by Rachel Grant
“He’s a computer and cell phone security specialist. One of his biggest clients is the Department of Defense. He’s very, very good.”
She closed her eyes. Lee was a successful businessman. That made so much more sense than his slacker intern persona. She was such a fool.
“He may not be an engineer, but he’ll be an excellent manager for the Bethesda office,” Alexandra continued. “Brilliant move to have him replace Drake. Keeps it all in the family until the election is over.”
“I’m sick of games and strategies,” Erica said. “I’m sick of being a pawn.”
“Pawns are more powerful than you think. Pawns who cross the board safely become queen.”
Her head throbbed. “I don’t want to be queen. I only wanted a chance at redemption so I could look at my father’s portrait without shame. So I could work without fear of being fired.”
“Your boyfriend is head of your office. There isn’t a chance in hell you’ll be fired.”
At last, an opportunity to benefit from nepotism. The thought made her ill. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Then you’re a fool.”
She grimaced. “That goes without saying.”
“Why do you need to redeem yourself?”
Erica sighed. She felt strange, realizing she could talk freely about her past. “There’s a man here tonight. His name is Jake Novak. Officially, he’s an underwater salvage expert, but really he’s a thief and a fence. I was blackballed from archaeology because I worked for him.”
“I met him. He invited JT and me to a party he’s having on his boat next weekend.”
“His boat?” She felt a surge. “The Andvari is here? Already?” Jake’s business was based out of California. Sailing from Oaxaca to Maryland would have been hugely expensive. The navy project timeline allowed plenty of time to bring the boat around if Talon & Drake won the contract, so why had he moved the boat already?
“Yes, that’s the name. I gather he’s teaming with Talon & Drake on a proposal. He’s planning a reception on the Andvari for the team.”
Erica’s mind began to race. “Do you know where the boat is moored?”
“It’s here—at the reservation marina.”
And suddenly, Erica knew.
Talon & Drake had a contract in Iraq, with shipments of supplies going back and forth. Over the water. Riversong had a casino with great money-laundering opportunities. Someone at Talon & Drake was shipping artifacts back from Iraq, selling them through Novak, and laundering the money through Riversong.
Lee had a list of UTMs, and all the coordinates were in the Atlantic Ocean, near Norfolk. Someone had tossed artifacts overboard from a Talon & Drake shipment, then recorded the UTMs for the drop sites so Jake could use his treasure-hunting vessel loaded with side-scan sonar and dive equipment to pluck the goodies from the water.
Had Lee been sent in by JT to find the Talon & Drake connection? With a sinking feeling, she understood her past with Jake made her the most likely suspect.
Then a worse thought occurred to her. Lee could have been placed in the office to facilitate—not stop—the smuggling. She stood up. “I have to go.”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Alexandra said. “You’re going back to the party. The senator introduced you as part of his family. Your absence has probably already been noticed.”
The need to find Jake’s boat overwhelmed her. Had he already used the UTMs to collect the artifacts? She had to search the Andvari.
She had one last chance to save herself.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
LEE WAS RELIEVED WHEN Erica returned to the Aztec room. He’d begun to wonder if she’d managed to sneak out of the building. She made a beeline for him and deliberately took his arm. She’d decided to play along.
She smiled prettily and said the right things as they circulated around the room, showing no sign of the tension that coursed through her, but Lee could feel anger in the fingers that gripped him. He could see hurt in her cold smile. She never once spoke directly to him.
He hated seeing the pain in her eyes, being the recipient of her frosty glare. If only he could tell her the truth. But he couldn’t. Not yet. He had no choice but to endure her animosity.
He wanted to believe she was innocent, but she’d never really told him what had happened in Mexico. There were gaps in her story. So doubt remained, and he couldn’t tell her about the smuggling or the employee who’d been murdered in Baghdad.
He had a job to do. His cover was gone, but his position was improved. Now he would have access to every network file, every company e-mail, no hacking or pretending required.
Thanks to Erica, he knew why SARAC had been empty when it was searched. He even knew how the artifacts were recovered, but he still had to figure out where the smugglers were meeting in just a few hours. He needed to know what “dwarf” meant.
“Give me money,” Erica said in a cold voice. “I want to gamble.”
Lee smiled. The woman he’d met two weeks ago would never, ever have demanded cash from him so she could gamble. He reached for his wallet and handed her three hundred dollars. “Do I get to keep your winnings?”
Her gaze raked him. “I don’t intend to win.”
She sat on a backless stool at the roulette table, her spine stiff. He longed to massage away her tension, her anger. He stood a few paces behind and watched her, content to appreciate the view of her bare skin. If this was all he could have of her for now, he’d take it.
Jake Novak approached the table. Lee moved forward but stopped and allowed Novak to take the seat beside Erica.
The man looked askance at her. His gaze settled on her cleavage. Lee’s hands fisted.
Erica kept her gaze on the table. “Look what the cockroach dragged in.”
“Tsk, tsk,” Jake said. “Now that I’m teaming with Talon & Drake, we need to get along. As the only underwater archaeologist they’ve got on staff”—he turned his head, directing his words to Lee, obviously hoping Erica’s background was news to him—“we’re going to be working together. Close together.”
