“I don’t know. Hopefully, we can fill in a few more blanks when Carter gets medical attention. At any rate, they didn’t believe she’d given the drive to Hamilton, because Bickmore knew that Hamilton didn’t have it and was going about his business as usual. So, they went looking for the drive. Carter told them that you had to have it, because he didn’t. Or it was lost in the fire.”
“I do have it.” She opened her left palm.
Wyatt’s eyes widened in surprise. “Where did you get that?”
“It was in the charm bracelet I took from Noelle’s place the morning after her murder.”
“You never said you took a bracelet.”
“I honestly forgot all about it. When I got to her apartment that day, everything was such a mess. I was just wandering around, looking for some clue to jump out at me. I saw the bracelet and a heart necklace in her jewelry box, and I wanted to keep them to remember her by. I picked them up and put them in the pocket of my coat.” She paused, trying to remember her exact movements. “And then I saw the book on the floor, and I grabbed it. After that, everything went crazy. When we got back to my place, I put the coat in the suitcase when I packed my bag, and I haven’t worn it since then because there is blood on the sleeve.”
“But tonight…”
“I was repacking my clothes and I pulled out the coat, and the bracelet fell out. This was hidden inside the book charm.” She held up the drive. “What do you think is on it?”
“Hell if I know, but we’re going to find out.”
“I left my computer at my dad’s house. Should we go to Bree’s?”
“No time.” He glanced at the front door of the mall. “Looks like I picked the right place to park. I’m betting there’s an electronics store inside.”
“I’ll go. You need to stay out of sight.”
He didn’t look like he wanted to agree, but what choice did he have. He was a wanted man. “All right.” He took out his wallet. “You can use this card.”
She took it out of his hand. “I won’t be long.”
He put a hand on her leg. “Avery…I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, feeling a rush of love that wanted to bring tears to her eyes.
Wyatt leaned over and kissed her, a warm, tender, promising kiss that she wished she could savor and revel in and keep on going forever. For just a moment, she closed her eyes and breathed him in, feeling warmth and pleasure wash over her. There were still so many questions, so much fear, but for this moment, everything felt—perfect.
Wyatt finally pulled away, as if it was the most difficult thing he’d ever had to do. “We’ll talk more later.”
She smiled at the word talk. “Sure. I can’t wait for more talking.”
He smiled back. “I can’t believe you can joke right now. You’re a lot tougher than you think, Avery.”
“I’m actually beginning to think I’m pretty tough, too. I’ll be right back.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Every minute that Avery was gone felt like an hour. He tapped his fingers restlessly on his thigh, wishing he hadn’t had to send her into the mall alone. But he told himself that the immediate danger had been crushed with Ran Ding’s death. It would take time for whoever had hired him to know he had failed.
At least, he’d taken care of one contract player, but there would be more until they figured out what was on the drive and who was really behind the killings. While he was waiting, he got on the phone to Bree.
“Wyatt,” she said. “Tell me Avery is all right.”
“She’s fine. I got there just in time. Ran Ding is dead. Avery’s father was shot in the arm, and he’s on his way to the hospital.”
“Where are you?”
“Sitting in a car at the mall,” he said.
“Well, I didn’t expect to hear you say that.”
“Avery found the missing drive. She had it all along. It was hidden away in a charm bracelet. She went into the mall to get a computer.”
“Why not just come here?”
“I need to look at that drive now, so I know what we’re dealing with. It will take too long to get across town. I’ll forward the contents as soon as I can.”
“You still have the encrypted email?”
“I’ve got it. What’s happening there? How’s Carter?”
“He’s in surgery, but it looks like he should survive. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to speak to him since he arrived at the hospital. Both Flynn and Joanna have agents down there, ready to interrogate him as soon as he’s able to speak.”
“Flynn and Joanna are working together?”
“They are now. Flynn was able to track down the bank account in the Caymans,” she replied. “It doesn’t actually exist. All the records were fake. There is no cash despite what Joanna thought.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“We sent the evidence both to Joanna and to her boss, so she couldn’t bury it. She’s livid that I helped you get away and even more furious that she was played. She’s going to go to the ends of the earth to determine who used her—at least that’s her story.”
“How much trouble are you in for breaking me out?”
“There will be a lot of discussions for both of us after this is all over,” she said. “But you’re in the clear, and right now the focus is on Nova Star and the launch tomorrow. Call me back as soon as you know anything.”
“I will. Can you also check on Avery’s father? I’m not sure what hospital they would have taken him, too, probably whatever is closest to his house.”
“Will do.”
As he ended the call, Avery returned to the car with a triumphant gleam in her eyes. “I found a computer that still has a USB port to open the drive.”
“That’s great. Let’s see what we’ve got.” As Avery tore open the packaging, he added, “I asked Bree to check on your dad.”
She paused to look at him. “What else did Bree say? I assume she’s not under arrest since she reached you.”
“No. In fact, my team leader has managed to find information to clear my name.”
“Thank God for that.” Avery tore open the packaging and turned on the computer. “Looks like we have enough juice to see what’s on the drive,” she said, as she inserted it into the USB port.
