by Rachel Dylan
He reached out and touched her shoulder. “We need to figure this out. Someone might be targeting you.”
***
The next morning Hope’s hands shook as she tried to clasp her silver necklace together behind her neck. Target. The word replayed in her head. Last night weighed heavily on her. She was certain someone had been in her room going through her stuff, and after the truck incident she was even more convinced. There was no way these were random or isolated events. Every instinct she had was telling her something was terribly wrong.
The barbeque dinner turned out to be a pretty somber experience. The food had been good, but she could barely taste it because of her stomach churning. And now her stomach churned again, but for a different reason. She was about to have her meeting with Carlos Nola.
How quickly things could change. She thought that she had a good relationship with Nola, and was comfortable around him and talking to him. They’d made solid progress on trial preparation. Before she’d come to Maxwell, she’d mapped out exactly what they would need to go over in their meeting. But now she started to question it all.
She somehow had to get it together. She had a trial to prepare for. And until she had some more solid evidence against Nola, she couldn’t shirk her obligations. Wakefield Corporation had hired her firm to defend them in the lawsuit, and that’s exactly what she had to do. To be able to put on a proper defense, Nola had to be a strong witness. She intended to prepare him to be just that. Whatever personal issues she was having would just have to be secondary.
As she walked out of the inn toward the Trent Law firm, she shivered even though she wasn’t cold. “Get a grip,” she muttered. It was broad daylight, almost nine a.m. She couldn’t allow herself to be more nervous about the short walk to the town square than walking alone in New York at night. Something she did every single night in fact. She was being ridiculous.
A slight breeze blew her hair back from her face. She’d worn it down today instead of her usual low ponytail. Humming a song, she instantly started to relax as the breeze picked up. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and Hope could easily tell why the Maxwell winter weather would be a huge draw for its residents.
As she took a step around the corner, a strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. She felt something sharp jab into her ribs.
“Don’t scream if you want to live.” The man’s voice was deep and evil in her ear.
Her entire body shook as her heart screamed in fear. She was going to die. Right there on a side street in the middle of Maxwell, Georgia. Death was staring her in the face.
Looking up all she could see was a pair of dark eyes. The tall man wore his cap very low and a big scarf around his neck and lower face. A scarf much too heavy for the mild winter day.
“Where is the chip?” he asked. He pushed her up against the building blocking her way.
“What chip?”
He looked around quickly then thrust his forearm into her throat cutting off her air supply. “I’m not playing games. Tell me where it is now.”
She could barely draw a breath. She tried to shake her head no. He loosened his grip a little.
“I promise you, I have no idea what chip you are talking about.”
“The Cyber Future Chip that Wakefield stole,” he growled. “Where is it?”
Stars appeared before her eyes and she got dizzy. Her body was about to give way.
“Now,” he yelled.
His eyes were lit up and showing pure evil. Would God protect her now?
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” she whispered. He pushed his arm harder into her throat.
“Hope!” Gabe’s voice rang out.
“We’re not done here.” The man took a step back, freeing her from his awful grip. He ran away down the street.
She felt like she was going to collapse, but then Gabe was there with her. His arms holding her up.
“Are you all right? What just happened?” he asked.
She looked up into his dark eyes—so unlike those of the man who had attacked her. “That man.” She paused, trying to take a breath. “He grabbed me. I never saw him coming.”
“Did he steal something from you?”
Taking a few deep breaths she steadied herself. “No, Gabe. That wasn’t a mugger. He knew who I was.”
Gabe narrowed his eyes and dropped his hands from her arms, now that she was steady. “What do you mean?”
“He told me to give him the chip.” It was still difficult to get enough air. “I asked him what he was talking about. He definitely thought I had something.”
“What chip?”
“That was my question. He claims that Wakefield stole a chip from Cyber Future.”
“Wow.” Gabe ran his hand through his hair.
“But I’ve got to get to the office. Nola is probably already there waiting for me.”
“Are you sure you’re up for this now?”
“I have to be.”
Gabe looked down at her. “Your neck is red. He hurt you.”
“I’ll be fine.” As she said the words, even she could hear that they were stated without much conviction. But she couldn’t just roll over. She had to figure out what was going on. What was her attacker talking about? The man who might have the answers was the one she was due to meet. And she was definitely going to ask.
“Could you identify the man?”
She shook her head. “Probably not. All I got a good look at were his eyes. His scarf and hat obstructed his face. That wasn’t coincidental.”
“Nola has to be involved in this alleged theft.”
“If there’s any truth to it, then that’s a distinct possibility. I’m going to ask him.”
“Just straight out?”
“He’ll probably wonder why my neck looks like this. I need to gauge what he knows. We may have bigger problems than Nola’s crime ring in Maxwell.” She turned around and started walking toward the office. She hated being late.
He grabbed her arm. “Are you absolutely sure you can handle this right now? You just got accosted in the middle of the street.”
