Chapter 15
When she woke the next morning with Rhys’ arms around her, it was after the best night she’d had in forever.
Her man had rocked her world—more than once—and afterwards, she’d slept like a log.
As she watched him sleep, nothing could spoil her sense of contentment—not even knowing they were to go to San Antonio later that day.
“I’m not asleep.”
The drowsy, gravelly words were accompanied by a half-open eye. Taylor briefly pressed her lips to his. “Could’ve fooled me. What time is it?” She was too comfortable to extricate herself from his embrace and contort her body so she could check the clock on the nightstand behind her.
Very obligingly, he lifted his head from the pillow and peered over her shoulder. “Early. Don’t worry, we have plenty of time before we head over to see Nick.”
Taylor had mixed feelings about the meeting. It was necessary—she knew and accepted that. The trouble was, it was a sign that this mess was still a long way from over. What she wouldn’t give for it to be permanently replaced with the peace she’d found with Rhys.
He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Stop it. Whatever you’re worrying about, don’t. We’re in this together. We have Nick and Charity on our side, the SEALs, Nick’s Delta friend, and Tex is working his IT miracles. Whatever’s going on, it’s not an insurmountable problem.”
“It isn’t?” Because it certainly didn’t look that way from where she was standing. Or, to be accurate at that particular moment, lying.
“Of course not. Okay, maybe this Cruz Livingston won’t like the fact we didn’t contact the Feds immediately, but he’ll just have to deal with it. First things first, though. How about if we have breakfast and then get ready to meet Nick?”
A short time later, duly prepared and fortified with caffeine and home-baked muffins, they made their way to the main house for their meeting with Nick. With Rhys holding her hand as if he’d never let go, Taylor felt considerably less apprehensive.
“Remember, we’re in this together,” he said quietly.
As they approached the porch, the door opened to reveal Charity. She greeted them with a warm hug. “Come on in, and I’ll get us some coffee. Nick’s just got a couple things to finish up, then he’ll be right with us. How are you doing? Did you manage to get some sleep last night?”
“Yes.” Taylor glanced at Rhys. “We did. Not going to lie, though—I don’t even know what to think about Pops. What we found out…”
“I know, Tay.” Charity’s expression reflected the sadness in her voice. “It’s tough. I’ll get the coffee. You two go ahead—we’re in the conference room.”
“Sorry to keep you all waiting.”
All three turned to face Nick. Taylor tried to read his mood from his expression, but he wasn’t giving anything away. “Hi, Nick.”
He was as concerned for her well-being as his wife. “How are you doing?”
Taylor mustered a small smile. “I’ve been better.”
He nodded. “I can imagine. Rhys?”
“I’m fine, thanks—just keen to get to the bottom of this, so Taylor can move on.”
“Moving on” was a concept that, right now, seemed way out of her reach.
“That’s what we all want,” Nick agreed. “Come on. Let’s get started.”
They followed Nick down the hall to the conference room.
It was seldom used—Nick preferred to take a less formal approach to meetings and hold them in his office, but when Taylor saw the sets of papers covering a good percentage of the table, she could understand why he’d chosen to hold their meeting here.
“Tay, I’ve asked Rachel to join us,” Nick said. “Given what we uncovered while you were away, it seemed to me that her experience as a federal agent could prove invaluable. The implications are… disturbing, to say the least.”
Before joining Spectrum Security, Rachel Thompson had been a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. During her time with the agency, she’d developed a lot of useful contacts, so it wasn’t surprising that Nick had felt her assistance would be useful.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Rachel made her apology as she followed Charity into the room. Taylor was glad her closest friend was there for moral support.
“That’s okay, Rachel, we haven’t started yet, but if we’re all ready, everyone take a seat, and then I can tell you what my contacts have been able to find out so far.
It’s not good. In addition, we now have the added complication of Taylor’s father being the victim of a kidnapping, along with an unknown woman who is thought to be in a relationship with him. ”
Seated at one end of the table, Nick picked up the top sheet from the pile of paper in front of him.
“This is a list of all the documents stored on the flash drive. Tex sent it to his contacts with more detailed knowledge of military manufacturing standards, and it seems they’re using substandard materials and signing them off as compliant.
