Relentless Pursuit (17 page)

“Would you think less of me if I said yes?” Tammy asked quietly.

Pierce waited until she raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “Sweetheart, you’re the bravest person I know. Come on, let’s get you to bed,” he said with a wicked grin and a twinkle in his hazel eyes.

In the darkness of the night, the two figures smashed the window and reached inside the door to flip the lock. They quickly ducked into the small kitchen of the apartment over the store, Southern Charms.

“You look here. I’ll look in the back. It’s a black laptop and a bundle of handwritten notes in a folder. We have to have them to get the details to claim the Cropbot as ours,” the man whispered.

The figures spread out and canvassed the apartment. “Do you have anything?” he called from the bedroom.

“There’s nothing here!” They had pulled out drawers, looked in cabinets, and under the mattress.

“Dammit. We need to find them and destroy them. It’ll cost us tens of millions if we don’t,” he said as he searched through one of the closets. “I found it!” He pulled out a laptop and turned it on.

“There! Personal Research Notes. Click on that.”

“Crap. It’s password-protected.”

“Well, you’re the computer genius. Hack it.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” he bit back.

“Wait! Do you hear that?”

They strained their ears and heard the door to the shop downstairs open. “Hurry, let’s get out of here.” He slammed the laptop closed and shoved it into his bag. They ran for the kitchen door and escaped down the stairs as the door to the apartment opened.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Pierce lay silent in the darkness of Tammy’s apartment and let his mind wander. Marko was snoring softly from his place on the couch and Tammy slept peacefully on Pierce’s arm. Slowly, Pierce fell into a state of restless sleep. His mind started to race as it felt as if memories were fighting to come forward.

Suddenly he found himself remembering the night after he and Dr. Oldham had tested the Cropbot. The graduate class had gotten together for beers at the campus dive bar. Aiden was there, along with Mrs. Oldham and a couple of the other spouses of his classmates. Tamara Bell was flirting with him as he poured her another glass of beer from the pitcher.

Aiden grabbed the empty pitcher and headed for the bar. Tamara pressed her breast against his arm and laughed at a joke someone from across the table told as Pierce drank the last sip of beer. Looking around to find Aiden and the missing beer pitcher, Pierce found him with his head leaning close to Mrs. Oldham’s in the shadows of the far side of the bar. Dr. Oldham’s back was to them as they continued their hushed conversation. Aiden looked up and saw Pierce watching them. He quickly ended the conversation and came back to the table with the full pitcher of beer.

Pierce was about to tease the new teacher’s assistant but Tamara jiggled with laughter and his baser instincts shifted his attention away from what he had just seen. With his glass refilled, Pierce gave a silent salute to his mentor. Dr. Oldham winked and in secret they toasted to their future successes.

Tammy slid away from Pierce’s warm embrace the next morning. Pierce looked exhausted and she didn’t want to wake him. She crept out of her bedroom and shut the door. She grabbed his shirt from the end of the couch and slid it on over her head. The shirt reached her knees as she padded barefoot into the kitchen to make breakfast for them both.

Gus yawned and stretched his wings and Marko leapt off the couch and followed her into the kitchen in hopes of snagging a morning treat. Tammy turned on her playlist and danced to Blake Shelton as she cooked bacon and eggs. She couldn’t stop grinning, knowing she was making it for the naked Pierce in her bed. After all those years of dreaming and wondering, she now knew that it was so much better than she had hoped for.

Unfortunately, not even a night of mind-blowing, earth-shattering, "Oh.My.God!" sex could make her forget that she was a walking target. The wait was brutal. Even though she felt safe with Pierce and knew Ahmed and his minions were outside, she couldn’t help but wish the move would be made so it would be all over. No matter how much had been resolved, she still felt that she and Pierce couldn’t move forward with their relationship until the men were caught and they were out of danger.

Marko’s ears raised and his head popped up a second before a knock sounded on her front door. Tammy knew who it was from the way his tail wagged as he raced to the door. Tammy turned off the stove and put the bacon on a plate before opening the door for Bridget.

“What is that?” Tammy asked of the large box with a big bow stuck on the top.

