No One to Trust (Hidden Identity Book #1): A Novel (7 page)

Summer rolled away from the tangle of bodies. Her heart beat in her throat as she lived this nightmare David had dropped her into. Scrambling back, she watched the fight unfold. David clipped the man on the chin again and the mask slipped. Adam brought the grip of his weapon down to crack against the attacker’s head. His pained cries cut off and he dropped like a rock.

David’s white face said he was in pain. His granite expression said he didn’t care. She hoped his vest had provided some protection to his battered ribs. He held a hand to his side and moved away as Chase came from the living room to give a nod of satisfaction at the unconscious man on the floor. “Two down. One to go.”

“Where is he?” Adam asked.

“Dunno.” Chase’s gaze darted around the room.

Summer found herself doing the same, probing the shadows and scanning the doorways.

“Let’s get them out of here before he puts in an appearance,” Mike said as he took the lead and exited the house. Summer heard the car door open. “Come on. Come on. Stay low and move fast.”

Summer knew the words were for her benefit. Without asking, she knew David had done this before.

She slid into the vehicle followed by David, then Mike. Adam took the wheel. “Where’s Chase?”

“He’ll stay behind and clean up the mess, then meet up with us later.”

Summer clasped her hands between her knees and closed her eyes. She wondered what time it was, then nearly laughed. Did it matter? She also wondered if the crazy feeling inside was hysteria. Probably. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Felt David’s arm slide around her shoulders. More than anything, she wanted to lean on his strength and shut out the fact someone wanted to hurt her. So they could hurt her husband.

Husband . . .

Summer stiffened as the car pulled away and fell in line behind the other two identical vehicles. “Are we even married?” she whispered.

David froze, his arm tightened. She pulled away to look into the eyes that had captivated her from the moment she’d seen them at the bank. She’d been talking to the teller and elbowed her purse off the counter. Items had scattered. David had helped her clean them up and she’d been unable to take her eyes from him. When he’d asked for her phone number, she’d been giddy with disbelief. And joy.

“Yes, we’re married,” he said.

“How? You signed a fake name.”

“No. It’s my real name now. A whole new identity compliments of WITSEC that makes my signature legal.”

She swallowed hard. So, at least she was really married to him. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. “You could have faked it. You didn’t have to go to all that trouble. I never would have known and after the trial you could have walked away a free man, no strings attached.” She couldn’t help the bitterness.

His eyes narrowed. “I could have.” He paused. “I didn’t want to.”

Four simple words that carried a huge punch. A small piece of her reveled in the knowledge that he would go to all that trouble to make sure they were legally married. Another part of her was
furious that he’d trapped her in a lie, one that would take time and money to dissolve.

If she really wanted to go that route.

But what else could she do? He’d
lied
to her.

The one thing she’d told him she could never forgive. And it wasn’t just that he’d lied, but he’d done so with absolute conviction shining in his eyes. She shuddered, wondering what else he’d lied about.

He
was going to tell you
, she argued with herself.

But he didn’t.

But he really married you when
he didn’t have to.

Might have been better if he hadn’t.

Then she could have walked away.

Right. She pulled her iPod from her purse and shoved the earbuds into her ears. Jupiter Wind’s lead singer crooned in her ear, reassuring her that God was with her, telling her what hope looked like. When the next song came on, she couldn’t help the humorless smile that curved her lips. How appropriate. She sang along silently.

I’m walking on a tightrope

And my feet are slipping.

I’m about to lose control

I’m hanging on a thin wire.

And my hands are sliding

And I’m crashing to the ground.

When the chorus came on, she made it her prayer.

I know you’re gonna save me

’Cause I know you’ll never let me go.

Summer heaved a sigh. He’d said, “I didn’t want to.”

And those four little words did more for her heart than she wanted to admit.

SATURDAY

7:30 A.M.

“What’s on the laptop?”

David spun to find Summer standing in the doorway to the bedroom of the second safe house. He winced at the fast movement, his bruised ribs protesting.

She wasn’t smiling, but at least her ferocious glare had faded to a hard-eyed stare.

“Everything’s really on the flash drive, but you can’t access the flash drive with just any computer. The flash drive is a special one used by organizations like the Department of Defense.”

“Nice that the bad guys have access to the same equipment.”

David shrugged. “You can buy them online. On the flash drive is everything you can imagine. Information, pictures, dates, money transactions, all linking Raimondi to numerous illegal activities. Stuff Raimondi doesn’t want falling into law enforcement hands.”

