Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3) (29 page)

"It will just get them hyped up, and although we've heard some stories, we don't have any real evidence. I'd like to go to them with more than a theory."

"I would think they'd be happy about your involvement. You said they've been angry that you haven't wanted to get into it. Now you have." His gaze dropped to her hand, where she was twisting the gold band around her finger. "And as often as you've told me you hate that ring, you still haven't taken it off."

"I can't get it off," she said with annoyance. "It won't go over my knuckle."

"But it fell off your hand in the park last week."

"I can't explain it. Sometimes it feels loose, but most of the time it's tight."

"It was your great-grandmother's wedding ring?"

"Yes. And she seemed to think it would protect me in some way. But so far it's just led me into trouble."

"Well, it saved me, so I say you keep it on."

"At this point, I don't seem to have a choice."

As they got closer to the ranch, his nerves tightened. He wondered if Tania was setting them up. The area they were in now was farmland; miles between houses, empty roads—the perfect place to get rid of someone. As he turned off the highway, he found himself on a dusty one-lane road, and his tension increased. He pulled over, turning to Dani. "I don't like this."

"I don't, either," she admitted. "But we can't not check it out. We have to trust Tania isn't sending us into an ambush."

"Why on earth would you think we could trust her?"

"I'm not sure. I just have a gut instinct. If you were alone, I think you'd keep going, so don't stop for me."

She was right about that. He would keep going, but while he was willing to risk his own life, he didn't want to risk hers. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I feel the same way about you, Patrick. But I think we're stronger together. And I've got my lucky ring."

"You don't believe in it," he reminded her.

"Sometimes I kind of do," she admitted, giving him a helpless smile. "But don't tell anyone else I said that. Now, let's go, before I lose my nerve."

Against his better judgment, he said, "All right." Several minutes later, he drove between two old posts and past a broken-down gate. The road led to a large, sprawling, shuttered-up ranch house and barn. There were no cars anywhere to be seen. No sign of life. They parked in front of the house and walked up to the door. It was locked and no one answered the door.

"I don't think anyone is here," Dani said, staying close to Patrick.

"Let's check the barn."

They walked across the open space and entered the horse barn.

He'd been expecting to see stalls, hay—all the usual items found in a barn—but the building resembled something more like an airplane hangar: a large open space and then an area with desks, at least twenty. Near the desks were electrical outlets and extension cords. There were filing cabinets along one wall but most of the drawers were open and empty.

A jolt of awareness ran through him. "This must be where the shadow company was conducting business."

Dani nodded. "But there's nothing here now. Why? Did they move their operations to Mexico, or did this recently shut down? And why would Tania send us out here?"

"All good questions." He looked around, and his gaze came to rest on one desk at the far end of the building. There was a folder lying on top of it. He walked quickly across the room.

The folder wasn't dusty or dirty. It didn’t look like it had been left behind but rather that it had been purposefully placed on the desk.

When he saw the name on the file folder, his heart jumped against his chest.

"What is it?" Dani asked.

He really didn't want to tell her.

"Patrick?" she pressed, trying to peer over his shoulder. "Is it about your mother?"

"No." He swung around to face her. "It's about your father."

"What?" she gasped.

He held up the folder so she could see the name written on it: Wyatt Monroe.

* * *

Dani put a hand to her mouth as her stomach turned over and nausea ran through her. "Why would there be a folder on my father here?" she muttered, the letters of his name blurring in front of her eyes as she felt dizzy and short of breath.

"Dani." Patrick put a steadying hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I don't think so," she whispered. "Could you open it and tell me what's inside?"

He nodded, a grim expression in his eyes. He opened the folder and she could see several pieces of paper, including a photograph. Even from a few feet away, she knew it was a picture of her father. She couldn't hold back. She grabbed the photo from the file. It had been taken through a fence at the airfield. Her father could be seen standing by a plane. He was talking to one of the airfield managers.

