by Kym Grosso
Lars called to him from the plane to board, breaking his racing thoughts. Garrett put his arm around Selby, and they scurried over to the aircraft. Once seated inside, he called up to Seth, who piloted the craft. Before their flight, Garrett had triple checked all the equipment, having the mechanics thoroughly inspect the engine. The very last thing he needed was to have a repeat of Evan’s accident. As the plane sped down the runway, he reached for Selby’s hand and brought it to his lips. She’d gone silent, giving him a small smile.
When they lifted into the air, he deliberately slowed his breath in preparation. He’d jumped hundreds of times, but ever since Evan’s accident, the insidious fear of splattering onto the ground had crept into his psyche. It wouldn’t deter him, but it took the joy out of something he’d always loved.
Seth signaled they’d reached the correct altitude, and Garrett stood to slide open the door. A rush of air poured through the cabin, and Beckett held up the urn, drawing everyone’s attention. As planned, he opened it, shaking the ashes of his brother over the Pacific Ocean. When he finished, he opened a small cabinet and placed the vessel inside. Garrett reached over and patted his shoulder, in a gesture of condolence. No words were needed to impart the sympathy felt by everyone in attendance.
As they approached their target field, Garrett pointed to Beckett, who was the first to jump. Chase, Nate and Ryder followed next. One by one the divers gracefully tumbled forward into the blue sky. Garrett was holding the railing, waiting his turn when he heard the sound of the sputtering engines. He mouthed the word ‘stay’ to Selby, whose face had gone white.
“What the fuck is happening?” Garrett asked, inspecting the instruments.
“Engine’s gone. I swear to God. You know it was working. We both checked things before we took off.”
“Keep the nose down. We gotta keep her gliding until we jump.”
“No,” Selby said from behind him.
“Get your gear on,” Garrett told him. “Move over.”
Seth quickly jumped out of the captain’s chair, allowing Garrett room to replace him. He began prepping his gear, which he always kept on hand. Slipping on his rig, he prepared to jump.
“Hurry it up. She’s going down fast. I think we can dump in the woods over there. Maybe in the lake. We’ve gotta get down in the field.” Garrett turned his head back toward Selby, who shook her head. “Get her rigged up with the harness. She’s coming with me.”
“No,” she protested. “Can’t we just land this thing?”
“Sweetheart, if we could do that, I wouldn’t be asking you to jump.”
“Don’t you sweetheart me. I can’t. No,” Selby ranted while Seth slipped the harness around her legs. Within seconds she was tightly secured into the straps, a helmet tightened over her head. “No, no, no.”
“Seth. A little help here. Hold the controls. As soon as we go, you’re on, you hear me. Don’t worry about the plane. She won’t hit any live targets. Call Mayday and jump, you hear me?”
“Got ya.” Seth nodded.
Garrett strapped on the tandem gear that Seth had retrieved and connected her to his body. As much as he hated the fact that he had to take her out against her will, he enjoyed living and refused to crash in a fiery ball of flames. While he suspected foul play, it wasn’t the first time jumpers had been forced to bail a plane during engine trouble.
“Garrett, no,” Selby began.
“You can do this,” he told her. She has no choice.
“I can’t. No, I’m not going. There has to be something you can do.”
“Sorry, sweetheart but you’re jumping with me. Believe me, if there were any other way…”
“Please…oh dear God,” she said as their feet edged the door.
“It’s a beautiful day, baby. Look at those blue skies. You’re going to do this, understand?” he asked, his tone commanding. “All you have to do is relax.”
“Relax? Are you kidding me?”
“This harness, here. You’re connected to me. You aren’t going anywhere. You don’t need to do a thing, okay?”
“Oh my God, no.”
“You can do this,” he repeated.
Selby nodded, finally acquiescing to his demand.
“Trust me.” His lips pressed to her temple.
“I trust you,” she responded.
“That’s a girl. You ready? One. Two. Three.”
