Secret Obsession

by Robin Perini

  Right now, Archimedes had the advantage.

  Noah didn’t anticipate the situation to last long.

  “Appears clear,” Rafe said, taking another turn around the block in the suburb north of Fort Worth.

  “Agree,” Zane added.

  “Go inside,” Noah ordered. “Check it out.”

  The SUV pulled up to the house. Zane jumped out and keyed in the code to the garage door. The metal slid up, strangely quiet.

  Lyssa slipped her hand beneath her coat. Noah didn’t say a word.

  A few minutes later, Zane motioned them forward. Rafe pulled the car into the garage, but Noah didn’t breathe until they were sealed inside the house.

  Lyssa finally removed her hand from her .45. “You’ve got me here. Now what?”

  Her gaze dared Noah. He knew very well he didn’t have much time. Lyssa was resourceful; she’d find her way back to Chicago if that’s what she really wanted.

  “Now we locate Archimedes.” Noah punched in a code in the garage. “I’ve scrambled the garage-door signal. If anyone was watching, they won’t be getting in. He walked directly into the small dining room. “Set up here.”

  Zane nodded, tugging his laptop from its case. “I need secure internet.”

  Noah glanced over at Lyssa. He could almost feel the nerves shooting through her body. “Want to go out back? I have to hook up a satellite system.”

  She gave a sharp nod and followed him onto the porch then into the yard. There was a chill in the air, but not so much that he needed gloves. He positioned the small dish so that it faced the sky and flipped open a case from inside his jacket.

  He twisted a few screws and lifted the weather cover. “How are you feeling?”

  She scuffed the grass with her shoe. “Embarrassed. Rafe and Zane must think I’m certifiable.”

  “Nah. They know you’re exhausted and that you’ve been through hell.” Squatting down, he secured the equipment before pulling out his phone to position the receiver.

  Lyssa said nothing. She crossed her arms over her jacket then slipped her hand inside, as if reassuring herself that protection was near. Noah observed her carefully. Even while she spoke, she scanned the backyard, searching for anything out of place. Noah had been in life-threatening situations more often than not since he’d joined the Marines, but there was always an end to the mission. How would it be, month after month, year after year, to never let your guard down?

  Walking the twelve-foot concrete wall encasing the rear perimeter of the house, she reached the gate and yanked. It didn’t budge; it was secured shut with a series of large steel bolts.

  Finalizing the satellite positioning, he strode to the screen door and cracked it open. “Check out the connection, Zane. We’ll be a few more minutes.”

  He studied Lyssa across the yard. She stiffened, her expression one of caution.

  “Are you planning to run?” he asked.

  She didn’t respond but returned to the gate and tugged at it again. “If he finds us, how do I escape? I’m trapped here.”

  Noah joined her. Without hesitation, he flicked open a panel painted to look like concrete. “The code is seven-nine-one-three.” He pressed the numbers. The bolts slid back.

  With an easy push, Lyssa swung the heavy gate open and peered into a small carport behind the yard. An escape vehicle waited.

  “Gassed and ready to go.” Noah resecured the backyard. “The keys are in a similar hiding place on the backside of the wall. Satisfied?”

  Her incredulous expression, then quick nod made his lips quirk. Her body seemed to relax a bit.

  “Are you going to use the code and car to leave?”

  With a sigh, she rubbed the back of her neck. “I may have lost it on the plane, but what I said was true. You’re in danger. It would be better if you and your friends let me finish this on my own.”

  She gazed up at the cloudy sky. “I want it over.”

  He could see the emotion welling in her eyes. She’d used up all her reserves.

  “I want you safe, Lyssa. You’re not a prisoner, even though part of me would like to lock you up at the North Pole until this psycho is out of your life.” Noah rubbed his hands up and down her arms. “We’re hundreds of miles away from Archimedes. You’ve been battling him solo for too long, Lyssa. Lean on me...on us. We can help.”

  She blinked several times in quick succession. “I’ve been alone a long time, Noah. I can’t promise anything. I don’t know how to trust anymore. That ability died with Jack.”

  Turning away, she walked back to the house. He cursed himself for listening to Reid and abandoning her to the system back then. When Archimedes had found her in hiding shortly after being placed in WitSec, Noah had hoped he was doing the right thing. What if somehow the killer had broken into Noah’s systems, using him to track Alessandra. He couldn’t chance it.

  He’d been wrong. He refused to let her go. Not again. She wouldn’t get rid of him, no matter what she said or did.

  He scanned the periphery then followed her inside, locking the doors and setting the external alarm.

  Lyssa hovered near the dining room table. “What are those?” she asked, staring at the six-inch-tall group of files at one end.

  “The information from WitSec connecting to Archimedes,” Zane answered.

  “I thought there’d be more,” Noah said. “Are you sure this is everything?”

  Rafe pulled up a chair. “Zane and I agree this can’t be it. Some of the files must be missing.”

  “Zane, can you bore into Justice through a back door?” Noah asked, thumbing through the documents. “Take another look?”

  “Probably.” Zane looked up from his keyboard. “I’m not just crossing the legal line on this, Noah, I’m jumping with both feet into big trouble if we’re caught.”

