by Janie Crouch
A few hours later they were on their way to the estate near Annapolis. They had stopped by Omega so Megan could fine-tune the tracker and mayday device Juliet wore.
“Okay, remember the acoustic homing signal echoes off the magnetic ray with the tracker, and vertical trajectory also comes into play if the device is utilized as part of a denotation stratagem, so that needs to be taken into consideration. But because of the alloy elements, it’s virtually imperceptible to discovery,” Megan, one of the leading computer scientists in the country, had told them. “Any questions?”
Juliet and Evan had just looked at each other, neither really having any idea what the younger woman had just said. Fortunately, Sawyer was there to interpret, putting his arm around Megan, obvious love in his eyes.
“What giant brain here is trying to say is that Vince Cady and his men are not going to find the device on you, but it is definitely short-range,” he’d explained.
“Sawyer, that’s exactly what I said to them!” Megan blinked at them through her glasses, obviously believing it.
“I know, honey,” he’d responded in a stage whisper. “They’re just slow. Don’t worry.”
The little bit of humor had been just what they needed. Juliet had turned to Evan, shaking her head, her eyes twinkling. She was ready.
They were ready.
As they pulled up to a guardhouse at Cady’s property an hour later in Evan’s Jeep, Juliet slipped her hand into his. He gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Bob and Lisa Sinclair, here by Mr. Cady’s invitation,” Evan told the guard.
The man looked it up on a small computerized tablet, then nodded and gave them instructions on where to go.
There were a number of cars already parked near the house, all high-end automobiles. Neither the number nor the caliber of the vehicles was surprising. Cady did not deal with lowlifes. His dealings were not something small-time criminals could afford.
Especially when it came to the drone override codes. Anybody interested in buying them would definitely be a big-time player. Someone Omega would need to start keeping tabs on, if they weren’t already.
Like Evan, Juliet was taking stock of the different vehicles. Some of these people would be associates they’d worked with before. Others would be new. All could be potentially deadly.
Evan pulled the Bob Sinclair cloak around him—a friendly guy, good with people, not quite the sharpest tool in the shed, but smart enough. He enjoyed creature comforts and good food, but also had an adventurous side, thus the Jeep as his chosen vehicle.
Evan could tell that Juliet was fully into her role as Lisa Sinclair. Lisa was smart—not a stretch for Juliet—but also liked to pamper herself, and cared more about her appearance than Juliet ever did. She wore expensive jewelry: a diamond bracelet, two almost gaudy rings on her hands, and of course, the locket around her neck.
Lisa’s clothes were a far cry from what Juliet normally wore; her tailored pants and blouse, coupled with high heels, were quite different from Juliet’s more casual jeans and sweaters. But Evan was sure Lisa Sinclair’s outfit helped Juliet dig more into character.
She appeared confident, professional and no-nonsense. Evan loved Juliet’s causal style, but had to admit she could pull off Lisa’s look as if she was born to it. It was a turn-on, for sure.
Evan parked the Jeep, then hopped out to come around and open the passenger door. He helped Juliet down from her seat and kept his hand at the small of her back as they walked toward the main door of the house.
“You look great,” he whispered.
One eyebrow arched. “Of course I do,” she responded, smiling. She was already Lisa Sinclair. “These shoes are Manolo Blahnik. Any girl would look fabulous.”
Evan pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, partly because he knew they were being watched and the action would be in character.
But partly because he just couldn’t help himself.
A member of Cady’s staff opened the door as the two of them approached the steps.
“Welcome, Mr. and Ms. Sinclair,” the woman said. “Mr. Cady is expecting you. We will have you join the other guests in just a moment, but first please follow our security team.”
Juliet and Evan were led to a smallish room off the foyer. One man used a wand to scan Evan, while another did the same to Juliet. Evan could see her tension at the man’s proximity. She glanced at Evan and he gave her a reassuring nod. She flinched when the guard touched her shoulder and asked her to turn around.
Evan had a moment of slight panic when the wand beeped as it passed over Juliet’s locket. Megan had said it was undetectable as a short-range device. Had she been wrong? Was the very thing that was supposed to assure Juliet’s safety going to get them both killed?
“Would you mind removing that locket, please, ma’am?” the guard asked politely, but his tone brooked no refusal.
Juliet took a step back and removed the jewelry. Evan hoped it was as undetectable as Megan and Sawyer claimed it was.
Juliet cringed and couldn’t seem to find anything to say, so Evan stepped in for her. “That was her mother’s, so be careful with it.” Juliet grasped his hand, nodding.
The guard opened the locket, and after much studying, and even removing the picture that was in it, put everything back and returned it to Juliet.
“Sorry,” he said. “Any piece of jewelry this size must be inspected.”
“Fine, just give it to me,” Juliet told him in an acerbic tone. The guard handed it to her and she returned it to her neck. “Are we free to go or are we going to be subjected to more humiliation?”
“You’re free to go. Sorry for the trouble.”
“I would think so.”
It was easy to see why Lisa Sinclair had a reputation as being a bitch. Because she was one. Juliet, once she’d found her tongue, seemed to remember Lisa well.
