Concrete Evidence (38 page)

The crowd cheered. Cameras flashed. Lee looked down at her, beaming with enough warmth to fool the world. But not her. He would never fool her again. “Clap,” he whispered.

She did as instructed. She’d been dressed up and set up. She may as well play her role until she got inside the Aztec Room and saw the artifacts.

Minutes, hours, it could have been years later, the senator finally cut the ribbon, and the gathering flowed into the room. Lee kept a firm hold on her as they followed the first visitors across the threshold.

She’d waited for this for a year, but a half hour ago, she’d decided to give up her plan for redemption because she was in love. No. Because she was a fool.

No more. She gripped her evening bag, which held the photographs she would use to convince the authorities the provenance for the artifacts was false, Jake was a thief, and Sam a buyer of black market antiquities. To hell with the senator. To hell with his campaign. She owed him nothing but a fancy dress.

She nearly stumbled as a wave of pain broke through her wall of anger. Lee had pushed her to admit she loved him. A last humiliation before the truth came out.

She felt a dull, cold ache and tried to pull away from him. He didn’t let her go.

The chill inside radiated outward. She looked at Lee, not bothering to hide her hostility. Who cared if a reporter saw? She hadn’t created this situation. He had. He could deal with the repercussions. “If you don’t take your hand off me right now, I’ll scream.”

He let go.

“You and Jake are more alike than I ever imagined.” She headed to one of the Aztec displays, near a roulette wheel. None of the artifacts were from the shipwreck. She approached another display, near the blackjack tables. Lee followed her.

“You won’t find them,” he said. “They aren’t here.”

She turned on her heel. “Won’t find what?”

“The artifacts you and Jake recovered when you worked for him.”

“I didn’t recover the Aztec artifacts from the shipwreck. I refused. Don’t group my morals with Jake’s. Or yours, for that matter.”

“I’m not the enemy, Erica.” The hurt in his eyes was almost touching. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he had feelings.

“Don’t kid yourself, Lee.” Her voice caught. She took a deep breath and continued. “You’re worse than Jake ever was. Jake used my name and my reputation to get a permit from the Mexican government, then smeared both after they’d served their purpose. But you screwed me to distract me, so I wouldn’t figure out who you are. You used
me
.”

He headed toward a doorway labeled Employees Only and pulled her with him. “I
made love
to you because I’m crazy about you. Keeping you from figuring out who I am was just a side benefit.”

She searched his face, looking for some sign he told the truth. But all she saw were the same sincere green eyes that had sucked her in when he told her he was twenty-five. When he said he loved her.

“That’s what I’ve been all along, isn’t it? A side benefit. You cooked up your little scheme with JT to infiltrate the Bethesda office so you could scope things out before Drake quit and you were installed. Lucky you, you got to play spy and get laid at the same time.”

“Keep your voice down.”

“No.”

“
Please
, Erica. We need to work this out. If not for other reasons, then consider the fact that I’m your boss now.”

The sonofabitch was already pulling rank on her. “I quit.”

For a second, she thought she saw fear in his eyes. “You can’t. You need your job. You’re stuck with me.”

She sucked in a shallow breath. “I’ll sleep in the street before I work for you.”

“I’d rather have you sleep with me.”

She wanted to slap him. What was stopping her? She raised her hand to strike.

He caught her wrist and pulled her through the employee door. Walking with purpose down a long corridor, he dragged her behind him until they reached an office door, where he punched a number into a keypad, opened the door, and pulled her inside with him.

He slammed the door closed and pulled her against him. “Okay. Hit me. We both know I deserve it.”

She swung full force, but her fist only grazed his cheekbone. He held her too close. The angle wasn’t right to actually
hurt
him. “Back up,” she said. “I want another shot.”

He cupped his cheek. “No. I think that’s enough.”

“It’s nowhere close to enough.” She aimed for his testicles with her knee, but he pushed her against the wall and forced his legs between her thighs. She couldn’t knee him.

“Goddamn you! Let me go.” She writhed against him.

“Calm down so we can talk.”

She tried to scratch him, but he caught her wrists and pinned them to the wall on either side of her face. “I’m sorry, Erica. I—”

“Don’t you dare! Don’t you
dare
claim to love me again.”

“I do—”

“Everything you’ve told me is a lie.”

“I lied. Yes. But I had a good reason.”

“A good reason to use me?” Raw pain cut through the anger. He thought he could justify what he’d done. Just like her mother. Just like Jake, who saw her as a pawn, expendable.

“I had no choice.”

“You always have a choice, Lee.”

His grip on her wrists loosened. “Dammit, Erica, I’ve done a pathetic job of pretending to be an ignorant kid with you. I couldn’t be the character JT and I created, because I wanted you, and you’d never give that boy the time of day.”

“So you’re saying this is
my fault
for being an imbecile and failing to see through your farce. You don’t need to rub my face in it. I figured that out while the senator droned on.”

“No. I’m saying I’m crazy about you.” He dropped her hands and stepped away from her. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

She rubbed her wrists. “Was it fun lying to me? Seducing me?”

“I hated every lie.” He looked earnest, sounded earnest.

But she wouldn’t be taken in again. “Bullshit.”

He cursed under his breath. “This isn’t about you or me. Hasn’t it occurred to you that I could have a very real reason for pretending to be something I’m not? Have you been so self-absorbed it hasn’t crossed your mind I could be doing something more important here?”

She flinched. “Tell me.”

“I can’t. Not yet.”

After everything he’d done, he still refused to tell her why. Cold hurt gripped her. “You won’t get a chance later.”

His eyes flashed with alarm. As if he was afraid she meant it. He took a deep breath. “We need to rejoin the party. If you have any respect for the senator, please go out there and smile and play your role.”