“This is a gift from Annie and me,” Bridget said with a smile. Before she could continue, her mouth formed an
O
. Tammy just hoped Pierce hadn’t walked out of the bedroom naked. Bridget pointed behind where Tammy stood. Tammy turned around expecting to see Pierce standing there in his birthday suit only to find herself similarly stunned into silence. “Um, Tammy, is Gus riding on top of Marko or am I just seeing things?” Bridget asked.

Tammy took in the scene of Gus holding on tightly to Marko’s collar as the dog trotted into the kitchen and sidled up to the counter. Gus let go of the collar while his tiny feet still grasped at fur and climbed up Marko’s neck and onto his head. Gus stretched and the tip of his beak was able to snag the end of a piece of bacon. Pulling it down, he snapped it in half and dropped some to Marko.

“Aw, that’s a good bird,” Gus laughed as K-9 and bird enjoyed the stolen treat.

“That didn’t just happen, did it?” Bridget asked.

“I don’t even know what to say," Tammy replied.

“The guys at the training facility would never believe me. Come on, Marko, we’re meeting Annie at the high school to sweep for drugs. Should be fun!” Bridget handed the big rectangular box to Tammy and headed out the door with Marko by her side.

“Awww,” Gus squawked sadly as he climbed back up his cage to his perch. Tammy shook her head and tore off the bow to her present. Whatever it was, it was heavy.

“Morning, babe,” Pierce said as he sauntered out of the bedroom. “You look good in that shirt.” He grinned as he zipped his jeans and headed over to give her a kiss. “What’s on the agenda today? Breakfast in bed?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss meant to sway her to his idea.

“Nope.” Tammy said, setting down the box and heading into the kitchen. “Breakfast and then a day at the office—a day at the office in which you stay out of sight. I need to stay visible and accessible. Also, I got a text from Ahmed. He’s meeting us at the office. He said he has some more information he thought you’d want to know about before he has Marshall turn it over to the detectives.”

“I wonder what it is? All I know is that this can’t be over soon enough.”

“Do you think this all has to do with your invention? Which, by the way, is very impressive. I had no idea you were so talented,” Tammy told him as she set the plates of eggs and bacon on the small kitchen table.

“I’m talented at many things,” Pierce winked. “But, seriously, thank you. That means a lot. It was a lot of hard work and very late nights. So far the testing has been better than I could've ever hoped for. If Dr. Oldham hadn’t been killed, then I would've debuted the Cropbot this fall and, hopefully, gotten the financial backing necessary to start mass production of them for spring planting season.” Pierce paused as he thought about his future. “If this gets wrapped up and my patent is cleared, I still want to do that. But, to answer your question, yes. I think this is all about my invention. It has to be.” 

Pierce finished his breakfast and took a shower while Tammy got ready. He’d never really spent a lot of time with a woman before in a domestic situation and he had to admit, it was really nice. He liked that they worked well together. She cooked and he cleaned. She got dressed while he showered. It all seemed so easy, so comfortable. There was something secure in it.

It ended too soon, he thought, as they walked into Henry’s office. Kenna popped her head out and called hello before she hurried off to court with Dani. Tammy looked very professional today in a black pantsuit. It made him feel a little underdressed in his jeans.

“Hey. Glad you’re both still alive,” Henry said with a grin as he strode out of his office and into the lobby.

“You think I’d fail at my job?”

Henry jumped. “Where the hell did you come from?” He asked Ahmed who was casually standing in the doorway that led back to the offices.

Ahmed just looked at him and then turned to Tammy. “Good morning, my dear.” He kissed her cheek and then headed over to shake Pierce’s hand.

“So, what did you find?” Pierce asked anxiously.

“Someone broke into your temporary housing last night,” Ahmed told him.

“What?”

“They searched the apartment, rather amateurishly, I might add, after breaking a window to get in. That set off an alarm and Cole responded with one of my men. It appears that nothing was taken.”

“Do you know who did it?” Tammy asked.

“I have a very good idea. You know the ghosting program I told you about that I found on Dr. Oldham’s computer?” When everyone nodded, Ahmed continued. “Well, I put a very similar program on Pierce’s computer at home. Last night someone tried to break the code for the Personal Research Notes file.”

“I don’t have a file labeled that,” Pierce told them.

“You do now,” Ahmed said smoothly.

