Secrets of the Dead

by Kylie Brant

  Declan would give a good deal to know the same. If Shuang hadn’t known the man’s whereabouts, he hadn’t been on an errand for her. So what else would have taken him away from the hotel that long?

  “Every time he tries to answer she shuts him down. Wow. Says she should have killed him when she had the chance. He says…” Her gaze flew to his. “She wouldn’t have known the boy was still alive if not for him. He did the research. He discovered who had him all these years. She owes him respect for bringing her the information.”

  “The boy. Royce?” The little that Raiker had shared about his stepson’s birth played across his memory. They already knew Malsovic and Shuang were behind the attempted kidnapping. But could the two also have knowledge about the circumstances of his parentage?

  “Shuang says she’s the only one who can turn his information to cash. The information was useless without her. And so is he. Now he’s placating her. Says he’s been out lining up resources they’ll need for their next attempt.” She went silent for a moment as she listened. “Shuang isn’t buying it. Says she doesn’t need him for the next try. He can’t be trusted. He says she needs him every time there’s a body to be gotten rid of.”

  A ball of fury knotted in Declan’s gut. Not that there had been much doubt about who would have been charged with dumping Dajana. The international reputation Malsovic was noted for had preceded him. He was every bit as brutal, as dangerous as Raiker had warned. And the thought of how close he’d come to discovering Eve in Shuang’s room today could carve a furrow in his chest if he let it.

  “Shuang is calming down. Demanding to know if he has a place away from the hotel. Apparently that’s forbidden. He denies it. She calls him a liar. Now he’s telling her they need more men for the next attempt on the boy. More weapons. She tells him it’s not his job to think. Only to do what he’s told. Warns him against being out of contact again. He apologizes.” She listened a few more moments. “She dismissed him. Told him to check on the women. Sounds like he went.”

  “Wow.” They shared a troubled glance. “No doubt from that exchange who’s in charge of the operation. I need to email Raiker the part about Royce.” But he made no move to get off the bed, still turning over the information in his mind.

  “I don’t get it.” Eve could have plucked the words from his head. “How did Malsovic know to start looking for Royce? Was he around at the time of his birth? Does he know the circumstances surrounding it?”

  “Maybe Raiker can find out when the man had been in the country under any of his known aliases.” Still he wished the two had revealed more. “It would be nice to know how they think they can cash in on kidnapping Royce.” The easiest way would be to ransom him to Raiker. But despite the woman’s talk of the man at their first meeting, Declan had the feeling she had no real interest in Raiker at all, except as a means to get to the boy.

  “Maybe his real parents would be expected to pay if the boy were delivered to them. Maybe they’re even working for one of them,” Eve said soberly.

  “If there was someone who had a right to the child, there are legal channels to go through.” He shook his head, trying to recall exactly what Raiker had said about the boy’s birth. They still had more questions than answers.

  He glanced at Eve. Promptly forgot what he’d been about to say. The overheard conversation might be a break through. It sure as hell had come at a convenient time. Because if there hadn’t been an interruption, Declan wasn’t at all sure that he hadn’t been about to make a mistake with Eve Larrison. One that would have compounded those that had sent him in here intent on apologizing. His brain screamed at him to move. Now. Before he repeated that lapse of judgment. His body showed no signs of obeying.

  Her lips were parted, as if about to say something that had drifted away. Much like his brain cells had. And her eyes…if he looked hard he could see a remnant of the dreaminess that had fogged them earlier. A hint of the desire that turned his best intentions to ashes. “I…” It was suddenly difficult to summon logic. “I should email Raiker.”

  “Yes.”

  “My cell is on the table.”

  “Okay.”

  He gave his head a quick shake to clear it and finally stood. “So…yeah. Let me know if you hear anything more.”

  “I will.”

  Hauling in a breath, he lurched from his perch on the mattress to go to the bedroom door. And wondered why it felt like he was fleeing.

  _______

  “Mother is being difficult.” Jaid grimaced after saying the words. It certainly wasn’t the first time she’d uttered them. Nor the first time they’d been true. “The nursing home assures me she’s ready for dismissal and needs no follow up care, other than to maintain her exercises.”

  “She’s allowed to be a bit out of sorts after what she’s been through.”

  Jaid looked at Adam on the computer screen, wishing he were sitting in the room beside her. Wishing she hadn’t pushed him to accept the job that would have him hundreds of miles away, for days at a time. He had a way of dealing with Patricia Marlowe that could often cut through the most challenging of the woman’s moods. Jaid had always suspected that her mother was more than a little intimidated by her husband. At least enough so that she argued with him much less than she did her daughter. And he was correct. After a serious car accident, two subsequent surgeries, and two months of intensive follow up rehab, the woman could be forgiven for making a few demands.

  “I talked to Stephen Mulder this morning. They’ve dialed the threat level down. It should be safe enough for Patricia to join us. What is she being difficult about?”

