Authors: Yvonne Harriott
His lips found hers. Soft and sensual. She opened her eyes and dark intense eyes locked with hers.
Beck.
• • •
Markie bolted straight up in bed, her heart hammering in her chest. For a moment she was confused and then she realized where she was—in her house, not on a tropical island.
Alone in bed.
Sitting up against the headboard, she pushed her fingers through her hair then pulled at the neck of her damp nightshirt. The dream was still vivid in her mind. It felt so real. She didn’t think of Beck that way so why was she dreaming about him? She had never had a dream like that before. It left her tingling on the inside, and hot, very hot.
Darkness had settled over the room. As she reached over to turn on the bedside lamp her cell phone started to vibrate, skidding around on the nightstand. Reaching for the phone she hit the talk button.
“Marklynn Brooks.”
“Tell me you’re not going to do what you’re thinking of doing.”
“What am I thinking of doing, Jamie?” Markie yawned glancing at the clock. She’d left a message earlier that afternoon for Jamie to call her at 6:00 p.m. after he had finished the report on the missing person’s case.
It was after six. She’d slept most of the afternoon away. If she hadn’t jumped out of her sleep, she and Beck…it was a dream she told herself…a dream…not real.
Focus.
Think.
“Are you okay?”
“I just woke up a few minutes ago,” Markie said jumping right into conversation with Jamie. She didn’t want him to pick up on the nonsense that was going on in her head. And it was nonsense. Pure and simple.
Her and Beck? Please.
“You needed it since you’ve been running on chocolate since you woke up yesterday morning. Maybe you should just have your teeth extracted instead of waiting for them to fall out.”
“Aren’t you the comedian?”
“I aim to please,” Jamie chuckled. “How did it go with Dalton Beck this morning?”
With the dream locked away in the back of her mind, Markie was in work mode once again. “It didn’t. I couldn’t get a straight answer out of him regarding Sydney. When I showed him the pictures I thought I saw a flicker in his eyes but I couldn’t be sure.”
“Perhaps you should have used your feminine charm. Cate said he’s easy on the eyes, and I quote, her words not mine, ‘He’s someone I could dream about.’”
“Cate is a great office manager. But, come on, she’s a fifty-two-year old grandmother who is living the second half of her life after her husband dumped her. I think she should stop dreaming, don’t you?”
“She should leave the dreaming to you.”
“Can we get on to business?” Markie snapped and immediately wanted to take it back but it was too late. Jamie was only being Jamie.
“Lighten up. I was kidding.”
“Sorry. Sydney’s disappearance has got me on edge.”
“I know.” Jamie’s voice took on a serious tone. “Was the information I gathered for you on Dalton Beck helpful?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, allowing the information she’d read earlier to come to mind.
“Dalton Beck, thirty-five, university grad with honors, MBA. He started Beck Security Systems after his studies. Got into a horrific car accident four years ago. Hit and run. Never found the driver. Divorced shortly after that. Ex-wife’s name was Monika. She died in a boating accident.”
She recited seven of the ten-page document word for word from the file, listing everything about Beck including all the awards he achieved along his career path.
“I bet you don’t even have the file in front of you.”
“Not yet.”
“You’re starting to scare me.”
“Only starting to?” She smiled.
Markie swung her legs off the bed, pushing her feet into her slippers. The hum of the window unit air conditioner worked overtime to cool down the bedroom. With the queen-sized bed pushed up against the wall, there was room enough for a nightstand and a mirrored bureau.
She crossed the hall to her closet-sized office, flipping on the light switch, flooding the room with light. The desk and chair were the only pieces of furniture in the room.
The file on Beck was where she’d dropped it when she’d arrived home earlier, on top of the black wooden desk with her car keys and handbag.
“I now have the file in front of me. Does that make you feel better?”
“Only because you didn’t read the entire report.”
“I didn’t get to the police report on Monika’s death. It said they never found her body,” Markie said sitting in front of the desk, staring at the report.
“Given the explosion there wasn’t much left but debris.”
