to knock or leave.
Marcus looked around at him and there was a noticeable shift in his mood. It was clear that while that conversation just now told me we were cool as friends, he wasn’t entirely cool with Sam.
“Sorry, I can come back later.” Sam tucked his hair behind his ear and narrowed his gaze at Marcus.
“I was just leaving,” Marcus stated, then looked to me. “Good luck on your case.”
“Thank you.” I nodded.
As he walked out, he didn’t spare Sam another glance. He just left.
Sam came in and closed the door I looked him over, looking at all of him. Unlike Marcus, Sam wasn’t dressed up in a suit, but he looked sharper than sharp in his gray, ribbed, long-sleeved t-shirt, dark slacks and his hair down, long and sexy.
What was he doing here?
Him coming was torture. It was absolute torture.
“Organizing a date with good old Marcus?” Sam asked. His eyes narrowed, hard.
I folded my arms and shifted my weight from one leg to the other.
“What if I was?” I threw back. I hated when he was like this.
He walked in closer. “Were you?”
“What business is it of yours? It’s not like we’re together. I can date whoever I want.”
He surveyed me sharper, clenching his fists at his side. “I guess you can.”
“What are you doing here? I’m certain you didn’t come here to ask me about Marcus.”
“Came to see if you were okay.”
“Why?” I moved my hands to my hips and inclined my head to the side, allowing my hair to fall across my shoulders. “I was in the same house as you yesterday, but you avoided me. Why would you do that and come here today?”
“You know why.”
“Right, of course.” Way back when, when we thought Dad would disapprove of our relationship, he was with me anyway. The only difference between then and now was Dad actually said it, and it was Sam’s fault. “So did he let you off his leash?” I knew that was incredibly childish but the words came out before I could stop them.
“You know what? Fuck it, I’ll get out of your face. Clearly coming here was the wrong thing to do if you don’t want to see me.”
He turned to leave and headed back to the door .
I sighed feeling the weight of frustration. It was turning me into a bitch. A childish one.
“Sam,” I called out, not wanting him to leave with us like this. With this tension hanging over us.
He stopped and turned to face me.
“I want to see you,” I told him. My voice held more emotion than I wanted to show. “I want to see you, but it’s hard.”
Something changed in his expression and I knew he was about to tell me something I wouldn’t like.
“Lawyers want to meet with me on Friday. The date for the arraignment’s been set for two weeks. Your dad’s trying to fast track his request, but it may not work in time.”
Oh God. No. It was actually happening.
“Oh Sam.”
“Yeah, I know. It doesn’t look good for me, Olivia. If we get to trial, I don’t know what’ll happen, how long it could take or anything. I know sometimes these cases last months, or it could be days.”
I glanced over to the window and looked out at the scene before me of buildings. I hated this. It shouldn’t have been happening, not to him, or me.
I looked back to him as he came closer. I put my hands out to him and he took them.
“Do you want to go for a walk?” It was the simplest of things, but we used to love walking when we had stuff on our minds.
“Dear Olivia, I’d love that.”
* * *
We walked out to the little park down the road from Silvermans. It was just one of those parks built in the center of the busy complex for those who wanted to get away for an hour or so for lunch and have a little greenery. There was even a little duck pond and a water fountain. Sometimes I came out here to think.
It served that purpose now. A good thinking spot as Sam and I walked around, holding hands. Holding hands like we used to. We could have easily been those two people now.
“I remember when I thought I made a lucky escape,” he said when we stopped by a wooden bench. “I thought everyone expected me to end up behind bars for the rest of my life, now look at me.”
I reached up and touched his face. “Anything could happen, Sam, we just have to keep positive and hope for the best.”
“I want to, I really want to, but I got nothing, Olivia. Nothing at all.”
“Right now. Right now we have nothing.”
“You keep saying we.” He gave me that sexy half-smile I found irresistible.
“Yes, we.”
“I don’t want you mixed up in this.” He shook his head.
“It’s too late. I’m mixed up, and I’m here for you, whether you want me to be or not.”
“It’s just—”
A guy with a hooded jacket bumped into Sam as he tried to walk past us. He knocked Sam hard and the bag the guy was holding fell on the ground, the contents spilling out.
“I’m so sorry,” the guy apologized. He spoke with a hint of an accent. Australian. His mannerisms and attire gave him a carefree appearance, like a backpacker. “I wasn’t paying attention.”
“That’s okay,” Sam said, crouching down to help him pick his stuff up.
I picked up a can of green peas that rolled into the grass by the edge of the pond.
“You’re so kind. Thank you,” the guy said when I handed him the can.
“You’re welcome.” I smiled.
He picked up one last item. It was one of those disposable fun cameras. He handed it to Sam.
“This must be yours.” The guy smirked.
“No, I didn’t have anything.” Sam shook his head.
“It’s definitely not mine. I’m a photographer. I went to Birkedge, we’re taught to only use the Red Dragon 911 model. No offence, but I wouldn’t be caught dead with that thing.”
Sam gazed at the guy, giving him an intense stare that grabbed my attention. Sam took the camera.
“None taken.” Sam nodded. “Thanks, I…must have dropped it.”
Sam didn’t have a camera; he wasn’t holding anything besides my hands.
“Well, nice meeting you both. Enjoy the weather.” He tipped his head and carried on walking down the path. I waited until he turned down the corner before I faced Sam, only to see him looking down at the camera in his hands.
“Wasn’t that strange? I’m pretty certain that’s his.” I tried to smile.
Sam looked to me and held out the camera. “Olivia, I think I just got help.”
