Pushed to the Edge (SEAL Team 14) (19 page)

ictoria awoke with a
start.  Her long hair was matted around her face and her legs were twisted up
in the black silk sheets that draped the bed.  Her cheek felt hot against the
coolness of the pillow.  It took her a few seconds to recall where she was.  Then
it clicked.  She was at Joshua’s.  In his bed.  Well, that wasn’t exactly
right.  She was in his
guest
bed. 

She kicked the sheets down off her legs and sat
up.  A soft yellow glow streamed in through the partially closed blinds of the
bay window to her right.  Last night, she hadn’t had the chance to fully take
in her surroundings.  She’d been bone tired and all that she had wanted to do
was sleep.  But now her curiosity was back. 

Looking around the room, she saw that the guest bedroom
was a large size.  Joshua had chosen a sea foam green coloring for the walls. 
The color was a calm contrast to the oak wood dresser and bed.  A framed
watercolor painting hung on the opposite wall.  Now that she thought about it,
Emmani had probably decided on this room’s décor.  Victoria just could not
picture Josh pouring over different color palettes to finally land on sea foam
green.  Like many men, beige was the standard “go to” color for Josh whenever
it came to home decorating.

 Shuffling to the bathroom, Victoria spent the
next fifteen minutes showering and then another ten minutes getting dressed. 
By the time that she finished, it was close to eight in the morning. 

Walking out of the bedroom, the intoxicating smell
of freshly brewed coffee immediately hit her nostrils. 
Yum
.  Victoria
was a certified caffeine addict, and barely a day passed by without her having
at least one cup of coffee.  Entering the kitchen, she found Joshua sitting at
the table. 

His dark brown hair was slicked back from his face
and he was wearing navy blue BDUs.  His hair was slightly longer than it had
been when they were dating.  His black T-shirt hugged his chest.  It seemed
impossible, but the muscles of his chest and arms were even more defined than
they were a year ago. 

He was the type of man who would never have to
worry about his looks fading with time.  Victoria was convinced that even after
he turned seventy, Joshua would look even more handsome than he did right now. 
He glanced up from his breakfast plate when he noticed her standing there
watching him.

“Good morning,” he said with a disarming smile,
looking her over from head to toe.  He had a small, puckered scar at the apex
of his lip that gave him a rakish appearance.  Victoria had always loved to
press her lips right against that scar.  She was itching to do so right now.  “I
made breakfast for you, but you looked like you were sleeping so well—I didn’t
want to wake you up.  The eggs and toast are still warm.”

“No, it’s fine,” Victoria reassured him, walking
over to the counter to where the coffee pot was located.  “I needed the rest. 
And thank you for making breakfast.”  Victoria poured herself a cup of
coffee—Josh had left a mug for her beside the machine—and then she sat down
across from him at the dining table.  Joshua had already set out a plate for
her, and she filled it up with scrambled eggs, toast, and a couple of strips of
bacon. 

For the first time, she noticed a sliced half of a
grapefruit sitting beside his plate of eggs.  He popped a segment of the
pink-toned, fleshy fruit into his mouth.  She had forgotten that he could be something
of a health nut.  No doubt, he had already woken up and gone for a run and did
some weight training before she’d woken up.

“It was no problem.  So what do you have planned
for the day?”

“Planned?”

“Yeah.  You are still investigating Henning’s
shooting, right?”

“Yeah.  But I have to check in with my editor
first thing this morning.  He wanted me to come in and meet with him today.  Obviously,
I’m going to miss that appointment.” 

“What did he want to talk to you about?”

“Oh you know, the usual.  Life . . . my overdue
columns . . .  oh and he probably wants to hand me my pink slip in person.”

“Why would you be fired?”

“For starters, I didn’t tell my boss about the
extent of my investigation into Henning’s earlier kidnapping.  He was basically
blindsided when the FBI agents followed up on their interview with me by knocking
on his front door.  He had to explain to them that he hadn’t authorized the
investigation that I had been undertaking.”