You probably won’t know much about this, Tay, but due to the complex nature of modern military hardware, there are strict standards regarding the quality of materials used and how they are manufactured.
For example, tolerances in specifications are usually very narrow.
These documents, and the plans and drawings accompanying them, provide iron-clad proof that KDT is contravening the regulations for military contractors. ”
That did not sound good, even to Taylor’s uninformed ear. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, Nick continued.
“There are also problems with the provisions of the contracts and the financial records themselves. It took some serious expert investigation, but some of the transactions appear to have been routed to numbered accounts in countries where financial regulations are less than stringent…”
While Nick carried on speaking, going into more detail about what had been found, part of Taylor’s mind was elsewhere, trying to reconcile what she was hearing with the man who’d brought her up.
None of it made sense. She was barely aware of Rhys taking her hand in his to give it a reassuring squeeze.
She glanced at his face but was too mentally paralyzed to react.
“Taylor. Are you all right?”
She looked at Nick as if he’d spoken in a foreign language. “I’m sorry. I just… I'm really having a really hard time processing all this.”
All of a sudden, a wave of sheer dread swept over her, bringing with it a spasm of nausea. The enormity of it all overwhelmed her. “I feel as if I’m in over my head and I don’t know which way to turn.”
She swallowed the lump from her throat, blinking away tears in the hope they wouldn’t betray her, but she couldn’t fool Rhys. When he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, the storm broke, in a torrent of long, shuddering sobs she couldn’t control.
“It’s okay,” Rhys murmured. “Everything will be okay, fy nghariad.”
“I’m sorry, Taylor,” Nick said. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I’ll stop there, but there is more we have to understand. Rachel?”
“Thanks, Nick. Taylor, I’ll try to keep this as brief as possible.”
Rachel paused, as if gathering her thoughts.
“Taylor. Rhys. It’s important that we have this conversation before we go into the meeting this afternoon.
First of all, given what we know, I had no choice but to recommend that we notify the FBI—and that was before we knew about the kidnappings.
Normally, this would have been handled by the resident agency in Waco, but given the complexity, I contacted the field office in San Antonio.
Another reason I took that course of action is that I know one of the Special Agents based there.
I know it’s short notice, but now there’s more reason than ever to move quickly. I hope that’s okay?”
Although Taylor’s stomach churned, in a way, she was glad she hadn’t been faced with making the choice. “I understand. How much trouble am I in?”
The kindness of Rachel’s gentle smile surprised Taylor.
“No more than the rest of us, for not taking this to the FBI immediately. All you did was receive a package addressed to you; all we did was try to find out what you’d been sent, in order to ascertain whether it should be taken to the authorities or not.
With regard to your father… well, I’ll come to that in a moment.
The important thing is, don’t worry about being in trouble. ”
Apart from whatever Rachel was going to say about Charles Markham, it didn’t sound so bad, which helped to calm the pounding in Taylor’s temples. Her heart rate slowed a little, too. “Really?”
“Really,” Rachel reassured her. “I think it would be best if you, Nick and I speak to Cruz together. We all have something to contribute?—”
“I want Rhys there, too.” Even with Nick and Rachel to back her up, there was no way she was facing the FBI without Rhys.
He squeezed her hand. “There was never any chance I wouldn’t be.”
Rachel gave a discreet cough. “Now, about your father. There is something I need to make you aware of. Based on my experience as a federal agent, I have to question why your father didn’t take this directly to local law enforcement as soon as he took possession of the evidence.
If he believed there was a credible threat to both your lives, you could have been admitted into WITSEC for emergency relocation.
The fact that he didn’t do that casts serious doubt on his motives and his degree of involvement. ”
Taylor’s stomach lurched. “You’re saying my father… could be criminally involved in this?”
Rachel gave a brief nod. “At this point, we can’t discount the possibility.”
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A short time later, they set off for San Antonio in one of the company Escalades.
Nick was driving, with Rachel riding shotgun, and Rhys and Taylor in the rear.
Rhys had been torn—on the one hand, he felt he should have been up there alongside his boss, but on the other, his role in this enterprise was to support the woman he loved.