Capri's Fate (30 page)

"Damn. This isn't supposed to happen. This can't happen. I lov—" His eyes closed and his head fell forward. A light shimmered and Thall faded into a mist.

"Thall? Oh my God. No!"

Ch
apter Twenty-Seven

Breaths coming in small hiccups,
Capri stared at the vacant seat where Thall had existed a split second ago. Her hand shook as she reached out to touch the emptiness. With hope beyond faith, she curled her fingers, but grasped nothing.

Heart pounding, she opened her mouth to scream. A mournful hiccup escaped her. She inhaled and released a sob. "You can't go, Thall. I never told you I love you."

"Lady? Lady!" A hand pounded on the driver's side window. "Are you all right?"

She turned her head and focused her gaze. An unshaven man peered into her car as her door opened. The man knelt next to her. "Are you hurt? I called 9-1-1. I tried not to hit you. I couldn't stop in time."

She blinked twice and cleared her throat. "You're the transport driver?"

He nodded. "The other car is over there. The guy who was behind me is with him."

Licking her dry lips, Capri frowned. "What other driver?"

"The guy who hit you."

"Oh. Okay." She put the car in park, turned the key and pulled it from the ignition. "Purse? Where's my…" Her gaze darted from the man to the crumpled mess that used to be the passenger door.

Her left hand flew to her mouth as she fought the overwhelming urge to throw up. Her nostrils flared as her chest heaved with her rapid panting. She twisted her head left and right then shifted to exit the car. "Out. Out. I have to get—" The locked seat belt held her in place.

The vibration started in the core of her belly and grew until her body shuddered. Tears filled her eyes as her fingers fumbled for the lock. Her muscles tensed. Panic threatened to explode inside her. "Get this off me. Get it off!"

The man pressed his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back against her seat. "I'm Nathan Millar." He leaned past her and unclicked the stubborn seatbelt. "What's your name?"

"Cap—Capricious G—Gray."

"Pretty name. Capricious. Maybe you should stay there until the paramedics check you."

Trembling, Capri clenched her fists and shook her head. "No. No. I have to get out of here."

"Let me help." The man held out his hand then pulled her from the car. Assisting
Capri, he walked her to a patch of grass on the edge of the ditch. "Why don't you just sit there a minute? I think I hear the sirens."

Capri
smiled a weak
thank you
and settled herself onto the grass. Her gaze lifted from the gravel on the side of the road, to the pavement to her right rear bumper, to the mutilated passenger door crushed against the bridge railing.

Unable to stop them, she felt her eyelids flutter shut and a moment of pain as her cheek smacked against the gravel.

~ * * ~

After dealing with the rental company, flying back home and being unable to outwardly grieve for Thall,
Capri sat at the end of a long conference table at Felkins Global Energy and Resources and rubbed her forehead. She wore her dark blue power suit, her Chanel No. 5 perfume, and her lucky underwear. A heavy darkness filled her, but she could explain it to no one. She had to pretend everything was normal. Pretend Thall hadn't disappeared from existence without even leaving a body for her to grieve over. Pain gripped her heart. She swallowed, squeezed her fingers around the pen, trying to obliterate the horrific memory.

Last evening, with Kat, she cried until she was tearless. She'd talked about the looming threat of corporate espionage and the soul-destroying loss of Thall. The replay sped through her mind.

Through sobs, sniffles and a half a box of tissues, she'd babbled out her frustrated confusion. "I don't know why they'd suspect me of anything. I've always been the perfect businessperson. That's why I chased Thall away. I thought I had to be practical. Focus on my work. I can't hang around a non-existent human. But doing so, made my soul hurt. "

She tossed the soggy tissue on the coffee table. "Then I got him back and I panicked and sent him away. I didn't deserve it, but he came back. This time, he was ripped from me. I'm dead inside. I never got the chance to tell him how much I love him."

Capri's tears dribbled down her cheek and puddled on Kat's shoulder. "I wanted to teach him about our world. Feed him cotton candy, strawberries with cream. Pizza. I wanted to feed him pizza! Oh, and ride on a roller coaster."

Sobs racked her body and a deep darkness settled on her. Kat said nothing, just held her in a comforting embrace and let her cry.

"Ms. Gray."

Capri blinked and mentally returned to the conference room. The others at the table were two FBI agents, the chief of corporate information security, Noreen Wongus, and the CEO, Felkins III. All of whom sat upright, with their hands on the table and gazes fixed on Capri. The senior Felkins was doodling on a yellow legal pad.

The dark haired FBI agent, Clayton Pusey, cleared his throat, "So, Miss Gray, do you—"

"Ms. Gray."

"So, Ms. Gray, do you wish to stick to your story that you flew to
Jakarta then took T. Hall Charterways to…" He checked his notes. "Flores, Indonesia. You say you crashed landed on a remote island because of a hurricane. "

"Cyclone. They're called cyclones in the Pacific. And we didn't crash. The pilot safely put the plane on a small runway."

Agent Pusey scratched at his notes and scribbled something on the page before focusing on Capri. "But you can't tell us which island?"

"
Indonesia has approximately seventeen thousand islands. No, I don't know which one. Dion, the Komodo dragon, didn't happen to mention where we were."

At the word
dragon
, Felkins III lifted an eyebrow.

The agent shifted in his seat. "Then you flew off that island, landed
at Maingapu airport then rented a boat to get to Flores."

"Yes. Exactly."
Capri inhaled and exhaled a deep yoga-breath, then with a steady hand reached for the pitcher of water and filled a glass. She swallowed several mouthfuls and set the glass onto the table. She folded her hands and returned her gaze to the agent.

