Christmas Data Breach

by K. D. Richards

  A frown twisted Gideon’s lips. “My dad was so mad.”

  “Your dad?”

  Major Garret Wright was an ephemeral presence in Gideon’s life, leaving the child-rearing to his mother after his wife passed away.

  “He was home on leave. Grandma Pearl was out somewhere, and he was supposed to be watching us, but of course, he wasn’t.”

  Mya shook her head. “I don’t remember that. I remember Grandma Pearl fussing and making me fudge brownies.”

  Gideon’s scowl disappeared, replaced by sadness. “There were no fudge brownies for me. The major made me clean the house from top to bottom, and I couldn’t watch TV for the rest of the month until he left for duty,” Gideon said, referring to his father by his military rank the way he had since they were teens.

  Despite all the years that had passed, indignation at Gideon’s punishment swelled inside Mya.

  “That wasn’t fair. Building the treehouse was my idea.”

  “The major never cared much about fair. As far as he was concerned, I should have known better. It was a man’s job to protect the women in their lives, so said the major.”

  Mya made an indelicate noise. “So, you come by it honestly. But you weren’t a man. You were a boy. He was supposed to be watching us.”

  She reached out, placing her hand on his arm when he moved to step around her. “It doesn’t matter now,” he said.

  “It matters to me.”

  Mya reached out and cupped his cheek, even as warning bells went off in her brain. She was crossing an emotional boundary with no guarantee she’d be able to turn back if the terrain proved perilous.

  Gideon closed his eyes, leaning into her and pressing a soft kiss to her palm.

  She stepped closer, rising on her toes to meet his bowed head, and brushed her lips against his.

  Gideon wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer, and claimed her mouth in a scorching kiss. She parted her lips and deepened the kiss, keeping herself completely in the touch of the man she’d never stopped loving. Would never stop loving.

  The evidence of Gideon’s desire pressed against her belly. She slid one hand under his sweater, tracing a path up his spine while using the other hand to pull up on the hem.

  Gideon wrenched his lips from hers and stepped back. “This can’t happen. I need to maintain my focus if I’m going to protect you.”

  Mya laughed, but the sound was thin and bitter. His rejection stung. She turned her back to him. “You keep telling yourself you’re pushing me away for my own good, but you’re pushing me away because you’re scared. And we both know it.”

  She turned back to face him, but Gideon was gone.

  Chapter Ten

  A crisp wind blew in off the man-made lake in the center of Prospect Park. It was unseasonably warm, enticing more people to venture out to the park than Gideon would have liked given the circumstances.

  Despite the warm weather, the temperature in his immediate vicinity was glacial. Mya hadn’t said more than a few words to him all day. Not that he blamed her. Their kiss last night had been incredible, but completely inappropriate and unprofessional. He’d spent a good chunk of the night kicking himself for having let it happen, although a big part of him hadn’t wanted to stop.

  He’d even begun to entertain the notion that James might be right about turning Mya’s case over to someone else—before discarding the idea. Her safety wasn’t something he’d ever trust to someone else. If that meant they’d stroll the park in icy silence, waiting for Brian Leeds, so be it.

  Gideon caught a flash of red in his peripheral vision and tensed, ready for attack. Seconds later a spandex-clad man with thinning hair and earbuds rounded the curve. The jogger passed without a glance in their direction.

  Mya strolled next to him, her arm hooked around him, her body tucked into his side. They looked like lovers out for a stroll, exactly the impression he’d intended in case anyone watched.

  This wasn’t the time for introspection. Several of his colleagues had been strategically deployed in and around the park, their job to keep an eye out for Leeds and anyone else who might pose a threat to Mya. Gideon’s job was to be her first line of protection. He had to focus on that.

  They’d arrived at the park ten minutes before ten and begun their leisurely stroll around the lake. It was now five after ten, and there was no sign of Leeds.

  The knot that had been in his solar plexus since waking this morning tightened. He didn’t like the feel of this.

