Harlequin Intrigue June 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: To Honor and To Protect\Cornered\Untraceable (41 page)

They'd been about to go undercover on a critical operation, however, so both of them had pushed whatever had just happened between them aside. Something to deal with later.

Of course, if Evan had known what would happen later, he would've made very different choices that day. He would have driven to the nearest hotel and made love with Juliet until neither of them could walk.

Evan took the credit cards and pictures and put them back into the wallet. Maybe it would've changed everything, maybe it would've changed nothing. He'd never know.

He took Bob Sinclair's wedding ring and slipped it on his finger. He might as well start getting used to its weight. He picked up the Saint Christopher necklace—Bob and Lisa had matching ones—and placed the chain around his neck. He kissed the medallion as Bob Sinclair had always done.

Evan stood and began packing everything away, straightening up his desk a little. If everything went the way they hoped, he wouldn't be here in Omega HQ very often over the next few days, for it would be too dangerous. He had done all he could do here at the office. He grabbed the keys to the SUV he'd be driving until the case was over.

It was time to slip on the Bob Sinclair persona. To think like him, walk like him, become him.

Chapter Five

Juliet found herself back at Omega Headquarters the next morning, early again. But for once her early arrival wasn't due to unreasonable fears and memories driving her from her home. Today she was in because she wanted to be, in order to provide Evan with any support he would need while meeting with Vince Cady.

She didn't expect there would be a whole lot she could do. Evan wouldn't be wearing a wire or transmitting device. No agent would take something like that to a first meeting with a perpetrator when he or she was sure to be searched; it would be a quick way to get killed. But if Evan needed any info, or advice Juliet could provide, she wanted to be there for his call.

She felt guilty enough for sending him in alone, but determined not to rehash all that again today. She would just do what she could from this end.

She stopped at the coffee shop down the block from Omega, ordered a cup of her favorite brew and made her way to the nondescript front doors of Sector Headquarters. The lobby of Omega could be mistaken for any financial or business building on the outskirts of Washington, DC. A security desk sat in front of the elevators. Everyone had to show their badges to get by. Nothing unusual.

But it was inside the elevators where the true security started. A retinal and fingerprint scan, as well as an individualized code, were required before a passenger was taken to any secure floor. Nobody just walked off the streets and got into Omega.

It was the reason Juliet felt safe here, when she didn't anywhere else.

The morning ended up being as uneventful as she had hoped. She sat at her desk, monitoring all calls and electronic submissions that might be coming from Evan. But except for a brief text stating the meeting was confirmed for 11:00 a.m. near the Baltimore Pier, they hadn't heard anything from him. No news wasn't necessarily good news in this business, but it wasn't necessarily bad news, either.

Juliet forced herself to relax. She'd feel better once Evan's initial meeting with Vince Cady was complete. So much rode on this one event.

Her brother Sawyer stuck his head in the door. “Heard from Karcz?”

“A couple of hours ago. Everything seemed good. Meeting scheduled for eleven.” Juliet looked down at the clock on one of the computer screens she had open. Five minutes to eleven. Moment of truth.

“Cam and I are headed into DC proper. Bomb threat issue and the Bureau needs some extra hands. All available agents are headed in.”

Juliet nodded. “Okay. Well, I've definitely got it covered here. Just waiting for Evan to check in after the meeting. Nothing I can really do except wait. But in case he needs any emergency info I want to be standing by.”

“Okay, sis. We'll be on cell phone silence because of the bomb threat. FBI on the scene is concerned that the perps might be using a cell to detonate, so they're jamming all frequencies.”

“I'll figure something out if I need you. I'm expecting a boring day.”

Sawyer left and Juliet went back to her work. One computer actively monitored the Baltimore Police Department. They had no idea what was going on with this case, so could actually stumble in and do harm if she wasn't careful. She'd give them info on a need-to-know basis, if it looked as if they might interfere with the case somehow. She'd also been reading through the files of Vince Cady's known associates all morning. Nothing terribly interesting there, either, but Juliet wanted to make sure she was up to speed on all the names and faces.

She almost missed it. Amid the chaos of the monitors and files, hypervigilant in her effort to make sure she could provide any support Evan might need—overcompensating for guilt much?—Juliet almost missed the single communiqué that could bring the entire operation crashing down.

It was an automated email from the Omega system. It had filtered through the Virginia courts and correction system, and provided a list of three people who had been released from a Richmond jail on bond this morning at eight o'clock. Omega's system only red-flagged info concerning criminals or suspects in their database—people Omega had caught, were currently trying to catch, or planned to catch in the future.

