Heavy Artillery Husband

by Debra Webb

Frank wanted to punch something. “I need a target,” he muttered. Hearing the water shut off in the bathroom, he read the entire report once more.

  Aidan relayed assurances that no data had been lost and all client information and systems were in order. He said the closest thing to a breach had been in the financials. The attacker had been focused on battering down the firewalls with no success.

  Naturally, Frank thought. This had Hellfire and Farrell written all over it. On a whim, he checked his offshore account and found the balance had doubled overnight. Hellfire planned to pin everything about the drug operation on him.

  “Did you read it?” Sophia asked as she came into the room, toweling her wet hair.

  “Yeah. Not the ideal way to meet my future son-in-law.”

  Her eyes widened, and then her smile seemed to set her whole face aglow. “At least you know he’s competent.” Sophia explained a few of the more technical details of the attack while she dressed, and they were out the door within ten minutes, as promised.

  On the way to the airport, he told her about the money and his theory that they were framing him up tight.

  “We won’t let them,” she said. “I’ll have a team make sure nothing managed to get added to our servers or accounts that would put us or our clients in a compromising position.”

  He thought it through, reading the email on her phone one more time while the private pilot waited for clearance to take off.

  “Sterling claimed Farrell didn’t care about money,” he said once they were in the air.

  “Right.” Sophia arched an eyebrow, then both eyebrows, as his meaning dawned on her. “Power and respect are his priorities. The money is disposable.” She tapped her fingernails against the arm of the seat. “I am sure he’s using that bank somehow. I just need to find a transaction.”

  He knew what she was trying not to ask. “Go ahead and have your team pick apart the offshore account.” From what he knew about his daughter, that wasn’t her area of expertise. Hopefully, giving in on this would be a compromise to the request he knew she’d make as soon as they landed.

  He let her work while he considered the best way to breach the import-export brokerage offices.

  When the pilot started the descent, Frank felt the pressure dragging at him again. It was all he could do to stand tall and hide the stress beating at him as they collected their bags and picked up a rental car, another Leo Solutions company perk.

  “Well, they’ll know we arrived,” he said, following the signs toward the waterfront.

  “I don’t want it to be a secret,” she said. “After last night, I’m done hiding.”

  “Have you found any record of Halloran or Farrell in the area?”

  “Not yet. I have feelers out. You know she’d love to see you,” she suggested quietly.

  Naturally, she’d seen straight through him to the root of the problem. He never should’ve opened up last night. The relief of her forgiveness only intensified his desperate need to be sure she remained safe.

  “Ask anything else,” he said, ignoring the desperation in his voice. “I can’t see her until I know this is over.”

  “You walked into a prison for me,” she said, trying to lighten his mood. “This is your daughter.”

  “It’s different.” The guilt and shame were like grains of sand chafing at his skin. “Let’s finish this first.”

  Despite how he and Sophia had reconnected last night, he wouldn’t presume he could stay in her life or Frankie’s in the same capacity as before. Forgiveness was more than he’d expected. If only they allowed him to be a small part of their lives, it would be enough. It would take time for them to trust him after all the lies and deceptions.

  “All right,” Sophia said, reaching across the console to rub his shoulder through his jacket. “Halloran probably has someone keeping tabs on her anyway.”

  He hated that it was true. “He’ll expect you to ditch me in favor of protecting her.”

  “She’s capable of protecting herself and the company,” Sophia said. “And she has her own kind of backup.”

  “You like him a lot, don’t you?”

  “More than that. I adore Aidan. You’ll see when you meet him and see them together. Victoria recruited him away from Interpol.”

  “She has an eye for investigative talent,” he said, keeping to the safer portion of this topic.

  “Yes, she does. We’re very fortunate as a company and as a family to have friends like Victoria and Lucas.”

  He did his best not to get his hopes up at the way she automatically included him in their future. From the moment he’d had to start lying to her, his secret hope had been that one day they could manage a genuine reconciliation. Now he wasn’t sure he could get them all through this nightmare alive.

  Halloran had had years to perfect his team, to increase his reach and influence. What chance did he and Sophia really have at stopping him at this late hour? “You’re sure the data at Leo Solutions is secure?”

  “Yes. With every update from the team, we’re all more convinced it was primarily a distraction.”

  “So we wouldn’t notice what?”

  “That’s the big question,” she said. “The computers and servers have been scrubbed for viruses, malware and data tampering. We can even show our customers how secure everything is if this gets out.”

  “It won’t.” He wouldn’t let it. One way or another, Halloran’s threat to his family ended here.

  Down near the waterfront, he chose a decent independent hotel with a vacancy sign. “Will this work?”

  Sophia grinned. “Like a charm. Ready to make some heads roll?”

  Her expression was contagious. When had he allowed himself to forget her inherent fighting spirit? Probably while he was in exile berating himself for not trusting her with the truth from the beginning.

  They checked in, a valet whisked away the car and a bellman carried their bags up to the room. “It’s better service than our honeymoon,” she murmured when they were in the elevator.

