The Priority Unit (Maine Justice Book 1)

by Davis, Susan Page

  “So how are you doing?”

  “Not terrific, actually. I’ve got a cracked rib.”

  “Oh, what happened?”

  “We had a little shoot-out last week. No big deal. I had my vest on.”

  “Harvey!” Gina exclaimed, and he knew she knew he was downplaying the incident. “You got shot on your flak vest?”

  “Yes, but I’m okay, really.”

  “They x-rayed you?”

  “Yeah, I spent Tuesday night at Maine Medical, but it’s nothing.”

  After she’d fussed a little and he had assured her he was healing, she said, “Hey, a woman answered your phone.”

  “Yes, that’s Jennifer.”

  “Who is she?”

  Who was she, as far as his sister was concerned? He hesitated a little too long. Gina said, “You’re dating at last?”

  “Gina, I’m in love.”

  “Finally!”

  “You’ll really like her.”

  “Does she make you happy?”

  “Happier than I thought I’d ever be again.”

  “I love her already,” said Gina.

  *****

  When Mike and Eddie arrived, Mike opened a file and laid six photos of Semitic-featured men out on the edge of the bed in a lineup.

  “Definitely this one,” Jennifer said immediately, touching one. Her anxiety rose, just from looking at the thin face and bushy eyebrows.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. He’s Massal, the one I think is the buyer for the software.” She looked at the others carefully. “This could be Hamad. I’m sorry, I’m not a hundred percent sure. I’ve only seen him a couple of times.”

  “That’s okay,” said Mike.

  “What do we do?” she asked.

  “Will they be at Coastal tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know. I kind of expect Hamad to be. The translation wasn’t finished Friday. It’s a big program.”

  “I’ll call my man in Washington tonight and tell him we’ve got a positive ID on Massal. You go to work as usual in the morning. Act natural, and if all goes well, the CIA will pay a visit to Coastal Technology.”

  “What if they don’t?” Harvey asked.

  Mike frowned. “Plan B, I guess.”

  “Which is?”

  “I don’t know yet.”

  Harvey frowned. “I don’t like it. Why can’t she just call in sick?”

  Mike shook his head. “No, they might be suspicious of Jennifer already. Remember she’s played around with their pet project and given her notice, and she took a day off last week. If she doesn’t show up for work again, they might realize what’s up.”

  “Then put Eddie and me on surveillance outside Coastal,” Harvey pleaded. “I want her to be safe.”

  Jennifer reached for his hand. She felt stronger, just knowing he wanted to protect her.

  Mike scratched his chin, frowning. “No, Harv. I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “A., they might spot you. They all know what you look like. B., you’d probably waste an entire day sitting there. The CIA man is supposed to work with the Pentagon on this, but you know government agencies. It takes them a while to get their act together.”

  “Jennifer might need help,” Eddie said.

  Mike turned to Jennifer. “Do everything as usual, young lady. If you think something’s out of whack at Coastal, you call us.”

  She nodded and tried to picture herself going in to work as a special agent. She wanted to be as dependable as one of Mike’s policewomen on an undercover assignment. She could do it in a play, but this was too real. People she knew were suddenly recast as criminals.

  “Unfortunately, these things happen,” Mike said. “We’ve had industrial espionage in Portland before. It’s just a step away from military spying. Your bosses saw a quick buck in selling some sort of military access to a hostile nation.”

  “Do you really think Jennifer will be safe in there tomorrow?” Eddie asked.

  Mike said carefully, “I don’t think we have a choice.”

  “I don’t want her in there,” Harvey said.

  Mike sighed. “The way I see it, we’ve got to make it look normal, not scare them off before the feds are ready to act.”

  They argued for another ten minutes, but they came back to Mike’s logic every time.

  “I’ll be fine,” Jennifer told Harvey, squeezing his hand.

  Mike stood up. “All right, I’m heading out. I’ll call my CIA contact right away.”

  “You’d better get going, too, Ed,” Harvey said. “Come pick me up at 7:15 in the morning and take me to the office. I’ll be fine tonight.”

