by Dee Davis
None of it made much sense. They had two confirmed murders and a third that looked suspicious. What had been theory was clearly reality. Which meant that there was a killer out there. And worse, that he would most likely strike again.
Taking another sip of wine, she let the events of the day wash over her. Despite her aversion to Gabriel, she had to admit that his associates seemed more than up to the task at hand.
She looked down at the files Harrison had pulled together, everything he could find on Nigel Ferris and Pay-ton Reynolds. Nigel's record was exemplary. A team player who'd made a career out of coming through in the most dire of circumstances. His loyalty to his friends came second only to his loyalty to country.
Payton Reynolds's record was sketchier. He'd served under Gabriel in Delta Force, his stint in the army ending abruptly with a myriad of awards and a lengthy hospital stay. Details were classified, but it had obviously been something traumatic, the scar on his face a permanent reminder of whatever had happened.
There was no way to know for certain, but Madison would stake a week's wages that the mark served as an outward sign of more significant internal damage. She'd seen men like Payton before The walking wounded. He hid it well, but it was still there, reflected in his eyes, and she found herself wondering if Gabriel carried similar scars.
She looked down at the report, clearing her head of all emotion. She was trying to get a handle on the men she was working with, not dissect their leader.
After the hospital, Payton had simply disappeared. Harrison had been unable to ferret out more than rumors, none of them particularly favorable. The most prevalent was that he'd gone underground. Selling himself to the highest bidder—which fit with what Gabriel had told her, but not with her overall impression.
She'd watched Payton today, and despite what the facts told her, she trusted him. Or maybe she just trusted Gabriel's instincts—at least professionally. And considering they'd all be working together to track a killer, that was all that mattered.
The doorbell rang, pulling her from her thoughts. She stifled a flash of irritation. No one was supposed to get up here without being announced. Caution being second nature, she stopped at the breakfast bar to retrieve her gun before answering the door.
It was probably nothing, but taking chances was how an agent wound up dead.
She peered through the peephole, shock blending with relief as she lowered her weapon. Gabriel Roarke stood on the other side, a scowl coloring his expression as he rang the bell again.
With a second surge of irritation, she swung open the door. "How the hell did you get up here?"
"Nice to see you, too." He glanced pointedly down at the Glock in her hand.
"I asked how you got up here. This is a secure building."
"CIA credentials open a lot of doors." He shrugged, and brushed past her, acting as if he'd been coming to her apartment for years.
She followed him into the living room, trying to compose herself. The man had absolutely no sense of propriety. "I could have shot you."
"I doubt that." His smile was disarming. The first he'd ever graced her with. Of course, it was for all the wrong reasons—like the fact that he thought she wouldn't have the courage to use her gun.
It was tempting to prove him wrong right then and there, but it seemed a little shortsighted to shoot one of the good guys, no matter how many buttons he pushed. She dropped the Glock on the counter and turned to face him. "Well, don't do it again. I live in a secured building for a reason."
"Nothing is secure, Madison." It was the first time he'd used her name, and she found that she liked the way it rolled off his lips. "But I've got to say this beats the hell out of living at the Marriott."
Cullen had set them up at the hotel for the duration. Harrison had even moved over there. "I'm sure Cullen would be happy to put you up somewhere else."
"It still wouldn't be this." He waved his hand through the air to emphasize his point. "Some digs. I think maybe I missed the boat not working for the FBI."
It was not an unusual reaction to her apartment, but somehow coming from him it rankled more than usual. "Too bad you missed the memo."
"Right." His smile held a hint of laughter, but any amusement was more than offset by the cynicism reflected in his eyes. Gabriel Roarke obviously had issues. Big ones. But thankfully, it wasn't her job to deal with them.
"What's down there?" Gabriel had turned his attention to the view, and was pointing at something below him.
She moved to stand beside him, her gaze following his. "Health club."
The gym was located three floors below her, extending out from the building, its crowning feature a slanted roof of glass. From this vantage point, she could almost see the tenants below hard at work on treadmills and stair machines.
"Wealth club is more like it. Are those chandeliers?" His tone was incredulous, and she smothered a sigh of irritation.
"Just in the clubroom," she said, struggling to hang on to her temper. "The rest is pretty much your basic gym."
"I'm impressed." His tone made it clear he was anything but, and she watched him as he dropped down on the sofa, looking for all the world as if he belonged there.
Still frowning, she sat down in the chair across from him. "You still haven't told me why you're here."
"I thought maybe we ought to get to know each other a little better."
"And dropping by my home unannounced is the way to accomplish that?" She tried but couldn't keep the sarcasm from her voice.
"Would you have welcomed me with open arms if I'd let you know I was coming?"
She started to nod, but then thought better of it. This man would recognize the truth anyway. "No. Probably not."
"There you go." He smiled, his icy gaze warming for a moment. "Part of espionage is knowing how to approach the target."
"So what, now I'm a target?" Talking to him was like fencing—a sport she detested.
"No." He sobered. "But you're an unknown quantity and I don't like undefined variables."
"So you thought you'd just drop in and check me out."