Lee wanted to tell the prick that he’d never team with Talon & Drake but held back, curious to see where this conversation would go.
Erica continued to focus on the table, but Lee noticed her finger nervously tapping the green baize. “I don’t do underwater archaeology anymore, Jake. You made sure of that.”
“You could always work for me.” Jake took her hand and began massaging.
She turned to Novak with an alluring smile. Lee clenched his jaw so tight he expected to be in pain tomorrow. He couldn’t believe she allowed the man to touch her, let alone pretend to enjoy it.
“I did love your boat,” she purred. “Fire Marco, and I’ll consider it.”
“I wish I could.” Jake pulled her hand to his lips. “It’s not that simple.”
Lee expected the man to lose an eye or other useful body part, but she continued her flirtatious game. She was playing the treasure hunter, but why? Was she trying to make Lee jealous? He hated the fact that it was working.
“I heard the Andvari is here,” she said idly, dropping several chips on the roulette table with casual indifference.
Lee itched to touch her back, to stake his claim.
Novak leaned toward her. “It is.”
“That’s quite a trip. You’re done in Mexico?”
“For now.”
“Why’d you bring her around?” Her finger tapping increased. It could be because she’d placed her largest bet so far, but Lee thought her anxiety was because she’d zeroed in on the information she wanted from Novak.
It also happened to be the information he wanted from Novak.
“I’m expanding my business to the Atlantic Coast. There are a lot of shipwrecks here.”
“So you brought the Andvari around before you even had a project lined up?”
Novak shrugged noncommittally.
Lee wanted to keep this conversation going. He moved to Erica’s side. “A
ndvari. Is that your boat?”
Jake nodded with distraction, focused on Erica. He must have suddenly remembered Lee was now head of the Bethesda office, because he turned to him and said, “Next weekend I’m having a party on the Andvari for the team Ed Drake and I put together for the navy contract. I’d like you to come.”
“We’ll plan on it.” Unable to contain himself any longer, Lee ran a possessive hand across her back. “I’m curious, what does Andvari mean?”
She straightened her back in a clear attempt to shake off his touch. He squeezed her shoulder. No way was he letting Novak know things were less than perfect between them.
She stilled, accepting him, for now. “The name is Jake’s idea of a treasure-hunter joke,” she said. “In Norse mythology, Andvari was a dwarf who had the power to become a fish. Andvari also had a magical ring called Andvarinut, which helped him to become master of all the gold in the universe. Loki caught Andvari when he was in his fish form and forced him to give up his gold and Andvarinut, so Andvari cursed the ring to destroy whoever possessed it.”
Andvari was a dwarf. Excitement coursed through Lee. The artifacts were still on the boat! The meeting was scheduled for three a.m. He needed to let his FBI contact know he had the location.
“I wasn’t aware you knew the Andvari story,” Jake said.
She gave him another falsely—at least he assumed it was false—sweet smile. “Googling Andvari was the second thing I did after I returned from Mexico. I realized then the name is your way of saying anyone who takes your treasure will suffer. You are Andvari.”
“It’s just a name, Cream Puff. I like Norse Mythology. I’m also a fan of Tolkien and Wagner, both of whom borrowed from the Andvari myth.”
Erica placed another bet on the table; she’d already lost more than half the money Lee gave her.
“What was the first thing you did?” Lee asked.
“Excuse me?” she asked with an air of innocence that might have fooled Jake, but not Lee.
“When you returned from Mexico. You Googled Andvari second. What was the first thing you did?”
Her eyes glittered. “What every tourist does when they get back to the States. I printed out all the photos I took on vacation.”
“Really?” Novak’s eyes narrowed. “I’d like to see your pictures.”
“You certainly would. I’ve got some great shots of you and the rest of the crew.” Now there was an edge to her voice. Lee sensed the game had escalated, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.
Novak’s face lost any hint of flirtation. “I never saw you taking pictures.”
The croupier cleared the table, and Erica placed a new bet by tossing a chip over her shoulder without breaking eye contact with Novak. “Because I didn’t want you to. You know, I think the senator will appreciate seeing them.”
Beads of sweat broke out on Novak’s brow.
Lee had to get her the hell out of here. The man was dangerous, and she was baiting him.
He ran his hand down her back and cupped her ass, then said in a voice just loud enough for Novak to hear, “Shortcake, place your last bet, and let’s get out of here. I wanna celebrate my new job with you in private.”
“Sure thing, honey bear.” Her tone emulated Alexandra’s ironic endearments for JT. She tilted her head for a kiss, and he got a glimpse of her cold eyes as his lips brushed against hers.
His heart lurched. She was beyond hurt, beyond anger. She loathed him.
She slipped off the stool, dropped a hundred dollars in chips on the table, and walked away. “Jake, it’s been as much fun as always.”
Lee turned to follow, then stopped and faced Novak. “Stay away from her.”
Novak’s gaze tracked her as she left the room. “She and I have unfinished business.”
“Your business ended a year ago.”
The man faced him, a crooked smile on his face. “She may enjoy you now—she’s always liked men with money and connections—but it won’t last. Erica needs me. Now more than ever.”
