by Elle James
Gus’s fists clenched at the patronizing tone in Quincy’s voice. The man didn’t understand Charlie at all.
He didn’t have to worry about the widow. She was more than capable of defending herself. “Quincy, dear, I’m quite certain you are capable, but the corporation needs owner oversight to make certain it’s headed in the intended direction.” She tipped her head up, looking down her nose at the man. “I’ll be in next week to start reviewing profit-and-loss reports, balance sheets, sales and marketing. Of course, I will take all the advice I can get, but I’m aware of how this organization runs, having worked with my husband more years than you’ve been with Halverson International.” She walked toward the door and opened it. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have work to do.”
Gus swallowed hard to keep from laughing out loud.
“Yes, ma’am.” Firmly put in his place and his cheeks a ruddy red, Quincy Phishburn left the office.
Charlie closed the door with a loud click and shook her head. “I really despise men who think they know more than me just because I’m a woman. I earned a bachelor’s degree in international marketing at Harvard and my masters in operations management at Yale. I’m not an idiot.” She went to the cabinets again and opened them with her thumbprint. “Let’s get this done. Obviously, I need to come here more often. And I will.”
Cole leaped to his feet and got to work pulling up the computer and digging into the files.
An hour later, they admitted defeat.
“I’m not finding anything on this computer, or in any of the corporate databases,” Cole said. “I dug into Phishburn’s files and noticed he has a Fantasy Football spreadsheet with tabs dating back several years.”
“I don’t care about his football bets,” Charlie said. “But I will be checking into the job he’s doing for the corporation. I might be making some management changes in the near future. Although, John hired him, so he must have seen something in his credentials.” She snorted. “I threw my degrees at him, but they don’t mean squat if you don’t have the intelligence to find your way out of a paper bag.”
“Charlie, we all know you’ve got paper bag navigation down pat,” Grace said, with a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“It’s a good thing you’re pretty,” Charlie said with a stern look. Then a smile broke free. “Most important, you have a big heart and a sense of humor. Those are key in my books.” Charlie clapped her hands. “Let’s head back to the house.”
“I’d like to make a stop along the way, if we can,” Gus said.
“Where?” Charlie asked.
“At a marine recruiter’s office I know of.” Gus locked gazes with Jane. “They have a fingerprint kit I’d like to borrow.”
Declan grinned. “Good idea. They keep more than criminals’ prints in the system.”
“Perfect,” Charlie agreed. “I hadn’t thought about that, but Jonah has a friend in the FBI with access to the IAFIS system. For that matter, he might have direct access, via hacking. He can run Jane’s prints. She might show up in the government employee or military database.”
Jane grimaced and added softly, “Or the criminal database.”
Chapter Eight
“Are you okay with that?” Gus asked.
She nodded. “I need to know who I am. No matter the outcome.”
Gus’s thoughts had run along the same lines, but it could be one of the fastest ways to get to the bottom of who Jane Doe really was.
Charlie touched her arm. “Don’t worry. I don’t think you’re a criminal.”
“But what if I turn up on that database as having committed a crime?”
“We’ll worry about that if it happens. And I’m betting it won’t.” Charlie gave her a quick hug. “Come on—we might find out who you are sooner than we thought.”
They left John Halverson’s office.
Charlie stopped at Margaret’s desk. “Have a nameplate made up to replace John’s. I’m moving into the office next week.”
Margaret smiled. “Thank God. I might even put off retirement, if you plan on staying a while.”
“If you want to retire, go ahead. But I’d really like it if you stayed.” She gave Margaret a hug.
“Mr. Phishburn won’t be happy that you’re going to take over where Mr. Halverson left off.”
Charlie winked. “All the more reason for me to step in.”
Margaret grinned and sat behind her desk. “I’ll have that nameplate up before the end of this week.”
Charlie led the way out of the suite to the elevator. “I’ve let grief keep me on the sidelines far too long. I have too many good years left in me before I sell the business.” She stepped into the elevator, her lips firm, her head held high. “John would want me to do this.”
“You’re a smart woman,” Grace said. “You’ll do great things.”
“You know that means you’ll be coming to the office with me every day.”
Grace smiled. “I know. I’m okay with that.”
“We’ll have to dedicate a space for Declan’s Defenders.”
Gus could almost see the wheels turning in Charlie’s head.
“We’re flexible,” Declan said. “We don’t need a dedicated space.”
“You might not, but I do,” Charlie argued. “I like having a war room to plan and strategize. There’s a conference room next to my office. It will serve nicely as a war room for you.”
“Like I said,” Declan repeated, “we’re flexible.”
“Then it’s settled,” Charlie stood straighter. “I’ll have Margaret get corporate badges for you to enable you to get in and out of the building easily.”
Declan gave her a mock salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
They left through the garage and pulled out onto the street, Gus and Jane in the lead vehicle, Cole in the trailing SUV.
