Hidden Secrets (Garrett Investigation Book 1)

by Claire Plaisted

  “I’ll need twenty-four hours Fletcher, how sure are you of this formula?”

  “I’m working on it. It looks brilliant on paper. I think it’ll need a few tweaks to get it to function properly. I’m sure you have plenty of people we can try it out on.”

  “Yeah, Malachy’s top of my list,” snarled Blaze. “He’s got too close too often.”

  “Can you arrange a private lab with a lab assistant who knows his chemical formulas plus biology? We could have this sorted within a week.”

  “When everything is ready I’ll let you know Fletcher.”

  “Good,” he closed his prepaid phone knowing he could never be too careful. One false move and all could fall around his ears.

  Returning to his condo, he used his debugger finding nothing amiss. He didn’t realise the bugs planted received a new specialist coating concealing them from any known debugger.

  Sitting at his computer, he entered the information. It was here he could recalibrate the formula to fulfil his quest. Why his boss wanted Malachy out of the way, he’d no idea, there again he didn’t know who his boss was either. He was a voice on the end of the phone or a shadowy video.

  Pity, his minions, missed killing Malachy the first time should’ve been easy, obviously he’d been wrong. Mind the pleasure of seeing Ana come back to the office all shaken by the blast in the garage was sheer joy. He smirked behind his hands, laughter bubbling up quietly through his body. How he’d kept his face straight, he didn’t know. Sneering, he knew he’d get them both once he’d perfected the virus until then he’d wait.

  On Monday, he would see if a batch was ready at Haven Pharmaceutical. Many of the restricted chemicals he needed he could get off the black market. “Going to get you both this time, nobody will know what happened,” he laughed loudly at the thought of their untimely deaths.

  The Voice found the goings-on amusing, a little push here, a little push there made chaos reign. He laughed uproariously. Having Malachy to work against was a dream. The dratted man had outdone him too often, just like his father. Revenge was going to be sweet. As for the girl, maybe she’d come in useful. Anastasia’s mother had been a tasty morsel he’d enjoyed taking for many years the nicest of his whores. It was strange how life went full circle. Making Anastasia, his whore would be just delightful. He laughed maniacally at the thought.

  Abe was finally off life-support. Ana held his hand, waiting for him to open his eyes. She was pleased he was breathing on his own now. It made her feel better; the relief was enormous. She squeezed his hand gently in encouragement, looking over her shoulder at Mal. Suddenly, she felt pressure on her hand. Jumping up Ana looked down into Abe’s face as he opened his beautiful sea blue eyes.

  “Abe, how are you feeling, oh my God it’s good to have you back.”

  “Water,” he whispered.

  “Yes, of course,” pouring water into a glass she grabbed a straw so he could drink.

  “Better, thanks,” he said hoarsely, “Need more.”

  “Take your time Abe, we want you better.”

  A weak smile crossed his face, “happy to see you’re all right Ana.”

  “Thank you for saving my life Abe.” Bending down, she kissed his cheek making his pale face flush.

  “Hi Abe, once you’re back on your feet, we’re giving you a week’s downtime. Visit your family if you can. We’ll put you back into training after, so you can work your way fit for duty.”

  “Thanks, Sir, that’ll be great, sorry need sleep,” he went out like the blink of light.

  Returning to Garrett Towers, they both wrote their reports. Boss’s needed appeasing, and though Malachy was the boss, he also had reports to do for various government agencies. Next week, Ana was going back to Trengrove, since the shooting, he wondered if he should do the same, it may make it harder for them to keep their affair secret. He still couldn’t believe they’d enjoyed mind-blowing sex last night. Drumming his pen on his desk, he closed his eyes, thinking of her lush body, so deep in thought he didn’t hear the knock or the door open.

  “Hey boss!” Conrad entered “Boss you ok?”

  “Hmm,” he smiled, “what oh yeah, sorry, just thinking.”

  “Must have been good thoughts best smile I have seen on your face for ages.”

  “What do you want Conrad.”

