Cowboy Command (23 page)

“
Then what?” Presley asked.

“
Then I take both of you back to the hotel,” Evan answered.  “You’ll stay there in our loving embrace until the indictments come down.  Once Simon is arrested, you should be safe from harm.”

Presley breathed a sigh of relief.  They weren
’t planning to send her away with a new identity again.  She sagged against the back of the chair, her entire body relaxing for the first time in days.

“
What if he runs?”  Seth crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowed.  “A billionaire must have resources to get out of the country.”

“
He’s surrendered his passport and a good portion of his assets are frozen.”  Evan slapped Seth on the back.  “Once we indict him we can freeze everything except the minimum he needs for his defense.  We’ve already started talking to his defense team about a peaceful surrender to authorities when he’s indicted.  He knows this is coming.”

Evan opened the door and ushered them into a hallway where three very large, fierce, and armed men stood waiting.  Presley looked around her nervously, a prickle of fear in her gut. 

“Is he here?  Is Randall in the courthouse?  Does he know I’m here?”

Evan led them down a long corridor. 
“No, he’s not here.  The Grand Jury has been convened for several days.  He may think you’re in the area, but he wouldn’t know which day or when.  We’ve kept the security heightened all last week and this week as well so he wouldn’t be tipped off when you were going to be here.”

Evan opened a set of double doors and motioned for them to precede him.  This room looked much more comfortable with leather couches, a television and a conference table in the middle. 

“I’ve got several papers here if Presley wants to catch up on the local news, and I’ve ordered from a nearby Italian place for lunch.  It will be here in about forty-five minutes.  There’s cable and video games.  Make yourself at home.”

“
Is there coffee?”  Presley’s gaze ran over the room.

“
There is.”  Evan pointed to a fancy setup in the corner.  “Help yourself.”

Presley headed straight for the caffeine.  She was one step closer to having her freedom back, and a great cup of coffee would only make it better.

* * * * *

Seth rubbed the back of his neck.  He was going stir-crazy stuck in the conference room with Presley and Evan but he wasn
’t about to complain.  Presley was obviously nervous about her upcoming testimony and didn’t need him bitching about a small inconvenience.  Luckily, it was almost two o’clock.  Soon she would be done, and they could start looking forward to planning the rest of their lives. 

Just what they were going to plan was, of course, a mystery.  Bringing two separate lives together wasn
’t going to be easy.  Shit, maybe they could split the difference and live in Kentucky.  A discreet knock on the door had all three of them turning toward the sound.  Evan stood and nodded.  “It’s time.  Are you ready, Presley?”

“
Yes.”  Her determined little chin lifted.  He caught her hand in his and tugged her closer so he could wrap his arms around her.

“
Good luck, honey.  I can’t be there with you in body, but I’ll be there in spirit.  This will all be over soon.  I love you.”

She smiled up at him and his heart squeezed in his chest.  Damn, he loved this woman.  She made everything seem brighter.  He
’d never realized what a rut he was in until this tiny woman came into his life and dragged him out of it

“
I love you, too.  Lots and lots.  I’ll be back before you know it.”

Evan stood at the door. 
“I’ll take her down the hall and come back here with you to wait.  Give me a minute.”

Evan and Presley disappeared a
nd it was all Seth could do not to run after them, his instinct to protect Presley strong and absolute.  He had to trust Evan at this moment, and although Seth would trust Evan with his own life, Presley’s was infinitely more precious.  He poured himself another coffee but Evan was back before Seth had a chance to even add cream and sugar. 

“
Relax, Seth.  She’s going to be fine.  They’ll start her testimony in a few minutes.”

“
Is she safe?”

“
I’ve got six agents surrounding her.  No one’s getting to her unless they go through them.  We’ve had bomb-sniffing dogs all week.  She’ll be okay.”

Seth nodded reluctantly. 
“When do you think the indictments will be handed down?”

Evan grinned. 
“Anxious to get Presley back to Harper?  I never thought the great Seth Reilly would be felled by something as basic as love.”

Seth smiled. 
“Have you spent any time with Presley?  She’s something else.  I’d be a fool to let her go.  You might want to take some time and find a woman for yourself, Ev.  I highly recommend it.”  He gulped at the hot liquid.  “I’m not sure we’ll go back to Harper, actually.  Presley loves Florida.  I may need to find a job down here.  Got any openings?” Seth joked.

