Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3)

by Barbara Freethy

  "Reid doesn't let things slip," Tania said sharply, doubt appearing in her eyes.

  "That was the wrong word. You're right. He didn't let anything slip. He deliberately told me that he had the power to make people disappear, including a senator. I said I wasn't aware of any senators who were missing, and he told me that I wasn't counting those who died in mysterious circumstances."

  "Why would he tell you that?"

  "Probably because I was fighting with him. I made the mistake of threatening to tell people about our relationship, and he suggested I'd be very sorry if I ever went against him. He wanted to scare me. He wanted me to think that he could hurt me, and the truth is—he did scare me. He had a wild light in his eyes. He said one day everyone was going to know how powerful he was, that no one had any idea what he was capable of doing. After he married Yvette, I started trying to find out what he was talking about, what he'd been hinting at. When the news came out last year about stolen classified information, I was pretty sure he was involved, but after all the Senate hearings, he came out unscathed. I know he's guilty of something, and I want to prove it. I want to take him down. But I need help. Will you help me, Tania?"

  Before Tania could answer, the waitress came back, and Dani inwardly seethed with frustration.

  "I'll have a short stack," she said, picking the first thing on the menu, so she could get back to her conversation with Tania.

  "Nothing for me," Tania said.

  "You're not going to eat?" she asked in surprise. "I don't have to eat, either."

  "It's fine. I have to go. I wanted to hear what you had to say."

  "Well, don't go yet. Can you at least tell me what you're thinking—if I'm completely wasting my time hoping you'll help me?"

  Tania stared back at her for a long moment, her gaze unreadable. "I'm not sure yet. You haven't been honest with me, Dani."

  "What do you mean?" she asked, trying not to look guilty at the accusation.

  "Your sister and brother have been part of the problems at MDT. I find it difficult to believe that you were sleeping with Reid while all that was going on."

  "Our relationship ended just before all that happened. But when the news came out, I thought about the things Reid had told me. I watched him testify before the Senate committee, and I knew he was lying. But he got away with it. MDT is back in business, like nothing ever happened."

  "I wouldn't say that. We lost a lot of contracts last year." Tania's gaze narrowed. "Did Reid really tell you about the senator? Or did one of your siblings tell you that?"

  "Neither one of them knew anything about the senator's plane crash," she said, able to be honest for the first time. "The only reason my brother was involved in the problems in Mexico was because he was trying to help his high school girlfriend's brother. Jake isn't political; he's a pilot and Katherine is a doctor. They just wanted to save her brother, who had been kidnapped. I'm not lying. You have to believe me. I was shocked when I found out people at MDT were involved. I had no idea."

  She didn't know if her earnest defense worked, but it did seem to ease Tania's tension.

  After a moment, Tania said, "I don't know what to believe. Your sister Alicia also stirred things up. Why should I think you're after anything but more trouble for the company?"

  "I don't want trouble for the company; I want it for Reid," she said, trying to hang on to her cover story that was quickly being torn apart. "I'm sure he would have dumped me after my siblings got involved with his company, but it happened before that, and when it did, it hurt. Can't you relate to that?"

  Tania let out a sigh. "Yes. I really did love Reid, you know. He's a complicated man. He has so much charm and charisma, it's easy to forget that there's another side."

  "A dark side," she murmured.

  "I knew he wasn't faithful to me. How could I think otherwise? He was with me when he was married to his first wife."

  "That was a long time ago."

  "Our affair was the reason he got divorced, or so I thought. He told me every year that next year would be our time. He just didn't want to rush back into marriage. He didn't want his daughter to have to deal with a stepmother; he always had a reason." Her lips tightened. "I could bury him if I wanted to. The things that have come out in the press are not the whole story. There is so much more."

  Dani's pulse sped up. "Then help me tell it."

  "I don't know if I can trust you. I don't know if you slept with Reid for sex or love or a hidden agenda. Your family hates MDT. Why would you feel differently?"

  "Because I work for Senator Dillon. I've seen more sides of the story than my family has. I know that thousands of people rely on the company for their livelihood. I'm not out to take the company down. It's Reid I want to destroy." She drew in a breath, feeling like she was fighting for her life. "You don't have to trust me, Tania. I don't have to trust you. But we can use each other to get what we both want." She could see that Tania was thinking about what she'd said, that she was tempted, so she pressed forward. "If you don’t want to be on the front line, I'll put myself there. Reid can't fire me. He can't hurt me again. All I need is some proof that I can take to the press. He won't have to know where it came from."

  "He would know," she said flatly. "And you're a fool to think he can't hurt you."

  "If I go public, he won't be able to touch me."

  "Don't underestimate him."

  Dani didn't reply as the waitress set down her pancakes. Then she said, "If you get me information, I won't say where I got it."

  "I'll think about it."

  Dani was disappointed that she'd gotten very little out of Tania. "Are you sure you can't tell me anything now? How did Reid sabotage the senator's plane? If you can't tell me specifics, can you tell me where to look? And if not that crash, can you point me in the direction of something else, something I could use?"