As if they were gymnasts Garrett gracefully rolled them out of the plane. He brought her arms outward until she’d spread them wide. Although he hated to have to force her to jump under duress, the joy of the flight never ceased to amaze him. He glanced upward, relieved to see Seth’s body fall out of the aircraft.
Garrett slowly released her fingers, testing her willingness to trust him. Her palms opened freely and he knew she’d be fine. The freefall lasted nearly sixty seconds. He wished he could talk to Selby but knew that with the rush of wind, she wouldn’t hear him. Garrett checked his altimeter and deployed the chute. The canopy released, jarring them into a slower descent.
As they drifted down, he caught sight of the plane crashing into the lake. A fire truck rushed toward the scene, but whatever had happened, it would take the NTSB several days to investigate. Despite the murders, he had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that someone could have tampered with the engine. Not only had the mechanic given the go ahead, Garrett had inspected it as well. If it was any other time in his life, he would have accepted the crash as unavoidable risk. But in his gut, he knew someone had just tried to murder them.
A clean landing target came into view and he guided them toward it. As their feet touched the ground, they slid onto their bottoms, and he quickly checked Selby. She rolled onto her back, her eyes blinking toward the sky.
“Selby, you okay?” he asked. He pulled off his gloves and palmed her cheek.
“Garrett,” she panted.
“Are you hurt?” Garrett scanned her body, checking for scrapes or burns. He inspected her ankles, moving them back and forth. When she didn’t wince, he crawled upward. Removing her helmet, he cradled her head in his lap. “Sweetheart. Say something.”
“I’m alive.” A shaken smile broke across her face as she continued. “It was so noisy. I think I screamed the whole time but I couldn’t even hear myself.”
“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me.” Garrett laughed and kissed her forehead.
“Mr. Emerson is not afraid of anything.” She blinked and giggled.
“You’re wrong.” He exhaled a loud sigh. “I would have given anything for you to do this with me, but not this way. Goddammit, this has to stop.”
“It was amazing. I see why you do this,” she continued as if she hadn’t heard a word he’d said.
“Maybe next time…”
“I’m not sure about a next time.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, aware that his little adrenaline junkie in training would most definitely want to jump again.
“Okay, maybe one more time. But I want a cool suit like you have.” She winked. “Maybe in pink. No wait…baby blue. That way I’ll blend in with the sky.”
“I’ll buy you one in every color of the rainbow.” Garrett gently pressed his lips to hers, thankful she’d taken it in stride. Three little words danced on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t bring himself to say them.
“Is Seth okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, he’s fine. We’re all fine.” As fine as we can be with a murderer trying to kill us all.
Dean approached and Garrett straightened his back, steeling himself for the conversation.
“I think we need to cancel tonight’s event,” Dean told him.
“Look, normally I’d agree, but we can’t stop living because some asshole is trying to terrorize us. We need to draw him out and catch him. You need to check out the video from the hangar and see if anyone messed with the plane.”
“But the NTSB…”
“Break the fucking rules, Dean. Get a copy and let them h
ave the original. I don’t give a shit. We need to stop this now. Two people are dead. You know we have what they want. They know it. They’re not going to stop.”
“Even if there is evidence of something suspicious, we might not see it before tonight.”
“Look, we have armed guards. Undercover security. Everyone at Altura is a suspect. Double check the short list of staff who worked on the PFx Prototype,” Garrett suggested.
“I already checked it. There weren’t many people on it, and none of them have a motive. I think we need to consider that maybe Evan was working with an outsider. Maybe he changed his mind and that’s why he took the data. And before you start defending him, I know you keep saying he didn’t do anything, but he stole data. What you’ve got there, and of course you won’t let me see it, which is an entirely different story, it’s the only data. Emerson has been wiped clean of the project.”
“But Evan is the one who’s dead.” Garrett shook his head.
“Which gets us back to thinking it’s someone inside,” Selby said.