Evan
’s eyes went wide.  “Fuck, I’d love to have you down here.  You could definitely get a job with the Marshal Service.  Are you really thinking about moving?”

Seth shrugged. 
“Whatever Presley wants, Presley gets.  That’s my motto.  When she’s happy, shit, I’ll be happy.”

“
For someone who has a killer after her, she looks pretty happy, buddy.  She sure as fuck looks happier than the day I handed her over to you.”

Seth remembered that first day.  He
’d had no idea how that day was going to change his life forever.  Evan’s phone started going off, and he jerked it out of his front pocket with a curse.

Evan
’s expression turned from annoyed to disbelieving to incredulous.  He glanced at Seth and shook his head.

“
Got it.”  Evan hung up and ran his fingers through his hair making it stand on end.  “They’re bringing Presley back here.  Her testimony’s been cancelled.”

Seth wasn
’t sure his ears were working correctly.  It sounded like Evan said Presley’s testimony had been cancelled and they drove three thousand miles and risked their lives for nothing.

“
What did you say?”

“
They’re bringing her back.  She doesn’t have to testify.”

“
Why the fuck not?”  Seth voice got loud but he didn’t give a damn if everyone in the entire building heard him.  Coming here today had been a risk to her life and now they’d decided she didn’t need to testify.  They should have fucking decided that a few days ago when they were miles away from Randall Simon.

Evan looked slightly sick, his complexion pale. 
“They don’t need her testimony because they won’t be indicting Simon.  The evidence was overwhelming and I guess he got scared.”  Evan ran his hands through his hair again. “He’s turned state’s evidence.  He’s rolling over on his partners and apparently singing like a bird.  He also swears he never tried to kill Presley.”

Chapter Nineteen

Presley paced back and forth in the small living area of the hotel room she and Seth had been taken to after her aborted testimony attempt.  Evan had ordered room service but she barely glanced at the tray of finger foods
, too agitated to eat.  Everything since the bomb had gone off, destroying her life and her car, had been leading up to this moment.  A moment that had been abruptly taken from her.

“
So he just gets away with everything?  He goes free and I just have to suck it up and deal with it?”

Evan winced. 
“His testimony will hopefully allow us to go after even bigger fish in the arms business.  It could save thousands of lives.  He won’t go to jail, that’s true.  Although a billionaire like Randall Simon isn’t going to find his new life in Witness Protection nearly as cushy or glamorous.  He’ll be living a very small, quiet, ordinary life.”

“
Not being rich is hardly a punishment,” Seth retorted.  “He tried to kill Presley.  Twice.”

Evan shook his head. 
“He says he didn’t.  He told the prosecutor he liked Presley and didn’t want her caught in all this.”

“
Why should anyone believe him?  He’s a criminal.”  Presley shook her head and evaded Seth’s hand that was trying to tug her down in the chair with him.  She was too upset to sit.

“
Apparently, he’s admitted to everything, giving them information we had no clue about.  The one thing he says he didn’t do is try to kill you.  Since he’s admitted to everything else, and has immunity, there’s no reason to lie about this, Presley.  We believe he’s telling the truth.”

“
Then who tried to kill me?”  Presley cried in frustration.  She didn’t have any enemies.

Evan looked distinctly uncomfortable.  He fell into the couch with a heavy sigh. 
“Simon says the attempts on your life had nothing to do with the illegal arms business.  It was personal.”

Presley stopped in her tracks. 
“Personal?  Who hates me enough to kill me?”

Evan
’s lips curled as if he was about to take a bite of something really distasteful.  “Simon says your stepsister, Nora, is the one who wants you dead.”

The world seemed to tilt and Presley reached out blindly for something to hold on to.  Suddenly, Seth was by her side, holding her in his arms
, and she leaned against his strength, desperately needing him at this moment.  He turned to Evan.  “That’s quite an accusation, Ev.  I don’t suppose Simon has any proof of this?  It’s her stepsister for fuck’s sake.  Family doesn’t bomb one another.”

“
We’re checking out everything he’s telling us, but at this point, I think we have to give some credence to what he says.  Early intelligence said Simon was making Presley the fall guy for everything.  Then suddenly he moves her out of his office and assigns her to manage the renovations on his house.  He says he got to know her and liked her.  He couldn’t go through with setting her up.”

“
Why do it in the first place?” Seth scowled.