“So, what good did that do?” Henry asked impatiently.

“When an incorrect password is entered, it activates the camera on your laptop and starts to record. I have video of the couple who broke into your apartment,” Ahmed told them with a hint of smugness as he pulled out his tablet and pressed Play.

Pierce watched as a man’s face came into focus. It was covered by a black ski mask. A second, smaller person came into view over the first’s shoulder. Pierce listened to the voices. There was something so familiar, but his mind was racing too fast for him to place it.

“Could they be who you saw the other night leaving Pierce’s house?” Henry asked Tammy as he watched the video and listened to the two criminals bicker.

“It could be. But I’m just not sure,” Tammy responded.

“There’s more,” Ahmed said. “I traced the ghosting program on Dr. Oldham’s computer to a computer in the school’s research lab.”

Pierce turned his eyes to Ahmed’s face. The pieces were falling into place. Now he just needed confirmation. “Whose?”

“Aiden Fink.”

“That’s him. I knew that voice.” Pierce tapped the screen on the tablet at the frozen figure of the larger man trying to hack the computer. “And that,” he said pointing to the smaller figure, “is no man. That is Mrs. Oldham. Son of a bitch!” Pierce yelled as he slammed his hand on the desk. “They set me up and killed Dr. Oldham so they could get my patent!”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Ahmed confirmed.

“How could I be so stupid? It’s all right here,” Pierce tapped his head, “but I still can’t get it out. I now even know who it was and I still can’t freaking remember!” Pierce started pacing. His heart was racing, his head hurt, and he was mad.

“Don’t worry, you’ll remember,” Tammy said kindly as she placed her hand on his arm.

Pierce jerked away in anger. “No! I’m not. That’s the thing. I’m not remembering anything! I need a break. Ahmed, watch Tammy. I’m going for a drive before I do or say something I'll regret.” Pierce slammed the front door before Tammy could follow.

“Pierce!” Tammy called as she hurried after him.

“Tammy, don’t,” Ahmed said quietly as he gently grabbed her arm and stopped her from chasing after Pierce. “A man needs some time alone to work things out sometimes.”

“This is great, Ahmed. I don’t know how you did it,” Henry praised as he walked out of the conference room completely unfazed by Pierce’s outburst.

“And you don’t know where it came from either,” Ahmed said sternly as Henry nodded in acknowledgment. This evidence was going to be anonymously left by the door of the office as far as the police were concerned.

“I’ll call the police now to tell them what I found by the door when I got to work this morning.”

“No, wait. Let Pierce calm down and talk to him about it first. This can be left at any time.”

“Sure, just tell me when.” Henry shook Ahmed’s hand and then disappeared back into his office.

“Are you alright, dear?” Ahmed asked gently.

“No! I’m upset. I’m sad, hurt, and pissed all at once,” Tammy said through gritted teeth. She turned and headed back to her desk when the bell over the door rang. Hoping Pierce had stopped being such a man, she turned and felt the emotions bubble over.

“I thought I’d bring Prissy Pig down to guard you at the office,” Old Man Tabby said as he walked into the lobby with the largest pink pig she’d ever seen wearing a pink rhinestone collar and leash. Tears spilled over and Ahmed wrapped his arms around her.

“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Tabernacle. That is very thoughtful of you. Why don’t you put,” Ahmed paused and gathered himself, “Prissy against the back door.”

“Will do. She’s a good girl, she is.” Old Man Tabby trotted the pig into the back. Tammy even managed a laugh as she heard Henry gasp at the site of a pig walking past his office.

“Let me take you to lunch to get your mind off Pierce for a while,” Ahmed suggested.

“Thanks, but I think I'd rather just crash at my apartment. I ate a late breakfast and I don’t think I can handle a lot of company right now.”

Ahmed nodded and silently handed Tammy her purse before opening the door for her. Tammy smiled grimly and headed out of the office with Ahmed by her side.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Tammy was quiet as she and Ahmed walked down Main Street. She finally voiced her concerns as she approached the café. “What do you think of everything going on? Do I need to be worried?”

“We need to be vigilant. They didn’t find what they were looking for. I expect their actions to escalate until they have what they want, you dead and Pierce’s patent. The only question is whether they’ll go after you both.”