Buch lesen: «Security Detail»

ONE

Kayla Harris shoved the key in the lock of her office door and glanced one more time down the dark hallway. Streetlights lit a swatch of the wood floor through the window at the end of the hall. Cold fingered the back of her neck, a sensation that hadn’t let up all day. Not since that weird phone call this afternoon. It was probably all in her head that she’d been able to hear someone breathing on the other end.

Why did she have to forget that file? She should be home. Safe.

For eight years she hadn’t had a Secret Service detail to watch out for her, and not once had she thought she might need it—until right now. What was different tonight? The fear was probably all her imagination.

Kayla sighed, mostly at her overactive imagination, and turned the key. The door swung open before she could unlock it. She didn’t move, just stood in the hall and looked inside.

Footsteps. Heavy shoes on the wood of the stairs ascended to the second floor above the Main Street bakery in Samson, Virginia. The only entrance and exit for the second floor. The rental space was at the north end of Main. Quaint town, nice people who had the decency to—for the most part—not mention the things she’d done as a young adult.

Since she’d lived in the White House at the time, it meant that everyone in the country knew her story. A mother who had passed away from cancer, her father just reelected for his second term. Kayla had...gone off the rails, to put it pleasantly. But that was years ago, and she didn’t need to be reminded of the White House or those days so soon after her mother had passed.

It wasn’t hiding, living the small-town life. Not if everyone knew who she was. She’d spent her teen years tormenting the White House staff, the Secret Service—particularly the agents assigned to her—and her father with her wild ways. But that was years ago. Now she liked her quiet life of prenuptial agreements, wills and contracts. Most of which involved her sitting at her desk and not in a courtroom. Sure, it was an illusion of anonymity, but it was her life and she liked it.

And now this.

Someone was coming, and there was no time to run to the fire exit.

Kayla ducked inside and gripped the handle so it made no sound when she closed and locked the door. She pulled out her phone, clicked on the flashlight and shone it around. The fact that her office had been torn apart didn’t register. It couldn’t; there was no time.

Kayla wasn’t alone. That was all she needed to know.

She dialed 911. The operator answered, an older lady she’d met at church who said everything like it was and didn’t mince words. Her phone chimed. Low battery. Kayla opened her mouth to reply to the operator and heard those heavy steps in the hallway. The reply choked in her throat. Help.

Her office had been searched. Destroyed. Had they waited around for her?

Kayla’s heart pounded in her chest until she thought it might burst. She raced to the far side of her “lawyer desk,” the one her father had bought her after she had passed the Virginia bar. Her father, former president Jefferson Harris, would send a batch of Secret Service agents to protect her if she asked him to. But it would be too late.

Kayla crouched and hugged her jacket tight to her chest with her purse in her lap. Lord. She was a whole different person now than she’d been all those years ago, a “new creation,” God called her. She had peace with God. She needed some of that peace now.

A floorboard in the hall creaked.

She looked around for something to defend herself with, spotted an umbrella in the corner where she hung her coat and rushed to grab it. She couldn’t hide; she had to fight. Brandishing the thing like a weapon, Kayla waited as the sound of her own breath rushed through her ears.

The door handle twisted.

“Hey!” A man’s voice. But not from the other side of the door. This was farther away. The handle was released and the heavy steps pounded down the hall. A second set followed, giving chase to the far end. Bang. Bang. Glass shattered. Kayla dropped her purse on the floor and covered her ears as she stepped back until her shoulders hit the wall.

“Stop!” A man’s voice.

Then all she could hear was the thump of her heart in her chest. She lowered her hands. What was happening? Should she run? Call 911 again? Scream for help? Her phone lay on the floor by the desk, the screen lit but too far away for her to see if the call was still active.

Again, cold fingered the back of her neck. All too reminiscent of the night she’d snuck into a club so many years ago and had been slipped something in her drink. If Conner hadn’t found her, who knew what might have happened that night. But Special Agent Conner Thorne hadn’t thought his actions anything special. Just doing my job, Ms. Harris. She’d rolled her eyes, but inside, she’d been about to cry at the fact that he could be so impersonal with her. Especially when the feelings she’d had for the twenty-six-year-old Secret Service agent were anything but. Like a four-year age difference really made him “too old for her.”

Conner had been her first real crush. Her first real sense of what love might be. She’d never met anyone in college who brought out those feelings. Then he’d come along that last year her father was in the White House and she’d never met anyone else since who measured up.

More recently, Kayla had heard he’d been fired from the Secret Service. Something else she’d put behind her to add to the list of things she’d moved on from.

Still, thinking of him gave her peace. Thank You, Lord.

A shadow darkened the office doorway. The door was cracked only a few inches, but she saw it. The person pushed open the door slowly, hesitantly. A killer on the prowl? Kayla wanted to run to her phone, but was it worth the risk when the move might cost her her life?

After a deep breath, Kayla called out, “If you take one step in here, I’ll blow your head off!”

