Never Tempt Danger

by Denise Robbins

  “According to Jimmy, it was over before the DARPA contract ever came along.”

  “You’re sure?” He asked the question because her tone sounded as if she did not quite believe it.

  “Yes. Jimmy told me about their relationship prior to my agreeing to interview and hire her. Before he and I ever became involved.”

  He nodded and sat back, rubbing his chin with his hand for a moment then dropped his hand. “Do you know if it was a friendly break?”

  “Friendly?” Gilly’s voice hit a squeak and the expression on her face told him she thought he had lost his marbles. “There is no such thing as a friendly breakup.”

  He deserved that dig he supposed. Their own relationship had not ended exactly amicably, but via a brief yelling match. They had gotten past it. They had to for the sake of their jobs. Maybe that’s what happened between Jennifer and Jimmy. “Okay, but were they truly able to put their differences aside?”

  “I never saw them argue over anything that was not work related, and that is to be expected. They seemed to respect each other’s skills and opinions. Why else would Jimmy bring her on board with such a sensitive project if he didn’t think it was beneficial and she was trustworthy?”

  Hm. Why indeed? “Didn’t you say that you left the majority of the work up to them and that you were only there off and on?”

  Gilly inclined her head.

  “Then you can’t know if they argued with each other when you were not around.”

  “I guess not.”

  Her low weary voice caught his attention and Lucas looked up from his notes. Her gaze shifted to the glass doors leading to the office. She wanted to go back to her robot. He set his pen down on the paper. “Go ahead. Go back to work.” A spark lit her eyes.

  “Are you sure? I mean I can help you if you need it. We both know that I can do any computer searches better than you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He waved her off. “Do you need any help?”

  “No, thank you.” She didn’t even think about the answer, instead she whipped it back at him. She rose to her feet. “You have enough work to do.”

  Smiling, he stood. “It was an empty offer.” He bent and pressed his lips to her forehead. “Go ahead to your robot. I’ll clean up.”

  He did not have to tell her twice. Gilly scurried away without a backwards glance, slipping beyond the glass doors, leaving them open for him to easily carry stuff back and forth.

  * * * *

  Not wanting to intrude in Gilly’s workspace, Lucas sat at the kitchen table with the agency issued laptop, his notes, and a cold drink. Every once and a while a squeal of delight would carry to his hearing and he would smile or chuckle at her childlike enthusiasm. He had the urge to sneak a peek, but squelched the idea as quickly as it occurred to him. Instead, he returned his attention to his computer.

  Tim, Mark, and Allen had very little information published about them on the web. For that matter, there was very little content about them in any governmental database. There were a few blips here and there about each of them receiving their security clearances and the people interviewed on their behalf in order to achieve such a distinction.

  When he hit Daniel, the story was a little different. There was more public information available on Daniel than the others. The guy had his own website touting the many engineering and mechanical engineering awards. “No wonder she wanted to hire the guy. According to the dead man’s website, he was a damn genius.”

  Lucas sat back, scratched his head as he eyed the screen. “It was no wonder Jimmy’s competitor wanted Daniel to work for him.” The question was, did Robotics FX hire Daniel before or after Jimmy was dead? He tipped the can up to his mouth and drank deeply. There was something off about the guy, something that made the little hairs at the base of his spine stand at attention like a porcupine’s needles in a fight against a dog. Rubbing his hand against his lower back, Lucas did not think Daniel was as innocent as Maureen thought or as the man had portrayed himself.

  He had to dig a little deeper.

  “Woohoo!”

  At her whoop, he was on his feet, weapon drawn, and rushing to the office doorway. When he reached it, he pulled up short. Gilly was on her hands and knees.

  “What the hell?”

  Surmising there was no danger, he holstered his 9-millimeter and moved farther into the room. From the new vantage point behind her, he saw the reason for her screech. It had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with excitement. On the floor in front of Gilly sat a small mechanical dog.

  “Holy shit,” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. “It’s alive.”

