THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (10 page)

“How do they know that?” she demanded. “They can’t know! They—”

“Were they just trying to come up with a reason to take my computer? My files? Maybe,” Hugh allowed, “but they had a court order, so it wasn’t like I could stop them from taking everything.”

Cooper, standing just behind her, remained silent.

“Why the trip out of town?” Gabrielle asked.

Hugh’s gaze slid away from hers. “I’ve made a lot of enemies with my stories over the years.”

“And you never ran from any of those enemies.”

His head inclined. “But I’d leave in an instant if it meant I could keep my people safe.”

He’s leaving for me.
The knowledge was twisting her insides into knots. “What did they tell you?” Gabrielle demanded.

Hugh reached for his bag. His attention shifted to Cooper. “Should have realized it sooner,” Hugh mumbled. “But maybe it’s a good thing that you’re here.”

Her blood iced.
No, no, no.

Hugh’s smile stretched across his face. She knew that smile. It was his fake smile. One he gave when he was in the presence of an enemy.

She wasn’t Hugh’s enemy. That just left...Cooper.

“If anyone can keep her safe, I guess it will be you, bodyguard.” Hugh walked around the desk, clutching his bag. He paused for just a moment beside Gabrielle. “I’ll be seeing you again. You can count on it.”

Her heart felt like it was about to burst from her chest.

Hugh didn’t trust Cooper. She sure got the message he’d sent her—loud and clear—s
hould have realized it sooner.

Hugh reached for her. He hugged her—and slipped a small flash drive into her hand.

Her fingers curled around the drive, concealing it completely.

He pulled away. This time his smile was real. It reached his eyes. “You know I can’t turn away from a good story,” he said.

No, he couldn’t.

“I’ll be back.”

He strode toward the door. Cooper started to slide out of his path, but Hugh stopped him. Hugh slapped a hand down on Cooper’s shoulder. “If Gabrielle gets so much as a bruise...”

Gabrielle slipped the flash drive into her back pocket.

“...you’ll answer to me.”

Then Hugh was gone.

Cooper glanced her way. “What the hell was that about?”

It was about Hugh not trusting him. About Hugh being forced out of D.C., but by whom?

Her money was on the EOD. She needed to access that flash drive, but Hugh had concealed it from Cooper for a reason, and she didn’t want his eyes on it, not until she’d seen for herself just what material it contained.

“He’s gone!” Penelope poked her pretty head in the doorway. “Actually gone—with a serial killer loose in the city! Am I crazy? Or is he?”

Gabrielle’s heartbeat drummed so loudly she was sure that Cooper and Penelope had to hear it.

“And there’s someone here,” Penelope continued as she smoothed back her hair. “Some woman who said she’s from the FBI.” Her perfectly manicured index finger pointed to Gabrielle. “She keeps asking to see you.”

The situation was going from bad to worse.

Cooper was frowning now as he glanced through the doorway.

Penelope smiled at him and she batted her lashes. “The FBI lady is right down the hall, second door on the left.”

Cooper hurried out.

Gabrielle crept toward Penelope.

Penelope’s smile vanished. “What is going
on?
”

“I’m not sure.” She didn’t want to mention the EOD to Penelope. Until she figured out more about what was happening, Gabrielle didn’t want to risk the other woman’s life.

Sure, Penelope was flighty, she was flirty, but she was also one of the few people that Gabrielle counted as a friend.

“What can I do?” Penelope asked. “Hugh’s worried, I can tell, and when he worries...
I
worry.”

Gabrielle eased out a slow breath. “I need to use your computer, and I need you to keep both Cooper and that FBI agent busy while I do it.”

Penelope nodded. “Done.” She started to walk away, but then stopped. “When this is all over, you’d better share your byline with me.”

“I will,” Gabrielle promised. She would have promised just about anything right then.

Penelope bustled away. “Oh, Cooper, the agent is this way, in the conference room...”

They only had one conference room. It was down the hall, in a location a good thirty feet away from Penelope’s desk.

Perfect.

Gabrielle all but ran for the empty desk.

* * *

A
N
FBI
AGENT
. What were the Feds thinking? To get involved in an EOD case like this just wasn’t protocol. Mercer should have shut them out immediately.