  “Here’s the rest of the data. For your eyes only, I’ve forgotten what I found already,” he said, placing a flash drive on the desk.

  “What about Gina?”

  “Yeah, same applies all info on the stick. Gina has conveniently forgotten to.”

  “Have you passed the extra info on to Fletch? Or was Gina first?”

  “Me, I’ll sort it out this afternoon, not a prob.”

  “Good, let me know how he reacts.”

  “Will do sir,” he said cheerily, walking out.

  Mal’s phone rang.

  “Afternoon Cameron what can I do for you?”

  “Can you get down here quick like? I just found something you should really see?”

  “Ok, on my way.” Out his door, he quickly took the elevator down to Cameron’s lab. “What’s going on Cam?”

  “Well, firstly you were right the second voice was Blaze Carrington.”

  “Sonofabitch, I knew it, damn the man,” he said wearily, “what else have you got?”

  “He’s attached to something real big and extremely nasty! I found these in a locked file on the memory stick Ana gave me.”

  “Tell me why I’m not surprised!”

  Looking up Malachy watched as pictures of women with dirty, lank hair, chained to beds, you could see their wide eyes made them look like drug addicts, each one lay on a dirty mattress. The women had scars on their arms. Someone had obviously been administering drugs keeping them high. Their clothes were near rags; they were all slim; young; hollow-eyed and lost.

  “Fuck, what the hell’s going on, how come Ana didn’t mention this?” he said in anger.

  “Most agents just download everything and don’t see what they have because they’re in a hurry. I know she printed most of the photos from her camera. How come she missed this data, I’ve no idea.”

  “Are there documents related to these pictures?”

  “No, sorry there isn’t. Are you going to show Ana?”

  “Leave it with me. I don’t like what it probably means, thanks for the tip,” he smiled slowly. “I’ll get Enrique onto this, he at least can tell us about the drugs. Can you enhance the photos, Cameron? Then Enrique can see if these women are missing or presumed dead?”

  “Yes, of course, you want me to email them to Enrique?”

  “No, would be better if you used a flash drive. I’ll organise a conference room for him with a secure computer; nobody is to know about this until I give the word.”

  “Yes sir. I’ll deal with it.”

  “Thanks Cam, good work, by the way,” he said, slapping him on the back.

  Wearily Mal walked back to his office, taking the stairs. Halfway up the lights flicked out. Stopping, he listened hard to see if anyone was on the stairs, cautiously he continued up, taking his Walther out he primed it just in case. Nearly at his floor Mal heard a shuffling noise, looking up, he heard steps from above. Quietly up the last few steps he leant back against the exit door, his Walther at the ready by his side as he waited quietly.

  “Crap you scared the living daylights out of me, who is it?” Yuri said as he flicked his torch on.”

  “Yuri what the hell,” said Mal with relief, “creeping around like that.”

  “I ain’t creeping around; that’s you, boss,” Yuri growled. “What the hell are you doing in the stairwell anyhow, you’re meant to use the elevator and put your bloody gun away.”

  “Felt like walking when the lights went out.”

  “Yeah, short circuit, just on my way to repair it.”

  Mal barked out a laugh, “You’re a man of many talents.”

  “Why you employed me isn’t it?”

>   Yuri opened the door, “don’t use the stairway again boss ok.”

  “Yes Sir,” he saluted sarcastically.

  Wandering back through the open office, he noticed Conrad taking to Fletch, Sylvia and Ana working together. Rosetta, of course, was on assignment. Approaching Enrique he tapped him on the shoulder.

  “My office right now Enrique,” Mal demanded.

  “Y-yes sir,” he stuttered back as he hauled himself to his feet.

  Sitting behind his desk, he liked the way Enrique stood to attention.

  “Sit down for god’s sake Enrique. I’ve a job for you; it’ll be for your eyes only at this stage. I’m having a secure office set up for you with a safe computer. I need you to go through some photographs and match them to missing women or Jane Doe records via the police, FBI, CIA. Start searching for them locally, then across all states.”

  “Yes sir, not a problem.”

