Acquiring Trouble (21 page)

“What do you want for breakfast?” Miss Daisy snapped. Morgan bit her lip to stop from crying. No one wanted her here. It was time to leave.

“I’m suddenly not hungry anymore. Sorry to have taken a table.”
Morgan stood up and hurried out
the door as the gossip in the c
afé rose to near deafening.

Morgan made it to her car before the tears started falling. Why
did she think things would change
after all these years?
She picked up her phone and
dialed. This would end soon.

“Hi
,
”
s
he said into the phone. “Friday at four at the
Wal-Mart
in Lexington.” Morgan hung up the phone and felt a sense of rel
ief. It would all be over soon.

*
    
*
    
*

Miles
took a seat in the hard chair acro
ss from Marshall’s desk in the sheriff’s
office
. He had just delivered several bales of hay to Glenn’s farm to make sure his livestock was well
fed for the next month.
The fire the other day had completely destroyed the hay he saved up to feed his animals over the winter.
While spring was right around the corner, so was rain and new grass.

“I take it you have news and
it
isn’t s
ome last minute detail for the wedding tomorrow night
.
” Marshall said as he pulled out a pen to take notes.

“Morgan went out of town the other
night
. She got back around three in the morning. What time did Glenn’s
fire start?” Miles held his breath. He didn’t want to believe it, but Morgan was leaving him no choice.
He had tried to see her a couple of times this week, but she had always managed to avoid him. So, he was left with no cho
ice but to turn to his brother to help him find out if she ordered the attack on him.

“Five. I had Annie check with the airlines this mornin
g. Morgan went to
DC
that
afternoon. But, do you know what is even more interesting?
” Marshall picked up a piece of paper and tossed it across his desk. “She wasn’t the only employee of Top Producers to fly back to Lexington on the red
-
eye.”

“What?” Miles picked up the paper and looked at a picture of a man who had armed forces written all over him. “Who is this?”

“William Brady.
His employment record says he’s head of security for Top Producers. D
o you think he came here to rei
n Morgan in
, do her bidding, or
to set her up?
”

“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” Marshall sighed.

Miles had
hoped that all the signs were wrong.
H
e knew
,
while Morgan may not have been the one to actually get the dirt on her hands, the evidence pointed to her
having a hand in it.

“Let’s go pick her up and have a chat with her. Do you want to come?” Marshall asked as he stood up and strapped on his gun belt.

“Yes. I have to find out if she’s involved.” Miles was glad Marshall didn’t say anything
more. His mind and heart
were
already in turmoil.

Morgan pulled
her Mercedes
into the busy Wal-M
art parking lot in Lexington. She looked at the clock on the dashboard and slouched back into her seat. She was early and the best thing to do
was
to stay as still and low as possible. She didn’t want to draw anyone’s attention during this whole exchange.

She looked around one more time hoping to see the black sedan she was expecting. As she waited, she couldn’t stop her mind from conjuring up Miles’
s
image. Their dates had been fun. Morgan
still
smiled at the jokes Miles had told. She couldn’t remem
ber having that much fun.
She never h
ad
had
a reason to smile before. Morgan
had been too busy trying to surviv
e high school. Then she’d been too busy working to keep her scholarship and earning money to survive.
I
t
should’ve
gotten better
after landing this job
. She guessed she could finally breathe, but she hadn’t.  Instead she had worked hard an
d climbed the corporate ladder.

Morgan hadn’t even realized what she was missing until she saw Miles again. Feelings
reared up
that
she had managed to shove down
since
the night she left Keeneston. However, this time she didn’t want to ignore those feelings. The morning spent in Miles’
s
arm
s had been
incredible
. She got flushed
just thinking about it no
w. But, there was so much more to their relationship that just hot sex.
He
made her laugh, he made her look at her life and want to make it better. He gave her hope, he gave her happiness
,
and she loved him for it. Could he love her though
,
even after all she had done and all she was mixed-up in now?
Especially since he thought she was
trying to have him killed.

Marshall held out a pair of binoculars to Miles. He took them and
brought Morgan into focus. They
had seen her leaving a local farm
earlier. Before they could stop her, she had driven off. They had decided to follow her instead. The
y
parked on
the far side of the
Wal-Mart
parking lot and waited.

“Look
. Here comes someone.
I
s it
Brady?” Miles said more to himself than
to his brother. He trained his binoculars on the black sedan that pulled to a stop next to Morgan’s parked car. Morgan got out and leaned over the window. She pulled something small out of her pocket and handed it through the window.

“
No. I don’t think
it’s
Brady.
Is that a flash drive?” Marshall asked.

