Vendetta (3 page)

“No.”

She shrugged. “Okay. Well then I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

He took hold of her arm again and walked the rest of the distance to her car with her. “This case is an all night thing. I get about two hours of sleep on the couch at the office and then I’m back at it during the day too. I’m hoping to have it wrapped soon. I just need to get a little more evidence for my client, turn it over and let the police take over from there.”

“Be careful,” she wanted to hug him, but somehow she thought getting in the car would be the smarter move. Those little hairs on the back of her neck were tingling with apprehension again, as if they were being watched, but she was sure they couldn’t be. It was just her imagination running away with her. “Please be careful?”

“I will. You too. Don’t stop at any of the lights, honey. Just get out of here. Do you want me to follow you to the highway?”

“No. You go do your job. I’ll be fine.”

“Call me when you get home.”

“Do you want me to drop you at your car?”

“No. I’m on foot from here. Call me, honey. No exceptions. Call me.”

“Okay,” she smiled. “I love you.”

“Don’t worry,” he brushed her hair from her face. “I’ll be okay.”

And that was sign number fifty-one that something wasn’t right. He hadn’t even said he loved her back. He just put her in the car, closed the door and waved her on her way. She didn’t want what they had to be over, but maybe he did. Maybe, ring or not, he was feeling the commitments of a married man and he didn’t want that. She didn’t fully understand how his mission to get Sabian could make him shy away from marriage when he claimed he wanted to get married and start a family. If he wanted it then why couldn’t he just do both—hunt for Sabian and have a family? His brother had married. His friends had all married, and some of them had children, but he ran from the very thing he said he wanted. Maybe he didn’t want it as much as he thought he did. Or maybe he realized he didn’t want it with her. She turned on to the highway and headed home, where she would spend another night in bed alone without Thomas holding her while they slept.

Chapter Two

T
homas felt someone watching him. He had been military long enough, and a PI long enough, to know when somebody was watching him and someone was definitely watching him while he was talking with Thena. She had told him she loved him and he realized now that he hadn’t said it back. But at the time the only thought on his mind was to get her safely out of there. If bullets started flying he didn’t want her getting clipped with a bullet meant for him. Her safety was a priority for him—his top priority. Keeping her safe is why he had been spending all of his time at the office. He didn’t want to risk somebody following him back to her place, trying to take him out of the equation while he was there, and getting her instead.

When Shawn came to him for his help he had no intention of turning his friend down, but he hadn’t thought the risk all the way through either. Three years ago there was no Thena Davis in his life. There was no woman he would die for, other than the women in his family, and he never had to worry if a case followed him home because there was nobody at home to worry about. He slept with his gun by the bed. He had a state of the art security system, which he made sure Thena had the day he moved in, and he knew how to defend himself. Still, if he died while defending himself at least he wouldn’t be taking anybody else with him. But now there was a Thena Davis in his life and he loved her more than life itself. He couldn’t risk her getting hurt. The moment he felt like the case was taking a turn for the fatally dangerous he decided going home was a bad idea. He could have gone home during the day and slept, but he chose to stay at the office, get a couple hours sleep and wake up before Janet arrived for work.

Whether he had given Thena a ring or not; legally signed papers declaring her his wife or not, he was committed—whether he wanted to admit it or not he was deeply committed to this woman. He had sworn it wouldn’t happen until after he got Sabian. He had sworn he wouldn’t get married because marriage was a commitment he couldn’t afford, but yet he had failed to realize the moment she captured his heart that wife or not, commitment came in all forms and he was, without any doubt, committed to this woman.

“I almost shot you,” Thomas said as he lowered his weapon. Shawn tensed and then eased his posture.

“I didn’t even hear you get in here. What are you doing sneaking up on me?”

“What are you doing watching me?”

