Maybe she was a fair share of both-sane and crazy. And maybe that was okay. But she had no right being hurt because he doubted her. Not when she herself had doubts. So she said the words he’d often spoken to her and prayed they had the same effect. “Trust me.”
“I said I did.”
” Not with your head, Adam.” She touched his chest. “in here.”
“I do.”
And that scared him most of all. You’re Adam’s sun. The light to flood all the dark crevices inside him, to gain freedom from the past, yes. And to love. Grasping Chaplain Rutledge’s true meaning had her almost giddy. She lifted Adam’s hand and cupped it to her chest, over her heart. “I trust you, too, and I have faith-in you. In here.”
He blinked hard and his Adam’s apple bobbed three times. She wanted to kiss him. But that would complicate his thinking. She wanted to be straightforward. This wasn’t about confused emotions or intense situations, or even about physical attraction. This was about character.
His and her own. She backed away. “I’d better get going.” Adam glanced at the clock and his demeanor changed to professional. “Dr. Kane’s on duty now.” Adam pulled the keys from his jeans pocket and passed them to her. “Look for a brown Jeep in the Maintenance parking lot, on the other side of the flight line. Third row.”
The red car had been contaminated. He’d left it at the simulator. He passed her something listening device. Looking at it against her palm, she felt a cold shiver creep up her backbone. “What, um, do you expect me to do with this?”
Adam met her gaze, hard and unyielding. “I expect You to see him and plant it in Randall’s office.”
“What for?”
“He’s on duty tonight. When you take the canister in, he’s going to cut and run. Don’t ask how I know, I just do. You stay in this job long enough and you get gut feelings. I’ve got a gut feeling. And when Moxley runs, we’ve got to find out to whom he runs, and with what information. We still don’t know how he connects in all of this.”
She had tried convincing herself that Randall had only followed orders-for the greater good-tried denying that he was up to his lab coat on the wrong side in this, but she couldn’t play ostrich anymore, and her instincts shouted that Adam had gotten verification of it. “John Doe burned in the fir& at the facility, and Randall planted his body there, didn’t he, Adam?”
Surprise showed in Adam’s eyes. Regret followed. “Yes, honey. He did.”
Randall fooled her. How had she not known what kind of man he really was? How could she have been so blind and stupid and dull? “Was John Doe really already-”
“He died at the hospital,” Adam said. “Sergeant Phelps verified it and proved that Moxicy confiscated John Doe from the morgue.”
“With whose approval?” She’d sincerely thought this possibility too complex. That it would have involved too many people in too many places to be plausible. When she’d talked with Phelps, so had he. “Now she learned he’d proven otherwise. That not only was this plausible, it was fact. And that evidence of how many people were involved in this conspiracy scared and sickened her.
“I’m not sure, but I suspect Colonel Hackett arranged it,” Adam said. “Phelps tracked back to O’Dell, then got stymied.”
Something about this felt wrong. She nodded at Adam, even more angry and disappointed that she’d been taken in by Randall. Why couldn’t anyone just play straight anymore? Why did everyone put on multiple faces to confront the world, and wear another in private?
“I’m sorry, Tracy.” Adam’s voice turned soft. “I know this hurts.”
“it does.” She shrugged.. “He once was a friend, I thought, safe. Only now I find out he wasn’t safe at all, and being wrong about him rattles my faith in my judgment.”
“You can handle this.”
“Yes, I can. But I damn well resent having to handle it. I hate it, Adam.”
“I’m glad.” Adam pecked a kiss to her lips. “Now, get going. I’ll he here, waiting.”
She walked to the door, again thought of telling Adam she loved him, but again decided against it. He’d only just accepted that she wouldn’t betray him. From there all the way to being loved was too big a gulp for him to swallow down in a single dose without choking.
“Make sure you’re not followed on the way back.”
“I’ll do my best.” She dropped the listening device into her pocket. Dear God, please let my best be good enough!
Tracy entered Randall’s austere and empty office with mixed feelings. Her trusting and believing in Adam was sane. Her playing at being a spy was crazy as hell. What did she know about it? True, Janet had given her a briefing on career warfare, on Intel rules and drills.
And those same concepts did in ways parallel those in Tracy’s job. That gave her a little confidence. Planting the listening device in Randall’s office couldn’t be any more challenging than it had been in Hackett’s, but was planting it the right thing to do?
