Bare Witness (8 page)

That was interesting. “Like when?”

“Never mind. Trusting Sam isn’t the same as trusting you.”

“But you must know that I’m trustworthy.”

“Belief and trust aren’t the same things.”

“I know that. But they usually go hand in hand,” he said. He realized that he wanted more from her. He needed to know what had happened before because he was consumed with learning more about this woman. With knowing her for who she really was. And he was never going to be happy unless he had unraveled all of her secrets.

And somehow, talking to Justine eased the worry he felt for Piper.

“What do you want from me?” she asked.

“Right now, I just need to know why you kneed me. Because I still want you, and I don’t want to take a chance on hurting or scaring you again.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “You didn’t hurt me.”

He noticed she didn’t rule out being scared. With Justine, he was coming to realize he could learn more from what she didn’t say sometimes.

“Was it something I did?”

“Yes.”

“My hands on your body?”

“No.”

“My tongue in your mouth?”

“For Pete’s sake…no. I don’t know why you are making such a big deal about this…I’m claustrophobic.”

Yeah, right. He guessed there was probably an element of truth to what she said.

She walked away before he could ask her anything else, and that was fine with him. He watched her go, knowing that they’d be alone in the vehicle together and he’d get his answers then.

He was too tired emotionally to fight this attraction to Justine. He liked that the lust he felt for her distracted him from his worry about Piper. He knew he was using Justine, but he had the best of intentions where she was concerned.

And that would have to be good enough for now. Because he knew he had no choice in the matter. He needed physical release, and Justine was the only woman he was interested in.

But lust had never controlled him, and he wasn’t going to let it now. He could control his cock, and he wasn’t going to let lust rule the day.

But as he watched her out of the corner of his eyes, he knew how hard that battle was going to be. Everything she did turned him on, and right now he needed the distraction of lust.

He turned away, disgusted with himself as he thought he might be using Justine to keep his mind off Piper. He wouldn’t deny that he wanted Justine, and had since the moment she’d set foot in his office. But lusting after her and using her to distract him from the very real threat that he might not see his daughter again was something he wouldn’t do.

“What is it?” she asked. Her voice was almost soft, and he knew she felt the same desperate need to get Piper back.

Nigel was very cognizant that his daughter had a way of winning over people who didn’t expect to like kids. And he knew Justine was one of those people. As he watched her, he also knew that the attraction he had for her was so much more than a reaction to Piper being missing. It had to do with the woman she was, and how she called out to the man inside him.

T
he road between Lima and Cusco was a highway, and it was pretty easy to drive, which meant Justine really had nothing to distract her from the man sitting next to her in the passenger seat.

He was watching the flashing signal that was the only connection to his daughter. She saw his face get tight and she knew he was thinking about her, thinking about all the things that could happen to Piper.

“How’d you learn to shoot?” she asked abruptly.

When he glanced over at her, she wondered if he was going to lie to her this time the same way he had about killing a man.

“I learned from my mates.”

“In the U.K.? They have some strict gun laws.”

“Yeah, they do. These mates weren’t exactly concerned about the law.”

“You were some kind of street punk?” She couldn’t really picture Nigel as anything other than what he was. She understood he was tough, and had the balls needed to kill someone in a life-threatening situation. But what she couldn’t see was him as a person who didn’t care about home and family. And usually the gangbangers she knew didn’t care about anything but their gang.

“Not a punk…just a tough.”

“A tough. How’d your folks feel about that?”

“My mother worked two jobs to support us. She wasn’t really home that much. When I was fourteen, I started running with a gang, and I don’t know that she ever noticed. She moved when I was sixteen, and I haven’t seen her since.”

Justine thought about her fractured family. How her mother had essentially left Justine behind after Justine had taken justice into her own hands. Socioeconomic scales didn’t matter when it came to parents and kids. Was the picture she had in her head just some kind of fantasy? That image of a mom and a dad and kids that all loved each other—was that some kind of fairy tale?

Anna was close to her mother and brother, but Charity had a fractured family just like she did. And Justine realized Nigel did as well.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Am I?” she asked, forcing her attention back to the road. “I should be watching where we are going.”

He didn’t say anything for a few minutes and then put his hand on her thigh. She jerked her foot off the gas before she could catch herself.

“Sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Families.”

“You said you had a sister.”

“We didn’t keep in touch.”

“So, you’re alone,” he said.

She liked being alone, but realized a long time ago that people weren’t comfortable with that idea. They thought she was strange or that she was a misanthrope. She liked people fine when they were doing their thing and not messing with her.

“I am.”

“I was, too, until Piper. Have you ever thought about kids?”