Evan shifted his gaze to the windows, not able to look Presley in the eye. 
“Simon said it was Nora Shefflin’s idea to use her sister as their fall guy.  Apparently, she lured him into the scheme.”

Presley knew her mouth was hanging open but she couldn
’t seem to close it.  His words were thundering through her brain like the beat of horse’s hoofs. 

Nora
’s idea.  Nora’s idea.  Nora’s idea.

“
Why—” Presley’s voice came out like a croak.  “Why would she want me dead?”

Evan finally looked Presley in the eye. 
“Simon said Nora ranted about how her father married a whore and the daughter stole his love and attention.  She said you deliberately set out to steal her father from her.”

Presley
’s knees gave way under her.  Luckily, Seth was holding on to her tightly and he swept her up in his arms and placed her gently in a chair, kneeling close on the floor and grasping her hand in his. 

“
Presley would never do that,” Seth declared.

Evan nodded. 
“We know that.  Simon said when he met Presley it was clear Nora was delusional about the situation.  That’s why he backed out and sent her to work at his home.”

“
But he didn’t back out of arms dealing?” Seth asked, his hand stroking her arm.  Presley was shaking with the effort to not scream.  Everything she’d thought she knew was a lie.  It was like being betrayed all over again and this time it hurt a thousand times more.  This was her sister.

Oops. 
Stepsister.

She could hear Nora
’s voice at the restaurant that day correcting Presley about their relationship.  Could Nora really hate Presley enough to want her dead?

“
Simon had this patriotic idea he was arming militias and keeping the checks and balances on the government.  He swears he had no idea the weapons his company manufactured were being sent to foreign terrorists.”

Seth snorted. 
“Right, no idea.  Maybe at the beginning, but when the money started rolling in did he honestly think it was from local militias?”

“
Probably not,” Evan agreed.  “I’m betting when the cash started to pile up Simon decided not to ask too many questions.  No sense ruining his vision of himself as a hero.”

Presley swallowed the lump in he
r throat, her stomach in knots.  She licked her lips and tried to put her words together so they would make sense. 

“
I want to talk to Randall.”  There.  She’d managed to speak an entire sentence.  She didn’t feel any better.  In fact, she maybe felt even worse.  Talking to him was the last thing she wanted to do, but she needed to hear these words directly from his mouth.

Seth was shaking his head. 
“No way.  You’re not going near that guy.”

Evan shook his head as well. 
“I’m with Seth on this one.  Why talk to Simon?”

She raised a shaky hand and tucked her hair behind her ear.  It was a nervous gesture but she had quite a bit to be nervous about. 
“I need to hear this from him.  I can’t totally believe what you’re saying.  Nora and I have had issues throughout the years, but trying to kill me is taking things to a whole new level.  Even for her.” 

Nora could be a bitch, but a murderer?  Presley needed proof.

Seth captured her chin so she was looking him in the eye.  “Presley, I do not want you anywhere near Simon, whether he tried to kill you or not.  He’s an admitted criminal.  Let the Feds do their job and investigate this.”

“
No.”  Presley firmed her lips.  “I want to talk to Randall.  I won’t believe this until I speak with him.”  She looked up at Evan.  “Can you arrange it?  Please, Evan?  I think he owes me this much.  He was going to set me up for a crime I didn’t commit.”

Evan rubbed the back of his neck. 
“Okay, I’ll talk to his handlers and see what I can do.  It may take a day or two.  We’re starting to investigate the new information he’s given us, including your sister’s involvement in the illegal arms trade.  We’ll know more very soon either way.”  Evan popped open a can of soda.  “In light of the new information, technically, we can’t hold you here.  We’d like for you to stay under our protection for a few days longer until we figure this out.”

“
Do you think her sister will make an attempt on Presley’s life?” Seth asked.

Evan nodded. 
“I do think it’s possible.  I can’t stop you from walking out of here, but I’m asking you to stay.  We’ll have audio surveillance on your sister within hours.  At that time, we’ll see what she’s up to and what her plans are.  If she’s tried to kill you twice, once as far away as Montana, we have to assume she’s determined to succeed at some point.”  Evan sighed.  “We also have to concede that somehow she knows you’re alive and that she knows you’re in Tampa.  As much as we’ve tried to keep the Grand Jury proceedings under wraps, the media has been a circus.”

