Show of Force

by Elle James

  “I’m full,” Riley lied. Though she wasn’t full, she couldn’t eat another bite when her stomach twisted and churned.

  “I need energy. I’m finishing, and then we’ll leave.” He touched her hand. “I’ll hurry.”

  Riley sat across the table, trying to contain her impatience as Mack shoved his eggs and hash browns down his throat.

  She even ate a few more bites as she waited. Less than five minutes later, Mack washed the food down with coffee, threw some bills on the table and stood. “Let’s go.”

  Riley leaped to her feet and hurried out the door in front of Mack.

  Once they were in the truck, she had to contain her excitement for the long drive back into the city. Since it was a weekend, the traffic wasn’t as horrible as a workday, but it was steady and thick.

  Riley cursed how slow the traffic moved. Finally, they reached their turnoff. Her heart beat faster as they neared the street address. They pulled into an apartment complex with peeling paint on the walls and run-down cars parked in the lot.

  “Maybe you should stay here,” Mack suggested.

  Riley raised her eyebrows. “Really? I don’t think so.”

  “Suit yourself. Just be ready. I don’t have a good feeling about the neighborhood.”

  Three men in old jeans and faded shirts sat on the steps leading up to the building, smoking cigarettes.

  Mack walked up to them.

  Despite her bravado, Riley wasn’t excited about passing the gauntlet of men in ragged clothing and smoke. But if the man inside the building had Toby, she’d do anything to get him out. Throwing back her shoulders, she followed Mack up the stairs, giving the men on the steps as much room as possible.

  When she thought she’d made it past without incident, a hand reached out and gripped her ankle. Instinct took over. She turned the leg he held on to and shoved with all her might. The man fell off the steps backward, losing his grip on her ankle as he tumbled.

  The other two men laughed at their friend.

  Riley hurried up the steps after Mack before the man on the ground could recover.

  Once inside, they climbed to the third floor and walked down a hallway that smelled like a dirty locker room to the fourth door on the left.

  Mack raised his hand to knock. When his knuckles touched the door, it swung inward. The lock had been broken, and the doorframe was splintered.

  Riley’s heart plunged into her belly. She pushed past Mack and ran into the apartment, calling out, “Toby? Toby!”

  No answer.

  A moan came from a room to the right.

  Riley started to enter, but Mack grabbed her arm and held her back. He pulled his handgun from beneath his jacket and waved her to the side.

  Because he was armed, she let him take the lead, though it cost her to wait.

  “Riley,” Mack called out.

  She ran into a bedroom containing a bare mattress and bloodstains on the wall.

  Mack knelt on the far side of the bed. “We found our mystery man, but he’s in bad shape.”

  Riley ran around the bed and stared down at a man with a hole in his chest, lying in a pool of blood. He reached up to clasp Mack’s hand. Mack took it and held on as if he could keep the guy from dying by the strength of his grip.

  “Where’s the boy?” Mack demanded.

  The man opened his mouth and coughed, and blood trickled from the corner of his lips. “He paid...me...” He coughed again, his chest rattling with fluid. “Paid me...to follow.”

  “Alan, who paid you?” Riley asked. “Does he have the boy? Did he take Toby?”

  The man’s gaze shifted to Riley. “Yes.”

  “Who is he? Please, tell me,” Riley begged.

  “Cash deal.” Durgan coughed and closed his eyes.

  “Alan Durgan, don’t you die on me,” Riley said. “That’s my brother he has. Where did he take him?”

  “Didn’t know,” Durgan whispered.

  “Can you tell us anything about him?” Tears filled Riley’s eyes and spilled down her cheeks. The man was going to die without telling them who had Toby.

  “Badge. Had a badge.”

  “What kind of badge? Was he a police officer?”

  “No. Worker badge...dropped when...paid.” Durgan coughed, the rattle in his chest worse.

  “Did the badge say where he worked?”

  The man lay with his eyes closed, his breathing fading. He gasped, drawing in a rattling breath and letting it out with one word Riley could barely hear: “Quest.”

  “What did he look like? What was his name?” Riley grabbed the man’s collar and shook him. “Don’t die on me. Toby is all the family I have left.”

  Durgan didn’t respond. He lay still, his chest no longer rattling, rising or anything. The man was dead, and with him went the knowledge of who had Toby.

  Chapter Six

  Mack placed the call to the police. While they waited for the authorities to arrive, they left the apartment and descended the stairs to the ground level.

  Of the three men who’d been there when they came in, only one was left. The one Riley had shoved onto the ground. And he didn’t look all too happy.

  Mack lifted his chin and stared at the man, studying the tattoos on his arms. One stood out from the rest. “That’s a Marine Corps emblem on your arm. You earn that or pay for it?” he asked.

  “Both. Seven years, two deployments to the sandbox and a bum knee.” The man’s eyes narrowed. “What’s it to you?”

  “Did twelve in the corps.” He held out his hand.

  For a moment, the man stared at the hand. Then he took it and pulled Mack into a quick hug. “Thank you for your service, man.”

