Silver Fire (Guardians) (26 page)

“I may have put in a word or two,” Viktor said noncommittally. “Derek, I still believe the leak came from within Silver Fire Research. Anyone come to mind?”

“No,” Derek said as he took his seat. “They’re a bunch of geeks down there, and Parker is devoted to Sophie. If he weren’t gay, I’d have a problem with him.”

“Tim, any progress on Opperman?”

“Nothing solid. The man is like a traveling and shipping agency. All his transactions seem legit.”

“Any transactions between Blackstone and Opperman?”

“No, but we wouldn’t expect Blackstone to use his own company.”

“Agreed. But is there a way to find out if he was using a shell company?”

“I’m following the trail of one now,” Tim replied. “I’ve hit a highly-encrypted system. We may have to bring in a specialist.”

“Blackstone will be at Senator Robinson’s fundraiser this Saturday,” Maia said. “I can have Jack engage him in interesting conversation again.”

“Jack would love that,” Derek chuckled. “Which reminds me—I may have to keep Sophie here at AGS that night unless she wants to stay at my condo with Taggart. I was too late to add a plus one.”

“Sure, just make arrangements with bunker accommodations.”

“I can’t believe you’re leaving Sophie by herself,” Maia said.

“I don’t have a choice. Robinson expects Jack and me to be there.”

“Does he know you are screwing his daughter?”

“Were. Past tense, Maia.”

“You guys sure have the most fascinating conversations,” Marissa observed.
 

Viktor smirked. “We like to keep things interesting around here. You know, Marissa, we haven’t addressed what role Blaine had in the cores being stolen.”

Marissa shook her head. “I don’t think he directly had any knowledge of the cores. I think his role was just to look the other way and keep everyone else out of Bishop’s path.”

“So who paid him off?”

“That’s pending an internal investigation,” Marissa said, obviously reluctant to share. “Are we done here, Viktor?

Viktor nodded. “I’ll keep you posted.”
 

***

“We have a problem,” Yuri Demko told Justin. “There is a flaw in the trigger design. It does not produce enough power to initiate fusion.”

Justin narrowed his eyes at the Ukrainian scientist. Had the man not scoffed at Sophie’s capabilities a few days ago, saying that they would not be needing her at all?

“Are you saying we need Dr. Leroux?”

“What I am saying is this plan is not workable,” Yuri replied haughtily. “I think this research is bogus.”

Yuri found himself slammed against a worktable, his neck held in a vise-like grip. Justin was barely controlling his anger. “Is it my understanding you’re calling Dr. Leroux a fake?” he whispered menacingly to the older man.

“No, no of course not,” Yuri answered haltingly.

Justin released him and backed away. He’d been having trouble controlling his temper lately, and it didn’t take much to set it off. His thoughts were preoccupied with Sophie and his plans for her.

“Do we need Dr. Leroux?”

“Blackstone would not prefer it, but yes, we would need a second opinion,” Yuri replied carefully.

The second opinion would be an unwilling second opinion. Justin turned away and whipped out his mobile phone.

“Do you have anything for me?”
 

“You’re all set. You have two tickets to the fundraiser. You are going as Dan Pryce, an agriculturist. Morgan will be your associate, Harry Winters,” Eric Opperman said. “I’ve also gotten a vendor pass for one of your men.”

“Excellent.”

“I’m reminding you that Blackstone and McCord will be there. Lockwood too. I’m not comfortable with you exposing yourself that way.”

“They will not recognize me.”

“I surely hope so, Justin, I don’t know what you are up to.”

“Just do as you’re told. When’s my crew coming in?”

“They should be arriving on separate flights tomorrow. Dulles.”

Justin stared at his phone long before he ended the call with Opperman. He traced a finger on the picture he had snapped of Sophie sitting at the cafe and smiled.

***

Derek waited for Sophie in her office, bouncing a tiny rubber ball on the wall as he mulled the powder-keg situation they were in. Literally a ticking time-bomb. Fuck. He checked his watch. When Sophie said she was far from finished, he had not expected her to mean over two hours.
 

She was busy enriching the first batch of zefinium power sources for the MDI laser gun prototype. Who was he to complain? She was working to fulfill her commitments to MDI.

