Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
M aya accepted the agent’s hand and got out of the armored limo in front of the apartment. They escorted her inside. Dan stood up and cocked his head. “Where’s Elliot?” He came out from behind the desk. “Are you okay, Ms. Callahan?”
“I am. Thank you, Dan. Elliot had to go downtown, so these gentlemen are escorting me up.” She was thankful the older man seemed so protective. The younger one put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair, completely at ease.
“Mind if I see some credentials first.” Dan subtly opened his jacket, showing his handgun.
“I’d be upset if you didn’t,” the first man said. He reached into his jacket and flipped open his credentials for Dan. The man looked at them and then nodded. He was given a second set of credentials.
“Thanks.” Dan relaxed.
“No problem.” They all turned toward the elevator when Dan said, “Hey, sorry to hear about Louise.”
Maya stopped, and dread clenched her stomach. “What?”
“Louise, sorry to hear she died.”
Her brain short-circuited. She couldn’t comprehend what had just been said. “She died?”
Dan frowned. “Yeah, the woman who came here today, the one who replaced Louise, she had a letter from you. The staff said they called your number and validated the new employee. The day shift left a note in the book that Louise had passed, and you were working with a temp agency until you found a replacement.” Dan looked from her to the elevator. “Aww … shit .” Dan scrambled and handed the Guardians his pass key.
“Stay with her.” The Guardians headed to the elevator, and their guns were in their hands.
Maya pulled her phone from her purse and hit the hotkey for Louise. “Pick up. Please pick up.”
“Hello.”
“Louise? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Ms. Callahan. Are you enjoying your trip?”
“I didn’t go on a trip, Louise.”
“But I got that email,” Louise said. “It said you didn’t need me to come for the next week.”
“I believe you, Louise. I just wanted to check to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine. I’m not going insane; I promise … but I can’t find the email now. Let me look in my trash. Oh, here it is.”
“Louise, do me a favor and don’t do anything with your emails. I know someone who can look into it, okay? I’m not upset, and I do believe you. I’m just so happy you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I’ll be there tomorrow like always.”
“No, that’s okay. You can have time off until I finish this project—paid, of course. I’ll call you when I’m ready for you to return.”
“Are you okay, Ms. Callahan?” Louise asked. “Is something going on?”
“Yeah, things are a bit crazy, but I’m fine. I’ll call you, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. If you’re sure.”
“I am. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and looked over at Dan. “She’s fine.”
“Thank God.” Dan breathed a sigh of relief.
They waited for about ten minutes before one of the Guardians came down. “Ma’am, could you come with me?”
“Is everything okay?” She glanced at Dan.
“Yes, ma’am. We called Lima One, and he’s en route. Were you able to reach your housekeeper?”
“Who’s Lima One?” Maya frowned as she walked with her escort to the elevator.
“Sorry, Mr. Sawyer.” The man smiled.
“I was able to reach Louise. She said she received an email from me. I didn’t send one. I told her not to touch the email. I figured you’d have someone who could do a search or something.”
“Absolutely. That was a good call on your part.” When the elevator door closed, the man turned to her. “There’s a situation in your bedroom. We’re waiting for investigators to arrive with Mr. Sawyer, and he requests you don’t enter the bedroom until he arrives.”
Maya walked out into her apartment when the elevator opened. “No, I’d like to see what is going on.”
“Ma’am, it isn’t pretty.” The man shook his head. “You should really wait for Mr. Sawyer.”
Maya felt a cold shiver crawl up her spine. Okay, she’d wait until Elliot got there. “Then could you tell me what’s in there? I need to have an idea.”
“Someone went through your bedroom, destroyed some of your clothes, and it looks like they spraypainted on your walls with red paint. There are threats.”
Maya lifted her head. “Threats to what or who?”
“To you, ma’am.”
Maya dropped onto the couch, kicked off her shoes, and pulled her legs up, circling them with her arms. What had she done to deserve that?
She swung around to look at the Guardian. “Why did you call him Lima One? Elliot, I mean?”
“That’s been his call sign forever. He’s kind of a legend in Guardian.”
“Why’s that?”