Her heart ached at the sight of the tall, handsome man, who had always been bigger than life. He wore his favorite jeans and black jacket, his aviator glasses on top of his head as he looked at some sort of clipboard.

"Oh, God," she said, feeling an intense wave of pain. "This is exactly how I remember him. Just like this—those clothes, those glasses." She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to breathe through the heartache. Missing her father hurt so much. She'd thought she'd gotten past it, but one photo and it had all come back.

She lifted her gaze from the photo. "Patrick, why would there be a photo of my father here?" she asked in confusion.

"It looks like someone was following your dad."

"Why?"

"I think this might be part of the reason." He handed her a paper.

She stared at the typed page for a long moment. "This is a police report. My dad went to the police and told them he had seen lights in the sky that looked like gunfire on his last flight. That was a couple of weeks before he died." She looked back at Patrick. "I told you he talked about seeing weird lights when he flew at night. He thought it was lightning, but sometimes there weren't any storms in the area. That's when he started to get the nickname of
lightning man
. Why would this report be here? Why would anyone care what he saw in the sky?"

She saw the answer in Patrick's eyes.

"Because he wasn't seeing lightning; he was seeing gunfire," she said, answering her own question.

"It was probably from a gun they were testing. This ranch isn't far from the airfield. If it was an early version of a railgun, that operates on electromagnetic energy, it's possible it looked like lightning."

"Everyone thought my father was crazy. My own mother was convinced of it, and I kind of thought so, too, at times." She moved around the desk and sat down in a chair, feeling like she might fall over from the overwhelming force of her emotions. She didn't just feel sad now; she also felt guilty. "Alicia defended him all the time, but I never did."

"You didn't have the information you have now."

"I should have had more faith."

He frowned. "Dani, you told me that something of your father's was found at the ranch in Mexico, right? It was a medallion or something…"

She nodded. "It was a medallion on a chain that he always wore around his neck, and we were sure he was wearing it the night his plane went down. But we have no idea how the medallion would have gotten to Mexico. Unless, of course, his plane didn't go down in the Gulf, but crashed in Mexico."

"Maybe it didn't even crash," Patrick suggested.

"Why would you say that?"

"Because there's a note from your father's friend, Jerry," he said, handing her another piece of paper. "He doesn't address any one person, but read what it says."

"
Wyatt is becoming a nuisance
," she read out loud. "
He's talking to too many people. There are going to be more questions. Even if we move operations, he could be a problem. He told me he took photos on his last flight. I'm going to have him meet me—you know where. You do the rest.
"

She sucked in a quick breath as the reality of what she'd just read sank in. "Jerry must have lured him to Mexico."

"That would make sense since that's where your brother found the medallion," Patrick said. "It's possible his plane didn't crash, Dani."

"But he was flying that night. He was coming back from Florida. He had a flight plan to return home. Wouldn't someone have known if he changed it?"

"Maybe he didn't tell anyone. He had no reason to distrust his friend Jerry, did he?"

"I don't think so." She paused, holding Patrick's gaze. "How do you think they killed him?"

His lips tightened, his gaze filling with compassion. "I don't know, and I don't think you need to know."

"Says the man who wants to know everything." She thought for a moment. "My great-grandmother told Jake, in her very dramatic Mayan way, that my dad's bones weren't where they were supposed to be. She must have sensed he wasn't in the Gulf. He must have been killed and buried in Mexico. Alicia and Jake both think that. I was holding on to the other story."

"I'm surprised they didn't tear up the land around that ranch in Mexico."

"We couldn't get the authorities to do that. Alicia tried, but the Mexican government wasn't willing to cooperate, based on our lack of evidence. But maybe I have more now." She stood up. "Why do you think Tania left this file for me?"

"She probably knew that your real goal was to find out about your father."

"So you don't think she believed me when I said I slept with Reid?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe she thought you slept with him because you believed he had information on your dad. Your cover story might have held up, just not your original motivation. As to why she left you the file here and now…I have no idea. She must have come out here before she met you for breakfast. There's no way this file was actually here. She put it here for you to find. She wanted you to see this ranch. I think she's giving you what you asked for—ammunition to use against Reid."

