“Hi, Mrs. Lawrie. What’s up?”
“Hello, dear. How have you been?”
“Not bad. At least, I haven’t had any more break-ins lately.”
“About that…I noticed a white car, you know, the type with the roof down? Well, it’s been circling around the street. It slows down each time it gets to your house and then moves on.”
Hope instantly became alert. “How long has this been going on?”
“Not long. About ten minutes of so, but it’s made the rounds three times.”
“I see.”
“There’s a woman driving the car and I was able to get the plate number,” Mrs. Lawrie finished triumphantly.
“Aw, Mrs. Laurie, you are a genius. Can you text it to me?” Hope asked.
“Sure thing, dear. Now you stay safe.”
“Thanks.”
She ended the call and turned to Rusty with worried eyes.
“What’s up?” he asked.
She relayed to him what Mrs. Lawrie had told her. Rusty immediately became tense.
“You wait here, I need to check this out,” he said.
“I’m coming with you,” Hope said.
“It could get dangerous, Hope. And I need to know that you are safe.”
“What if there is another break-in while you are gone?”
Rusty shook his head. “Not possible. We’ve reinforced this place so that you have a veritable fort right here. You will be safe here.”
But Hope was not satisfied. “What if something happens to you?”
Rusty drew her close and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me. I intend to pick up right where we left off just now.”
Hope’s lips clung to his for a brief second before he stepped back. He grabbed his keys and was gone. She wrapped her arms around herself, not liking the way things were going. Her cellphone beeped. It was the text message from Mrs. Lawrie.
She quickly entered the plate numbers into her system and waited. After a few moments, a name popped up. Sandy Shipman.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next morning, Hope woke up to an empty bed. She placed her hand on the indent on the pillow next to hers, where Rusty’s head had rested. The night before he had returned frustrated, not able to catch a trace of the car that had been circling the neighborhood.
In order to take his mind off his frustration, Hope had led him to her bedroom where she’d gone down on her knees and given him a blow job that had him shouting her name as he came deep in her throat. Watching him as he lost control had done something to her. She’d been so turned on by the time she was done that she had gone for her rarely used dildo.
Watching her pleasure herself must have done something for him too, because after less than half an hour, Rusty was ready for her. Their joining this time had been fierce and quick, with Hope reaching orgasm at record speed. She had fallen asleep in his arms afterwards.
She stretched now, feeling her muscles ache. Not like she minded, she was so satisfied that she was sure she would soon start purring like a kitten. Rusty had been a surprise as a lover, taking care of her needs and making sure she was okay every step of the way. She smiled as she thought of him. She’d been hoping for an early morning repeat of the night they’d had.
She got to her feet and stretched. If she was going to keep this up, she needed to build stamina. And she could not believe she was thinking this way, but maybe a run would help. She quickly changed into her running gear then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth before heading down the stairs.
She found Rusty on the dining table, hard at work. He lifted his head when he heard her and his eyes warmed, turning a liquid gold color.
“Hey,” he said, getting to his feet with a smile.
“Hey,” Hope replied.
Rusty kissed her and his kiss was tender. He ran gentle fingers through her hair and pressed a kiss to her nape.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“I did. Did you sleep at all?” She went to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.
“Hmm…well, there’s the fact that you snore like a construction worker…”
Hope gasped and turned to face him, “I do not snore!”
“Sure you do,” he said with a careless shrug. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Embrace your flaws.”
Hope hesitated. She did not snore, did she? Then she saw the twinkle in his eyes and shook her head.
“You don’t play fair, Rosabelle,” she said, turning back to the coffee maker. “You don’t tease a girl like that before her first cup of coffee.”
She felt him stand behind her, and then his arms snaked around her. He nuzzled her neck, sending delicious tingles down her spine.
“You are fun to tease,” he murmured in her ears.
“Yeah, yeah.” She added milk and sugar to her coffee.
“No seriously. I love teasing you.”
At the mention of the L word, Hope’s heart missed a beat and she spilled some of the hot coffee on her hand.
“Shit,” she swore as the pain went straight to her brain.
Rusty took the cup from her and gently placed it down on the counter. Then he led her to the kitchen sink where he turned on the tap and placed her stinging hand beneath the cold water. After a while, the pain subsided and she relaxed.
“Feeling better?” Rusty asked.
Hope nodded. She was embarrassed. She had reacted like a schoolgirl to something that had not even warranted such a reaction. She could only hope that he had not noticed her slip.
“Thanks,” she said.
He turned off the tap and placed a gentle kiss on the hurt hand, before letting go.
“I need to get back to work. Something has been niggling at the back of my mind.”
“You’re not going running?” She followed him out of the kitchen, sipping from her coffee mug as she went.
“In a moment,” he said, sitting down in front of his computer. “Something is not adding up. I’m waiting for the full background checks I ordered on your staff. Once I can go through then I have a feeling the dots will connect. That should clear up some of the confusion.” He glanced down at her feet and smiled at her running shoes.
