Critical Doubt Read online

  "I'm not looking for a relationship. It was just a kiss. Maybe we both just needed to know if it was like we remembered. It won't happen again."

  "I can't believe it, but you just made me smile."

  "Well, I'm glad I could do that."

  "If Ryker is as irresistible to you as you say, then maybe you shouldn't be hanging out with him. I don't want you to get hurt."

  "We're helping each other. It's fine. It's nothing."

  "If you say so. Feel free to stay at my house, Savannah. Ryker, too. Eat the food that's there. Make yourselves at home."

  "Thanks. I'm not sure what the plan is, but I'll be in touch." She ended the call and slipped her phone into the back pocket of her jeans as she stood up. She moved into the kitchen to get some water out of the fridge. It felt really good sliding down her dry, parched throat. She also grabbed another cookie off the plate on the island and ate it in two bites. She was thinking about grabbing another one when Ryker walked in.

  Her stomach flipped over at the sight of him. He cleaned up very nicely, his brown hair damp and wavy, his cheeks freshly shaved and full of color, his eyes lit up with more energy than she'd seen in him previously. "You look like you got a new lease on life. Was the shower magical?"

  He smiled. "It felt that way. Did you speak to Abby?"

  "Yes. She's going to stay in Ridgeview for at least a couple of days."

  "Good. That's the best place for her."

  "She said we can stay here if we want."

  "I'm thinking about taking a drive to Atlanta. I want to stop in at the company where Todd was working, see if anyone knows anything."

  She liked that idea a lot. "I'll go with you."

  "I don't think so."

  "Why not?"

  "After you almost died, you have to ask?"

  "That's not the first close call I've ever had, Ryker. I'm a trained agent. I can handle myself."

  "But you usually work with a team, with backup. Maybe you should bring them in."

  "I don't want to do anything official yet. I'll have more latitude if I don't. In the meantime, you can be my backup."

  He immediately shook his head. "You shouldn't count on me, Savannah. That would be a mistake. I could be one second away from losing my mind completely."

  She saw the somber gleam in his eyes and felt the need to reassure him. "You already saved my life once. I'm not worried."

  "You should be worried. You don't know what's going on in my head. I'm not the man you were with five years ago. I barely remember him."

  "Really? Because I was with him less than an hour ago, when he instinctively sprang into action. When he covered my body with his. When he kissed me."

  "For a moment, I forgot where I was…who I was… You have a tendency to drive all rational thought from my mind, Savannah."

  "You tend to do that to me, too."

  "But I have some real problems. The attacks can be overwhelming. You saw what I did to the clock."

  "I did, and while I don't know what's going on in your head, Ryker, I trust you. When it counts, you'll be there."

  "Putting your trust in me is a big risk."

  "I like risk." She just wished she didn't also like him, because that was only going to make everything more complicated.

  Chapter Ten

  They took Ryker's rental car on the three-hour drive to Atlanta. It was one o'clock when they got on the road after Savannah had showered and they'd had a quick lunch. It was nice to be driving. He felt comfortable behind the wheel, although he had no doubt that could change in an instant if the bells decided to go off. Since the explosion, they'd been remarkably quiet. He had a desperate, futile hope, that maybe the blast had knocked them out of his head for good. But that was probably just a dream. They'd come back. Until then, he would appreciate the quiet.

  Savannah seemed to be caught up in her own thoughts. That was fine with him. It had been a crazy day so far and he had a feeling there was more insanity to come, so it was nice to have a reprieve.

  Unfortunately, without conversation to distract him, his mind drifted back to the explosion, to the fire, to waking up with her mouth on his. Out of those three events, the kiss shouldn't have been the one thing sticking in his head, but it was.

  For a minute there, he'd felt like he had turned back time. It was just him and Savannah, tangled up in each other. He'd been himself again. And he'd felt an intense attraction to her, the same one that had almost knocked him off his feet five years ago. She'd kissed him like she was feeling the same thing.

  But there was nowhere to go from here. He wasn't the man he used to be, and the longer they were together, the clearer that would become. He needed to keep his hands off her. He needed to focus on Todd and the mission at hand, which was to get answers, find the truth, figure out if someone had tried to kill Todd, or if they had in fact succeeded. He also wanted to know if Paul's death was really an accident. Or if it was suicide as Tanner had implied.

  The deaths of two more members of his team within days of each other was too much of a coincidence. And the fire raised even more questions.

  Why burn Todd's house down? What had they been trying to cover up? And why take such a drastic step? A burglary, vandalism, could have been written off as a crime of opportunity, but not an explosion.

  He glanced at Savannah. "I keep adding two plus two and coming up with five."

  "I know what you mean. Hopefully, we'll find some answers in Atlanta. What do you know about the company Todd has been working for?"

  "Carmack Securities is a private security firm run by Colton Carmack and his younger brother Trent. They specialize in providing personal security for high-level executives and celebrities as well as corporate security. Colton was a Marine. Trent apparently has a lot of cyber-hacking skills." He paused. "I looked the company up online when you were taking a shower."

  "Good job. I was going to do that on this drive, but you saved me the trouble."

