The Final Secret

by Cassie Miles

  “Anna Rose is working that angle for us.”

  Though Gennie appreciated the skills and talents of Anna Rose Claymore, she didn’t think the lady with polka-dot glasses was a match for the feds. “The FBI has more resources.”

  “Different resources,” he said. “I don’t understand how Anna Rose comes up with some of the data she finds. Could be something to do with the dark web or underground hackers. But she’s amazing.”

  “If I notice anything suspicious, I’ll flag it for her.”

  As the night dragged on, these stories of bad behavior began to meld into one large ugly vision of humanity. There were betrayals, partners attacking each other, hatreds and schemes. She read a suicide note and wondered if the person who wrote it was actually dead.

  Every twenty minutes, she made a point of getting up and moving around. If she froze in one position for too long, the muscles that lacked sensitivity tended to seize up, especially in rainy weather. After the third reading of a document about foreclosure, she recognized a name on the page and bounded to her feet. Her left leg didn’t hurt, but it wobbled precariously. She took a moment to stabilize before she announced, “Murano.”

  Noah stepped up beside her. “Are you okay?”

  “It’s just a glitch.” She placed the document in his hand. “I’m guessing this is about the MIME property and it mentions Murano.”

  “Look again,” he said.

  She read, reread and groaned. The name she’d been so thrilled to find was Marciano. “I could have sworn it was Murano. Everything else fits. The description of the location, including the original lodge, sounds like his Institute.”

  “It’s dated fifteen years ago,” he said. “MIME started after that.”

  “Marciano could be a fake name. Remember when he told us that he wasn’t part of the actual family back in Italy? Maybe he changed his name before he started his import business.”

  “One of his political opponents would have dug up evidence of an alias, but I’ll ask Anna Rose to check his history.” Noah stayed at her side, watching her with a concerned expression. “We should take a break.”

  “I’m fine. This just feels like when your foot goes to sleep.” Walking slowly to keep from betraying her momentary weakness with a limp, she went to the kitchen and got a water bottle from the fridge. Staying hydrated solved a lot of physical problems.

  Noah stood in the doorway behind her. “I wish that document had turned out to be a real link to Murano. He’s sneaky and shady. Plus, being a politician makes him an excellent target for blackmail.”

  “In your documents, have you found anything interesting?”

  “There’s some military correspondence, dated from the time that my brother was killed. I don’t know how that could turn into blackmail, but I’ve been trying to remember the names of the other guys who died in the same action with Josh.” He winced at the painful memory. “There’s nothing in those emails that I didn’t know before.”

  “We still haven’t found a threat to you.”

  “Warrick might have made it up.”

  She glanced at the wall clock in the kitchen. “It’s after midnight. How much longer are we going to do this?”

  “It’s okay with me if you go to bed.”

  With you? That was a blunt question that she kept to herself. “I’ll stay up. Maybe the next time I see Murano’s name, it’ll make sense.”

  As she followed him back to the meeting room, she noticed how good he looked in his snug-fitting jeans. Earlier tonight, they’d been on track to spending the night in the same bed. Somehow, their intimacy had gone off the rails. Though she tried to tell herself that moving forward slowly was the best course, Gennie was disappointed.

  Grumpily, she slouched in her swivel chair and went back to work. She kept coming back to two official-looking birth certificates. One was twenty-eight years old, from the state of Colorado. The other had been issued two years ago at a hospital in Albuquerque. The mother’s names were listed and the children’s. But the spaces for “father” were blank.

  She waved the papers at him. “What secrets could these be hiding?”

  “One is for a grown man. The other is for a baby. I don’t see anything significant about the names, but I mentioned the certificates to Anna Rose. She’ll research the history of these people. I expect the FBI will do the same.”

  “How would a blackmailer use these?”

  Noah wrote birth certificates on the whiteboard under Secrets as he talked. “Maybe the father didn’t know he had a child until the kid showed up on the doorstep and demanded his inheritance.”

  “That is so sad. I’d rather think that the illegitimate son approached him and they had a wonderful reunion.”

  “Dean Slocum didn’t get rich from happy endings.”

  When she went back to the research, Gennie came to a realization. “This is what detective work is really like, isn’t it? It’s all about gathering evidence, poking through documents and seeing the worst in people.”

  “I was a beat cop, never a detective, but you’re right. Most crime is straightforward and obvious. There’s no question about who did it.”

  “Like when the killer is standing over the body with a smoking gun,” she said.

  “There’s not usually so much drama, but yeah. In a case like Slocum’s murder, the killer and his accomplices went to a lot of trouble to muddy the waters. Figuring it out requires patience and perseverance.”

  “Not my best skills.”

  When Gennie knew what she wanted, she went after it. She looked across the room at Noah. Their gazes met. Without speaking, they communicated, and she got the message, which wasn’t what she’d hoped for. Nothing intimate. No more kisses. Not tonight.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The next morning, Noah rolled out of bed, brushed his teeth, drank a glass of water and hit the gym. Four and a half hours of sleep wasn’t enough. He was still tense and in need of physical release. After stretching to loosen up, he set the treadmill at an easy jogging pace. He would have gone running outdoors if it hadn’t rained so much yesterday. It was too muddy.

