Covert Intents: A Branson Family Novella (5 page)

And the entire shelf was about to fall on her.

“Rachel!” Seth let go of the guy and dove for her, deflecting some of the books with his arm. He slowed the falling bookshelf, arms straining from the awkward angle where he lay on the floor, giving her time to get out of the way.

The man took advantage of Seth’s distraction and fled.

Seth pushed the falling shelf in another direction then jumped to his feet to steady other shelves as they began to topple.

Once they were secure, Rachel watched in shock as Seth pulled a small gun out of a holster at his ankle and took off after the thug.

The books that had hit her had nothing to do with how her world was spinning. One thing she knew for sure, Seth Hardings was not just a janitor.

CHAPTER SIX

By
the time Seth was able to make it into the hall, the guy was gone. Seth had no idea who he was. Definitely not someone who worked in this building, he’d made sure he was familiar with all the faces he might run into.

He got out his phone and sent a message to Omega. He needed back-up here right away, not necessarily for safety but definitely to gather any evidence from the room that could be found. Seth didn’t want this left to the local police.

What the hell did the guy want with Rachel?

When he’d seen her come down the hallway that close to another man his hackles had immediately raised. But mostly that had been because he hadn’t liked Rachel being that close to another man.

Not that Seth had any real say over who she was close to. But damned if it hadn’t caught him off guard and made him mad. He did not like seeing her close to any man that wasn’t him.

He would’ve ignored it thinking he’d just been wrong about what type of person she was, if she hadn’t clued him in.

The moment she called him Patrick, it was like everything had shifted and fell into place. Seth saw the strategically placed clothing over the guy’s arm that was obviously concealing a weapon. He saw Rachel’s pinched face.

He’d tried to reassure her, but wasn’t sure if she even remembered he normally called her “Dr. Almost,” and even if she did, if she would figure out he understood she was under duress.

It had been smart of her to make a play at the break room, but all those damn books were dangerous. His heart had caught in his chest at the sight of them falling on her. He jogged back down the hall now to make sure she was all right.

She had made it off the floor and was wisely hiding behind another shelf when he entered.

“Rachel?”

“Are you okay, Seth? I wasn’t sure what I should do. I called security.” She hesitated just the slightest bit.

His cover had to be blown. It had to be. She was too smart not to have figured it out. But he still tried to keep his words neutral. “I’ve also called some people to have this place processed and checked for prints. The guy wasn’t wearing any gloves.”

“His gun is over there too.” She pointed toward a row of bookshelves.

Seth nodded. He’d seen it when he’d walked back in. Hopefully the prints and running the gun would provide some information.

He crossed a little closer to her. “Are you okay? Did the guy hurt you in any way?”

“Not as much as some of those statistical analysis texts did when they fell.”

He could already see a large bruise forming on her forearm where she’d raised it to protect her head. Good thing she had or they’d be on the way to the hospital right now. He reached out and touched the arm she was cradling, stroking it gently.

“Better statistical analysis than a bullet,” he murmured, caught once again by her deep brown eyes.

She seemed mesmerized for a moment too, before shaking it off and taking a step back. “I guess you don’t have to clean this up, do you?”

“We shouldn’t touch anything until the police arrive.”

“You know what I mean, Seth. If that’s even your real name.Yo
u
ar
e
the police.”

Seth sighed. He couldn’t give Rachel all the information about the case, but he could at least answer the basic questions she was getting at.

“Yes, I am law enforcement.” He didn’t give any more info than that about who he worked for. Some information wasn’t his to share. “And yes, my name is Seth. But my last name is Harrington, not Hardings.”

“Harrington.” She continued to cradle her arm as she processed this information. “And you’re on some sort of a case. That’s why you’ve been working as a janitor.”

They weren’t questions.

“Yes. But I can’t go into any details right now.”

“Does it have something to do with a microchip?”

Seth’s eyes whipped to hers. “Why do you ask that?”

“That’s what the guy with the gun was asking about. He wanted me to give him a microchip.”

“Do you know anything about that?”

She shook her head. “I had no idea what he was talking about. I figured he just had me confused with someone else on this floor. I came into my office and he was going through my stuff.”

Why would he have been searching Rachel’s office? It would’ve only taken the slightest bit of background info to know she wasn’t even part of the computer engineering department.

Seth stepped out into the hallway and then began checking office doors to see if they had been forced opened. Maybe the guy had just been hoping to get lucky by searching all the offices. But even as the thought formed Seth knew that wasn’t the case. It would be too sloppy and take too long.

No other door but Rachel’s had been forced open. She followed silently behind him as he walked to her office.