  Ironically there was a note of tolerance in his voice. Adam indulged Patricia. There was no other way to describe it. Jaid had often thought it was because of losing his own mother when he’d been a boy. “She’s insisting now that one of the aides she’s taken a liking to come with her. A young man. She wants him along to help her with her exercises for the first days on her own.”

  “Not an outrageous request.” Adam’s tone was guarded. “Which one?”

  Consulting the notebook before her, she said, “A Rick Sorenson. I talked to Timmons and Garrett. They say he’s been attentive to her, but no more so than to other residents, at least as far as they could tell. I spoke to the head nurse, Becky Carson, and she didn’t have any objections.”

  “I’ll take another look at his background check. He’d be allowed no technology and Timmons and Garrett know what to look for when they search his luggage. I’ll get back to you on it.”

  “Has Gallagher come up with anything helpful on Royce?”

  “He and Eve have learned much more than I was expecting, although not all of what they’ve discovered pertains to Royce.” He gave her a quick rundown of the day’s events.

  “Maybe we should just go ahead and scoop the kidnappers up now.” The feeling of urgency that had been building in her took on more pressure. “If we think they’re acting alone, we may as well take the players out of the equation. They might give us the rest of the details in custody.”

  “We can grab them at any time. There would be no problem tying Malsovic to Royce’s kidnapping, but we have nothing to link Shuang to it, and she’s a threat as long as she’s free. I want to be sure she’s wrapped up tight, even if it’s from the trafficking ring they appear to be running.”

  Jaid heaved a sigh. He was right. She knew that, but sometimes emotion trumped logic. “God help me, once Mother arrives dealing with her while keeping Royce amused might just turn me to drink.”

  His smile was wicked. “I’m told Mulder keeps an incredible wine cellar. You’ll hold up. Because this thing is almost over.”

  “So you keep saying.”

  “Because it’s true.” He considered her for a moment, and she had a sudden impulse to smooth her hair. He could make her feel that way, as fidgety as a schoolgirl when the high sc
hool football star walked by. “When this is over…you and I are due for a vacation.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.” She tried for a light tone.

  “Use your spare time picking out where we’re going to go.” His expression, his tone, became more intimate. “Somewhere clothes are optional would be a good start.”

  Her heart stuttered for a moment, before picking up speed. “I’ve got a few ideas already.”

  “Mom! I don’t have to go to bed yet, do I? It’s not even nine o’clock!”

  Her smile turned wry. There was nothing like a nine-year-old yelling in the background to shatter a mood. “Duty calls. Or in Royce’s case, bellows. Let me know the moment you hear anything.”

  “Tell him I picked up some Braves memorabilia for his collection.”

  They said their goodbyes, more hurriedly than she would have liked, and Jaid made her way out of the office to where Royce was in a heated discussion with his tutor about bedtime. Baseball was a topic Adam and Royce bonded on, although if Adam had been a baseball fan before her son came into his life, it had been news to her. Sometimes she thought he was the one making all the concessions in their marriage. Taking on a ready-made family with her son and her mother. He never seemed to mind.

  Which only meant that despite the danger that swirled around Royce right now; despite all the uncertainty, she’d gotten supremely lucky with the man she’d married.

  Chapter 9

  “There.” Declan sat back on his heels to study Eve critically. Twirled a finger. “Turn around. Slowly. Wait.” She gritted her teeth as he put his hands on her again, pushing up her loose fuzzy sweater and making a minute adjustment to her undercover holster tank. The task had the backs of his fingers much too close to the bare skin atop her breast. “The grip of the weapon is still protruding a bit beneath the sweater. Do you have something to wear over it? Like a cardigan?”

  Eager to escape, she backed away and went to the small dresser. Withdrew a gray cardigan with a tapered hemline and pulled it on over the first sweater. “I didn’t need to load the weapon,” she groused. “I’m going to sweat bullets.”

  His mouth quirked at the pun and again he gestured for her to turn around while he tipped his head to study her critically. “You’ll pass. But only if they don’t insist on a frisk.”

  “I avoided a pat down on the street the day they tried to abduct us. I think I can manage.”

  He was quiet for a moment, as if choosing his words carefully. “This is just a precaution. We’re not in grave danger. Just being prepared.”

  Her stomach did a neat flip. She was used to him sugarcoating things for her benefit, but Eve knew exactly why they were both armed to the teeth today. It was the last day of the op. Once Shuang had what she wanted from them—from him—they were dispensable. She knew exactly what was at stake today. They were loose ends.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll do what’s required.”

  That earned her a cool look, but he didn’t respond to her words, instead saying, “Is your access to the weapon hampered in any way?”

  In answer, she pushed back the cardigan with one smooth move, reaching into the rounded neckline of the fuzzy sweater and withdrew the gun. His gaze narrowed. “Something tells me you’ve done this before.”

  “Carried one. Never had to use it.” That detail was critical, she knew. Understanding the mechanics of firing a weapon was not the same as holding it on another human being. Because she’d had enough training to be certain that one didn’t point a gun at someone else without the express purpose of using it.