“What?” I looked from him to the path the guy walked down. “What do you mean?”
“That was no ordinary guy.”
Chapter 10
Sam
“Oh my God,” I couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
Joe leaned in closer on my left and Olivia on my right. I sat behind Joe’s desk in his office at the station.
I’d just inserted the USB stick that was hidden in the battery compartment of the camera my new friend had given me into Joe’s computer.
My new friend from Birkedge.
Birkedge. Code for - assistance from the Department of Defense.
It was actual help.
As he’d spoken I thought I was seeing and hearing what I wanted to hear because I was so stressed out with the worry of what was going on.
But, God damn he was real.
There was a video file of a few minutes long and a document folder.
I clicked on the video first and it started.
The guy came into view and it looked like he made the recording with his phone. The blotchy surroundings suggested he’d filmed outside at night in very poor lighting.
“Lieutenant Hawthorne, I am Agent Fox with the Department of Defense.” The guy began. We all looked on in anticipation of what he might say. I hated anything like this. “I apologize for the poor recording. It was the best I could do with the time given to me. I was sent in response to your distress code, but also because of the terrorist threat posed by your unit’s association with the Ra group.”
I tensed when he said that.
Ra.
It couldn’t be. No way.
Xavier wouldn’t… would he?
“Holy fucking hell.” I breathed. Normally I was more careful with my language around Joe, but I couldn’t help myself. The situation called for it.
There was so much in those few words to put the fear of God inside me. Fear and anger that knotted up my insides. I had to press pause on the recording.
“What’s Ra, Sam?” Joe asked. His eyes wide with anticipation.
“Terrorist group of the worst kind. Usually the ones you hear about are the ones who want people to know they exist. These guys work different. You see their work and you know it’s them, there’s no question about it.”
“Terrorists Sam?” Olivia’s voice was faint. She clutched onto the edge of her chair.
“Yes.”
Their foot soldiers either carried an Ankh or had it tattooed on them somewhere. The extremists might mark it somewhere after they’d done their damage so people would know it was them. One of the worst stories I’d ever heard of was them killing everyone in a village in Nepal and nailing everyone to an oak tree. On the base of the tree was the Ankh. They did that because one of their leaders was assassinated.
There was no way that I would have even guessed this. That fucking Norton was working with the Ra.
Pulling in a deep breath I resumed the recording and braced myself.
Agent Fox seemed to take a moment before continuing, like it was hard for him. As he cleared his throat and continued I understood why.
“We intercepted a message from them in regard to the US submarine Leviathan L4. I trained with Xavier in my rookie days, all of fifteen years ago so it’s difficult that the situation has come about, but mission calls. Lieutenant your unit have gone rogue and the evidence suggests their working with the Ra. We have been tracking the unit for some time and were unsure who was directly involved. We agreed the mission for Norton because we hoped it would result in discovering what was going on. We did not anticipate you getting caught up with Bradley’s death. That is something we are unable to assist with at the moment, but we will try. For now this is our focus and we need you. It’s clear they plan to use Bradley’s software for something serious. Norton carries a laptop with information that I couldn’t get into. I don’t have the skill set which suggests he may be using Bradley’s chip to block us out. Whatever work needs to take place has to be done manually. He’s left the apartment complex he was at for a very important meeting in San Francisco. It looks like Ra. Don’t concern yourself with this. We need this meeting to take place and a special team is taking care of that. What we need you to do is see what you can get done when he returns in five days. The address of where he’s going to be is in the files. If you’re successful give the code and we’ll come. If something goes wrong give the code and we’ll come. This is a being treated as a level nine threat to national security. Watch your back. They’re still after you, but their plans are on a tight schedule. ”
He ended the recording by tipping his head for a curt nod then it cut.
I released a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding on to and placed a hand on my jaw.
Joe sat back in his chair and looked at me. Olivia just looked worried, so very worried. She always started picking at the edge of her nails whenever she was seriously worried and didn’t know wha
t to say or do. I didn’t like to see her look so worried over me. She’d already had too many years of it.
“What are you going to do?” Joe asked.
“I don’t know yet. It’s clear I have to get into wherever their going to be in five days,” I answered.
I had to find some way of basically breaking in and there was no mention of me getting the chip back. I guess it probably had gone well beyond that.
It was all about what they were up to, and hey presto it was left to me to figure out.
“It sounds too dangerous.” Olivia cut in. I looked to her and noted the worry in her eyes. “Why can’t they send someone else. Look what they did to you. They just left you with a possible murder charge hanging over your head.”
She was right. I knew that. I damn well knew that and I could look the other way, but at what costs. In my funk last week I’d decided I had no allegiance to anyone. Maybe just her. Only her.
But this was the kind of thing that made me sign up for the marines in the first place. Not the vision of being a marine. It was what they did. All the impossible missions they carried out sometimes that had to be done.
“I can’t turn my back on this Olivia. I’d love to stick two fingers up at this and walk away because being jail for killing a man was not exactly fun, but this is serious shit. The Ra group is a threat to everyone. If I have a shot at stopping them from doing whatever the hell this is then I should do it.”
Boy had I come a long way from being the kid from the wrong side of the tracks.
* * *
Olivia came back with us to Joe’s place. She joined us for dinner and tried to make light of the situation by making brownies. It was her thing from the past and
they hit the spot now too as I contemplated what I could do.
I’d been thinking all damn day.
Five days until Norton got back to LA.
Five days… it would be great if I could come up with a plan but it was difficult with not a lot to work with. Norton was coming back to a warehouse in Glendale.
Yours Truly Page 7