“And you stole it.”

He sighed, glanced around the room, and wondered if it was bugged. Finally he nodded toward the bed. “Sit.”

She did so. Grudgingly.

Arms crossed, she kept her gaze glued on him. The distrust there pierced like a flaming arrow.

“I’m sorry I lied to you.”

“I am too, Ky—David.” She rubbed a hand over her eyes. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

Did that mean she was going to be around to get used to it? Hope flared, then dimmed when the distrust stayed firmly planted on her face. He sighed. “Summer, I—”

“Who are you?”

He looked away, then back. “I’m a man who made a mess of his life and only by the grace of God was able to attempt to do something to restore it.”

She blinked. “By stealing a laptop from the Mafia?” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Oh David.”

“I had to. Summer, I was working as a CI for the FBI.”

She stared at him. “A confidential informant?”

David ran a hand over his bruised ribs. “To make a long story short, I was in the Army. Special Forces. But I was also part owner in a business. It was what I did when I wasn’t on assignment and it provided a good income. When I got home after a long eight-month assignment in Afghanistan, my partner had apparently decided to get into some illegal activities with organized crime using our business as a front while I was gone.”

She winced. “How did you find out about it?”

“The FBI approached me. At first I didn’t believe it, but the seed of doubt was there. I asked them to give me a week to snoop around and see what I could find out.”

“What did you find?”

“Enough to convince me they were telling the truth. Sam was involved with the Mafia and he was using our business just the way the FBI said he was.”

“So you started working with them.”

“Yeah, but they weren’t real interested in Sam. They wanted the
big guy. Raimondi. In the first six months, I managed to gain access to his private residence. I planted listening devices, copied whatever I could from whatever computer I came across. But Raimondi is paranoid careful. He never says much over his office phone, he doesn’t keep anything on his personal computer, and his staff is extremely loyal because Raimondi treats them like equals.”

“Sounds like a stand-up guy,” she muttered.

“Then it came to my attention that Sam was going to frame me for murder.”

Summer paled. “Murder?”

He nodded. “That business partner I told you about? Sam Gilroy. He killed a man and it was recorded on his laptop.”

“Then how would he frame you for the murder?”

“Simple. He didn’t know he recorded it, but I did. He was working on a video presentation when Carl Hyatt came in and threatened to go to the building inspector about some substandard materials Sam was using. Sam couldn’t let that happen, because if the business was flagged and shut down for an investigation, Raimondi’s business would come to a halt. As would all the nice money Sam was pocketing.

“And so he killed him?”

“Yes.”

“What about the video?”

“Carl walked in during Sam’s recording. After Sam killed him, he had to get him cleaned up. I guess by the time he finished all that, he’d forgotten what he was in the middle of. He simply closed his computer and went home.”

“But you got the video?”

“Yes. Later. I couldn’t just walk in his office and take it. He carried that laptop with him pretty much everywhere. He left it locked up in his office occasionally, but I was pushed for time. I had to get the laptop before he found the video file with the murder on it. I had one plan. Get the laptop with the flash drive and disappear.
And do it fast.” He rubbed his eyes. “I knew I was a dead man. Seconds after I walked in and found Carl dead, Sam was already plotting how to get rid of me. I knew I was going to have to take what I had to the Feds, but I wasn’t leaving until I had that evidence. When I came back to work Monday morning, Sam had everything cleaned up and three guys in the office with him.”

“Who were they?”

He smirked. “Men who were in Raimondi’s pocket. They were also very well-known citizens with a lot of pull in the city. Sam told me that if I said anything about the murder, he had enough evidence to get me tried and convicted. I knew I had to get into his laptop and get that video before he realized what he’d done and erased the evidence. Finally Sam just flat-out asked me what I planned to do. I told him I’d thought about it and wasn’t going to do anything, that his business was his business and as long as he kept the illegal part of what he was doing out of the legal side, I’d turn a blind eye.”

“But you really wouldn’t, would you?”

David shook his head. “No, of course not. I was just buying time to get that laptop. I was hoping to throw him off. I think it worked, because he didn’t say anything more and for the rest of the morning acted like everything was normal.”

“I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “Were you going to tell the cops about Carl?”

“Yes. As soon as I could turn over the video.”

“This is just crazy. It’s like I’m in some messed-up, twisted action movie.” He heard the tears in her voice. “This is not what I signed up for when I married you.” The last word squeaked out and he moved to hold her.