She’d agreed to do it, but now that she was here … Stop it. You made a commitment. Randall lied He crossed the line. Just do it.
Adam hadn’t had to protect her from the men trying to kill her at her house, nor had he been forced to prove the truth to her. He’d done those things—everything because he had wanted to do them. He’d trusted her, when anyone else in his position wouldn’t dare to risk trusting anyone. And he wanted to trust and have faith in her, to feel certain she would be fair, and committed to seeking the truth. They needed to know how Randall connected. Who had ordered him to lie about the dental records?
To . substitute John Doe? She could not recall Randall ever mentioning knowing Hackett or O’Dell. They couldn’t be his connection in this. It just didn’t fit. Of course planting the device was right. Of course it was.
The door opened behind her. She slapped the device to the underside of Randall’s desk, backed away from it, and then turned toward the door.
Randall walked in, saw her, and smiled. “Well, this is a surprise.”
Considering she was AWOL, she supposed it was a big surprise. A huge surprise.
“I thought you were still down with the flu.” He walked over to his desk and sat down. “Glad you’re feeling better.”
He didn’t know she was AWOL.
How could he not know? She had racked her brain all the way from the bunker to the hospital for an explanation that wouldn’t add to Adam’s list of charges, had come up with a tale of her being kidnapped by Reuger and his men, and there was no need to explain anything. Randall had no idea she was AWOL.
Did anyone know?
If not, great. if so, then should she feel grateful, or insulted? “I’m feeling a lot better,” she said, hearing his intercom buzz.
“Sorry, I’ve got to get this.” Randall reached for the receiver. “Dr. Moxley.”
He listened for a moment, and then frowned. “I’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and stood up.
Tracy nearly panicked.
“I’ve got to get down to the ER,” he said. “Can you wait here for a few minutes?”
“Actually, I’m here to see Dr. Kane. I just dropped by to see if I could use your phone.”
“Sure.” He headed for the door. “Come back by after your appointment with Steven. Maybe we can sneak in a cup of coffee.”
He wanted to grill her. His curiosity burned in his eyes.
“I’ll do that,” she lied.
Randall walked out and shut the door. She paused a second, making sure he didn’t come back, and then reached for the phone. Her hand shook badly. Was Adam listening to her every word already? She dialed and then waited, hoping it would be answered.
“Hello.”
Thank God. Tracy squeezed her eyes shut. “Janet, it’s me.
“Where the hell are you?” she whispered, muffling her voice.
“I’m okay. Confused as all get out, but okay.”
“I know it was a shock, learning the way you did, but it was necessary, Tracy. Honest.”
What was she talking about? All, Tracy figured it out. Janet’s warning Adam that Tracy was in trouble. “I’m not upset.” She glanced at a stack of files on a file cabinet behind Randall’s desk. One tagged “Keener Chemical” caught her eye. What in the world would Randall be doing with a Keener file? She pulled the folder Out. “I saw Randall. He didn’t know I was AWOL.”
“No one knows,” Janet said. “I covered for you. You’re home with the flu.”
I I’m not AWOL! Stunned, Tracy couldn’t take it in.
“Thanks, Janet. For everything.” Maybe, if fate smiled on her, she would come out of this with her reputation and her career intact-and if it was damn gracious-with Adam, too. Could fate be that gracious? “I’ve got to go.”
“Keep in touch, and let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I.will.” Tracy hung up the phone, staring at the contents of the Keener file. One sheet of paper was inside. One. Randall Moxley’s resume.
Chapter 26.
Tracy had stashed the black ba containing the canister an Intel novice, but she knew the value of caution after retrieving it from the cabinet where Adam had stashed Phelps’s boss the night of the rooftop patio incident, she walked directly to Dr. Kane’s office, cursing the maze the construction made of getting there and the Sheetrock dust tickling her nose. Were the workers making any progress at all?
Randall stood in Dr. Kane’s office, talking with him. Her biggest surprise on seeing him there was that she felt no surprise. From the time she had seen curiosity gleam in his eyes, she had expected him there, and sorry jerk that he was, he hadn’t disappointed her.
Dr. Kane stood up and extended his hand. “Hello, Captain Keener.”