Justine shuddered. She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t stand the thought of bringing a child into the world who would be vulnerable. A child that might have to protect itself the way she had when her daddy died.

“I’m not very maternal.”

“You don’t have to be. I wasn’t what anyone would have called father material before Piper was born.”

“You weren’t still in some street gang, were you?”

“No. But I was focused on work, on winning. You know, being the best and proving to the world, and I think my mother, that I didn’t need them—or her.”

Justine wondered if that was why she hadn’t had kids. Was there a part of her that was afraid she’d end up being a crappy parent, like her mom?

“Did you prove it?” she asked. She really needed to stay focused on Nigel. It didn’t matter what happened to her, she didn’t want to talk to him or examine herself. Not now.

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Yeah, I know it sounds lame, but one morning I realized I was trying to prove something to a woman who no longer existed.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, I don’t know the woman my mother is today, and in my mind, she always looks like she did when I was sixteen. I have changed a lot, and I have to imagine she did, too. So what was I trying to prove, you know?”

She nodded. She’d never thought of the past in those terms. Always when she thought of her mother and Franklin Baron, they were bigger than she was. They were young and uncaring. The kind of people who put their own selfish needs first. She had no idea if they would have changed…

Had she robbed the world of something by killing Franklin when she had? She always believed that he had molested others before her, and would do it again. That was simply the kind of man that Franklin Baron was.

She couldn’t regret the fact he was no longer on earth. No longer breathing and ruining little girls’ self-confidence

“You look very fierce sometimes.”

“Do I? I can’t help it.”

“I didn’t mean it was a bad thing. I think the person you are is interesting.”

“I bet you don’t know many women like me,” she said. She wasn’t the kind of woman who could have anything permanent with Nigel Carter. Despite his humble beginnings, he was a man who had changed to walk in a different world. He was an executive and a father and she was a murderer and a gun for hire. Those two things would never mesh.

Nigel didn’t like talking about his past. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of who he’d been, it was just that the past no longer defined him.

It was the man he was today that he was proud of. He hadn’t always been respectable as a businessman, but since Piper’s birth, he’d changed. He’d stopped thinking solely of himself and started focusing on the world around him.

Justine’s cell phone rang.

“O’Neill.”

“It’s Sam. Are we on speaker? I need to talk to both of you.”

“What’s up, Sam?” Nigel asked.

“I’m working to get men in place with the mercenaries we think are working for the group that threatened you. Nigel, do you know of anyone else who might have a grudge against you?”

“Not really. I mean Derrick sometimes gets on my nerves, but I think he’s okay with me. Why?”

“Because not one group I’ve had contact with is sabotaging your compound.”

“I thought you had a line on a merc group,” Justine said.

“I did, but when we dug deeper, it turns out the merc group isn’t interested in Baron Industries. They were hired to ask some questions and that was it.”

“Who would waste money like that?” Justine asked.

“Someone who really hates Nigel.”

Nigel rubbed the bridge of his nose. Every time he thought that things couldn’t get worse, they did. Now, if Sam was right—and let’s face it, Sam wouldn’t have called if he’d had any doubts about the veracity of his information—he had an enemy who really hated him.

“Right, but what’s the point of threatening Baron Industries here?” Justine asked.

“To lure me here,” Nigel said. “Everyone knows I will do anything to keep that plant on schedule. Our entire fiscal year is dependent upon it opening on time.”

“Everyone in the business world, or just at Baron?” Sam asked.

“The business world. I gave an interview for
Fortune
magazine, and said that nothing would stop me from reaching our goals. I said that if I had to relocate to Peru and work the factory myself I’d do it.”

Silence answered him, and Nigel had a churning in his gut as he realized he might have been responsible for all of this. For the injuries to Paul Masters, for Piper’s kidnapping, Jesse’s death, Constance…

“Have you found out anything about Constance’s phone?”

“Yes,” Sam said. “Anna is relaying the information to Justine’s BlackBerry. I also ran another check on her to make sure we didn’t miss anything the first time. She seems clean.”

Nigel felt a little better hearing that information. He still couldn’t relax, but he did like knowing that the company he’d hired to vet Constance had done a good job.

“If you think of anyone who might have a vendetta against you, let Justine know. I’ll be in touch when I have more information.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Justine said, disconnecting the call. Her phone beeped a second later and she handed it to him.

“Text message from Anna about Constance.”

He pulled out his mobile and sent her a quick text message.

There was no response, but he hoped that she might be able to respond at some time.

“Should we call?” Justine asked.

“Yes,” he said. “What if Constance doesn’t answer?”

“Then you’ll know who your enemy is.”

“I wish I knew who we were dealing with,” Nigel said.