She’d interrupted the guy during the search, that was obvious. But something as small as a microchip? It could be anywhere.

Not that Rachel would have it anyway.

“I don’t know why he would think I would have something like a microchip. I’m not even sure I know what a microchip looks like.”

Seth turned and saw her huddling against the doorframe of her office entryway. Her face was pale, eyes too large in her face. She was still holding her arm against her body and honestly looked like she might fall over any second.

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she was crashing hard. Seth took a few steps toward her, in case he needed to catch her. She looked pretty unsteady on her feet.

“Hey, you okay?”

She nodded, but leaned a little more heavily onto the doorframe. “I just…”

When she trailed off Seth finished for her. “You’re coming down from the adrenaline rush. It can be pretty overwhelming.”

“Yeah, I don’t feel so good. Plus I didn’t have lunch.” She pointed to the leftovers she’d set on a small table by the door. “Or coffee.”

Seth helped ease her in to a chair by her desk and grabbed the plastic container.

“It’s still pretty warm.  Think you could eat a little bit? That will help regulate your blood sugar.”

She just stared at him for a long time before taking the food.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m just trying to adjust to words about blood sugar and adrenaline coming out of your mouth, Mr. Custodian.”

Seth pursed his lips. Yeah, he deserved that.

His phone buzzed. It was a message from Omega. The locals were arriving. They would hold the crime scene until the Omega forensic team could get there to process it. No word about Seth being under cover would be mentioned, nor about what happened. The locals would just be told it was a burglary gone wrong.

As long as he could convince Rachel to keep quiet.

“I’m going to meet the police officer. There will be a forensic team combing the crime scene soon. As soon as there’s a federal agent there to supervise I’ll come back and get you.”

“Will I need to talk to the police?”

“If you don’t mind, it would be better if you didn’t. We’re treating this as a burglary.”

She had set her food aside but was sipping her coffee. “I still don’t understand everything that’s going on here.”

Her big brown eyes stared out at him. He walked over to her almost not of his own will and crouched down beside her.

“I know. And I’ll explain what I can. But not here.”

She nodded. He trailed a finger down her cheek then stood.

“Stay here until I come back to get you. I have my keys so don’t open the door for anyone.”

“Do you think someone might come back for me?”

“No, but I want to know you’re safe.” He had to know she was safe. There was no way he’d be able to function otherwise.

He waited until she nodded then left, closing the door behind him.

#

Rachel
just sat for a long time. This was going to go down as the craziest week of her life. First the elevator, then the kisses, now this.

Victorian literature, her specialty, did not often have a lot of action. Occasionally a sword fight here or a poisoning there. Nothing like what had happened to her today. Or Wednesday with the elevator for that matter.

One thing was for sure, she could not look at Seth the same way. He was some sort of undercover agent, which should probably make Rachel feel overjoyed. She’d known instinctively fromwhen she’d first seen him that he was more than just someone who cleaned classrooms and emptied trash. He’d been too aware, too strong, to
o
muc
h
to just be that.

How he handled the situation in the elevator on Wednesday should have sealed it for her. How calm and focused he’d remained. How he had systematically worked through the issues and possibilities then figured out what to do.

How he’d reached down and lifted her up as if she’d weighed nothing.

Rachel knew how much she weighed. She wasn’t exactly fat, but she wasn’t any lightweight like all the girls on television and movies either. No one should’ve been able to pull her up with as much ease as Seth had. But it hadn’t been any problem for him.

All the signs that he was more than who he pretended to be had been there the whole time. Given, Seth had deliberately downplayed those signs, but Rachel had still seen them.

Most women would be thrilled that the man who had kissed her senseless the night before was a secret agent rather than a janitor.

Not Rachel. In her opinion this just widened the gap between them. Before he’d been more physically attractive and better at social situations than she’d been, but at least —given their two professions— Rachel had thought she had the upper hand a little when it came to education and maybe intelligence. It had helped level the playing field some.

Given what she’d just found out? She’d probably even lost that upper hand. Seth was obviously of more than average intelligence if he was successfully living two lives while keeping everyone else from noticing.

If there had been just a slim chance between them before, Rachel felt like there was zero chance for them now. The excitement she’d felt about last night’s kiss fizzled out. It must have been some part of his undercover work. It was the only explanation.

She set the mug of coffee she’d finished a while ago over to the side. The leftovers she’d heated had grown cold and held no appeal to her now anyway.

Seth had told her to wait here, but Rachel grabbed her stuff. She just wanted to go home and she didn’t want to make Seth feel obligated to take her there. Like he’d said, the guy who had grabbed her hadn’t even been looking fo
r
he
r
in particular. He’d obviously thought she worked in the computer science department since her office was on this floor.