The system listed one of the releases, a low-level hired thug named Mark Bolick, because of the agent who had apprehended the suspect: Evan Karcz. At first Juliet didn't pay the communiqué any attention. As an analyst, she had multiple lists like this come across her computer screen every day.

Mark Bolick had been arrested last month during an altercation between the crime group DS-13 and some Omega agents, a situation that had almost left her brother Sawyer dead. Most of the members of DS-13, including the dirty ex-FBI agent running the crime ring, had been killed. But some had been arrested, including Bolick. Evan had been undercover, not directly involved in the case. But because Sawyer, the agent in charge, had been in critical condition, Evan had arrested the remaining bad guys. Not common practice in undercover work.

Mark Bolick in and of himself wasn't much of a problem. Juliet didn't know why he was getting out on bail so early and didn't really care. The problem was Bolick had ties to Vince Cady, based on information she'd read in the files this morning. Although he didn't seem to be a big part of Cady's organization, he was dating Cady's niece.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Bolick, after sitting in jail for over a month, would be heading up to Baltimore as soon as possible, probably to see his girlfriend. But it wasn't a stretch to think he might check in with Cady immediately.

And he'd be sure to remember the man posing as Bob Sinclair as the one who had arrested him just a few weeks before. That would mean the end of the case for Evan.

And probably his life, especially if they'd already discussed any details about anything. Or maybe just because Cady or one of his men would see it as an opportunity to get rid of an undercover cop.

Juliet immediately speed dialed Evan's phone. A call was risky, but at least produced immediate communication. Evan would be able to talk his way out of it, make up some excuse to Cady about why he was taking the call.

But he didn't answer.

Juliet immediately sent a text from her computer to the same number.
Aunt Suzie had a heart attack. Mom needs you to come home right away.

Aunt Suzie was the signal for general emergency. Come home right away meant to get out of there now. Evan wouldn't have any details, but he would know what the message meant.

Juliet sat staring at her computer, waiting for the screen to give a received message. All Omega-issued phones had the capacity to show if a message had been received. Helpful, but not foolproof, since it couldn't notify the handler if the
agent
was the one who had actually read the text. Just that it had been accessed.

Juliet didn't necessarily expect Evan to respond, depending on what was going on in the meeting with Cady, but she did want to know the warning had been received.

But nothing. She sent the text again, just to be sure. Still nothing.

Multiple scenarios ran through her head ranging from the benign—Evan was in a momentary situation where he couldn't access his phone or didn't have a signal—to the catastrophic—he had already been exposed as an undercover agent and executed by Vince Cady.

Juliet gave it five more minutes, sending the message three more times.

Nothing.

She looked at her watch and did some quick calculations. Eleven-fifteen. Evan should definitely already be meeting with Cady by now. And it was a hundred fifty miles from Richmond to Baltimore, so it was conceivable that Mark Bolick could've already made it there, too. She needed to find out where Evan was and get in touch with him.

Juliet opened the program that allowed her to use Evan's phone as a tracker. She entered in the code for it and waited.

Device not found.

Juliet entered in the code one more time to be sure. Nothing again. Now she really began to worry. There were too many unknowns in this situation. She had to make a decision. She didn't want to blow the operation for nothing, but neither was she willing to risk Evan's life.

She called the contact number she had for the Baltimore PD. Quickly she explained the situation to a ranking officer there, asking him to send out a unit to check the location of Evan's meeting with Cady near the Baltimore Pier, explaining the need for speed but also stealth, if possible. The officer assured her of their cooperation and that he would call back shortly.

It didn't take long, about fifteen minutes—although it felt much longer—for the officer to call her back. His response had Juliet immediately running down the hall to Burgamy's office.

“Dennis, we have a problem with Evan in the undercover op,” she told her supervisor, without any preamble. She explained about Mark Bolick.

“Have you contacted Baltimore PD and GPS for his phone?”

“Yes, for both. I'm not getting any GPS location reading for his phone at all. BPD sent a unit to the location I provided, where Evan reported the meeting with Vince Cady would be held, but no one was there. They said it was completely empty, with no sign of any sort of struggle or foul play.”

Burgamy stood. “Okay, that's both good and bad.”

Juliet knew what he meant. Evan wasn't lying in a pool of blood somewhere, so that was good. But they had no idea where he was, and no way of contacting him. That was bad.

Very bad.

“It's just a matter of time before Mark Bolick shows up while Evan is there.” Juliet tried not to pace around Burgamy's office, but it was difficult.

