A Taste of Tragedy (21 page)

Aaron encountered no one else in the building, except for the cleaning crew, as he made his way down to the plant where
Sofia
waited. He found her sitting behind Wiley’s desk, going over the production quotas for the next day.

“How do you do it?”

“What do you mean?” she replied.

“How do you walk into a new company and take charge like you have decades of experience in exactly that field?”

“It’s a simple survival skill. I’ve learned to adapt to the circumstances around me and make any necessary adjustments to create an illusion of belonging. Exude enough confidence, and no one will question your decisions. As far as specifics, there’s nothing I can’t teach myself with a few hours of pouring over records, financials, schedules, and anything else I can find in my predecessor’s office. I don’t have to make the food here. I just have to ensure the staff reaches the quotas outlined here on Wiley’s tidy little spreadsheet. He’s very organized, which makes this brief assignment relatively simple.”

Aaron was awed by
Sofia
, but that still didn’t make up for letting him down. He was living on the street the first time they’d encountered each other. He had watched the woman leaving her office often. She was always dressed for success, so he felt certain she had money in her purse and jewelry worth his while. He had followed her late one evening on her way to a public parking garage.

When he grabbed her, his life changed forever. Her reactions were lightning-quick, and he was sprawled on the filthy pavement before he even realized what had happened. She stood over him, a spiked heel digging into his heaving chest. She studied him for several minutes, and he was too entranced to move or look away. After what felt like an eternity, she pulled a card out of her purse and jotted something on it.

“Be at my office at 8:00 a.m. Give this to the receptionist so she doesn’t call the police,” she had stated.

After she left, he moved to another office building and waited in the shadows until a man about his size passed by. He efficiently relieved the man of his suit. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t blow off the encounter with
Sofia
, but the classy-looking woman with back-alley skills intrigued him.

The next morning, he kept the appointment in his stolen suit. She was blunt, stating she saw something in him, and it was nothing good. She sent him to college, trained him in martial arts and other self-defense and combat skills, and employed him at her Foundation. Occasionally, he took outside jobs for Coterie, just as she did, but he always came back to her. This time was different. J.R. said he was no longer needed at the Foundation and sent him to GCF.

“Are you still angry I sent you to assist
Preston
?” she asked, breaking into his remembrances.

“You didn’t send me. J.R. ordered my transfer and you let him. Since when do you let someone else tell you who you employ?”

She didn’t like the fact that he had hit the mark. She was even less thrilled someone had seen her weakness.

“
Preston
needed you.”

“He’s an idiot, and you know it. How he survived as a member of Coterie this long is beyond me.”

“That’s why J.R. and I thought you would be better utilized here than with me. I wasn’t happy about losing you, but it was time to see if my investment had paid dividends.”

He hated it when she referred to him as an asset, though in reality, that’s exactly what he had become. Not only was it dehumanizing, it reminded him that every asset eventually lost its value.

“Then why are you here?”

“You made a tiny but dangerous error. That missed flash drive has turned into quite a problem for Preston, and he, in exchange, has turned into a liability for Coterie.”

“What do we do now?” Aaron asked.

“We need to find out if Ms. Hunter actually took a sample. The security footage was inconclusive. Preston might be able to mitigate the damage even if she did steal the sample if he truly destroyed all of the synthetic sweetener that I ordered him to and returns to the approved formula. If anyone questions her results, he could just demand another test since there would be no proof of where she obtained the sample. The e-mails are much more damaging if she kept copies. You destroyed the ones on her computer, but that doesn’t guarantee she didn’t put them on a flash drive or print them out.”

“I’ve searched her homes in Sedona and
Phoenix
, and her office. All have come up clean. I don’t know what else I can do. She’s not going to just tell me if she made copies or if she gave them to anyone. It’s too late to gain her trust, thanks to
Preston
.”

“True, another mistake by
Preston
. They’re adding up quickly.”

“Maybe we could use Wiley to pry the information out of her. She trusts him. If we could get him to confide in her that he has suspicions about the sweetener, especially after his time in R & D, I’ll bet she’d confess to the e-mails,” Aaron offered.