Seth
’s expression was grim.  “We’re no better off now than we were this morning.”  Seth gripped her hand.  “We need to keep you under wraps for a few more days, honey.  Until we know more about what and who we’re dealing with.”

Presley nodded and leaned back in the chair, her arms wrapped around her body, her eyes staring into space.  She wouldn
’t believe any of this until she talked to Randall.  Hopefully, it would be soon.

* * * *
*

The SUV pulled up in front of the Spanish style house near Moon Lake in Pasco
County, just north of Tampa.  It was a sparsely populated area with the privacy a federal agency would want to hold a witness.  This house didn’t have a neighbor for miles in any direction.  The grim-faced agent in dark sunglasses stopped the vehicle.

“
I’ll wait here,” the driver said.  Evan was in the front seat with the driver and Seth was in the back seat with Presley.  The men hopped out and Seth came around to help her out.  She took a deep breath as they approached the front door.  The home looked like any middle class house in any neighborhood.  She wasn’t sure what she expected but there weren’t any cannons in the front yard or black helicopters hovering in the sky.

Presley had spent the last twenty-four hours showing Seth the Tampa Bay area from the privacy of a bullet-proof SUV.  Evan and the sour-faced agent had driven them all the way down to Anna Maria
Island and as far west as Clearwater Beach.  She’d stayed in the vehicle at all times, although when no one was around she was allowed to roll down the window.  It had been fun showing Seth her old stomping grounds, and he’d had a much better attitude about it this time than at Disney a few days before.

Evan pushed the
bell and the door was opened by another man with hair clipped short and a gun in a shoulder holster.  Another agent. 

“
Evan, you made good time up here.  Simon is in the living room waiting for you.”

Seth had
insisted on coming with her and Evan had never intended for her to see Randall by herself either.  In a way, it felt stupid for them to be there since she didn’t feel threatened by Randall, but if it kept the peace it was a small price.  They wouldn’t be here long anyway.  She had a few questions and then they could go.  This wasn’t a social call. 

Evan and the other agent led the way through an entrance hall into a large living room.  It was the middle of the day, but the blinds and curtains were drawn, and every lamp in the home was illuminated.  Evan indicated she should sit on the sofa.  She moved to do that but the man occupying the chair opposite caught her eye.  It was Randall.  Or it appeared to be someone who looked like
him.  This man was much grayer and much older.

She sucked in her breath and sat down heavily.  She stared at the man and he gave her a weak smile.  It was Randall.  Her fingers gripped the handle of her purse and her heart beat loudly. 

“How are you, Katie?  I thought you were dead.  You can’t imagine how relieved I was when I found out you were alive,” Randall said.  He was drinking from a Pepsi can, his hand shaking slightly, but his voice sounded the same. 

She lifted her chin. 
“I didn’t come here to exchange pleasantries or pretend we’re friends.  I wanted to hear the truth from your own mouth.  Talk.”

Her words made him smile wider. 
“But we are friends, Katie.  I’m the reason you’re not in jail for selling arms to terrorists.  In a way, you should thank me.”

Seth stiffened next to her and she put her hand on his.  This was hers to do and do alone. 

“I think I’ll pass on thanking you.  You’ve told the Feds quite a tale.  Is any of it true?”

His expression grew sad. 
“It’s all true.  It’s part of my deal with the government that I tell the truth, but I would have anyway.  This has all gotten out of control.  All I wanted to do was be a patriot.  A good American.  You know how important that was to me, Katie.”  His voice was urgent and she nodded. 

“
I remember, Ran.”  She didn’t say anything more.  He was the one with a story to tell. 

He fiddled with the can. 
“I’ve known your sister for many years.  We traveled in some of the same circles.”

Presley was getting impatient. 
“I know.  That’s how I got the job with you.”

Randall shook his head. 
“No, you got the job with me because Nora suggested you as the patsy for everything.  We were going to frame you for what we were doing.”

Presley felt herself tremble all over at the thought of what might have happened.  She could have been thrown into a dark jail cell for the rest of her life
, never understanding what had been done to her.  In a way, the car bomb was a blessing.

“
Why, Ran?  What did I do to you that would make you want to send me to prison for the rest of my life?”

He smiled sadly. 
“You could never do anything like that.  That’s why I pulled the plug on the idea and sent you to manage the renovations on the house.  I liked you, Katie.  You were a sweet girl and we had fun, didn’t we?  I tried to protect you from her, but I guess it didn’t work.  She hates you, you know.”