She shifted back around to face him. “Yes. More than ever I need answers. If someone thinks I know something I don’t know or have something I don’t have, then I could be in real danger. This is only the beginning.”
“I’m coming with you.” He started walking to keep up with her pace.
“You know you can’t come into the meeting. A general meeting at Wakefield is one thing, but this is different.”
“I won’t go in. I just want to make sure you get there okay.”
She relented. It actually made her feel a bit better with him by her side.
“That was a pretty gutsy move approaching you on the street.”
“He had something jabbed into my side.” She touched her side and knew she would be bruised. “I don’t know whether it was a knife or a gun. But to a passerby until he put his forearm on my throat, no one would’ve noticed anything was awry.”
“And you’re sure you don’t know what he’s talking about?”
“No. Wakefield is in the business of making all types of chips and technology. Why would they need to steal something from Cyber Future? Wakefield is cutting edge.”
“Unless Cyber Future has something better and more lucrative. Wakefield found out about it.”
“Hmm…” Her mind raced with possibilities. “What if someone at Wakefield figured out that Cyber Future had some type of special technology during its review of the documents for this case?” She asked more to herself than to Gabe.
“That might explain why Cyber Future was sending someone after you. But for him to threaten you like that, this has to be huge. Not just a random computer chip filled with routine technology.”
This was the last thing she needed before trial. “All right. I’ll talk to you when this meeting is over.”
“Why don’t I meet you back here at the firm? I don’t feel comfortable with you going around alone right n
ow until we have a better understanding of the threat level.”
The words threat level sent another chill down her arm. She didn’t argue. Instead she took a deep breath and walked into the law firm. Carlos Nola was sitting in the reception area with a cup of coffee and the Maxwell newspaper.
“Mr. Nola, I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“No problem,” he said. “And you know to call me Carlos.” Then he set down his paper and looked up at her. His eyes widened. “Hope, what happened to you?”
“I’d rather discuss it in my office.”
“Certainly.” He allowed her to lead the way to the office she was using.
“Please sit down and I’ll explain.”
Her neck must have looked even worse than she imagined for him to be staring at her with his big, wide green eyes.
“Do you need to see a doctor?”
“I’ll be fine.” It seemed like he was truly concerned about her. Was he really the criminal mastermind that Gabe had alleged?
“Please tell me what happened.”
“I was attacked on the way to the office this morning.”
“Oh no.”
“But that’s really not the headline, Mr. Nola.”
He raised a curious eyebrow.
“My attacker wanted me to tell him where the chip was.”
“What?” Nola leaned forward.
“Do you know anything about Wakefield stealing some sort of chip from Cyber Future?”
Nola blew out a breath looking down and back up. “No. That’s a serious allegation.”
“With all due respect, Mr. Nola, I felt firsthand how serious it was.” She was walking a line, but given what had just happened to her she felt she was more than justified.
He shook his head “I’m so sorry, Hope. Of course. I can’t even imagine what you must be feeling right now.”
“So back to my question. Mr. Nola, I need you to be completely forthright with me. Do you know anything about this? Anything at all?”
He looked her straight in the eye and didn’t waver. “No. I’m sorry, but I don’t.”
He seemed truthful, but she couldn’t accept him at face value. Not given all the events.
“I’ll need to inform Lee about what happened. Regardless he needs to know that one of his lawyers was attacked, and that Cyber Future may be making serious allegations of theft and be willing to engage in retaliation.”
“How does this impact the trial?”
“It doesn’t. Our lawsuit is a fairly straightforward breach of the supply contract. Yes, the dollar amount is quite large, but they haven’t made any allegations of theft in the suit and it’s too late now for this trial. And regardless the fact that a man attacked me makes me think this might be something they want to fly under the radar as opposed to working within the legal system.”
“I’ve never trusted those guys. From day one, I was the one warning Lee that we needed to stay away from them. But they were offering the most favorable contract terms.” Nola stood up and started pacing back and forth. “We’re missing something here about why anyone would be interested in hurting you.”
“I fear there’s a lot we’re missing.”
“Beyond the obvious. Cyber Future is planning something. I can feel it.”
“Then we need to determine what that is ASAP.”
“We should loop Lee in. He also hired a security consultant. We should make sure the consultant’s involved too.”
Well wasn’t that the perfect way for Gabe to get access. “I agree. But we need to do a little preparation for the trial. Then I’ll call Sam and let him know what’s going on and we can meet with the others.”
“All right. But you should start considering that we’ve got a lot bigger things to worry about than this lawsuit.”
Chapter Five
Gabe watched as Hope stepped out of the firm and looked around. She was on edge—it showed in her body language as she fidgeted with her hair and suit jacket. What had happened in there with Nola?
Gabe prayed for guidance. Who was the bigger threat? Cyber Future or Nola? The immediate answer appeared to be Cyber Future. Just the thought of that man with his hands on Hope, hurting her, angered him. And in his town. Things like this didn’t happen in Maxwell, or at least they shouldn’t be happening. But he felt like he was thinking that way too much lately.
