Chapter Fourteen
“Bingo!” Kerry Jahle shouted loud enough to startle the room. “I think I’ve found him.”
The muted light of the night hours had shifted to the brightened daytime office ones and every cubicle was active.
Mackey shifted his sunglasses to stare at her.
He’d slouched in Quaid’s work cubicle and shut his eyes while the teams worked through the morning hours for possibilities.
This searching the streets at night and working during business hours would be the death of him.
Of course, if he would find an apartment and quit sleeping in his office or at his mother’s house, things might go smoother.
Life was much easier when the Army took care of him.
Of course, they’d expect him to kill in the worst clusterfucked scenarios as payment.
“Where?” His standard growl had little effect anymore.
He cleared his throat. “Details, Kerry.” Of all the Operations people, he liked Kerry best. She stood at five-foot-three, had pale green eyes and a button nose with a bump that spoke of broken, the athletic build of a marathon runner, and a genius brain at technology and trivia.
More importantly, she was like a German Shepherd sniffing out explosives with a side of Bulldog when she got told no.
“Sounds like all of them we’ve checked.”
“Yeah, but this one has medical triage with no questions asked intake. I called them.”
Mackey dropped his feet and slipped his sunglasses over the edge of his collar. “Some of the others had medical, too.”
“This one is run by a former Army medic with permission from the priest. I figured Army to Army might play.”
“Jesus. If true, he’s been close all along. He had to know we were searching.”
She frowned in sympathy. “Man with his background probably doesn’t trust real well.”
Harrison came to his side. “Find him?”
“Strong possibility. I’ll go check it out.”
“You should sleep.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll get on that after I find him.”
Harrison snorted. “I have one kid, Mac. It ain’t you. She’s sweet, seventeen, and ready for UCLA.”
“Congrats on that bill. Tell Drucker he’s going with me.”
“Good idea. If Whit’s still hurt, though, we may have a bigger problem, and we will need Cait.” Harrison snagged his phone from his pocket and typed a message.
“I’ll let Drucker decide. Let’s see if he’s there first.” He needed coffee or to mainline an energy drink. Fast.
Kerry stopped a moment to shove her blonde hair into a better ponytail. From the circles under her eyes, night hours were killing her, too. “I’m sending the church address to you. Father Eli Navarro. He’s been at the church twelve years. No stranger to street issues according to the church bio.”
“We’ve checked so many others. I’m not going to get my hopes up. Why did we miss this one? It’s right in the area.”
“I passed over it. Nobody answered the phone to confirm it was still operating the shelter. Their website is a wreck, so I bumped it to the bottom of the list. I should volunteer to fix it for them in my spare time.”
Mackey stared at her. “You have spare time?”
She laughed, then abruptly stopped. “Nope.”
Mackey gave her a thumbs up. “I’m out. I’ll keep you posted.” He walked to the door and paused when Harrison called to him.
“Shall I notify Quaid?”
“Let me check first and have a talk with the padre.”
The door opened, the knob pulling out of his hands. Drucker stopped, his eyes widened. “What’s up?”
Mackey skirted around him. “Best possibility so far in finding Whitaker. I want you with me in case he’s still injured. Grab Delaney, too. Make it fast.”
“Done. I’ll get my bag. We armed?”
“Yes. Quaid put us on lockdown and raised the security level.”
“Any reason?”
“Haven’t talked to him yet. Got the alert via Elizabeth.”
Drucker loped off, and Celissa came to his side. “Somebody has to take the meeting this morning with Logdon Industries.”
“Financial, right?”
“Yeah, usually Quaid intakes.”
“Make sure security has cleared them or reschedule it. Otherwise, see if Elizabeth and Harrison can handle the initial conversation. Call Quaid if you have to. I need an energy drink.”
“Day room refrigerator. There’s several. I stocked this morning.” The thirty-something woman was divorced, had three high school kids, a jerk-wad ex, and was back in college herself. She knew how to organize, how to say no, kicked ass as a mom, and kept the office running on high-octane.
Mackey went to the elevator, then stopped and came back. “Celissa, thanks. You’re keeping on top of a lot. It’s appreciated.” The woman literally held the swipe card to the inner sanctum of all of QM.
She grinned. “Is this the HR side of Mackey Reynolds?”
Mackey snorted. “Oh hell no. Just letting you know, I see you.”
“Thanks, boss. Go find this guy.” She strutted off, strong and steady like their entry sentry should be.