She shook his cool hand, hoping the forensics expert in him would be receptive to her request. She was reluctant to ask him anything with Randall there. Although appalled, after she thought a moment, she realized it made sense. If he were to cut and run, as Adam had predicted, Randall would do so immediately after hearing her request, and the listening device planted in his office would inform Adam.
Dr. Kane, like General Nestler, was a wild card who could go either way. He could agree to help her, or deny at the nurse’s station on the fourth floor. She might be her request and report her. If he chose the latter, she would soon be doing hard time at Leavenworth, God, but she hated subterfuge. With passion and conviction. “Hi, Dr. Kane.”
He motioned to a soft leather chair, his glasses reflecting the bright fluorescent light. “Randall tells me you wanted to see me”
“Yes.”
Smelling lab chemicals, she sat down and set the black bag on the floor near her feet, then glanced from Randall to Dr. Kane. “I need to know the contents of something. I’d appreciate your running an analysis.”
He hiked a hip on the corner of his desk, draped an arm on the knee of his brown slacks. “For a case?”
“Professional, not personal.” She nodded. “And important, or I wouldn’t ask.”
“No problem.” He offered her a reassuring smile that would have had Janet’s hormones in warp-speed, mate mode. “What exactly are we examining?”
“A canister.” Tracy swallowed hard.
“Like one you would find full of flour on the kitchen counter?”
“Not exactly.” Oh, God. She really didn’t have the nerves for this kind of work. The knots in her stomach had knots. “More like one you would find on an airplane, containing a bomb.”
“A bomb?” Dr. Kane’s voice was pitched high and the glasses he dropped into his lab pocket clanged against a pen.
She nodded, hesitant. Well, hell. If you shoot for brass, you’re-never going to hit gold. “I suspect we’re going to find a form of sarin,” she said, watching Randall from the corner of her eye. His face bleached white.
“Christ Almighty, Keener.” Dr. Kane dropped onto his chair. The group of file folders in his hand fluttered, rustling. “What are you trying to get me into here?”
Seeing him mentally shunning her, she pleaded with him. “Look, I realize this situation is … delicate.” God, what an understatement. “But it is-”
“It’s more than delicate. You’re talking chemical warfare, Captain. Unauthorized chemical warfare, no doubt.”
“You’re right. It is unauthorized.” Her mouth went stone-dry. “But if you don’t help me, a lot of people could be hurt-military and civilians.”
Randall’s face still lacked any color, and he blinked a hundred times per minute. “I, um, have to get back to the ER.”
Before either she or Dr. Kane could utter a word, Randall was gone, and Tracy’s hope for his innocence died. She hadn’t wanted to believe the worst about him, but his reaction proved Adam right; Randall had cut and run. He was involved in more than falsely identifying Adam, lying about the team, and smuggling a corpse to the facility. He was in this conspiracy up to his eyeballs and guilty as hell. And she would bet her captain’s bars that he hadn’t gone to the ER, he had gone to make a phone call-please, God-from his office.
“Captain.” Dr. Kane recaptured his voice, and her attention. “I’m not clear about what’s going on here, and truthfully, I’d prefer not to be briefed.”
“I agree, Doctor.” He couldn’t tell what he didn’t .know. “It’s safer for you.”
He lifted the glasses back from his pocket and then fitted them on his nose. “Technically, in a situation like this, I’m supposed to contact Environmental and General Nestler immediately.”
She answered him with a frankness that surprised even her. “If you do that, you could be signing my death warrant.”
Dr. Kane didn’t so much as blink. “I’m getting the feeling you mean that literally. Tell me I’m wrong.”
She smoothed a hand down her jeans. The rough fabric was as irritating to her roof-grit-sore palms as to her-ragged state of mind. “I can’t.” .
He studied her a long moment, clenching the files in his hand. The folders rumpled and creased. The urge to rush him into deciding had her fidgeting. She bit her lip to keep her mouth shut. He had to draw his own conclusions without coercion. But, Lord, if he didn’t do it soon, every nerve in her body was going to shatter.
“Okay.” He rubbed at his chin, tossed the files onto his desk. “Okay. I’ll run the analysis first, and then decide.”
Tracy nearly slid to the floor in relief. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” He accepted the bag holding the Canister. “What I’ll do afterward depends on what I find here.”
She would think of some way to handle this and not put them all in even more jeopardy. She had to think of something.