Shattered Heart (Z series) (8 page)

She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her whole life had been tipped sideways. First she learns that her husband’s death was a homicide not an accident, now she finds out that the man who killed him might be involved in terrorism.

“I can’t see William again, JT. I won’t be able to hide my hatred for him.”

JT pulled her into his arms. “Then we’ll have to find proof before he gets back. That gives us two days.”

Zack stepped back into the room. “We have the team on this. Dalton said he’d call Homeland Security and let them know what you found. What we need to do is find where he has this stuff hidden. If we can get to it before he does, we can stop anything he’s planning. Any ideas?”

Charlotte looked at JT.

He rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “Gray Summit maybe.”

“So we need to go out there and take a look around tonight,” Zack said.

JT nodded. “But what are we going to do with Charlotte?”

She thrust her hands on her hips. “I’m going with you, and that’s that.”

CHAPTER NINE

The last thing JT wanted to do was take Charlotte into a dangerous situation but she refused to take no for an answer. Besides, he didn’t want to leave her alone at the house.

“Make a left up there,” JT told Zack, who was driving.

“When we get to the site, I insist you stay in the truck, Charlotte. Understand?”

“All right.” She looked none too pleased but he knew she’d listen to him.

“Cut the headlights. We don’t want to go in announced.”

At a slow creep, the truck moved ahead up the gravel drive.

JT tried to recall where everything was at the site, since he’d only been to the place a couple of times. There was the new construction itself, then according to the building plans, what was already on the property when Terran purchased the land.

At the gate, Zack pulled the truck off the road and into a gully slightly hidden by trees, just in case someone showed up unexpectedly.

“No one should be able to see you here, Charlotte. Lock the doors as soon as we get out. If you hear any kind of trouble, get the hell out of here.”

When he opened his door, he caught a glimpse of how pale she’d become. “We’ll be all right. Now, lock up.” JT watched the knob on his side go down then took off around the truck where Zack waited.

“Any ideas where to start?” his friend asked as they headed over the fence into the site.

“Follow me.” JT took off at a sprint across the field that led to the new construction. There was one outer building that could house bags. That was where they’d start.

When he reached the plywood wall, JT stopped and waited for Zack to catch up, then signaled for them to work their way to the corner. Before taking a right around the building, JT scanned the perimeter, unsure if Terran had security on-site in the evenings or not.

A beam of light caught his attention, and he tipped his head to Zack, who nodded. Both backed flush against the wall, hoping whoever was around wouldn’t spot them.

When the illumination disappeared, JT turned to Zack, then signaled for them to go.

The two shot out and dashed to the small shed-type building JT hoped housed the fertilizer.

On the door, they found a large-sized padlock. “You think you can pick it?” JT asked Zack. This was one skill JT never excelled at.

Zack nodded, then squatted down and extracted a kit from his back pocket, pulling out a thin device. He tipped the lock up and inserted the probe into the keyhole.

JT’s heart raced as he watched for trouble. If Zack didn’t hurry up, they were going to get caught and then his cover would be blown.

A soft click and his friend pulled the lock down and removed the clip from the fastener. Zack tugged the door open. Inside were a half dozen bags.

JT ducked in to examine them. It was ammonium nitrate, but this wasn’t even close to the number Terran had ordered in the past year and a half. So where was the rest?

Maybe he was selling it to another source? But then what the hell were those shipments?

“What should we do?” Zack whispered, looking squarely at him.

“We need to keep looking. This can’t be all of it. Maybe he has more somewhere else.”

They retraced their steps out of the building, then replaced the padlock.

Headlights from the road had them on the move. Someone was coming to the site, and they needed to find a place to stay hidden until they got a look at who it was.

JT pointed back toward the new building. The two raced to the side and again stood flush, JT glimpsing around when the bright lights were close. It was an SUV, but he didn’t recognize it as any of the crew who had been there when he stopped by that afternoon. The lights remained on, as if they were debating whether to get out or leave. That made JT nervous. What were they there for? The driver’s door came open, and the light in the cab allowed JT to see the man behind the wheel. The guard from earlier came to talk to the guy, nodding at something the stranger said. He wished he knew what.

JT squinted to get a better look, but the door went closed again.

Damn it all to hell
.

“Let’s get those bags and get out of here,” a man with a foreign accent said.

JT turned to Zack, not sure what they should do. If they tried to stop them, he’d blow his cover and probably get shot at by the security guard. If they let them go, who the hell knew where those bags would end up?

When JT was about to step out, Zack grasped his arm and shook his head, then signaled back toward the truck.

His friend was right. No way could they let their presence be known.

But what were they going to do?

Zack dragged him down the side of the building, then dashed off, headed for the truck, in the opposite direction of the men in the SUV.

Charlotte was waiting, her eyes filled with worry.

Inside the cab, she wrapped her arms around JT. “I saw the truck and thought for sure they’d catch you.”

“We’re okay.”

Zack sat in the driver’s seat and flipped open his phone, punching a button. “I need you to run a plate number,” he said into the mouthpiece. Zack rattled off the state and plates number. Then I need you to call Oregon State Patrol and put a BOLO out on the vehicle. If it crosses the state line, the occupants need to be arrested for transporting hazardous material across state lines without authorization. If they don’t leave the state, we need to know where they end up.”

JT smiled. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Thank God Zack was here and on the ball.

They waited for the SUV to leave then started the engine, jumping the ditch, back onto the road headed into town. All they could do now was wait and see what happened, while still searching for the evidence that Charlotte’s husband had hidden somewhere.

* * *

Charlotte was relieved to be home. She had too much excitement for one day. She was exhausted and all she could think about was crawling into bed and going to sleep.