But she didn’t have whatever microchip he’d been looking for. Didn’t know what he was talking about. It wouldn’t take the bad guy long to figure out he’d made a mistake. Whatever he was looking for, Rachel didn’t have it.

She was getting out of here. She needed to be away from guns, and falling elevators and police agents.

She just wanted to lose herself in her books. Avoid reality. It had always worked for her in the past; she hoped it would work for her again now.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Crime
scenes always took longer than anyone planned. This one, unfortunately, wasn’t an exception. Seth called in Charlie Hill, the maintenance supervisor, to give credence to Seth’s story about an interrupted burglary attempt.

The young uniformed officer obviously wanted to do more than just sit around and wait for a forensic team to show up and take over. Fortunately Seth kept him out of the room and occupied by giving him his “statement” about what happened. Seth conveniently left out the part about the gun and about Rachel.

Eventually a full report would be given to local law enforcement if it was deemed needed. Right now it wasn’t. Seth gave the man some information, but none of it was truly relevant to the bigger case at hand.

And he resented that it kept him from being with Rachel right now when she needed someone. Of course, now that she knew he’d been lying to her, Seth wasn’t sure that she’d even want him near her anyway. Something in him tightened at the thought.

He forced himself to draw out yet another unimportant detail so the cop could write it in his notebook and feel useful.

Finally the Omega representative and forensic team showed up to take over. The Omega rep —a woman in her mid-thirties that he’d seen around, but whose name he couldn’t remember— pulled him aside so he could give the story, th
e
rea
l
story, to her. He gave her all the details, eager to get back to Rachel’s office.

When the rep had everything she needed, promising to report any findings to him or the Bransons as soon as possible, Seth immediately headed down the hallway. He was still unable to shake that sinking feeling.

Of course, the bigger question was why he should even care what Rachel was thinking. He cared because he was a decent human, sure, and never liked to hurt an innocent. But he could admit these feelings were way more than just being a decent human. The thought that Rachel might not talk to him any more, might not give him any more of her shy smiles, might not study him when she thought he wasn’t looking…

He walked faster.

He would take her to a late lunch since it was already nearly mid-afternoon now. That stuff she’d been eating wouldn’t hold her very long and hadn’t looked too appetizing anyway. He’d feed her and make her understand that he really was sorry he’d had to lie to her. That he hadn’t meant to hurt her in any way.

He couldn’t give her many details about the case, but he could at least explain that she wasn’t part of it. That he hadn’t been using her.

Except for last night at the restaurant. He’d kind of been using her then. And when he’d talked to her about her colleagues over the last few weeks to find out if she knew anything —especially about Lydia, with whom Rachel had become so friendly.

Seth winced. Okay, maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought.

He knocked on her office door. When no one answered he got out his master set of custodial keys and let himself in.

She was gone.

He checked to see if there was any note, then looked at his phone for any message.

Nothing.

He immediately pushed in the digits to dial her number. After a few rings it went to voicemail.

Rachel’s sweet voice.
Hi, you’ve reached Rachel. You know me, I probably have my nose stuck in a book somewhere and didn’t hear my phone. So leave a message.

Seth left a message for her to call or text him. But he didn’t think she would even if she got the message. That feeling in his gut worsened.

Not to mention, what if that guy really had been after Rachel? Seth didn’t think so, but it was possible. Now she was out there alone. All the guy had to do was wait and keep a watchful eye on the door and he would have her.

Seth needed to find her. Now.

#

Rachel
stopped at her favorite little cafe after she rode the metro to the station near her townhouse. Normally she spent a few hours here on Friday afternoon enjoying a nice cup of tea and a sandwich or soup. When the weather was pleasant —like today— she generally sat outside at one of the tables near the sidewalk. She would grade papers, or read, or work on her dissertation.

Not today. She’d tried, but everything she looked at just brought up a picture of Seth’s face in her mind. Most of it good: him diving at the man with the gun, rescuing her from the elevator, kissing her. But it was all bad because he’d done it for his job.

She got up from the table and put her items back in her bag. She saw that she had a missed call and message, but ignored it. She would just go home. Take a nap. Bury herself under the covers and simply not think about anything that was happening.

Her townhouse was only a few blocks away. She tried to enjoy the sun while she walked. Any other day she would have. Any other day she would have been quoting Joseph Addison.

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity…

But today she just couldn’t quote anyone.

As she walked up to the steps of her doorway, Rachel realized that something was wrong. Her door was ajar.