“Yeah, you mentioned that when I picked you up. 
But you didn’t explain why you didn’t just get clearance from him to begin
with?”

“Because Edward wouldn’t have given me the
approval, Joshua.  Henning’s kidnapping is still classified as an international
crime, even though it involves a well-known, local political figure.  Quite
frankly, the
Dallas Star Gazette
doesn’t have the resources that would
allow for those types of investigations to take place.  Since I wouldn’t be
able to travel overseas and interview witnesses, the
Dallas Star
would
worry about the accuracy of my reporting.”

“Then why would you even want to start the
investigation in the first place?”

“Because there was a story there.  I could feel
it.  I still do.  I just haven’t been able to put all the pieces together yet. 
And now, Henning’s murdered in broad daylight?  That can’t be a coincidence.  I
have a hard time believing that his murder was related to his Middle East
abduction.”

“Do you have any leads?  Any theories about what
you think happened?”  Joshua had finished eating his breakfast, so his
attention was squarely on Victoria.  She had his undivided attention.

“Well, like I said earlier on the phone, I know
that Henning’s company is under a federal drug investigation.  And you know as
well as I do that the Middle East is a prime drug production center.”

“True.  So you think that Henning’s kidnapping and
murder is due to involvement in the international drug trade?”

“Yes.  I do.  I’m just not positive what criminal
element his company was involved with.  The most logical answer is that he had
a falling out with the terrorist group that kidnapped him.  And that they
kidnapped him to send a message.  But it could also be a rival drug syndicate
in the region that wanted to send a different message.”  Joshua didn’t say
anything, which was significant.  He didn’t look at her like she was crazy. 
But he didn’t exactly affirm what she was saying either.

“That’s going to be difficult for you to prove,”
he finally said after a moment of silence.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Look, I have to head to the base for a little
while this morning and run some errands,” Joshua said, abruptly getting up from
the table and putting his dish in the sink.  “I’ll be back sometime in the
early afternoon.”

“Oh okay.”

“Try to stay out of trouble while I’m gone.” 
Before Victoria could respond with a snappy comment, he’d already walked out
the front door. 

Victoria found herself looking at the door for
some time after he had left.  She knew that she was safe and protected when she
was with him.  She knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would not let
anyone hurt her—that he would defend her with his life. 

She wasn’t foolish enough to believe, however,
that he was still in love with her.  His protective nature was just deeply
engrained within his DNA—a byproduct of testosterone and chromosomes.  She
still could not believe that she was back with him, even though she wouldn’t be
there for long.  She had always known that she could count on Joshua when the
going got tough.   

When Victoria had left for San Diego, she had
tried her hardest not to leave a paper trail that someone could follow,
if
someone was actually watching her.  Her efforts had included paying for
everything with cash and ditching her car in Texas, and opting to take the bus
instead. 

She’d made several bus changes to different cities
in Texas before she got on the Greyhound that had Los Angeles as its final destination. 
She had tried to use every disappearing technique that she had ever read about
in some mystery novel or saw on a television show.

Pulling out her cell phone, Victoria saw that
Edward had called her two times this morning.  Crap.  She had at least managed
to send in her column about the Highland Hills Robber.  She’d found out from
Devin that they had positively identified a mentally ill homeless man who had
committed the robberies.  The column wasn’t as dramatic as her usual offerings,
but she was distracted by the murder investigations that continued to pull at
her. 

She also had a missed call and a voicemail from an
unidentified number.  Victoria decided to go the path of least resistance and listened
to the message of the unidentified caller. 

“Hello . . .  Ms. Sanchez . . ,’ the message
started off.  The caller’s voice was that of a young man.  He sounded
breathless, as if he had just finished sprinting.  “This is Lou Kinley.  I
heard that you were looking for me.  That you wanted to talk about Antonio. 
His death.  I don’t know anything—” Before he could finish his sentence, the
call disconnected.  Weird.  He hadn’t even left a phone number for her to call
him back.  Crap.  Now she still had to track him down and corner him for an
interview. 