Impatience wasn’t usually in his skill set, or it hadn’t been for a long time.
But this case was rubbing at the strict belief about ethical behavior he’d adapted ages ago.
Mercer and Whit should have learned those same lessons.
Honor. Integrity. Justice. Service. Brotherhood.
Pounded in and reinforced. Killing people needed guardrails.
After living and breathing that life for years, coming home and conforming to civilian standards was a bitch. Good thing he had QM.
Outside, Drucker and Delaney joined him. Within minutes, Mackey had them on the way to a destination he hoped would break the logjam of this case so they could finally go on the offensive.
&&&&&&&&&&
Quaid watched Alanna work while his mind raced. Sitting at the War Table, he watched her create another whiteboard on Mercer in his dining room with her phone to her ear. Her boss was reading information to her.
He studied each item she put on the board like there would be a test tomorrow. In actuality, if they were going to put Lani out there as bait, he wanted to assimilate every bit of what they had. Finished with the call, she disconnected.
“You’re growling again.” Lani chewed the end of the dry erase marker and glared at him. “Stop it.”
“This guy annoys the hell out of me. What is all this?”
She turned back to her board and stayed motionless. “He’s not my favorite person either. Service dates, dates of suspected assassinations, and where. Next step is to backtrack to civilian police sources and try to find other disappearances and deaths.”
The house was quiet. Niles had left to run errands. Conners and Rodriquez were doing a property sweep. Tane was on the cameras in the office. Quaid rose to go to her, but his phone buzzed. Looking at the screen, he noted Frank Walker’s name. Finally. “We might have help.”
He answered. “Frank.” Alanna came to him, watching his face closely. He put the phone on speaker. “On speaker with Alanna, too.”
“I have some answers and a bunch of suspicions. Where are you?”
“At my house.”
“I’ll come to you.”
“Good.” He rattled off the address. “I’ll tell security to let you in.”
“That tight, huh?”
“Not taking any chances.”
“Understood. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He disconnected.
“Short and brief.” Alanna was quiet and tense, and he didn’t like it. He pulled her back to him. “It’s either too sensitive or there’s too much for him to convey over the phone.”
She collapsed against him, her back to his chest. He took the opportunity to wrap his arms around her and kiss her neck.
“Distraction?” Her quiet words made him smile.
“If we must.”
She turned in his arms and dropped her head to his chest. They stood wrapped close to each other for several minutes. “Why can’t I stop wanting to touch to you?”
A flash of satisfaction mixed with sharp lust streaked through him. “Chemistry, emotion, or fate. Take your pick.”
“Where are we going with this?”
“Are we talking killer or couple?”
She raised her head, tired eyes meeting his. “Couple. If you want.”
“Oh, I want.”
“Then what?”
“Honey, we don’t script it. We live it.”
“How?”
He sighed. Too bad it wasn’t as simple as locking themselves in his bedroom and tearing up the bed. “Day by day, love.”
She went on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his, then dropped back to flat feet, confusion and something else in her eyes.
“That’s a nice start.” He cupped her face and pulled her close again, whispering against her lips. “Don’t overthink it.”
“Hard not to when I can’t figure out what I want.” She squeezed closer. She’d been let down by so many people. He did not plan to be one of them.
“Believe it or not, I understand. I’m struggling, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re learning to be friends, partners, intimate with one another.
It’s not a one and done track. It’s a process, a journey.
We’ll work it together.” Hell, he was most of the way in love with her, didn’t want to let her go, and didn’t have the courage to tell her.
What’s your problem, Daniels? He hid his emotions from everybody for so long and for good reason.
But he wasn’t hiding from Lani. Didn’t want to.
“After this is over…”
He interrupted her, not wanting to hear her say she was going back to her job and hasta la vista. “I have a habit of hiding I haven’t broken yet. Taking time and care is our best strategy.”
She tilted her head and kissed his chin. “Finishing my thoughts now? We met less than a month ago.”
“Some months are more intense than others.” He took her hand. “Let’s ditch the serial killer first. I’m not going anywhere, and our relationship needs undivided attention.”
She smiled, but a tentative one that told him he still had work to do. She wasn’t sure of him or his idea of home. Trust still needed some attention.
The doorbell rang, and he was cheated out of a heart soothing reassurance. He separated from her, closing off the emotions as simply as he always did. Fucking old habits. He stopped and held out a hand. “Let’s go meet Frank. War Table? Or is that still classified?”
She took his hand. “War Table. It’s been cleared for us.”