  “The photos are horrible Enrique, enough to make you sick. Anything you find will need investigating, once you have a list. I’ll get Sylvia to work with you.”

  “Make sure nobody sees the photos. Cameron will deliver a flash drive to you. Destroy the flash drive as soon as you’ve encrypted the photographs on the computer. Is that clearly understood?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Good, that’s all. Oh, can you tell Ana I need to see her, please.”

  Ana arrived moments later; she glared at Mal.

  “You called sir.”

  “Get off your high horse Ana, I need you to check out another office for Enrique, make sure the computer is secure too.”

  “I’ll deal with it shortly.”

  “What’s wrong? Get it off your chest.”

  “What’s wrong,” she snarled, “Oh my God, please give me a break,” she prowled around his office.

  “Anastasia sit down and shut up. If it’s about last night, then get over it. It’s going to happen again.”

  Stunned to silence, she calmed herself watching him through her lashes, she was never this emotional what the hell was going on. “Apologies, I’m out of line. I don’t know what’s wrong for some reason I’m tense. As for last night it was fun,” she ended with a wry smile.

  “Well, I am glad you enjoyed yourself, meanwhile, could you sort out secure space for Enrique. I’ve just given him a new assignment; he may need Sylvia a bit later. Have you finished your reports? If so, after the funeral, you can go straight down to Trengrove.”

  “Will you be going Malachy? It may be wise to.”

  “I’ll probably join you a bit later, a few items to sort out here first.”

  “Think about it anyway.”

  “Yeah, I will, sounds like you’ll miss me.”

  “Now why would I miss you,” she laughed as she strolled out banging straight into Fletcher.

  “Soz Fletch, didn’t see you there.”

  Entering the office Fletcher put down his final report for his last assignment.

  “Well done Fletch, since you’ve finished early, you may as well start on some of the research needed for Monday.”

  “Good idea. I’ll look into it in the morning. I was wondering if I could take the rest of the day off, my mother’s birthday soon and I haven’t got her a gift yet.”

  “Well, you can’t forget it. Mothers are the most important people in the world.”

  “Exactly, so I presume you don’t mind then?”

  “No, off you go. Having the report on my desk now is great.”

  With a nod, he smiled in a buoyant mood. Now he needed to see if Blaze had sorted out a laboratory and lab Assistant for him. Collecting his coat Fletcher left via the elevator rubbing his hands together, not realising he’d a security tail on him. The security detail were like ghosts in the night. They would have him soon if he missed a step.

  Fletcher returned to his apartment. Changing his clothes disguising his face, he made it fatter, a blonde wig with a baseball cap on, a few bits of padding on his body. He walked out; nobody would recognise him, he was confident about that. Whistling, he walked down the stairs and out the front door hands in pockets hiding in plain view.

  “What the fuck do you mean you lost him, how the hell did that happen, you bloody idiot, crap now we don’t know where he went!” ranted Malachy

  “Sorry Mal, all we know is he ain’t in his apartment.”

  “What are you going to do? Yuri.” Mal said furiously.

  “We’ll view the video of people leaving the apartment block from thirty minutes after he entered; it may just be possible he’s on it somewhere.”

  “Well, get to it,” he snarled.

  Meanwhile, Fletcher met with Blaze at the Red Squirrel one of his favourite restaurants, excellent food with booths at the back where nobody could see you from the windows.

  “So Blaze, you got news for me, the boss wants to know.”

  “We’re setting up a lab for you Fletcher. It’ll take forty-eight hours at the most, so be ready on Saturday.”

  “What about an Assistant?”

  “Arrangements sorted. I’ve organised his termination since we don’t want word leaking out,” Blaze said calmly.

  “I’d prefer to see if we can keep him alive otherwise I could use him as our first guinea pig. We have to start somewhere,” Fletcher murmured.

  Sipping their wine, they ate in silence for a few moments each wondering if this game would end successfully.

  “Is Philippe helping us with establishing this virus?”

  “No, he’s busy with another issue right now.” Blaze said. “You do realise this also works with your boss. From what I can tell everything is going smoothly; just a few kinks to iron out,” he said.

