by Liz Shoaf
He sneered. “You were right under my nose the whole time and I didn’t even know it.”
Chloe’s mind worked furiously for a way out of this situation.
“What if I don’t give you the information?”
Her heart dropped when he rocked back on his heels and grinned. “I’ll kill everyone you know and love. One at a time. And then I’ll kill you.”
“Like you killed Peter Norris and those two men in Jackson Hole?”
He batted cold-blooded murder away with a flailing hand in the air. “They were a couple of illiterate private investigators I sent to confirm your identity, but when they reported back and started asking suspicious questions, sadly, I had to have them eliminated.”
He rolled the chair toward a desk that held a computer and untied her hands. “Now, I want those account numbers, and I know you downloaded the file somewhere because it’s no longer on your laptop. I checked. Time to get to work. I have plans to leave the country immediately and live out my life as a wealthy eccentric man in an extravagantly warm place.”
She made an effort to buy more time. “It might take a while to break into the system I downloaded it into. And how do you know the numbers are still active and the money is still there?”
He glanced at his watch. “I made sure no one in the splinter terrorist group was left alive, and my friend in the CIA said they never retrieved the money. It’s still sitting where it was transferred all those years ago. Now, you have two hours before I take drastic measures.”
Chloe closed her eyes and sent up a short prayer. An idea popped into her mind and she placed her fingers on the keyboard. This was going to be tricky with Thomas watching her. After taking a deep breath, she went to work.
TWENTY-ONE
Sirens were blaring when Ethan came to. A paramedic was pushed to the side just as he lifted his head. They had his car door open and Stan leaned inside.
“Are you okay?”
Ethan lifted his arms and tested his legs. Except for a pounding headache and a lot of bruises, he didn’t seem to be injured. “Everything seems to be working.”
“Let’s get you out of the car.”
Stan stepped back and two paramedics slowly helped Ethan. After gaining his bearings, he frantically looked back into the vehicle. “Where’s Chloe?”
The medical team was checking his body, but he focused his attention on Stan. The man didn’t disappoint.
“She was taken.”
Ethan didn’t even have time to panic before Stan went on. “Henry called me. Someone is trying to hack into his system. We think the killer is forcing Chloe to try to download the information she transferred from her computer into his system.”
The police approached, and Stan pulled out his identification. After a short conversation and a promise to stop by the station later, Stan directed the medics to help Ethan to Stan’s car.
Ethan grimaced when they eased him inside. Geordie jumped over Ethan’s body into the car and he released a sigh of relief that Chloe’s faithful friend wasn’t injured. Now they had to find Chloe before it was too late.
Stan started the engine as soon as the doors were closed. “You sure you’re okay?”
“No, I’m not okay. We have to find Chloe.” Ethan heard the fear in his own voice and recognized it as real. He was terrified for Chloe.
Stan pulled onto the highway. “Henry said it looks as if Chloe is trying to place a worm in the computer she’s working on so he can trace it back to her location.”
“She’s smart,” Ethan said, and that knowledge gave him hope.
Stan grinned. “Yes, she is. I taught her everything I know, but she surpassed me years ago. Do you love her?”
The question came out of left field, and it punched Ethan in the gut. He did love Chloe, but there was still the matter of the secret she was keeping from him.
“She has secrets,” he said slowly, “but I love her no matter what. We can fix whatever she’s gotten herself into. That’s if we find her in time.” He cleared the terror from his throat.
Stan gripped the steering wheel tightly, as if he was making a hard decision. “When Chloe was sixteen and living at the orphanage, she hacked into a bank and transferred a hundred thousand dollars.”
“She stole money?” Ethan was surprised that the Chloe he had come to know would do such a thing.
“It’s not what you think. The orphanage was in dire need of funds and Chloe took it upon herself to help them.”
Ethan barked out a laugh. “Of course she did.” That went with the woman he had come to know. A woman who helped little girls like Penny and trained dogs. A woman who encouraged an older lady to sell her cookies online.
Stan sobered. “She went to juvenile hall, but she wasn’t there for long after Sarah Rutledge called me.”
“You and Betty adopted her.”
Stan swallowed hard before he spoke. “Yes, we did, and she’s the best thing that ever happened to us.”
“We’ll get her back, Stan.”
They were interrupted by Stan’s phone ringing. “I’ll get it.” Ethan answered and placed the phone on speaker.
“Stan, it’s Henry. Something very interesting is happening. It looks like Chloe was trying to leave me a trail so I could trace it back to her, but it’s been blocked, and then the strangest thing happened. Someone from a different system snuck in and linked mine with the system Chloe is using. Long story short, I have a location for you.”