“I see Malcolm Rivers joined the company after Beck’s car accident. That’s convenient,” Markie said, flipping through the file. She didn’t see a picture of Monika Beck.
“Could be a coincidence.”
“Umm.”
“You have a suspicious mind,” Jamie said with a yawn.
“Occupational hazard. I don’t see a picture of Monika Beck in the file.”
“We just got it. I left it on your desk.”
“I’ll get it tomorrow.” She leaned back into the chair. “Something is going on at Beck Security Systems. His office is littered with computer printouts. It’s as if they’re looking for something. Malcolm was off to meet with their information technology group after I showed up. I know people have meetings with IT all the time, but something is up. I can feel it.”
“Your feeling is dead on.”
“How so?”
“The company had been doing very well financially up until about three months ago. Something about the malfunctioning of newly installed systems. It’s all hush hush. I’ll ask around and see what else I can come up with. When I get all the information together we can figure out how Sydney fits into all of this.”
Markie didn’t want to get Jamie involved in this. Eight months ago, News Television International hired Brooks Investigations. They’d worked with Michael Blake, an investigative reporter from Atlanta to locate a missing woman, Wendy Lawson. Michael was helping out a lawyer, Angela Douglas. The missing woman was Angela’s client.
They found the woman in Maine and so did her husband, Jim Lawson. He wanted her dead and Jamie had gotten caught in the middle. One of Jim’s goons had kicked Jamie in the face several times, resulting in the loss of his left eye.
That did not sit well with Markie. Getting hurt was a given in their line of work yet she had felt responsible somehow for Jamie’s injury.
Well, Sydney was her responsibility. Her disappearance was personal and not related to the agency. The investigators on staff were busy with full workloads, including Jamie. She didn’t want to order him to stay on his current projects so she opted for another approach.
“To respond to your earlier question of, ‘Am I going to do what you think I’m going to do?’ The answer is yes. I’m going to follow Beck and see where it leads. I need you in the office while I focus on Sydney.”
Markie thought he would argue with her and braced herself for it. He didn’t.
“Be careful,” was all he said and hung up. He didn’t sound happy but he hadn’t challenged her, yet.
She hit the end button, dropped the cell phone in her bag and got up from the desk.
He is the kind you dream about.
That sounded like Cate all right, Markie thought and buried the dream further in the back of her mind. Yet, she couldn’t shake how it made her feel.
• • •
“Malcolm Rivers speaking.”
“Hello, Malcolm Rivers,” Phoenix said, letting out a purring sound she knew he would appreciate. She figured she would call him and stroke his ego.
Men liked that. But after, she had to see what Beck Security Systems was up to through the backdoor access in the network she’d created.
Fools.
Did they think they could stop her by changing passwords and installing additional security restrictions?
Her former employer, Next Generation Computers, could attest to her skills when she shut down the company by locking everyone out of their computers. Giving all the employees a fifty percent raise, except upper management of course, was also something she was proud of.
Phoenix designed and built computers, designed tools that converted programs into language that computers could understand.
Did they really think they could keep her out? She knew the monitoring software used by Beck Security Systems and was able to upload her little surprise.
Even if she didn’t know the software she would have been able to hack in anyway and would have just for fun. But she didn’t want to waste time. She had a plan. Destroy Dalton Beck, and she was right on schedule. Well…almost.
“Where have you been? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”
Malcolm was pouting like a little schoolboy, she could tell. If he wasn’t vital to her plan she would have cut him loose a long time ago. He was her eyes and ears at Beck Security Systems.
Phoenix found him on the company’s website and then followed him for about a month to pick up on his habits. He liked blondes and sushi. She became a blonde as her complexion was fair enough to pull it off but passed on the raw fish, finding more pleasurable ways to hold his attention.
“I had to take care of some personal business. I do have a life besides you, darling.”
He didn’t take kindly to her comment, she could tell. He was quiet and sulking like he always did when he didn’t get his way. Wanting to soothe his ego she said, “Why don’t you come by tonight and I’ll make it up to you? I bought a new bottle of honey. I know how you like honey.”