“Whoever killed Evan knew his habits, how he packed his rig. Was close enough to poison him. Granted, he’s jumped with lots of people who aren’t tied to Emerson, but still,” Garrett scrubbed his fingers over his hair, “if this is someone close it’s exactly why we need to trap them. We need to lay the bait. Let them know I have the laptop and all the things that he owned. Tonight is a huge event. Most of the people Evan knew will be there. Someone who’s going to this party tonight is in on this and the only way to find out who, is to root them out. Drop some crumbs about the location of the drive and they’ll go looking for it.”
“What are you going to say?” Dean asked.
“Not much. I’ll just mention that we think I have what the perp was looking for. I’ll say I have Evan’s laptop and found something. When people ask what, we say it’s confidential. I make it clear that because of recent security issues, I’m moving downtown. I keep a penthouse in the Gas Lamp district.” Garrett glanced to Selby. “You’re going to stay with Lars, and we’ll keep eyes on both properties. If so much as a snake slithers onto either place, Dean’s people will grab them.”
“As much as I hate this plan, we have nothing. As long as you and Selby stay with Lars, it should be fine,” Dean agreed.
“No. I’m going to stay in the city. I don’t want anyone going after Selby. If anyone finds out I’m with Lars, they’ll come for me there. No, it needs to be clear that we’ve found what they were looking for, and I have it. Far away from Selby. Can you pull this off, Dean?”
“I think we need to give it a shot before someone else gets killed. I certainly think keeping Selby away from you is a good idea if you’re planning on telling people that you have the data.”
“I think we need to keep the data somewhere else,” Selby said, pushing up onto her knees. “Right now, we’ve got it on that drive. Talk about a shit plan for backup. I’m concerned, though, that until we clean Emerson of whatever Evan might have done, we don’t want to put it up on their systems. If you trust Lars and me, we can take care of it.”
“I trust you.” Garrett shoved to his feet and extended his hand. He considered that he hadn’t thought twice about his response. He’d already doubted her once; never again.
Selby smiled up at him, her eyes darting to Lars, who approached from the field. Garrett couldn’t be sure who had betrayed him, but after everything they’d been through, they were the only two people he was certain wouldn’t divulge his plans. Even though he’d shared some information with Dean, he still hadn’t divulged what was on the disc, or other key factors.
He considered that Seth had had access to the engine, and the curious fact that Chase hadn’t suffered any ill effects from discovering the PFx Prototype. At least a dozen people in his company all had clearance to work on the project. On face value, not one of them had ever given him reason to doubt them. Regardless, he’d called in his own personal detectives, and had begun running exhaustive security scans on their current activities. Not only was the PFx Prototype worth millions of dollars, it could potentially be utilized to protect soldiers. In the hands of the enemy, its organic composition and myriad uses would steal advantages from their country.
As he and Selby walked toward and joined up with the tight-knit group of friends, their weary faces spoke volumes about the situation. While they’d celebrated Cormac’s life in the way he would have wanted, they all knew the plane crash wasn’t an accident. With friends as potential foes, a loss of trust, their spirits were beginning to falter. Garrett wondered as he scanned his inner circle, who had become an enemy. Within days, he’d find out the answer that eluded him. In the meantime, his priority was to keep Selby alive.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Selby fidgeted with her evening dress, and recalled her appointment with Garrett’s personal shopper. He’d brought several dresses and studied her as she diligently tried them on, modeling his selections. Standing before the mirror in the bedroom, she’d promptly undressed in front of him when she caught sight of the fifteen thousand dollar price tag on the sheer lace, floor length gown.
Shoving her arms into a worn cotton robe Lars had brought from her apartment, she’d protested. Unless the gown converted into a small-sized car, she’d told Garrett, there was no way she’d let him spend that amount of money on a dress. He’d simply laughed, ignoring her argument. As if he were buying a box of paperclips, he’d selected the entire lot and ordered the assistant to leave.