  He gradually ramped up the treadmill speed. The investigation should have been first and foremost in his mind, especially since they still hadn’t uncovered the reason for Warrick’s warning. But Noah’s mind filled with images of Gennie. He remembered how curvy she looked in that black jumpsuit she wore at the fund-raiser, how fierce when she faced Warrick holding her Beretta two-handed and how crazy when she spun around in the rain on his deck. Most of all, he thought about last night when they were working side by side. She hadn’t noticed him watching her. Completely unselfconscious, she twirled a piece of hair between her slender fingers. As she read the documents, an array of emotions played across her face—ranging from disgust at the material to excitement when she thought she’d discovered something important.

  Fascinating and sexy, she drew him toward her like a magnetic force. Last night, he had to set aside the documents because all he could think about was sweeping her off her feet and carrying her to his bed. What stopped him? For sure, there were valid reasons. He barely knew her. Sleeping with an employee was irresponsible. His attraction to strong women had gotten him into trouble before. He had to be patient. Later, there would be time for them.

  Behind his back, he heard the door to the gym open. Gennie called out, “I’m impressed. It’s not even six o’clock, and you’re already working out.”

  “And I’m not a morning person.” He waited for her to saunter into view. “Are you?”

  “Not really.” She draped herself across the front of the exercise machine and gave him a crooked smile. “Want coffee?”

  I want you. He had the feeling that she could provide a wake-up call he’d never forget. “Coffee’s good.”

  Her striped flannel nightshirt fell almost to her knees, exposing th
e lower half of her smooth sexy legs. He noticed light scarring from her injuries and operations. Those marks showed her character and enhanced her beauty.

  Casually, she reached over and adjusted the speed on the treadmill so he was forced to run faster. “What’s our plan for today?”

  “I’m waiting to hear back from Anna Rose.” Struggling to maintain the new pace, he was breathing harder. “Maybe go to the general’s.”

  “Do you have something specific you’re expecting Anna Rose to find?”

  “Yeah.”

  “What is it?”

  “Baer,” he said,

  “Are you talking about a teddy bear? A grizzly bear?”

  “Robert Baer.”

  She adjusted the speed higher. He was sprinting, dammit, sprinting.

  Last night, he’d finally remembered the name of his brother’s friend who had also been killed in combat. Noah had actually met Robert Baer who was tight with Josh.

  Gennie hit the stop button. “I need an explanation.”

  As soon as the treadmill slowed, he jumped off. Doubled over, he was breathing hard, sweating. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  “Which part? The speed run or the quick stop?” Her evil little grin told him that she wasn’t the least bit sorry that he was winded.

  “Neither,” he said as he straightened his spine.

  She perched on the weight bench. “Tell me about this Robert Baer.”

  “I remembered his name last night, sent it to Anna Rose.” He stretched his shoulders and flexed. “Baer was one of Josh’s best buddies. They were both Rangers.”

  “And you think Baer might be the reason Slocum saved that stuff about the mission that killed your brother,” she said.

  “It’s worth looking into,” he said. “Baer came home with Josh on leave a couple of times. I don’t think he had any family, but he always had money to throw around when we went snowboarding,”

  “How old were you?”

  “Seventeen or eighteen, it was a couple of years before my brother died. Baer loved this cabin, which was nowhere near as cool as it is now. He kept saying that he wanted to live in Colorado.”

  A sad irony brushed over him. Robert Baer had gotten his wish. He was here in Denver, buried at Fort Logan Cemetery in a grave beside Josh. They were together for eternity.

  Gennie left her perch, came up beside him and placed her hand on his arm. He didn’t need to explain his sadness to her. She knew.

  “I’ll get that coffee started,” she said.

  He followed her from the gym and paused at the door to his bedroom. “I’ve got to grab my cell phone. See you downstairs.”

  When he picked up his phone on the bedside table, he was surprised to see a new text message from Anna Rose, telling him to check his computer. Didn’t that woman ever sleep? He’d sent Baer’s name after midnight. When did she have time to research?

  In the bathroom, he splashed water on his face and pits and toweled off. He threw on a sweatshirt before he went downstairs to the kitchen where the aroma of coffee swirled in the air. Few things in the world smelled as good as coffee brewing in the morning.

  Gennie glanced in his direction. “I found something labeled Cinnamon Rolls in the freezer. I’m popping it into the oven.”

  He filled his mug. “Grab your coffee and come with me. Anna Rose sent us something on the computer.”

  “Is this about Baer? Why couldn’t she just tell you about it on the phone?”

  “Phone lines aren’t secure,” he said. “No communication is truly safe anymore, but Anna Rose installed major encryption software on her computer and a couple of others in ARC. Apparently, she doesn’t want anybody else to hack in. The information she’s sending must be important.”

  “Or dangerous,” Gennie said under her breath.

