Day of Reckoning (Fortress Security: Artemis #5)

Chapter One

ELIAS KNIGHT KEPT moving despite the eyes on him from close by, crossing the street with the crowd of people at the traffic light. His peripheral vision netted him nothing except strangers oblivious to the danger he felt with every step.

After he reached the other side of the street, he separated from the throng, frowning.

Perhaps he should have agreed to the lawyer’s suggestion that she come to Fortress headquarters for Elias to sign the paperwork.

The trouble with that plan? He didn’t want anyone to know his business, especially Iona.

She wouldn’t thank him for what he planned to do.

His hand fisted. Tough. This was his money, and he could do with it as he chose. Besides, if he died, she couldn’t argue with him. What she did with the money was up to her.

Elias slowed when he passed a department store, pausing at the window display of men’s clothes.

No one who truly knew him would believe he was looking for a new wardrobe.

His Fortress Security wardrobe of black t-shirts, black camouflage pants, and black tactical boots filled his closets along with a well-stocked weapons vault and a hidden panic room.

He snorted. As if he’d take advantage of that last refuge of safety. That wasn’t his style. He would take a stand and go out in a blaze of glory, wiping out as many of the enemy as possible.

While he stood in front of the large window, Elias studied the reflections in the glass, searching for the person watching him. But the watcher had found the perfect hiding place because no one drew his attention.

Frustrated, he clenched his fists and continued down the street. He didn’t want to delay his lawyer. She had court soon.

Although he remained alert, Elias saw nothing to confirm his suspicions. His trouble radar, however, insisted he was in danger, and he’d learned never to argue with that radar.

Two minutes later, he entered the office building where Maggie Wainwright leased a suite of offices. Soon, Elias stepped off the elevator and approached the receptionist. “Elias Knight. I have an appointment with Ms. Wainwright.”

“I’ll let Ms. Wainwright know you’re here, Mr. Knight. Please have a seat. She’ll be with you shortly.”

Instead of sitting in the designated area, he walked to the bank of windows, stood to the side, and eased the curtain aside to see the denizens of the street below. He studied the urban concrete jungle, searching for the watcher. From where was the stranger keeping tabs on him?

“Mr. Knight, Ms. Wainwright will see you now.” The receptionist smiled politely, although worry filled her blue eyes.

He needed to stop scaring the lady and complete his business before the next assignment started. “Thank you.”

The lady relaxed. “Of course. Come with me, please.” She led him down the hall to a closed door and knocked. A moment later, she turned the knob. “Mr. Knight is here.” She stepped back to let Elias enter the office, then closed the door behind him.

Maggie Wainwright came around to the front of her desk and shook his hand. “Thanks for meeting me here, Elias. I appreciate you going out of your way.”

“No problem. We have a light training schedule today. Besides, it’s the least I could do since you’re doing me a favor.”

“A favor? You’re paying me, Elias. That makes you my client, and I happily go out of my way for clients.”

He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “However you want to couch the terms, I need this finished before my next mission.”

Concern filled her gaze. “I thought your team was going off the deployment rotation this week.”

“We are. This is something different.” And dangerous. He ought to know.

“I see.” Her expression said she didn’t. No one did.

Maggie opened her top desk drawer and brought out a manila folder filled with pages.

“I have your paperwork here.” She looked at him.

“I included all your stipulations. Read through the document to be sure I wrote the stipulations according to your wishes. If you want to make changes, we can do that before you leave my office so everything is signed and dated.”

After she handed him the folder, Elias slid the papers out and read page after page of legalese.

Man, if he had to deal with this kind of paperwork all the time, he’d lose his mind.

If he hadn’t wanted this thing finished today, he would have chucked the folder back on her desk and gone out the back way to find his watcher.

Maggie called Alice back into the office and asked her to join them for a few minutes.

Elias slogged through the rest of the document and looked up to find Maggie watching him, speculation in her eyes. “It’s fine. Give me a pen, and I’ll get out of your way.”

Maggie handed him a black ink pen and pointed out the places he needed to sign or initial.

Ten minutes later, he signed the last line with a flourish, and he was free. Elias sat back with a sigh, relief washing over him. It was done. Now he could go into this assignment knowing everything was in order and his desires were clear.

After Alice applied the stamp, she left the office with the document and returned a moment later. She handed the original and a copy to her boss. “Is that all you needed, Ms. Wainwright?”