  “Yeah, I heard, though I’ve more contact with Philippe through you; than my boss.”

  “Do you have access to all the chemicals you need? If not, give me a list, and I’ll hunt them down for you on the black market.”

  “I’m hoping to get my hands on a vial from Haven Pharmaceutical when I start on Monday. This way I can see where they’re up too.” Fletcher said gravely. “It can take years of research to get medicines into trials and on the market Blaze. Do something too soon, and all sorts of lawsuits could arise. This virus can be trialled overseas; say Africa somewhere no one will notice a few extra dead bodies,” Fletcher laughed quietly.

  “Let me know Fletcher, you know where to find me. I must dash now. I’ve a meeting with my Grandfather.” Blaze sighed as he rose to leave.

  “I’ll be in touch on Saturday morning for an update Blaze,” Fletchers replied as his phone rang, the voice wanted an update.

  “Yes sir, I’ll keep the pressure on since that’s your wish. I can organise a hit at Malachy’s home, shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Just scare them,” the voice rumbled.

  “Yes sir, let me know once you’re ready to have them taken out permanently. I hope to have this new assignment sorted by then sir.”

  “Good, good. I’ll touch base with you again next week,” the voice rumbled before hanging up.

  Paying the check Fletcher went shopping for his mother’s present. In the first shop, he bought some new clothes. In the next shop, he disposed of his disguise re-dressing in his new clothes. Picking out a gift for his mother in a dollar store, he headed back to his apartment for a quiet evening home.

  “Malachy, we got him, he just entered the building again, has a couple of bags on him too, looks like he just went shopping after all,” shrugged Yuri.

  “Yeah, what did he shop for then? Of course he made it look like he went shopping, for god’s sake, that’s what he told me he was doing.”

  “We’ll keep an eye on him; we’ll put a trace in his shoes when he’s in the office tomorrow?”

  “Do it, oh and get Quinton, time for home. Inform Ana too, please.”

  “Ten minutes boss, meet at the elevator.”

  Another quiet evening or so they thought, later it was going to get rather explosive they just didn’t know it yet.
<
br />   Fletcher heard the gossip about Malachy and Ana shacking up together; he’d snorted derisively “poor little woman needs protecting,” he muttered. Getting the all-clear he bought a new disposable cell phone making a call to his henchmen, he ordered them to give Mal & Ana a wake-up call at three a.m., see how they enjoyed that. Sneering; Fletcher continued his work researching; gathering data on Haven Pharmaceutical. It was going to be so easy with having full security clearance at Haven.

  Living in the same house wasn’t going to bad. Ana was cooking a meal in the kitchen. Wandering around in her T-shirt and paint splattered jeans. Such sexy legs, he smiled, watching her toss vegetables into a wok, turning to him.

  “Where are your spices Mal?”

  “They’re in the third cupboard on your left. Top shelf right at the back.”

  “You can tell you don’t cook much, your spices should be on your bench,” she said sternly, as she walked along the counter before stretching up. Her t-shirt rose to show her lower back; he started to smile when his jaw nearly dropped at the sight of blue, purple flames tattooed on her back. Running his fingers through his hair, he stood up quietly, walking over towards her in his rubber soled shoes. Placing his hands on the counter, either side of her, waiting for her to settle back on her feet. Ana felt his breath on her neck. Bending over her, he kissed her shoulder up to her earlobe.

  “Arrgghh…” she jumped, “Mal will you stop it, I’m trying to cook.”

  “Cooking is going to have to wait for a moment Ana,” he smiled deviously.

  “What’re you up to?”

  Turning her round, he crushed her to him, his hot, demanding lips taking hers. Stunned by the sudden attack Ana dropped the spices, letting them clatter to the floor, her hands, making their way up his back until she got to his nape. The kiss caused ructions throughout her body; weakly she tried to push him away.

  “Mal,” she mumbled against his mouth, “stop this madness.”

  He pulled back, grinning, “I wanted to see if Mirage would come out to play. I enjoyed making out with her last time.”