“Possibly, but then we’d have another problem—Wiley knowing or suspecting too much. And if something were to happen to Ms. Hunter, then he would definitely be suspicious, and the vicious cycle of cleaning up the mess from cleaning up a mess would continue. Besides, that would take more time than J.R. wants to expend on this situation.”

“Time is definitely not on our side,”
Preston
interjected as he strode into the room.

“I don’t recall inviting you to our planning session,”
Sofia
stated.

He ignored the barb. “I got word from J.R. that an APB just went out on Candace Rogers, and I had a message on my work phone from Ms. Hunter that she wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be in tomorrow.”

“Fortunately I flew on J.R.’s private plane, but it would be wise to wrap this up and get out of the city within twenty-four hours. I guess we’ll have to dispense with the niceties.
Preston
, I need a car, not rented or traceable to me or anyone associated with this company. Stolen from someplace where it won’t be missed for a while always works well. Aaron, I need Ms. Hunter brought to me immediately. As soon as you nab her, contact me, and I’ll let you know where to bring her.”

“What-what are you going to do with her?” he stuttered.

Sofia
stifled the urge to laugh as she watched the color drain from
Preston
’s face. He loved the financial benefits derived from his association with Coterie, but he didn’t have the stomach for the work necessary to keep it functional and secure.

“That depends a lot on her level of cooperation. We need to know if anyone else knows about the e-mails and if any electronic or paper copies survived. Once she tells us that…well, I’m afraid she’ll have an accident.”

“Yeah, right. That’s gone real well for you all lately,”
Preston
mumbled under his breath as he left.

Morgan wasn’t surprised when Nick slid into the driver’s seat. He always drove when they were married, and apparently, he still felt it was his right even though his name wasn’t on the title. She wanted to be annoyed, but as she sat back and closed her eyes, the comfort in having someone else share her burden nearly made her cry. Before long, the traffic began to thin as they drove north out of the city.

“Burgers okay?”

“My favorite fast food joint is off the next exit,” she replied.

As Nick pulled up to the window, Morgan listened to him order for both of them and was surprised that he still remembered what she liked. She tried to fight it, but a tear slid down her cheek.

“Sorry, was that too presumptuous? Did you want something else?”

“No, it just reminded me how much I’ve missed you and that you’re the only person in the world who knows me well enough to order for me. I can’t believe you remembered such tiny details.”

“I remember everything,” he replied as he reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Here’s your order, sir. Would you like ketchup for the fries?” As soon as the young woman came back with the condiment, they drove away and took the first on-ramp back to the interstate.

Morgan handed Nick his burger before diving into her own. Once finished, she felt less weepy and more alert. “So, do you want to tell me about your partner? Agent Tanner gave me a kind of funny vibe, but wouldn’t say much.”

Nick chuckled. “Tanner can deal with the toughest thugs, but for some reason, Devyn makes him nervous. I’m not sure why most of the men are intimidated by her. Sure, she’s tough, good at her job, doesn’t candy-coat anything, but to my knowledge, she’s only cold-cocked one agent and it sounds like he had it coming.”

“Oh, my—
What
happened? Did she get into any trouble?”

“No. They made a little deal. She wouldn’t file a complaint for sexual harassment and he wouldn’t report the source of his black eye and bloody lip.”

“She sounds delightful,” Morgan mumbled.

“She’s a little rough around the edges, but she’s got a big heart. Unfortunately, she doesn’t let any of the men at work see it or they’ll interpret it as weakness.”

“I imagine it’s still tough being a woman agent. If you show a softer side, the men think you’re weak, but if you’re too strong, you threaten their fragile egos.”

“That pretty much sums it up.”

Morgan studied Nick for a moment. She was curious about their relationship, but had no right to ask. She had let him go and he was well within his rights to move on with whomever he chose. “Agent Tanner said something like you’ve lasted longer than the rest. You must really like her.”

“Yes, I do. Mostly, I respect her and we work well together. Though sometimes, she can be pretty frustrating when she’s trying to get what she wants and it isn’t going according to her plan. She seldom means to, but she makes me laugh, and we could all use a little more of that.”

“Hmm,” Morgan uttered, before going silent.