  Tania hesitated, then she said, "There's a ranch about twenty miles from here. It belonged to the Carmichael family. But it hasn't been used as a ranch in a long time. You should take a look. That's all I can say for now."

  "Can we talk again?"

  "We'll see."

  And with that, Tania got up and left the booth.

  Dani stared after her in amazement. She'd gotten a clue of sorts, but what the hell did an old ranch have to do with anything? It had to be something. Tania wouldn't have given her nothing, unless—was Tania sending her on a wild-goose chase? Maybe the woman had come fishing for information. Perhaps she was as loyal to Reid now as she had ever been.

  Her heart jumped as a man slid into the seat Tania had just vacated. "Patrick, where did you come from? How did you get here? I took the truck."

  "And I took a cab. I didn't like the idea of you being here alone. I waited in the smoke shop across the street until I saw Tania leave." He coughed at the end of his sentence. "I may have cut five years off my life by inhaling some very potent cigar smoke, but I wanted to be close in case you needed me."

  She was touched by that thought. "I appreciate that."

  "What did you learn?"

  "Not much. She asked me a lot of questions. She looked me up, and she tied me to Jake and Alicia and their involvement in the problems at MDT. I should have thought about that when I was making up my story. I think I covered well enough, saying that Reid broke up with me before all that happened, and that it was just coincidence."

  His lips tightened. "We should have thought of that."

  "I told her she didn't have to trust me; she just had to use me. She thought about it. At the very end, I begged her to give me something. She said there was a ranch that belonged to the Carmichael family that hadn't been used as a ranch in a very long time. She wants me to go there. I know it's not much, but it's something."

  "It could be a good lead," he said thoughtfully. "Or not."

  "I know," she said, seeing the same unease in his eyes. "I thought I was setting her up. But what if it's the other way around?"

  Eighteen

  Dani made
a good point. Was Tania playing them?

  "Only one way to find out," he said, meeting Dani's worried gaze. "We'll go to the ranch."

  "I've never heard of it. Have you?"

  "No, but I'm sure we can find it. Are you going to eat those pancakes?"

  She stared down at her plate as if she were surprised the food was there. "I forgot all about them. Want to share?"

  "I'll order my own."

  "Well, if you're ordering, get some bacon. I didn't want to go all out when Tania was sitting here."

  He liked her sheepish smile. "You've got it." He motioned for the waitress and added an omelet to Dani's request for bacon as well as coffee and orange juice.

  "Did Tania say anything else?" he asked, as Dani made her way through her stack of pancakes.

  "She admitted to being involved with Reid. She said she loved him. She knew he wasn't faithful, because apparently they'd been together when he was married the first time around. She said she knew a lot of his secrets, but that she was afraid of him. She told me not to underestimate him."

  "Probably good advice," he said, thanking the waitress as she set down his breakfast. He made fast work of his omelet and shared the stack of bacon with Dani, who gave him a guilty smile when she grabbed her second slab. "Don’t worry; I'm not judging," he told her.

  "Good. I don't usually eat bacon, but when I'm out for breakfast, there's nothing better."

  "I like it, too. We'll be able to concentrate better with full stomachs."

  "And if we stay in public places," she said with a teasing smile. "Where we can't be alone. Where we can't be distracted."

  "You distract me wherever we are," he said, as they exchanged a look of remembered intimacy.

  "I could say the same about you. How is it you don't have a girlfriend, Patrick?"

  "I was waiting for you."

  "That's a good line."

  He'd said it teasingly, but in truth it really wasn't a line; it was the way he felt. There were so many things he wanted to say to Dani, but now wasn't the time. He pulled out his phone and searched for Carmichael Ranch. "I've got an address. It looks like it will take us about forty minutes to get out there."

  "I think we should go now."

  "Me, too." He took out his wallet and put cash down next to the bill. Then they made their way outside. Dani tossed him the car keys and he slid behind the wheel.

  They were about fifteen minutes into the drive when Dani pointed to a small airfield. "That's where my dad worked," she said. "And where my brother Jake works now."

  "Looks like they fly a lot of small jets."

  "Yes, and before you ask—they do fly MDT executives around the country."

  "You read my mind. Has your brother been the pilot on one of those trips?"

  "He's only flown lower-level management. The executives have their own planes and their own pilots."

  "That makes sense. I'm surprised you didn't want to be a pilot, Dani. You ride like the wind on the back of a horse."

  "And that horse is on the ground," she said pointedly.

  He grinned. "My point is that you're not particularly fearful. Or did your feelings about flying change after your father died?"

  "I'm not afraid to fly. It's just not something I want to do as my job. Jake loves it, though. He never wanted to do anything else."

  "We're going to meet him and Alicia today, right?"

  She didn't look too happy about his words. "We'll see. I don't want to dump all this on Alicia the second she walks in the door."

  "What bothers you about telling your siblings?" he asked, certain he hadn't heard her real reason.

  "It will just get them hyped up, and although we've heard some stories, we don't have any real evidence. I'd like to go to them with more than a theory."

