by Sharon Kleve
“I’m not a vegan and no allergies that I know of,” she said, as she took a plate and placed some scrambled eggs and fruit on it.
“Then I know a few more things about you.” Coleman grinned. The smile created dimples in his cheeks and softened his Alpha exterior. It was nice to see a smile on his face and not a glower.
“Can I pay you for my half of this?” she asked. “It must have cost a fortune.”
His grin turned into a laugh. “No, Aiven. You can’t pay for breakfast. The agency is picking up the tab for all of it. Technically, I’m still on the clock, and now you’re a part of that.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Yes.”
She waved a hand over the nearly full boxes. “Who’s going to eat the rest?”
“Well…” He rubbed a hand over the beard stubble on his chin. “Garson and Lemmon are out in the hall. They’ll pretty much eat anything put in front of them.”
“Two more DEA agents? Why are they here?” she asked.
“I have to leave for a while.” Coleman finished his coffee, washed the cup and set it in the dish drainer.
“You’re leaving me…here?” Her chest tightened as the fear from the night before settled down on her like a choking noose.
“I’m…” He paused as if to formulate his words and thoughts. “I have to straighten this out. Garson and Lemmon are two of the best in their field and have been on hundreds of assignments. I asked for them personally. You’ll be safe under their watch.
“Can I go to work today?”
“No,” he stated, then raised an eyebrow. “Besides, it’s Sunday.”
“That’s right. I forgot.” Aiven’s face heated. She’d lost track of what day it was.
“Until I find out who is behind this, it’s not safe. You need to stay here. It should be cleared in a day or two. I’ll have them bring you new clothes in something that isn’t a sack and a lot more food. I’ll call an online grocery delivery.” Coleman pushed a plain flip phone across the counter. “This is a burner phone.”
“Why can’t I use my phone?”
“You could be tracked. With this phone it will just be anonymous cell phone activity. The only number in it is mine. If you need me. Call me.”
“Can I call my mom?”
“You’re not a hostage. If you call anyone, just be smart about it. Don’t tell them what happened or where you are. That request is just for the time being. It’s all I ask. Let me do my job, figure this out, and then this will just be a bad memory for both of us.”
Aiven took a step toward him and wrapped her arms around his middle. She tipped her face up and met his gaze. “After what you said last night about your undercover contact coming after others around you, I know this is for my safety.
“I don’t want to leave…but I have to.” His body tightened as she squeezed him close.
“I understand. But, how can you go back if your cover is compromised?” she asked.
“I don’t know if it has been. I’ll be working on that too.”
“If you are going back undercover, be safe.” Suddenly she was worried about Coleman. She could tell from his body language that he was too. He was strung as tight as a string. Aiven raised on her toes and gave him a quick, sweet kiss. She wasn’t sure why, she just needed him to know that she was worried about his safety too.
When she stepped away, Coleman’s face was puzzled. She knew a kiss was the last thing he expected.
“I have to leave,” he said. Suddenly, he was back to Mr. Non-warm-and-fuzzy.
“I know. I have Ziggy here for protection.” She forced a smile and picked the cat off the floor. “Good thing that gunman at my apartment was outside and not inside. Ziggy would have ripped him to shreds.”
“I have no doubt. You two are a tough pair.” He gave her a stiff smile as he grabbed his coat and left. There were muffled voices in the hall before the car engine started in the alley. She walked to the window and watched Coleman drive away.
When Aiven opened the apartment door, two men stood outside in the narrow, dark hallway.
“Hi. I’m Aiven,” she said trying to sound cheery. “What are your names?”
“Theo Garson,” the tall one with dark hair said, as he straightened.
“Brad Lemmon.” The second agent extended his hand for her to shake.
“Since you guys are stuck watching over me, how about you come in and take some plates of food.”
“Thanks, ma’am,” Garson said.
“That’s nice of you,” Lemmon said. “We got called in awfully early.”
