Читать книгу Copy That - ХеленКей Даймон, HelenKay Dimon - Страница 9

“It’s been an hour and thirteen minutes since you went to collect information. I’ve been paging you for the last ten.” Ellis stopped pacing and shuffling the papers in his hands long enough to glare at Andrew. “You’d better have some good news to explain your delay.”

“Not exactly.” Andrew shut the office door behind him and stepped inside. Not far. Just in front of the door at the edge of the dark blue carpet. As if distance would save him from his new boss’s wrath.

“And by that do you mean ‘no’?”

“Garrett Hill is still missing.” The younger man visibly swallowed but his voice stayed strong. He didn’t as much as shift his feet as he delivered the bad news.

“Unacceptable.”

Andrew spent far too long studying the file in front of him before responding. “Our man in Coronado says—”

“Stop.” Ellis dropped his stack of folders on the desk and slid into his chair. The silence stretched out, ratcheting up the tension as it built. He could have eased the choking panic in the room, but he fed off it instead, letting the quiet throw the younger man further off balance.

“Sir?”

“I don’t care what anyone says.”

“Excuse me?”

“Call the operative back in. While you’re at it, tell him to bring his government passport and security badge with him, because if he can’t track a man escaping a fire in the middle of broad daylight he’s done at this agency.” So much for sending the guy with a decade of service to cover his top man. Garrett Hill could slip any tail. That’s what made him so good.

“But according to our guy there was a pretty big crowd around the fire. It would have been easy for anyone to move in or out of there without being noticed.”

Ellis flipped a switch on his desk and a bank of monitors to the left flickered to life. “There are people in this office who get paid to keep me updated on what’s happening everywhere in the world. I need you to establish other skills if you want to remain useful.”

He also had a file on his desk filled with photos and status reports and backgrounds on every person in Garrett’s neighborhood. Ellis had possession of redacted top secret reports on the brother and a separate paper consisting of less than a paragraph about some woman named Meredith Samms, a woman Garrett should have run through a background check before allowing her to move into his house.

When Ellis debriefed Garrett he’d add in a question or two about that. Being the best didn’t mean he could ignore the rules. Well, not all of them.

Ellis glanced up and noticed Andrew hadn’t moved an inch in five minutes. Good.

Now, on to the next issue. “Locate Darren Mitchell.”

“Right now?”

“Yes, Andrew.”

“But he’s no longer with the DIA.”

“It would appear we’re back to the obvious.”

Andrew’s eyebrow rose and an uncharacteristic spark of anger flashed in his eyes. “Excuse me?”

Ellis took the show of emotion as a good sign. He admired people who stood their ground. The weak wasted his time. “I’m aware of Darren’s work status with this agency, since I’m the one who fired him after Garrett filed his last operation report.”

“My point is that we can no longer track the man through the building or in his car or at his house by using his badge or the GPS tags.”

“There are other ways. He’s wearing an ankle monitor. It was one of the conditions of his bail. Get me a report on where he’s been and with whom. Also check the video surveillance.”

“Excuse me?”

“Say that again and you’re fired.” Satisfaction flowed through him when Andrew’s mouth snapped shut. “We’re tracking Darren’s moves.”

“All the time?”

“Yes. We used the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act and got a warrant. We know everything he says and does, or we should. Your job is to check for loopholes.”

“Anyone else?”

“Garrett Hill has many enemies, the most immediate and obvious one being the fellow agent he turned in for extortion. With Darren’s trial looming, he is a logical choice for investigation. He takes out Garrett, he stands a better chance of walking away clean.”

MEREDITH PULLED BACK the thin yellow curtain with the strange flower print and stared out at the empty motel parking lot. The SUV they’d driven here had disappeared. Except for Joel walking back and forth in front of the door as he talked on the phone, there wasn’t any sign of life out there. Just the sun bouncing off the black pavement as it dipped lower on the horizon.

They’d driven across the bridge into downtown San Diego and kept heading east until the neighborhoods disappeared and nothing stood in front of them except a row of mountains. She had no idea where they were or how long they’d been in the car. She’d been too focused on keeping pressure on Jeremy’s stomach. Every flat, muscled inch of it.

“It’s not exactly four-star accommodations.” Despite the slight slur around the edges of his voice, it boomed strong and deep through the small room with the queen-size bed and bright orange bedspread.

She let the curtain drop and moved back to the bed. The white bandage glowed against his tan skin. She’d cleaned the wound then watched and winced as Joel stitched Jeremy up. Through it all, he gritted his teeth and introduced her to some inventive swearing combinations, but he never said anything else. Never yelled. It was as if he were made of steel.

She sat down next to him, careful not to let the bed dip or the shake of the cheap mattress jostle him. “I’ve stayed in worse.”

He curled one arm under his head and propped his body up on the flat pillows. “You need to date guys who treat you better.”