Shawn shrugged. “We found another body this morning. And…well, I got worried that maybe the next one could be yours. I know the Captain said to let you do this on your own since we’re technically not supposed to be involved, but I couldn’t drop you like that, man. You’re here because of me and I’d hate myself forever if you died because of me.”

Thomas exhaled sharply before crossing the floor of the abandoned building and crouching at the window beside his friend. He had perfect view of where Thena’s car had been parked.

“I saw her when she pulled up and then saw her headed your way. I knew you’d see her. What is she doing down here?”

“She had a meeting with a George Marlan. What do you know about him?”

“I know he’s too old for her. She’s not…no, she wouldn’t step out on you.”

“No, she had a business meeting. He wants her to build a homeless shelter.”

Shawn started laughing. “Good one.”

“I’m serious. What’s so funny about that?”

Shawn shrugged. “That would be the first legit building he’s wanted built,” he stated. “Look him up…oh wait, you don’t have time. I’ll give you the abridged version. He made his first million by twenty-two with illegal gambling rigs all across Miami, Florida. He’s been on the watch list of the DEA, FBI, and local police units from here to Washington D.C., but he never gets taken in and he never gets caught with anything. I don’t know what he’s doing here in Boston, but going legal doesn’t sound like something he’d do.”

“Senator Goldberg’s aide called Thena and asked her to meet with him.”

“Really? Doesn’t seem like the circles he would run in. But then again, you don’t amass that much without making friends who can watch your back.”

Thomas growled. “I’m going to have to tell Thena. I don’t want her getting mixed up in any of his garbage.”

Shawn ran his fingers along the go-tee he had been growing. “I don’t know, maybe he’s changed. Somebody murdered his daughter last year; maybe he decided to be a better man because of it.”

“You don’t sound sure of that.”

“He didn’t seem that broken up over her death. Her car blew up on a Monday and he had what was left of her body in the ground by Wednesday.”

“That’s quick. What about an investigation?”

“Miami PD closed it with an explanation of a faulty fuel line and nothing more. Anybody who believed that story probably still believes in Santa Clause too.”

“He talked about his daughter as if they were close.” He thought about all the references George made about his daughter and comparing her to Thena. His blood was starting to boil in his veins. Was there some underlying threat in George’s words?

“From what I hear, Milia Marlan hadn’t talked to her father in six months. She had her fashion business out of one of the buildings he bought for her when she graduated college, but that was four years ago. Then, six months before her death something happened and from what I’ve heard, she cut him off. I don’t know. Her mother’s death hit her hard, but it didn’t hit him hard—maybe that was the problem. He loses two of the closest women in his life within a year of each other and he didn’t show one stitch of grief on either account. He’s not a very emotional guy I guess.” Shawn put the binoculars up to his eyes again and scanned the street.

“Yeah, well whether he’s trying to go legit or not I’m going to warn Thena against the contract. I didn’t trust him thirty minutes ago and I trust him even less now. Whether or not she takes my advice is a completely different story.” He shook his head thinking of how stubborn Thena could be at times. But that was one of the things he liked about her—her determination, her feistiness, that stubborn “I can do this” attitude that she had. She was a survivor and she wouldn’t have been that if she ran every time things got a little scary. He would tell her what he knew and then she would have to decide for herself what to do. If she decided to take the contract then he was going to make it his business to be her shadow until she finished the job.

“How’s your hunt going?”

Thomas mumbled several curses under his breath. “That good, huh?” Shawn raised his eyebrows.

“I thought I was close and I wasn’t. He had one of his men go after my baby sister and got away with it, and two months ago I thought I had the bastard pinpointed and he still wasn’t there when I got there. But I’m getting close. I can smell the stench of him and I know I’m a breath away from getting him.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

Thomas shook his head no. “I have enough people dragged into this already. Gavin, Drake, Mike and Sully and now another friend—a woman—I won’t bring you in on this. They’re trained for this. You’re not.” Nobody else was going to die because of his vendetta. The people currently involved all knew where they stood and that this battle might be their last. He wouldn’t bring anybody else into that.