“You don’t like guns.”

That voice.

The light flipped on.

That face.

Kayla dropped the umbrella.

The lips on his scruffy face curled up at the corners. “Were you planning on skewering me with that thing? I’m having a bad enough day already.”

Kayla pressed one hand to her throat. “You scared me half to death with that cloak-and-dagger entrance, Conner Thorne.”

“Ah, so you haven’t forgotten me.” His lips broke into a smile. Conner Thorne. He still gave off that air of boyish charm, but there was nothing boyish about this man. Dark jeans, heavy boots, a button-up shirt and a leather jacket. His chocolate-brown hair needed cutting, and he badly needed to shave.

“You look like a thug.”

“And you look like a lawyer.” He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Though I guess that’s the point in both cases.”

“What are you doing here?” This was so weird. “Do you...live here in town or something?”

“Or something.” Conner glanced around the room. “Nice place. Nice town, too. I’ve been here and around for almost six months now.”

“Six—” She choked. “And you’re just coming to say hi now?”

He smiled again. “Not exactly.”

“Was that you in the hall?”

“I shot wide and chased him off. He ran down the fire escape at that end. But he saw my face.”

That seemed to be a bad thing, as Conner’s brow furrowed over his blue eyes.

“Who was it?”

He looked around her office like he was trying to figure out a puzzle. “Did you make this mess?”

Kayla exhaled and crossed the room. “Yeah, I just love cleaning so much I make messes on purpose.” She swiped up the phone. The call to 911 had disconnected. Did that mean Sheriff Johnson was on his way? “I figured whoever that was, he did this after I left work. I was picking up a file I’d forgotten that I need to work on this weekend.” She laid a hand on her roiling stomach and tried to take a deep breath. “He must have done this, then come back. Maybe he followed me. Who was it?”

“Someone I...work with.”

So he was a thug, for real? Kayla had heard he got fired after he was discredited. Too many indiscretions committed and too few orders followed. He’d never been one to toe the line, but she never dreamed he’d go this far.

Kayla glanced at the window, suddenly feeling less safe with this man who’d once been a friend.

How long until the police arrived?

The sheriff was a friend, a nice older man who protected this county fiercely. Sheriff Johnson referred battered women to her when they wanted to get help but didn’t know where to go. She’d done some good in this county that had nothing to do with her job and everything to do with a desire that no woman should ever feel the way she’d felt that night years ago. A victim.

The fear sat in her middle, unfurling like a snake ready to strike at her again.

Conner studied the room, then glanced at her. “When the sheriff gets here, tell him everything.” He checked his watch. “I don’t want to read about your grisly demise in the paper while I’m drinking my morning coffee. Okay?”

Kayla folded her arms. He couldn’t have known that man had tossed her office, couldn’t have faked that surprise. He knew that he didn’t need to do that with her when they’d always been honest with each other, even when it was hard. So why had he shown up tonight? “One condition.”

“What’s that?” He shifted his stance. Was he really so eager to leave her?

“Tell me why you’re here.”

* * *

Conner ignored the question. Being in the same room as President Harris’s daughter again was messing with his head. The cute young woman had grown into a strikingly beautiful lady who looked nothing like the Ivy League princess he’d imagined she would eventually become. She’d certainly straightened herself out from those days of pink streaks in her blond hair just to annoy her father and risky outfits her mother never would have approved of.

Conner couldn’t say the same for himself. Not if he wanted to keep his story straight...and in line with what the world believed had become of him. His handler had agreed Conner should check on Kayla, but Greg had also told him that under no circumstances should he read Kayla in on his secret.

But that was before Pete had seen his face. No doubt he was here with Manny, the only one of Andis Bamir’s men who actually had brains. But the boss couldn’t have meant for them to break in and then try to grab Kayla. Could he?

Either way, Pete knew Conner was here. His cover was blown. He’d interfered with whatever they had planned, and they knew it. Manny was probably calling the boss right now. The order would go out, and Conner would have a target on his back.

He glanced at Kayla. He could slip out before the sheriff got here. They still had a minute to talk, and then she’d be safe again. “Tell me why someone wants to scare you. What do you have in here that they need?”

Kayla shrugged. “Why should I answer that when you don’t want to answer my question?”

“No boyfriend? An admirer? Someone who asked you out but you turned them down?” It chafed to ask the question, but he had to know. Years ago a relationship with her would have been inappropriate and against protocol. Now it would put her in danger.

She pressed her lips together. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I am not interested in men who only want to talk about how wild I was. That’s not me anymore, but for some reason they only want to see if that girl’s still in there. Well, no more. I’d like to meet someone who doesn’t know who I am and isn’t going to judge me based on the past.”

“Kayla, everyone knows who you are.”

“Hence the reason why there’s no one in my life, past or present.” She shook her head. “I haven’t done anything.”

“That likely isn’t the case. You just don’t know what it is yet.”

