Jae's Assignment (15 page)

If only for a moment, Trevor allowed himself to be Adian Cole again—a happy, fun-loving physician with a deep love for his family and friends.

Trevor saddened as he thought back to everything he’d given up. His lips thinned with suppressed anger before he glanced around to see if anyone was looking his way. He needn’t have worried. The library was practically deserted except for the desk clerk and one person studying at one of the large brown worktables.

He thought he’d spent so much time becoming Trevor Grant that the sound of his own voice often took him by surprise. It sounded foreign to his ears because he rarely carried on long conversations with anyone.

No one at the Kincaid Institute had questioned it or thought it odd. He recalled a colleague commenting that researchers were notoriously standoffish and introverted.

And yet he found himself talking to Jae Randall a lot and as often as he could. He was surprised at how easy it was to be himself around her. He felt bad for skipping out on her, but he didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t risk the FBI arresting him, not now when he had so much to do, like track down Grainger.

Trevor knew he couldn’t remain with Jae, especially after Darius told him it would be in his best interest to have Jae bring him down to the field office in two hours or they were coming back for him. Before he joined Jae on the patio earlier, he’d noticed the digital photo album in her bedroom. He walked in, picked up the photo album and began scrolling through the pictures until he returned to the picture of Grainger. The second he noticed a street address in one of the photos he decided to check it out.

After swiping the photo, he prepared Jae a glass of orange soda pop. He’d put the smallest amount of the sleep aid he’d concocted right there in her kitchen into the soft drink. As she slept, he’d gone to work, gathering his things and tidying up so as not to leave any tracks. He was well aware of everything he touched in her apartment and made sure to wipe it down. Before leaving, he took a quick glance out of the bedroom window and spotted three similar sedans pulling up and parking strategically along the street.

In the living room, he weighed his escape options and determined he would have to leave the same way he’d come in, through the patio. But he couldn’t do that with the FBI and cops posted at his drop point, not to mention it was broad daylight. When he heard squeals of laughter out in the corridor, he’d looked through the peephole, then put on his brightest smile as he opened the door. He asked the five bikini-clad young women coming down the hall for a favor.

A few minutes later, he went back onto the patio where Jae was sound asleep. He kissed her beautiful sleeping lips then had to bite back a chuckle when she puckered up. “I sure wish you were dreaming about me, sweetheart,” he whispered against her lips.

When he crept across the patio and leaned over, he spotted Darius getting out of one of the sedans and rushing toward the building. Iverson and McGuire followed close behind.

With one last look at Jae, Trevor eased himself behind the four-paneled screen that was positioned on the far right of the patio for privacy from the neighboring building.

It was there he waited. Soon, the patrol officer and FBI agent were busy watching the bikini-clad women strolling around the pool, catching the attention of the men. It was then that Jae yawned as she awakened.

From his position behind the screen, he saw her get up and walk over to the railing briefly before going inside the apartment. He could hear her calling out for him. Did he hear fear in her voice? Or perhaps it was exasperation once she’d realized he wasn’t there. Trevor believed it was the latter.

For ten minutes he sat behind the screen on an uncomfortable milk crate holding a big bag of potting soil. After the police swept her apartment and left, he overheard Darius’s interrogation of Jae. He felt bad but was proud of her for holding her own. He made a mental note that he and Darius would have words when he saw him again.

Trevor couldn’t believe the man had referred to him as a hairy ape-man. He snorted as he resumed his Internet search.

* * * * *

Jae glanced at the buzzing cell phone. She was pretty sure it was Iverson calling his own phone hoping somebody would answer and tell him where his smart phone was. Only for a second did Jae feel guilty about snatching up his cell phone from where he’d carelessly left it lying on her bed.

She didn’t want to chance taking hers. When the phone buzzed again, Jae smirked, knowing Iverson was going to freak out and start searching like a madman. She’d already seen a few text messages he’d received from women.
Serves you right
, she thought snidely.