Bile rose in his throat. Lee itched to deck the man, but this was Joe’s night, and he couldn’t ruin it. Instead, he dropped his voice to a menacing whisper. “It eats you alive, doesn’t it? You’re obsessed with her, but she doesn’t want you.”
Novak’s eyes narrowed. Hatred burned in their depths. Jealousy. Lee’d scored a hit.
“If you go near her again, you’ll regret it.” He turned and left.
Novak would pay for what he’d done to Erica, but this wasn’t the time or place. No, the time and place was in three hours on board the Andvari.
He found JT and told him he was taking Erica home and would send the limousine back, then left the casino. Before climbing in the back with Erica, he told the limo driver to take the long way home. He needed as much time with Erica as he could get. They pulled away from the curb while she moved as far as she could from Lee. With her back to him, she stared out the window.
The silence built until it became intolerable. “What happened in Mexico?”
She studied him, then took a deep breath. “I tried to protect the artifacts and stole them in the middle of the night. I swam a mile and a half to shore, dragging a float bag that held heavy stone and gold artifacts. I was shot at but got to my car and drove thirty miles into the jungle before it broke down.” Her voice was cold, distant, as though she recited a dry list of events that had happened to someone else. “I hid the artifacts in the jungle but then was arrested by a cop on Jake’s payroll.”
She lapsed into silence and returned to gazing out the window.
When he realized she didn’t intend to continue, he prodded her. “Then what?”
She wouldn’t look at him, but her tone carried the same impassivity. It scared him more than if she’d broken down. “They starved me. When that didn’t work, they withheld water.”
His hands curled into fists. Five minutes alone with Novak. That was all he wanted.
She held her chin up, fierce pride in her eyes. “But I still didn’t tell them where the artifacts were.”
But she must have, eventually. What in hell had they done to get her to talk? “Tell me.”
Erica turned away. “Then Jake ordered his crew to gang rape me.”
A rush of anger, fear, and self-loathing socked him in the gut. He’d used sex to win her trust, then used what he’d learned against her. No wonder she hated him. Novak was a dead man.
She kept her back to him, staring out the window. “I gave up the artifacts.”
“Did they…?”
“No.”
He wanted to hold her, but from the rigid set of her spine, he knew reaching for her would be a mistake. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew if I told you…” Her voice cracked, and Lee nearly did too. “You’d tell JT. He’d be more worried about avoiding scandal than the theft and would make the artifacts disappear.”
“I’m sorry.” He was but didn’t know if he would have, could have, done anything differently. “Why did you need the artifacts? Aren’t the photos you took enough?”
“Without the artifacts, without the false provenance the casino museum would have, the photos are useless. I needed concrete evidence. And now, thanks to you, I don’t have it. I’ll never be safe from Jake and Marco.” She rolled down the window between the front seat and the passenger area and said to the chauffeur, “Take GW Parkway to 395. Maine Avenue Exit. I’ll point out the building when we get there.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She rolled the window up.
“Erica, I can help you. Protect you.”
“I’ll work for Talon & Drake until I find a new job. Maybe Janice’ll give me a good recommendation. If not, I’ll start over. Again.”
“I’m worried about you being alone in your apartment. Stay at the Watergate. With me.”
“I’m starting to believe you trashed my apartment to force me to move in with you. Hell, for all I know, you trapped me in that basement just so you could resc
ue me.”
His blood pressure spiked. Jake had abused her, yet she accused him of trashing her apartment and trying to kill her? “I was with you when your stuff was destroyed.”
“Then you paid someone else to do it.”
He gripped the door handle to prevent himself from punching out the window. He deserved her anger. He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He’d created this rotten mess; he’d destroyed her trust when he let her learn who he was from Novak, of all people…right after pushing her to admit she loved him, for no better reason than he needed to hear the words.
“Is there anything you’ve told me in the last two weeks that’s true?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said softly. “One thing.”
She stiffened, then slammed her fist on the button to lower the window and gave the driver the last instructions to her building. They rode in silence until they pulled up in front.
Maybe this was just as well. He had an appointment with an FBI agent. He climbed out, then helped her out of the limo.
She straightened her spine and took a step toward her building. “See you Monday.”
He caught her arm and swung her around to face him. He looked down at her, aware his face revealed his heart, if she cared to look.
The beads in her hair sparkled in the streetlight, and her sad gray eyes tore at him. He was head over heels in love with her, yet every choice he’d made had hurt her. His heart beat heavily. This could be the most important moment of his life—his only chance to win her back. He cleared his throat. “We’re not done.”
“Yes. We are.”
He let her go, despite every muscle in his body aching to stop her. She entered the building and crossed the lobby. He stood on the sidewalk for several minutes after she disappeared from view.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
THE ARTIFACTS WOULD HAVE BEEN in the casino if she’d done nothing. If she’d stuck with her stupid cell tower assessments and let Janice write the Thermo-Con EA, the artifacts would have been there. If she had never met with Sam Riversong, if she hadn’t tried to get his DNA, if she hadn’t chosen to meet the senator, Lee would never have suspected a thing, and the artifacts would have been there.
