Thread of Suspicion

by Susan Sleeman

  “Problem?” Luke asked.

  “Nothing I can’t handle in an hour or so.” He headed out the door.

  Dani felt a sense of relief, and she let out a long breath.

  “Hope that’s not indicative of how the software review is coming,” Luke said.

  “What? No, the software is fine. Tim’s done a great job so far.”

  “Any idea of when you might finish the review?”

  “Depends on how soon Tim completes the work. What I’m doing right now is preliminary, so when he turns over the final program it’ll go quicker.”

  His brow furrowed. “Can’t you sign off on what you’ve looked at so far?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll need to receive the final version with no one else having access to change it. Otherwise I can’t be sure parts of it haven’t been changed after my review.”

  “Makes sense,” he said, though she could tell he wasn’t happy about it. His focus shifted to the door.

  Holding a cardboard box with Chinese takeout, Kat stepped into the room. The tangy spices quickly saturated the air.

  “I ran into Tim in the hallway. He says if we can manage to control ourselves, he’d like us to save a spring roll for him.”

  “He better hurry back, then.” Dani laughed as her stomach rumbled. “I need to wash up.”

  “Me, too.” Kat set the box on the table and winked at Luke. “Leave some for us.”

  He nodded, but when she expected to see amusement in his eyes she found them narrowed in that pensive gaze that said he was upset about something.

  “You okay?” Dani asked.

  “Fine.”

  Dani took a step in his direction. “Is something going on with the case that we need to know about?”

  “No.” A short answer, but she knew he’d shut down and wouldn’t expound on it.

  “Okay, then,” she said and went into the hall.

  “What’s with the one-word answers?” Kat asked as she came up beside Dani. “Did you two have an argument or something?”

  “Not that I’m aware of. Everything is fine, or so I thought,” she replied, but she knew something was wrong.

  Maybe it had to do with the kiss last night. Maybe she’d pushed him away one too many times, and if she decided she wanted a chance with him, he wouldn’t give her one. Had she blown it, and would she now spend the rest of her life with regrets?

  * * *

  Luke had never been the jealous type, but when Tim had fixed his hungry eyes on Dani a moment ago, Luke had seen red. She didn’t seem to return Tim’s attention, but a few minutes later, he’d caught her studying him.

  Was she considering pursuing Tim? Of course she was. Tim was a stand-up guy. A bit geeky in Luke’s opinion, but perfect for Dani. They both liked the same things, and they understood each other, as they’d demonstrated while working together.

  “Don’t you like the food, Luke?” Kat asked from across the table.

  He pulled from his reverie and smiled at her. “It’s great.”

  “So why aren’t you eating, then?” She lifted a forkful of rice to her mouth.

  “Guess I’m just distracted today.”

  “You should understand that feeling, Kat.” Derrick grinned at Kat, and Luke could see how much he cared about his family. “You’ve been nothing but distracted since marrying Mitch.”

  Her grin widened. “Hey, can I help it if I’m happily married? You should try it someday.”

  “You need to actually be in a relationship before that can happen,” Derrick replied sarcastically. “So it’s not happening to me any time real soon.”

  Luke heard a wistful note in Derrick’s tone, making the guy seem more human to him.

  Great. Just what I need. To forget about Derrick’s grumpy attitude and really start liking the guy.

  Kat’s focus transferred to Luke. “What about you, Luke? Any plans to get married in the future?”

  “I’m like Derrick,” he said quickly. Maybe too quickly after seeing Dani’s face blanch. “I’m really not marriage material right now. With the company in turmoil, I don’t have much of an income and couldn’t support a wife and family. The way things are going around here, that won’t change anytime soon.”

  Derrick glared at Luke, and he didn’t have to ask what it meant. He was warning Luke to stay away from his sister until he got his life together.

  “It’s good to be settled and all, but I don’t agree with waiting for that to happen.” Kat picked up her soda and took a sip. “If we wait for the perfect timing most of us would never get married.”