  The memories put another kind of contagious smile on her face. He wanted to talk about what came after, but he was afraid of getting ahead of himself.

  She seemed to understand, declaring the signal was fantastic when they reached the hotel room of the day and her computer was up and running.

  “One more positive sign,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket. “How can I help?”

  “First, we have to confirm Halloran and Farrell are here.” She pointed him to the phone in the room. “I’ll let you do the honors.”

  He entered the numbers she gave him and listened to the phone ring several times. He was about to give up when a rough voice answered, “World Crossing.”

  “This is Halloran. I need a status report,” Frank demanded.

  “No sign of trespassers. Container is off-loaded and heading this way now.”

  “Good.” Frank replaced the receiver and grinned at Sophia. “Worked like a charm. The guy who answered said the container is there and trespassers are not.” The hired help had no reason to question the identity of anyone who had the right number to call.

  “Then let’s go.” She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “This is the perfect time for me to try to break into their computer.”

  “You promised to try it remotely,” he said.

  “And I failed.” Tucking her phone and a flash drive into her pocket, she started for the door.

  He knew it was a losing argument and they were wasting time. “On one condition.”

  She paused, sending him an expectant look over her shoulder. “Which is?”

  “I’m in charge.” He stowed a camera, binoculars and his notebook in his various pockets. Then he added his gun and handed her the knife they’d taken from Halloran’s son.

 
“All right, General.” She stepped aside. “Lead the way.”

  He didn’t expect the cooperation to last, but it gave his heart a moment to catch up with the idea of leading her into danger.

  * * *

  SOPHIA WAS CERTAIN she could draw Halloran out with the right incentive and she was certain that incentive was on the World Crossing computers. Money wouldn’t be enough. By now he and the rest of his crew had their wealth hidden away and protected.

  It helped that Eddie was archiving her reports and her new reporter pal Bradley Roth had already run a follow-up based on the few pieces of Frank’s puzzle she’d felt safe sending him. Still, after the cyber attack and the windfall deposit into Frank’s offshore account, she knew nothing short of a confession would pull the noose tight around Halloran’s neck.

  “Got him,” she said as Frank approached the pier that was home to the shady import-export brokerage.

  “Say again?”

  She laughed at Frank’s slide into a more military lingo. “I just got confirmation Halloran is in Seattle.” She showed him a grainy surveillance picture from a camera at the airport. “He arrived last night.”

  “You can’t honestly believe he’ll personally oversee the arrival of a drug shipment. He considers himself the deal maker, not the labor.”

  “He didn’t come to Seattle just for the golf.”

  “It is a tourist destination, Sophie.”

  She loved it when he sweetened her name that way. Only him. “Then score another point for us. We’re not here for tourism—we’re focused on bringing Kelly Halloran to justice.”

  “Retired General Drug Lord.” Frank swore. “It still pisses me off.”

  For just a moment, she let herself envision immediate success and what might come next. With Frankie and Aidan capable of running Leo Solutions, would Frank want to modify their original plans and travel more? One minute she thought she knew the answer; the next a flood of different questions rolled through her mind. The only thing she knew beyond any doubt was how much it would break her heart if he got hurt or couldn’t see them as a couple the way they used to be.

  “We’ll walk from here.” Frank parked in a space close to the main street and came around to open her door. “We’ll stick together.” He tipped her chin his way, holding her gaze. “I mean it. If I say we’re done, I don’t want any argument.”

  She gave him her most cooperative smile along with the verbal reassurance. He rolled his eyes, knowing her far too well. In the past she might’ve added a salute, but today the gesture would be more exasperating than humorous. It was becoming clear that however they cleared his name, his career was over. She wondered if he was already lamenting the loss of that lifestyle or if he was struggling with what to do with retirement now that the business they’d planned was up and running and in capable hands.

  They walked together down the docks as if they were looking for one of the several import-export businesses scattered among the warehouses. This was a working terminal rather than one converted to retail, and the scents of fuel, oil and heavy machinery mingled with the cleaner aromas on the sea air. It was a strange combination that put Sophia in mind of healthy industry and thriving business. It angered her that Hellfire tainted that with their illegal activities.

  “There’s the office,” she said, pausing to peer into the window.

  “Easy, tiger.”

  In the past, she would’ve bristled at the admonition. Now she just stifled a smile, knowing he was right. Impatience here could get one or both of them killed. “There are times when your cool-and-collected routine drives me up a wall,” she teased.

  “More fun for me,” he said.

  She glanced up at his face and caught the smirk. “Think Hellfire will agree with our definition of fun?”

  The smirk turned edgy. “Absolutely not.” He lifted his chin a fraction. “We’ve got company.”

  “Took longer than I thought it would.”

  “They can afford to hang back now,” Frank said. “They know if we had the evidence it would be over already. The only way to get stronger evidence is to get closer.”