  He’d tried to talk Mya into letting him meet Leeds alone, but she’d categorically rejected the idea.

  She’d pointed out that Leeds would be expecting her and that he was unlikely to talk to Gideon, who was a stranger to him.

  He’d countered that he was very good at getting people who didn’t want to talk to him to do so. And Mya had responded that Leeds wasn’t some shady criminal that Gideon had plucked from the street.

  He’d only grunted in response to that argument. Leeds could very well be a criminal for all they knew. He was clearly involved with whatever was going on or knew something about it. Why else would he insist on this clandestine meeting in the park?

  Mya had only narrowed her eyes and said, “I’m going.”

  It had been a long time since they’d parried back and forth. He’d forgotten what it was like. And how often it was fruitless. He may have been the hard-nosed marine, but Mya always seemed to get what she wanted.

  “Any sign of him?” Gideon asked, seemingly to no one in particular. The earpiece he wore was all but invisible.

  “Negative,” Tessa answered from her perch in the small parking lot that abutted the park.

  “Negative,” James said.

  Gideon and Mya had already walked past James twice. He sat on a bench on the opposite side of the lake, an open book in hand.

  Although he was a West, West Security and Investigations, James had only been working at the firm since leaving the marines six months earlier. Still, Gideon was confident that nothing going on in the park at the moment had escaped James’s keen eye.

  And Gideon was glad for it. There were more people out at the park than he’d expected on a December morning.

  He let his gaze skip over the people. A man and a woman, not a couple though, at least not anymore, sitting at one of four picnic tables, their hands wrapped around take-out coffee cups. A man stood at the lake’s edge, staring out over the water. Another in an expensive wool overcoat, walking along the gravel path, his eyes glued to his cell phone. A woman with stocking-clad legs stuck into heavy boots and an oversize handbag bouncing against her hip strode purposefully toward the park entrance.

  Gideon let his gaze linger on the male pedestrians a bit longer than the others. He knew better than to dismiss the women out of hand, but statistically, you were more likely to be attacked by a man than a woman.

  Gideon glanced at Mya. She pointedly avoided looking at him, although he was sure she could feel his gaze on her. They’d always been in tune with each other, and nothing over the last two days suggested that bond had been broken by time—quite the opposite, much to his consternation.

  He knew she was angry with him. More than that, he’d hurt her. He hadn’t been trying to. That was the last thing he’d wanted. It was why he’d insisted on letting her go, but regardless of his intentions, he had.

  Mya’s gaze rolled over the lake, the nearby flower garden, the curve in the jogging path, and the children’s playground before starting all over again.

  They passed James for the third time, and the knot in Gideon’s stomach tightened.

  “I don’t like this. I think I should get Mya out of here.”

  Mya looked at him now, although the look in her eye wasn’t one he liked to see there. “I’m fine. He’s only ten minutes late. Maybe he hit traffic. Let’s give him a little more time.”
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  Gideon knew James and Tessa had heard them, but neither responded.

  He’d give Leeds one more stroll around the lake, and then he’d throw Mya over his shoulder and carry her from the park if he had to. Ignoring his gut was something he’d learned better than to do. In his line of work, listening to his gut had saved him more than once, and he wasn’t about to start ignoring it when Mya’s life was on the line.

  They strolled past the large gazebo that stood at one end of the oblong lake and began the final one-eighty.

  A gust of wind sent a ripple over the lake’s surface. The water shimmered under the sun’s rays.

  Gideon glanced at his watch. Fifteen minutes late. Even if there had been traffic, Leeds should have been here by now. He was putting a lid on this when they reached the path, whether Mya liked it or not.

  Laughter rose from the playground as they passed, then gave way to the wail of a screaming baby. A harried-looking brunette hustled over to a nearby stroller and lifted the squalling baby to her shoulder. Clad in a yellow snowsuit, Gideon couldn’t tell if the kid was male or female. The wailing receded, and the mother turned her attention back toward the children playing on the nearby jungle gym.