  “It’s getting dark,” Eddie said. “I don’t want Jennifer to go down to her car alone, and you shouldn’t go down those stairs and up again tonight, Harv.”

  “All right, but I’ve got something to say to Jenny. Give us a minute.”

  Eddie followed Mike to the kitchen. Harvey stood up slowly with a grimace and took Jennifer into his arms. She held him gingerly, knowing he was still in a lot of pain.

  “I don’t want anything to happen to you, Jenny. I don’t want to scare you, but I’m scared myself.”

  “I’ll be all right.” But inside she had reservations.

  “Let’s pray.” They clung to each other, eyes closed, and Harvey asked God to keep her safe. She didn’t want to leave him that night. She had an inner strength now, but she would still be vulnerable when she walked into Coastal Technology alone.

  Her hands rested softly on his back, where she could feel the adhesive tape through his shirt. He kissed her, tenderly at first, then more fiercely, and after a few seconds, she pushed away from him gently, but firmly.

  She put one hand up to his cheek. “Harvey, God is in control, not us.” He closed his eyes and nodded.

  *****

  Jack Rainey paced back and forth in his den, shooting uneasy glances at the thin young man who stood near the doorway.

  “This is taking way too long.”

  “I told you, he’s never alone.” The young man pulled a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket.

  “Don’t smoke in here.”

  He scowled, but replaced the pack. “His cop buddy is with him all the time, or that blonde girl, and the old lady downstairs is like a watchdog. I tried going to his apartment last night, but the French cop apparently lives there. This morning I went back, and the place was empty. I stuck around for hours, but no one showed.”

  “It’s a holiday,” Rainey said vaguely, toying with the cord to the window blind. Too bad Bobby Nason only bounced a bullet off Larson’s vest. It would have been perfect if the detective had been killed while trying to capture Nason.

  Rainey realized he had his back to the man, and turned around quickly, darting a glance toward him. “Did you go back this evening?”

  “Yeah. The place is full of people.”

  “He’s having a party?”

  The man shrugged.

  Rainey thought for a moment. “This job has to be done right away. If you can’t get him alone, get him whenever you can. If his friend is with him, too bad. He probably plans to go back to work tomorrow. I suggest you be there when he leaves his building.”

  The young man winced. “I don’t know. They’re part of that hotshot police unit.”

  “Let me put it this way,” Rainey said coldly. “You want the rest of your money? Do it. Within the next twenty-four hours.”

  The young man frowned and turned on his heel.

  Rainey paced for a few more seconds, then went to the window and raised the blind. He watched the car pull out, then sat in his recliner and punched in a phone number.

  “Ron. Our man was just here. He’s had some trouble getting at Larson.”

  “Don’t tell me that cop is still breathing.”

  Rainey winced. “Seems his buddy’s always with him. They’re like well-armed Siamese twins.”

  Channing swore. “We’re moving the mate
rial soon, Jack. Larson has got to be out of the way. Maybe Jennifer Wainthrop, too.”

  “No, we can’t. That’s too many people connected to the business. The cop we can make look random, but since Dunham … ”

  “She knows,” Channing said. “We never should have let her have the whole thing.”

  “She had to have it.”

  “So she said.”

  Rainey took a deep, slow breath. “I’ll check over the logs and see how much time she spent on it after we gave her access. But … I just don’t see how we could do it, Ron. Are you prepared to move your family out of the country at short notice?”

  There was silence for a moment, then Channing said softly, “Tell him to do his job, Jack. Larson will ruin us. And if needed, we have a good system in place here to take care of the other. Only this time, the car goes in a very deep lake, and the body stays with it. They can speculate for years, but they’ll never be sure.”

  *****

  Jennifer was glad Beth was at the house with her, but it was hard not to tell her the details of the situation. Beth didn’t ask, but Jennifer could tell she knew things were brewing at Coastal. After they prayed together Tuesday morning, Beth left for school.

  “I’ll keep praying for you today,” she said as she went out the door.