  The thought made her pulse go jittery. Surely it was that and not the fact that her flesh still felt hyper sensitive everywhere he’d touched bare skin. Eve liked to think she would have withstood his ministrations more stoically if not for that kiss last night.

  She’d been poleaxed by his apology. It was far better than the half-hearted one he’d tendered when he’d thought she’d awakened him for sex. Men in her experience weren’t prone to admitting mistakes, at least not without a caveat that shifted at least part of the blame on another for taking offense to begin with. His apology had revealed another facet of him that she would have been more comfortable believing didn’t exist.

  The world made excuses for men who looked like Declan Gallagher. Certainly her own sex was notorious for doing so. Eve couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t have done so herself. She was a peacemaker by nature and notoriously poor at holding a grudge. Her usual mode of operation would be to carry on the next day as if nothing had happened.

  His kiss had made that damn difficult to accomplish. Just the memory of his lips on hers had a flush heating her system from the inside out. She had no idea what had precipitated it. Had less of a notion why she’d allowed it. Not just allowed. Participated in it. Enjoyed it. Lost just a little brain function during it.

  Okay. Maybe a lot of brain function. There was no other explanation. She wanted to believe that she would have put a stop to it. Eventually. But the truth was if Shuang’s voice hadn’t sounded in her ears, she couldn’t be certain exactly what would have happened.

  For a woman who’d spent the past eight years fighting to be taken seriously in her workplace, that admission was more than a little appalling.

  She trailed after Declan when he left the bedroom and watched him strap on his weapon. Then secure a second gun in an ankle holster. Eve would do well to follow his example and act as though nothing had changed between them last night.

  Because nothing had. He’d made a guess about her work at DOS, one she’d neither corroborated nor refuted. She wouldn’t. In mere days she’d be finished with this assignment and back to her own work. She’d be finished with Declan Gallagher.

  And she wouldn’t allow herself to feel regret about that either.

  _______

  “What is all this?”

  They’d emptied the safe at the bank and carried the contents to the transaction room. Besides the laptop, there was a small electronic device in one case and a larger machine in another. Declan had the laptop powered up and was studying the hotel’s bank of security cameras.

  “Raiker had it delivered. They’re fingerprint and iris scanners. I need them to make a convincing pretense of getting these dirtballs entered into his security system.”

  She peered at the screen he was looking at and then at him. “You’re not going to alter the hotel cameras now before we get there, are you?”

  “I need to do something different from yesterday.” He glanced at her and her pulse did a quick jitter, much as it had when he’d walked out of the bathroom that morning. He wore jeans and a white shirt and hadn’t bothered shaving. Some men appeared scruffy with stubble. On Declan Gallagher the effect was devastating. It heightened the sheen of danger that surrounded him and made his gray eyes even more piercing.

  Deliberately she looked away. Last night had already proven she was a bit too susceptible to the picture he presented, and she definitely didn’t want to duplicate that error in judgement. “Won’t it alert IT if all the floor cameras start acting up at the same time?”

  Blessedly her words had him switching his focus back to the monitor. “Yeah. But I’m going to be at the computer a lot today with the men standing around for scans, and I can’t risk them noticing me adjusting the cameras one at a time whenever you alert me about which floor you’re on.”

  “So what are you going to do with them?”

  “I’ve already changed the angles of the cameras on the guest floors to face the ceiling or a wall. And if you stop talking I’m going to change the passwords again and write a quick code that will make them shut down completely if someone starts messing with them.”

  Eve’s brows rose. It was clear from his tone that computer work made him testy. But she was intrigued as he scowled at the screen and muttered under his breath, his fingers dancing over the key
board as he typed what looked like hieroglyphics. She moved away, taking her cell out of her purse. She was adept at her own type of online magic, and she’d take the next little while to work it.

  They labored in silence for fifteen minutes before he finally let out a sigh. “Okay. Done.”

  “As it happens, so am I.” She held out her phone to show him the screen. “Your niece’s Christmas gift? I found four sites that sell it, compared prices and eliminated the ones that don’t offer free shipping. Plenty of time to get it before Christmas.”

  He took the phone from her and made the picture larger. “So that’s a Teeter Popper.” His smile was indulgent. “That does look like something Sadie would love. She sent me her gift request through video chat on her mom’s iPad. She was quite specific. It must be pink. Send me the link, will you? This will score me points with my stepsister Bella, too. She’s still harboring a grudge about the guinea pig I bought Sadie for her birthday. Not sure how I was supposed to know it was pregnant.”

  Hiding a smile, Eve did as he requested. Lots of men were indulgent uncles. Even more loved children. It shouldn’t make him more appealing. She told herself that and tried to believe it. Because last night had already proven that he was all too irresistible already.

  _______

  The video was convincing. Declan had emailed the clip from his phone so Shuang’s men could watch it on the laptop he’d brought from the bank. He had to wonder where Raiker had shot it. It showed him with Royce and Jaid, in a large living area completely devoid of windows. Although it was well lit, the space had no natural light, lending credibility to the story Declan was spinning about the underground spaces on the property of Raiker Forensics.