Love Inspired Suspense June 2015 - Box Set 2 of 2: Exit Strategy\Payback\Covert Justice (52 page)

“We were on a cruise.”

“What? Who?” In the months she'd been here, she'd never seen a single day of operation where at least one of the Harrisons hadn't been present.

“All of us. Me, Maggie, Mom, Dad and Caroline.”

“Why?”

“Caroline's thirtieth birthday. It was all she wanted. For the entire family to go on a vacation and not worry about the plant for once.”

“Who would have taken the order?”

“The salesmen put the orders in, but it wouldn't be too hard for anyone with basic knowledge of our process to put in a fake order.” He tapped the sheet. “This is the order we kept messing up. I think we went through four off-quality batches before we nailed it.”

“And the off-quality batches would have been packed up to go to reclamation.”

“Exactly. He could have taken them.”

“Why?”

He sighed. “No idea.”

Heidi wanted to scream. There was something here.

Heidi's phone buzzed. “Zimmerman.”

“Z, it's Richards. We're ready to go in. Max said you'd want to be here.”

“We'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Blake raised his eyebrows. “We're going somewhere?”

“The Kovacs' house. TacOps is going in.” He didn't look as excited as she'd expected. “You don't have to go...”

“I
want
to go, but I'm surprised you're letting me.”

“I shouldn't. You're still recovering from a concussion and you should be resting. But I doubt you'd get much rest while I'm gone, and I'm hoping we'll find something you'll be able to make sense of.”

They drove to the Kovacs' in silence and found the house shrouded in darkness.

“I thought there'd be spotlights and dogs. Maybe a helicopter circling,” Blake said.

“Not TacOps style. We want to enter and get out without anyone noticing. If possible.” She could see teams stationed at three corners of the house and she knew another was at the back. Two vans parked one hundred feet from the house would be the command centers.

An unusually obvious showing for TacOps, but they'd staged an accident and had a detour set up to prevent any civilian traffic from passing the driveway. The Kovacs' house sat off the road on a wooded lot, increasing their chances no one would ever know they'd been here.

They walked to the van and found Richards waiting. “Glad you're here.” He pointed to Blake. “I'm fine with him coming in, but I want you both to wait until I give the all-clear.”

Heidi nodded. “Be careful.”

She stepped back as Richards gave his final instructions to the teams. Blake watched everything with a calm expression, but she knew him well enough to know he was bursting with questions.

She nodded at him and he followed her away from the vans. She handed him a pair of night-vision goggles. “If you look you'll be able to see the teams. The dogs you mentioned have already done the first step. They've checked for explosive residues. The teams at the house are visually checking for trip wires or anything indicating the house is booby-trapped. Once they give the okay, the teams will enter through the front and back doors simultaneously.”

The doors opened and Blake sucked in a breath.

“Now the waiting begins. You'll want to drop the goggles. They'll turn the lights on in a few minutes.”

“Do I want to know how dangerous this is?” Blake handed her the goggles.

“No.”

“And you used to do this?”

“Yes.”

He shook his head. “How did you do it?”

“You rely on your training. And you pray, a lot.”

The lights came on in the house and agents streamed in and out. Five excruciating minutes passed before a flurry of activity and sounds pierced the night silence. Agents poured out of every door. Richards stepped onto the front porch and yelled, “Yo, Z! Get over here!”

SIXTEEN

B
lake jogged beside Heidi. At Richards's call, her features had hardened into an expression he'd come to recognize as her “this is serious” look.

They had to pull up before they reached the house as two agents strung a roll of caution tape in front of them. “I wouldn't go any closer, ma'am,” one of the agents said.

Richards ducked under the tape. “He's right about that,” he said.

“What did you find?”

“Nothing.”

“Why the hasty retreat?”

“The new dog alerted.”

“What new dog?”

“Joined us last week. Been getting specialized training. I'm not sure I believe he can do what they claim, but his handler believes—”

Even in the predawn light, Blake saw the color drain from Heidi's face. “Can he tell what it is?”

“I have a bioterror team scrambling, but the handler says anthrax.”

Heidi took a step back. “No, this doesn't make sense.”

Richards said something, but Blake didn't catch his words. He kept replaying “anthrax” over and over in his mind. Had they been exposed? Maggie? His family? Could they get vaccinated? Would that even help?

Someone yelled for Richards and he excused himself. Heidi turned to him. “We'll have the dog sweep the plant and all your homes. If he alerts to anything, we'll vaccinate your family and anyone who has stepped into the plant in the last three months,” she said. “There've been no outbreaks, so whatever they were planning to do, they haven't done it yet. At least, I don't think they have.”

“Will vaccinations work?”

“I don't know.” Heidi ran both hands through her curls as Max jogged up.

“You've heard.”

“Yeah.”

“Think the dog can do that?”

“We can't risk it either way. Not until we have a confirmed analysis.”

“What on earth are the Kovacs doing with anthrax?”