  In the meeting room, he went to the long wall desk and turned on his computer. On the main screen, he saw a new icon that had to be from Anna Rose. He clicked. It opened. And there she was, Anna Rose Claymore in person. Her pajamas were printed with flamingoes, and the frames for her glasses were emerald green.

  “Good morning, kids.” She toasted the screen with a mug that said World’s Greatest Granny. “We’re talking live on a dedicated feed, and you should ask me everything you need to know right now. We might be out of touch for a while.”

  “Why?” Gennie asked. “Are we going somewhere?”

  “Yes, and you need to use extreme caution.”

  “Where?”

  “Let me start at the beginning, dear.” She cleared her throat, preparing to lecture. “Certain aspects of this murder required inside access. Someone had to unlock the library window so Warrick could get inside. This person might not be the murderer but is certainly an accomplice. This could be an inside job. Therefore, you should trust no one.”

  Noah agreed. Though it was difficult to suspect Henry Harrison or any of the other staff who worked at the mansion, logic pointed to an insider. “I hate to say this. What about the ARC employees?”

  “Sadly, you should consider them as suspects.”

  “What did you learn about Baer?”

  “Digging up information on this young man wasn’t easy. A lesser genius wouldn’t have found a thing. Not to toot my own horn, but my computer work on this subject is certifiably brilliant.”

  “All hail, Anna Rose.” He sipped his coffee.

  “Robert Baer,” she said, “was orphaned in his early teens. His wealthy parents left him a ton of money, which was protected by an attorney who acted as Baer’s guardian until he was twenty-one. They had a falling out. The young man severed all ties with his guardian and everyone else. He ran off and joined the army, which turned out to be a wise decision because he excelled in the military environment, rising through the ranks and becoming a Ranger. That’s where he met Dean Slocum.”

  Noah set his coffee mug down on the desktop. On a subconscious level he’d known that Slocum and Baer knew each other. Still, the connection was ominous. “What else?”

  “I don’t want to upset you, dear.”

  “I’m okay.” But he felt the ghosts of old dead suspicions whispering through him, chilling his blood and turning his heart to ice.

  “Blackmail was only one of Slocum’s talents. He had his sticky fingers in all kinds of nefarious schemes. With Baer, he pulled off a land grab.”

  Noah needed to know more. His patience was wearing thin. “Are you saying that he stole land from Baer?”

  “Not directly. Slocum somehow convinced Baer to put his name on the deed of a property that’s close to your cabin. Do you remember anything about the land?”

  A vague recollection formed in the back of his memory. The three of them—Josh, Baer and him—drove to a couple of acres that Baer wanted to buy so he could build his own cabin and they could be neighbors. “I might have gone there.”

  “There are directions in this file,” Anna Rose said. “I believe this is the property that Loretta has been searching for. Technically, Slocum owned it, but the records are all in Baer’s name. The setup is legally shaky, but Baer died without a will and had no one looking out for his interests. Slocum took advantage of him. His plan must have been to get clear title and sell for a tidy profit.”

  Gennie said, “Do you think we should go to this property?”

  “Loretta seemed to think there was something valuable there,” Anna Rose replied. “It’s worth taking a look around. You might find the original blackmail documents.”

  Noah’s reading of the situation was different. “When Baer was killed, Slocum inherited.”

  “That’s not entirely accurate.”

  “Why not? Slocum gained control of the mountain property. He benefited from Baer’s death.”

  “Yes, dear. But there are other factors to—”

  He interrupted her with a quest
ion that had haunted him ever since his brother was killed in action. Supposedly, the attack on his platoon was due to mistaken intelligence. “Did Slocum engineer Baer’s death? Did he purposely direct Baer and Josh and their whole platoon into lethal danger?”

  Anna Rose took off her glasses and rubbed the worry line between her eyebrows. “There’s no way of knowing what was going on in Slocum’s twisted mind, but I doubt he wanted Baer to come to injury. He was manipulating that unfortunate young man. There was at least one other property involved.”

  “The one with the foreclosure notice,” Gennie said. “Was that MIME property?”

  “I’ll need to dig deeper, but I think you might be correct.”

  Gennie bounced to her feet. “You really are brilliant.”

  “Thank you, dear.”

  “I love the way you’ve connected the dots—from Baer to Slocum to Murano who might be using the alias Marciano. Brilliant!” She waved. “I need to run to the kitchen and check on my buns.”

  “Wait!” Anna Rose reached out as if she could grab Gennie. “Do you have any other questions?”

  She looked up and to the right, typical of someone who was searching for a recent memory. “The birth certificates,” she said. “Is there any more information on them?”

  “Very little. I learned that the mother on the certificate from twenty-eight years ago passed away before her child was five. No new information on the fathers.”

  “What about Ruby and the letter?” Gennie asked. “Has she gotten up the nerve to tell the general?”

  “Indeed, she has. He’s already forgiven her.” Anna Rose pinched her lips. “For kissing his supposed friend, Mitch Murano.”

  “I’m glad they’re being honest with each other. Goodbye, Anna.”

  He watched as Gennie flitted from the room. She was a wonderful distraction, but he had other things on his mind. The possibility of Slocum causing Josh’s death weighed heavily.