  “And your point is?”

  Zane grinned. “Thought you should know why we’ll end up in jail if we’re caught.”

  “No choice,” Noah said. “With Reid in the hospital, I don’t know who to trust. Just don’t leave a trail. I hate being locked up.”

  “Who do you think you’re talking to?” Zane asked. “My zeros and ones are invisible.” He lowered his head and tapped away at the keyboard.

  Biting her lip in concentration, Lyssa thumbed through the files, taking time to read each name. “There are names I don’t see here.” She looked up. “Archimedes got to someone at WitSec, didn’t he?”

  “That’s what Reid believes,” Noah said. “It’s probably how Archimedes found you.”

  Lyssa settled into a mahogany chair at one end and pulled off a small stack of files.

  “Chastity’s information isn’t here, of course.” Rafe patted the remaining stack. “And while we were on the plane I caught word of another strange death. A woman set on fire only a few blocks from the diner where Chastity died.”

  “Archimedes likes fire,” Lyssa said, her voice matter-of-fact.

  That flat note captured Noah’s attention. Ever since she’d entered the house, she’d encased herself in an iron curtain, maintaining precarious control. He understood the necessity, but she was on the edge. Her fingers shook just a bit, and yet she powered through.

  She awed him.

  “Thirty percent of his crimes involve either death or destruction by fire,” she added. “The arson investigators haven’t been able to identify the accelerant that he uses. All they know is that it burns fast and hot and completely disintegrates most of the evidence.”

  Zane’s hands paused on the keyboard, his expression stunned. “How—?”

  “The fact leaked out after a warehouse fire killed the owner of a freight company. It surprises you I want to know exactly what he’s doing? And where he is all the time?” Lyssa stared at him, unblinking. “Why would I
give him the upper hand?”

  “Will you marry me?” Zane blurted out. “I love a smart woman with guts.”

  “Just keep your eyes on your keyboard.” Noah planted himself between Zane and Lyssa.

  Zane gave Noah a jaunty salute and huddled back on the computer, but not without a smirk on his face.

  Okay, so Noah hadn’t hidden the fact that he liked Lyssa. A lot. He glanced over at her, too hesitant for his own peace of mind.

  He’d expected her to be looking at him, expected that shot of awareness that tingled just below the surface of the skin to bounce between them, but she’d turned him off.

  Instead, she took a folder from the shorter stack in front of her.

  Noah placed his hand on hers. “You don’t want to—”

  Lyssa opened the file anyway. She let out a shocked gasp. “I can’t even tell if this is a man or a woman. What did Archimedes do?”

  Noah tugged the file away from her, but not before he caught a glance of an autopsy photo of a corpse with a bloated face floating at the edge of a slow-moving river. “One thing about Archimedes, I’m sure you know, is that his M.O.s are all over the place. He’s an encyclopedia of modus operandi.”

  “I know. I’ve been researching him for two years,” Lyssa opened another file. “Newspapers don’t print these kinds of photos, but I know there are victims from all over the country. Mostly on the East and West coasts. Men and women, old and young, professional and homeless. I can’t find a connection.”

  “That’s why the feds have no case and no clue,” Noah said. “Except you. You’ve heard his voice.”

  “A whisper two years ago. Even I know it’s not enough.”

  Noah knelt in front of her chair. “There is a connection. We just haven’t found it yet.”

  “Lyssa.” He waited until his patience forced her to meet his gaze. Her dead eyes terrified him. He gripped her hands. “I’m telling you right now, we’ll find the connection. We’ll find him.”

  She stared down at their entwined fingers and squeezed his tight, the desperation clearly etched on her face. She glanced at the table and the files, then at Rafe and Zane.

  A heavy sigh escaped her.

  “I want to believe that, Noah. But somehow I’ve got a feeling that the only way we’ll find Archimedes is when he finds me first.”

  * * *

  LYSSA HAD NEVER seen anything like Noah, Rafe and Zane at work. She tucked her knee under her chin and wrapped her arms round her leg. Their intensity rivaled anything she’d ever witnessed.

  Occasionally Noah would glance up at her, meeting her gaze with a worried one of his own. She couldn’t stop watching him, and the deep tenor of his voice sent a small shiver up her spine.

  While part of her wished he’d let her stay in Chicago, the past few hours had convinced her not to use that code and take off. Despite everything, watching Noah made her believe in the possibility—the possibility of a future.

  Should she even allow herself to think that way?

  She leaned forward as Noah and Zane rattled off terminology with an ease she’d only witnessed on television.

  “Archimedes might be a wacko, but he’s a damn good engineer. Check out this design, Noah,” Zane said. He pulled apart one of the cameras they’d taken from her apartment. “He’s good. I wish I’d dreamed up how he put together the motion-and voice-operated sensors. Efficient, saves size and power. I’m borrowing it.”

  “Well, when we see him, you can tell him how brilliant you think he is,” Noah said. “Can you use the camera to track him?”

  Lyssa perked up. Was this it?

  “I tried.” Zane scowled. “I ended up in the middle of Kandahar when the bouncing finally stopped.”