  Jennifer dressed carefully in a gray suit, white blouse and black shoes, then braided her hair and coiled the braid tight on top of her head. She looked in the mirror and thought, Harvey would hate this look. She took it down and went for the plain braid, hanging down behind, clipping a big red bow to it at the nape of her neck. She looked again. Her face was pale, and her eyes were too big. She got her portfolio and put her cell phone in her jacket pocket.

  The phone rang as she was about to walk out the door.

  “Hey, gorgeous! All set?”

  “Yes. Where are you?”

  “At home. Eddie and I are just heading out for the office. I wanted to tell you again that I love you.”

  Jennifer took a deep breath. “I love you. It’s going to be okay.”

  When she reached the office, Jane greeted her with, “Hi, Jenn! Did you and your fella go out this weekend?”

  Jennifer did her best to smile and act carefree. “Yes, we went up to my parents’ in Skowhegan yesterday.” What would Jane say if she told her that her fella had been shot last week and spent a night in the hospital, and was now making a gallant effort to protect her from international spies?

  “So how was your weekend?” she asked.

  Jane smiled and looked away. “Good. Really good.”

  Jennifer raised her eyebrows. “You’re not seeing Brent anymore, are you?”

  “Brent’s history. His idea, not mine, but that’s okay. I’m seeing someone else, and it may be important.”

  “Important? Jane, is this guy…” Jennifer stopped. She wasn’t really sure she wanted to know.

  Jane’s brown eyes clouded. “Don’t worry. He’s…he’s great.”

  Jennifer frowned. “Does he have a name?”

  As she’d feared, Jane hesitated.

  Jennifer stepped closer and whispered fiercely, “Just don’t tell me it’s Mr. Rainey. Jane, I care about you.”

  Jane’s stunned stare told her she was off the mark, and she was glad.

  “No, it’s not…who you said,” Jane faltered, glancing about quickly. “It’s…well, do you remember Jerry Schweitzer?”

  “Brent’s clumsy friend? Sure. What about him?”

  Jane said nothing.

  As the light dawned, Jennifer drew in her breath sharply. “You’re dating Jerry now?”

  Jane turned away, tossing her dark hair. “I knew you’d hate it. That’s why I didn’t tell you. You think he’s a boring klutz.”

  “I never said that. Okay, maybe I did, but…Jane, if you like him—”

  “I do.” Jane faced her with a fierce, protective set to her jaw.

  “That’s...great.”

  Jane sniffed. “Are you just saying that? Because I really do like him.”

  “So, that’s why you didn’t tell me about him…”

  “Because you turned your nose up at him.”

  “I’m sorry. Are we still friends?”

  Jane smiled. “Of course. Want to eat lunch together?”

  *****

  “The feds have got to be interested, now that Jennifer’s ID’d Massal,” Harvey said as they left his apartment.

  Eddie paced his steps down the stairway so Harvey could keep up. “Guess you’ll be glad to have her working at the police station.”

  “I sure will. I don’t know what she’ll do after the temporary job ends. I think she wants a complete change.”

  “Change is good.”

  “You got any ideas?” Harvey asked.

  “I think she should be a housewife.”

  Harvey tried unsuccessfully to glare as they reached the street door.

  “Too far?” Eddie asked.

  He shook his head. “Not too far.”

  Harvey pushed the door open and stepped outside the building. Bang! The edge of the door splintered next to Eddie’s head. Harvey hit the pavement behind the rear tire of Eddie’s pickup, and Eddie ducked back inside.

  A wisp of movement between the cars parked parallel to the street caught Harvey’s eye. He glanced back at the apartment building. Eddie had flattened himself beside the door frame, and his Beretta poked cautiously around the jamb.

  “Harvey?” a thin voice quavered.

  Harvey looked quickly and saw Eddie turning. “Stay inside, Mrs. J.”

  Eddie could deal with her, Harvey decided. He lay down to look between the wheels of the pickup.