The woman who had met them at the front door led Evan and Juliet into a large room with multiple windows. People were milling around, talking. Waitstaff were walking around with trays of food and drink.
With his hand resting on her waist, Evan felt Juliet’s tension growing, but none of it showed in her expression. A smooth, alert-but-somewhat-bored look remained planted on her face. It was damn near perfect.
“There you are!” Vince Cady came at them from across the room. “I wondered if you were going to make it at all, after our last…encounter.”
Evan shook the older man’s hand. “Lisa convinced me this wasn’t something we’d want to miss out on.”
“Well, the lovely Mrs. Sinclair has good taste.” Cady gestured to Juliet’s outfit. “As always.” When he bent forward to kiss her cheek, she stiffened slightly, but didn’t withdraw. Cady didn’t seem to notice her discomfort.
“Thank you for having us in your home, Mr. Cady,” she said, her tone a nice mixture of friendly and cold. “We much prefer this to an empty warehouse or other dirty building with weapons pointed at us.”
Cady’s laughter was booming. “Yes, this is much more comfortable for everyone. And it’s only going to get better, you’ll see.”
More comfortable than an entire staff providing for their every whim? Evan found that hard to believe.
“But let me introduce you to my family. This is my wife, Maria, and our son, Christopher.”
Maria Cady had hard, small eyes. Her smile seemed forced, although she politely murmured, “Pleased to meet you,” as she shook Evan’s hand.
Definitely not the friendly type, or at all personable or charming like her husband.
Evan turned to Vince’s son, only to find the younger man staring at Juliet with unadulterated lust. Juliet didn’t see it, because she was shaking hands with Maria. Evan wrapped his arm tightly around Juliet’s waist and pulled her up against him.
Christo
pher Cady turned to Evan, his face smoothing out into a blank mask, friendly even. Had Evan imagined what he’d just seen in the younger man’s face?
With a smile, Christopher offered his hand to shake. “Pleasure,” he said.
“Same,” Evan lied. He’d definitely be keeping an eye on Christopher.
“Maria, Christopher and I must go say hello to some other guests,” Vince told them. “We have over twenty coming in all. The drone codes have brought out interest from quite a few buyers.”
Cady was so excited Evan was surprised he didn’t rub his hands together in glee. The man obviously loved being in a position of power.
“I’m not surprised,” Juliet told him. “Your reputation for having quality items and not wasting buyers’ time is well known, Mr. Cady.”
“Please, both of you call me Vince. We should be informal, don’t you think?”
“Absolutely.” Evan and Juliet spoke at the same time, then looked at each other and grinned.
“Such a lovely couple.” Maria smiled at them, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
“Please enjoy yourselves,” Vince said. “Eat. Drink. We’ll provide further instructions once everyone has arrived.”
Vince took his scary family and began wandering toward other guests.
“So far, so good,” Juliet whispered to Evan. “What do we do now?”
“Like the man said, let’s eat and drink. Mingle.”
“Get as much information as possible.”
“Exactly.” Evan winked down at her. They began working their way toward a table that held different hors d’oeuvres: the scallops wrapped in bacon looked particularly delicious. “Who should be our first targets?”
Juliet placed some food on a plate as she looked around casually. Then Evan saw all the color drain from her face. The plate in her hand fell from lifeless fingers and crashed onto the hardwood floor, shattering.
Evan rushed immediately to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“That man over by the door.” Juliet couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away. “He’s Heath Morel, close friend of the Avilo brothers, who attacked me. He could be the one sending me the emails.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Nausea roiled in Juliet’s stomach. What was Heath Morel doing here? Although he hadn’t been there the night the Avilo brothers had attacked her, everyone knew he and the Avilos not only worked together, but were close friends.
Suddenly, the sweetheart emails made sense to Juliet. Before he died, Marco Avilo could’ve provided details about the attack to Morel, or Robert could have, before he’d gone to prison.
Evan led her to one side of the room as concerned staff members began cleaning up the mess she had made when she’d dropped her plate. All talking had stopped at Juliet’s social faux pas, but now was slowly resuming its previous volume. Eyes that had been glued to her and Evan were now starting to look away, having found nothing of interest to hold their stares.
Except for those of Cady and his son. Juliet glanced their way again and found them still gazing at her. At first she thought it was because of their duty as hosts—was Juliet okay? Had something happened to her to make her disrupt the party? But then she saw Cady look over at Heath Morel, a small smile on his face.
Juliet turned her back to them, so she was facing Evan. Had Cady planned this? Had he invited Morel, to get some sort of rise out of her?
“Hey,” Evan said and bent down so they were eye to eye. “Are you okay?”
She nodded tightly, unable to say anything right at this second.
“We knew there would be people from our past here,” he continued. “You’re still okay. We can do this.”
Juliet took a couple long breaths. Evan was right; Heath Morel was here, but nothing had changed. She could still do this. The emails didn’t have anything to do with the drone override codes.
“You’re right,” she whispered. “I’m okay. I can do this.”