"Something like that." He leaned back and crossed his legs. "Mind if I have some wine?" He nodded at the open bottle on the table.
"Help yourself." She'd be damned if she'd offer a glass, but that didn't seem to faze him a bit. He got up, walked over to the kitchen, found another glass, poured the wine, then returned to the sofa. After taking a sip, he reached for her glass, holding it out to her as if he were the host.
She toyed with the idea of tossing it in his face, but hated the thought of what it would do to her cream-colored sofa. "Thank you." The words came out of their own volition, good manners overriding even the worst of situations.
"Look, I don't know why Cullen was so red-hot to have you on the team, but judging by this apartment, I'd say the two of you must have a cozy little relationship."
Anger shot through her, white-hot and razor sharp. "Cullen is my godfather, and the reason he wanted me on the task force is because I'm very good at what I do."
"I'm sure you are." The spark in his eyes said more than his words, and she tightened her hold on the stem of her wineglass, fighting to maintain control.
"For what it's worth, Mr. Roarke," she ground out, slamming the glass on the table, "the apartment belongs to me. A gift from my father. Feel free to check with the front desk on your way out."
Instead of retreating, he stood up and took a step closer. "Daddy's little girl?"
Any restraint she'd had melted away at the taunt. Without thinking, she closed the gap between them and swung, wanting nothing more than to wipe the smug expression from his face.
He caught her wrist, her hand inches from his nose, his expression amused. "So, the cat has claws." His eyes raked across her, making her skin burn.
Fury combined with adrenaline to give her added strength, and she twisted forward, slamming her left leg into the side of his knee, using his hold on her arm as torque to flip him to the floor. S
till holding her wrist, he pulled her with him, rolling quickly to pin her to the ground, his body hard against hers.
She turned slightly, pulling her knee upward at the same time in an attempt to dislodge him, but he was faster, grabbing her other wrist, holding her captive beneath him.
"Nice moves." His voice was deep and smoky, his eyes darkening with an emotion she wasn't about to put a name to. Her breathing was ragged, and she was pleased to note that his was not coming any easier.
Her anger had somehow slipped away, the chemistry between them shifting. His breath teased her face, and if she lifted her head even slightly their lips would touch. It was compelling, this need to move forward. Just centimeters and...
The little voice in her brain screamed for sanity and with an exhale of breath, she forced herself to break the spell. "Get off me."
His smile was slow, and a little wicked. "I don't know. It seems pretty comfortable to me."
Her anger returned, but this time she managed control. "I said, get off."
He searched her face, and then with a shrug rolled off, acting for all the world as if the moment had never existed. "You know your stuff, I'll give you that."
"Just because I work as a profiler doesn't mean I'm not a real FBI agent, Mr. Roarke." She stood up and adjusted her clothing, wishing him to hell and back.
"I thought we'd moved beyond the formality of last names, Madison." He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, the gesture amazingly intimate.
She stepped back, struggling to keep her expression neutral. "I don't know anything of the sort. To date, you've insulted me, my profession, my godfather, my apartment..." She trailed off, realizing her voice was rising with each pronouncement.
Gabriel held up his hands. "I call it like I see it. Sometimes being direct is the best way to cut through all the bullshit."
"By insulting me."
He narrowed his eyes, as if considering his response, then smiled at her, the gesture again disarming. "I think that had more to do with chemistry."
She didn't have an answer. Couldn't even think straight, truth be told. This man had a way of unnerving her like no one she'd ever met. One moment threatening, the next taunting, and the next, well—sexy as hell.
Shit.
She drew in a breath and pasted on a sweet, social smile. The kind she reserved for boring old leches. "All right then, Gabriel, what do you say we start over?" No way in hell was she letting him come out on top. If he could be disarming, so could she. "You said you wanted to know me better. What exactly would you like to know?"
He frowned, obviously not expecting Pollyanna Sunshine, and she mentally gave herself the point. Sitting on the arm of the sofa, she reached for her wineglass and took a sip, waiting. But she had underestimated her opponent.
With the hint of a smile, he, too, sat down, crossing one leg over the other, equally prepared to wait her out. Their gazes met and held, neither wanting to be the first to break the silence. It would have been funny, except for the tension stretching between them, an energy that hummed through her with surprising intensity.
"What say I save you the questions and just fill in the details?" she asked finally, certain if she didn't speak they'd be sitting there until they were old and gray. A prospect she didn't relish for any number of reasons.
"Fine." He nodded, his scowl firmly back in place.
"Okay, here it is." She leaned forward slightly, and sucked in a breath. "My father is Philip Merrick. And his best friend is Cullen Pulaski. And as is custom, when I was born, my father asked Cullen to be my godfather. In the real, bona fide, stand-up-in-church-and-say-so kind of way. There is no other relationship between the two of us. None at all. He asked me to be on the task force because I have expertise that he believes will be useful."
Gabriel opened his mouth to respond, but she held a hand up to stop him.