The man bobbed his head from left to right. “I don’t know how much I can reveal without crossing lines, but, ma’am, he’s fierce. He earned that reputation working on our teams overseas. He and his team pulled off some risky ops and fought unbelievable odds, but he made it out with everyone.” The guy rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, not to be a gossip, but this is common knowledge within our organization. This guy is history in our business. The biggest boss we have took his entire team and made them his personal security team. Elliot wouldn’t let his team get rusty, so they trained like crazy. It was the hardest team to join because no one left his team, but when they did, you had to be exceptional even to be considered as a replacement. He’s tough as nails, too. Up until the siege, that’s what we call the attack on Guardian. He was our mixed martial arts champion. No one came close to beating him. I wouldn’t want to go up against the man; that’s for sure.” The man glanced at the elevator. “Ma’am, if you’re okay here, I need to go downstairs.”
“Sure,” she said and listened to the elevator door close as he left. Maya considered the new information she had on Elliot. She knew he was intense, and it seemed he had the respect of the people in his organization. Mixed martial arts … she had a vague idea of what that was, but she’d make sure to do some research when she had the time.
The sound of the other Guardian, who was down the hall by her room talking to someone, reached her. The rumble of his voice was getting closer. “She’s right here. One second.” The man handed her his phone. “For you.” He walked back toward her bedroom.
She frowned and took the phone. “Hello?”
“You didn’t answer your phone.” Elliot’s voice grumbled over the connection.
She glanced at her purse. “I’m sorry. I put it in my purse after I talked to Louise. She’s okay. She said she got an email from me telling her not to come to work because I was on vacation.”
There was silence for a moment. “Is that something you normally do? Email your housekeeper to tell her not to come?”
Maya shook her head and ran her hand through her hair. “No, I usually call her, but I have emailed her a couple of times when our schedules didn’t align.”
“I’ll be there soon. Are you okay?”
She shoved her thumbnail in her mouth and bit down on it as she honestly thought about the answer. “When you get here, I’ll be better.” A sudden thought struck. “What did you need to go to Guardian for?”
“Hmmm, well, several things. But on the good side of that topic, Chandler Kates, who had not one but three lawyers present during our interview, was arrested for placing a bomb at the venue and then calling in the bomb threat.”
Maya dropped her legs to the floor and stood, walking over to the windows. “He put a bomb at the awards ceremony and called it in?”
“Yeah, the case against him on that point is airtight.”
Maya rubbed her brow. “What’s the point that isn’t airtight?”
“The shooters outside the venue,” Elliot admitted.
“You think he’s responsible for that, too?” She leaned her back against the glass and stared unseeingly at her living room.
“No, not anymore.”
“But you did?”
“Some did. There are still people we need to question. Dillon Ulman is one.”
Maya jerked off the wall of glass. “What? Ulman?”
“Ah, that got a rise out of you.”
“He’s a total ass. Why would you need to talk to him? Wait, maybe you should talk to him. I wouldn’t put it past him to be involved. The son of a bitch.” She started pacing. Just the man’s name sent her into a fury.
“Could you expound on that?”
She sighed and put her hand on her brow, closing her eyes. “Five, no six years ago, I bought TransDigiMedCo, the company I’m taking to an IPO offering.”
“Okay …” Elliot prompted her.
She dropped her hand to her hip and stared out the window again. “I also purchased the rights to all developing software and hardware. Using the foundation the old administration had started, we developed new, cutting-edge computer software and hardware for medical procedures. Because I was able to use the money I’d earned on my first IPO of Metrocorp, I had the resources to hire the best available people to research and develop our system. Ulman started at the same time. I don’t know how he was working on the same idea as we were. I suspect he somehow bribed one of my people, but I can’t prove it. He made allegations that I had paid off his people to leave. I didn’t have to do that. Their project was going nowhere, and people needed to pay bills. Besides, his people weren’t the caliber I needed. Then he alleged I’d stolen his research. That stalled us for over six months while we worked with the police and independent investigators to prove we had developed all the tech and hadn’t stolen anything. He still couldn’t catch up with us. Of course, I locked down our research and development facility. Unfortunately, I did have to install cameras in that facility, but it was to protect everyone’s investment. I’ve rewarded some of my people in stock, so having this IPO launch without any more incidents is in everyone’s interest. They were told about the security, and every one of them agreed to it.”
“You haven’t had any problem with him since?” Elliot asked.
“No. I’d completely forgotten about him.” She sighed. “How did you find out about him?”
Elliot supplied, “He was shot at the awards ceremony.”
“He was?” Maya frowned and sat down on the edge of the couch. “He’s not very well respected in the business world. I wonder how he got an invite?”
“He wasn’t on the guest list Guardian obtained.”
“So, a guest of an invited guest?”
“I'm not sure. Asher Hudson and I will talk to him tomorrow while you’re at work.”