  "I'm sure there's more to learn."

  "Probably. I can do more research on the way."

  "Can you access your FBI resources from your phone?"

  "No. I can, however, call someone to get whatever information we need."

  "What's it like being an FBI agent?" he asked curiously.

  "It's not all that different from Army Intelligence. There's a lot of fact gathering, puzzle working. But since I joined Flynn's team, I have more opportunities to be in the field, on the front line, and that's something I rarely had the opportunity to do in the army. When I left five years ago, there were still a lot of restrictions on women."

  "You wanted to be in combat?"

  "I wanted to be a sniper like my dad. Before my mom died, he used to take me to the range to shoot. It was the one thing we did together, and I was really good at it."

  He smiled at her candor. He'd liked how direct she'd been the first time they'd met. She hadn't played games. She'd made it clear she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  "But I'm happy with what I'm doing now," she added.

  "And there isn't a small part of you that still wants your dad's love and respect?"

  "Maybe a small part. He's my father. He's the only parent I have left. And I hate that I can't change his mind about me. But I also can't live my life for him. He certainly doesn't live his life for me."

  "How was he with your mother?"

  "He was loving and attentive. He wasn't overly affectionate, because that's not his style, but he supported her. He listened to her. He really adored her."

  "I can't see your father adoring anyone. Was he closer to you when she was alive?"

  "Not really. For a long time, I thought he was, but when I look back now, I realize my mom brought him into our world, but he was there for her, not for me. If he came to anything of mine, it was because she wanted him there."

  "What was your mom like?"

  "She was very creative. She liked to knit, crochet, and make quilts. She was into decorating. Our house was filled with pi
llows and paintings and cute knickknacks that she would find at craft fairs. She was sweet and generous. She volunteered at school. She made cookies with me. We had a lot of fun together. She loved me unconditionally. She was my biggest supporter."

  Hearing the pain in her voice, he felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought her up. It makes you sad to talk about her."

  "Actually, I'm glad you brought her up. No one else does. I haven't spoken about her in a long time and that makes me even more sad. I don't want to ever forget her. But as the years pass, sometimes my memories are hazy."

  "You'll always remember the love."

  "I will remember that." She met his gaze, then grabbed her phone as it began to vibrate. "It's a text from one of the techs on my team. I sent them the photo of the footprint. It came from a hiking boot, size twelve, male."

  "That doesn't tell us a lot."

  "No, but it's a piece of the puzzle that may make more sense at some point."

  "How big is your team?"

  "At the moment, we have eight agents, two analysts, a cyber expert and forensic specialist as well as an admin. It's a small enough team to be agile but big enough to cover more complex cases. Our specialty involves cases that usually have an undercover element."

  "That sounds fun. What have you gone undercover as?"

  "A lot of things. I've been an art dealer, an exporter, a chemist—that one was a little tricky—and I was also pretending to be pregnant at the time, which actually helped. I had a lot of morning sickness whenever I had to do something scientific. I've also been a pharmaceutical sales rep, and one of my favorite covers was as a flight attendant."

  "What case required you to be a flight attendant?"

  "Smuggling of classified corporate information. I worked on a private jet. It was very posh. Only the best champagne."

  He gave her a thoughtful look. "It's funny that you left the military to be yourself, but in your current job, you're a lot of people."

  "But not to please anyone. There's a difference. And since I've had a lot of practice being what people want me to be, I'm very good at blending in."

  "That surprises me, because I think you stand out in any crowd."

  She flushed a little at his comment. "That's a nice thing to say. But I can be very unnoticeable."

  "Maybe if you put a bag over your head."

  "I have put on some very ugly makeup on occasion. I do whatever it takes to get the job done. Fortunately, I have a great team that helps me make that happen."

  "That's important." The pride in her voice reminded him of how he used to feel. "I had a good team, too. We were invincible. We never failed, until the last mission. Before that, our record was unbelievable. I guess we were due for a fall."

  "What happened? I know some of it is classified, but can you give me a general explanation?"

  "We were supposed to rescue a humanitarian aid worker who had been kidnapped by the Taliban. He was allegedly being held in an abandoned hotel in a town near the Afghan-Pakistan border. But we were set up. The hostage wasn't there. The Taliban were."

  "How were you set up?"

  "I have no idea. But they were waiting for us."

  "Have you tried to find out?"

  "Yes, but I got nowhere. And to be honest, I had a lot of other issues to deal with."

  "The bells."

  "And a couple of surgeries." He paused, thinking about how easily he had dropped his questions. "I don't usually give up on getting to the truth, but I guess I did."

  "Maybe it was just bad luck."

  "Maybe so." But he couldn't help thinking there was more to it than that.

  Carmack Securities was housed in a three-story shiny glass building in midtown Atlanta. They arrived just after four. Ryker parked in the underground garage and then ushered Savannah into the elevator. At the lobby level, they were met by a security guard standing behind a sleek white desk.

  "Name?" the guard asked.

  "Ryker Stone and Savannah Kane," he replied. "You can tell Mr. Carmack that I have some disturbing news about one of his employees, Todd Davis."