Gus led the convoy to the marine recruiting headquarters. A man he’d gone through marine basic training with had landed there as a recruiter. They agreed that only Jane and Gus would go into the office. The others would wait out in the parking lot in their vehicles.
Gus led the way into the office. Jane followed.
“Can I help you?” A young lance corporal manned the front desk.
“I’m looking for Staff Sergeant Haines.”
“One moment, sir.” The corporal punched a button on the desk phone in front of him. “Sergeant Haines, you have guests in the front office.” He released the button and looked up. “He’ll be right with you.”
A black man wearing the Marine Corps dress blues walked out of a back office, grinning. “Walsh, you old son of a gun. What brings you to a recruiting office? Don’t tell me you want to sign up again?”
Apparently, word hadn’t gotten out about Gus’s dishonorable discharge from the Marine Corps. Otherwise, Haines wouldn’t have suggested signing up again, as that wasn’t a possibility. Gus preferred to keep it that way.
“I need a favor,” Gus said.
“Name it. I owe you a few from basic. I don’t think I’d have made it through without help from my old pal Walsh.” He held out his hand.
Gus took it and was pulled into a bear hug that took his breath away. “Good to see you, Haines.”
“You too, man.” He clapped him on the back and stood back. “Now, what’s this favor you need?”
“Do recruiting offices still have fingerprint kits?”
“I think we might have one around here somewhere. We rarely throw anything away. Come on back to my office. I have a supply cabinet back there. If I have one, it’ll be there.”
Gus stepped aside to allow Jane to pass.
“Who’ve you got here?” Haines grinned. “A recruit for us?”
“Not this time.” He turned to her. “This is Jane Dole,” he said, obviously forgoing the Doe surname so as not to trigger questions.
“She’s a new recruit to the company I’ve gone to work for. We need to run a background check on her.”
“You know they have companies that do that kind of thing for you.”
“I know, but my boss didn’t want to spend the money.” Gus hated lying to his friend, but the truth would take a lot longer to explain. “I was hoping to get the prints and have a buddy of mine run the check.”
“Gotcha.” Haines opened a metal cabinet full of office supplies and military gear. He dug around inside and came out with an ink pad and a couple blank fingerprint cards. “You know how to do this?”
Gus nodded. “I think we’ve got this.”
“I’ll give you a hand, just in case.” Haines set out the ink pad and the card.
One by one, he rolled Jane’s fingers in the ink and then into the corresponding block on the card.
When they were done, he showed her to the bathroom where she could wash up.
“It’s good to see you,” Haines said. “I’d heard you’d gotten out.” He shook his head.
Gus stiffened. Just what had he heard?
“Whatever the charges were, I’m betting it was all bullshit,” Haines said. “You were always straight up and gave one-hundred-percent. Not everyone makes it into Force Recon. I always knew you could. I have the utmost respect for you, man.” He held out his hand. “Semper Fi.”
Gus gripped the man’s hand, his chest tight. “Semper Fi. Thanks.” For helping him with the fingerprinting and for believing in him when the powers that be in the Marine Corps hadn’t.
Jane joined him and they left with the card. Minutes later they were on the beltway, headed back to the Halverson estate. Gus and Jane took the trailing vehicle position.
“What was Haines talking about, charges?” Jane asked.
“I left the Marine Corps with a dishonorable discharge,” he said, his tone flat, discouraging further conversation.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “What happened?”
“We made a command decision to disobey an order that would have had extreme consequences and collateral damage.” Gus snorted. “Because of our decision, our team took the hit and we were shown the door.”
Jane stared across the console at Gus. “I’m betting you and your team did the right thing. Politics can be harsh, even when you do the right thing.”
He shot a glance her way. “And you know that because?”
She stared out the windshield at the vehicle ahead. “I don’t know why I know that. I just do.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, either, but then the higher ranks and politicians aren’t always geniuses. But thank you for the vote of confidence.”
She lifted a shoulder. “You’re welcome.”
Gus glanced in the rearview mirror and stiffened. They’d gotten off one major road onto another and the vehicle behind them was the same one that had been there for the past five miles. He handed his cell phone to Jane. “Call Declan—he should be the first number in my favorites. Give him a heads-up.”
“Why?” Jane twisted in her seat.
He nodded toward the rearview mirror. “We might have some trouble.”
* * *
JANE STARED AT the vehicle behind them, her pulse picking up.
“See that dark gray SUV back there?” Gus asked.
“Yes.” The vehicle didn’t appear to be dangerous. It was following approximately ten car lengths behind them. A white sedan swerved in between them.
The SUV sped up, passed the white car and pulled back in behind them, now eight vehicle lengths back.
“It’s been there through the last interchange and keeping pace. When we change lanes, he changes.”
“You think he’s following us?” Jane hadn’t been watching the entire time but he sure appeared to be following them.
“We can find out easily enough,” Gus said. “Call Declan.”
Jane found Declan’s number and sent the call, putting it on Speaker.
“What’s up, Gus?” Declan’s voice sounded loud and clear.
