Operation: Endeavor (When The Mission Ends) (15 page)

Luckily they were saved from having to respond to their friends’ curiosity by the ringing of the doorbell. Aaron went to answer it and ushered Officer Pete Larson into the kitchen. A round of “Hi, Pete,” went around the group. They all knew him from when he’d regularly stood guard at Cassie’s house while she had a stalker. He also had begun to teach self-defense classes with Julie, so he was well-known to the group.

While the men went out to examine the Bus and the note therein, the girls stayed in the kitchen. Cassie and Julie stood side-by-side with their arms crossed and looked at her.

“What?” she asked them, feeling very defensive all of a sudden.

It was Julie who spoke up. “Colton? Really? Do you think that’s a good idea with you guys being roommates? I know you were flirting with him yesterday, but I thought you were just playing. This seemed to be more.” She looked concerned.

“We haven’t done anything but kiss.” Although the promise was definitely there for more to come. But they didn’t need to know that.

Cassie frowned. “Pen, Colton doesn’t play. He’s had a hard couple of years especially with the failure of his marriage to Dianna. I’d hate to see him get hurt again. He doesn’t need you to use him. If you’re just messing around, you need to find another boy toy.”

Oh, God, this wasn’t what she’d expected from this conversation. “Is that what you think of me?” She tried not to let the threatening tears show.

Cassie reached across to grab Penelope’s hand. “Hon, it has nothing to do with what I think of you. You know I love you, but your track record with guys isn’t a real great recommendation. He’s my brother. I have to look out for him.”

Nothing like your best friend to knock you down a notch or two. “Sure, I understand and you’re right. We certainly don’t want Colton to fall under my evil spell.” She knew it was wrong to lash out, but this really hurt. She dashed at the tears that continued to flow and was thankful to hear the front door so they didn’t have to continue with this horribly painful conversation.

Thankfully, most of the men didn’t notice the tension level in the kitchen. Except for Colton… of course, he was the one who noticed her emotional state. He looked at her with concern, but she worked hard not to meet his glance.

Instead she looked at Pete who gingerly set the envelope onto the plastic he’d spread over the counter. Obviously he was trying to secure any evidence that it may contain. He even had on plastic gloves.

As he opened the envelope and spilled its contents over the plastic on the counter, a round of gasps shattered the room. A plethora of photos spilled out. They were all photos from tonight. All photos of her friends with targets drawn over their faces. There was also a note that fluttered out. The full-sized sheet was typewritten in an easily readable bold font.

Return The Gift

and no one will get hurt.

You have until 6:00 AM.

Do not contact the police.

Leave it on the porch at the bookstore.

Oh my God. They’d already contacted the police. Penelope’s gaze flew around the room in panic. Had their actions tonight already condemned one of her friends to get hurt?

Pete directed his gaze toward Penelope. “Do you know what it’s talking about? What’s the gift?”

Penelope shook her head, scrambling to get her brain caught up with what they were talking about. She was still focused on those photos. A huge ball of dread settled into the pit of her stomach. “I don’t know.” Her eyes sought Colton’s. “We brought a gift tonight for Julie. It’s her birthday, but I don’t think…”

“What was the gift?” Pete asked her.

“It’s a piece of art…photography done by a local photographer. It’s a picture of an old barn.”

Pete turned to Julie. “Do you mind getting it for me so I can look at it?”

She nodded. “Sure. Hang on and I’ll go grab it.”

When she returned with it, he directed her to place it on the kitchen table. They all stood around the table and looked closely at it.

Julie was fascinated with derelict, abandoned buildings and this photo showed one in black and white, covered in snow. Penelope liked the contrast of the light of the snow and the dark of the aged boards. There was a serene beauty to it, but there wasn’t anything to it that would be worth killing people over. It just didn’t make any sense.

“I don’t see anything about this photo that stands out. Does anyone else?” There was a round of heads shaking.

Chris suggested, “Maybe it’s something inside the frame.” They took the frame apart, but that didn’t yield any clues. Everything looked completely benign.

“I honestly don’t have any idea what they’re talking about.” It was late or early depending on perspective and Penelope desperately needed some sleep to get her brain functioning again. She was worried, tired, and afraid.

“The note said we had until 6:00. God, it’s already 2:00 in the morning right now, so that means whatever it is needs to be at the bookstore,” she looked at the clock on the wall again. “What if we left Julie’s present on the doorstep with a note saying that I don’t know what they’re talking about? Maybe they’d be satisfied with that.” She looked over at Julie. “Is it okay if I take back your present? I’ll get you another one or something else or whatever.”

Julie reached over and grasped Penelope’s hand. “Of course you can.”

Pete nodded. “That’s a good idea. We could set up someone to watch it and then just arrest them when they come to pick it up.”

Penelope immediately started shaking her head. “No. They said no police and I don’t want to provoke whoever this is into attacking one of my friends. If I don’t press charges, there’s no reason for a police presence. I’m not filing charges.”

Colton came to stand by her. He reached around her waist and pulled her to him. “Pen, you’re smarter than this. You know you can’t let them get away with this.” He laid his head against the top of hers and while she appreciated the support, she wasn’t going to change her mind about this.

“No. It’s a couple hundred dollars’ worth of damage and a photo I can replace. That’s nothing in comparison to any of your lives.” She looked around the room at her dearest friends. For some reason they were being targeted and it had something to do with her. She had to keep them safe. “If that’s what they want, I’m fine with it. They can have it. We can leave the photo on the porch of the bookstore on our way home tonight. They can pick it up while it’s still dark and everyone will be happy.” She looked around at the very unhappy faces surrounding her. She stuck her chin out defiantly. “Well, it certainly can’t hurt to try and be cooperative.”