At times Garrett was exceedingly practical, yet she often forgot the opulent lifestyle in which he lived. She wondered how she could ever fit into it, aware that there was nothing he couldn’t buy. Despite his wealth, he was never pretentious, his generosity abounding with a down-to-earth benevolence. With the strength of a true leader, he led with both conviction and compassion.
After they’d dressed, the sight of Garrett in his tuxedo had taken her breath away. She’d forced herself to remain calm, as he took her hand and led her to the car. A driver held the door open and she’d gingerly sat down, careful not to damage her dress. She’d been relieved when she realized an armed guard had been assigned to sit up front with the driver. After everything that had happened, she trusted no one.
Despite Garrett’s confidence in his employees, he and Lars were the only two people she knew for certain weren’t the murderers. Everyone else was a suspect as far as she was concerned. If the killer could take down a plane, a car would be child’s play. He’d assured her they’d take the most secure route, traveling inside the bulletproofed stretch limo. Altura had been well secured. A lingering doubt bored a hole in her stomach, but she concealed her fear with a forced smile as the car lurched forward.
“You look beautiful,” Garrett told her, shaking her contemplation.
“Thank you. It’s amazing what a fifteen thousand dollar dress can do for a girl,” she teased. “You shouldn’t have bought this for me.”
“Yes, I should have. You look spectacular in it.” He smiled and reached into his jacket, retrieving a black box.
“Garrett…” her words faltered as he opened it. A string of diamonds rested atop a bed of black velvet.
“I haven’t bought you flowers yet,” he mused, giving a mischievous smile.
“You don’t have to buy me flowers,” Selby replied, her voice shaky. “You don’t have to buy me anything.”
“No, that’s where you’re wrong, sweetheart. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t bring you flowers for our date?” he asked.
“Boyfriend?”
“You sound so surprised.”
“I just…” she stuttered. The implication of commitment startled her despite their words at the pool.
“Unless there’s some other guy I don’t know about. Is there?” He laughed.
“No.”
“If you’re planning on dating other guys, well, I’m afraid that’s not going to work out so well. Are you?”
“No.” She gave him a shy
grin, aware he was teasing her.
“Would you like me to date other girls? I don’t want to, but I suppose if that’s what you’d like…”
“No.” Her lips pursed and she crossed her arms. Jealousy rose at the thought of him touching any other woman.
“All right then. I think we’ve got ourselves a date. And I think,” he laughed and glanced out the window, as if he’d just realized it himself, “that you are my girlfriend. What do you say?”
“I say,” she paused and met his gaze, “I think you are correct once again, Mr. Emerson.”
“So…flowers. It got me thinking. As much as I wanted to bring you flowers tonight, they’re not very permanent. But these,” he held up the choker, its tiny petals sparkling in the ambient lighting, “they’re much more permanent.”
“Garrett.”
“Hold up your hair.” He fastened it around her neck, sliding his finger under the delicate gems. Grazing his fingers over her skin, he gently adjusted it into place. “Ah…you’re lovely.”
Selby brought her hand to his, tears in her eyes.
“Thank you…you didn’t have to do this,” she said.
“No tears, baby. These flowers here are strong like you.” Garrett softly pressed his lips to hers, lingering for only a second. “Unlike real ones, these won’t fade or wilt. They’re enduring…like we’re going to be.”
Selby closed her eyes, her pulse whizzing the blood so fast through her veins she thought she’d faint. She lifted her lids, her chest filled with emotion. His hand trailed over her bare knee through the slit in her dress, and her cells lit on fire with desire. Warmth rushed to her cheeks and she tilted her head, aware he’d seen her blush.
Garrett reached for a button and the privacy divider slid upward. Selby smiled at him, confused as to what he was doing. Her anticipation rose as he reached into the other side of his jacket and retrieved a tiny square box. Her eyes widened as he moved to kneel in front of her.
