Suddenly Henry was on the move. He opened his knapsack and began rummaging through it. All kinds of electronic doodads came out to be strewn across her living room couch. He’d always been a techno geek and it looked like nothing had changed much in the years they’d been pursuing vastly different careers.
At length he came up with a small box that looked a little like an old fashioned transistor radio. It had an antenna on one end and Henry moved around her house, pointing the antenna at various objects and heights after switching it on.
“What are you doing?”
“Not a word, Em.” His tone was as stern as she’d ever heard it. “I mean it.”
He passed by her and moved into the kitchen, checking it thoroughly. When the box began to beep, Emily jumped.
“Hell.” Henry looked disgusted as he reached inside one of the flower pots that lined her kitchen window and pulled out a little black pebble.
On closer inspection, she saw it wasn’t a pebble. On her brother’s palm lay what looked like the tiniest microphone she’d ever seen.
“Someone’s been in here.” The proof was in her brother’s hand. Emily felt sick. Someone had violated the sanctity of her home and planted a listening device in her kitchen.
“Pack your things. It’s not safe for you here, Em.”
“Stand down, Parkington. I’ll take it from here.” A tinny voice issued the order from the bug in her brother’s hand. It was a two-way device then. Whoever it was could both hear and speak to them.
“Who the fuck is this?” Henry was definitely pissed now. He also seemed a little less tense. Like maybe this wasn’t the disaster they had at first believed.
“Go to the back door,” the voice replied.
Henry pulled a pistol from the holster he’d had hidden under his pant leg and flipped off the safety. He motioned for her to take cover behind the kitchen island. Then he went to the back door that led right into the kitchen and peered out the small window inset in the wood.
“Son of a bitch,” he swore, flipping the lock open and swinging the door wide. He didn’t lower his weapon but the set of his shoulders seemed to relax a fraction from what she could see. “You bugged my sister’s home?”
Emily couldn’t see who was at the door from her angle and she was too frightened to move without Henry’s all clear. She didn’t want to do anything that could get her twin shot.
“Just doing my duty, sir.”
Dammit. That was Sam’s voice. Emily stood from her hiding place.
“Would you mind telling me exactly what the
hell
is going on here?” Oh, she was mad now. Mad and scared. It wasn’t a good combination.
Chapter Eight
“I
bugged your house, Emily. I’m sorry but I had to know which side you were on in this.” Sam didn’t look one bit sorry for what he’d done and she still had no idea why he’d done it.
“What exactly are we dealing with here, lieutenant?” Henry had that crisp note of military authority in his voice. He’d really perfected that over the years. It impressed even Emily and she’d been his shadow all their lives.
“Need to know, sir, and you’re not in my chain of command.”
“Chain of . . . So then you’re still in the military?” Emily asked, putting things together in her mind.
Sam grimaced. “You’re putting me in a tough spot, Em. Everything about my presence here is need to know. I can’t tell you anything. I shouldn’t have revealed this much but when you found the bug, I couldn’t let you run for the hills. It could blow the operation and this is too important.”
“More important than my sister’s life?” Henry got right up in Sam’s face, but Emily was glad to see that Sam didn’t take the bait.
Instead, he seemed to deflate. His reaction puzzled her.
“Believe me, I’d love to get her out of here right now but this is a matter of national security. Hell, it’s bigger than that. You have my word that I’ll do everything in my power to keep her safe from harm.”
Henry stilled. Emily knew he was thinking, weighing the possibilities and deciding on his response. But this was her life they were discussing. Her safety.
Her decision.
“I’ll stay, Sam. If it’ll help end whatever is going on at Praxis Air. I want to help in whatever way I can.”
“Em—” Henry began, but she silenced him.
“My life, my decision, big brother.” She knew that hurt him. They were almost the exact words he’d spoken to her when he’d signed on for the Air Force instead of joining the family business. That decision had broken her heart but in the intervening years, she’d come to see the wisdom of his choice.
“So what are we dealing with here? Is it drugs?” Henry persisted in asking questions Sam refused to answer. “Something worse than drugs? Organs? Body parts? Radioactive materials for terrorist purposes?”
“You know I can’t answer. Suffice to say we’re actively seeking intel from Praxis Air and leave it there.”
“You were sent here undercover?” Emily felt betrayed. It was silly, but that’s the feeling that engulfed her.
Sam moved toward her then checked his motion as if unsure of his reception. That small movement made him more human to her and eased the pain in a funny sort of way.