He leaned over the console as they both watched the screen light up. For a moment, he worried that the computer light was making them too visible, but he didn’t want to waste time moving to another location.
“This better give us some answers,” Avery murmured.
“I think it will.” His instincts told him that whatever was on this drive would finally fill in the remaining puzzle pieces.
There was only one folder on the drive. It included several files. Avery clicked on the first one, revealing pages and pages of computer code. Another file contained specs and technical drawings of the satellite. The third file appeared to hold test reports and analyses, some with handwritten notes. Every page was stamped with a Nova Star watermark.
“Can you tell what these are about?” he asked.
“They’re about the new defense system on the satellite,” she replied, as she skimmed through the open pages, pausing every and now and then. “It’s a bit too technical for me, but this information is clearly about the satellite. The test results look odd,” she added, studying one page for another minute. “These results show more failures than previously noted.”
“Maybe the system doesn’t work and the reports you saw earlier didn’t contain accurate information.”
“Or these reports are wrong. Either way, there’s a good chance there’s a problem with the satellite.” She gazed back at him. “We need to get this information to Hamilton. He has to stop the launch.”
“He’s been unwilling to do that.”
“This should convince him.” She frowned. “This information had to come from Kyle’s division of the company. Not that it necessarily means he stole it.”
“Would he really sabotage his own company?” she asked. “We’re still missing something.”
“Motivation,” he agreed. “Maybe we’ll find it when we show the family what we have.”
“They’re all together at Hamilton’s house.” She paused. “I should call Whitney and tell her about my dad.”
“You can’t do that yet. You’ll tip our hand.”
“My father might have called her from the ambulance.”
“I’m going to hope he didn’t. I want to send this file to Bree, but I need an internet connection.”
Avery tipped her head to a nearby coffee house. “We can probably do it from there.”
He nodded. “Let me drive closer. You might not even need to go inside.” He started the car and moved it into a spot out the café.
“Got it,” Avery said.
He took the computer out of her hand and went on the net, sending Bree the file through an encrypted email server. When that was done, he handed the laptop back to Avery.
As she put it by her feet, she said, “Did you check the phone you took from the gunman?”
“No, dammit.” He reached into his pocket for the other phone, unable to believe he’d forgotten to do that.
“Is it locked?” Avery asked.
“It’s actually not,” he said. “It’s obviously a burner phone and not meant to be kept for long.” He opened up the messages and skimmed through them.
“What do the texts say?” Avery asked impatiently.
“There are two addresses, one for Carter’s house and one for your dad’s house.”
“He was hired to kill us.”
“Yes,” he said shortly, moving from the texts to the voicemail. There was one number that he didn’t recognize, but he pushed play and put the message on speaker, so Avery could hear it.
A familiar voice came across the line, and a shiver ran down his spine.
“This is your last chance. Avery has to die tonight. Call me when it’s done.”
“Oh, my God,” Avery breathed, shock in her eyes. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Yes,” he said grimly, thanking God again that he’d gotten to her in time.
“I can’t believe it.”
He revved the engine and pulled out of the lot. “Looks like Hamilton’s private family party is going to get a little bigger.” As he pulled onto the road, he handed her his phone. “Text Bree the latest. She’ll send backup.”
“If it’s not there by the time we get to Hamilton’s house, I’m not waiting,” Avery declared, her fear turning to fury.
“Neither am I,” he swore, impatient to end this once and for all.
* * *
Hamilton lived in a mansion in Calabasas, in a separate development from that of Brett and Whitney, but only a few miles away from where they’d just come from.
Avery’s stomach churned as Wyatt sped down the freeway. She couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. Betrayal, anger, hurt—so many emotions were running through her. She’d been targeted for death by someone she knew. She could hardly believe it.
“No guard gate here,” Wyatt muttered. “Your father has more security than Hamilton.”
“Hamilton always says he’s not a man to hide behind gates,” she muttered.
“One less problem for us.”
When Wyatt pulled up in the circular drive in front of the three-story home, Avery jumped out of the car as it came to a rolling stop. Wyatt was right behind her.
She rang the bell twice, impatient to get inside, to face the person who’d killed Noelle, who’d shot Carter and her father, who’d wanted her dead.
Wyatt had his gun at the ready, but she didn’t think they were going to need it. Someone who paid others to do the dirty work was a coward.
Hamilton’s housekeeper, Rena Khouri, opened the door. She was an older Indian woman who had been working for Hamilton for almost twenty years.
“Avery,” she said with surprise. “I didn’t think you were coming tonight.”
“I had a change of plans,” she said, pushing past Rena. “Where is everyone?”
“They’re in the living room, but this is a very emotional evening,” Rena said, giving her and Wyatt a worried look. “I just took them champagne to toast sweet Margery.”
“This can’t wait,” she said, storming across the marbled floor of the entry, pushing open the double doors that led into the luxurious living room.
They were all there: Hamilton, Kyle, Jonathan, and Whitney.
Hamilton stood up at their abrupt entrance, surprise and wariness in his gaze.
“What’s going on, Avery?” Hamilton demanded. “What’s he doing here?”