  Rebecca’s voice came clear in the abnormal silence. “What’s going on? It sounded like a gunshot.”

  “It was. Call the cops,” Eddie said.

  “You boys are cops.”

  “More cops, Mrs. J. And keep inside.”

  Harvey eased his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the patrol sergeant’s emergency line. “We’ve got a shooter on Arden Street. Send every unit you can to my house, Terry.”

  “You okay?” the sergeant asked.

  “So far, but this guy’s got me and Eddie pinned down, and there are civilians close by. I don’t like doing this without Kevlar.”

  He hung up and punched Eddie’s number.

  “Yeah, Harv?” Eddie said softly in his ear.

  “He’s down the street a couple of cars. I can see his feet.”

  “Keep your head down.”

  “10-4. Is Mrs. J. out of sight?”

  “That’s affirmative.”

  “I called for backup. Should we wait?” Harvey asked.

  “He might just fade away.”

  “Do we care?”

  “Aw, Harv, we gotta get this guy.”

  Harvey sighed. “Discretion, Eddie.”

  “What?”

  “The better part of valor.”

  “Whatever. I think he’s moving.”

  Eddie burst from the doorway, firing rapidly.

  Chapter 28

  An hour after Jennifer got to work, Massal came in. After one swift glance, she avoided looking directly at him. In her peripheral vision, she saw him walk through the workroom and head down the hall toward the private offices.

  She hadn’t received any orders that morning, so she pulled up the neglected hospital program she’d begun months earlier and looked it over, refreshing her memory. Maybe she could finish it in her remaining few days with the company.

  Half an hour later, Mr. Rainey came and stood near the half-wall of her work station.

  The partners always wore tailored suits and designer shirts with power ties, but Rainey’s ties were often the talk of the office. His suit was gray today, with a white shirt and a red tie with a silver geometric motif, conservative for him. French cuffs must be back in, Jennifer thought, noting his monogrammed silver cufflinks. She was always a little intimidated when he was in the room.

 
“Miss Wainthrop, I’d like to see you for a moment in my office.” He turned and walked away.

  Her heart raced, and she was breathing too fast. She stood up slowly and put her hand in her pocket. The cell phone was comfortingly there. She told herself to be calm, that he was just going to give her work orders for the day. She walked slowly down the hall to his office door.

  He stood with his back to her, looking out the window that faced the parking lot.

  “You’ve had the confidential program out since you finished with it,” he said with no preliminaries.

  “I guess I did.” Jennifer strove for a light, normal tone while she struggled against anxiety. “I hope you’re satisfied with it. I wanted to check it one last time, just for my own satisfaction.”

  “You think it will meet the client’s rather lofty standard for security?”

  She overcame her nerves, keeping the quiver from her voice. “It’s definitely the most sophisticated security we’ve ever made. If we tightened it any more, the user would find it too cumbersome.”

  He turned toward her abruptly. “Have you had any contact with the police department recently?”

  “The police department?” Fear stabbed her as she tried to think what to say. She couldn’t lie in her new-found faith. Surely if she trusted God, He would protect her. “I was questioned after Nick Dunham disappeared. And my old roommate was arrested on a drug charge. I was there.”

  Rainey’s piercing eyes looked directly into hers for once. “This detective handling the Dunham case. Have you seen him outside the office?”

  Jennifer swallowed. “Yes.”

  He looked at her thoughtfully, then sat down at his desk and picked up a sheaf of papers clipped together and looked at them. She stood awkwardly, wondering what he knew.

  “Did this Detective Larson ask you to compromise the security of this company?”

  “No, absolutely not.”

  He looked at the papers again. “But you are seeing him socially.”

  “Yes.”

  He looked full into her face, and Jennifer shivered.

  “And your reason for leaving us is…?”

  “I told you, sir. I’ve been offered another job.”

  “More money?” His penetrating eyes unnerved her.

  “No, that is—I—I thought it would be less stressful.” She was floundering. She knew he had no right to ask her what the other job was paying, but she was too afraid to stand up to him. The tremor was there in her voice now.