“Ned?” Ethan breathed.
“What’s that?” Henry barked.
“Nothing. Henry, this is Ethan. I’m in the car with Stan.” He grabbed a pencil and pad after Stan pointed at the glove compartment. “Give me the address.”
Henry sniffed, quoted the address, and said, “You know your way to the FBI building. This guy sure does have gumption, using our office to do his dirty work.”
Stan whooped and yelled. “Henry, you’re a wonder man. Anything I can ever do for you, just let me know.”
“You can buy back my baseball cards, that’s what you can do.”
“Done!”
Ethan ended the call.
“He’s probably in the basement. It’s used for storage.” Stan shook his head. “A bold move for the killer. It’s almost as if he’s smugly thumbing his nose at us. Let’s go get our girl.”
* * *
It had been more than an hour, and Thomas hovered over her the entire time, but she got a break when he told the other guy to keep an eye on her and left the room after saying he had to use the can.
She had placed the worm as soon as she’d started, but this was the first chance she’d had to check and see if it had gone through to Henry. She wanted to shout in victory when she slipped into a file and found a message encrypted in a code she and Henry had developed and used years ago.
Hold tight, help is on the way. I’ve opened the file with the information your captor wants so you can start downloading if you get backed into a corner. Don’t worry, I inserted a self-destruct worm if he gets the entire file onto a drive. It will start corroding within minutes, just giving him long enough to see he has the file.
Chloe squashed her excitement and kept typing, acting as if she was frustrated. It was a brilliant move on Henry’s part.
Thomas came storming back into the room and jerked her chair away from the desk. “Time’s up. I want that file now.”
This time he had a gun in his hand, and Chloe knew he wouldn’t wait any longer, even though he’d promised her two hours.
She gave him a false grin. “I just got in.”
He ran to the computer. “Where? Where is it?”
Chloe carefully nudged him aside and pressed a key. Rows and rows of numbers started scrolling across the screen. Thomas fumbled in his pocket and inserted a thumb drive to back up the download.
H
e jerked his head toward her. “This time, I’ll test the information on another computer before I get rid of you.”
Chloe’s heart was racing, but she had an ace up her sleeve. Literally. They’d taken her gun while she was unconscious, but her knife was still hidden up her sleeve.
The download complete, Thomas motioned the other man over. A booted laptop was laid on the desktop and Thomas inserted the thumb drive. He smiled when the rows of numbers scrolled across the screen. He removed the thumb drive and pocketed it before turning to face her, gun held in front of him.
“Now it’s time to rid myself of what seems like a lifelong problem. Are you ready to meet your maker?”
Chloe straightened her arm and the knife slipped into her hand.
“I’m ready, but are you?”
She threw the knife in an underhanded move that Henry had taught her and hit Thomas in the arm. He screamed and his gun clattered to the cement floor. He yelled at the other man, “Kill her. Kill her now.”
Just as the man raised his arm to shoot, the doors to the room were thrown wide open and a large contingent of men swarmed into the room.
“Drop your weapon. Now!” Somebody yelled.
Chloe fell to the floor, out of the line of fire. It was over quickly. The other man in the room let go of his gun and raised his hands. From her position on the floor, Chloe saw Thomas go for the gun he’d dropped earlier, but Ethan got there first and knocked the weapon away. Stan took over and Ethan rushed to her side. He dropped to the floor and peppered kisses all over her face. When he pulled back, moisture filled his eyes. “Chloe, I love you. Stan told me about your past and I don’t care. It’s not important.” He sobered and stared into her eyes. “I’ve been so worried about not being able to make another woman happy due to what happened with Sherri, and I know you’re a city girl, but we can make it work. I know it in here.” He thumped his heart.
Her own heart lodged in her throat, Chloe lifted her chin and gave him a sassy grin. “We’ve only kissed one time.”
Ethan laughed, grabbed her face with both hands and pressed his lips to hers. When he finished, his eyes were shining. “Is that better?”
She grinned. “For starters.”
“Does that mean you’ll marry me?”
Chloe’s heart stopped. “What about Penny? I’m not exactly what you’d call mother material.”
Ethan laughed again and got in another quick kiss. “If anyone can handle Penny, it’s you.”
“Okay.”
He looked stunned. “Okay? That’s it?”
“Okay, I love you, too. And yes, I’ll marry you.” She said playfully, “Someone has to teach Penny how to use a computer.”
Ethan groaned just as Geordie came flying into the room and jumped into Chloe’s arms. Chloe held him close and looked into his eyes. “Geordie, how’d you like to live in Jackson Hole?”