“Right here,” Penelope said, her perfume seeming to swirl in the air around him. She threw open the door. “Agent Noelle Evers, this is Cooper Marshall. He’s—” Penelope broke off, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “I think he’s working with Gabrielle,” she murmured, sounding confused.

“I’m her partner.” Cooper crossed the room and offered his hand to the slim redhead. He’d never seen the woman before. Her handshake was brief but solid, and he had the feeling the woman was assessing everything about him—probably because she was.

He glanced over his shoulder, expecting to see Gabrielle.

But Penelope was the only one there, and she was shutting the door.

He pulled away from Agent Evers. “Gabrielle...”

“Oh, she’ll be right in. She just stopped by the restroom.” Penelope lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Talking with Hugh got her emotional. She hated to see the old guy go. He was like a father to her.”

Her real father had left her too soon and with a fear of storms and a quest for justice that wouldn’t end.

He headed for that door. If she was upset, he wanted to be with her.

Penelope blocked his path. She smiled at him, but her gaze drifted to the FBI agent. “You’re here about the D.C. Striker, aren’t you?”

The D.C.—

“Yes,” Agent Evers said, voice smooth, “I am.”

Excitement lit Penelope’s gaze. “He’s a serial killer, isn’t he? Hugh was right about that. You’re here because that’s what the FBI does. You hunt serials.”

“It’s one of the many things we do,” Agent Evers said, still in that smooth voice that didn’t give away any emotion. “We hunt them, and we try to figure out why they do the things that they do.”

Her job was very different from his.

He didn’t try to understand the killers. He just eliminated them.

* * *

G
ABRIELLE
SANK
INTO
Penelope’s chair. Her fingers were trembling as she pushed the flash drive into position.

A few clicks of the mouse, and she had that drive open.

There were two files stored there.

One was titled...
EOD
.

She clicked that one first.

Her gaze darted over the document that opened. It looked like it was a series of notes that Hugh had made.

Ex-military. Covert Ops. Specialize in hostage retrieval and unconventional warfare. Lockwood and McAdams...military records are sealed. Possible EOD agents.

Then Hugh had listed what appeared to be a series of locations and dates. Were those EOD missions?

A phone rang beside her, and Gabrielle jumped. She glanced up, made sure no one was watching her then she went back and clicked on that second file.

That file was labeled
Striker.

She expected to find more notes within that file. Instead, she found data on—Cooper.

Military records. She had no idea how Hugh had gotten access to these files. Lane had tried and come up empty-handed.

Should have known Hugh would be more resourceful.
Somehow, he’d managed to get access to sealed records. Hugh had contacts in all the right—and wrong—places.

She leaned forward as she read the service details. Cooper had joined the Air Force the day after he graduated from Yale. She scanned through the file, noting the commendations, the awards.

There’d been so much training for him. The notations were seemingly endless. Combat Dive School. Army Airborne certification. Military Free Fall Parachutist. He’d been on a special tactics team, and even gone in for Advanced Skills Training.

Her fingers trembled as she clicked the mouse. No wonder the guy could move so soundlessly. He was some kind of super soldier.

Then she saw that Cooper’s service ended five years ago. Ended...with an annotation that said Cooper Marshall had been killed in the line of duty.

Her breath choked out.

Killed?

Of course, he hadn’t been killed. He was alive and well, and right down the hall in the conference room.

But Hugh had scanned a death certificate. It was right there for her to see, plain as day.

According to those files—files that clearly had a “Confidential” stamp on top of each page, Cooper Marshall was a dead man. There was even a picture of him included. A younger version of Cooper, but definitely him.

She pulled the cursor down and reached the last page of the file.

Hugh had written a note to her.

According to my source, Cooper Marshall is a ghost. Watch your back with him. This story—these murders are all about the EOD.

You’re the reporter covering the kills, and all of a sudden, Marshall is shadowing you. He lives in your building, he has access to you...

I think your “guard” knows a whole lot more than we do. Be careful with him.

He was connecting dots that she should have connected herself.

But she’d been blind.

Sometimes, you couldn’t see the enemy that was right in front of your face.

Or in your bed.

She scrolled back up and read the details of his “death” one more time. Cooper Marshall had been attempting to rescue a downed pilot behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. He’d gotten that pilot to safety, but Cooper had sustained extensive injuries. He’d died before making it back to base.

