Chapter 35
Spending time with Brady was wonderful. She hated the idea of going to DC, but her plane was leaving in a few hours, and she had to head to the airport. Their kisses had grown longer and deeper, and last night, she’d almost lost herself when he cupped her breasts.
The feel of his hands on her made her throat tighten with excitement. Just thinking of it now, even without him around, sent pleasure rippling through her.
Before leaving, she wrote Brady a note, telling him that she was happy that she would be coming home to him. She smiled all the way to the airport.
The flight didn’t take long, and then she was in DC, feeling weird that she used to love living here, but only wanted to go home to Brady. She was met by a driver who turned out to be a young Marine. The ride to her office went by quickly with no problems.
Entering the conference room, worry filled her. She hoped they didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. One thing she couldn’t figure out was how Pearson had known. She had kept it all secret at work.
The meeting started, and she had to focus. Tough questions were asked in the ninety minutes she was in the conference room. At the end, her boss told her they were glad she was alive. They weren’t sure what was up with Pearson, but his actions had nothing to do with anything she’d done.
She still hadn’t told anyone other than Brady and his team that what that man wanted her to do was possible.
No one needed to know the extent of the danger, even after she sent out a patch correcting the issue.
Now that Pearson was gone, she could work up the patch and send it to all the sites without anyone figuring out the truth of the vulnerability.
After leaving her office, she headed to her apartment. She needed to clean everything out and end her lease. Though she would have to come back here for work from time to time, it wasn’t worth it to keep an apartment.
Bean and his group spent a few hours working out. The last few weeks had been weird, and their time lifting weights had been reduced. It felt good getting in a good workout.
After grabbing a shower, he ate lunch, then was back in their offices, ready to see what was next on their list of things to take care of. He pulled up his email, looking for anything that had to be taken care of immediately.
He’d gone through about ten emails when he found an email that sent a chill through him. The guy in Europe who they hadn’t caught up with had entered the US.
Bean sat up, his gaze finding Chase. “We’ve got a problem.”
Chase’s eyebrows squished together. “What?”
“The guy who was in Europe. Now, he is in the US.”
“Shit. Where is Garnet?” Chase asked.
“She’s in DC.”
Chase stood. “We need to get there, now.”
“Where are we going?” Stanley asked.
“DC.” Chase pulled out his phone. “I’m getting us on a plan now. We’ll figure out where she is and go in to protect her.”
Bean dialed Garnet, but she didn’t answer. She must still be in her meeting. Maybe they could make it to her before the jerk found her. They sure as hell would try.
There was something wrong with Garnet’s phone. She’d installed an update, but for some reason the battery was draining at record speed, and by the time she made it into her apartment, her phone died. She shrugged off the worry and vowed to charge it before she left this evening.
When she walked in, thoughts of charging the battery fell away when a horrible stink hit her.
She must have forgotten to empty the trash.
She set her purse and phone down on the counter and headed to the trash can.
The stench was awful, and she had to open the windows before she could tackle taking the trash out.
The fresh air helped a little, but overcoming the powerful stench would be difficult even in gale-force winds. She grabbed her keys and ran the trash out, regretting not taking it out before she left town.
The dumpster was just outside the back door on the bottom floor of the apartment. She’d never liked the setup, but the price had been right, and there was a security camera pointing at the dumpsters.
She had just stepped outside when she saw someone. They were walking toward her with purpose. Fear flashed, and she dropped the bag of trash on the pavement and spun. Two steps was all she got in before the man’s hand came around her, pulling her back against his chest.
“You got Pearson, but you didn’t get me. Now you’re going to show me how to launch the missile, and we’re going to watch as terror rains down on us from the sky.”
Garnet struggled against the man’s hold, but he was too strong. There was no way she was getting out of this.