  Her back quivered as she giggled. “Not quite, but pretty damn close.” She sat back on her haunches. “Watch this.” She pushed a button on the laptop.

  The little mutt moved. At first, it appeared drunk, bumping into furniture and then all of a sudden it knew how close it could get to the chair before it had to veer off or “Holy shit!” The damn thing morphed into a caterpillar before his very eyes and crawled under the chair. “Unbelievable,” he murmured, blinking.

  Before he could voice a question, the little critter reappeared, morphed into the dog again and stood, he would have sworn at attention. His jaw dropped to his chest. Did it blink at him?

  “What do you think?”

  “Huh?” He stared unseeing at the little dog. Without realizing it, Gilly had gotten to her feet and stood by his side.

  “What do you think of DANGR?”

  “He doesn’t look at all dangerous,” he answered without taking his gaze off the robot.

  Gilly laughed, loud and hard, as only she could. He looked at her then. “You did that?”

  She glanced around the room. “Do you see anyone else here?” She wrapped her arms around his neck, tugged him close, and planted a wet lip lock on him.

  The smile he gave her when the kiss ended was one he hoped reflected pride, love, and respect. “You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. Do you know that?” He asked the question, returning the warm embrace she had given him.

  “Mmm,” she murmured against his lips. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  Yeah, as much as he wanted to play, he had work to do. With one last kiss, he set her away from him, took an additional step back in retreat, and cleared his throat. “I’ve got to go dig up some dirt.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  “Finally!” Two days later, Lucas dug up some dirt. “I knew it!” He slammed his fist on the table. The bottle of water wobbled but did not tip over. Adrenaline pumped into his blood. He needed to move, to confront the woman. Now.

  Instead, he fished his cell phone out of his pocket, and punched the speed dial number for his boss. Mickey answered on the first ring. “Is she safe?”

  The concern in his voice took him aback. “Uh, yeah. She’s in the office playing Mr. Gadget.”

  Lucas heard the hiss of a released breath across the phone line and he smiled. For a man with a reputation for being tough as nails, he had a soft side for the women in his organization.

  “Keep her that way.”

  “I intend to.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I think I found a link or motive to Jimmy’s death.”

  When Mickey did not respond, he knew he had his attention, and continued. “Jimmy’s main competitor is, or was, a company called Robotics FX. The dead guy, Daniel, supposedly went to work for them right after Jimmy was killed. Apparently, so did Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend and lead engineer, Jennifer Carroll. Through a lot of digging, I came across a document that shows Jennifer as a newly listed partner of Robotics FX.”

  “How new?”

  “Two days before the murder.”

  “Sounds like a solid motive to me.”

  “Yeah, kill the competition, literally, and make a million by using the competitor’s own work.”

  “What?”

  “According to Gilly, she thought someone had been snooping around when she and Jimmy did s
ome late night, secretive development sessions. They were doing development on the robot that they didn’t want anyone else to know about. Not even the other members of the team, and that included Jennifer.”

  Mickey whistled and it rang in Lucas’s ear. “No wonder the whole thing was a cluster. You do not keep secrets from your own team. It takes trust to build a team.”

  “Uh, boss, this was a little sensitive.” Lucas cleared his throat. “The secret had to do with Maureen and her…a…gift.”

  “What?” Mickey exploded on the other end of the line.

  Lucas cringed and held his cellular away from his ear as Mickey rattled off several very creative expletives in various languages. When the noise level dropped to a low growl, he put the phone back up to his ear.

  “How—or why—would—she—do—that?” He spoke the question word for word, slow and distinct. Mickey was just as shocked as he had been when she told him.

  “Gilly said it was an accident. Something that Jimmy built into the robot without her knowledge and when he demonstrated it to her, her, um, talent accidentally slipped out.”

  “Who else knows?”

  “Gilly says just Jimmy.” Lucas didn’t think that was true and he had a feeling neither did his boss.

  “Do you believe that crap?”