“So what is a Green Beret doing on an undercover assignment inside the borders of the United States? Whatever your mission, I guess it’s big enough that
posse comitatus
has gone out the window.” Henry rolled his eyes, clearly growing more upset by the moment.
Emily knew her brother was referring to the federal law that limited the power of the federal government to utilize the armed forces of the United States for law enforcement purposes. It was one of the basic tenets of law that had come into being after the Civil War. If Special Forces soldiers were being used undercover in a law enforcement action, they had to have express authorization from Congress.
This was bigger than she’d imagined. And much more dangerous, if this was the man they’d tapped for the job. She’d heard about Green Berets. They didn’t mess around. They were reputed to be the best of the best in the Army and she didn’t doubt Sam fit that bill to a T.
“This is insane,” she whispered.
“You won’t get an argument from me on that.” Sam let out a giant sigh that somehow helped her relax a fraction.
His reaction was real. His frustration with the situation was subdued but evident to her in the way he spoke and moved. She’d gotten to know him well in the short time they’d been together. They’d clicked. And that hadn’t been an undercover operative doing his job. All she had to do was take one look at the pained expression on his face to know at least part of it had been as real to him as it was to her.
“Why did you bug my kitchen? Did you think I was in on it?” She walked right up to him, wanting the truth, no matter how hurtful it might be.
“I bugged your place to clear you, Em. Please believe me. I didn’t want you to be involved in this and I’m trusting my instincts to believe this isn’t all some big ruse to get me out in the open. I’m trusting that you’re as innocent as I want you to be.” He walked right up to her and looked her in the eye. “I’m trusting you, Emily.”
The moment felt significant. She didn’t want to ruin it with doubts and fear. This was a pivotal moment. She had to make a choice.
“And I trust you, Sam.” She saw the satisfaction in his gaze as she spoke the words that might forever alter her fate.
“Are you sure, Em?” her brother interjected.
“I’m sure.” There was no hesitation. She was following her instincts. Right now, her instincts were telling her that Sam—and no other—could protect her in this suddenly much more dangerous situation and perhaps salvage something of her mother’s airline. “What can I do to help?”
“Emily!” her brother shouted in disapproval.
“Nothing,” Sam replied. “Just keep doing your job and let me handle the investigation.”
“No way.” She refused to sit on the sidelines while he risked his neck. Not when she could help.
“Be reasonable, Em,” her brother appealed.
“I know the airline like the back of my hand. I grew up in it. I know where most of the skeletons are buried.”
“Yet you couldn’t figure out what was going on before someone tried to kill you,” her brother countered. “It sounds like Lieutenant Archer knows more. He’s already way ahead of you. Let him handle it.”
“Like hell I will.” She glared at her brother.
“Let’s ratchet this down a notch,” Sam suggested in a reasonable tone. “Major Parkington. You’ll probably want to verify my claim. I’ll try to have one of my superiors contact someone in your chain of command but we have to keep this quiet. Who do you trust?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Frank Trautman, currently stationed at the Air Force Academy,” he answered without hesitation.
“I’ll make a call.” Sam turned on his heel and walked out the kitchen door into her tiny backyard.
Emily saw him unclip a cell phone from his belt. He didn’t go far, just far enough away that she couldn’t hear his side of the conversation. She watched him from the open doorway while her brother seethed quietly a few feet away.
“If you stay, I want you to have every last contingency planned out ahead of time. The jets are your best way to escape if you need to get out of town in a hurry. Just make sure Buddy keeps an eye on the planes. I trust him, but there are rats in the kitchen and anyone could easily sabotage a jet sitting on the sidelines. Otherwise use public transportation. Cars are too easy to track down and it’s harder to murder someone in public and get away with it.”
“Jeez, Henry, I never knew how totally paranoid you’d become. Will you lighten up? I know how to take care of myself. I’ve been doing it just fine without you these past few years.”
“Dammit, Em. You’ve never been in danger like this before. Nobody’s ever sabotaged your car before. I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” He began to pace, his anger returning.
“And have you do what exactly? Run to my rescue? I learned to stop asking you to fight my battles when we were in second grade, Henry.”
Sam disconnected his call and walked back toward the door. “He’s coming back.”
“Do you really trust him, sis?” Henry asked in a low, terse voice.
She didn’t have to think about it. “Yeah, I do.”
“I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into,” was all Henry could say before Sam reentered the kitchen, closing the door behind him.