“I think so. Does she look upset to you?” Miles watched as Morgan shook her head strongly from side to side. It was clear that she and the person in the car were disagreeing about something. Morgan slammed her hand on the car door and then stood still listening to the person in the car. She finally nodded and got back into her car.

“We better stop her now and see what this
is
about. I don’t have much jurisdiction, but I can call in the Lexington Police Department if we need to arrest her.” Marshall pressed on the gas and drove as fast as he could toward Morgan. The black sedan already pulled out and was speeding away by the time Marshall cursed his way through
the traffic in the parking lot.

Miles decided to let Marshall take the lead on this. Not only was he the
law
,
but
Miles
was way to
o
close to Morgan to be objective.
Miles managed a quick smirk
—s
he
hadn’t
give
n
in to him when he question
ed
her. He loved it. It sparked his curiosity and his respect when she stood up
to him.
Marshall slid the cruiser to
a stop behind Morgan’s car, blocking her in. Miles watched as Morgan got out of her car and stormed toward them.

Morgan slammed the door to the car. The bastard! He was changing the terms of their agreement.
She had gotten him everything he had asked for and then said he was changing his mind. That he wanted more. The kicker, if she didn’t get it to him he’d leave
her out to hang by herself.

She took a deep breath and turned on the car. She had a lot of work to do if she was going to get him what he wanted. She put the car in gear and looked into her review mirror. Miles’
s
angry face filled it. What was he doin
g here? Could there be any worse
timing?

Morgan pulled herself up and stalked toward Miles and his brother Marshall. “Are you all following me? How dare you!”

She watched as Miles simply crossed his arms, narrowed his eyes and lean
ed
against his brother’s car. Marshall stepped forward with a grim look on his face
and she looked back and forth betwee
n them. Miles had clearly given
Marshall the lead.
Not surprising after all of his failed attemp
ts at talking to her this week.

“I have a couple of questions for you.”

“Of course you do! But, you don’t have any jurisdic
tion, do you?”
s
he
asked
smugly.

“What was on the flash drive?”

“I don’t know what
you’re
talking about.” Morgan crossed her
arms over her chest and smiled.

“Who was in the car?” Marshall asked calmly.

“Oh, just now?” Morgan asked serenely.

“Yes, just now
,
” Marshall clipped.

“Just someone asking for directions.”

“Dammit Morgan!” Miles roared. He pushed himself away from the car and
walked toward her. “This isn’t a game. What is going on?
Tell us now.”

“I’ll do no such thing! You have no right to know. You’ve already decided
I’ve
done these things.” She turned to Marshall. “You have any evidence to arrest me with?” Marshall simply raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t think so. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me.”

Morgan stomped back to her car and thanked
G
od when the car in front of her pulled out. She put her car in drive and left Marshall and Miles
standing next to their car.

She stopped at a light took a deep breath. She knew exactly what needed to be done and what was being done to her. She was about to get screwed, and not in the good way. She turned her car toward the interstate
and started the nine
-
hour trip to DC.

*
    
*
    
*

Morgan ar
rived in
DC
early in the morning.
She went straight to the office and parked in the small lot in the back.
She
glanced around trying to see into the shadows that the yellow
streetlights
cast around the area. She kept her keys out and walked purposefully toward the back door. She unlocked the door. The so
und of the lock tumbling echoed
across the lot.

Once inside, she disarmed the alarm and quickly hurri
ed up the stairs. She passed her office and headed straight to David’s. She paused
then, listening for any sound coming from the other side of the door. When she heard none, she opened the door and he
aded straight for his computer.

His office seemed eerily quiet as she started his computer. She looked around again when the light of the screen cast shadows around. She was worried she’d be seen and would h
ave to explain herself. While the
computer booted up, she went to the massive filing cabinet. Her fingers flew through the folders until she found what she was looking for. She pulled it out and brought it with her over to the computer.

“Crap,” she whispered. It was login protected. She tried his name and then the name of his wife. Wro
ng. She tried his birthday, anniversary, and
street address. Nothing. “Think Morgan.”

She tapped her fingers on the desk and stared at the blinking arrow next t
o the password. What was David
most proud of?
His baby, that’s what! Morgan remembered when he bought her.
A shiny new Lexus LS sedan.
He had showed all his junior partners. He had told them that if they worked hard they too would be able to afford the eighty thousand doll
ar car that he lovingly called
Alexa
.

Morgan typed the name in and hit enter. The computer screen came to life and Morgan smiled
. She searched through his files
until she found what she was looking for.  Morgan scanned the information on the screen. What she had here would save her life. She took out her keys and found her silver horse charm. Pulling on the sadd
le she exposed the flash drive.