“I can easily sell the story of you as the instigator. Your company and its, shall we say, specialty area make it very possible you would have the power to go looking where you shouldn’t,” Russell said.
Looked as if the man had selective memory. When he wanted to prove Orion’s power, he praised its abilities. When he wanted to show he was in charge, he pretended he was stronger, more resourceful than Orion.
Trevor wondered, not for the first time, why he didn’t just crush this man and risk the consequences. “Interesting.”
“Isn’t it?”
“So, what is your plan here, Russell?”
“As I said before, end Recovery’s interference.”
Trevor had heard the same requests from Russell since the day after Bram’s funeral. Trevor wasn’t any more inclined to help today than he was then. “That sounds suspiciously like you want me to do your dirty work.”
“Make it happen now.”
“What’s the hurry?”
Russell ignored the question. “I would hate for someone in the press to hear a certain tape I have in my possession. Anything happens to me and the tape goes public. If nothing happens to stop Recovery, the price to you is the same. Public exposure, loss of any chance of ever seeing your son again and probably jail time.”
“You have it all figured out.”
“I do.”
Russell didn’t have any idea of the wrath he was unleashing against him with these threats. Trevor knew that ignorance would be the man’s downfall. “You think you own me.”
“I do.”
“Let me ask you this.” He tapped faster and louder. “Are you done?”
Russell’s gaze went to the pen and then back to Trevor’s face. “With what?”
“Did you collect the money for the killings?”
Russell froze. He looked at every corner of the room as if just realizing Trevor could be taping him, which, of course, he was.
“Problem?” Trevor asked.
“I got money for information, much like what you do.”
“I suppose you sleep fine at night.”
After another glance around the room, Russell spoke louder. “I’m not the one who tried to make my wife disappear.”
“But you are the one sitting there, threatening to destroy me no matter what it takes.”
This time Russell leaned in. His voice dropped to a whisper as hate filled his eyes. “I’m betting your reputation is more important to you than anything else. After all, isn’t that why you covered up the truth about your brother’s death?”
Trevor fought off a flinch. Seemed the annoying man had some good instincts after all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m willing to bet if I dug a little I’d find out his death wasn’t so heroic after all.”
Trevor carefully laid the pen down on the desk blotter before folding his hands together. “Congratulations.”
“So, I’m right.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then for what?”
“You are now my number one priority.”
Russell’s lips curled into a satisfied grin. “I see we finally understand each other.”
It was quite clear to Trevor that Russell didn’t understand a thing.
AVERY AND CALEB STOOD a hundred feet away from the entrance to her lab. They hovered inside the high-security gate surrounding the property thanks to Adam’s ability to unlock it from the safety of the Recovery warehouse miles away.
It was after ten o’clock, and the building was mostly dark except for the hallway lights that always stayed on. As predicted and right on schedule, the cleaning crew took off an hour earlier. That left a few security guards, and Avery was confident they could dodge them.
“It’s time to move.” Caleb made the comment from over her left shoulder. Anger still rang in Caleb’s voice and radiated off his stiff body.
At least he’d finally stopped arguing. He had spent half the afternoon insisting she stay at the warehouse and let the agents handle the…what did he call it? Information recovery. He reasoned that he knew his way around the labs and building offices since he once worked there, but she refused to give in.
She agreed to help Rod all those months ago knowing the assignment was both a violation of her work contract and a potential danger. She accepted responsibility for her decision and wasn’t about to let Caleb walk into a situation she should handle on her own.
“After we do this, is your plan to bury my body somewhere that no one can find it?” She joked but he didn’t laugh.
“Nothing so dramatic.”
“What then?”
“You heard Luke. We’re going to go in there and grab the information and get out. It’s that simple, and I haven’t thought past that point.”
She had heard Luke issue his orders earlier and then leave the building. Getting home to his wife was the excuse he used, but Avery sensed the poor man was sick of fighting with Caleb. She certainly was. Being concerned was one thing. Shutting down and trying to push her out was another.
She didn’t have to guess the problem. Caleb was a smart man. The pieces had started falling together in his mind. She knew the people he knew. There was an easy explanation, but he would never believe her. The question was whether he would come out and ask or if she would have to volunteer the information. Probably the latter.
“Are you really going to pretend your foul mood stems from worries about getting into the building?” she asked.
Air blew across her cheek from his sharp exhale. “I’m concentrating on the task ahead of me. Nothing more and nothing less. This is about work.”
“Could have fooled me.”
He stepped around in front of her. He loomed over her with his arms folded across his broad chest and a fierce scowl plastered on his mouth. “Excuse me?”
As if he scared her. She’d seen him angry before. Furious, even. He could puff up his body until he overwhelmed her, making her feel small and vulnerable. But he wasn’t a man who would ever hurt a woman. Not physically.
“At least be honest about it, Caleb. You’re angry.”
“Way past that, Avery. I’m not denying it.”
