Special Ops Affair (10 page)

He meant about her father’s murder. That touched a deep and warm place in her heart. Instead of focusing only on the things she’d withheld, he was more concerned with helping her find her father’s killer. Or did he think her father’s killer could also be Kate’s? And the key to taking down Hersch.

Had she been so wrapped up in protecting her father’s innocence that she’d missed that? “What do you think we should do?”

“What we were supposed to do from the beginning. Get inside Hersch’s organization and see what turns up.”

“You can’t work for him. He might be the one who sent that man after the package Kate sent me.”

“We’ll keep out of sight. Watch him for a while. Tap into his communications. Take a look inside Defense Initiatives.”

They would have gotten to that point eventually anyway. Kate’s murder had only delayed things.

They reached the hotel and got into the elevator. They were alone.

“What would you have done if you discovered your father was really doing business with Dharr?” Jag asked, pressing the button for their floor.

“I would have told Cullen.”

He looked doubtful.

She met his eyes. “I would have. And I’ll do the same if that’s what we discover now.”

His doubtful expression remained but he didn’t argue.

“What are we going to do about Roth?” she asked.

He continued to stare at her. “What do you want to do?”

“Go talk to him.”

Again, he stared at her. “What about Cullen?”

She didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to go behind his back but she didn’t see any other way.

The elevator opened and Jag put his hand on her lower back, guiding her into the hall.

“I can’t do this without you,” she said.

“Yes, you could.”

She smiled. “You’d only catch up to me.”

He didn’t return her smile. Instead, he opened their room door and let her in ahead of him. “Get the address to Roth’s house. I don’t want to meet him anywhere public.”

Chapter 7

T
hey waited until that evening to go to Colonel Roth’s residence, and now they climbed onto the porch of a large Victorian house. Odie glanced around as Jag rang the bell. No one was lurking.

A few minutes later, a woman answered.

“Is Colonel Roth here?” Jag asked.

“Who are you?”

“Tell him we work for Cullen.”

The woman eyed him and then Odie before closing the door. Odie looked at Jag.

“Is she going to get him?” she asked.

Before Jag could reply, the door swung open again and Colonel Roth’s angry face appeared.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Sir, we need to ask you some questions.”

He searched the front yard and street. “If there’s anything you need to know, ask Cullen. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Please, sir, we just spoke with Frasier Darby’s wife and she said he came to see you. It’s important that we talk.”

Roth opened the door wider and moved aside to let them in. He was a big man, a little thick in the middle, but not to the point of obesity. He wore glasses and his hair was gray and receding. Odie had never met him in person and seeing the man behind TES was awe-inspiring. Of course there were others he worked with to generate assignments, but the orders came from Roth. Odie didn’t know any of the other members, only Cullen did, and it would stay that way.

Roth said nothing, just led them to a library off the dark wood floor and white trim entry. A white leather sectional faced a wall of windows and was flanked by towering bookshelves. Anytime she saw a library like this she admired the intelligence of its owner.

Roth turned to face them. “This better be good.”

“We wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”

After a few seconds, he nodded.

“We need to know why Frasier came to see you,” Jag said. “You didn’t mention that to Cullen, at least, he didn’t tell us when we started this assignment.”

Roth ignored him. He stared at Odie and then something changed on his face.

“You’re Odie.” He sounded surprised.

He knew who she was?

“Odelia Frank?”

“Y-Yes…?”

Unbelievably, he smiled. “I knew your father very well. We were good friends. I don’t know if you knew that.”

“Uh…no.” She looked at Jag and saw the shrug in his eyes.

“Most of our relations were on a professional level,” he continued. “He was a good man. I never had a chance to say how sorry I am that he’s gone, and I had to miss his funeral.”

“Thank you.” This was strange. Why was he talking about her father? As soon as he recognized her his temper had eased.

“I still can’t believe anyone would want to kill him. And to think his killer was never caught…” Roth shook his head. “It’s a travesty.”

“I always wondered if it was someone on the inside. Someone who knew him,” she said. Someone who wanted to silence him. She waited to see what Roth would say. Did he know anything?

“I can’t imagine who. Your father was good at picking the best men. Whenever I needed someone, I always went to him first.”

Realization expanded inside her head, catching her off guard. Cullen worked for Roth. Roth knew her father. “That’s how Cullen found me.” She said the thought out loud. “It was you.”

“Yes. I asked Cullen to bring you home. And you went to work for him just as your father wanted.”

“He never told me.”

