Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Jag carried Steff’s box into the conference room. Steff was right beside him. He’d been worried that their kiss might have been triggering for her, even though she said she wanted it.
The mind was a powerful tool and weapon, and while she may have thought she’d be okay with it, there had always been the risk that deep in her subconscious, it would rebel against the closeness.
He’d been relieved when she’d snuggled into him; his heart had thumped hard. The kiss had been special to him because he was never going to have another first kiss with her.
All of the team were in the room when he and Steff walked in. He’d wanted to be able to hold her hand when they entered, but he couldn’t hold the box and her hand at the same time.
He placed it on the table and then reached for Steff. He believed she would be okay, but they were about to open something that had been delivered to her by an unknown person.
“I know you gave us a brief rundown of the situation, but how about giving us a bit more detail about the box and how it came to be in Steff’s possession,” Ox said after he and Steff took a seat at the table.
He’d sent a message requesting a meeting with everyone while Steff had been in the shower. The response had been immediate, and they would all be there, ready to do whatever they could.
This was another thing he loved about working with Alliez.
There was a closeness and willingness to drop everything whenever anyone had a problem that needed looking at.
He’d experienced it with his team to a certain extent, but outside of his three closest friends, not many had offered their assistance.
Jag explained to the assembled group what had happened the previous evening with regards to how the box had been delivered, the label, and Steff’s full address being listed.
“I’m accessing the cameras in the area now to see if we can get a good look at his vehicle and a visual of him.” Cass tapped away at her keyboard, beside her, Irish was gently massaging the back of her neck.
Did she have another headache?
She’d had a lot when her brain was fighting the brainwashing that had been inflicted on her as a child.
“Thanks, Cass. There was nothing that stood out about the guy,” Jag stated. “He had a ball cap on. From memory, he didn’t appear to be in a uniform. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, as sometimes bigger courier companies contract out to independent people to do some of their routes.”
“Shouldn’t we open the box and see what’s inside?” Steff spoke up. There wasn’t a hint of fear in her voice, which he would’ve expected given the circumstances.
His girl was becoming stronger and stronger. Although he didn’t think she was over everything that had happened to her. That wasn’t going to happen quickly.
“Let me run a scanner over it to see if there are any signs of chemicals inside.” Angel exited the room to get the device.
“If there was anything sinister on the outside of the box, wouldn’t Dalton be suffering or showing the effects of it? He handled the box yesterday, as well as this morning,” Steff asked, looking at him with concern.
He took hold of her hand and squeezed it. “I’m fine. And you’re right, considering how the guy was holding it yesterday, if there was anything bad on the outside, he would’ve been wearing gloves, and he wasn’t.”
Jag went to release his grip on Steff’s hand, but she placed her free one over it, effectively keeping his hand firmly around hers. He had no issue with that, and clearly she didn’t have a problem with the rest of his colleagues seeing the connection either.
Not that it would come as a surprise to everyone, they’d seen how he’d been close to her at Teresa’s place, and the rest of his friends were well aware of where his attentions lay.
“We trust Jag to have taken some care yesterday, but it’s easy enough to rig something that would trigger when the tape is cut. We’ve got a device that will be able to detect if there is any powder, or any other residue that may be stuck to the tape,” Ox smiled reassuringly at Steff.
“There’s something that can do that?” Steff looked at Jag incredulously.
“Sure is. And you’d be surprised at what else we have here.” He winked, giving her hand another squeeze.
“I think I’d rather not,” she muttered, and settled back in her chair.
Jag had been impressed with some of the gadgets Alliez had access to. A lot had been developed by Cass. Not only was she a computer whizz, but she had skills that every government in the world would want. Fortunately for them, Alliez was her home, and she had no plans on going anywhere else.
The FBI also had access to technology that was beneficial to them. There were lots of things various agencies used that most people would think belonged only in the mind of Hollywood creatives and weren’t actually real.
“I’ve got a hit,” Cass announced, and Jag tensed, hoping that they would be able to solve the mystery of who the person was, and they could close this particular chapter in Steff’s story.
As much as he wanted to believe that, he suspected it wouldn’t be the case.
An image of the delivery guy showed up on the TV screen, along with camera footage of the vehicle he’d gotten in. It was a standard white delivery van that everyone used.
“Can you get a read on the van’s plates?” Jag leaned forward, studying the image of the man, as if he could see something different from when he’d been face to face.
Then again, at the time, Jag hadn’t thought there was anything unusual about the guy, except for his insistence that he hand the parcel directly to Steff.
“Plates are stolen. They belong to a blue Hyundai, registered to a Ruth Carson, seventy-eight years of age, who resides in Pasadena.” Cass relayed the information as if she was reading out her grocery list.