There was a pregnant pause on the other end of the line and she put the phone on speaker. Phoenix picked up the nail file from the end table and stretched out on the green chaise. Soon she would be able to afford more than this cramped one-bedroom apartment and would have the rich lifestyle she deserved.
Dragging the nail file across the tip of the long red fingernail of her thumb, she blew away the white dust that landed on her lap, waiting for Malcolm to respond. She knew what his answer would be but would allow him to play his little game.
Men and their games. But not all men played games. Dalton Beck didn’t play games.
Pity.
Whether he wanted to play her game or not, he didn’t have a choice. He would play her game of hide and seek and when the game was over, he would be dead. An eye for an eye.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night,” Malcolm said after a while. “I have to work tonight. You know Beck.”
She gave a low throaty chuckle. “Only from what you’ve told me, sweetheart. Is he cracking the whip again?”
“We’re all busy working to figure out who has been trying to destroy the company.”
Phoenix smiled. A knowing smile. She could see the deep frown on his face. If he was sitting in front of his desk, he would be twirling his pen and biting his bottom lip.
“What’s the crisis this week?” she asked, sounding bored but far from it. She stared at the bubbles the filter in the fish tank blew to the top of the water.
“I know you find my job as much fun as watching paint dry but do show some interest.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m all ears,” she purred. The nail file chipped the nail polish on her thumbnail. Reaching for the small bottle of red nail polish on the end table, she opened it and touched up the nail. She blew on the nail until it dried and then continued filing.
“Marklynn Brooks showed up in Beck’s office this morning with pictures.”
“Who is Marklynn Brooks and what pictures does she have?”
Phoenix listened as Malcolm filled her in on the private detective trying to find her sister. She already knew about Marklynn and
if
she didn’t work with inferior people, the private detective would not have found Beck.
If
she was in the pickup and had the gun, she wouldn’t have missed. Marklynn would have been dead outside of Sydney’s apartment. Oh well, just another wrinkle in the plan she needed to iron out.
“Marklynn Brooks thinks Beck has something to do with Sydney’s disappearance.”
“Really? Why?” Phoenix said keeping her voice level, trying not to tip her hand. All Malcolm needed was a little coaxing and he usually told her everything without realizing it. She wanted to know about the pictures.
“Anyway, I’ve bored you long enough.”
“No, no sweetheart. You’ve got me hooked. Tell me about the pictures. Please.” Another purr escaped her lips.
He paused and she could see Malcolm smiling to himself. He thought he had her begging.
“They’re pictures of what looks like our employees breaking into one of our clients’ home. We didn’t recognize anyone in the pictures.”
“That’s too bad,” Phoenix said out of relief more than anything else but she wouldn’t mind seeing the pictures for herself.
“The pictures were taken by Sydney,” Malcolm continued. “When she contacted Beck she used the name Victoria Kelly. Beck wants to find her.”
“Your job is exciting after all, darling. I guess Beck is not too fond of Marklynn then.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I think Beck has developed an interest in her.”
At the sound of Beck’s name linked with Marklynn’s, she stopped filing her nails and stiffened. “What kind of interest?” She asked offhand.
“Why would you care?”
Laughing to cover her blunder she said, “Really, Malcolm. I do believe you’re jealous. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said and hung up the phone.
Malcolm wasn’t the only one who was jealous.
• • •
At 7:00 p.m., Markie was parked across from Beck Security Systems on Devonshire Street, downtown Boston. If Beck’s company was having software troubles as Jamie had mentioned then he would be working late trying to solve the problem. She would be doing the same thing.
Markie was banking on the element of surprise that Beck wouldn’t expect her back and hoped he would lead her to Sydney, if not tonight then tomorrow. She popped a couple of chocolate almonds in her mouth and waited. It had been a while since she’d been on a stake out and had forgotten how boring it could get.
She pulled out her Blackberry to check her email. There was still no word from Sydney. Markie left several messages on Syd’s cell phone and even sent her several emails just in case she could access her email. Still no response. She had also called Sydney’s building superintendent before she’d left her house and Syd still hadn’t showed up at her apartment.