He flipped the page of his notes. "You say you did not attend the meeting because you arrived three days too late."

Capri licked her already parched lips and brushed back a loose strand of hair from her cheek. "Yes."

The shorter agent, Matthew Hedgecock shifted forward and propped his elbows on the table. "Yet, you were at the meeting and accepted two flash drives with secret technical specs. You then flew to
South Korea and eventually landed in Pyongyang,
North
Korea. Where you left one flash drive. The other, we presume you brought with you back into the country. But you may have traveled elsewhere to sell it, as there was no sign of you until you entered at LAX."

"I've never been to
North Korea. I'm telling you, I didn't make it to the meeting. And it was a mineral rights deal we were working on. No technical specs." She made eye contact with each member of the inquisition panel.

Chief of corporate security, Noreen Wongus, and Felkins III lowered their gazes to the table and shook their heads. Cold dread filled
Capri as she visualized her dismissal notice being printed, her severance pay revoked and the word
Traitor
stamped across her file. And possibly her forehead.

"
당신
이
한국어
를
말한
다
." Hedgecock's face remained expressionless.

"Of course I speak Korean.
South Korea is a major trading partner with Felkins Global Energy and Resources. I've been to South Korea a number of times."

"So you admit to flying to
Korea?" Hedgecock smirked.

She slammed her hand on the table. "Not on this trip I didn't."

Senior Felkins looked up from his doodling. "Tsk. Tsk. Temper, Ms. Gray."

Capri
fought the urge to rip the pad out from under his pen and beat him to death with it. Instead, she bobbed her head and folded her hands, glaring at him.

Noreen lifted her head, but directed her focus to the table. "If you could just give us the flash drive, I'm sure Mr. Felkins would be willing to offer a generous severance package for your years of loya…work with the company."

"You're firing me?"

"Ms. Gray." The younger Felkins smiled. "This is a fair offer. We don't have to press corporate espionage charges. Give us the flash drive and all of this
…" He fluttered his hands in the air. "will disappear."

At the words
will disappear
, Capri's gut clenched. Spots danced before her eyes. She reached for the glass of water and gulped several mouthfuls. Having calmed herself, Capri reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. "I only have one flash drive. It's in my desk. On it are memos, work documents and…" She closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to her throbbing forehead. "And whatever. Nevertheless, I didn't take it with me. It never left the country. Shall I text my assistant, Terrence, to bring it here?"

"No." Agent Hedgecock shook his head. "There's nothing left in your desk. We have all of your belongings at Headquarters."

They'd ripped through her desk and collected everything? Capri shuddered. A feeling of perverse violation washed over her. She wanted to scream at the soulless agents. How could they touch her personal things? Her picture of her parents. The box of Godiva chocolates she stored for special occasions and hormonal moments of need. Did they have the toothbrush she kept there?

She inhaled and released a deep breath. "Well, if you have everything from my desk then you have the flash drive. And that means you examined it and know there are no technical specs on it."

"Exactly." Agent Pusey stared at her with eyes as dead as a shark's. "And now we are going to search your apartment." He reached into his coat pocket. "Here's the warrant."

Agent Hedgecock keyed a message into his cellphone and placed it on the table. "Now
, we wait. Unless you are willing to make this a bit easier and just tell us where you hid it."

"There's
nothing to tell you. There is no flash drive." She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. As she sat trapped in this prison of a conference room, strangers pawed through her private things. Personal secrets revealed to people she'd never met. Everyone, of course, has things they lock behind doors or in drawers. But hers were not illegal. They were private: arousal gel, electric nipple clamps, dildos and her red silk bustier. A wave of nausea bounced around her stomach. Just what she needed.

Her black lacy thong. Someone  would finger it. She had wanted to make love with Thall wearing her bustier and that thong. The image of him removing her panties then dribbling arousal gel over her pussy should have brought joy to her heart
soul and a yearning between her legs. Now, it only brought pain to her heart.

She tried invoking him. But nothing happened. Not even Xyno appeared. She had to admit what she feared. He was gone. Nothing was right. It would never be right again. She'd have to throw everything away. Move. Start over. The repulsion of her apartment being raped left her numb.

Capri glanced around the table. No one made eye contact. She watched the minutes crawl by on the screen of her phone.

The buzz of Agent Hedgecock's cell snapped
Capri's and the other's focus to him. He pressed a button. His eyes scanned the screen. Frowning, he looked at the people in the room. "They found nothing."

Bang.

Agent Pusey slammed his hand on the table. His eyes grew dark with anger as he glared at Capri. "This isn't over, Miss Gray."

"Ms. Gray." Her voice was a deep growl.

"We'll find that flash drive." He and Agent Hedgecock stood and stormed out of the room. The door vibrated with the force of its closing.

A tense silence interrupted by embarrassed coughs filled the room.

"Well. I…uh…" Felkins Junior rubbed the end of his nose

"What? That's it?" Anger burned in
Capri's stomach. "No apology? No, oh gee sorry we mistrusted you, Capri."

Noreen Wongus examined her ring. Felkins III turned red and looked like he was having a small heart attack. Felkins Senior pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and blew his nose.

Capri pushed back her chair, stood and rested her hands on the table. "Let me explain how the next part goes. You are going to double my severance package and all the paperwork will be completed in two days or the lawyer I hire will eat your lawyer for lunch. And you, Mr. Felkins."

Felkins Junior lifted his head.

Capri snorted. "Not you, you wishwashy puppet. You!" She pointed at the senior Felkins.

"I thought you were the intelligence behind this company. You know I had nothing to do with this, yet you sat there and doodled while they tried to crucify me."