  He chuckled inwardly. The man was not stupid. “Nope.” He lowered his voice in case Gilly decided to show up at the kitchen door and listen in. “If that were the case then why not just kill Maureen? She was at the restaurant. They could have just as easily taken her out then. The shooter at the townhouse aimed to maim not kill.”

  The line went quiet for a few seconds, his boss obviously absorbing what he had just learned. “Do they need her if they have the code for the work and the robot?”

  “Not if they knew everything or had someone with Maureen’s same ability. My guess is that they don’t.”

  “You think Jennifer and her partner or partners at Robotics FX have some of the information but not all, and they need Maureen to finish the job.”

  “Yeah.” Lucas was not completely convinced that was the whole scenario, but it was a piece of the puzzle. He still had not put together the fact that she had to have known the shooter who killed Jimmy. If the shooter were Jennifer, would she have known it sooner or sensed it somehow? Damn! He wished he understood her miracle of a mind.

  “I’ll get Ruby doing a deeper dive into the computer checks and get someone tailing Jennifer. If she is involved, I want her where I can see her.”

  “Me too,” Lucas mumbled into the phone on deaf ears. Mickey had cut the connection.

  Stuffing his cell phone into his pocket, he stood and stretched. His shoulder muscles ached from hunching over the computer, but the tiny hairs on his arms and at the base of his neck prickled in warning. Gilly.

  He sprinted into the office where she camped out, but she wasn’t there. “Where the hell is she?” His answer came in a muffle whoop. On the other side of the office, he peered out the glass doors, and spotted her outside in the backyard playing with her robot.

  He slid the door open, the sound of its metal rails screeched. Gilly glanced toward the house and acknowledged him with a quick wave then turned back to DANGR. He watched, transfixed, as she ran along the perimeter of his property, her long red hair swaying behind her waving in the breeze, the fake mutt at her side. She appeared relaxed and happy, and it warmed his heart. The dog morphed. Now, he flew above her head, an iridescent set of wings gliding on the wind.

  When she turned, heading back toward the house, the brilliant smile that lit her face astounded him. He edged closer to the deck railing, drawn to her. She pivoted left and aimed for the small pond he dug and filled for her yesterday. The next thing he knew, the dragonfly dive-bombed into the water. Gilly skidded to a halt at the edge of the pool. Hands on her bare knees, she leaned over and peered into the murky water, giving Lucas a perfect view.

  He snapped to attention when she screeched and jumped back until he saw the cause. The robot flung itself out of the water, shape-shifted into its original state, and shook its wet body as if it were a real dog. Chuckling, he moved down the stairs and out into the yard. She had thought of everything.

  “Hey,” she said in greeting, sounding a tad winded after her jog.

  “Hey. DANGR is looking good.”

  She beamed at him, her eyes sparking at his compliment. “He’s getting there. I have a few more kinks to work out, but I should have him done, completely tested, and ready to go just in time to meet the DARPA delivery date. Then it’s cross your fingers and hope for the best.”

  “You don’t need luck, you have skill and talent.”

  Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his. Her questing tongue tasted sweet and hot when it brushed against his. He pulled her tightly to him, sweeping his arms around her. His hands traced the curve of her waist just above her shorts where her top slid up and revealed smooth muscled skin.

  Somewhere during the kiss, she withdrew. Lucas broke the kiss and dropped his hands. Stepping back, he eyed Gilly and noticed the glazed look on her face. “Gilly?”

  She didn’t respond. “Gilly?” Lucas cupped both her shoulders in his hands and she jumped as if a bolt of electricity jolted her.

  TWENTY-NINE

  The vision slammed into her mind from out of nowhere. A .38 Special in a shaky hand aimed at her then Lucas. The gun exploded. A flash of orange mesmerized her before she gasped and fell backwards. As she stumbled to the ground, she saw long blonde hair, and—

  “Jennifer.”

  “What?”

  Her whole body shook and the image faded. She blinked and realized Lucas was shaking her. “Jennifer. She’s here.”

  “What? How do you—” His voice trailed off as he glanced around. “Where?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Fuck it. Let’s go!” Lucas grabbed her hand in a death grip and pulled her behind him, heading toward the house.

