Double Cross (29 page)

10:30 A.M. TUESDAY

Laurel texted SSA Preston regarding Natalie Cayden’s bug. Nothing but family chatter. She asked him to continue monitoring, and he reluctantly agreed.

“Has she ever been in Houston before?”

“We have no flight record for Natalie Ashton or Natalie Cayden. Doesn’t mean she hasn’t been here.”

“Don’t think it’s a rabbit trail to follow right now,” she said.

A short while later, she grabbed her purse and drove to Truluck’s on Westheimer, where she and Natalie had agreed to meet at eleven thirty. The meal went well. Erin talked freely, and her mother encouraged the little girl to be a part of the luncheon.

“How long have you and Geoff been married?”

“We celebrated our tenth anniversary in August. We wanted children, and Erin came along.”

“Morton wants children soon, but I’m a little unsure. Did you have a hard pregnancy?”

“Not at all. Never had morning sickness, and the weight came off easily.” She covered her mouth and laughed. “Erin is adopted.”

“I was chosen,” the little girl said.

Laurel’s emotions sank. She’d been wrong about Natalie, a lovely woman who’d been used as Wilmington suggested. “You are one beautiful little girl.”

“Thank you.”

“Geoff has been smitten since the day she was placed in our arms. She’s his princess, and while he’s putty in her hands, he makes sure she behaves and is respectful. Schooling is a biggie, and we brought her assignments so she won’t lag behind.”

Laurel smiled at Erin. “What’s your favorite subject?”

She touched her chin. “Science. What was yours, Miss Laurel?”

“Math.”

“That’s my number two favorite. And dance.”

Laurel kept up appearances while she chastised herself for chasing a rabbit trail. Two days until the fund-raiser. Two days before four hundred people were scammed. Two days before a possible explosion. She shivered. Where were the answers?

1:30 P.M. TUESDAY

Daniel had followed Wilmington. True to his word, he took a taxi to meet Cayden at a hotel at the Galleria. Stayed one hour and thirty-five minutes and took another taxi back to the condo. Nothing.

Now he felt like the carry-out king. Wilmington had called him and wanted to share what he’d learned from Cayden. Announced he was hungry. The man must have the metabolism of a lion. He put away more food than a football player in training, and none of it transferred to body fat.

Daniel entered the kitchen with a Sonic bag in one hand and a huge drink in the other.

“Thank you, my friend.” Wilmington inhaled the aroma of burger and fries. “Sonic never made the prison menu. Did you bring anything for yourself?”

“It’s all yours. Can’t eat when I’m working hard on a case.” He set the drink on the counter. “Here’s your cherry slush. You’re getting around pretty good with fifteen stitches in your back.”

“Slept well before meeting Cayden and had an hour of prayer.”

Daniel thought lightning would strike the man. Too many signs of deceit. He grabbed two bananas and set one beside Wilmington. “Want a potassium kick with your fries?”

With their food, they sat at a table overlooking the golf course. Wilmington said grace and dug into his double burger and fries. “I’ve learned a few things,” he said between mouthfuls.

“I’m ready,” Daniel said. “I learned nothing about Breacher, and Vega only comes out at night. I’ll be on him later.”

“Have you heard from Laurel?”

“She’s bummed. Natalie told her Erin was adopted. Didn’t read anything into her body language. Natalie asked her to do a little more shopping, and she went along with the idea in case something might slip. She also has a meeting with Thatcher.”

“You don’t like him.”

“Thatcher has a chip on his shoulder the size of Mt. Everest.”

“Needs the Lord.” Wilmington took a long drink of his cherry slush. “You gave me a list, and I did my best. Cayden is bored with his trophy wife. Wandering eye. Found Josie more exciting but got tired of her not following orders. Kept her around because she was Natalie’s cousin and the mother of his child.” He lifted a brow. “Cayden and Josie are Erin’s biological parents. When Josie was shot, he had to dispose of her.”

“Sticky family situations.”

“I told him my concern about my fingerprints and DNA following me the rest of my life. He laughed. Claimed he’d burned his off. Suggested I do the same. Said it helped in many instances, but he hadn’t found a solution for rewriting DNA.”