Geordie grunted at Ethan, then wagged his tail. Chloe looked at Ethan with all the love in her heart. “Looks like we’ll be moving to Jackson Hole.”
EPILOGUE
Six months later...
The day of the wedding dawned bright and sunny. Betty was crying happy tears while fussing over Chloe’s gown in a room in the church reserved for the bride. Her mother finally decided everything was perfect and stepped back. Chloe stared at herself in the full-length mirror.
“I can’t believe that’s me.”
Betty blew her nose into a handkerchief. “Of course it’s you. You’ve always been beautiful.”
They both looked up when Stan slipped through the door and closed it softly behind him. Chloe thought she saw moisture in his eyes, but it was gone by the time he approached and took both of her hands in his. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
It was official. There were definitely tears in his eyes. Chloe decided to lighten things up. “I appreciate you handling everything with the police.”
He grinned. “Well, you were working with the FBI to apprehend a criminal.” His smile slid away. “Chloe, are you sure this is what you want? Are you happy?”
This time she felt moisture in her own eyes. “Oh, yeah. This is what I want. The only problem is you and Mom will live so far away.”
Stan’s lips widened. “About that. I’ve been thinking of retiring anyway, and your mother is anxious to be close to her daughter and new granddaughter.”
Chloe’s heart beat with happiness. “You’re moving to Jackson Hole?” she whispered.
Her parents beamed. “If that’s okay with you,” Stan said.
Chloe whooped. “You bet it’s okay. I can’t wait to tell Penny.”
And speaking of the little tyrant, Penny came flying through the door, pigtails swinging.
“Grandma, Grandpa, it’s almost time. I have the ring right here.” She held it up proudly, then gave Chloe a calculating look. “I hope I don’t drop it.”
Chloe held back a laugh as she looked at the precious little girl. “I hope you don’t drop it, either, because I’d hate to spend time looking for the ring. It’d be that much longer before we get cake at the reception.”
Penny scrunched up her nose. She knew when she’d been beaten.
The organ started playing the pre-wedding march and Stan stepped to Chloe’s side. He offered his elbow. She slipped her arm through his and they locked eyes before following Betty and Penny out of the room.
After descending the stairs at the back of the church, Chloe glanced out the open front doors and caught sight of a huge bearded man wearing scruffy jeans, work boots and a plaid shirt.
Ned!
She thought he was smiling as he threw up a hand in a big wave, but it was hard to tell through the long, bushy beard. She wondered briefly what his story was and why he’d been living on that mountain for the last three years, but her attention was drawn to her future husband as she and her father reached the beginning of the aisle and the wedding march started playing.
Ethan stood tall, looking all handsome in his black tux. He gave her a high-wattage smile, and her heart melted. She’d never believed she could be this happy, but she now knew that God had guided her to this place in time. She gave a brief prayer of thanks and took the first step toward her new life.
* * *
If you enjoyed Identity: Classified, look for Liz Shoaf’s first Love Inspired Suspense title, Betrayed Birthright.
Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com
Keep reading for an excerpt from Lethal Ransom by Laurie Alice Eakes.
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Dear Reader,
I love strong, independent women with unique personalities, and rugged, protective men who don’t know quite what to think of the women who land on their doorsteps. Throw in a good dose of suspense and danger, an attack-trained poodle, a precocious six-year-old child, and I’m a happy writer. Let me know if you enjoyed reading about Chloe and Ethan’s adventures as much as I enjoyed writing them. You can contact me through my website, www.lizshoaf.com.
Liz Shoaf
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Lethal Ransom
by Laurie Alice Eakes
ONE
Kristen Lang had to be mistaken. The same vehicle that had followed her from her office to the courthouse where she’d picked up her mother, the Honorable Julia Lang, could not be tailing her down the Eisenhower out of Chicago. The world was surely full of gunmetal-gray SUVs.
With her mother’s job, threats were not uncommon. For the past ten years of her life, Kristen had learned to be vigilant of anything out of the ordinary.
Seeing the same—or very similar—vehicle three times in one afternoon was out of the ordinary.
Kristen took one second to glance at her mother. “Is everything all right with you?”
“When is it not?” Mom’s voice sounded a little too bright.
“Oh, I don’t know, Mom. Maybe when someone threatened to blow up your car, or you had that stalker two years ago, or—”
“Why would you think anything is wrong now?”
“Because you’re not answering my question with anything but questions.” Kristen checked her rearview mirror.
The dark SUV loomed closer.
Beside her, Mom sighed. “I have no reason to think anything is wrong. I haven’t had any threatening phone calls or mail.”
“But?” Kristen squeezed the word past the tightening of her chest.
“Nothing that doesn’t make me sound like a silly old woman.”