Jae reflected on when she’d left her apartment the day before. It had been easier than she thought it would be. Of course, she’d had to do a little acting again, but it worked.

She’d pulled the legs of her jeans up above her knees, slipped on a pair of flip-flops, and thrown on a knee-length cover-up, a big floppy hat, and sunglasses. She blended right in with a family walking down the corridor outside her apartment to the elevator, heading for the pool. Her plan was to bypass the elevator and go through the steel gray door at the end of the hall, which opened out onto the garage level where her parking spot was.

To her dismay, she’d spotted a patrol officer standing by the door, so she had to change her strategy. She followed the family to the elevator and piled on with them.

Reaching the ground level she walked to the pool area and crossed behind the lifeguard’s chair, heading for the locker rooms and slipping out the side door.

Once there, she cursed her luck when she spotted a rookie field agent, Special Agent Jenson, standing guard at the side exit door. With no other option, she got on the outside elevator that led up to the garage on the far end of her building. Not only was it clear glass, it took her out of her way, but she was ready.

Jae’s only hitch occurred when the elevator filled with young women in their skimpiest bikinis. They drew the attention of many males, including Iverson and McGuire, who stared at them with interest as the elevator rose.

As best she could, Jae pulled the cover-up tighter around her legs. She was afraid those two gawking boneheads would notice her rolled-up jeans underneath her cover-up. When the elevator stopped on her level she sauntered off nonchalantly until the doors closed, then she made a mad dash for the steel door on the opposite end of the parking garage.

As she rushed to her car, sweat dripped from her forehead and adrenaline rushed through her. Making her way across the warm concrete she was on the lookout for cops or FBI agents staked out in the garage.

Just as she was about to turn the corner, Jae was aghast to discover that her car key was missing from the key ring. As she frantically fumbling inside her large bag, she spotted a patrol car slowly coming up the ramp. Dropping behind a car that smelled as if it had been driven through horse manure, Jae smacked her forehead and cursed her luck when the patrol car stopped one car to the right. She held her breath as long as she could until finally unable to take the smell any longer, she waddled, duck fashion, to the left.

Eventually the patrol car cruised past her and onto the next level of the garage.

She guessed Darius had returned to her apartment and saw that she’d taken off despite his order for her to stay put. Now the cops were circling and searching for her as well as Trevor.

She also guessed that Iverson and McGuire had been busy confiscating the key to her Mustang while she and Darius talked out on the patio.
Damn!

Jae did have access to another car and the key to that car was dangling on her key ring. A wicked grin curled the corners of her lips as she ran to Darius’s car.

Easing out of the garage unnoticed, Jae grinned at her good fortune for keeping Darius’s car key on her key ring. Besides, who would expect that she would be driving a different vehicle? She drove directly to Grainger’s house, where she hoped to find Trevor snooping.

Less than an hour later, she parked down the street from Grainger’s house. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. After watching the property for a while, she was satisfied that no one was at home and decided to go in for a closer look.

Pulling up to the parking pad behind the house, she exited the car and searched the grounds leading up to the patio doors. Finding the door locked, she reached into her bag and pulled out a leather pouch of various small tools.

Selecting the one she needed, Jae proceeded to pick the lock, fully aware that what she was doing was illegal. If she were caught, she’d have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.

Within seconds of entering the house she pulled out her service weapon and Iverson’s cell phone. Using the camera feature, Jae snapped pictures of anything that stood out as she crept through the house. Nothing looked out of place since her last visit there a couple of months ago.

After thoroughly searching most of the rooms, she entered Grainger’s home office located in the front of the house on the first floor.

She was shocked to see file folders haphazardly stacked in desk trays, which struck her as odd. Grainger would never leave folders or any other types of documents out in the open. Picking up the folders and leafing through their contents, she was relieved that they were mostly upcoming training schedules, but nothing classified. She snapped photos of the files anyway.

Leaving the office, she walked quietly in the direction of the kitchen. Her eyes were drawn to the plush carpet and the numerous boot impressions throughout. On closer examination, she saw they were similar to the boots Trevor had been wearing. He’d left those same boot prints throughout her apartment.