  “Somehow, I don’t think he’s there.” A sharp curse escaped from Noah’s lips, and he shoved back from the table. “There’s got to be a way.”

  He paced back and forth like a panther in a cage, waiting and wanting to pounce. Lyssa could practically feel the frustration emanating from each step. He settled at the back window and stared outside, his mind obviously whirling with possibilities.

  “What about Chastity’s notepad?” Lyssa asked.

  “No fingerprints,” Rafe answered with a frown. “Of course, Archimedes has never left so much as a partial print. The guy is careful.”

  Rafe was right. Lyssa shoved the files she’d read from cover to cover. “I always thought the feds were hiding something from me. I couldn’t believe they didn’t have leads that the papers hadn’t published, but there’s nothing here.”

  “What about the note Archimedes left for us?” Noah said, still focused on the backyard.

  “The infinity symbol matches the other notes he’s left on paper,” Rafe said.

  No one mentioned there were only a few examples of his handwriting. More often than not, Archimedes left his calling card carved into the body.

  In fact, Jack had been the first body he’d carved into.

  With a quiet shiver, Lyssa forced herself to focus on the here and now, not the past. “What about the other symbol?” Lyssa said. “Can I see it again?”

  Rafe pushed the notebook toward her while Zane started in on the laptop again, muttering to himself.

  Lyssa studied the pencil drawing Archimedes had created just below the infinity sign. When Noah pulled the chair beside her back and sat next to her, she looked at him. “It’s simple. Just a clockwise spiral.”

  She traced the design with her finger. “It looks familiar but I can’t place it.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I should know what it means.”

  “You read the files we have. Has he ever used a second symbol before?”

  “Not unless it’s in the missing files. The papers didn’t have anything about a second drawing either. Not the ones I was able to read.”

  “Archimedes is waiting for you,” Noah said, looking at the message. “Infinity is his signature. So, what is this damn curlicue?”

  “I have a feeling if we only knew—”

  Noah’s phone vibrated. He glanced at the number, stood, then placed the device against his ear.

  “Bradford.”

  Without pause, he crossed the room, away from her. The intensity on his face didn’t lessen, and his body moved with primal grace and precision, quiet and deadly. In moments like this he reminded her of Jack. But something more, something even more dangerous to her peace of mind.

  With a single glance he looked back at her, two frown lines deepening in his forehead, his expression speculative. Whoever was talking to him hadn’t pleased him.

  He kept his gaze pinned to her, unmoving and unnerving. Questioning.

  A terrifying thought speared into her mind. Her heart hitched.

  He couldn’t know. No one knew.

  Impossible. Noah might be smart and good at his job, but there was no way he’d discovered her secret. Had he?

  Oh, God. She’d read his bio; she’d seen his PR photo. She knew he was CEO of three of the top technology companies in the country.

  She knew he’d been a marine.

  She knew Noah and Jack had spent time together on missions her fiancé couldn’t discuss. Noah and Jack couldn’t have been more different. Jack had an easy smile, a quiet and trustworthy way about him, despite being a crack sniper.

  Noah was forceful, powerful and oddly mysterious. She couldn’t pin him down. In contrast, he looked through her as if he could peel away her secrets.

  That she refused to allow.

  Noah pocketed the phone and Lyssa swallowed the dread.

  He walked over to her. “That was Ransom. Reid’s stable but not improving. Elijah’s going to give it one more day. Ransom promised to put one of his best forensic accountants on the job. He figures this guy’s toys cost money. He’s loo
king into suppliers.”

  Zane got a strange look on his face then hid it just as quickly.

  “You know who it is?” Noah asked.

  A guilt-ridden expression settled on the computer expert’s face. “Maybe. Not something I can talk about.”

  Noah turned on Zane. “You keeping secrets?”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  “Definitely.” Noah sent Lyssa a pointed look. “I think you and I need to talk. Alone.”

  Oh, boy. She recognized that look, even after only being around him a day. He wanted to know more, and she couldn’t tell him everything. She wouldn’t.

  She possessed one secret she would take to her grave...without hesitation.

  A secret she couldn’t afford to even think about or she might very well break down. She clutched at Jack’s ring, the chain pulling against her neck.

  Noah led her out of the main room and into the kitchen. He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “Elijah did a bit of surveillance. He went to Reid’s house.”

  Lyssa stiffened. Reid was the only person who knew, and only because she hadn’t had a choice.

  “I see you know what I’m talking about.”

  Lyssa cursed his ability to read her. She had to get better at hiding her feelings and her responses from him. “Can’t you just stay out of my head?” she groused.

  “I better be good. It’s kept me alive.” He studied her, not speaking, just staring with an impatient, knowing look.

  Sweat beaded on her upper lip. “This is ridiculous. It’s simple. Archimedes wants me dead, and I intend to kill him.”

  “Reid had a file on you at his house. He burned it. Or rather, tried to. Want to tell me why?”

  Her throat closed off. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t risk contact, and she refused to panic. Reid would never have given her away. He’d promised her.

  “Was the file readable?” She didn’t want to ask, but she had to know.

  Noah scowled at her.

  “No.”

  She nearly sighed in relief.