“Wyatt is with me.” She saw more surprise, more worry, and even a little fear on the faces of Hamilton’s three adult children.
“You bring a traitor into my house?” Hamilton asked in amazement, sending Wyatt a burning look. “I’m calling the FBI.”
“Don’t bother,” she said sharply, happy to take charge, because she was full of steam, and she was ready to blow it out. “There is a traitor in your house, but it’s not Wyatt. The past few days, since my best friend died, someone has been trying to kill me—someone in this room.”
Whitney let out a gasp, putting a hand to her heart. “Don’t be ridiculous, Avery. That’s absurd.”
“It’s not absurd. I was in your house when a hit man came in. He shot my dad.”
“What?” Whitney jumped to her feet. “Is Brett all right?”
There appeared to be genuine panic in Whitney’s eyes, but at this point, Avery didn’t really trust anyone. She didn’t know if one of them was involved or all of them. “My father was shot in the arm. He’s on his way to the hospital.”
“I have to go see him,” Whitney said.
“Sit down,” Wyatt ordered. “You’re not going anywhere. Brett will be fine. It was not a life-threatening wound. He’s being taken care of, and none of you are going anywhere until we sort all this out.”
“The gunman is dead by the way,” Avery continued. “Wyatt killed him.” She held up a phone. “But he left this phone behind. It has an interesting voicemail on it. I think you should all hear it.”
She pushed play, and Kyle’s voice rang out in the room.
Kyle jumped to his feet and rushed toward her.
But Wyatt was too quick, grabbing Kyle by the shoulders and slamming him into the wall by the fireplace, pinning him there, a gun at his head. “I don’t think so,” Wyatt said. “Your father needs to hear the whole message. Play it again, Avery.”
She did as he asked.
“What did you do, Kyle?” Hamilton asked in shock, staring at his middle child.
“Yeah. What the hell did you do?” Jonathan demanded, also rising. “You’re the one who’s been setting me up? My own brother?”
Wyatt let go of Kyle but kept the gun on him. “You’re not going anywhere, Kyle. It’s over. Start talking.”
“I have nothing to say,” Kyle bit out.
“Not good enough,” Wyatt said, slamming a fist into Kyle’s stomach.
The man doubled over, gasping for breath.
“Try again,” Wyatt ordered.
“I—” Kyle couldn’t get the words out.
Hamilton moved forward, shaking his head in bewilderment. “You wanted to kill Avery? She’s been a friend to you. She’s part of the family. Why would you do that?”
“Because I have a flash drive that Noelle took from Carter,” Avery replied when Kyle gave his father a helpless shrug. “I didn’t actually know I had it until tonight, but it contains information about the satellite. It’s apparently one of several drives that Larry Bickmore asked Carter Hayes to hand over to a third party. But all that was done at the request of Kyle.”
“You sold our technology?” Hamilton asked in astonishme
nt. “Why? So much of it was your work. This was our dream—our family dream. Your mother…she would be so disappointed in you.”
“Don’t talk about my mother,” Kyle said bitterly. “You’re the reason she’s dead.”
“What are you talking about?” Whitney interrupted. “Dad didn’t kill Mom.”
“He did,” Kyle said, fury raging in his eyes now that he realized he had no defense and his secrets were all coming out. “He kept pouring money into the space program instead of medical research. Billions of dollars went into putting rockets into space, all in the hopes of landing people on Mars. All that cash could have gone into finding a cure for Mom’s cancer. She could still be alive if he wasn’t so obsessed with space.”
Hamilton turned white at his son’s accusations. “I did everything I could for your mother.”
“You didn’t do enough. She didn’t care about space. She just loved you with a blindness that never allowed her to see you for the selfish person that you are,” Kyle ranted. “After she died, I was angry, so damned angry. And I wasn’t alone. Larry felt the same way.”
“Larry?” Hamilton echoed. “My best friend, Larry?”
“Who loved Mom as much as you did,” Kyle reminded him. “Larry said that he never would have let her die, that with the kind of money you have, you could have hired a team of researchers the minute she was diagnosed. You could have thrown all your money into the drug trials. But no, you just wanted to go to space.”
“The cancer was too widespread,” Hamilton said, pain in his eyes. “I loved your mother. She was my life. I would have done anything to save her.”
“You didn’t do anything. That was the point. I was going to quit Nova Star after she died. I was done. And then Larry introduced me to a woman—Jia Lin.”
Avery shot Wyatt a quick look at the mention of the Chinese woman’s name.
“She was very sweet, very smart, very kind,” Kyle continued, seemingly resigned now to telling the entire story. Or maybe he just wanted his father to know the hatred burning in his heart. “Jia helped me through my pain. She helped me see that there was a way to get revenge and get myself out from under your thumb. She said I was the brains behind Nova Star. Why shouldn’t I make more money, be the man on the magazine covers, be the one to pioneer space? Why give you all the glory? Her friends ran a private aerospace company in Beijing. They offered me money and a chance to be part of something that didn’t belong to you. I thought what better way to take you down than to give my technology to a competitor, to a foreign country, one you believed would never make a dent in the space race.”
Dangerous To Love Page 63