She turned to JT. “Are you going back to the motel?”

“I think it’s best if I stay here. This is turning into something bigger than we ever imagined.”

“The chance that this guy could be involved in a terrorist plot is starting to take shape. If he is masterminding something, he wouldn’t hesitate to take down anyone who got in his way. He might just think that about you, Charlotte.” Zack looked to JT for confirmation.

JT nodded.

All of a sudden, Charlotte wasn’t so tired. Every nerve in her body seemed to jump at any sound, and her heart slammed into her ribcage as if it was trying to leave her chest. “Do you think Shaun knew about William buying this stuff?”

“I could only go back so far and with five or six different chemical companies. He certainly could have, though Terran seems to have ramped up his ordering in the past nine months. Just under an amount that would send eyes his way.”

“So then what were those shipments that Shaun mentioned? What could they have possibly been? Something else needed to build one of these bombs?”

Charlotte caught a look between the two men. That was exactly what they were thinking. But they didn’t want to come out and say it—because saying it made it all the more real.

“Why don’t you go on to bed, Charlotte? There isn’t much we can do tonight.”

“But...

“Try to get some sleep. If we find anything out, I’ll wake you.”

Charlotte didn’t want to, yet instead of arguing the point, she turned and headed for her room. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not with all the possibilities spinning around in her head. What if William was about to build this bomb and cause a horrendous catastrophe? What if those crates were filled with something that could turn that bomb into something even more devastating—that could have years and years of consequences to come?

She sucked in a ragged breath. Now, she wished she was oblivious to the whole thing. She didn’t want to know what could happen. There was something to be said about living in the dark, especially with anything of this magnitude.

Then again, why would William get involved in something like this?

Charlotte entered her room and closed the door. She couldn’t think of any reason he’d want to work with someone to blow up anything in the US. It made no sense unless he himself was being forced to do so.

Could that be a possibility?

Maybe he got involved with the wrong people. Looking for a way to make money. To save his business. Look what she’d thought about doing to save hers.

Perhaps William had no idea what he was getting into until it was too late.

She walked to the bathroom and turned on the cold water. She leaned over and splashed the cool liquid over her face. She couldn’t allow herself to feel sorry for him. Because everything was just speculation. The man might be in it up to his comb-over.

He did have her husband killed. So, he certainly didn’t deserve anything but her contempt.

She grabbed the towel off the rack and quickly dried her face.

After changing, she walked back into her bedroom and sat down on the bed. She was exhausted, but to sleep with so much going on? She doubt she’d be able to.

Instead, she rose and walked to her closet, reaching on the top shelf for a box where she kept some of her wedding things and any memories of Shaun. All his clothes had been packed up and taken to Goodwill six months after he’d died. Cara had insisted that she get rid of them. They were only a constant reminder of what she’d lost.

As she brought the box down, her eyes caught a flash of something shiny behind the air duct that the container hid. Why hadn’t she ever noticed that thing before? Because the box had been there since forever.

Charlotte rushed to put the box down onto the bed and reached for her vanity seat. She wanted to know what was up behind that vent cover.

She placed the chair inside the closet and climbed, using the shelf as leverage to pull herself up. She peered through the slates and made out something metal.

Her heart started to pound hard in her chest.

Was it a lockbox?

Charlotte dug her fingernails under the lip of the thing and worked the vent lid forward until the thing fell. Inside was a green-tinted metal container, not even as big as a shoe box.

She stretched up and grasped the end and pulled it out. This could very likely be what that key in the envelope opened.

She stepped down off the chair and carried the box like it was breakable, staring at it as if it held the answers to the universe.

Charlotte rushed to the door, calling for JT. The two met in the hall, his eyes widening when he saw the box.

“Where did you find that?”

“It was behind a vent in my bedroom closet. A box of my keepsakes was in front of it. I just happened to catch a glint of metal and wanted to find out what it was. Shaun could have put it there, right?”

“Maybe, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Perhaps it was there before. Let’s see if the key fits.”

JT took the container from her and walked to the living room where Zack was on the phone talking to someone. Charlotte was curious if it was something important, but finding out if the key fit into the lockbox pulled her back to JT.

He sat the thing down on the coffee table, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the key. He looked at her as he inserted it into the lock.

Charlotte’s heart hammered harder.

It fit.

Whatever was in that box might very likely have gotten her husband killed. She prayed it wouldn’t be the death of them all.

CHAPTER TEN

JT tipped the top of the box up and peered inside.

“What is it?” She leaned over to tried and see.

“Hang on, Charlotte.” He reached in and pulled out a wad of folded paper. He quickly opened them, noting that the first was a photocopy of an invoice.

JT drew it closer to read what it was for. The date was from over two years ago for a shipment that was delivered directly to The Terran Corporation. Nowhere did it say what the shipment was. That seemed odd.

He paged to the next. Another invoice. A month later. Again, nothing indicating what was in the shipment or even where it came from.

Shaun couldn’t have thought this was enough to bring Terran down. The next sheet of paper wasn’t an invoice, but a copy of a note from an Oman Samir. The letter said he expected Terran to take care of everything until he was able to get excess into the country.

Take care of what
?

This didn’t look good.

JT glanced back in the box and saw that there was a tiny disc that looked to be from a digital camera.

What the hell was on it? He needed to find out. It had to be somehow connected to the invoices. “Do you have a camera or a computer for us to look at this?”

“Shaun had a laptop but it was with him when he had his accident. We didn’t have a digital camera. At least not that I know of.”

Zack cleared his throat, the look on his face grim. JT knew what he’d been told on the phone wasn’t good and he didn’t want Charlotte to know whatever it was. All she’d do was worry, and he could see she was stressed enough about what she had already learned that day.