“Let me guess, once again you’re convinced I’ve gone behind your back and done something terrible. That I’ve somehow betrayed you.” He was big on the betrayal accusation. He’d thrown that word around before he walked out of the office, her apartment and her life.
Two years. He’d turned his back on her and moved on. During all that time she doubted he thought about her even once. Nothing in his welcome when he found her in his condo suggested anything other than distaste. He’d made it clear he never needed her. Now he had his gadgets and his undercover work. Whatever void her absence may have left filled right up with his life inside the Recovery Project.
It had taken her longer to rebound. She guessed that was always the case with the party who got dumped. Back then she wallowed and tried to make him listen. When she couldn’t reach him, she went to Rod and tried to save him. Caleb was not a man who could stay idle and unemployed. He was also not the right guy for the strict regulations of a lab. He didn’t just run tests. He’d spent time trying to solve crimes, even though that wasn’t his job and she begged him to stop. Finally she had no choice but to let him go.
He opened his mouth to say something then shook his head. “Let’s drop this discussion.”
“Is that your answer for everything? Run away and pretend it doesn’t exist?”
“Fine. You want to know the truth?” His jaw clenched as he slapped his hands against his outer thighs. “I don’t have a clue what’s going on. You walk out of my life two years ago—”
“You kicked me out!”
“Now I find out that you have your hands in every aspect of my life. That you always have.” He started counting off on his fingers. “You know my friends and my boss. You have knowledge about Recovery, a group that you shouldn’t even know exists. You have a key to
my house. And to top it all off, you waltz back into my life just when…”
Her heartbeat hammered in her ears. “What?”
“Nothing.” He turned away from her. Stared at the building as if it was the most important thing in the world.
“Do you actually think I’m stalking you?”
When he looked at her again, the anger was back under control. “You tell me.”
“I’ve just been living my life the last two years.” Without you, she added silently. “In the beginning I called repeatedly and you refused to answer or respond. You shut me down. I went to your apartment and you told me to leave.”
“Do you blame me?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t roll his eyes, but he sure looked as if he wanted to. “So, when all of this didn’t work, you decided to weasel your way into my private life. This way.”
The man was completely clueless. Sure, she worked behind the scenes to help him. She told Rod she didn’t want anything traced back to her. But a small part of her did. She wanted Caleb to figure it out and come back…begging.
“Yeah, Caleb. I’ve spent two years setting up this intricate plan to get to know everyone you hang out with. Your mailman and auto mechanic are next.” She snorted. “Be serious.”
“What am I supposed to think?”
“That I helped you.”
“When?”
“Back then.”
“By firing me?”
“By finding you the job you wanted.” All of the frustration and hurt festered until it blew. She practically screamed the truth in his face.
He pulled back, put a good three feet between them and then shot her one of those you’ve-lost-your-mind looks he did so well. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I got you into Recovery. I used my brother’s name and his connections with Rod and got you noticed.”
“That’s not true.”
So many bad moments had passed between them that Caleb couldn’t even see the truth when it slapped him in the face. The realization sucked the life right out of her. “It is. So, while you’re determined to paint me as the bad guy in this situation, and from the appalled look on your friends’ faces when they figured out who I was, it’s clear that’s exactly what you did, you might want to remember that I helped to make this life possible for you.”
He shook his head and didn’t stop. “You’re insane.”
“No, Caleb, I’m just tired of standing here talking to you.” She pushed past him and headed toward the building’s entrance.
“Where are you going?”
“In there. You can come with me or sit out here. I just don’t care anymore.”
Chapter Seven
Avery kept her head down and her legs moving. She didn’t stop until she was right outside the door to the building. Caleb jogged the few steps to catch up with her.
She wouldn’t look at him, so he slipped his hand under her elbow and turned her to face him.
Standing there and hearing her take credit for his job with the Recovery Project had made him furious. It took all of his control not to walk right back out of the parking lot and as far away from her as possible. But something in her tone, in the pleading look in her eyes, got to him. It didn’t matter if he believed her, and he didn’t. She believed it.
He didn’t understand why her life continued to intersect with his. He couldn’t fit it together with what he remembered and have it make sense. But Zach and Holden—Caleb couldn’t deny her connection to them. He searched his brain to call up his first meeting with Rod. Something drew them together. Caleb was not obsessed with finding out what.
“Avery—”
She shrugged his hand off her arm. “My priority right now is to figure out if Maddie Timmons is alive. That should be your goal, too. As you pointed out earlier, nothing else matters. Let’s get back to that way of thinking, shall we?”
No one had ever had the audacity to suggest he wasn’t committed to a job. To tell him to keep his mind on the job. Yet that was exactly what Avery was doing. She laid out what should be his priorities and dared him to argue.