“Are you laughing at my shoes?” Hope asked with a frown.
“They are cute though.”
She glanced down at her flower patterned Nikes and shrugged, “If I have to run then might as well do it in style,” she said.
“Hmm…” his attention had returned to the computer.
Hope sipped from her mug in silence. She still was not comfortable with his digging into people’s past, but she was not going to complain. Just then, her cellphone rang. It was Jared. She set down her coffee mug and stepped outside, leaving Rusty to his work. The air was crisp and she inhaled deeply, enjoying the morning air, before answering the phone.
“Hey, you, did you get us the deal?” she asked in a chipper voice.
“I’m sorry, Hope.” Jared’s voice was heavy, and immediately, Hope felt her good mood evaporate.
“We lost it? How?”
“Somehow the news about our compromised servers leaked. It was on the news late last night and by this morning, our shares had dropped to almost nothing.”
Hope’s heart sank. She leaned against Rusty’s vehicle. “So this is it?”
“This is it, Hope. We might have to declare bankruptcy in the next few days. Our investors are pulling their funds.”
Hope felt tears prick the back of her eyes. Everything she’d worked for…just like that. “So I’m back to the streets,” she said, trying to sound cheerful and failing miserably.
“You know that’s not possible. I took care of you, Hope. You have a rich portfolio. Shares, bonds, real estate…all those boring papers you never like to read before you sign? You are a wealthy woman…well, maybe not wealthy, but you’re okay.”
It was cold comfort. While it was a huge relief that she would not have to be homeless, the thought of
her business failing, all those people who depended on her for a paycheck suddenly having nothing, it hit her hard.
“This hurts, Jared,” she said, not doing anything to stop the tears that were now flowing freely.
“I know, baby. I know.” He sounded every bit as broken as she did.
“If I liquidate some of my assets, will I be able to give our employees a settlement?” She could not let them go like that. Some of them were a paycheck away from losing their homes.
“I got that covered,” Jared said.
“No, I’m not going to let you do this alone, Jared,” she said with determination. “Liquidate what you can without leaving me penniless.”
After the call ended, she stood there and gazed around her. She felt lost. So this was how it felt like to be a failure, she thought. She had worked so hard to make desireu a success, but it had fallen flat. She wanted to go back inside the house to cry on Rusty’s shoulder, but she stopped herself just in time. It was not fair to him. He was in a relationship with Hope Conran, co-founder of DesierU.Net. Without her business, who was she? What did she have to offer? Would he still want to be with her now that she was not a successful business owner? After all, it was not like he had said he loved her.
Her cellphone rang again. This time, it was the office line. She hesitated before answering, then taking a fortifying breath, she answered.
“Hello?”
“Hope, there’s an emergency at the office.”
“This early?” She strolled to the curb as she spoke.
“It’s really bad. All the IT staff are at the office and I’m actually on my way to get you.” They were not even willing to wait until the office opened? Well, it was as well. She would go out
Just then she saw the DesireU.Net van. It pulled over to the curb. She cut the phone and stepped forward.
“Let me get Rusty,” she said stepping back.
“There’s no time. I’ve called him he’ll meet us there.”
Hope paused. She turned back to the house. She would have loved to face this with Rusty beside her, but it was as well. It was time to cut him loose. She tucked her phone into the tiny pocket of her running gear and got into the car.
The automatic locks clicked, but there was another louder click. She felt a cold steel barrel at the back of her head and froze.
“Hope Conran, fancy meeting you here like this.”
Hope knew that voice. It sent chills down her spine, digging up forgotten terrors.
“Mrs. Shipman?”
“That’s right, bitch. Now don’t you move a muscle or I will use this baby.”
She turned to the person on the driver’s seat. “You!”
“Fooled you, right?” Mrs. Shipman said from behind. “Don’t worry darling, you will understand all things in due time.”
Hope felt the pain of betrayal wash over her. She was such a fool. And to think she had trusted.
“Why?” she asked, not bothering to hide the pain.
“You should be more concerned about what we’re going to do to you,” the evil woman sitting behind her said.
Hope took deep breaths and let them out as she used the breathing techniques she’d learned to find calm. She was not going to have a panic attack. If that was her last day on earth, then she wasn’t going to go out like a coward. She would keep her head and look for a chance to escape. With that resolution, she relaxed against the seat.
“You are not going to get away with this, you know,” she said casually.
“Who is going to get me? That hunky bodyguard you’re sleeping with?” Then she laughed, it sounded shrill and very disturbing. “He’s not even going to notice that you’re gone.”
**
Rusty was staring at his screen in shock. How had he missed it? He scrolled down, noting the information detailed there. It was right there before him, if only he’d been able to connect the dots. Suddenly, it dawned on him that Hope’s life was in real danger, and this went far beyond the hacking of her system.
He got up to inform her when the app on his phone began beeping, signifying that she had left the protected area.