"It's not enough. Unless there's more here to be found."

"I don't think so. I'm betting this ranch hasn't been used in a while. That's why Tania felt safe enough to use it. Probably no one comes out here anymore." He paused. "I think we should get out of here, Dani. This place is really remote."

She could see the tension in his body, and she suddenly became aware of how vulnerable they might be. As they walked out of the barn, she felt a prickle of uneasiness, but they made it to the truck without any problems. Her tension didn't decrease until they left the narrow roads behind and returned to the highway.

"I'm going to call Tania," she said. "Maybe she'll talk to me more about the file."

"Give it a shot."

She connected to Tania's number. It rang four times, and she thought it was about to go to voice mail when Tania finally answered.

"Hello?" she said.

"It's Dani. I was just at the ranch," she said, putting the phone on speaker. "Why did you leave me the file on my father?"

"I knew that's what you really wanted to know. You might want revenge on Reid for his part in it, but what you want is the truth about your dad. I knew that as soon as you told me your last name. Reid thought that once they'd taken care of your father, no one would ever find out about the ranch or the tests or your dad. For years, it seemed that they were right. Then your sister started poking around last year, and Jerry made a huge mistake by going after her. Then your brother went to Mexico and blew up that operation. Now, it's you. I don't think you hooked up with Reid. He wouldn't be stupid enough to sleep with you after being responsible for your father's death. But I know why you want to get back at him."

"It was Reid?" she asked. "He killed my dad?"

"He ordered it. He doesn't actually do anything himself. He's too smart for that. And you'll never be able to pin it on him. I'm telling you so you can sleep at night."

"I don't think that's why you're telling me," she said. "What's the real reason? You've been tight with Reid for years. Why betray him now?"

"Because I'm tired, Dani. Tired of the lies and the pretense. Tired of believing things will change. Tired of looking at the calendar and realizing how many years have passed and how long I've been waiting. I don't know how you knew I was the one to approach; I'm not sure I want to know." She took a breath, then continued. "This whole thing has become so much bigger, so much more dangerous than I ever imagined it would. When it first started, I was just a small player, and I understood Reid's motivation. It's hard to be passed up for someone else. It's hard to be second best or not recognized by your own father. But I had no idea the level of insanity that was actually driving everything. So many people have died. And there are so many more to come. You have no idea of the magnitude of destruction that could happen."

"Help me stop him, Tania. I can take the file to the police and to the press, but I need more."

"I can't give you any more. I told you about your father so you could have closure, but I have blood on my hands, too. I'll go down with them. Or they'll sell me out."

"Sell them out instead. You might be able to get immunity in exchange for information," she said, wildly grabbing at anything to get Tania's trust. "Reid is the most important player, not you. You can use that."

"If we had more time—maybe. But it's too late. I won't be able to escape my part in this, not after tomorrow."

"What's happening tomorrow?" she asked worriedly, hearing both resignation and fear in Tania's voice.

"You'll find out then. Be grateful that I gave you this. I know it won't prove anything. If you take it to the police, it will be scandalous, and there will be rumors, but there's no one mentioned by name except Jerry, and he's dead," Tania said. "Your father knew too much, and he paid with his life. Don't make the same mistake he did. Don't waste your life trying to shut this down. You can't do it."

"I want to bring the people who killed my father to justice. I want to know exactly how it happened—where it happened. Was it in Mexico?"

"I don't know the details. I only know that he was taken care of. You need to move on, Dani. You'll never end this. It's too big. It's too complicated. Men tell so many lies. They never end. Even the good ones turn out to be bad. If you can learn anything from me, Dani, it's don't trust anyone. Everyone has an agenda, even the people you think care about you. Everyone has a price. Everyone is weak. Greed and ambition take down even the best men."