He forgot until right that minute how infuriating it was to fight with her. Her instincts were to come out swinging. The never-say-die attitude appealed to him. There was something sexy about a woman who fought for what she wanted and needed. Except when you’re on the wrong side of all that determination. It’s why he had to leave town for two weeks after they stopped dating. When it became clear she didn’t plan to ease up, he checked out. It was either that or unload, and he didn’t want to give her the satisfaction.
Not then and not know. “Fair enough.”
“What, no arguments?” she asked.
“I can admit when you’re right.”
“Since when?”
“Now who is losing focus?”
Adam coughed in their earpieces. “You both are driving me nuts. Does that help settle this argument?”
Avery covered her mouth and stared at Caleb with wide eyes. “I forgot.”
“That happens all the time. I stay quiet and people forget I’m here,” Adam said. “You’d be amazed the garbage I hear.”
Caleb muttered a curse. The tiny transmitters on their shirts and microphones in their ears had recorded every nasty word. Every private comment. Adam had overheard it all. He hadn’t even bothered to breathe loud and remind them he could hear.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Caleb muttered. He’d do more than that when he got his hands on Adam later. Since the shock on Avery’s face was slowly turning to jaw-clenching anger, he guessed she would take a shot at Adam, too.
“This is entertaining and all, but we have a job to do,” Adam said as he verbally rubbed the raw spot even more.
“I could say ‘she started it’ but I’ll refrain.”
She turned her scowl on Caleb. “Good idea.”
He shrugged. “Back to work.”
“About time,” Adam said.
“You would be wise to be quiet right now,” Avery said. “Both of you.”
Caleb decided it was well past time to start acting like an agent and do the job he was trained to do. “Are we ready to go in?”
“I’ve set a delay.” Adam’s voice switched from amused to businesslike. “Impressive system, by the way. Took me most of the day to work around and get through the security protocols.”
“Not a surprise since my lab’s work is at the heart of many criminal cases. It wouldn’t be good for the prosecution if the results weren’t trustworthy and reliable.”
“We can congratulate the lab’s tech team later,” Caleb said. “Tell us what we’re supposed to do.”
“When Avery swipes her badge, it won’t register for eight minutes.”
Avery glanced at Caleb before turning her attention back to his watch. “Why eight?”
“It’s all I could manage, and that’s only because of how I directed the signal internally. It’s going to bounce around and give us time. But not much.”
“I’d say,” Caleb grumbled.
“In fact, make it seven just to be safe.”
Avery shook her head. “I have no idea how you do what you do.”
“That’s what makes me relevant.” Caleb could hear the smile in Adam’s voice as he said it. “Bottom line is you now have seven minutes to get in, get the information and get out. I can’t hold off the imprint longer than that. As it is, anyone checking the system later will see you went in and out when you were supposed to be on vacation unless I can figure out how to erase it without erasing you as an employee.”
“How will you explain being here tonight?” Caleb knew she was a stickler for the rules.
“I have no idea.”
“From what I can see on the monitors, the guards are one floor up and out of your way. When you’re done, go to Zach. He’s waiting for you by the delivery entrance. I’ll keep him updated on your position and the time frame. He’s your ticket out of there,” Adam said.
Caleb
got the point. “In other words, we need to move it.”
“Right. No arguing, just go and everything will be fine.”
“Because these things always go according to plan.” Caleb could think of thirty things that could go wrong before they even got inside.
Avery sighed. “Humor me and tell me that’s true.”
He adopted his most serious tone. “Always.”
Adam chuckled. “Let me know the second before you swipe and we’re good.”
Avery held her badge next to the scanner. With one last glance at Caleb, she moved it closer. “Ready?”
He nodded and then gave Adam the signal. “We’re going in.”
“I’m going radio silent unless there’s an emergency. Go ahead and swipe.”
With a snap, the double doors opened. A quick walk through the lobby took them to another security check and more doors. Walking through those was like walking back in time. Familiar smells flooded Caleb’s senses—the chemicals, the cleaning supplies and the metallic scent given off by some of the equipment. It all came rushing back to him.
His specialty within Recovery was medical and science. His life here had been different. He left the navy, the only job he’d ever trained to do, and turned to what he hoped would be the solace of steady work without a gun. Just showed that nothing ever went as planned.
“Caleb?” She put a hand on his forearm. “Are you okay?”
“Let’s do this.” At the snap in his voice, she pulled back and he immediately regretted the tone. But now was not the time for apologies and excuses. “Which way?”
“It’s across the hall from our old lab.”
They rushed down the corridor with her in the lead. Secure doors lined the hall. She stopped at the last on the left. Her badge got her through as easily this time as the first. Looked as if her company considered her to be on a legitimate vacation, because they hadn’t pulled her access. For the second time he wondered if they would later and what she would do without this job that clearly meant more to her than anything else.
She pushed open the set of double doors and led them into a large lab. With its shiny surfaces and wall of cabinets, the place should have been spotless. Had to be in order to pass state inspections without trouble.
Gunning for Trouble Page 6