“Sorry,” Sophie said breathlessly as she strode briskly into the office and removed her lab coat.
 

“No problem, Angel,” Derek said warmly as he rose and gave her a chaste peck on her forehead. “Probably what you get for playing hooky yesterday at lunch.”

“One of my assistants didn’t show up for work,” Sophie grumbled. “She didn’t even bother to call.”

Derek stiffened. “Who?”

“Polly Smith.”

“How long has she worked for you?”

“A few weeks.” Sophie’s eyes widened with horror. “No, I don’t think she’s a spy. Her school credentials check out.”

“You never know, Sophie. Some spies spend years undercover before they’re activated.”

Sophie shook her head adamantly. “She’s a bonafide nuclear physicist in the making. She’s really smart.”

“So she learns your secrets and then she takes off to work for them,” Derek pointed out.

Gray eyes flashed furiously at him. “I will not listen to your absurd theories. How dare you accuse Polly of being involved with scum like Justin!”

“What is going on here?” Stephen asked, standing by the doorway.

“Do you have Polly’s number? Can you call her?”

“I’ve been calling her all day,” Stephen said quietly.

Sophie glanced at Derek who was watching her carefully. Her nostrils flared. “No. There has to be an explanation. Something must have happened to her.”

“Sophie—” Derek tried to pull her in his arms.

“No, Derek!” she shouted and shoved him away. “Stephen, pull up her address. We can go check on her.”

Derek pulled out his phone. “There’s a faster way to do this.” He called AGS.

“Anything?” Viktor was definitely not one for pleasantries.

“Viktor, I need you to initiate a missing persons check on Polly Smith. Sophie’s assistant has gone missing.”

“Interesting. I’ll have Tim activate the search tree.”

“What’s a missing persons check?” Stephen asked, when Derek ended the call.

“AGS has direct access to police and hospital records. The search should turn up missing person reports filed or any Jane or John Doe that may have turned up in the specified period.”

Derek made another attempt to curl his arms around Sophie. This time, she did not push him away and instead rested her face on his chest.

It had not taken long. Half an hour later, Derek got the news. Jesus Christ, how could he tell her?

“What?” Sophie whispered, her eyes were already filling with tears. This was the first time Derek had seen them. After all the craziness that had happened to her, his woman was close to breaking.

“A Jane Doe was brought into the MPD coroner’s office this afternoon. Tim had it matched to information on Polly Smith.” Derek exhaled deeply before continuing. “There’s a 99% match on dental records and fingerprints. I’m sorry, Sophie.”

“How?” Sophie asked, her voice cracking.

“Angel, I don’t think—”

“How, Derek?” she repeated, her voice high-pitched, her eyes wild.

“Sophie, calm down,” Stephen said. “Derek, just tell her!”

“Derek!”

“Fuck,” Derek cursed as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Autoerotic asphyxia.”

Stephen let out string of expletives.

“She was strangled?”

Derek glanced at Stephen, who shook his head.

“I saw that,” Sophie said, narrowing her eyes at the men. “Tell me the damned truth!”

When Sophie started swearing, she was passed the point of pissed.

“Sophie, she was strangled during sex,” Derek said.

Sophie walked around her desk and sank into her chair. “Do they know who did it?”
 

“The room was clean, but from his track record—”

“Oh my god, I think I’m going to be sick.” Sophie started hyperventilating, she bent forward, head between her knees. Derek rushed to her side. Kneeling on the floor, he dragged her into his arms and cradled her on his lap. He whispered words of comfort, words promising that he was going to keep her safe.

In truth, Derek was chilled to his bones. The perversion of one Justin Bishop knew no bounds. He was one sick motherfucker.

***

The limousines started pulling into the driveway of Larkspur Manor in McClean for the Robinson fundraiser. The only time Jack and Derek would use a chauffeur-driven limo was when they attended formal events. The DC society pages frequently gabbed about the dangerous MDI boys as being “too macho” to hire a driver despite the billions the company made. A recent picture of Derek and the overturned Escalade hit a gossip column and reiterated it was probably time for him to hire a driver and become a respectable, mainstream executive.

Not in a million years
.

Derek got out of the limo and waved his driver away. Making his way up the marble staircase, he fell in step at the receiving line. He spied Jack and Maia already working the room.
 