Only to have her push him away.

The physical pain of her rejection didn’t sting nearly as bad as the emotional.

She twisted away, then back. Sucking in a deep breath, he watched her gather her composure. She put her lawyer face on and clasped
her hands in front of her. “Okay. So. You told Sam you weren’t going to do anything.”

He nodded. “But Sam didn’t trust me. Like I said, I could tell it was only a matter of time before he had me killed.”

“So you played along with Sam, acting like you weren’t happy with him but weren’t going to do anything like turn him over to the cops.”

He shifted. “Yes. In the meantime, I was planning how I was going to get that laptop.”

Summer sat still, watching him. At least she was listening.

“I got lucky—Sam hadn’t planned for one of our clients to show up that day, but he did, right before lunch. There was just no way for Sam to get out of inviting this client to lunch. I pretended to be on a call when they stopped by and asked me to join them, and I told them I’d catch up with them at the restaurant. Instead I got into Sam’s office and started looking for the video on his computer. I had a hard time finding it. Apparently he realized what he’d done and deleted it. Or thought he did.”

“But you found it.”

“Just because you delete something from your hard drive doesn’t mean it’s gone.”

“Right.”

“At first I just wanted the video, but in my search, I found all kinds of information that would be helpful to the FBI. I tried copying it, but it wouldn’t. I realized that the flash drive was one of those special ones that can be programmed to work only with a certain computer. I’d used them myself in the Army.” He leaned forward, desperate to make her understand why he’d done what he’d done. “You can’t copy anything to another device. So I just grabbed the laptop with the flash drive still in the port and walked out of the building. I haven’t been back since.”

“So why haven’t you turned the laptop over to the FBI? If they have the evidence, Raimondi would have no reason to kill you.”

“Oh, he has a reason. I betrayed them. Stole information and am cooperating with the authorities.”

“But you still haven’t given them the laptop.”

“No way. I’ve told the Feds a lot of what was on it and that I’ll give it to them a few days before the trial so the prosecuting attorney can properly prepare. They’ll have a forensics accountant ready to go, subpoenas issued for the bank account holders and all that. The trial is three weeks away and I’m ready to hand it over. In fact, I was planning to go get it on Monday. But now this—” He shook his head.

“Then let’s go get it. Or better yet, tell them where to find it and let them go get it.”

David pinched the bridge of his nose. “I would if I knew who I could trust,” he said softly. “That laptop—or really, the flash drive—is for my—our—protection. In case Raimondi and his cohorts manage to get their hands on me. See, they don’t want to kill me yet. They want me alive so I can tell them where the laptop is. If I fall into their hands, the laptop is simply a way I can buy time to escape. It’s my only bargaining tool. I gave the FBI a sampling of what was on that laptop and they’re ready to get their hands on the rest. And that’s why Raimondi is desperate. He’s pretty sure I haven’t given the laptop to the FBI yet. But Raimondi knows his time as a free man is short lived.”

“So you can’t copy anything off the laptop. The flash drive and the laptop go together.”

“Right. I was able to get the video off the hard drive where he recorded it. But all of his organized crime dealings were saved on that special flash drive. He used an Imation Enterprise s250 flash drive. It’s the kind of flash drive that top secret government officials use. The drives have strong hardware encryption, password protection, retry limits, and all that. You can even remotely disable and destroy the thing, but I managed to get that turned off before I had to hide it. The other thing is, you can control where
the drives may be used based on IP addresses or range. I tried to get into the drive after I took it and couldn’t access it.” He shot her a look. “And I’m good. I’m very good with that kind of thing. But I just didn’t have enough time to work with it. I had to hide it before I could crack it.”

“So it’s hidden now.”

“Yes. And I’m the only one who knows where.”

“But you said you saw all that stuff on his computer. Names, dates, bank accounts . . .”

“The day I went to copy the video, Sam had some files open from the flash drive. He was careless and didn’t shut it down when he left for lunch.”

“So if something happens to you . . .”

He shifted. “I’ve made provisions that if something happens to me, the location of the laptop will be disclosed to the proper authorities. Only Raimondi doesn’t know that and neither do the authorities.”

“So Raimondi thinks the only way to recover this evidence is to kidnap you.”

“Yes. He thinks he can get the information out of me one way or another.”

She swallowed. “You mean torture you?”

He nodded and his eyes went dark. “Or you.”