Gabrielle’s fingers rubbed together as she remembered the scars that marked Cooper’s stomach and chest. He had been injured, grievously. But he hadn’t died.

“Look, I get that you’re into her,” Penelope’s sharp voice called out, “but give the woman a minute of privacy. I told you already that Gabrielle is going to join us—”

She shut the file and jerked out that flash drive. Her heart raced in her chest as Gabrielle shot up from the chair.

And came face-to-face with a dead man.

Chapter Nine

To be dead, he looked incredibly good. Damn him.

But she had to look shaken because Cooper frowned at her. His hand came up and skimmed her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

Have you been lying to me?

She should have put the puzzle pieces together sooner. Gabrielle felt like a fool as she stared up at the man she’d made love with just hours before.

“Gabrielle?”

She slid around him.

Penelope was staring at her with wide eyes, and just behind the entertainment reporter, another woman was also watching her. This woman had dark red hair and a sharp gaze.

Gabrielle’s stare swept over the redhead. With that suit, yes, she would’ve instantly pegged the lady as FBI.

“I have some questions for you,” the redhead said.

“What a coincidence,” Gabrielle muttered right back. “I’ve got my share of those, too.”

She didn’t glance at Cooper as she headed for the conference room. There were too many eyes and ears on them at that moment. It would be far better to have this conversation in private.

Penelope tried to follow them back into the conference room, but the FBI agent firmly shut the door—well, pretty much in the other woman’s face.

Gabrielle’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t catch your name,” she said to the lady.

“Noelle Evers.” Noelle offered her a brief smile as she marched toward the conference table. Some folders and a notepad were already spread out there. “And I’m here to learn more about your recent phone call with—”

“The D.C. Striker?” Gabrielle finished for her.

“If that’s what you want to call him,” Noelle agreed, but she didn’t sound impressed with the name.

“She’s a profiler,” Cooper said as he took the seat near Noelle. “She’s here to help the cops catch this guy.”

Gabrielle still stood. Her knees had locked on her, so she wasn’t even sure that she could sit. “Have the two of you met before?” Suspicion made her ask that question.

And then it happened. Cooper immediately said, “No,” but the agent’s eyelids jerked, just a little bit. Noelle glanced quickly at Cooper, then away.

Gabrielle’s back teeth clenched. A profiler should learn to be better at hiding her emotions.

But that little tell had convinced Gabrielle that she had to press a bit more. “It’s all about the EOD.”

No emotion crossed Cooper’s face.
Oh, so that’s when he does that.
The emotion vanished each time he kept a secret from her.

“I don’t think I understand,” Noelle began carefully. She motioned to the nearby chair. “Why don’t you sit down? Then we can really talk.”

Gabrielle felt like they were talking just fine. It wasn’t like sitting improved a conversation. “Why isn’t Detective Carmichael with you? If you’re here investigating the killer, shouldn’t the local cops be helping you?” But Lane hadn’t even given her a heads-up about the profiler.

The whole scene felt wrong. Gabrielle wasn’t going to ignore her instincts any longer.

Noelle glanced over at Cooper once more.
What is she doing?
It almost looked as if the profiler were waiting to follow Cooper’s lead.

Cooper was staring straight back at Gabrielle. A faint furrow dipped between his brows.

“Right now,” Noelle finally said, “the FBI is
assisting
the local authorities. It may become necessary for us to take over the investigation, but at this point, I’m just attempting to gather more data about our suspect.”

The answer was smooth, and it sounded rehearsed.

“What did the suspect say, exactly, when he called you, Ms. Harper?” the profiler wanted to know.

“He told me not to trust Cooper. The guy said that Cooper wasn’t who I thought.”

There was still no expression in his eyes.

“He told me,” Gabrielle continued, her chest aching now as she realized that she’d been played by a master, “that if I wasn’t careful, I’d trust the wrong man and I’d wind up dead.”

Cooper surged to his feet. “Gabrielle—”

“You’re EOD.” It made sense. So much sense and she felt herself flush. “
That’s
why Van’s last message was erased at the crime scene. You smeared the blood deliberately, didn’t you? To keep your organization quiet. You destroyed evidence.”

A muscle jerked in his jaw.