“Lockwood!” Senator Robinson boomed in greeting, grasping his hand in a firm handshake and giving him a hearty thump on the back. “Couldn’t stay out of trouble, could you?”

“Crazy drivers on the Beltway, Senator.”
 

“Maybe Congress can do something about that,” the senator joked.

“Much appreciated, Sir,” Derek replied, deadpan.

“Your man, McCord and his lovely wife are already inside. Enjoy the evening. I’ll be in touch with you boys next week on some matters for the Senate Intelligence committee.”

“Anytime, Senator.”

Derek graciously shook hands with the senator’s wife and was thankful that Layla was not in the receiving line. He turned his attention to the luxurious ballroom where the usual sight of silk covered chairs and tables were graced with an elaborate centerpiece. A ten-thousand dollar a plate affair, further money was raised at the silent auction later in the evening. The money from the auction usually benefited the senator’s favorite charities. Time to play the politically-correct businessman.
 

Two hours later, Derek stood back from the crowd, leaning languidly on a massive marble column while observing the festivities of the Robinson fundraiser. He checked his watch. It was almost 10:00 p.m. Normally by this time, he would already have picked out his woman for the night, sexed her up with some dirty talk and in another hour they would be on their way to a hotel room.
 

This time though, he was keeping an eye on Blackstone. Maia waylaid Christopher earlier and talked to the man for about twenty minutes. Blackstone seemed to be taken with her, as most men were when she turned on the charm. After their conversation, she looked at Derek and shook her head. Nothing.
 
Jack was up. His friend had cornered the man at the bar, and he was clearly not out to charm him. Their conversation seemed to have turned heated. Derek made a move to intervene before his friend actually took a swing at the older man. Jack had no patience for the likes of Christopher Blackstone, and Derek was annoyed that Sophie treated him like a beloved uncle or an old friend.

He caught a whiff of her cloying perfume before he actually saw her. Layla Robinson. She was dressed with one thing in mind. To seduce. Derek’s eyes flickered appreciatively over her voluptuous female form. Her generous breasts were barely covered by the plunging V of her neckline, while a slit on one side of her gown went clear up almost to the top, exposing a shapely leg. If Jessica Rabbit were human, she would be Layla Robinson. She was indeed a beautiful woman, however, at the moment, she didn’t do a thing for him.

“Derek? Dance?” Layla breathed in a sultry voice.
 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Layla,” Derek said tightly.
 

She stepped closer and brushed her lips on his. “Please. For old times sake?”

Before Derek could say no, Layla took his hand and led him to the dance floor. Just his luck, the orchestra started playing a slow number. Derek had a sneaking suspicion that Layla had planned this. She pressed her body close to his, more than what was required with the dance. Derek always used dancing as a way to seduce his next conquest, but Layla was not in his sights tonight. His thoughts were on Sophie. He had left her at the AGS bunker with Beth and had planned to pick her up after the fundraiser. He couldn’t stand to be away from her even for a single night.

“Can’t you even focus on me?” Layla said with irritation. “It was good between us, Derek.”
 

Derek stared down at the glamorous face before him. Nothing. Sophie was who he wanted. As if sensing his disinterest, Layla’s hand went between them and stroked the front of his trousers. Repulsed by her maneuver, Derek caught her hand and pulled her off the dance floor. He dragged her into one of the deserted hallways.

He put two hands on her shoulders and backed her into a wall. He leaned in and said, “There is no us, Layla. There never was. We fucked each other, that was all there was between us. Sex. I’m with Sophie now. Get that through your damned head.”

Derek tried to hide his disgust from his face, but he must have failed miserably because Layla’s face jerked in surprise, tears filling her eyes before she fled through one of the exits.

“Goddamn it!” Derek cursed. What would he need to do? Layla wouldn’t clue in. He was more than frank at the cafe, and she still thought Sophie was a passing fancy. She wasn’t. For the first time in his life, he was contemplating a future with one woman. It terrified him, but the thought of losing Sophie terrified him more.

He needed a drink.

***

Justin watched the shapely woman sobbing by the terrace outside Larkspur Manor. He couldn’t believe his luck. Derek Lockwood was making it too easy for him. He walked up to Layla Robinson and handed her a handkerchief.