“I was paying my own way at the time.”

“I know you and Garrett…that you guys are…” Jeremy stared at the ceiling, his gaze following the lines in the crisscross panel design. “It’s not my business, but maybe he said something to you during some of your private time together. Something that didn’t seem important at the time.”

“I was his tenant.”

Jeremy’s gaze shot back to hers. Bright blue eyes held her fixed in place. “Tenant?”

“I rented the upstairs apartment.”

He shook his head then closed his eyes and let out a groan. “Shouldn’t have done that.”

“Are you okay?”

“Confused and trying to beat this headache.”

“Because?”

“It hurts.”

She sighed. “I meant the confusion.”

“It’s the house thing.” When he spoke again, his voice dipped even lower. He rubbed his temples as he talked. “It’s not possible.”

“It’s a fact.”

“That doesn’t make sense.” He grabbed his head as he spoke.

“You really do have a headache, don’t you?”

“There isn’t anything that doesn’t hurt, but I’d really like an explanation for the rental.”

Her gaze swept over him. His bloody T-shirt lay wadded up in a ball on the floor. That left him bare-chested and, despite the injury and pale face, as formidable and dangerous as when he’d stepped behind her attacker hours ago.

“I’d show you the lease, but it’s probably scorched, along with everything else I own.”

He waved her off. “Not a big deal. Insurance will cover most of it.”

“I hate when guys do that dismissive thing.”

His hands fell to the mattress. “How did I do that?”

“What about my memories? Nothing expensive or even important to anyone but me, but they’re still mine.” The photographs of her family and the diaries she’d kept since she turned twelve. She knew being alive was a miracle, but she mourned the moments she would now only carry in her head.

“But it’s only stuff.”

“Never mind.” A practical guy who carried light would never understand, so she didn’t even try. “Why do you doubt my renting status?”

“Because I own the house with Garrett. Because we never agreed to rent. Because he never mentioned you. Because I can’t believe Sara would agree.”

“I see you’ve given this some thought.”

“I’ve been stuck on an assignment in Arizona, but I’d think Garrett would have gotten word to me.”

“This assignment of yours.” Her gaze wandered to the nightstand and the two guns, one knife and strange-looking metal star thing sitting there. “I guess it explains the weapons?”

“Remember how I said I was a Border Patrol agent? Well, I’ve been undercover for fourteen months.”

“Sounds terrible.”

His mouth fell into a flat line when he tried to sit up higher on the bed. He flopped back against the pillow as the skin around the corners of his mouth turned white. “It was even worse than that, but it’s over.”

“No wonder you seem so comfortable chasing and shooting.”

“Not so good with being injured, though.”

She traced her fingers over the edge of the bandage and watched his stomach dip in response. “You got knifed on your last assignment. It hadn’t healed when the guy hit you.”

“And now I am on mandatory leave.”

The laugh bubbled up before she could stop it. “This is your idea of rest and relaxation? Dodging bullets and running from fires?”

“Believe it or not, no.”

His broad smile caught her off guard. Since she’d done enough admiring of his strong jaw and sexy mouth, she looked around the room, anywhere not to stare at him.

The room smelled like wet carpet, and the dark brown furniture and lack of sunlight made it resemble a tomb. Not the best place for a guy to recuperate.

They both jumped when Joel opened the door, talking as he walked. “Pax and Davis are on the way.”

She drew back her hand and inched away from Jeremy. “Who?”

“More of Garrett’s men.” This time Jeremy scooted back until his neck rested against the headboard. “Why are they even here? I thought they were working out east these days.”

“Had some business in town.”

Jeremy nodded. “Understood.”

“That makes one of us.” The shortcut conversation was making her crazy. She’d shoot them her best eye roll but was too tired to do anything but talk, and even that took more concentration than she possessed. “Now might be a good time to tell me what your brother does and why he has so many men helping him do it.”

“I like her.” Joel laughed as he took up a position by the window, glancing at them each in turn and then looking outside. “Don’t get me wrong. I liked Sara, too, but this one has spunk.”

That was the second or third time Meredith had heard the name. Each time Jeremy had frowned and shot her an unreadable look.

Meredith couldn’t shake the feeling of being judged by Jeremy. “And while you’re at it, explain who this Sara person is.”

Joel treated her to the typical she-lost-it look guys did so well. “She’s Garrett’s fiancée.”

Meredith jumped off the bed. Nearly swallowed her tongue and bounced Jeremy off the mattress as she moved. “His what?”

“I guess I should say ex. I mean, you guys are—” Joel’s smirk died. “Right?”

“Wrong.”

Jeremy wrapped his fingers around her wrist and gave her a gentle tug until she looked down at him. “You still sure you’re not seeing Garrett?”

“Positive. Never dated or even thought about it.”