“Cullen needed a good intelligence officer, and I knew you had just resigned your position with the army. Your father was concerned about the state you were in after Sage was killed. I thought it was a good fit and he agreed. Cullen did, too. He was happy to have someone with your background.”

Remembering that time sobered her. It seemed like another lifetime. She looked over at Jag. More so now than ever.

“Cullen says you’re still trying to solve your father’s murder,” Roth said, bringing her back.

“Yes. Kate was helping me.”

His brow creased in consternation. “I didn’t know that.”

No one did. Not until now. “I think she may have uncovered something that threatened his killer.”

“But she was looking into Hersch.”

“I know.” She let him fill in the blanks on his own.

“You think his murder has something to do with this investigation?”

“Yes, but we don’t know how.” She explained about the initials and the package she never had a chance to fully study.

Roth lifted his hand and rubbed his forehead in thought.

“Why did Frasier come to see you?” Jag repeated the question, reminding them of the reason he and Odie were here.

Roth dropped his hand. “He knew I was close to Odie’s father, but her father is dead, so he came to me instead. He’s the one who told me Hersch was working with an Albanian military export company. I asked Cullen to validate the claim, given the fact that our government uses Hersch’s services from time to time.”

How did Frasier know her father?

“Why didn’t you tell Cullen where you got the information?” Jag asked. “You could have saved us a lot of time. We could have looked into Darby earlier than now.” She was a little angry about that.

“This began as a recon mission, and Darby begged me not to reveal his identity. My only concern at that time was to confirm his claim that Hersch was going rogue.”

“But after Kate was murdered…” Odie said.

“Yes, after Kate was murdered everything changed. But by then I had Cullen on it.”

So he hadn’t intervened. He didn’t want to stick his head out too far, not with TES involved. He didn’t want his ties to the secret organization exposed.

“If we’d have known about Frasier Darby sooner, he might not be dead right now,” Odie said, her tone sharp. She didn’t care if he outranked her. Someone died because of his decision.

“I’m sure you’d like to believe that,” Roth said.

He was right that she couldn’t be absolutely sure, but his chances would have been much better had she and Jag known.

“Darby was afraid to approach us,” Jag said.

“Because he didn’t know who we were,” Odie snapped.

“He was killed just a few days after Kate,” Roth said.

“You should have told Cullen about him,” Odie all but shouted.

Roth’s eyes grew authoritative. “I don’t think you fully understand what’s at stake here. TES has grown into a formidable counterterror operation. Losing it would be devastating. But running an organization like that comes with a price. People die in this business. You should know that better than anyone.”

She sucked her breath in. He meant Sage. And maybe even her father. “That’s stooping a little low.”

“So is coming to my home uninvited.”

Odie clenched her teeth to bite back a caustic retort.

Jag cleared his throat. “How did Darby find out about the export company?”

Leave it to him to keep them focused on their purpose here.

Roth turned to him. “Someone told him about it, but he wouldn’t say who.”

“Why not?” Odie asked.

“He was afraid of detection.”

“Was he afraid for himself or someone else?”

“He wouldn’t say.”

“And you didn’t find that strange?”

“Don’t forget he came to see me before Kate was murdered,” Roth said.

She had to concede his intentions had begun on the up-and-up. Frasier hadn’t wanted to reveal his sources because he was afraid. Roth hadn’t questioned that. Maybe Odie wouldn’t have either. She knew what it meant to protect her own contacts.

“How did he know my father? He’s an engineer with no military ties.” None that she could see.

“His brother was on the same team as Sage.”

It felt like bomb had detonated inside her. “What?”

“That’s how he knew your father. His brother was killed with Sage.”

Was this all a weird coincidence? She looked over at Jag and saw his brow had lowered, and now he met her gaze intently, as if he were wondering the same thing.

“He must not have recognized you,” Jag said to her. Frasier hadn’t known she was Sage’s wife, otherwise, he’d have probably approached them at the funeral.

“Do you think he talked to Kate?”

“It looks that way,” Jag said.

Frasier had gone to Roth a month ago, before Kate was murdered, with information on Hersch. And then Kate had discovered more, something damaging enough to put her life in danger, something related to Odie’s father’s murder, as the initials on the package had indicated. Whatever she’d uncovered had led to Frasier’s death.

Who was his source for the information on Hersch? Was it his lover? Kate?

No.