“Look, if you think there’s something going on between us, there isn’t. She’s got her eye on a sheriff from
Wyoming
. It’s been quite entertaining watching two strong, stubborn people trying to get together.”

“We’re strong and stubborn, and I don’t recall you thinking anything was entertaining.”

“Those traits are bringing them together. In our case, it was tearing us apart.”

Aaron pulled up in front of Morgan’s duplex and was surprised to find it dark. Even if she was sick, as she had claimed to
Preston
, it was still too early to go to bed. Ascending the front steps, he rang the doorbell and waited. He rang again and knocked loudly on the door. Still nothing.

Returning to his car, he punched the built-in garage door opener button he had programmed into his own vehicle the last time he accessed her home. He pulled his car into the garage and closed the door. Letting himself inside her house, he did a quick search and confirmed she wasn’t home.

The guest room’s closet door stood ajar. He looked inside and noticed several large pieces of luggage, but nothing resembling an overnight bag. Going into the bathroom attached to the master suite, he found very little make up, no lens cleaner even though he knew she wore contacts, and he noticed her toothbrush was missing.

He was careful to leave everything exactly as he found it before exiting the house. After driving several blocks, he pulled out his phone and dialed
Sofia
. “She’s not home, and it looks like she packed an overnight bag. I’d bet a week’s pay that she’s going to her place in Sedona, which is really a stroke of luck. Her home is private with no visible neighbors. Unless you have a better idea, I’m heading that way.”

“Let me know the moment you verify if she’s there, and don’t act without consulting me first.”

As he settled in for the drive, his fists clenched the wheel. The first time out of Sofia’s nest, and he had not performed as was expected of him. If he survived this mess, maybe she would take him back under her wing. If he didn’t contain the Morgan situation, he knew his future was uncertain.

*
 
*
 
*

Sofia finished packing her overnight bag. Slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, she wiped down every surface of the cheap hotel room, removing all traces of her presence. She left the room and took the two flights of stairs to the ground level.

She exited the building from a side door, hoping to avoid any security cameras, and hailed a cab. She directed the driver to a shopping mall parking lot several miles away. After he dropped her off and drove away, she quickly located the car
Preston
had procured for her. As planned, it was unlocked and the keys were hidden under the floor mat.

Stowing her bag on the passenger’s seat, she got in the sedan and drove out of the lot. She had thought about all possible scenarios and what she might need to complete the job. She would wait to hear from Aaron before making her next move, but she had to be ready and in position to act quickly when he called.

Since learning that her current name and image had been disseminated to law enforcement across the country, the timetable for completion of the job had moved up. She had one chance to clean up
Preston
’s mess before she would have to disappear.

Sofia pulled the car into the parking lot that was lined with a variety of stores, including a hardware store. She sat for a moment and pulled out her cell phone. She punched in her office number and waited.

“Buyer’s Choice Foundation, this is Justine. How may I help you?”

“It’s
Sofia
. I just wanted to check in.”

“Everything is fine here. Are you okay? You sound tired, and you’ve only been gone a day.”

“I’m good. I’m just getting a little weary of all the travel, and I feel like I’ve neglected the Foundation lately. Maybe we need to think about hiring another fundraiser.”

“I’m sure no one could raise the money you do, but if you’d like me to look into it, I can start the process.”

Justine was correct. No one could raise the money she did if they worked through legitimate channels. She couldn’t hire a fundraiser anyway, since that was her cover for traveling every time J.R. snapped his fingers. She wasn’t sure why she really called the office. She seldom did unless she was gone for at least several days, but Justine’s voice was a constant, something she could depend on when everything else felt like it was spinning out of control.

“No, it’s just wishful thinking, at least for now. If you don’t have anything needing my attention, I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Business is running smoothly here.”

“Justine?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry I snapped at you the other day about the roses. It was uncalled for. I’ll take you to lunch when I get back to make it up to you.”

“No worries. It was none of my business, but I would love to do lunch.”

“Find a time next week and put it on our calendar. Goodbye.” The meaningless exchange made
Sofia
feel more grounded. Life had become too complex and too dangerous. She wasn’t sure how to change that, but for now, she had to focus on the job. She grabbed her purse and exited the vehicle. First things first, she needed rope and duct tape.