He’d been there and gone already. What she didn’t know was how he managed it with only a thirty-minute lead, and to her knowledge he wasn’t driving.

In the kitchen, she put her weapon away and walked over to the refrigerator, opened it, and searched for a bottle of water. Finding one, she twisted off the cap and took a big gulp as she walked to the back door. Suddenly, she did a double take, almost choking on the water. Slamming the bottle down onto the counter, Jae hurried back to the refrigerator and pulled the door open wide. Her eyes scanned the food, lots of food.

She remembered Grainger always complaining about having to throw out spoiled food when he’d returned from special OPs that sometimes lasted a couple of weeks at a time. She picked up packs of freshly sliced deli meats and cheeses. They were all dated two days before he’d called her in Virginia to extract Trevor from that hotel.

After taking pictures of the refrigerator’s contents, she searched through the kitchen drawers for possible receipts.

After several minutes of checking through the numerous cabinets and drawers, Jae found a drawer full of receipts and plucked two from the top of the pile.

Frowning, she thought it odd for a single man to have spent $175.17 at the market. Taking a picture of the receipt, she picked up her water bottle and left, securely relocking the door behind her. She didn’t worry about leaving fingerprints. She and the guys had been to Grainger’s house many times for impromptu cookouts, watching games, or talking strategy about cases.

She didn’t know if anything she had seen was a clue to Grainger’s whereabouts, but it was downright weird that he’d gone grocery shopping knowing he had an upcoming Special OP training. Looking out onto the patio, Jae contemplated if she should go back and throw the spoiled food out, particularly the deli meats and the milk, but changed her mind. That would be tampering with possible criminal evidence.

Then something else drew her attention. The garage door was slightly ajar. Pivoting in a slow circle with her weapon snug against her body, Jae walked warily to the garage and eased the garage door open, watching and listening carefully. Once inside, she lifted her weapon defensively and kept low to the wall as she gave her eyes a chance to adjust to the darkness.

The 1972 Mustang Grainger had been restoring was in its usual space right in the middle of the garage. The hood was raised and tools were scattered about the floor and on the two ten-foot-long workbenches. What surprised her was finding dried blood droplets on the floor near one of the workbenches.

Satisfied that the garage was empty, she started looking around. The drop patterns of blood suggested that if Grainger had cut himself he probably wasn’t standing.

Dropping down on one knee to get a better look, she believed it could have been from that same position and height that the blood pooled. Her eyes followed the dried blood trail until it stopped. To her mind, that was way too much blood for a simple cut, though not enough to be life threatening.

The blood flow appeared to have been stanched, perhaps by tightly wrapping the wound right where she knelt. Pulling out the cell phone again, she snapped pictures of the blood pattern and extra set of boot prints.

Only when she stood did Jae consider checking the trunk of the Mustang. She reasoned it was too small to hold a body—a whole body that is. Not seeing the keys, Jae picked up a screwdriver from the floor. Tension and adrenaline heightened and she could feel her heart racing, trying to prepare herself for whatever she might see, although she didn’t expect to find a body since she couldn’t smell one. She jammed the screwdriver into the trunk’s keyhole, gave it a hard twist, and yanked on it until it popped. Standing back, she drew her weapon up and kicked the trunk door up.

Relief flooded through her when she stared down into an empty trunk. Searching inside the trunk she did find a book on the history of the Mustang that had been wedged down on the side. She would have missed it had she not moved an old toolbox aside. Absently, she guessed when Darius eventually caught up with her at least she’d have something to read in lockup then dropped the book into her bag and hurried to her borrowed getaway car.

Back in the Lexus, Jae turned the air conditioning on. She felt bad about breaking into Grainger’s house and popping the trunk on the vintage Mustang. She hoped he would understand. Driving away, she thought as soon as she saw Grainger she would apologize for that then strongly suggest he invest in an alarm system.