Wilmington’s features rang true. Would Daniel ever be able to figure this man out before Thursday night? “How did you respond?”

“Said I’d look into it. Questioned him about future business ventures. Asked if the secret partner would be there. He refused to comment. Something’s not right about this.”

“Like he’s taking orders from someone else?”

Wilmington nodded. “I texted Preston on the way back with what I learned. It looked like a book by the time I finished, but I didn’t want to talk with the taxi driver listening.”

“How’d you leave it?”

“Cayden will let me know in time for me and Laurel to get out of the way of the Feds. He’s seen them snooping around the Junior League. The challenge intrigues him.”

“What about the diversion he mentioned earlier?”

“Car bombs during the event.”

“Doesn’t it seem risky to involve his wife and daughter?”

Wilmington shook his head. “He cares about Erin, but Natalie has lost her worth. God help us. I hate to think I was at his level. I’m staying on him. I promise you this won’t go down without a fight.”

Where from here? Daniel prayed for wisdom like he’d never prayed before.

10:45 P.M. TUESDAY

Laurel finished her coffee and stared into Morton’s face. They sat at his round dining table. Daniel had left a few minutes before to trail Vega, and Wilmington was waiting for a call from Cayden. The man had a business proposition to toss.

The awkwardness of once more being alone with Wilmington hovered over her, although he’d exhibited the attributes of a perfect gentleman. Fear snapped her attention. How long would he keep up the charade? The peacefulness in his face made him look younger. Yet if he’d planned her demise, it could happen at any moment. Her gaze swept to her purse and Glock.

His superficial caring for her and Daniel was such a marked polarity of the man she remembered.

She’d play every angle to find the truth.

“What’s going on inside your head?” he said. “Hard to read a trained agent.”

“This case and the countdown.” A new tactic filtered into her thoughts. “By the way, thanks.”

“For what? Not forcing you to play Monopoly?”

She smiled. “That too. I mean for having the guts to change.”

“Is this part of the Laurel interrogation?”

“What do you want it to be?”

“The real deal.” He glanced down, then back to her. “I’ve
decided money and power are not my gods. Neither are bad in and of themselves, but the way I used them was. Are you ready for the same lineup?”

“Don’t think so. What puzzles me is why you’re risking your neck to end an elderly crime. Daniel hasn’t figured it out either.”

“Like you, he has his doubts, especially with Vega and Breacher once on my payroll.”

“Can you blame him?” she said.

“No. I vowed to help prevent crime when I became a Christian. I didn’t think I’d be tested by having an old friend be the one to betray me.”

The waters muddied, and she still second-guessed his alliance.

He folded a paper napkin in front of him. “The way I see it, you sacrificed everything to put me behind bars, and I deserved it. I was headed down a road of complete isolation. If I hated anyone, it was you. Then I found a God I could serve, and I figured if I could forgive you, I could forgive anyone. After all, God had done that for me.” He paused. “Didn’t mean to preach.”

“It’s okay.” She’d heard it all before. Often wished she could believe.

He picked up the napkin and refolded it. “Then there’s Daniel, a man dedicated to protecting his grandparents. A good man. Not sure how all of this will play out with us, but we’re an unlikely threesome. I’ve stopped asking why and am trying to just be. However long I have left on this earth has to mean something. Starts with me doing my part to help you and Daniel stop Cayden’s scam.”

“Plans for tomorrow?”

“Prison ministry. Pastor Emerson McKee of Community Evangelical Church has the plans and funds. Who better to talk to criminals than an ex-con?”

“Crazy as it sounds, I believe you’ll make a success of it.”

“You think it’s crazy? Imagine how I feel.”

“I suppose so.”
Please, Morton, don’t say what’s in your heart. It complicates the case even more.

“Got a question for you,” he said.

“All right.” Her insides quivered. She stood and walked into the living room, processing what he’d probably ask.

“Was any of it real?”

Truth, Laurel.
She swung to meet his scrutiny. “Remember the morning we saddled up Phantom and your horse and rode out early to see the sunrise? We watched it burst over the horizon together.”