Maya frowned. “How did you know I was going to work tomorrow? It’s Saturday.”
“I believe you told me when I first arrived you work twelve to fifteen hours a day. I assumed that was seven days a week.”
“Oh, well, okay. That makes sense.” She sighed. “Why is someone doing this? By this, I’m talking about whatever happened in my bedroom. Do you think that was Ulman?”
“I can’t say. He’s still in the hospital, so he didn’t do it personally, but he could have hired it done.”
“Wait … rat bitch,” Maya said and lifted to her feet again. “He’s called me that before.” She started pacing. “When he was shouting at me … he interrupted a meeting before we moved to the building we are at now. I had to threaten to call the cops before Jessica, accompanied by several engineers and software developers, got him to leave. Elliot, could he be behind it?”
“It’s a definite possibility,” Elliot admitted.
“But you don’t think so.” Maya sighed, and her shoulders dropped.
“Too many questions are still hanging in the wind to make a definitive call. Being certain about anything is difficult.”
“You’re hedging.” She smiled at the floor.
“I’m being realistic and following the evidence, as our investigators like to say.” Elliot chuckled. “Hedging sounds …”
“Deceptive.” Maya finished for him. “And you aren’t a deceptive person.”
“Thank you,” Elliot replied.
“Where are you now?” she asked, looking at the clock.
“About five minutes away. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. Bye.” She disconnected and sat on the couch, watching the clouds float in the sky. The tufts of white and gray were swept by the wind, making them look like strokes from a painter's brush on the blue sky. She could see Dillon Ulman holding a grudge. The last she’d heard of him, he’d declared bankruptcy and gone to work for one of the bigger industrial pharmaceutical producers. But why now? What would he stand to gain?
She glanced down at the phone on her lap, picked it up, and walked to the hall. “Hello? Mr. Guardian?” she called from the end of the hall. The door opened, and she caught a glimpse of the disaster behind him. She lifted his phone.
“Thank you.” He shut the door behind him and walked down the hall. “The name is Silas. Silas Norton.”
“Well, thank you, Silas,” she replied. “They really made a mess in there, didn’t they?”
He glanced down the hall and then back at her. “It’s better if you wait to see any more.”
She glanced up at the man. Were all Guardians six feet tall or taller? “To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I want to see it.” She shook her head. “I would like to catch whoever did this, though.”
“Yes, ma’am. We all would,” Silas said.
They both turned around at the sound of the elevator returning. Elliot strode out of the elevator, and Maya turned, walking straight into his arms. He held her, and she breathed in the heady scent of his cologne and the scent that was all him.
“Do you want to see the room?” His words rumbled under her ear.
She shook her head no and said, “Yes.”
Elliot chuckled. “I’ve seen pictures. Let’s go. If you know what happened, your imagination can’t make it worse.”
She looked up at him. “Promise?”
He stared down at her. “It’s true.”
She saw that intensity in his eyes. “They couldn’t keep you away from your team, could they? After what happened to them.”
“Not a chance.” His jaw tightened. “I held the widows and their kids as they cried. I watched as each of them were buried. I kept telling myself it would get better.”
She whispered, “Did it?”
“No, but it didn’t get worse.” His stare held her eyes.
“You’ve been through so much.” She toed up and kissed him gently before dropping back down and whispering, “This is so trivial compared to what you’ve endured.”
His finger tipped her chin up. “No, it isn’t. These incidents are bad and getting worse as time goes on. The elements of this situation are different, but it isn’t trivial. Are you ready?”
She nodded and dropped her arms from around his waist. He took her hand, and they walked down the hall together. Silas stepped to the side, and Elliot opened the door. Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh.” She took in the scene in front of her. Her clothes were torn to shreds and scattered around the room. “Die Bitch” was spray-painted on her bedroom wall. Her pillows had been ripped, and feathers were everywhere.
“We aren’t going any farther into the room. The investigators are parking and bringing their kits up.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to see anymore.”
He grabbed the doorknob and shut the door. “Care for a glass of brandy?”
She blinked and looked up at him. “A big one, please.”
“One large brandy, coming up.” He took her hand. His thumb rubbed the back of it as they walked back to the living room. She felt that touch to her bones. She’d grown addicted to it quickly, hadn’t she? Sitting down on the couch, she watched him walk over to the bar cart. Right then, she didn’t care. That man, the handsome, fierce protector with a smoking hot body, was kind, sexy, and exactly what she needed. After all, she was an adult, and so was he. Man, was he ever …