As they dished up, Aiven slid the phone Coleman gave her off the counter. She gripped it tightly in her hand as if it were a talisman. She was safe here in this apartment, but what about Coleman? From what he said, would he ever be safe in his line of work? She turned the phone’s power on and pulled up the contact list.
As he’d said, there was only one name in contacts. CM was followed by a ten-digit out-of-state number.
Coleman M. Aiven realized that she didn’t even know his last name.
CHAPTER SIX
“I killed him. I can’t believe I shot my cousin!” Mario’s voice broke into a sob over Coleman’s burner phone. “I didn’t know who else to call. I can’t find the others. Bastardos. They’ve dropped off the face of the earth. Then, I called your cell a hundred times. Where are you?”
“I had a family emergency.” Coleman’s grip tightened on his cell phone. “I had to leave town.”
“You never said you had family. Santi was family, my cousin, and I killed him. My mother will never forgive me if she finds out.” There was a loud sniff.
Coleman took a drink of coffee and rolled his eyes as he listened to the man whine. You couldnʼt have a temperament like Mario’s and not kill someone sooner or later. Mario was a thug and was mentally unsound to boot. “I’ll call when I get back to Portland.”
“You promise?”
“Sure.” Right…like hell I will. He was done with Mario and the rest of his lunatic family. Palmer already pulled him off the case. Coleman ended the call and dropped the phone on his desk with a thud. Palmer was right, his cover hadn’t been compromised. Mario didn’t have a clue that he was DEA. It had to be someone after him, and there was a ninety-nine percent chance that Aiven was clear from danger. He couldn’t keep Aiven captive. But who could it be? He stared at the open files scattered across his desk.
Coleman’s personal cell phone rang. He frowned when he saw the number.
“Aiven? Is everything all right?” A million thoughts flooded his mind as to why she was calling. Being in law enforcement, he couldn’t help but think the worst.
“I wasn’t sure that you’d answer.” She sounded apprehensive.
“I told you I would. But, you didn’t reply to my question. Are you all right?”
“I’m going nuts here.” There was a sigh at the other end. “I have a ton of work to do at the lab, and I’m going to be so far behind you can’t imagine.”
“Enlighten me.”
“Well…with all my ‘free time’ while I was sitting here playing with the cat, I thought that I could take one of the guards you posted outside—”
“Agents, not guards,” he corrected. “You make it sound like you’re in the Tower of London.”
She continued, “And one of them could take me to SunStrand. Just for a few minutes. I could get my laptop. Then, at least I’d be able to get some work done while you play James Bond.”
Coleman couldn’t help but laugh. He wished that he could be in some exotic locale with an expensive car instead of back alleys filled with garbage dumpsters. “You think I’m James Bond?”
There was a pause on the line which made him think she did. “Actually, I don’t know what you do.”
Coleman ignored her answer. “Let me make a few calls, and I’ll make it happen. Then, when I get off, I’ll stop by tonight.”
“Thanks. Are you okay?” There was still tension in her voice.
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“Yeah…My undercover job is fine.” Coleman shifted in his chair. He wasn’t used to having someone ask or care how he was. It made him uncomfortable.
“Any idea who’s behind Sara’s death?”
“I’m a black and white kind of guy and don’t like gray areas. There are a lot of them in this case.” He hated vague answers. “I’ll let you know if I find anything. I’m working on it.”
“I know you are. See you tonight. And, Coleman, thanks again for all you’ve done.” The line went dead.
Coleman called Garson. He cleared him to take Aiven to her labs to pick up what she needed. He wished he could do it, but he needed a few more hours to ask more questions.
Why couldn’t he stop thinking about Aiven? He was twisted up that he couldn’t crack this case.
The wheels in a scientist’s mind were always spinning. He saw that in Myers and also Aiven. They tried to pull the outside world into their scientific one to make sense of it. Fascinating.