  "I would think they'd be happy about your involvement. You said they've been angry that you haven't wanted to get into it. Now you have." His gaze dropped to her hand, where she was twisting the gold band around her finger. "And as often as you've told me you hate that ring, you still haven't taken it off."

  "I can't get it off," she said with annoyance. "It won't go over my knuckle."

  "But it fell off your hand in the park last week."

  "I can't explain it. Sometimes it feels loose, but most of the time it's tight."

  "It was your great-grandmother's wedding ring?"

  "Yes. And she seemed to think it would protect me in some way. But so far it's just led me into trouble."

  "Well, it saved me, so I say you keep it on."

  "At this point, I don't seem to have a choice."

  As they got closer to the ranch, his nerves tightened. He wondered if Tania was setting them up. The area they were in now was farmland; miles between houses, empty roads—the perfect place to get rid of someone. As he turned off the highway, he found himself on a dusty one-lane road, and his tension increased. He pulled over, turning to Dani. "I don't like this."

  "I don't, either," she admitted. "But we can't not check it out. We have to trust Tania isn't sending us into an ambush."

  "Why on earth would you think we could trust her?"

  "I'm not sure. I just have a gut instinct. If you were alone, I think you'd keep going, so don't stop for me."

  She was right about that. He would keep going, but while he was willing to risk his own life, he didn't want to risk hers. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

  "I feel the same way about you, Patrick. But I think we're stronger together. And I've got my lucky ring."

  "You don't believe in it," he reminded her.

  "Sometimes I kind of do," she admitted, giving him a helpless smile. "But don't tell anyone else I said that. Now, let's go, before I lose my nerve."

  Against his better judgment, he said, "All right." Several minutes later, he drove between two old posts and past a broken-down gate. The road led to a large, sprawling, shuttered-up ranch house and barn. There were no cars anywhere to be seen. No sign of life. They parked in front of the house and walked up to the door. It was locked and no one answered the door.

  "I don't think anyone is here," Dani said, staying close to Patrick.

  "Let's check the barn."

  They walked across the open space and entered the horse barn.

  He'd been expecting to see stalls, hay—all the usual items found in a barn—but the building resembled something more like an airplane hangar: a large open space and then an area with desks, at least twenty. Near the desks were electrical outlets and extension cords. There were filing cabinets along one wall but most of the drawers were open and empty.

  A jolt of awareness ran through him. "This must be where the shadow company was conducting business."

  Dani nodded. "But there's nothing here now. Why? Did they move their operations to Mexico, or did this recently shut down? And why would Tania send us out here?"

  "All good questions." He looked around, and his gaze came to rest on one desk at the far end of the building. There was a folder lying on top of it. He walked quickly across the room.

  The folder wasn't dusty or dirty. It didn’t look like it had been left behind but rather that it had been purposefully placed on the desk.

  When he saw the name on the file folder, his heart jumped against his chest.

  "What is it?" Dani asked.

  He really didn't want to tell her.

  "Patrick?" she pressed, trying to peer over his shoulder. "Is it about your mother?"

  "No." He swung around to face her. "It's about your father."

  "What?" she gasped.

  He held up the folder so she could see the name written on it: Wyatt Monroe.

  * * *

  Dani put a hand to her mouth as her stomach turned over and nausea ran through her. "Why would there be a folder on my father here?" she muttered, the letters of his name blurring in front of her eyes as she felt dizzy and short of breath.

  "Dani." Patrick put a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

  "I do
n't think so," she whispered. "Could you open it and tell me what's inside?"

  He nodded, a grim expression in his eyes. He opened the folder and she could see several pieces of paper, including a photograph. Even from a few feet away, she knew it was a picture of her father. She couldn't hold back. She grabbed the photo from the file. It had been taken through a fence at the airfield. Her father could be seen standing by a plane. He was talking to one of the airfield managers.

  Her heart ached at the sight of the tall, handsome man, who had always been bigger than life. He wore his favorite jeans and black jacket, his aviator glasses on top of his head as he looked at some sort of clipboard.

  "Oh, God," she said, feeling an intense wave of pain. "This is exactly how I remember him. Just like this—those clothes, those glasses." She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to breathe through the heartache. Missing her father hurt so much. She'd thought she'd gotten past it, but one photo and it had all come back.

  She lifted her gaze from the photo. "Patrick, why would there be a photo of my father here?" she asked in confusion.

  "It looks like someone was following your dad."

  "Why?"

  "I think this might be part of the reason." He handed her a paper.

  She stared at the typed page for a long moment. "This is a police report. My dad went to the police and told them he had seen lights in the sky that looked like gunfire on his last flight. That was a couple of weeks before he died." She looked back at Patrick. "I told you he talked about seeing weird lights when he flew at night. He thought it was lightning, but sometimes there weren't any storms in the area. That's when he started to get the nickname of lightning man. Why would this report be here? Why would anyone care what he saw in the sky?"

  She saw the answer in Patrick's eyes.

  "Because he wasn't seeing lightning; he was seeing gunfire," she said, answering her own question.

  "It was probably from a gun they were testing. This ranch isn't far from the airfield. If it was an early version of a railgun, that operates on electromagnetic energy, it's possible it looked like lightning."