Frasier was a lot older than Kate and didn’t fit the profile of a man who’d interest her. Calan was a handsome man. Much younger than Frasier, too. He was more her type. Odie wondered if he’d gotten involved with her on purpose. Maybe he discovered she’d done some digging and wanted to stop her. Except they’d known each other several months and had just moved in together. Hersch had only popped up on TES’s radar a month ago.

Another coincidence?

Either that or all the players were closely tied together.

Frasier’s brother had known Sage. Had their failed mission had anything to do with Hersch? It didn’t seem likely. Nothing about Sage’s death suggested foul play. It was only the common link that had led Frasier to Roth. It had to be. Frasier was out of his league and went to the only person he thought could help him.

“Why would someone like Frasier be involved in this?” Odie asked, trying to lure Roth into revealing what he knew about Frasier’s lover. If he knew anything. “How does someone like that get his hands on information about Hersch? His source must have been his lover.”

“What lover?” Roth asked, genuinely taken aback.

“Or someone who knew his brother,” Jag said.

“Could be one in the same.”

Jag nodded. “We need to find the lover.”

“What lover?” Roth repeated, more insistent now.

“His wife told us he was having an affair just before he was killed,” Odie told him.

“He never mentioned anything like that to me.”

“He sounded sincere. How are we going to find her if we don’t know who she is?”

Neither Roth or Jag had an answer.

“I’m sure the two of you can figure it out,” Roth finally said. “You’ve been here too long as it is.” He started toward the library entrance.

Jag put his hand on her lower back as they followed. Warm tingles distracted her from the thread of this evening’s conversation.

Roth opened the front door. “From now on, all communications go through Cullen.”

Odie nodded and preceded Jag outside.

“I’ll get my report from Cullen,” Roth said.

She glanced back with Jag at the colonel.

“Don’t call me and don’t come to my house again.” Roth shut the door.

With a raised brow, she looked at Jag and he at her. He smiled.

“Nothing like a quick dismissal,” he said.

“At least he talked to us.” Not that they were any closer to solving this.

He put his hand on her back again and they walked toward the rental.

“He doesn’t want to be discovered.”

“Why do you think Frasier refused to reveal his source? Do you really think it was because he was afraid of detection?”

“Partly. If it were me, I’d want to protect my lover, too.”

His voice was doing erotic things to her. Maybe it was his hand on her back. Maybe it was her earlier revelation that she’d grown more than she realized where Sage was concerned, and it was Jag who’d made her grow.

His hand slid down her back and brushed her rear. Odie stopped as sparks darted around her core. He opened the car door for her, standing close with a seductive grin.

“You did that on purpose.”

“I’ve been dying to for a while now.”

Was it her imagination or had he picked up on the change in her, too? She got in and watched his tall frame move around the front and get in on the other side. What happened to his lack of trust in her? Had telling him everything changed his attitude? That could be dangerous. Did she want to start something with him?

He
had
mentioned he wasn’t going to do this kind of work much longer….

The next morning, Odie walked beside Jag after they left the elevator. They’d skipped dinner last night and now she was ravenously hungry.

“I want a big omelet with lots of cheese and spicy sausage.”

“Potatoes, too.”

Tilting her head, she smelled the air with a deep inhale. “I smell coffee.”

“Stop that.”

Seeing his heated expression, she straightened her head. Sharing a room had definitely tested their self-control last night. Odie was beginning to wonder if it would be so bad to just give in.

“You’re making me hungry,” he said, and it was clear he meant something other than food.

“Let’s feed you, then.”

“Be careful, or we won’t make it through lunch.”

The smile in his eyes gave her a warm tingle. There was promise in them, one that said he meant what he said.

“Stop being such a boy.” She tried to make light of the undercurrent floating between them.

“Impossible around you.”

So much for keeping it light. She couldn’t believe it. They were talking about omelets and coffee and he was turning her on.

Clicking brought her head around. A cameraman was snapping pictures. What the…?

Then she saw the reporter from yesterday. He stood in the atrium in front of a cluster of trees, watching them pass.

“Odelia Frank?” he called.

Odie marched past him. As if she’d talk to him. Jag had taken into step behind her, blocking the cameraman’s view of her. She could have kissed him for putting together what her picture in the paper could mean.

“Why did you go to Heather Darby’s house yesterday?” the reporter shouted. She looked around and saw they were attracting attention. People looked from the reporter to her, his focus of attention and some of their expressions showed they were curious as to who she was. She didn’t think anyone recognized her. It had been a few years since Cullen’s daring rescue mission turned into a very public romance.

“I went back there after you went to Colonel Roth’s house.”