Coleman liked a woman with brains and didn’t know why he hadn’t dated them more often. Oh yeah, he went for the big boobs and not the brains. Maybe, a woman like Aiven could change that. Curves and a large cranium were a good mix.
He strode down the hall to the DEA’s forensic offices at the complex. Earlier, he’d sent the information he had to Landon Myers. Myers was the head of the department, and they’d worked together before. Coleman entered the lab. Stark white walls stood behind the stainless steel counters.
Myers swiveled in is chair and then smiled. He brushed his sandy blond hair out of his eyes and pushed his glasses higher. “Coleman, I was expecting to see you any second. Long time no see.”
“I’ve been in the field. Not much science involved in undercover work.” He pulled a stool over and straddled it. “What’d you find out about those samples I sent?”
“The person you were working with was correct. Atropa Belladonna was the poison they used. Since the glasses disappeared from the crime scene, we went off the autopsy.”
“At first I thought that it was Malhotra who poisoned the drinks, but my cover wasn’t compromised.” Coleman clenched his hand around an empty beaker. “I’ve been going over and over the incidents, and I can’t pull anything together.”
“I agree. This is a strange one. I checked all the records of the hits Malhotra or his gang did. You were right, not one of the cases involved poison. What about a past case?”
“I’ve been running through hundreds of files and hit a wall.” Coleman rubbed his hands over his face. “This case is killing me.”
“I guess so. I’ve never seen you distraught over anything.” Myers looked through the microscope again, and then he pushed back in his chair “This is where the case gets even weirder. The woman drank a dose of Belladonna at the club, but tissue samples from the autopsy showed she had a dose in her system from earlier. It was the double dose that killed her. This isn’t a gangster poison this is a scientist poison. If I was going to kill off someone, Belladonna is very quirky. It’s what I would choose. Old school, you know. Sexy.” Myers laughed.
Something coiled tighter in his stomach as a piece of the puzzle fell into place.
‘Maybe we’ve all been looking in the wrong place. Looking in completely the wrong direction. Maybe it’s not a gang hit after all?” Myers finished his thought.
“Shit.” The missing piece of the puzzle fell in. “Thanks, Myers.” Coleman shoved the stool back and was halfway out the door. He dialed Garson as he ran toward his car. There was no answer. “Pick up…pick up,” he muttered as he finally reached his car. His next call was to Palmer. “I need clearance to get into the SunStrand Labs.”
“What’s going on?” his chief asked.
“I don’t know. I know that Garson is with Aiven Bradmore, but she may still be in danger. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
“Should we send a backup?”
“I’m only a few minutes away from the lab. I’ll call for backup if needed.” Coleman blasted his horn at a car that had stopped in front of him. He cranked the wheel and sped around them.
He hadn’t thought to ask Aiven if she had enemies.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Coleman reached the tall chrome and glass building in under ten minutes. He couldn’t spare the extra seconds, so parked in a no parking zone in front. He sprinted up the stairs and through the front doors. He approached the information desk with his badge already flipped open.
“Agent Coleman, have I been cleared?”
The man behind the desk looked at his list. “Yes, the call just came. You can go through.”
“Can you tell me where Aiven Bradmore’s lab or office is?”
The man scanned the data again. “Basement. Room 002 at the end of the hall.”
“Thanks.” Coleman bypassed the elevator and opted for the stairs.
The adrenaline quickened his breathing and not the exertion. When he reached the basement, he hurried down the hall. Garson was leaning against the wall.
“Why the hell didn’t you answer your phone?” Coleman barked.
Garson snapped up straight. “The building has concrete walls and we’re in the basement. No service. What’s the problem?”
“Is there a problem?” Coleman’s tone was heated.
“No,” Garson’s word was clipped. “I brought Ms. Bradmore here to her lab to retrieve her laptop...just as you requested. She went inside, while I waited out here.” Garson’s eyebrows knit in the center. “I checked the IDs of those inside. Theyʼre all SunStrand employees. There’s only one man still inside, the others have left the premises.”