“Got a dark gray SUV following me for the past fifteen minutes. Wanna get off the next exit and back on to see if we shake him?”
“I’ll have Grace notify Cole. Be ready to get off at the last minute.”
“We’ll stay on the line,” Gus said.
Jane held the phone, turned sideways in the seat to better watch the vehicle behind them. She could hear voices from the interior of Declan’s vehicle, Grace’s voice, then Declan’s and Charlie’s.
“Getting off now,” Declan said. Their vehicle took the next exit.
Gus waited until he’d almost passed the exit before he swerved to get off, no signal.
Jane held her breath. The dark gray SUV followed them on the off ramp. “He’s sticking with us.”
“We have a stoplight ahead,” Declan said.
“Can you blow it without causing a wreck?” Gus asked.
More voices from Declan’s vehicle.
“Blowing,” Declan said.
Ahead of them, they could see Cole’s SUV race through the red light, across the intersection and onto the ramp leading back onto the highway. Declan’s vehicle followed.
A car coming from the other direction skidded to a stop, barely missing the rear end of the vehicle carrying Charlie and the others.
Jane gasped and held on as Gus hit his hazard lights and then his horn and followed Declan through the red light and the intersection, racing up the on-ramp leading back to the highway they’d just left.
The dark gray SUV started through the intersection and stopped when two other vehicles blocked his path.
“He got stuck at the intersection,” Jane said, grinning. A moment later her grin died. “Damn.”
“What?”
“He made it through the intersection and is coming up the ramp.”
“We hear you,” Declan said. “We’ll try some evasive measures. Be ready to zip in and out of traffic.”
“Following,” Gus acknowledged. “Just go. We’ll keep up and try to get a license plate number.”
“You watch the front. I’ll let you know what’s going on behind us.” Jane twisted more in her seat and watched out the back window for the SUV.
Gus maneuvered through several lane changes, moving ahead in the heavy traffic, a little at time.
“I don’t see our tail,” Jane said, squinting to see in the distance around several cars blocking her view. “No, wait—he’s back there. Three vehicles between us.”
More lane changes and the dark gray SUV disappeared again. “I think we lost him.”
“Good. But we can’t let our guard down.”
“I’m watching.” Jane turned in her seat, looking all around for any other signs of being followed. They passed a ramp leading off the freeway, crossed a bridge and slowed as merging traffic clogged the rest of the vehicles moving through.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jane saw a flash of dark gray metal as an SUV darted out of the merging traffic from the on-ramp and crossed two lanes of traffic, heading for them.
“Look out to the right!” Jane cried. “He’s back and coming straight for us.”
The dark gray SUV slammed into the side of their vehicle, crushing Jane’s door inward and shoving them into the fast lane.
The car on their left swerved onto the shoulder and slammed on the breaks to let them pass, the driver laying on the horn.
Gus gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white as he fought to keep the SUV from running off the road into the concrete barriers.
The dark gray SUV didn’t let up, pushing them closer and closer to the concrete.
“Hold on,” Gus said.
Jane leaned toward the console, holding on to the handle over the door.
Gus jerked the steering wheel to t
he right, pushing back on the other vehicle. He couldn’t slow and let him pass because that would leave Charlie’s vehicle vulnerable.
Jane tried to see into the other SUV, but the windows were so darkly tinted she couldn’t make out the driver, even though they were close enough she could have spit into his window.
Gus jammed his foot onto the accelerator, continuing to steer his vehicle into the SUV. The other drivers on the road slowed, giving them space.
“You okay back there?” Declan called out over the cell phone.
“Don’t slow down. Get Charlie home,” Gus said through clenched teeth, his arms straining as he maintained his hold on the steering wheel.
“Going,” Declan acknowledged. “Grace is calling the highway patrol. Hang in there.”
Suddenly the gray SUV jerked to the right, running parallel to their vehicle.
Jane had time only to take a breath before the glass in the window beside her exploded inward, showering her with small shards.
“Damn!” Gus hit the accelerator. “Get down!” he yelled and raced ahead of the other vehicle, ducking as low as he could.
Jane leaned low in her seat, staring up at the bullet hole in the passenger window. She followed its trajectory to Gus. Bright red blood dripped from his shoulder onto the seat.
“You’re hit!” Jane cried out and started to sit up.
“Stay down, damn it!” he yelled.
The dark SUV raced up beside them again.
Gus didn’t wait for the driver to start shooting again. He jerked the steering wheel to the right, slamming into the other vehicle. Then he goosed the accelerator and shot in front of the gray SUV, blocking the driver from coming up again on the side. When he tried to go around, Gus planted his vehicle in the way every time.
Jane risked a look over the back of the seat in time to see the driver stick a gun out the window, aimed at the back of their SUV. “Look out—he’s going to shoot at the back.”
Jane ducked low again, just in time. A bullet hit the back windshield and exited the vehicle through the front. If she hadn’t ducked, it would have gone through her head.