“Probably a disgruntled employee,” she said. “It’s definitely someone without the guts to confront you directly.”

“That’s true,” Nigel said, thinking back over the employees they’d let go in the last six months, though no one jumped out at him. He didn’t actually fire many of the employees, though he signed all the exit interview materials so that his executives didn’t have to deal with any situations like this one.

“I’m going to call Constance,” he said, knowing now that her phone was okay.

“Just pretend that you’re at the safe house, and want to know what’s up with them.”

“I will.” He dialed Constance’s number, and this time the phone rang instead of going to the service interruption message. There was no answer though, and it clicked through to voicemail. “This is Nigel. We are at the house. Where are you?”

He hung up feeling frustrated and angry. What kind of a man played this type of game? The world was supposed to be civilized, and in a civilized society no one made war on children. And that’s exactly what this person was doing.

Nigel couldn’t wait to remember a face or a name. He knew that time was running out. “I’ve got an idea.”

“What is it?”

“I’m going to have my VP send me a list of everyone who’s been fired in the last year, and then we’ll have Anna run a check on them and see if anyone would be behind this.”

“Good thinking.”

He dialed Derrick’s number and the VP answered on the second ring. “It’s Nigel.”

“I’m glad you called. I had to handle a minor problem this afternoon with some of our middle managers drinking during business lunches.”

“Does it need my attention?”

“No, I don’t think so. What did you need?”

“Can you compile a list of everyone who’s left the company in the last year, and email it to me?”

“I’ll get HR to do it. Do you want just those we let go?”

“No. Anyone who has left.”

“Is anything wrong?”

“I’m not sure yet. But I need to review the list.”

“I’ll get it to you first thing tomorrow.”

Nigel realized it was after ten. Not that late but certainly not a decent hour. “Sorry for disturbing your evening.”

“It’s okay. My wife and I were just enjoying a glass of wine.”

Nigel hung up a few minutes later. He checked to see if Constance had responded to his text. She hadn’t.

“Derrick is going to get the list together in the morning.”

“Good. I sent a text to Anna telling her to expect it.”

Nigel thought about the people who worked for him. He’d always had a high ranking as a good boss. He demanded a lot from the people who worked for him, but he was fair.

“Could anyone on the board be out to get you?” Justine asked.

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“Just that the Barons can’t be trusted,” Justine said.

“How would you know that?”

Justine couldn’t believe she’d said that. “I don’t. I’m just tired. Let’s see if there is anything on the radio.”

She reached for the dial, but Nigel stopped her with his hand on hers. “I don’t think so. Explain what you said.”

“I didn’t mean anything about it. Just that I’d heard that some boards can be cutthroat, and since the company is called Baron Industries and you’re not a Baron…”

Nigel relaxed his grip on her hand and she put the other one back on the wheel. God, she couldn’t believe she said something so stupid. She knew better than to ever comment on anything that the Barons did.

“Well, I don’t think our board is like that. A few of the old-timers don’t really like having me as the CEO, but they do like the way I’ve been leading the company, and Derrick—the only other Baron who works on the day-to-day team—isn’t really interested in running things.”

Derrick. He was Franklin’s son. He’d never lived with her and her family. But he’d come to see his dad twice. Once before Franklin had started molesting her, and once afterward, and she’d never really known him.

“Why? Isn’t he any good at business?”

“He’s okay. But his uncle is always putting him down and saying he’s not living up to the Baron name.”

Justine didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. Living up to the Baron name meant being an uncaring asshole, as far as she was concerned.

“So what do you think about Derrick?”

“I wish he was more decisive, but otherwise he’s fine.”

“Will he get the list quickly?”

“I think so,” Nigel said.

She checked their GPS unit with the map on it, and glanced over at the unit that Nigel was holding. “Are they still moving?”

“No. They stopped.”

Justine put on her turn signal and eased the car off the road. She glanced at Nigel’s unit so she could check out the address. Piper’s signal was still a good four hours ahead of them. But she had the feeling they could make it up if they drove straight through the night.

It took at least a day and a half to get to Cusco. “It’s moving again.”

“I can see that,” Justine said. “We’ll just keep going.”

“I can drive,” Nigel said.

“I can’t just ride. I’ll make you crazy. I need to do something or I’ll go nuts.”

She eased back out onto the highway and started driving again. “We should probably plan on stopping for the night.”

“I’m not going to be able to sleep while Piper’s in danger,” Nigel said.

Justine knew he’d change his mind once he saw the way the highway wound through the mountains. And there were no streetlights like in the States. Despite the fact that they’d made advances in travel in the last few years, the road was still not what they were used to driving on.