  “It’s time to call—”

  Gideon fell silent when Mya squeezed his arm. “That’s him. That’s Brian.”

  Leeds hurried along the gravel path toward them. There was no relief at the man’s arrival. If anything, the man’s ragged appearance set Gideon’s instincts on edge. His coat flapped open, his reddish-brown hair looked as if he’d been pulling on it, and he sported a five o’clock shadow.

  “Look alive, gang,” Gideon mumbled, knowing James and Tessa would hear him. West’s equipment was top-of-the-line.

  “Damn. He must have parked on the street.” Tessa’s voice came through the earpiece along with a rustle of fabric and the sound of a car door slamming closed. “I’m on my way into the park via the north entrance.”

  Leeds’s gaze landed on Mya and his body straightened a fraction, his step quickening. Then he noticed Gideon. He hesitated but continued his march in their direction.

  Leeds drew to a stop about six feet in front of them. “Why is he here? I would have thought it went without saying that you should come alone, Mya.”

  “She goes nowhere alone,” Gideon barked.

  Mya shot him a glare. “This is Gideon Wright. He’s a friend in personal security services.”

  Leeds’s face registered surprise. “A bodyguard?” He nodded. “You really are smart. I wish I had a friend like him.”

  “What do you mean, Brian? What is going on?”

  Leeds ran a hand through his hair. “Oh, God. I don’t know where to start. I didn’t know. Not at first.”

  Gideon didn’t like how twitchy Leeds was. Or how out in the open they were, standing not far from the flower garden entrance. “Why don’t you come back to my office and you can explain it to us?”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.” Leeds shook his head. Gideon noted the man’s hands trembled. Brian Leeds was terrified.

  Gideon caught sight of Tessa heading for them out of the corner of his eye. He gave the slightest shake of his head, and she strolled past.

  “You have to understand something,” Leeds pleaded. “I’d been working with Irwin for a long time before you came along, Mya. Irwin wasn’t just my boss. I thought of him as a mentor and friend.”

  “I do understand,” Mya said, taking Leeds’s hand. “Irwin was the same for me.”

  “Yes and no,” Leeds continued. “Irwin was your mentor, but it became clear early on you were the heir apparent. Even though I put in all those years working with him before you came along,” Leeds spat before drawing in a deep breath. “Look, I get why Irwin chose you to succeed him as director of the lab. I’d have been miserable at glad-handing donors and investors. But it wasn’t easy to be passed over like that.”

  “What did you do?” Normally, he wouldn’t interrupt a suspect in the midst of giving a confession, but someone was targeting Mya, and they were sitting ducks standing out in the open like this.

  Leeds shot a glare his way, then pointedly looked back at Mya, ignoring Gideon. “Irwin asked me to keep him informed on our research. I know he wasn’t technically part of the team anymore, but I didn’t see the harm.”

  Mya dropped Leeds’s hand. “The harm is that doing so breaks the confidentiality clause in your contract and puts our research in jeopardy.”

  Leeds’s face reddened, but he didn’t back down. “Irwin knew most of it, anyway. He figured out the first two parts of the formula.”

  “So, you talked to Irwin Ross about Mya’s progress. How much did you tell Ross?” Gideon asked, impatiently.

  “All of it. I sent him copies of our most recent research results,” Leeds said. “There’s something else I have to tell you.”

  “What else?” Gideon pressed. That Leeds shared information with Ross couldn’t be the big secret that Leeds wouldn’t share over the phone.

  Something Leeds said moments earlier tugged at Gideon. I didn’t know. Not at first.

  Didn’t know what? Leeds had to have known that he was sharing confidential information with Ross, so what had he been referring to?

  Gideon studied Leeds. “What did you mean when you said, ‘you didn’t—’” He didn’t finish the question.

  A motorcycle engine revved loudly. Too loudly. Someone appeared to have missed the large sign posted at the entrance declaring vehicles were prohibited in the park.