Pete spoke up. “Obviously, this is your decision, but I strongly urge you to rethink this approach. They vandalized your property and now are trying to steal from you. Those are crimes.” He watched her closely as he spoke. He shook his head. “You’re right, though. I can’t do anything about it if you don’t want me to. I’ll process the photos and note so we have it on file.”

Penelope nodded. “Thank you and thanks for coming out here tonight. I’m sorry we wasted your time.”

“It’s not a waste and I hope this is the end of your issues with whoever this is, but I’ll be surprised if it is.”

“Ah, you’re an optimist, aren’t you?” She teased him facetiously, trying to lighten the tone in the room.

“Unfortunately, optimistic souls don’t last long in this job.”

After Pete left, they were all too tired to discuss it any longer. Penelope borrowed a sheet of paper from Aaron to write a note. She tucked it into the frame to leave on the doorstep of the bookstore. Once again, they all headed out to the Bus. This time, Colton took the keys to drive. Penelope was too tired to argue about it. She did argue it when they got to the bookstore.

* * *

Colton looked over at her and clenched his jaw in frustration. They both peered out the windshield of the Bus into the inky darkness of the night. “If you think I’m going to let you walk out there in the dark, in the middle of the night alone, you don’t know me at all. I’ll do it.” He started to unfasten his seat belt

“And why is it safer for you to do it?”

“Because I’m bigger than you are,” he growled at her.

“Come on guys,” Cassie called from the backseat of the Bus. “Why don’t you go together? Chris and I’ll watch from the safety of the Bus and will call the police if either of you go down.”

Colton swung an incredulous look around at her. “In case we
go down
?”

“What? It might happen and you’ll have us here for backup. Right now it’s,” she looked down at her watch and groaned, “3:30 AM and you all are acting like you’re going to sit here and argue all night. This night needs to end sometime soon, or else I’m going to be begging someone to shoot
me
.”

Colton glared at her, but finally relented. He didn’t want Penelope outside the relative safety of the Bus. As they walked up to the door, he hugged her close to him, trying to protect as much of her body as he could with his large frame. The close contact just served to distract him with thoughts of that incredible kiss earlier in the night. But something had changed in her demeanor since they found the note in the Bus. Since then she’d been withdrawn and quiet. No more of those heat-filled glances.

She was probably just tired. God it was late. He looked around the quiet neighborhood again. Whoever left the note, had to be watching them, but he didn’t have that itchy feeling he normally got when danger was near.

While she laid the frame by the door, he looked around again.

“Think that’s okay?” She gestured to how she’d propped up the photo.

“Yeah, it’s fine. Let’s get out of here.”

The phone rang and he snatched it up. “Did you get it?” Fortunately, he sounded in complete control, although that control spun away from him a little more every day. He popped another couple of antacids and swallowed them whole.

“Yeah, boss, it was on the porch just like instructed.”

The relief immediately crashed through his body. Finally, something was working out the way he planned. “Good. Good. You know where to send it. I have to head out of town, so I trust you to handle this. I can trust you, can’t I?”

“Yeah, we got it handled no problem. Bobby is chatting with the girl tonight to make sure there are no more screw-ups.”

He tried not to picture the girl in his mind’s eye. If he wanted the power, he had to accept the sacrifice. That meant punishment when someone didn’t do their part. He was in control and he hired guys like Bobby to make sure it stayed that way.

He didn’t want to think about what a “chat” with Bobby meant. Bobby was not a nice guy, but honestly none of the guys he dealt with anymore could be considered nice guys. But as long as they did the jobs he needed them to do, he wasn’t going to question it. The entire chain had been messed up by that girl, but now it was fixed. He could breathe freely again. Things were back on track. Nothing had been irrevocably
ruined… this time. There couldn’t be a next time. His entire team needed to know the consequences of messing up the job.

“Okay, I’ll call you when I get back.”

“Have a good trip, boss.”

A good trip? No, it probably wasn’t going to be that. As he turned off the phone, he had to wonder, when had he become this guy? This had never been part of his original plan. He wanted the power, sure. But he hadn’t realized that fear would be such a huge part of gaining that power. Now he was the guy they needed to fear.

Colton stood in the kitchen and peered over his coffee cup. Penelope sat in the living room pretending to read her book. She looked exhausted. By the time they’d gotten home last night, it had been close to 4:00 in the morning. He’d awoken at his normal 6:00. Penelope wandered out of her bedroom not too long after that looking shell-shocked and exhausted.

They’d immediately gone by the bookstore to see if the gift was still there. The photo and frame were gone, but that’s all there was to it. No note. No nothing. Now they were both waiting for the other shoe to drop. He agreed with Penelope. He didn’t think Julie’s gift was the one they’d been referring to, but he was as stumped as her. He had no idea what gift the note referred to. As he set the coffee cup down on the counter it thunked. The sound caused Penelope to jump.

Okay, that was enough. They weren’t going to sit around here all day waiting for something to happen and jumping at every little noise.

He strode into the living room and took the book out of her hands. “Go get some shoes on. We’re going out.”

Her eyes were filled with confusion when she looked up at him and he had to resist the urge to draw her into his arms. “What if they call while we’re gone?”

“Then they can call back.” He lowered his voice and told her again more gently, “Go get your shoes. Come on Pen, you’re going to go crazy sitting around here all day. In fact, put on your boots and we’ll take my motorcycle.”

She gave a sharp nod and a ghost of a smile. “Okay, that sounds fun.”

When she came back into the room, she was wearing worn, fitted jeans, cowboy boots, and a brown leather jacket that ended right at the top of her very fine ass. She’d braided her hair, but already some of the curly pieces were escaping the confines of it. Once again, Colton wanted to pull her into his arms, but this time with a very different purpose in mind.