  "And you can also tell him that I'm with the FBI," Savannah interjected, showing her badge.

  "Hold on." The guard stepped away from the counter and picked up a phone, relating the information they'd just given him. A moment later, he hung up, and said, "You can go on up. Third floor."

  "Thanks."

  "Have you ever considered joining this kind of firm?" Savannah asked, as they got into another elevator.

  "To babysit rich people or celebrities and their kids? No."

  "So, you don't like celebrities or rich people."

  "I don't dislike them; I just don't want to work for them."

  "Fair enough."

  The elevator doors opened on the third-floor landing, and they stepped onto a polished white marble floor. In front of them were two glass doors, labeled Executive Offices. As they moved through the doors, their feet sank into thick, shag white carpet.

  A young woman greeted them, wearing a slim-fitting black skirt and a silk multi-colored blouse, her dark hair cut in sleek angles, emphasizing her thin, sophisticated features.

  "Mr. Carmack is on the phone, but he'll be with you in a moment. You can take a seat." She waved her hand toward the white couches.

  "I'm glad we changed out of our smoky clothes before we came here," Savannah said, as she sat down. "It's all very clean. Almost makes you wonder what they're trying to hide."

  "Do you think they have something to hide?" he asked, as he took a seat.

  "Maybe not relevant to our case, but in my experience, most people are hiding something." Savannah paused as a blonde woman entered the office, wearing black slacks with a matching blazer. She gave them a somewhat worried look and then spoke to the receptionist. "Is there news?"

  "I told you I would tell you when there is. You need to go back to your office, Jackie."

  "Don’t forget to call me."

  "I don't forget anything," the receptionist replied.

  The woman disappeared through the double doors, giving them one more thoughtful look before she did so. Had she been asking about Todd? Perhaps Chief Tanner had already notified Todd's company of his disappearance. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. It might save them explanations, but it also eliminated the possibility of surprise.

  The office door opened, and he recognized Colton Carmack from the portrait that had been on the website. Colton was built like a linebacker and wore his brown hair short. "Mr. Stone, Agent Kane," he said, as they got to their feet. "How can I help you?"

  "We need a few minutes of your time," he said, taking the lead.

  "All right. Please come in." Carmack ushered them into his office, which was just as luxurious as the reception area, although the décor in this room was all black, from the leather couch against the wall, to the massive desk and the black leather chairs in front of it. Apparently, at Carmack Securities everything was either black or white. "I'm assuming this has something to do with Todd Davis," Carmack added, as he sat down behind his desk, and they settled into the leather chairs facing him. "I spoke to Chief Tanner earlier today. He filled me in on Todd's disappearance."

  "And the explosion at his house?" Ryker asked.

  "He did not mention an explosion." Surprise entered his eyes. "What happened?"

  "Todd's house blew up."

  "Are you serious?"

  "Yes. We're trying to figure out why it happened."

  "How can I help you?"

  "Do you know if Todd was in trouble? Did he make any enemies on the job?"

  "To be honest, I don't know Mr. Davis very well. He works part-time and has only been with us a few months. My brother Trent worked more closely with him. Unfortunately, he's out of town. But as soon as I can reach him, I'll certainly ask him if he has any relevant information. I checked with our assignment admin and she said that Mr. Davis had asked for leave until tomorrow, because of the death of his close fri
end. He hasn't done any jobs for us since a week ago Monday."

  "What was that job?"

  "Security for a museum event, nothing particularly dangerous and not at all unusual." Colton paused. "The chief I spoke to suggested that Todd might have driven into the river on purpose, that he was perhaps suicidal."

  "We don't believe that's what happened, not with the explosion in his house today."

  "Perhaps that happened after I spoke to the chief."

  "When did that conversation take place?" he asked.

  "Around ten this morning."

  "That was before the explosion."

  "Did Todd have an office here?" Savannah asked. "A filing cabinet, a desk, anything where there might be personal items?"

  "He did not have a desk, but I believe he had a locker in the fitness area."

  "We'd like to see it," Savannah said.

  "Of course. I'll call down and have Kevin give you the number and the key. If there's anything else I can do, please just ask. I consider all my employees to be family, even the ones I don't know well, and I'm very sorry to hear about all this."

  "We'll keep that in mind, and we would like to speak to your brother," Savannah added, handing Colton Carmack her card.

  "Of course. Is that all for now? I don't want to rush you, but I do have another meeting."

  "Thanks for your time," he said, following Savannah out of the room.

  When they left Colton's office, the receptionist didn't even look up, her gaze fixed on her computer. They made their way down to the first floor, following directions to the gym. The manager made sure the locker room was clear and then took them both inside and opened the locker. Inside, was a large, thick envelope.

  Ryker pulled it out with a sense of foreboding. To his amazement, there were two medals inside, Todd's Bronze Star Medal of Valor and his Purple Heart. There was also a note.

  "What does it say?" Savannah asked.

  He read the note aloud. "I remember how proud you were of me, Mom, even if you don't. These medals might not mean anything to you now, but at least you'll have them. And you're the only person who should." His stomach churned as he looked back at Savannah. "I think we just found a suicide note."