  Derrick shook his head. “I usually agree with you, Kit Kat. But in this case, Baldwin’s right. A guy has to be able to support his family.”

  Kat set down her soda and focused on her brother. “So if you found the perfect mate and you weren’t settled, you’d ignore the feelings? That’s like saying God’s timing isn’t perfect.”

  Derrick scoffed. “You think God wants us to move forward even when it doesn’t make sense?”

  “Sometimes.” Kat glanced at Dani, then at Luke. “When He’s hitting us over the head with a direction He wants us to take and we’re ignoring it.”

  “Hence the perfect-timing comment,” Luke mumbled more to himself than to Kat.

  “Exactly.” She offered him a smile of acceptance. “We usually only think about God’s timing when we’re waiting for something. You know...we need to be patient and all that. But what about when He’s putting something right in front of you and you’re refusing to see it? Maybe because you’re limiting what you think He can do in your life because you don’t think it’s possible? But anything’s possible for God. Anything.” She turned to her sister. “That goes for you, too, sis.”

  Derrick laughed. “What? Not for me?”

  Kat patted her younger brother’s arm. “Don’t worry. Once you have someone perfect in your life that you’re avoiding like Luke and Dani are doing, I’ll remind you.”

  Luke expected him to get angry over his sister’s not-so-subtle reference to Dani being perfect for him, but he simply rolled his eyes. “Oh, yeah, we all know how well you like to remind us of things.”

  Kat laughed and playfully swatted him. Surprisingly Dani didn’t argue with Kat’s interpretation of things and laughed with them.

  Her phone rang. She glanced at the table and her laughter stilled.

  “It’s Mitch,” she said as she answered.

  “I’m putting you on speaker, Mitch,” she said, forgoing a greeting. “Do you have something on Smash’s murder?”

  “The ballistics on the gun we recovered after Dani’s attack matches the slugs taken from Smash and Grace Evans.”

  Though Luke was expecting this news, the official confirmation that Echo had killed twice made him draw in a breath.

  Dani didn’t react at all. “How about prints? Did you lift any from the gun?”

  “Yes, but there’s no match in the system.”

  “Basically this doesn’t help, then, does it?”

  “Not in solving the crime, but it does confirm we’re looking for the same man who killed your partner. I...” He paused, something Luke had come to know was foreign for the often-blunt guy.

  “What is it?” Dani asked.

  “Kat would have my hide if I didn’t caution you to be careful.”

  Dani shot a glance at her sister, who chewed on her lip, a sure sign she was worried about this phone call. “I’m here, Mitch. And you’re right. I would have your hide.” She’d used a light tone, but it fell flat in the room.

  Mitch chuckled, but Luke could tell it was forced. “You may think you’re invincible, Dani, but we’re talking about a serial killer here. Listen to your family for once and let them do what they do best. Protect you.”


  FOURTEEN

  A chair grated against the concrete floor in Luke’s office, and he glanced at the table. Dani stood and stretched her arms toward the ceiling as the setting sun cast long shadows into the room. Kat, Derrick and Tim were all still crammed together around the small table. Luke had suggested Derrick and Kat work in the conference room, but after the call from Mitch, neither of them would budge. Obviously the whole family was as stubborn as Dani, and Mitch’s comments the other day about becoming part of this family made perfect sense.

  “Either we need to be done for the day, or I need a break.” Dani dropped her arms to her sides.

  Tim looked up at her. “Why don’t we call it quits? You’ve caught up to me, and I’ll work faster alone.” His gaze ran the length of her body, then back to her face. “Too many distractions with you around.”

  Luke expected his partner to wink at her, and he felt like throwing up. Instead he crossed the room and got between them so Tim had to take his lecherous eyes off her. Okay, fine, they weren’t lecherous, but Luke didn’t like another man looking at his Dani that way.