"As to my career. I graduated magna cum laude from Vassar, then attended Harvard Law to please my father. Upon graduating, with honors, I went to work for the FBI—for exactly the opposite reason. After finishing my training, I worked for three years as a special agent, received two awards of distinction, and then transferred to the investigative Support Unit, where, to date, I have played a major role in bringing fifteen serial killers to justice. Without my profiles, these men would have continued to prey upon innocent victims. And while I don't mean to blow my own horn, Gabriel, I believe you'll find that I'm at the top of my game."
"Nice to know there's something beneath the window dressing." He dismissed her tirade as simply as that, and she bit her tongue to keep from lashing out at him again. There was simply no winning with Gabriel Roarke, and letting him goad her into revealing more of herself was certainly not a strategic move.
"More than you'll ever know." She bit the words out, knowing she sounded like a petulant child.
"We'll just have to see about that." His gaze caught hers, pinning her like a butterfly on linen, and her heart fluttered in protest. Slowly he leaned forward until his breath caressed her cheek. She knew she should move. Get up off the sofa. But she didn't. Instead she shivered in anticipation.
And then the phone rang, the shrill sound like ice water in the face.
She pulled back, almost falling off the sofa in the process. Fumbling for the phone, she listened to the other end, holding on to the connection like a lifeline. Then working to control her trembling hand, she put the receiver back in the cradle.
"That was Harrison," she said, still struggling for composure. "There's a problem with the computers."
"What kind of problem?" He was instantly alert, his voice disturbingly normal.
"The disk array has been wiped."
"Sabotage." It wasn't a question, but she answered anyway.
"He thinks so." She drew in a breath, feeling calmer, her thoughts on the problem at hand. "Cullen's with him. And they want us there as soon as possible."
"All right then, let's go." He stood up, closing the space between them, reaching out to trace the line of her lower lip. "But make no mistake, Madison, we're not finished here."
CHAPTER SEVEN
"How bad is it?" Gabe asked, striding into the room, Madison at his side.
"Nothing's retrievable. It's been wiped clean." Harrison swiveled his chair to face them. "Everything was backed up, of course. But it'll take time to get it all running again."
"Is it just our system? Or Cullen's, as well?" Gabe asked, trying to assimilate the consequences of the crash.
"Cullen's was hit, as well, but not to the same extent." Harrison shot a glance at the man who was standing in the corner, talking on the phone. "With his people working on it, he should be back up by morning."
"Thank goodness we've got you here to work on ours," Madison said, moving to stand behind Harrison as he resumed working at the computer.
Gabe fought a surge of irritation. She'd hardly spoken to him since they'd left her apartment, and here she was practically fawning over Harrison. He shook his head, dismissing the thought. What the hell did he care who she shacked up with? "What caused the crash?"
"It wasn't a crash. At least not in the sense of mechanical failure." Harrison pulled up a diagnostics screen. "This was definitely sabotage. A virus, maybe. I don't know. After I restore the system, I can run more detailed diagnostics."
"You think it was a prank?" Madison asked, leaning over for a better look at the screen.
"No way." Harrison shook his head. "We've got a foe-wall, a secure Internet connection and about a dozen other security measures. If someone got into the system it's because they wanted to."
"But if it was intentional, why didn't it do more damage? You've already said everything was backed up. Surely a hacker would be aware of that fact." Gabe was far from an expert at computers, but this seemed a blinding glimpse of the obvious.
"That's exactly the question I've been asking." Cullen walked over to the computer bank. "If they were trying to destroy my system, why attack you? And if they we
re after your system, why didn't they do a better job?"
Madison shrugged. "Maybe they were just inept."
"No way." Harrison shook his head, underscoring his words. "This was deliberate. If they knew enough to get in, they knew enough to do more damage."
"So what was the point? To send a message?" Gabe couldn't contain his growl. It had been a hell of a day.
"No." Madison turned to face him, her brows drawn together in thought. "They wanted to cover something up."
"That doesn't—"
"Think about it," she said, cutting him off. "They wiped our system clean. And hit parts of Cullen's, as well. But didn't do any lasting damage. All that's lost is the record of activity after the backup."
"Which I did before I left for the night," Harrison said. "But I'm still not with you."
"Okay. Think about an intentional crime. I'm talking about something planned. Like a murder or a robbery."
Gabe watched as Harrison and Cullen considered her words. He wasn't sure exactly where she was going, but he was definitely interested in seeing how she presented her case.
"What's the last thing the perp would do? After completing his objective?" Her gaze encompassed them all, waiting, and Gabe fought against the urge to answer, to win her approval, knowing he was just caught up in the moment. He needed Madison Harper's approval like he needed another assignment in Iraq.
"I get it." Harrison said, his enthusiasm rising. "He wipes the room down. Gets rid of any evidence he's been there at all."
"Exactly." Madison beamed, her attention still on Harrison.
"And that's what our perpetrator did," Cullen said. "He hacked into the system, then covered his tracks."
"Seems a big leap to me," Gabe said, watching as Madison's smile turned to a scowl.
"I think it makes a lot of sense, actually." Harrison was quick to jump to Madison's defense. "When you access a computer—any computer—you leave a trail. Sometimes it's really obscure. But it's there. And if a programmer knows where to look, he can find it."
"But if the system has been erased, there's nothing to find." Cullen, too, was obviously on Madison's side.