“Something bad. Something very bad.”

* * *

It took until 3:00 a.m. for HPI and the Harrisons' homes to be declared anthrax-free. Blake hoped that dog was as good as they said. The handler was confident. So was Heidi. And as Heidi pointed out, if the dog couldn't find it, nothing else would.

It looked like the Kovacs' anthrax plans had been thwarted. Still, Blake couldn't let himself relax. It didn't
feel
over yet.

When the last FBI agent drove away, Heidi turned to Blake. “What time will Maggie be back tomorrow?”

“Four o'clock.”

She gave him a small smile. “Good. You need to get some sleep.”

“So do you,” he said as he pulled her arm into his and turned their steps toward the car. “What happens tomorrow?”

“Somewhere above my pay grade, people are deciding how to spin this. By tomorrow, they will have a story and a plan for implementation. My guess is they will keep this hushed up. No media coverage. No ‘we stopped an anthrax plot' press conference.”

“Why not?”

“Because we haven't. Somewhere, the Kovacs have a supply of anthrax. At least, if that dog knows his stuff, they do. They have it, and they intended to distribute it in some way. But we can't prove it. Rather than make a big show, we keep what we know to ourselves. If the dog hadn't alerted, we wouldn't have known there was anthrax in the house for days, maybe not ever.”

“Instead of letting on you know about it, you let them think they've gotten away with it?”

“Exactly. I'm not sure when it will all be resolved.”

He couldn't deny that anything that kept her here a few days longer was fine with him. He knew every time they took a step closer to stopping the Kovacs' plot he also took one step closer to telling her goodbye, and there was no way he was going to miss out on any of the dwindling moments they had left.

He'd had a lot of time to think today. From his early-morning communion with God, to the adrenaline rush of the confrontation with Mark, to the intense emotions that had flooded through him as he'd held Heidi while she sobbed, to the quiet moments as he tried to stay out of the way while Heidi did her job.

He'd been asking God why for a long time. Years. Why had God allowed him to fall in love with a woman who He'd known would someday leave him and their daughter? Why had God allowed him to hire a mobster? Why would He allow him to fall in love with Heidi—a woman he could never have?

Because he knew he loved her. His heart belonged with hers. Forever.

God hadn't answered his question yet, maybe He never would. Blake had the sense God wasn't asking him to understand everything, just to trust.

That's what he was going to do.

Trust that God already had all the information and He'd share it when he needed to know.

Heidi pulled into Blake's driveway and put the car in Park. When she turned to him, he brushed her cheek with his thumb. What he wouldn't give to be able to pull her toward him. Instead, he said, “Call me if anything happens?”

“Promise.”

* * *

Heidi kicked her shoes off and slid between her sheets. Her last conscious thought was that she should set her alarm.

She didn't.

When she woke, the sun shone through the bedroom window at an odd angle. She'd never noticed it being in her eyes like this before. She rubbed her face. Where was her phone? She blinked a few times and spotted it on the pillow.

It was 10:47 a.m.

She groaned. How had she slept so late? Why hadn't anyone called her? The biggest case she'd ever been a part of and she'd slept the morning away?

Her phone vibrated in her hand. A text from Max.

Call me when you wake up. No news.

Maybe the sleep hadn't been such a bad idea. She stumbled into the bathroom, wishing she'd showered last night. She smelled like smoke, dirt, sweat and burned hair.

A hot shower and a cup of tea later, she called Max.

“Glad you decided to join us in the land of the living,” he said.

She yawned. “Sorry. Where are we?”

“Pretty much where we were last night.”

She'd hoped for more, but she wasn't surprised. This was real life, not a TV drama. Lab results and forensic searches required more than fifteen minutes to be completed.

“What do you want to do next?”

Heidi ripped into a granola bar and took a bite. “I think we have to go back to HPI. We may—”

Her door rattled as someone pounded on it. She dropped the granola bar and pulled her weapon from its standard spot at her lower back.

“Heidi! Are you in there?”

“Blake?”

“Come on, Heidi. I'm not under duress. Open the door.”

“Hang on, Max,” she said into the phone as she eased the door open.

Blake stood a few steps back on the porch, hands raised in a mock surrender. “We need to come up with a safe word, don't we?”

“Yeah.” But what would be the point when it was almost over?

“I have a hunch about what Mark was up to. I need to check something at the plant. Want to come?”

“Want to? I don't want you going alone, that's for sure.”

“Then come on.”

Heidi ended her call with Max as she pulled on her shoes. “I'll drive,” she said.

“Nope. It's been five days. I'm good.”

Had it really been five days? In some ways it felt like this week had been one endless day.

She grabbed a ball cap, but Blake caught it before she could cram it on her head. “Don't.”

“My hair—”

“Is adorable. I like it all wet and extra curly. Leave it.”

Had that concussion finally caught up to him? He grabbed her hand and pulled her to his car, opening the passenger-side door for her.