“I do. Had no idea the view would be so spectacular.”

She swallowed the thickening in her throat. “That was the closest I ever felt to you as a friend. Mornings weren’t your favorite time of the day, but the ride was your idea. Not once did you complain. Neither did you have bodyguards that morning.”

“You thanked me.” He joined her at the window.

“I liked you then, appreciated your gesture of making me happy.”

He smiled. “I needed to know it wasn’t all pretend.”

She rubbed the chill bumps on her arms.

“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we? From lovers to enemies to almost friends.”

What could she say in light of all he’d done?

“Laurel, don’t be afraid of giving your heart to Daniel. From what I’ve learned, he had a rough beginning. Like you.”

Uneasiness inched through her. She’d thought Wilmington only knew she’d been orphaned at a young age, but he’d revealed more that day at the prison. He had means to discover a storehouse of info. “Do you know any more about me than what’s in the records?”

He breathed in deeply. “No. It was a plan for after our wedding, to find out who’d murdered your parents.”

She stared at him, a dangerous man and yet something else.
Change the subject.
“Are your men watching every angle of the building?”

“Yep. They follow us around like lost puppies.”

“Armed puppies.”

“I’m working on converting them.”

She laughed, and it felt good. “Do you think Daniel is safe trailing Vega?”

“Daniel’s smart, crafty. He’s supposed to text both of us later.” His phone sounded with an incoming text. “Might be sooner than I expected.” He glanced at the phone. “We have
 
—”

The shatter of the window’s glass crackled the air.

“It’s a grenade!” He lunged toward it.

12:15 A.M. WEDNESDAY

ONE DAY BEFORE OCTOBER 15

Around midnight, Daniel had watched Vega disappear into the hotel where Cayden and his family stayed. He loathed the waiting part of his job. A text came in from Thatcher Graves on his iPhone. Good thing Daniel carried both phones.

Call me asap

He pressed in Thatcher’s number. The agent responded on the first ring.

“What’s going on?”

“Let me begin by saying Laurel is okay. Someone tossed a grenade inside Wilmington’s condo while she was with him.”

Stunned, he whipped into cop mode. “Who did it? Was she hurt? Is he okay?”

“Both escaped injuries. Wilmington tossed it back. Exploded on the way to the street.”

“All that happened in four to five seconds.” He shook his head. “Short of impossible.”

“He claimed it was a God-thing.”

Relief replaced Daniel’s alarm. “Anyone hurt in the blast?”

“No, but two of Wilmington’s men are dead. One man had his throat cut, and another man’s undergoing surgery to repair a knife wound to his chest.”

The dynamics of Laurel and Wilmington’s escape from death hit him hard. “Wilmington took a huge chance with the grenade. Could have blown him and Laurel to bits.”

“My thoughts too. Proves he might be on the level.” With this case. With his faith.

Was Laurel convinced? For that matter, was Daniel? “Any clues?”

“Not yet. I’m at the hospital. Need to question the injured man when he wakes up from surgery. Providing he survives.”

“Where’s Laurel?”

“She’s at her apartment. More upset than she lets on. Insisted on being alone.”

“Wilmington’s not with her?”

“Weren’t you listening? By any chance have you heard from him?”

“No.” Doubt about Wilmington rose.

“When the smoke cleared at Wilmington’s place and I arrived, he took off.”

Why would he leave the crime scene? “You’re sure he’s not at the hospital?”

Thatcher blew out exasperation. “Wouldn’t I know that, Officer Hilton? He told Laurel he’d talk to her in the morning. Needed to visit the dead man’s family and the other guy’s girlfriend.”

“Is the girlfriend there?”

“Yes. She told me Wilmington had already left. Said he’d be in touch. Look, call if you hear from him. I have important things to discuss with both of you.”

“Why not now?”

“Just find Wilmington and call me.”

Daniel knew exactly where Wilmington had gone. He was standing guard outside Laurel’s apartment, and if Cayden wanted both of them dead, he wouldn’t give up easily. But Vega had been with Cayden . . .

His gut told him Wilmington and Laurel were in the middle of a trap. One the FBI had created.