Evan drew her in for a hug. “Good girl. No more throwing plates, okay?”
“Got it.” Juliet turned so she was standing beside him and facing everyone in the room again. “I think Cady might have invited Heath Morel on purpose, just to see my reaction. He was looking at Morel with a weird smile a minute ago.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me at all. That’s the kind of sick stuff Cady is known for. Even more reason not to let it get to you.”
“And if Morel is the one sending me the emails? It has to be him.”
Evan pulled her closer and kissed the side of her forehead. “Then we’re one step closer to catching him, aren’t we?”
Evan was exactly right. That was how Juliet needed to look at it. She didn’t need to hide from Morel; she could use this time to draw him out.
“Thank you.” The words were inadequate to describe how grateful Juliet felt toward Evan. He was helping her remember how to stand and fight, rather than run and hide. She couldn’t have done it by herself.
“For what?”
“For being here. For knowing what to say. For just being you.”
Evan winked at her. “No problem.”
The two of them began making their way around the room, talking to different people. Most of it was just chitchat. No one wanted to give up very much information. After all, they were competitors vying for the same prize. But Juliet made mental notes of every person there, absorbing as much detail as possible to report later. She knew Evan was doing the same.
They avoided Morel, and Juliet noticed he seemed to be avoiding them also. He didn’t have anything to do with her attack—he’d been in a different part of the country at the time—but that didn’t mean he hadn’t known about the plan. And it made complete sense that he was the one sending her the emails.
Juliet wasn’t sure if she wanted to confront the bastard or just stay away from him altogether. But putting a face to the emails somehow made her feel better. Confronting the demon she did know rather than fighting the ones she made up in her head.
And speaking of demons, Juliet always felt as if someone was watching her. It didn’t seem to be Morel. He was studiously trying not to look at her, as far as she could tell. Juliet never could pinpoint who it might be, but she seemed to always feel eyes on her. Maybe her imagination was running away with her. It wouldn’t be the first time.
And maybe it was that she was in a room full of criminals and everyone was eyeing everybody else, while trying not to make it obvious.
Vince Cady certainly seemed to enjoy playing lord of the manor, talking to everyone, holding court. Everyone was doing what they could to get in his favor, in case that would help when the bidding began.
Juliet knew the auction probably wouldn’t be until tonight, possibly tomorrow morning. Until then they had to play nice. Evan certainly seemed to have no problem with that. Bob Sinclair was charming with everyone. Of course, that wasn’t a stretch for Evan; almost everyone liked him. But his Bob Sinclair persona hid his fierce intelligence. People tended to underestimate him, and he used it to his advantage.
Lisa Sinclair was more silent and snooty. Juliet didn’t mind not talking. It gave her a chance to study people. And not have them touch her. Although she was doing better in general, she still did not like people casually touching her. She slid a little closer to Evan.
After an appropriate time to mingle, Cady held up his hand to get everyone’s attention from where he stood in the doorway. “Thank you all for coming. I know we have important business to attend to. And we will soon, I promise.
“I would like to give you a tour of my house, and show you where you will be staying,” he continued. He looked at his son, who was grinning slightly and nodding. “But Christopher had a much better idea, and perfect for security reasons.”
Cady waited until he had everyone’s undivided attention. “I will have my sta
ff get all of your belongings. We will be going to my yacht for the next few days and conducting all business there.”
Silence reigned for a few moments before murmuring broke out. Juliet looked up at Evan, concerned. He slipped an arm around her waist and drew her closer, putting his lips against her hair as if kissing her.
“It’s a test. Don’t show any emotion.”
The words were so soft, Juliet almost couldn’t hear them. She schooled her expression into a blank mask. Lisa Sinclair would not care if they were going on a yacht. She would just want to get to business.
Christopher joined his father and held up a small metal box. He didn’t explain what it was, but Juliet knew.
The transmitter/detonator she and Evan had planted yesterday. She felt Evan’s arm tighten around her waist.
“Here on land there can be security compromises, but on the yacht we can assure everyone’s comfort, safety and privacy.”
Both Christopher and Vince were looking around the room carefully. They couldn’t know for sure it was someone here who had planted the device, and even if they did, it wasn’t an item that particularly screamed police.
Lawmen didn’t tend to plant detonation devices. Of course, Omega Sector wasn’t your everyday law enforcement.
“Anyone not interested in joining us on the yacht may leave now. Your association with the Cady family will be finished for good,” Vince proclaimed.
That certainly upped the stakes for everyone. Silence fell over the room once more.
“Well, we’re in! Just point us to the boat and we’re ready. It’ll be like a second honeymoon, won’t it, honey?” Evan broke the silence with his enthusiastic response, moving toward the doorway where Cady stood, bringing Juliet along with him.
She just plastered a smile on her face, although it was the last thing she felt like doing.
Moving to a yacht changed everything. All their plans, the information they’d gleaned from their surveillance work about Cady’s security forces, all wasted. The transmitting device her brothers had given her would be worthless out in the Chesapeake Bay with no amplifier.