  A black Suzuki tore a path from the entrance toward where they stood.

  Ice-cold panic rose in Gideon’s chest. The driver was headed straight for them and accelerating fast.

  The driver’s right hand rose. Sunlight glinted off the silver gun he held.

  “Gun!” Gideon screamed.

  A loud crack wrenched the air.

  Leeds’s eyes clouded with confusion. Blood blossomed across the white sweater visible beneath his open coat. A fraction of a second later, another crack sounded, and Leeds jerked backward, his body freezing in place for a long moment before falling to the ground. There was no question he was dead. Open eyes stared up at the sun, a bullet hole between them.

  Gideon curled his body around Mya’s and propelled them both forward toward the thicket of trees that lined the nearby flower garden entrance.

  Another loud crack split the air, followed almost immediately by a child’s scream.

  Dear God, no.

  A second crack sounded, sending bark from the tree he’d just pushed Mya behind sailing past his face.

  “Stay down!”

  Mya’s entire body shook, but she nodded.

  He poked his head around the tree’s trunk in time to see the biker plant one foot on the ground and turn the bike abruptly. Gravel flew as the driver gunned the bike back toward the park’s entrance.

  James rounded the curve of the lake, running full-out, but there was no hope of him catching a Suzuki on foot.

  “Don’t move,” Gideon called to Mya and stepped out from behind the tree, sweeping his gun in front of him.

  The park was chaos. Mothers huddled with their children behind the playground equipment, the kids’ cries tearing a hole through the panicked adults and calls made to 911.

  He noticed Tessa at the playground area, scanning the occupants for injury. The play area was some distance away, and he could only hope that none of the bullets had traveled that far.

  Leeds was beyond hope, unfortunately. Gideon went to his knees beside the body and felt for a pulse he knew wouldn’t be there.

  “I’ve got a lot of terrified moms and kiddos, but no injuries here,” Tessa said.

  “I’m on my way back,” James said. “Lost the biker when he gunned it through a red light. I’ve already called it into the police, but they won’t find the guy.
”

  That went without saying. Whoever had killed Brian Leeds and tried to kill Mya had known what they were doing.

  And they’d keep trying until they got it right.

  Chapter Eleven

  The first officers on scene secured the park and had all the witnesses or those who’d stuck around at least corralled in the park grounds keeper’s offices. Mya had felt Detective Kamal’s gaze homed in on her the moment the detective arrived. The look in the detective’s eyes was withering. It had been more than an hour since the detective had taken Mya’s statement, but Kamal had asked them to stick around in case she had further questions.

  Now Mya and Gideon waited, the delay rustling nerves. Several of the witnesses detained had begun to complain to the officers assigned to watch over them.

  Mya watched through the window as Detective Kamal exited through the park gates and headed toward the office. She was intercepted by a tall, slender man who Mya could tell was a cop simply from the way he carried himself. The man and Detective Kamal exchanged a few words, then the man turned on his heel and strode away.

  Gideon rose as Kamal approached, and Mya followed suit.

  “I appreciate your patience,” Kamal said, coming to a stop in front of them and flipping her notepad to a clean page. “We’ve got quite a mess here.”

  “My colleague and friend was killed right in front of me.”

  Detective Kamal lifted her eyes from the notepad and met Mya’s hard stare. A long moment of silence passed between the two women.

  “Of course. I didn’t mean to give the impression I was making light of the situation. It is a very serious, which is why I’d like to ask you—” Detective Kamal’s gaze turned on Gideon “—and Mr. Wright a few more questions.”

  Mya felt Gideon’s already taut body tense even more beside her. “We’ve already told you everything we know.”

  “Bear with me for just a little longer,” Kamal answered, though she’d already shifted her gaze to Mya. “Now, you said Mr. Leeds called you yesterday and asked you to meet him in the park? He had something important to tell you about the fire at your lab and the theft of your research, correct?”