The next phone call she made was to her mother. 
Victoria spent the next fifteen minutes explaining the least alarming details
of the past three days to her mother.  She also explained that she was spending
a few days with Joshua.  Gloria had a
lot
to say about that before
Victoria managed to end the conversation.  As if she didn’t have enough stuff
to worry about. 

Next, Victoria picked her phone back up again and punched
in the number to her editor.  Edward answered his phone the third ring.

“Edward Linton, speaking.”

“Edward, this is Victoria.  I—” she started before
he cut her off.

“Damnit Victoria.  You were supposed to come in
this morning at 8:00.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’m sorry, but I’m not in Texas
right now.”

“Where the hell are you, then?”

“I’m in California.”

“Why the hell are you there?  Look, Victoria. 
This type of behavior from you is completely unacceptable.  I think that I’ve
been very tolerant of your escapades, but I’m tired of cleaning up your shit.”

Yeah, he was definitely pissed at her.  Victoria
had never heard him use that type of language with any of the reporters.  He
sure hadn’t ever used that type of language in connection with her.

“I’m in California because my apartment was broken
into yesterday.  I was concerned that it was broken into by someone who is
familiar with my investigations into Richard Henning’s kidnapping and the DEA’s
current investigation into his company.”

“Did you contact the Dallas Police Department?”

“Yes of course.  They dusted for fingerprints, but
they are not hopeful that they’ll be able to find a match.  It’ll take them
several weeks to follow up with me.  I’m not holding out too much hope that the
police will find the perpetrators.”

“What was taken?”

“That’s the odd thing.  The only item of value
that was taken from my apartment was my laptop.”

Edward was silent for a few seconds as he took in her
comments.  Victoria had no idea what her boss was thinking right now.  She was
hoping that he would hear her out before he decided to fire her.  “So you think
that the break-in is connected to your reporting?”

“If it’s not, then it is a mighty big
coincidence.”

“What exactly have you been able to uncover so far
about Henning’s kidnapping?” 

Victoria spent the next fifteen minutes getting
her boss up to speed on her investigative efforts.

“Alright Sanchez,” Edward said as she finished,
“I’ll give you a little more time on your reporting.  But you better not let me
down on this.  You need to report in by the end of every week to update me on
your progress.  If I don’t find that you are making satisfactory headway in
your investigation, then I’m pulling you from this case.”

“Okay, sir.”  Great, now Edward was going to be
breathing down her neck for the next few weeks.

“I also expect that you’ll be able to keep up with
your regular crime reporting duties,” he continued.  “Speaking of which, how is
your investigation into the Antonio Ortiz murder coming along?”

“Well sir, I’m still gathering information on that
story.  It’s something that I wanted to talk to you about actually.  I’ve
received a voicemail from Lou Kinley, one of Antonio Ortiz’s friends, who said
that he believes that Antonio was employed by the Henning Cooper Company.”

“What?  How does he know this?”

“Apparently, he called me sometime last night, I
missed his call.  But he left me a voicemail.  He sounded nervous and agitated.”

“When are you going to meet with him in person?”

“About that.  He was calling from a private
number, probably a burner.  His call disconnected before he listed a number
that I could call him back at.  I’m going to try Ms. Ortiz again to see if she
has any updated contact information for him.”

“Listen Victoria, you better have something of
substance to report to me the next time I call you,” Edward said, hanging up on
her.

Crap.  Victoria was still planning to place some
more calls to sources, complete additional research into both Antonio Ortiz’s
murder and Henning’s murder, but she needed more time.  Victoria decided to continue
her research with some more internet searches that she hadn’t gotten a chance
to run before her computer was stolen.  Joshua had left his laptop on the
kitchen counter for her use and she decided that one of those “uses” would be
to finish her research into the Henning Cooper Company.