  His Dani? Had he decided to move forward and pursue her? To take Kat’s advice and trust God’s timing? He was clearly throwing them together. So maybe God did know what He was doing here.

  Was he finally ready to trust that no matter his issues, the timing was right to embrace these feelings for Dani? Could he forget his father’s chides and Wendy’s hurtful comments and let God take control of his life again?

  Am I finally hearing you again, God? Are you telling me to pursue Dani?

  Derrick got to his feet and looked out the window. “Since it’ll be dark soon and we’ve never been to the new safe house, it’d be a good idea to take off now.”

  “Looks like you’re out of here, then.” Tim closed his laptop and tucked it under his arm. “I’ll email you, Dani, if I have any questions.”

  She nodded and started packing up her computer. Luke breathed a bit easier when Tim left the office. Luke went back to his desk and gathered his work together. When everyone was ready to go, they headed for the door as a group. As Luke clicked off the lights, his printer started spitting out pages, capturing his attention. “That’s odd. I didn’t send anything to my printer, and it’s not connected to the network, so no one else uses it.”

  “Maybe it’s a print job that got caught in the queue and just finished spooling,” Dani said.

  He turned to her. “In English, please?”

  “Something you sent earlier got stuck in line to print and is now printing.”

  “I haven’t printed all day.”

  “Echo?” Concern darkened her eyes.

  Apprehensive over what he might find, Luke flipped the light switch and crossed the room. He heard the Justices step back inside, but they waited by the door as he grabbed the pages from the printer.

  He glanced at the first photo. “What in the world?”

  He dropped into his chair and quickly flipped through the pictures, each one sending an alarm bell clanging in his head.

  “No!” He tossed the papers down, dug out his cell phone and pressed his sister’s speed dial.

  This can’t be happening. Not Natalie.

  Dani crossed the room. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  He vaguely heard her pick up the discarded pages, but he could think only of Natalie’s safety now.

  “Nat,” he croaked out the moment she answered. “Where are you?”

  Dani rattled the stack of papers. “Is this your sister? Is it Natalie?”

  Luke couldn’t answer. Speaking it aloud made the danger to Natalie’s life real, and he’d rather die than think Echo had turned his sights on his only living sister.

  * * *

  Kat and Derrick joined Dani, and she handed the pages to them. Turbulent emotions crossed their faces as they viewed the pictures of a woman going through her day—arriving at work, getting coffee, parking in the lot. Simple tasks that meant nothing on the surface until you realized the person who’d taken these pictures had followed her. Not for an hour, but for a day or longer.

  “So you think this is Luke’s sister?” Kat asked.

  “Seems like it.” Dani couldn’t take her eyes off Luke.

  “It’s the man who hacked our network, Nat,” Luke said into his phone. “I think he’s coming after you.”

  “Yeah, it’s his sister,” Dani whispered.

  “No! Stay there, Nat. Lock the door and don’t let anyone in until I get there.”

  “That’ll take too long.” Derrick got in Luke’s face, which is what it took to garner his attention. “Let me help you. Where is she?”

  “At work. Downtown.” Luke turned back to the phone. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes, Nat.”

  “I can have an officer there in less than five,” Derrick suggested forcefully.

  “She’s my sister. I’ll take care of it.” Luke focused ice-cold eyes on Derrick, reminding Dani that Luke was a rock-solid SEAL who’d been sent on many of the military’s most dangerous missions and lived to tell about them.

  Derrick didn’t back down. “I get that, man, but dispatching an officer to the scene is the safest course of action right now.”

  They were wasting precious time arguing. Time when Echo could arrive and hurt Natalie. Derrick was thinking clearly and was right about the next move. Dani needed to quickly convince Luke of that.

  Hoping a physical touch would snap him out of his state, she stepped between the men and tried to twine her fingers with Luke’s. He jerked back as if she’d branded him with fire. Confused, she stood openmouthed.

  He grabbed a pen, jotted down an address and thrust the paper at Derrick. “This is where they’ll find Natalie. You better not let me down.”