  “And you yours,” Mack responded. “Name’s Mack Balkman.”

  “Joe Sarly,” the man introduced himself. “Who’s your girlfriend?”

  Riley started to open her mouth, but Mack answered before she could. “Riley.”

  Joe snorted. “Got a helluva kick.” He nodded to Riley. “I deserved it.”

  “Damn right you did.” Riley glared at the man.

  He rubbed his chest and grinned. “You looked like a woman on a mission. I couldn’t resist poking at you.” He glanced up at the apartment building. “Who ya visiting?”

  “Alan Durgan,” Mack said.

  Joe frowned. “The PI?”

  “PI?” Riley asked.

  “Yeah, he’s a private investigator. Most of the time he’s taking photos of men cheating on their wives or wives cheating on their husbands. What’s he done to you?”

  “He provided information to a man who kidnapped a child.”

  Joe’s eyes widened. “No kidding? The dirtbag deserves to be shot.”

  “He got what he deserved,” Riley muttered.

  Joe looked at the building again. “What do you mean?”

  “Someone shot him.” Mack turned toward the sound of the sirens wailing a couple of streets over. “The police will be here shortly.”

  Joe shifted on his feet, his gaze on the entrance to the parking lot. “Damn. I didn’t really mean it about him deserving to be shot.”

  “How long have you been sitting on these steps?” Mack asked.

  Joe shrugged. “A couple of hours.”

  “Did you see anyone besides us go into the apartment building during that time?”

  “The lady who lives on the second floor came and went.” Joe scratched his head. “And some guy delivered a package to one of the units inside.”

  “Do you know which floor?”

  “I didn’t follow him, if that’s what you mean. But I could hear his footsteps for what sounded like a couple of flights of stairs.” Joe’s eyes got rounder. “You think the delivery guy offed Durgan?”

  “We don’t know, but I’m sure the police will want to ask
the same questions.” Mack nodded to the police car pulling into the parking lot.

  As much as Mack didn’t want to stick around and answer questions, he felt that if they left without speaking with the police, they’d appear guilty.

  An hour later, Riley was pacing the parking lot, ready to leave. Declan managed to contact one of Charlie’s contacts in the police department who cleared the way for them to leave as long as they dropped by the next day to sign a deposition about what they’d found in Durgan’s apartment.

  Mack held the door for Riley to climb into his truck. When she was settled in the seat, he rounded the hood and slipped into the driver’s seat. They were on their way soon, weaving between the emergency vehicles that had gathered in response to Durgan’s murder.

  “The guy who has Toby works at Quest,” Riley said, staring out the windshield, her fingers digging into the armrest so hard her knuckles turned white.

  “We don’t know that. He might have stolen a badge to get inside and spy on you.”

  “When badges are stolen, they don’t go long before they are reported. The only reason he’d still have that badge is if he is on the inside.”

  “Do you think this has something to do with what happened a couple of weeks ago?” Mack asked. “Do you think the people who were stealing the secret project plans are paying you and Charlie back for interfering?”

  Riley stared across the cab at Mack. “If that’s the case, he could be one of four thousand employees in that building. How do we narrow the search down to one man? And how do I do that before the weekend is over? Surely he’ll want to know Mrs. Halverson died before Monday. He’s expecting a quick death. And if I didn’t do it right, he might step in and finish the job.”

  “My guys will be watching over Charlie. They’ll make sure he doesn’t get anywhere near her.”

  “Can you be certain?”

  He held up one hand, the other firmly on the steering wheel. “They can be trusted to protect her.”

  “But I got to her when you were supposed to be protecting her.”

  Mack’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “I thought you were one of the good guys.”

  “And I thought I was, too.” She stared down at her hands. “Sometimes we do things we don’t want to do to protect those we love.”

  “I failed Charlie this time.” He’d been surprised the widow had let him stay on with Declan’s Defenders after he let her into the restroom with an assassin. “My guys won’t let it happen again.”

  “I need to get inside Quest. Maybe the man who has Toby is connected with the folks who were stealing secrets.”

  “I thought the only one in Quest who was helping with that was your old supervisor. And he’s dead.”

  “Yes, he is, but there might have been more.”

  “And how will you be able to single him out when most people are at home for the weekend?”

  “I don’t know. I just think the answer is at Quest.”

  “Can you get me in?”

  She shook her head. “Not through the front door. Declan got in last time by sneaking in via a delivery truck.”

  “The chances of that happening on a weekend are slim to none.”

  “Then I’ll have to go alone.”

  “What about the cleaning crew? Does Quest have a service?”

  Riley’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. They come in after hours and on weekends when there aren’t many people in the building. I remember working on a Saturday and Sunday and hearing the sound of the vacuum cleaner on my floor.”

  “All I have to do is slip in when they do.”

  “There are security cameras throughout the building.”

  “Then I have to look like I’m cleaning. Easy enough.”

  Riley’s brow wrinkled. “You hardly look like the cleaning crew.”

  “I can disguise myself. You can get in on your own ID and I’ll find a way in via the cleaning crew.”