“You hate my hair.”

“No, I don't.” He lifted a few damp curls and let them slide through his fingers. “I love it.”

He winked and closed her door.

What on earth? Was it possible she'd found a man who not only wasn't repulsed by the scars covering her body, but who also didn't mind the curly mess calling her head home? It would figure the one man who could handle all of her was also a man she could never have. He liked her, but he'd never act on it.

He settled into the driver's seat. “What's with you and your hair?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don't straighten it, but you have a chip on your shoulder about it.”

“Let's talk about your hunch.”

“After you tell me about your hair.”

She stared out the window. “I don't mean to have a chip on my shoulder about it.”

“Maybe I used the wrong phrase. You seem sensitive about it.”

What did it matter anymore? She might as well tell him. “My freshman year at Virginia Tech was tough. I was very much alone, and...I think the term is
emotionally fragile
.”

She rubbed her hands on her jeans before she dove back in. “I met this guy in a chemistry class. Thought we were friends. When he asked me out, I was thrilled. Then he started making little remarks about my hair and my clothes. I straightened my hair because he liked it better straight.”

“Idiot,” Blake said under his breath.

“Who? Him or me?”

“Him.”

“True, but I was an idiot for letting him control me.”

“You were, what, eighteen? No family? Having gone through what you'd been through? You just wanted to be liked—he's the one who took advantage.”

“Thank you for that. At the time, it seemed reasonable. Now it seems ridiculous. Anyway, when he started suggesting I wear shorts or tank tops, I told him about the burns. He said he didn't care.”

She could still see his face. Even without any training, she'd recognized the lie.

“But he did,” Blake said, and Heidi could hear the undercurrent of fury in his words.

“He did,” she agreed.

“Does this guy still waste oxygen?”

Man, it felt good to be protected. “He does. Married a girl with a perfect pedigree and the perfect body to match. Divorced her a few years ago and married another one, ten years younger.”

“Some men are morons, Heidi.”

“With a few obvious exceptions,” she said, trying to infuse some teasing into the conversation.

“No, I'm a moron, too. If I'd had any sense, I'd have kissed you three months ago.”

Heidi sucked in a breath.

“And I'd have been kissing you every day since then. Now I'm out of time.”

Heidi tried to swallow but her mouth had gone dry. Why was he saying this? Every part of her wanted to tell him she wished he'd been kissing her every day, too. But he deserved more than she could give. “You'll be better off without me.”

“No. I won't.”

She couldn't think of what to say. He hadn't said he loved her. He hadn't asked her to stay. But he'd put it out there, that the feelings she'd sensed simmering under the surface were real. She watched his face as they pulled into the empty HPI lot. He put the car into Park and pulled the keys from the ignition.

When he looked at her, every reason she had for stopping this from going any further left her mind and all she could think of was how much she wanted him to hold her and tell her they'd figure it out.

The honking horn to her right jerked her attention to her surroundings.

Max.

She'd strangle him as soon as she got the chance.

Blake gave her a rueful smile and whispered, “Later?”

Yes. Later.

* * *

Blake couldn't believe he'd done that.

He'd promised himself he wouldn't. He had no right to make any claim on her. To try to make anything work between them. He should let her go.

But when she'd opened the door with her bare feet and her wet hair and her gun in her hand, he'd been undone. This woman didn't fit anything he'd ever thought he'd want or need, but it turned out she was everything he needed and the only one he would ever want.

And he did want her.

If Max hadn't pulled up when he had, he would have told her he loved her. Would have shown her. His timing stunk.

How many romantic moments had they shared? Long chats on the porch swing, walks in the woods, even late nights around the coffee table with a pizza and a carton of ice cream. And he had to go and attempt to tell her he loved her while driving in the car on their way to uncover a criminal plot?

Brilliant.

They got out of the car and Max joined them. “What's the deal?”

“You'll have to ask Blake.”

They both looked at him.

“It may be nothing, but I keep thinking about what we know they've done. They've messed up a few shipments and may have created false orders. It got me thinking. What if they were trying to do something to shipments that would never reach the customers?”

Heidi and Max exchanged blank looks.

“What if they were trying to perfect a way to contaminate bottles, but they didn't want those bottles to get out until they were ready? They would need to test it on bottles that were never going to reach the customer because they didn't meet our quality specifications.”

He could see Heidi had caught on.

“You think all those off-quality batches were intentional, to hide something else?”

“Maybe, and I think I might know where they were doing it.”

“Where?”

“The blower.”

Recognition swept across Heidi's face and he knew she was thinking the same thing he was.

“The blower you were working on my first day here?”

“The same.”

“Why that one?” Max wasn't following.

“It's given us fits, and it has enough nooks and crannies for Mark to hide something without anyone noticing. I want to check it out. I'll take it apart bolt by bolt if I have to.”

Heidi nodded. “It's plausible.”

Max shrugged. “I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm game.”