“Why do you always have to be so literal? Not everything is cut-and-dried, Conner. If I knew who did this, then there wouldn’t be a problem.” Kayla pinned him with a look. Call him crazy, but he’d missed that look. She said, “You know who that was in the hall.”

“The less you know, the better, Kayla. Let me take care of this on my end, and I’ll do my best to keep you out of it.” He was going to have to leave now. Walk away from her. Again. “Tell the sheriff everything you know. Do everything he says you should do to stay safe. Including calling the Secret Service.”

It would be simpler if she got Secret Service help.

She tipped her head to one side, which usually spelled trouble. Or more paperwork. Which to a Secret Service agent was essentially the same thing. “And we’ve circled all the way back to my original question. Why. Are. You. Here?” She folded her arms. Also a bad sign. “Answer the question, Conner.”

Okay, so she was a really good lawyer. Kayla had won a few national debates in college. He hadn’t seen it but he believed it. He’d never found argumentative to be cute before, and he intended on enjoying it while he could. It would be over soon and he’d likely never see her again.

“I’m here to check on you. To make sure everything is okay.” Which it wasn’t, not now that he knew Andis Bamir wanted something from Kayla.

When she didn’t say anything, he sighed. “I heard your name come up in conversation, okay? The people who were talking about you are bad people, and I knew it couldn’t be good, so I came over to make sure you’re okay. I don’t know if they’re planning something, but the fact that you’ve hit their radar is never good.”

“Who are ‘they’?”

“Andis Bamir. And his men.”

Kayla’s mouth opened. No sound came out. She shook her head. “Andis... Okay. Right. The nastiest man in three counties is talking about me, and we don’t know why.”

We. That was nice. Conner would jump at the chance to team up with her, but it wasn’t possible. He checked his watch. The sheriff had better hurry. Though the delay gave him more time with Kayla.

She touched each finger in turn and paced her office. “Drug trafficking. Illegal arms sales. Counterfeit bills. Human—” She looked at him, and Conner nodded. “Of course he’s doing every awful thing a person can do that involves breaking the law. Except that no one can catch him in the act or find any evidence.”

“Because he spreads it around. Richmond. Washington. Norfolk. Everywhere is part of his ‘territory’ and he has a network of men all over the place.”

Kayla stared at him. “How do you know the intricacies of his operation?”

“I can’t tell you.”

He saw in her eyes that her brain puzzled out the problem. “Money. Secret Service.” Her mouth dropped open. “There was a rumor someone in town was printing counterfeit bills, but the sheriff couldn’t figure out where it originated. It was only hearsay.”

Conner waited.

“You’re investigating it. The newspaper article said you’d been fired.” Kayla lifted a finger to point at him, totally contrary to her upper-class upbringing. “You’re undercover.”

“I said I couldn’t tell you, but since my cover is now blown wide open, I guess it doesn’t hurt. I trust you to keep my secret, Kayla.”

“You’re working for Andis Bamir, trying to gather the evidence to put him away.”

Conner wanted to hug her. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

“Of course you can’t.” She started to pace back and forth. “It’s an incredibly delicate and dangerous situation to be in.” She wheeled around and stared at him. “Have you been undercover all this time, since the article?”

He nodded.

“That was years ago!”

“Assignments. More than one.”

“How close are you to finishing this?”

“I’m only missing the last piece of the puzzle. Then I can put this whole thing to bed.”

Andis Bamir’s counterfeit bills had stopped flowing. The operation had halted for some reason, which meant any chance at catching him in the act had disappeared. He’d been ready to call it quits when he heard Kayla’s name come up.

Kayla blew out a breath. “Conner, this is huge.”

“And I don’t want you getting caught in the middle of it. I don’t know what Andis wants with you. All I know is that it can’t be good. Tell the sheriff, and call your father. Get the Secret Service here to protect you. I don’t want you to take any risks.”

He could tell she didn’t like that, but he wasn’t going to give her the choice. Her safety was his top priority.

Conner took two steps toward her. “I don’t want you anywhere near Andis.”

Being here with her, knowing that Kayla knew the truth about the man he’d been pretending to be for months, Conner felt right for the first time since...he didn’t know when. Maybe since that night years ago when Kayla had been in trouble and he’d saved her from what that man had planned.

But Conner couldn’t be the person she’d known. Not here. No one could know that Conner. It was the nature of the job. Just the fact that Kayla knew the whole story made him feel like he was seeing the sun after a week of gray clouds.

“Wow.” The word was a low mutter as she processed everything she’d learned and the implications.

Conner looked up. There was so much in her eyes he didn’t know where to start. She cared about him; that was clear. He’d never met a more complicated woman, and he was about as straightforward as a man could be. It was probably good they’d never had the chance to be together. They’d likely have driven each other crazy.

He sighed. “I should le—”

The window smashed. A flaming bottle flew to the ground and burst open, spilling its contents across the floor.

Before the liquid could erupt into flames, Conner’s Secret Service training kicked in and he dove toward Kayla.