But he didn’t deny being EOD. She’d actually expected a denial.

“I think—” Noelle spoke softly as she pulled her files a bit closer “—that we all need to calm down.”

“I’m completely calm,” Gabrielle said. She was. An eerie calm that she hadn’t expected had settled over her.

Gabrielle pulled out her phone. She held it gripped in her hand. She tilted her head as she studied the profiler. “If I call Detective Carmichael right now, is he going to back up your story? Is he going to even know who you are?”

Noelle hesitated.

That was Gabrielle’s answer. “He’s not, because you aren’t working with the local cops. They aren’t the ones who sent you to me.” She rolled back her shoulders and forced herself to meet Cooper’s stare. “The team that you had searching my apartment—they were from the EOD, weren’t they? This guy, this fellow doing the killing, he’s one of your agents.”

Cooper didn’t speak, neither confirming nor denying her charge.

She’d wanted a denial. Crazy, of course, but she’d wanted one.

A woman didn’t like to be that wrong about her lover.

She was.

Gabrielle retreated from him and the FBI agent.

Noelle rose. “I really need to ask you more questions. It’s imperative that I learn as much about this man as I can.”

So that the EOD could catch one of their own?

“He’s fixated on you,” Noelle continued, as Gabrielle took another step back. “The fact that he’s contacting you gives us an advantage. It means—”

“—that you think you can use me as some kind of bait.” Her blinders were definitely off. No wonder Cooper had agreed to be her partner. He was letting her rush out and try to draw the killer’s attention.

She’d been live bait in the EOD’s trap, and she hadn’t even realized it.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Gabrielle spun away and yanked open the door.

“Gabrielle!” Cooper called after her.

Her eyes were tearing up. Knowing that she’d just been a means to an end for him
hurt.

“Gabrielle? Are you okay?” Penelope asked as she hurried toward her.

“I need to get away,” she whispered back.

Penelope handed her a pair of keys. “My car’s in the lot.”

Then Penelope pushed her away—and rushed toward the conference room door. “Is it my turn for questions? Because I’ve got tons....”

Penelope was buying her some time by being a distraction. Perfect. Gabrielle gave up trying to look in control—the eerie calm had totally fled. She rushed for the elevator.

Once she slipped inside, she risked a glanced back and saw Cooper prying himself out of Penelope’s grip.

There was emotion on his face right then.

Rage.

The doors slid closed, and Gabrielle sucked in a deep breath.

It looked like the killer had been right about Cooper.

* * *

T
HE
BLUE
CONVERTIBLE
squealed out of the lot just as Cooper reached the parking garage. Damn it, damn it,
damn it!
That interview had gone horribly wrong.

And now Gabrielle was just gone.

How had she found out about him?

He yanked out his phone. Waited with gritted teeth as the phone rang once, twice, then— “What’s wrong?” Dylan Foxx demanded.

What wasn’t? A killer was on the loose. The SOB seemed to be going right after Gabrielle, and now, his lover of less than four hours—four hours!—had just run from him as if he were the very devil.

To her, maybe he was. So much for playing the role of the white knight.

“We need containment,” he said, though he hated to utter those words. But there wasn’t a choice. He couldn’t let Gabrielle run from him.

Someone had tipped her off about him. He had to find out just how much she knew.

With the killer targeting her, Gabrielle couldn’t just vanish.

He wouldn’t let her.

“Gabrielle’s on the move,” he said, aware that his voice snapped with fury. “Heading west from the
Inquisitor
, driving a blue convertible.” He gave Dylan the license plate number.

“Are you sure containment is what you want?” Dylan asked, his tone guarded.

“Those were my orders.” If he’d become compromised, if Gabrielle was put in too much danger...

He swallowed and tried to choke back the emotions filling him. “Make sure,
absolutely sure,
that no one hurts her in any way.”

He didn’t want her to be hurt. He didn’t want her to be afraid.

But, judging by the way she’d looked at him just before those elevator doors closed, Gabrielle was
already
both hurt and afraid.

She’s scared of me.

Because she’d learned the truth about him.

He was just as much of a killer as the D.C. Striker.

* * *

W
HERE
WAS
SHE
supposed to go? Back to the brownstone? Retreating to that place really wasn’t an option because Cooper lived there, too.