  Derrick didn’t blink but dug out his phone and stepped away. Dani knew he was going to call in a favor at the Portland Police Bureau. He would have an officer on scene just as he’d promised.

  “The police are on their way, honey,” Luke said to his sister in a soothing tone. “I’ll stay on the line until they get there. Then we’ll pick you up and take you with us to a safe place.” He clamped a hand on the back of his neck and winced. “Don’t cry, Nat. Please don’t cry.”

  Dani wanted to comfort him, but clearly he wanted nothing to do with her. That hurt far more than she thought it would. The final days with Paul flashed before her eyes. The sudden change in his behavior. Demanding, pressing, ordering.

  She looked at Luke. He was being so soft and sweet to his sister, but for as abrupt as he’d just been to her, he might as well have slammed her against the wall as Paul had done.

  Was she wrong about Luke? Had she fallen for a guy who was just like Paul? She was in trouble if she had, because even if he’d just acted harshly, she wanted nothing more than to slide into his arms and comfort him until his sister was rescued.

  * * *

  Luke circled his arm around Natalie and settled back in Derrick’s SUV. Dani sat rigidly in the front seat, and despite Luke’s happiness at having Natalie safely with him, his heart was heavy. He’d blown it with Dani. He’d hurt her when he’d balked at her help in his office. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her. Not for anything in this world and he wished he could take it back.

  He would be gentler, kinder, but the result would be the same. They couldn’t pursue a relationship. Seeing Natalie in danger told him that letting God take charge of his life again wasn’t the right thing to do right now. He needed to take charge as his SEAL training had taught him.

  His mission. To protect his sister and Dani at all costs.

  And that meant he couldn’t be divided in his thinking. Focus was all-important.

  See the enemy. Feel the enemy. Destroy the enemy. That’s what he had to do.

  Derrick pulled up to a boxy
home in an older area of Portland. Ethan and Cole stood outside, arms crossed, eyes vigilant. At least Luke had help in taking care of Natalie. Not that he’d let his guard down or let them take charge. She was his to take care of. He had this.

  Do you? his mind taunted. Not without God.

  He’d done just fine without God for the past few years. Right, look how great you’re doing now.

  Cole opened the back door, and Luke pulled his arm free. “Nat, this is Cole Justice.”

  Natalie gave a tremulous smile much like the ones she’d offered when she’d met Derrick, Dani and Kat. “Nice to meet you.”

  Cole nodded. “Straight inside.”

  “I’ve got it,” Luke snapped as he jumped out and instantly regretted it. Cole had been on his side from the beginning. A fellow man in arms. “Sorry, man.”

  “No worries,” Cole said genuinely.

  When Natalie climbed out of the car, Luke pressed his hand on her back, urging her up the steps and inside. The home was dark with all the blinds closed tight. They walked through the large dining room leading to a kitchen and then into the adjoining family room in the back of the house.

  He encouraged Natalie, whose hands still trembled, to sit. “I’ll see if I can find some tea in the kitchen.”

  “I can make it,” Dani offered, her smile reserved for Natalie.

  “I don’t want to be any trouble,” Natalie replied.

  “No trouble at all. It’ll give me something to do.” Dani started searching through grocery bags on the counter, her back stiff.

  She clearly didn’t want him in the kitchen, so he sat next to Natalie on the sofa. “Try to relax. You’re safe here.”

  She nodded, but her eyes flitted around the room, not lighting on anything. “Why do you think this Echo person came after me?”

  He didn’t want to add to her anxiety, but he needed to tell her the truth. “He couldn’t get to Dani to stop her from working on our software. So he had to find another way to hurt her to make her stop.”

  “But I didn’t even know Dani until today.”

  “Echo knows Dani’s the kind of person who’d be distraught if anyone, even a perfect stranger, got hurt because of her.” He glanced at Dani and wished with all he had that he could go back an hour and have a redo.