  They reached the bottom step to the deck when a silky voice spoke from the shadows. “Not a step further.”

  Simultaneously, she and Lucas turned. The woman stood near the rhododendron at the corner of the house aiming a .38 Special in their direction. Lucas shoved Gilly behind him. Damn his protective instincts!

  “Aw, isn’t that sweet. The big man wants to protect the little woman.”

  Gilly’s nose wrinkled. Little woman? She steeled her voice and kept it deceptively calm. “Jennifer, what are you doing here? How did you find us?”

  Jennifer’s narrow-eyed blue gaze met hers, the weapon she held trained on the center of Lucas’s chest. No! She screamed in her mind. Please! Her heart thudded inside her chest.

  “You think you’re a better programmer than I am? I got news for you, Gilly.” Her voice dripped with disdain. “I’m better than you and Jimmy.”

  A wicked grin slid across the woman’s face. It chilled her to the bone. What did she mean by that?

  “What do you want?” Lucas demanded in a quiet, unruffled tone.

  “Did Jimmy know you were such a whore?” Jennifer held her gaze. “Does he know what a freak you are?” She flicked the pistol left to right in Lucas’s direction.

  “What?” She tried to plough through Lucas to get to the woman, but he held her back.

  “I never did understand what Jimmy saw in you. Then I found out.” She shrugged. “Not that it matters, but he never loved you. I was his one true love.”

  Had Jennifer lost her mind?

  “You only fascinated him because of your skills with robotics, your connections to DARPA, and the endless supply of government funding. Your bizarre mind thing,” she waved her free hand at her temple, “gave Jimmy an edge to win the contract with the government. He may have won too if he hadn’t screwed me over. Instead, I made certain Troy got the edge.” Her grin grew brighter but colder.

  “Troy! CEO—” Lucas’s grip tightened on her hip and she bit back a sharp retort, swallowing acid bile as she did. Focus, she or
dered herself, let yourself open up. A whirl of Jennifer’s thoughts bombarded her brain. Gilly winced at the onslaught. She reached out and grasped the back of Lucas’s shirt in her fist. In her mind, she saw Jennifer peeking in through the lab window at her and Jimmy, Jennifer at Jimmy’s brownstone naked and waiting, then Jimmy yelling at her to leave. She saw Jennifer at a keyboard, not her computer, Jimmy’s. She kept glancing over her shoulder, biting her lip.

  Knowledge struck with the impact of a rolled up newspaper hitting her in the head. “You planted a bug in the software.”

  Jennifer shrugged and stared back at her with cold blue eyes and an icy chill ran up Gilly’s spine.

  “You—killed—Jimmy,” she whispered, tears stinging the back of her throat.

  Jennifer’s gaze grew sharp and blue daggers pierced Gilly’s mind and with them, clarity. “No, you didn’t kill him.”

  “I loved him,” she wailed. “You should have stayed away and everything would have been fine. You killed him. You’re responsible for his death.”

  “He didn’t love you. You were no longer together when I came into the picture.”

  “He would have been mine again if you had just left him alone. He cared about me.” Jennifer emphasized her words stabbing her thumb against her chest. “It’s your fault!”

  “I—did—not—kill—him.”

  “You might as well have. You were the cause.”

  Lucas shifted. Jennifer’s spine snapped straight and Gilly heard the hammer cock. Loosening the grip on his shirt, Gilly rested her palm against the center of his back. She prayed for him not to do anything foolish. She could not lose him. Not now.

  “If you didn’t pull the trigger, who did?” Lucas asked.

  Jennifer’s skinny shoulders lifted and fell, but she had sucked her bottom lip in and bit down. She knew or at least suspected someone.

  “Your partner?” Gilly asked.

  That drew Jennifer’s attention back to her.

  “I…I don’t know. But you,” she spat the word. “You caused Jimmy’s death! I loved him and you killed him!” Jennifer swung the weapon in her direction.