“Hope.” He walked up toward her. The visible relief on her face as her shoulders relaxed made him feel good. The last thing he wanted was to add to her stress.
“Looks like you’re going to get what you want. We’re going for a ride.”
“What do you mean?” They started walking toward his car.
“Nola wants the security consultant, meaning you, to be involved in this Cyber Future investigation that he’s launching. He just got off the phone with Lee. They want a meeting at Wakefield to discuss our response. I just looped Sam Upton in. He’s my boss and the partner on the litigation.”
He turned the key in the ignition and wondered how this would play out. “Nola has heard about me?”
“Yes, from Lee. I guess that Lee has been impressed with your work so far.” She looked at him. “What exactly have you done?”
“A full security assessment of the main building. My next move is for the warehouses which is where I really wanted to go.”
“Whatever is it, you’re on Lee’s good side for sure.”
“I take it that Nola denied knowing anything about the chip?”
She sighed and leaned her head back on the headrest. “Yes. And the thing was, he looked so believable. But I know better than to just trust him. Regardless, he seemed really concerned about my welfare.”
“What now?” he asked.
“A group meeting at Wakefield. They also called in the chief of police and his deputy.”
This was getting way bigger than his initial investigation. He would have to report in to his boss soon. These new developments made his job harder but provided him even more access to Wakefield and Nola.
He felt his fingers clench on the wheel. “We need a plan.”
“There isn’t much we can do at this initial meeting beyond explaining what happened and trying to discover more information. How will the police chief be with you?”
“He’s totally solid and you can trust him with your life. He’s pretty young for a police chief. We grew up together. His name is Caleb Winters. We won’t have any issue with him. The deputy chief on the other hand is a different story. His name is Mike Ramsey. He’s twenty years Caleb’s senior. Has a big chip on his shoulder about not being the chief.”
“Why isn’t he?”
“He’s lived in Maxwell long enough to make more enemies than friends. In his earlier years on the force, he was known to look the other way for some folks and real close at others.”
“And what are you going to offer Lee in terms of the assistance you can provide him?”
“Whatever he wants. But the biggest thing is I’m going to ask for full access. Given the threat from Cyber Future, he’ll probably grant it. I want to be able to come and go as I please and have full security clearances into the building and its facilities.”
“And Caleb will guard your cover?”
“Absolutely. He’s former Special Forces. He will not give up an FBI agent.”
“Good. Now I’m trying to figure out how I need to handle this, too. Sam totally flipped out when I called him. He’s dropping everything and flying in tonight. I could barely have a rational conversation with him on the phone he was so amped up about the whole thing. He even threatened to send me home.”
“What?”
“Yes. He’s worried about my own personal security. And he’s a good guy, I have no doubt he’s worried. But he’s also concerned about one of the attorneys at his firm being attacked. I’m sure he’s thinking liability and exposure. He’s a litigator. He’d be crazy not to. I know how these guys think.”
Would it be safer to send Hope back to New York? The
hired guns for Cyber Future could find her anywhere. No, she was safer in Maxwell in a contained environment where he could protect her. He patted his gun in his holster almost subconsciously in response. “Here we are. You ready?”
She didn’t look ready. Her normally rosy cheeks were pale and her eyes narrowed. “I guess so.” She looked out the window. “Looks like the police are already here.”
He reached over and grabbed her hand, squeezing tight. “We’re going to get through this, Hope. I promise you that. I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Now that I know you’re a target, I’m not letting you out of my sight.”
He felt her shiver a bit under his touch. Maybe he shouldn’t have used the word target, even if it was the truth.
“I’m good. It’s just been a lot to deal with. My mind was set on being second chair at this trial and what a huge opportunity it was for my career advancement. Moving up the ladder at the firm. Then ever since you showed up in my apartment, my life has been topsy turvy.” She paused. “I’m not blaming you. I’m just saying everything has been crazy since then.” She pulled her hand away from his and opened the car door.
No doubt that Hope Finch was a complex woman. And then some. Wasn’t she the type of woman that would challenge him? That would understand about his career? No. He couldn’t think that way right now. His first duty as a federal agent was to this investigation, and as part of that, to make sure no innocent civilians—including Hope—were harmed.
The conference room was buzzing with excitement, but not the good kind. The kind that gripped your nerves and led you to the brink. Lee’s face was visibly red.
“So glad you’re here, Gabe.” Lee shook his hand. Then Lee strode over to Hope and grabbed her hands. “Are you okay? What kind of monster would attack a young woman?”
Before Hope could even respond Lee kept on talking. “Hope, I take that attack on you as an attack on all of us. Please know that I’m not going to spare any expense in tracking down this man. He threatened you personally, and he threatened our company.”
“Thank you, Lee.”
“Let’s everyone gather around the table and have a seat so we can discuss this pressing matter.”