“Shit!” Why would she do that when she knew the danger?
He pulled up the app and then his blood ran cold. She had not just gone down the road for a quick run, she had completely left the neighborhood and was heading southward. All his internal alarms began to ring. He grabbed his keys, his eyes still focused on the app, when suddenly, the red dot that showed him where she was disappeared.
Not wanting to believe what his eyes were telling him, he dashed out of the house, pressing his speed dial as he went. He ran around the yard, calling her name. There was no sign of Hope. Then he jogged a few meters down the road. Just then the person he was calling on the other side picked.
“Hi Rusty. What’s the matter?”
“Hope is gone.”
“Gone? What can you tell?”
“There was no sign of force. Also, she was in a car that headed south. I was able to keep track all the way to Bloomington before the signal disappeared.”
“Okay. You go back to Hope’s and we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Rusty was not down with the plan. He could not stand the thought of waiting while Hope was in danger.
“I could drive after them—”
“No, Rusty. You wait.”
“Emily—”
“I understand how you feel, Rusty. Believe me, I do. But I don’t want you rushing into a situation and making things worse. Ace and Tamika are available, she flew in last night for an assignment, but it’s not starting till tomorrow. We’ll all come over and plan a course of action.”
“Fine. I’ll wait.”
After the call, Rusty walked round Hope’s house, hoping for…he had no idea what he was hoping for. He just needed to find something. A clue. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. She had gone missing right under his nose. He had failed to keep her safe.
He walked to the back and returned to the front yard. There was nothing. Her car was still there, so he knew she had not gone for a drive. He tried her phone, but like he suspected, it was off. He glanced at his watch. It was just past seven, too early for her staff to be at work.
An idea struck him. He quickly scrolled through his contacts and pulled out a name, then pressed Call.
“Hi Steve, can you do some quick work for me?”
“Sure thing, dude. What’s up?”
“I need you to find the whereabouts of this person. I need to know if he’s in his house and if he’s not, where he’s gone.”
“How soon do you need the intel?”
“Like an hour ago.”
“Sure thing. Later.”
Rusty already knew what Steve would find. The person in question would not be home. What he was really interested in was where he was and what time he left home. In the meantime, he was wasting precious time pacing around. What he needed to do was bring out his skills on the computer so that he would have enough info ready for the team once they arrived. Even with Hope’s phone off, he should be able to track the location. That would give them a starting point at least.
He fired up his computer and the report he was studying earlier came up. He swore in anger. He still could not believe he had missed it. Sure, the name had changed, but he should have figured out the connection long before now, it would have kept Hope out of danger. She had trusted the wrong person and his guileless appearance had also thrown Rusty off. But now that he had found the connection, he was going to make the son of a bitch pay.
Half an hour later, his Silver Shield teammates arrived. They sat around the dining table and got to work.
“Tell us what you have,” Emily said.
He gave them a brief update on what they had so far. He had connected his laptop to the large screen TV there was a large map of Illinois displayed on the screen.
“I was tracking her on the app and the red light disappeared a couple of miles outside Chicago,” he said, p
ointing to the map. “Then I went online and tracked the phone all the way to Bloomington, and that’s where it ended.”
“Do you think they’re holding her there?” Tamika asked.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t seem likely since it’s a busy city. My thought is they would probably head across state lines towards Wisconsin.”
“So, Sandy Shipman’s car was spotted around the neighborhood last night and this morning Hope is gone. I think we should probably begin our search at her house. We might get a clue or two,” Emily said.
“We’re not sure if that’s the car they used to pick her up. We need to ask around if anyone saw anything. It’s going to be hard for the cops to put out a BOLO for the vehicle,” Tamika said.
Rusty nodded. A BOLO, which was simply be on the lookout, would be extremely helpful. “There is one person who might have seen something,” he said thoughtfully as he remembered the alert they got the day before from Mrs. Lawrie.
“Just a minute,” he said to the others and quickly placed a call to the elderly woman. She confirmed his suspicion. He ended the call and turned to the others. “Apparently, a DesireU.net van came for her this morning.”
“That’s interesting,” Ace said thoughtfully.
“Strange too,” Tamika added.
“Actually, not so strange,” Rusty said just as his phone rang. He held up a finger and answered the phone.
“Yo Steve, talk to me.”
“Well, the subject is not home and has not been to work.”
Just as he’d suspected. “Any idea on the time of exit?”
“I asked around and it appears to have been very early this morning, around six am.”
Rusty nodded. “Thanks Steve. Keep searching. We need to find this guy.”
“Will do.”
“So, you were saying?” Emily asked.
“I got the background report this morning and it seems this was also an inside job, which is why I said it was not so strange that one of the company vans picked her up. The person had access to an official vehicle.”
“This means it’s probably someone close to her,” Ace said.
“Right.” He pulled up the document he’d been studying and showed them the link. They were all silent as they took in the level of treachery.
Silver Shield Security Box Set Page 94