Just like her office door had been.

Thanks to the money her parents had left her when they passed away, Rachel had been able to afford this small townhouse within the D.C. metro limits. It wasn’t the best neighborhood, but it certainly wasn’t crime-ridden.

Because she lived alone, Rachel was always very sure to double-check her locks. She had when she’d left this morning too.

Rachel backed down the stairs. She didn’t want to go inside in case the man with the gun was in there again. The guy must really be confused to still think she worked in the computer science department.

She needed to call the police. Do something. Not just sit here on her front steps.

She put her bag on the ground to dig her phone out. Two men across the street caught her attention. They were big, bulky, but she couldn’t make out their features. Why were they watching her? She took a step back.

A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump and let out a little screech.

“Easy there, sweetheart. It’s just me.”

Seth.

She turned toward him, and grabbed the front of his black t-shirt —he had changed out of his janitor uniform— unable to get words out.

“What’s wrong?” One look at her face and he immediately pulled her closer. “Rachel, what’s happened?”

“My h-house,” she finally stammered out. “The door…”

He sped up the steps to her front door, pulling her behind him. When he saw the door was open he reached behind him with his arm, wrapping her to his back.

“Was it open when you got here?”

“Yes.” She nodded even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Just like my office.”

Seth reached down and pulled the gun from his ankle holster like he had in the break room. He didn’t let go of her, and she grabbed on to the back of his shirt this time as he took a few steps inside.

She heard his muttered curse when he saw the state of her house. Everything had been gutted or toppled over in a search for something.

A microchip if Rachel had to make an educated guess.

“Stay right here,” Seth said. “I’m going to check the rest of the house. Make sure there’s no one here.”

Rachel nodded. She looked out the door for the men who had been watching from across the street, but they were gone now. Maybe they hadn’t been watching her at all.

A few moments later Seth was back; her townhouse wasn’t that big. He put his gun back in its holster.

“Are you okay?”

Rachel was looking around trying to take it all in. All of her drawers had been emptied, the contents thrown on the floor. Her pictures removed from the wall, backs slit open. Her furniture had been turned on end.

“This has to be the same guy, right? Or someone working with him? He thinks I have whatever microchip.”

“Yes, they must be mistaking you for someone who works in the department and are convinced you have the chip for some reason.”

“That’s your case, isn’t it? Whatever you’re undercover for has to do with the protection or recovery or something of it.”

He nodded. “Yes, basically.”

There was more, she could tell. She didn’t know if he wasn’t at liberty to say or just didn’t want to.

“How did the guy have time to do this since he grabbed me on campus? I stopped to grab a bite to eat on my way home, but this had to have taken longer.”

“You were supposed to wait for me, remember?”

Rachel studied her shoes. “I just needed to get away from that whole situation. Honestly, I thought it was just a fluke and you wouldn’t really need me anymore.”

“They could’ve been waiting for you, Rachel.”

She thought about the two men across the street. “I know, I’m sorry.”

He ran a hand down her arm. “If it helps, I think this was done earlier today. Probably while you were in class. The guy with the gun came on campus when he couldn’t find the microchip here.”

“Do you think they’re searching the homes of everyone in the computer engineering department? What about the others?”

Seth shook his head. “No. We’ve been following certain members of the department. No one else has had any problems.” Seth paused. “Except Ryan Powell.”

“What happened to him?”

Seth paused. “He’s in the hospital.”

“
What
?”

“He was attacked last night. He’s in a coma.”

Rachel looked around her house. First Ryan was attacked, then someone came after her thinking she also had something to do with the microchip.

“Will Dale and Lydia be okay? Is someone protecting them?” she asked, having trouble taking this all in. “And the other people in the department?”

“Yes, they’re being watched. I’m not worried about their safety. I’m worried about yours.”

“Surely by now they’ve figured out that I don’t have the microchip thing they’re looking for.”

“Thank God you weren’t here when they came to search this place. You—“ He stopped.

“I’d what?”

He took a step closer. “I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened.” He ran a finger down her cheek almost as if he couldn’t help himself. “I just want to make sure you’re safe until all of this is over.”

Rachel looked around her house. “Should I start cleaning this up?”

Seth shook his head. “No. I’ll send someone to process this. It’s just become a crime scene too. They’ll make sure nothing useable was left behind by the perp or perps.”

“Okay. It’s getting late. I guess I’ll need to get a hotel tonight.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Where am I going to stay? I don’t think I can stay here and even if I could, I don’t know if I’d want to in the shape it’s in.”

“You’re staying with me at my apartment.”