  “They think they know,” she corrected. The piece about the adjusted weights on official contracted shipments might be Hellfire’s downfall. “Why don’t we just go right in?”

  “Because they would capture you as soon as you crossed the threshold.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Not a chance I’m willing to take.”

  He had to know taking chances would be required to wrap this up quickly. Like him, she couldn’t imagine losing him to that kind of aggressive maneuver. Not without the right backup. Backup Frankie and Aidan could provide if Frank would stop being stubborn.

  They were nearing the end of the pier, coming as close as visitors were allowed to the unloading area. Cranes slid and scraped back and forth, groaning with the load of some containers. Diesel engines rumbled, the sound broken only by the call of gulls wheeling in the sky.

  “He can’t possibly have a full container of drugs,” she muttered, unable to imagine a bust that big.

  “Drugs, money, military equipment. It’s likely combined.”

  Knowing he was right didn’t make it easier to stomach. If she blurted out all the violent thoughts in her head, expressed every dire, vengeful idea, he’d never let her help. She recognized the recklessness and reined it in, unwilling to let her emotions jeopardize the ultimate goal of restoring her family.

  When Frank turned to walk back up the pier, she followed, her mind turning over more options. Halloran had put all the right pieces in place, recruiting the people with the power to make things run smoothly. How could they dismantle that definitively? There were chinks such as Lowry in the armor, but Halloran would replace those people, shore up the weaknesses and keep right on banking the profits. Frank couldn’t have his life back and none of them could rest until they cut the head off this long-tailed snake.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Pretty much the same thing I’ve been thinking,” she replied. “Aside from racking my brain for a contact within the port authority, I’m trying to decide how we can get Halloran into the open where some decent, honest person with the right sort of badge can arrest him. If he slips away, he’ll start over. Even if your name is cleared in the process, someone else will be vilified. Much as I hate to admit it, the cyber attack and the money transfer worry me.”

  “I know.”

  The grim, resigned tone caught her attention. “What are you thinking?” It better not be another self-sacrificing idea.

  “I want a bird’s-eye view,” he said, nodding toward the high-rise buildings on the other side of the access roadways running between the dock and the city.

  They left the car parked and walked away from the pier, knowing Hellfire spies watched every step. It was all she could do to ignore them. She wanted to taunt them, to dare them to make a move. Again, too reckless. She was better than those self-destructive urges.

  “He destroyed our family,” she said when they found a place that gave Frank an effective overview of the pier. “I want him to pay for that.”

  “Does Eddie handle civil suits now?”

  “Stop.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “You know what I mean.”

  “Uh-huh,” he said, preoccupied with whatever he saw through the binoculars.

  He had always known what her heart needed—frequently before she did. That intuition of his was probably why they were out here in broad daylight when he’d rather be safely ensconced in another motel room.

  While Frank studied the pier, Sophia’s gaze shifted north, toward her house on Queen Anne. She hadn’t been gone a full week, but she missed it. Temptation rode her at every turn. Her house, a home she’d never shared with Frank, felt as if it were within walking distance. She wanted to dump the
suitcase and sleep in her own bed beside her sexy husband.

  But it was her husband, larger than life, that presented her biggest temptation. Her palms itched to touch him, to reassure her body and heart that he wouldn’t disappear again. Would anything ever convince her?

  Now that they’d been blessed with a second chance, she wanted him back in her life like before. Forever. She needed to reclaim the dreams they’d shared, and unless she was wishfully misreading his signals, he wanted that, too. The sooner they had Halloran trapped, the better. There was a wedding to plan.

  “I need some air,” she said suddenly. “Didn’t we pass a vending machine?”

  His eyes met hers and her feet froze in place. “You aren’t going alone.”

  “I am.” Making love had turned her overprotective husband into a nearly obsessive guardian. She rolled her shoulders back. “I thought I’d go for a walk.”

  His laughter cracked like a whip through the small room. “Not alone. You’re not going out there as bait, Sophie.”

  “We have to do something. What do you suggest?”

  “Carpet bombing comes to mind,” he said. “Take a look.” He handed her the binoculars.

  She adjusted the view in time to see a forklift heading up the pier to Hellfire’s warehouse. It carried a sand-colored container labeled with an army code. “No way.” She dropped the binoculars to stare at Frank. “You think this is another tweaked contract shipment?”

  “Yeah.” The camera whirred as he took burst shots. “That number is for armored vehicle parts.”

  “Parts that must be padded with contraband.” She watched a bit longer, awestruck by the audacity. “We need to get our hands on the computer records.” Lowering the binoculars, she turned to her husband. “They’re so damned sure of what we will and won’t dare do. Why don’t we throw them a curveball?”

  Anything to go on the offensive. It wasn’t in her nature to sit back indefinitely, hoping the right things would happen. “We have a family to reunite and wedding plans to adjust accordingly,” she reminded him.

  He looked away. She told herself it wasn’t personal, that he was focused on fixing the bigger threat of Halloran—and rightly so—before he could focus on renewing their personal life.