“There has to be something I can do…anything.”

“If Thena takes this contract despite what I tell her, and I have to leave, I’d feel better knowing she has somebody watching over her. Could you maybe stop in and make sure she’s okay?”

“You’ve got it. I’ll look out for her for you.”

“Thanks.” He knew he was getting closer to breaking down some of the barriers in the way of getting to Sabian. He had a lot of people trying to help him. Drake was working in overdrive since the attempt on Eve. Eve had even sent him a couple text messages with information she had found out. She kept those messages short, strictly business and completely devoid of her own emotional pain. He had asked how she was and she had sent a simple two character text back saying she was OK. He wasn’t sure if she was yelling at him in all caps or if she just hadn’t bothered to use punctuation like she always did. What he did know was that she wasn’t willing to talk with anybody in the family about how she was feeling, or how she was coping. She wouldn’t even talk to him and they were the closest. She was his heart and her withdrawing into a shell was taking a huge chunk of his heart with her.

Outside of Drake and Eve, of whom he wished at least one of them would back off Sabian, he also had Gavin keeping his ear to the ground and Valencia had told him she would use her resources as well. Somebody was bound to get a serious lead eventually and that lead would guide them to Sabian. He was so close—he knew it in his gut.

The biggest problem was getting the drop on Sabian without him finding out they were on their way. Sabian had senators, congressmen and federal agents in his pockets. Thomas wasn’t sure the next tip wouldn’t lead to the same dead end as the others. He would get confirmed whereabouts and by the time he got there, Sabian would be gone someplace else. It didn’t matter if he got on a plane within hours of hearing of Sabian’s location; the man was always gone when he got there. Next time he was going to have to find a way to get to his location covertly. He had driven before and he was sure going through the toll bridge had been where his mission took a detour. Somebody knew he was on his way. Next time, he would drive, but if he had to go five hours out of the way to avoid cameras and potential cohorts of Sabian then he would.

He wrapped up a night of surveillance, went back to the office took a shower and managed to get two hours of sleep before Janet arrived at work. He was tired; he missed the comfortable mattress he was used to sleeping on, but more than that, he missed the hot body that slept beside him. “You’re getting soft, McGregor,” he said to himself and nobody else. He had slept in far worse conditions than the oversized couch in the back room connected to his office and since he had slept there before he really shouldn’t be feeling the emotions of missing anything, but he did. He missed Thena. Tonight was going to be another long night unless this case broke open today and allowed him to go home to her.

He fired up the computer and logged in so that he could check his email. He had several, but the one email that caught his attention was the one that had Eve McGregor’s name attached to it. He opened it, hoping she would give him some clue as to where she was this time and how she was doing.

I received your email, Thomas. I’m keeping my head up, being careful. Still love you, but can’t talk right now. I’ll call you when I get back. P.S. I have a lead on your hunting expedition. I’m going to follow it. Eve.
And that was all she wrote. Well, it was better than not hearing from her at all. Of course he had told her once before to stay out of it. He told her that while Adam was still alive, and for a brief moment he thought she had. Adam was good for her, keeping her grounded to reality and the reality was she could get hurt investigating Sabian. Of course she was a McGregor and she didn’t walk away; she had to be dragged away. He couldn’t drag her anywhere when she wouldn’t tell him where she was. He had tried to give her space and time because that’s what she wanted and needed, but if she didn’t come home soon he was going to do some investigative work, find her and bring her back whether she wanted to come back or not. Once he got her home he would lock her in the basement until she came to her senses and allowed him to help her heal. She had been there for him. She was there every day at that hospital in Germany. Sitting by his bedside, reading to him, crying over him…Thinking about Eve made him think about Thena. She had been by his side one hundred percent too. She hadn’t pushed him to walk down the aisle because she knew he needed to finish business first. The least he could do was call her daily.