“My car is in a no parking zone out front of the building.” Coleman tossed him his keys. “Would you move it, so it isn’t towed before we get out there?”
“Sure. Do I get a tip?” Garson gave a grin as he headed off down the hall.
Coleman opened the door and let it close behind him. There was an inner room with another door where he spotted Aiven. When he saw her, a tick of tension eased from his shoulders. Glancing across the room, he saw the last employee in the corner hunched over his microscope. He’d overreacted, suspecting danger.
He walked through the door, and she spun, her eyes widening. “Coleman. What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to make sure everything was all right.” He put his hand on her shoulder. He wasn’t sure why but he needed to feel that connection to ease his mind.
“No worries. I was just picking up a few things. Isn’t Garson outside?” She looked toward the closed outer door.
“I spoke to him. I just want to get you out of here as soon as we can. Are you ready to leave?” He still had a feeling like there was a bug crawling on his skin. His senses were still spiked, and he didn’t know why.
“Iʼm finishing looking up some information on Belladonna. Then I’ll grab my stuff and go. Seth helped me find the data I needed.”
“Seth?” Coleman asked.
“He’s my co-worker, over there.” She tipped her head as she concentrated on the computer screen in front of her.
Coleman began to turn and realized the man had left his station and was now standing behind him.
“You should have minded your own business,” Seth said, his eyes wide and crazed.
Coleman usually had quick reflexes, but Seth took him by surprise. White-hot pain lanced through him as the knife slid into his stomach and then back out. What the fuck? Coleman groaned as the agony of the knife wound overtook his brain. “Aiven, watch out!” he cried.
He tried to block the next blow, but the knife averted by his arm chopped into his shoulder. Blood bubbled from the wound in his stomach, and Aiven screamed. Coleman tried to move toward Seth, but he was fading fast and dropped to his knees. The cold floor pressed against his cheek, a crimson pool widening on the floor around him. He clenched his stomach, as his peripheral vision began to darken.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Seth. Stop! What are you doing?” Aiven wailed trying to absorb the h
orror movie unfolding in front of her.
“Don’t scream or I’ll kill you too,” Seth’s voice was a deadly whisper. “If you’d just stayed out of it. Sara would be dead, and then everything would be fine.” The knife in Seth’s hand was covered in blood, as he swung it to make his point.
“You killed Sara? Why?” Frantically, Aiven looked at Coleman. His eyes were closed, and his skin was pale. He was bleeding out.
“I loved her…and she…ignored me.” Seth wiped a hand over his mouth. A red streak was left behind across his cheek from Coleman’s blood. “When she broke up with her boyfriend, I thought that was my chance. I offered to go with her to the club that night, but then she asked you. It should have been me. Not you!”
“Because she wouldn’t go out with you, you were willing to murder three people?”
Seth waved a dismissive hand. “You and that cop probably wouldn’t have died with one drink. Sara had a dose earlier. When she stood me up, I put it in her drink bottle. If I couldn’t have her…then no one could.”
“The gunman at my apartment was you?”
“When I shot through your window, I knew you would leave. Then I could grab the last glass with the poison residue. The other two I got off the bar at the club before the police arrived. No evidence. But, you messed up everything.”
Seth walked toward her. She was pinned between him and her workstation with nowhere to go. Aiven’s frantic gaze searched the counter until she found the row of beakers that she was looking for. Just as Seth raised the knife and lunged forward, she broke off the bottle’s glass top and flung the liquid in Seth’s face.
Seth cried out as he swung the knife blindly in her direction. She jumped back, but his blade cut a thin slice through the fabric of her sleeve and into the skin of her arm. Aiven shoved him, and he stumbled back.
There was a loud crack like breaking wood. Seth’s eyes grew wide, and he looked down at the red hole from a gunshot wound. It spread like flower petals in the center of his chest. He struggled to turn with the knife still in his hand. The second shot hit his heart. Seth collapsed and then sprawled limply to the floor.