Jeremy pointed at his mouth. “You can resist a face like this?”

“On Garrett, yes. Keep in mind he was never around.”

Jeremy’s hold tightened before he let his hand drop. “Go back to your first comment. Only on my brother?”

She’d hoped he’d missed that verbal misstep. No such luck. “I’m wondering why I’ve never seen this Sara person at the house.”

The amusement faded from Jeremy’s eyes. “I’m worried about the same thing.”

Joel held up his phone. “She didn’t answer any of the four times I’ve tried.”

Meredith refused to panic. None of the information she’d heard made any sense. She rarely saw Garrett, but he’d never mentioned a fiancée and never bothered to bring her by to say hello. The pieces refused to fit together in any logical way. Still, Meredith had to believe a reasonable explanation lingered somewhere, maybe just out of reach, but there. “Couldn’t she be on vacation with Garrett? That would explain why we can’t reach either of them.”

Something cold and bleak moved behind Jeremy’s eyes. He controlled the starkness almost immediately. “I can’t contact him through any of our regular channels and he’s not answering the emergency call signal.”

Joel shook his head. “Damn.”

From the reaction, she knew the lack of communication wasn’t standard. She might not see him for weeks, but Garrett clearly checked in with Jeremy and the team. The failure to do so now had the other men reeling. Their tension touched off a new round of swirling panic inside her.

“Tell Pax and Davis to search for Sara. Credit cards, bank records. I want to know where she’s been.” Jeremy reached for his phone and frowned when it wasn’t in its place on the nightstand. “Once I fight off this painkiller buzz, I’ll check her house and some other places where she might be.”

Meredith put her hand over her back pocket. If Jeremy saw the bulge he’d know she’d grabbed his cell. He’d likely jump to conclusions about her wanting to call for help. In reality she knew, deep down knew, she was safest with Jeremy and there was no reason to run.

She also knew she had to hide his phone if she wanted him to rest. Having all those muscles meant nothing if he passed out at her feet.

“Already ahead of you on the calls,” Joel said. “Davis and I will take surveillance. Pax is coming to check you out.”

“Not necessary.” Jeremy shifted to the side of the bed.

She moved to lean against the mattress, blocking his path to the floor. “Does this Pax have medical training?”

Joel smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Then I like your plan. Pax stays. You remain in bed for now.” She nudged Jeremy until he fell back onto the bed.

“Since when are you in charge?” Jeremy asked as he closed his eyes and leaned into the pillows.

No way was she conceding even an inch in this verbal battle. “Since you lost a pint or two of blood.”

Joel cleared his throat as he opened the door. “I’ll wait outside while you two hash this out.”

She didn’t wait to ask the question burning a hole in her brain. “Why would Garrett hide a fiancée?”

Jeremy didn’t open his eyes. “No idea.”

“Did you think they were still together?”

“They were having trouble but…” His eyes popped open. “I’ll feel better when I find her and Garrett.”

“Let’s get back to his job. Who exactly is your brother?” Then they could circle around to Jeremy’s job, as well, before the curiosity ate a hole in Meredith’s stomach.

She wasn’t ready to let the issue drop with a cursory explanation. Something these men did had gotten them in trouble, and as a result she was homeless with nothing more than the clothes she wore. She didn’t blame them. Not specifically. But she wasn’t going to be pushed aside either.

“Are you rapid firing questions to keep me from having a second to change your orders to Joel about fetching Pax?” he asked.

Smart man. “That and to get an answer or two out of you while your defenses are down.”

“Effective.”

She crossed her arms over her stomach. “It will be once you answer me.”

He stared at her. When she didn’t move or even break eye contact, he exhaled long and loud. “Garrett’s job is top secret.”

Not exactly the comment she was expecting. “How very Hollywood of you to say that.”

“It’s true.”

She dropped her hands to her sides. “Jeremy, come on. After everything that’s happened today, the least you can do is level with me. I think I deserve better than the ‘if I tell you I’ll have to kill you’ nonsense.”

“It’s not my secret to tell.”

“What, you think this has all been an elaborate scheme to get you to give up information on your brother’s job?”

The silence stretched out long enough to be comical. Finally, he gave a clipped response. “No.”

“You have trust issues.”

“DIA.”

It took her a second to realize he’d given her the answer. Well, an answer. Not that she understood what he said. “I don’t even know what that is.”

“Defense Intelligence Agency.”

“Never heard of it. The name I know starts with a C.”

“He collects military-related foreign intel.”

The extra information didn’t bring any clarity. “Is he in the military?”

“Former army sergeant.”

“And now?”

“Black ops stuff.”

The curt responses raised more questions than they answered. Instead of calming the racing in her stomach, his comments kicked the churning to top speed. “That explains the travel.”

“It also means it’s not that easy to find him when he wants to stay missing.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”