  “Okay.” Riley nodded and focused on the road ahead. “Then what?”

  “We track down who your supervisor had contact with. You might also check your desk for bugs and your computer for Trojan horses. Someone might have a backdoor into your computer at work who is monitoring your communications.”

  Riley shook her head. “I’m very careful about changing my passwords.”

  “If there’s a listening device or camcorder recording your movements, it doesn’t matter how many times you change your password. Someone could be recording your changes as you make them.” Mack brushed her arm with the backs of his knuckles. “You could be doing the right things and still be giving away secrets.”

  “Damn.” She ran a hand through her hair. “If he wants the data I kept him from getting, why ask me to kill Charlie?”

  “Apparently, he knows Charlie was behind the foiled attempt to secure the data. That and if you killed Charlie, he had that over you to make you do whatever he wanted. All he had to do was threaten to expose you.”

  “And use Toby as his leverage if that didn’t work.” Riley closed her eyes. “He has no intention of giving Toby back to me.”

  “Which makes it all the more imperative we find the child and get him back.”

  Riley nodded and bit her bottom lip. “That poor kid has to be traumatized by all this. He can’t help who his parents were and who his sister is. Why can’t they leave him alone?”

  “Because they know he’s your weakness,” Mack reminded her. He reached for her hand and held it. “But if you’re going to have a weakness, it’s a good one to have. It shows you have a heart.”

  She tightened her fingers around his and held his hand the rest of the way to the building where she worked.

  Mack liked the way her fingers felt, supple but strong. He could imagine how they’d feel sweeping across his naked chest and lower. He admired her strength and her commitment to her brother. If he’d had a chance to save his brother, he’d have taken it. He knew how it felt to lose someone you love, especially someone who had his entire life ahead of him. Aiden had barely begun to live. Mack refused to let anything happen to Toby. That kid was like the little brother Mack had lost all those years ago. They had to find him. He had to live. For Riley. For Aiden.

  * * *

  RILEY STARED THROUGH the windshield at the street ahead, her mind going through all the possibilities. Who at Quest had been watching her besides her supervisor? Who would have paid a PI to follow Toby and the nanny? Who had bugged her apartment?

  All those questions remained unanswered as long as she sat in Mack’s truck. She needed action, and she felt that she’d find the answers at Quest.

  When they approached the building, Riley had Mack circle the block. A van stood at the rear of the building near the loading dock. The writing on the van indicated it was from the cleaning agency that serviced the building.

  Three women left the Quest building, walked to the van and climbed inside. They pulled out of the dock area and drove out onto the street.

  “Follow them,” Riley said. She glanced at her watch. “It’s noon. They might be going out to get something to eat.”

  Mack gave the van a sufficient lead before he turned onto the street behind them.

  After several turns, the van stopped at a pizzeria and the three women entered the establishment.

  Mack pulled into a parking lot at the Thai restaurant one building over from the pizzeria. “Be ready to roll. I’ll be right back.” He opened the driver’s door and dropped down from the truck.

  Riley slid across the console into the driver’s seat, her heart pounding. “Where are you going?”

  “Into that van.”

  She waved toward the vehicle in question. “But it’s out in the open.”

  “If those women are hungry, they aren’t watching the van. They’re watching the guys inside making pizza.” He walked across t
he parking lot as if he were going to pass the back of the van. As he came abreast of the back door, he tried the handle. The door swung open and Mack disappeared inside.

  Riley held her breath, her gaze going from the van to the pizzeria. What if the ladies came out early? What if they caught Mack in the back of the van? Would they call the police?

  A moment later, the door of the pizzeria opened and the three women came out carrying two boxes each of pizzas. They were laughing and smiling as they walked toward the van.

  One entered through the sliding side door at the same time the back door opened and Mack slipped out, carrying a bundle. He eased the door closed and hunkered low, waiting for the side door to close and the other two women to get into the van.

  Then he made his move, walking out from behind the van as if he were passing by. Only he walked away from where Riley sat in the truck.

  The ladies in the van pulled away from the pizzeria and back out onto the street.

  Riley whipped the truck into Drive and went around the other side of the pizza place, where Mack stood with his bundle, grinning.

  “What did you do?” Riley asked as he jumped into the passenger seat and slammed the door closed.

  “I got my ticket into Quest.” He held up a security badge and a jumpsuit with the name of the cleaning company embroidered on the front along with a woman’s name. Eudora.

  “You’re going into Quest dressed as a cleaning lady?”

  He nodded. “I am. Didn’t Declan get in as a package delivery guy? I figure if he can do it, so can I.”

  “One big drawback.” Riley stared at the badge and at Mack. “You don’t look anything like Eudora.”

  “I’ll wear a baseball cap.”

  Riley shook her head. The idea of the big marine dressing up as a cleaning lady was ludicrous. “You think you’ll fit in that jumpsuit?”

  He nodded. “It’s big.”

  “Yeah, but you’re tall. That thing will barely go past your knees.”

  He slipped out of his shoes and shoved his feet into the legs of the jumpsuit. “It’ll do to get me past the gate and the security cameras.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”