She nodded. “Thank you, Alice.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She gave Elias a polite smile and once again left the office.

Maggie came around the desk again and handed a copy of the document to Elias in an envelope. “I’ll file this immediately. You should tell your executor where the will is so he can find it if necessary.”

“I’ll give him a copy this afternoon.”

She shook his hand. “Good luck on your assignment, Elias. I’d rather I didn’t have to use this will soon.”

“So do I.” He smiled, even though inside he was resigned to his fate. He knew the world he was going into. Unless you’d lived it, you didn’t understand the life and the danger that accompanied it. “Thanks for your help, Maggie.”

When he left her office, the alertness so familiar to him during operations settled on him like a mantle. That alertness had kept him alive during ten years of active duty as an Army Ranger and ten years as a police officer.

Now, he served with his unit as a black ops team for Fortress Security, and that alertness remained a tool to keep him alive. That same awareness told him someone waited for him to emerge from this building.

So, what was he to do? Face it head-on or slip out the back and find the culprit to have a chat? His lips curled. He didn’t run from anything or anyone. Time for a little in-your-face conversation with his watcher.

After stepping off the elevator, Elias walked to the back of the building and slipped out a door into an alley. He slid his envelope into a cargo pocket and set off down the alley toward a cross street.

He focused on the task at hand instead of the amazing woman who’d entered his life a few months earlier and turned his world upside down. Ironic that he’d meet the woman who was his at what probably was the end of his life.

He clenched his teeth. No use feeling sorry for himself.

He’d had a good run, and now he’d do something good with what was his to give.

She would understand his reasoning but still be ticked off that he’d left everything to her.

She wouldn’t keep it. He knew that. She had several charities that she donated to regularly, though, so they would benefit.

Nearing the cross street, Elias slowed, watching for any interest in his movements.

Nothing.

Rather than making him feel better, his uneasiness grew at an alarming rate.

Not good. He should have brought one of his teammates on this errand.

If not for his paranoia, he would have. Nothing like trying to hide giving millions of dollars to a woman you weren’t dating.

Anyone else would think him crazy. His best friends wouldn’t.

He hadn’t wanted to share the information yet, especially since he and the lady in question weren’t an official couple. He’d planned to change that. Thank God he hadn’t.

Elias pressed his back against the wall of a vacant building and peered around the corner. He quartered the area.

Still nothing. So why was his gut screaming that danger was near?

Fine. If the enemy wanted him, he could come and get him. Elias hid from no one. His lips curved. Except one woman. Man, he was such a sap. Ah, well. Time to face trouble and deal with it before it ambushed him from behind.

Elias stepped out of the alley and walked down to the corner. After a careful study of the street in front of Maggie’s office, he set off at a good clip like a man with things to do and people to see. As he walked, he remained alert.

People crowded onto the sidewalk as he headed for the garage where he’d left his SUV. Elias hated parking garages. Too many places for an enemy to lie in wait unseen.

On the street, no one seemed interested in him or where he was going. Disappointing. He could use a good fight.

Despite moving along at a slower than normal pace, no one took him up on his silent offer to confront him.

Too bad. Resigned to working off his frustration and aggression on the punching bag at the Fortress gym, Elias entered the parking garage and took the stairs two at a time to the third floor, where he had parked his vehicle.

On the third-floor landing, he glanced through the window, then opened the door wide enough to be sure someone wasn’t waiting to jump him when he walked out of the stairwell. Still too many places to hide for his peace of mind.

Nothing moved in the shadows, and he was running out of time. If he didn’t leave downtown Nashville now, he would be late for training. Didn’t matter if they were going off deployment rotation this week. Seth Dixon didn’t believe in cutting back on training.

He couldn’t argue with the result, though. Among the black ops teams, Echo unit was one of the best-prepared teams in the company, right alongside Artemis, their counterpart team and partner for most missions.

He caught movement in the deepest shadows in his peripheral vision. Elias kept moving toward his SUV as though unaware that anything was amiss.

Twenty feet from his SUV. Fifteen. Ten. Five feet. Elias unlocked his vehicle with the remote.

A footstep to his left had Elias spinning to face the man bearing down on him at full speed. He pulled his Sig, knowing as he did that he was too late.

The linebacker-sized man raised his weapon and fired.

The impact of the bullet sent Elias flying back against his SUV, setting off the alarm. Pain exploded in his body as he slid to the concrete floor and into darkness.