“Arm candy to the senator’s stepson.”

“Yes.”

“Are you so desperate you need to sink to this sort of deception just to get a date?”

He smiled, his mouth crooked and sad. “Only with you.”

Her head pounded. She was sick with heartache and fear. “Where are the artifacts?”

“JT talked to Riversong, who, I assume, removed them and arranged for replacements.”

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know. Probably long gone—so they won’t be able to hurt the campaign.”

She hadn’t told Lee the truth because she was afraid the artifacts would disappear—which was exactly what had happened. She had nothing on Jake. Nothing on Marco. Rage, hurt, and fear battled for primacy in her fractured mind. What the hell was she going to do?

Logic told her she was stuck with Lee for the next few hours. Jake was here. He couldn’t touch her while she was with Lee. She pushed off the wall. “I’ll play your date; then we’re through. I never want to see you again.” She turned toward the door.

“I’m not giving you up without a fight, Erica.” His voice was low, husky. Full of pain.

No, that was probably wishful thinking on her part.

“You’ve already lost.” And he’d taken her down with him. Anger spiked anew, and she whirled to face him. “When you told JT to have the Aztec artifacts removed, you chose a
campaign
over me. Those artifacts were my only chance to protect myself from Jake and Marco.
That’s
why I didn’t tell you or the senator the truth.”

He reached for her, but she backed away. “I’ll protect you from Jake.”

The thought of depending on him, seeking solace in his arms was tempting. But it was just another lie. “Earlier tonight, I would have taken you up on that offer. But you aren’t who I thought you were. I’d rather face Jake alone than be with you.” She spun on her heel and left.

Alone again. Just as she’d always been.

Needing to regroup before returning to the party, she found a restroom and collapsed onto a love seat in the lounge area. A sob bubbled up from deep in her chest. She couldn’t cry. If she allowed one tear, it would be followed by great, racking waves of grief. Over a year of pent-up hurt and anger, starting with her mother’s betrayal and ending with Lee’s, waited for release. She couldn’t let it out now.

Several minutes later, the door opened, and Alexandra stepped inside. “Erica? Lee said you might need company.”

“How much do you know?”

“Not much.” Alexandra sat next to her on the sofa. “I knew Lee was supposed to be your intern, and I wasn’t supposed to mention Lee and JT had been stepbrothers.”

“Did it bother you?” Erica asked, resenting the woman’s complicity.

“Yes.”

“Then why did you go along with it?”

“I knew there would be a good reason. JT and Lee operate on a different level, Erica. Talon & Drake holds huge international contracts, and Joe is making his bid to be the most powerful man in the world. Something very important must be happening in the Bethesda office for Lee to pretend to be an intern.”

“What is Lee? Besides the senator’s stepson, I mean. Is he an engineer?”

“He’s a computer and cell phone security specialist. One of his biggest clients is the Department of Defense. He’s very, very good.”

She closed her eyes. Lee was a successful businessman. That made so much more sense than his slacker intern persona. She was such a fool.

“He may not be an engineer, but he’ll be an excellent manager for the Bethesda office,” Alexandra continued. “Brilliant move to have him replace Drake. Keeps it all in the family until the election is over.”

“I’m sick of games and strategies,” Erica said. “I’m sick of being a pawn.”

“Pawns are more powerful than you think. Pawns who cross the board safely become queen.”

Her head throbbed. “I don’t want to be queen. I only wanted a chance at redemption so I could look at my father’s portrait without shame. So I could work without fear of being fired.”

“Your boyfriend is head of your office. There isn’t a chance in hell you’ll be fired.”

At last, an opportunity to benefit from nepotism. The thought made her ill. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Then you’re a fool.”

She grimaced. “That goes without saying.”

“Why do you need to redeem yourself?”

Erica sighed. She felt strange, realizing she could talk freely about her past. “There’s a man here tonight. His name is Jake Novak. Officially, he’s an underwater salvage expert, but really he’s a thief and a fence. I was blackballed from archaeology because I worked for him.”

“I met him. He invited JT and me to a party he’s having on his boat next weekend.”

“His boat?” She felt a surge. “The
Andvari
is here? Already?” Jake’s business was based out of California. Sailing from Oaxaca to Maryland would have been hugely expensive. The navy project timeline allowed plenty of time to bring the boat around if Talon & Drake won the contract, so why had he moved the boat already?

“Yes, that’s the name. I gather he’s teaming with Talon & Drake on a proposal. He’s planning a reception on the
Andvari
for the team.”

Erica’s mind began to race. “Do you know where the boat is moored?”

“It’s here—at the reservation marina.”

And suddenly, Erica knew.

Talon & Drake had a contract in Iraq, with shipments of supplies going back and forth. Over the water. Riversong had a casino with great money-laundering opportunities. Someone at Talon & Drake was shipping artifacts back from Iraq, selling them through Novak, and laundering the money through Riversong.

Lee had a list of UTMs, and all the coordinates were in the Atlantic Ocean, near Norfolk. Someone had tossed artifacts overboard from a Talon & Drake shipment, then recorded the UTMs for the drop sites so Jake could use his treasure-hunting vessel loaded with side-scan sonar and dive equipment to pluck the goodies from the water.

Had Lee been sent in by JT to find the Talon & Drake connection? With a sinking feeling, she understood her past with Jake made her the most likely suspect.

Then a worse thought occurred to her. Lee could have been placed in the office to facilitate—not stop—the smuggling. She stood up. “I have to go.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Alexandra said. “You’re going back to the party. The senator introduced you as part of his family. Your absence has probably already been noticed.”

The need to find Jake’s boat overwhelmed her. Had he already used the UTMs to collect the artifacts? She had to search the
Andvari
.

She had one last chance to save herself.

C
HAPTER
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ORTY-
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