“Any stolen vehicle reports for her car?” Fox asked.
“None. Which means th—”
“Either she doesn’t know, or the person put the plates back and is known to Ruth,” Jag interjected.
“Wouldn’t have thought about the second point,” Hound commented. “But it’s a possibility.”
Jag hadn’t known where the idea that the perp knew Ruth Carson had come from, because as Hound said, they didn’t normally go down that route. The idea had been something that had popped up out of nowhere, and he’d run with it.
“Cass, do you have an ID on the delivery person?” Deal questioned, drumming his fingers on the table. Not in an impatient way, it was something he did when he was thinking. He and the others were used to it now.
“Not yet. The picture is a bit grainy to run through the facial recognition program. I’ve been working on making it better with less than clear photos, but it still needs some tweaking.”
“We should run a background check on Ruth Carson as well, see if anyone in her family has a record,” Ox said.
Angel walked back into the room and immediately went over to the box. He ran the scanner over it slowly, making sure he didn’t miss any part of it.
“I still don’t know how that would work through cardboard and tape,” Steff murmured.
Jag smiled at her. “I don’t know the nitty gritty of it either, I just know it works.”
“Oh, I believe you. I’m just surprised things like this exist.”
They were having their own private conversation while everyone watched Angel do his thing.
“It’s all clear. There’s nothing to suggest there’s any chemicals in liquid or powder form in the box. Nor any explosive materials either.” Angel placed the device on the table.
Steff inhaled sharply and looked at Jag. She lifted her chin as if mentally preparing herself for what was to come next.
If he had his way, he’d keep her as far away from the box as possible. He didn’t know what was inside. It could be harmless, but somehow he didn’t think so.
“I guess we better open it then.” She smiled bravely, but he knew how hard that was for her.
“We can do it without you, if you’d prefer,” Jag said, repeating his thoughts out loud.
He grabbed her other hand so he was holding both and waited until she turned to face him.
“You don’t have to do this. I won’t think any less of you if you’re not here.
And I’m not saying that to be demeaning, or that I don’t believe you can handle it.
I do. I’m just giving you an option if you want. ”
Had he just dug himself into a hole so deep that he couldn’t get out of it? He didn’t think so, but he didn’t think he’d expressed himself the way he wanted to.
“Thank you, but I have to do this. If you hadn’t been there last night, I would’ve had to open it by myself. The only difference is I’m opening it in a roomful of people.”
Her words may have been casual and an attempt to lighten the mood, but he heard the quaver in her voice. “I’m glad that you’ve got us.”
“I am too.” She gave her hands a quick tug, and he immediately released his hold on her, even though he didn’t want to. “Anyone have a box cutter?” she asked the collective group.
“I do.” Cass held up something yellow and slid it across the table toward Steff.
“Thanks.” Steff deftly picked it up. Her hands trembled slightly as she let a small portion of the blade out.
The tension in the room thickened as Steff pulled the box toward her and slit the tape. Once done, she placed the cutter down; it didn’t make a sound, but the way everyone rose out of their chairs, it was as though it had crashed through the table.
Steff stared at the box, not looking like she was able to open it after all. Jag caught Fox’s gaze. His eyebrow rose, and Jag gave a slight one shoulder lift. As much as he wanted to take over and open it for her, he wouldn’t.
After a few seconds Steff lifted the flaps and stared down into it. “What?” she whispered.
Jag’s protective instinct kicked in, and he pulled the box toward him. Steff didn’t try to stop him.
Fuck, it had to be bad.
Bracing himself for whatever he was about to see, he looked inside. “What the hell?”
There was nothing in the box but a piece of paper. Steff leaned over as if she was going to take it out, but he stopped her motion. “Don’t touch it.”
“But Angel said there’s nothing to worry about. Why can’t I pick it up?” Steff protested, confusion coloring her voice.
“Want to tell us what’s going on?” Irish grumbled from beside Cass.
Jag checked the contents again to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, but the room was well lit so there were no dark shadows to conceal anything else in the box. “There’s just a piece of paper in it.”
A chorus of what? echoed around the room, and Jag chuckled silently at their reaction—the exact same one as he and Steff had with it.
“Why would someone send a piece of paper in a box?” Hound peered into it himself, as though he didn’t believe what Jag had said.
“Fucked if I know,” Jag responded. “We need to bag it in case there are prints on it that can help us. That’s why I didn’t want you to touch it.”
“Makes sense,” Steff murmured. “I wouldn’t have thought about that at all. I just would’ve grabbed it.”
The mystery of the box deepened.
Who was targeting Steff?
And more importantly, why?