“You should be getting a call shortly,” Sam told Henry as he pulled out a chair and sat, looking like he had all the time in the world. “It’s up to you if you want to wait or we can get started now. I already heard the bit about your car being sabotaged.” Both men gave her identical disapproving frowns at the mention of her car. “Have you received any direct threats or other attempts on your life?”
“Scott’s remarks at the board meeting are a matter of public record. He told me to stop questioning his authority or he’d make my life difficult. I took it as empty words . . . until I almost went off the road.”
“And to be clear, the Scott you’re referring to is Scott Southerland, CEO of Praxis Air?” Sam asked.
“One and the same,” she confirmed.
Henry’s cell phone rang. He unclipped it from his belt and took a look at the number.
“That was fast,” he mused as he answered the call. Emily listened unabashedly to his end of the conversation though he didn’t talk much. Mostly he listened and grunted now and again, looking worried. After a few more terse words, he ended the call and nodded at Sam. “Identity confirmed. Em, he’s a special operative on a covert team assigned to discover what’s going on with all the mysterious shipments you’ve been noticing at the airline. That’s all I got. Damn.” He paused. “That, and suddenly I’m being recalled from leave and sent to meet with someone named Commander Sykes.” Henry’s gaze zeroed in on Sam, who nodded.
“He already had his eye on you because of your familial connection to the airline,” Sam confirmed. “Looks like you’re going to be joining our merry band. Welcome aboard.”
“So this is a good thing. You’ll be on the inside of this covert team. Able to help. Right, Henry?” Emily tried not to worry about her brother getting any more involved in this mess. She’d learned firsthand that whatever was going on, it could be potentially fatal.
“From afar, it sounds. I’m not too happy about that. I’d rather stay here with you.”
“I think that would be a little too obvious at the moment,” Sam countered. “If we tip our hand too soon, we won’t catch them. They’ll go to ground and we’ll have a hell of a time picking up the trail again. These guys are good. And we’re on the clock. The longer they’re out there, the bigger this problem becomes.”
“What problem are we talking about, exactly?” Emily challenged him. They were talking circles around the real issue and she’d had enough. She wanted to know what was going on. “If it’s not drugs, what is it? Henry’s going to be let in on the big secret and I’m in the thick of it. I think I deserve to know.”
Sam looked troubled but remained silent.
“She needs to know, lieutenant, so she can recognize the danger and defend herself.”
“You’ll be read in by the proper authorities, major,” Sam told Henry before turning his gaze on Emily. His eyes softened when he looked at her and she could see the indecision, the warring thoughts racing through his mind. Finally, he seemed to come to a decision.
“I can tell you it’s not drug smuggling, but it is smuggling. They’re moving technology. Very dangerous technology. And people with interest in buying this technology. And possibly the incredibly dangerous results of this technology.” He seemed to take special care not to reveal exactly what the technology was they were skirting around discussing, but it was more information than she’d had before. At least now she knew the general idea of what they would have to be on guard against.
“I’m assuming it’s a weapon of some sort,” Henry began to analyze the information in his typical way. “And the buyers of this kind of thing would be terrorists, criminals, or perhaps foreign agents.”
“Good guess,” Sam nodded, his eyes narrowing on Henry.
“So we should be on the lookout for out of the ordinary passenger charters as well as the weird cargo flights,” Emily said.
Sam stood, clearly angered by her words. “
We
shouldn’t be on the lookout for anything, Emily. This is my mission. You’re going to keep your nose out of it as much as possible. I nearly choked when I heard you tell your brother that there had already been an attempt on your life. Southerland—or whoever is pulling his strings—already suspects you. You’re to stay out of this. I mean it.”
“And how do you propose to do that when we’ll be flying together?” She marched over and stood toe to toe with him.
“Pass me off to another pilot then. I won’t endanger you any more than I already have.”
“But I can get us assigned to any flight you want. I have my pick of the charters. I can choose the ones that we want to target. If you fly with someone else, you’ll get the luck of the draw. I can’t interfere to the extent of rearranging the flight schedule for you. That would be too out of the ordinary and would definitely raise suspicion.”
“And how do you propose to keep her safe if you’re flying different routes?” Henry added. For a moment there, as she stood looking into Sam’s eyes from only a few inches away, she’d almost forgotten her brother was there. “I hate to say it, but I think she’s safer with you than off on her own. If I know my twin, she won’t stop snooping because you tell her it’s dangerous. Even wrecking her car didn’t slow her down much.” Henry sounded disgusted and Emily only shook her head. He knew her better than anybody. He shouldn’t be surprised she’d pursue the bastard who had tried to kill her.