And she couldn’t go back to work—he was already waiting back at the
Inquisitor
. Scratch that safe spot from her list.

But she also just couldn’t drive aimlessly around the city all night.

Gabrielle braked to a stop at a red light. She glanced in her rearview mirror and saw a pair of headlights approaching.

The red light changed. She turned left.

So did the car behind her.

Gabrielle took a right turn.

The car turned right.

Her fingers tightened their grip on the steering wheel.

She accelerated. That car accelerated, too.

Fear began to thicken within her. Fury had driven her away from Cooper, and she’d foolishly ignored the threats around her. Gabrielle couldn’t ignore those threats any longer.

Is it the killer?
He’d been watching her before. Had he seen her leave the
Inquisitor
?
Without Cooper at her side, the killer might think this was the perfect time for him to strike.

She fumbled and yanked out her phone. For an instant, she thought about calling Cooper.

But, instead, her index finger pushed the button to connect her to Lane. She held her breath. Another red light was up ahead. The light went green. Good. No stopping.

And Lane wasn’t answering. Where the heck was he when she needed him?

The green light had turned yellow. In a flash, it went red. She didn’t stop. She rushed forward and ran that light.

A horn blared as a truck came right at her. Screaming, she yanked the wheel to the side even as she slammed on the brakes.

The truck missed her by only inches.

Her breath heaved out. She’d dropped her phone. She fumbled, trying to find it.

Someone rapped on her window. “Ma’am?” A woman’s voice called. “Ma’am, are you are all right?”

Gabrielle rolled down her window. “Yes, sorry, I—”

The woman wasn’t alone. A man stood behind her. His posture was stiff, guarded, and when he shifted his stance a bit, she saw the holster under his arm.

“I’m afraid that you have to come with us, Ms. Harper.” The woman’s voice wasn’t so concerned any longer. It was authoritative and flat.

The truck that had nearly hit Gabrielle moments before had also come to a stop. Two more men were climbing from that vehicle. They headed toward her.

“You’re EOD,” she said, understanding as a chill seemed to settle over her body.

The woman stared back at her. “There are two ways to do this,” the woman said, voice soft.

“Let me guess,” Gabrielle muttered as she climbed from the car. “Easy and hard?”

A nod.

The armed man came closer to Gabrielle. The light from the streetlamp glinted off his dark hair. “No one’s going to hurt you, ma’am,” he assured her. “We’re here for your protection.” He smiled at her and offered his hand. “My name’s Deuce.”

Hesitant now, she reached for that hand. “No way is Deuce your real name...”

He yanked her forward. His left hand came up in an instant. Too late, she saw the handcuffs. Before she could jerk away from him, one cuff snapped over her wrist.

“No, it isn’t,” he agreed softly as he pulled her into his arms. “It’s a name for second chances. Maybe you’ll give old Cooper one of those chances when this mess is over.”

Then she was pretty much dragged into the waiting car. The doors slammed behind her, and the vehicle raced away.

Anger pulsed through her with every mile that passed.

Second chance?
Hell, no.

* * *

C
OOPER
SHOVED
OPEN
the door to Bruce Mercer’s office.
“Where is she?”
The door banged against the wall behind him. Judith Rogers, Mercer’s assistant, let out a screech as she tried to jerk him back.

“I told you, Marshall,” Judith snapped, sounding as furious as Cooper felt, “the boss is working! You can’t just barge in there!”

Yeah, he could. He had.

Mercer glanced up from his computer. “If you’re referring to Gabrielle Harper, she’s here, of course. Where else would she be? Especially since
you’re
the one who told us to pick her up.”

Cooper’s hands fisted. “I want to see her.” He ignored Judith’s attempts to pull him back. For a small woman, she was surprisingly strong. Just not strong enough.

Mercer glanced at his assistant. “It’s okay, Judith. I needed to talk with Cooper anyway.”

“Yes, well,” Judith stopped trying to drag Cooper out and she gave an annoyed sniff, “he needs to learn how to
not
barge into an office.”

She stomped away and slammed the door quite loudly on her way out.

Cooper didn’t move. “Gabrielle.” Ordering that containment on her had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. He knew she had to be furious, had to feel betrayed. He needed to get to her and try to explain what was happening.