“Have Baltimore put out an APB on Bolick. Maybe we can catch him before he meets up with Cady and Evan. If he's in Baltimore, he's breaking his bond agreement, anyway, by being out of state.”

Juliet had her phone out to make the call.

Burgamy stopped her. “Juliet, you worked with Evan as this persona before. Do you know of any places he might have suggested to Cady? Neutral places that would make the guy more comfortable? Obviously, the meeting wasn't going as well as Evan hoped if they aren't at the location they agreed to, and his phone is completely offline.”

This probably wouldn't have happened if you'd gone undercover with him.

Burgamy didn't say the words out loud, and may not have even been thinking them. But Juliet could feel them floating in the air. Maybe it was just her own guilt talking.

“I don't know. Yeah. Maybe a couple of places.” Juliet could picture a few.

“I don't have any agents to send out. Everybody has gone into DC to help with this bomb issue. Until we know for sure Evan is in trouble, the bomb has to be my priority.”

Juliet nodded. Burgamy was right; he couldn't pull men off a known crisis for something that was only a possible one. “Okay, I'll work with Baltimore PD. Hopefully this is just some sort of fluke thing and Evan will be in touch soon.”

But her gut told her the opposite.

Chapter Six

From the very beginning this meeting with Vince Cady hadn't gone the way Evan had hoped. It had started okay, a call with an agreed meeting time and place at an empty office building near the Baltimore Pier. The location allowed for privacy, but also a measure of safety for Cady. It would be easy to disappear into the nearby crowds if a quick getaway was needed.

Evan had reported the meeting location to Omega, then had shown up, ready for Bob Sinclair to be anything and everything the drug lord needed him to be. But Cady wasn't there. Evan had waited fifteen minutes, wondering with each minute that passed if the entire operation was a failure before it even began, before two thugs had shown up.

“Where's Cady?” he had asked.

Neither had answered, just walked up to him and began frisking him. Thank God he wasn't wearing a wire.

“I don't have a weapon,” Evan had told them during the pat-down. That had been a conscious decision. In some undercover ops he did carry a weapon, because that's what the persona would do. But Bob Sinclair was a buyer and seller, not muscle for hire. In most situations, he wouldn't have a weapon.

Although Evan sort of wished Bob had one now.

The thugs took his cell phone from his pocket and one walked outside with it. Then the other guy, still not saying a word, pulled out his own phone and dialed a number.

He handed the device to Evan.

“Um, hello?”

“Mr. Sinclair, this is Vince Cady.”

“I thought we were meeting here at the pier, Mr. Cady.” Evan tried to put just the right amount of annoyance into his tone. Bob Sinclair would want Vince Cady's business, but would not be desperate for it.

“Yes, well, we've had a slight change in plans for security purposes. I felt this was necessary, since we have never actually met.”

“Okay, so what's the new plan?”

“Now that I know we are talking on a secure line and that no one else can hear us, I was hoping we could come up with a new meeting location.”

This wasn't totally unreasonable. It seemed as if Cady was a suspicious bastard, but that was probably why he was still in business.

Evan thought fast. Juliet could still use his phone to track him, but if he could suggest somewhere he was familiar with, that would at least give Evan a slight advantage. Being outnumbered and unarmed was disadvantage enough.

“Fine. There's a group of warehouses near the Francis Scott Key Bridge.” Evan gave Cady the address. “It's neutral and private. Let's meet there.”

“Sounds fine, Mr. Sinclair. My associates will escort you. And I will gladly replace your phone. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Evan was about to ask what he meant, but Cady had already disconnected.

“I guess we're going to the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Evan told the man putting the phone away.

“Mr. Cady said there would be two of you.”

Evan didn't blink an eye. “Not today. The wife couldn't make it.”

The other thug walked in from outside. “Okay, it's done. Are we ready?”

“Can I get my phone back now?” Evan asked him.

“No. It's on its way to the bottom of the harbor. Sorry.” The man didn't look a bit sorry.

Damn. This meant Evan was totally on his own. Unless Omega had developed some super tracking software in the past six hours, his only contact with them was now a plaything for fishes.

The ride to the warehouse near the Francis Scott Key Bridge was uneventful. Less than uneventful, almost completely silent.

“I left my Jeep in hourly parking. Between my cell phone in the harbor and our little field trip, this is turning into an expensive day.”

Nothing. Evan gave up on trying to engage them.

The warehouses were what Evan remembered. A large area of identical buildings, almost all empty, surrounded by industrial structures. It would be easy to get lost, or end up in the wrong warehouse if you didn't know exactly where you were going. Multiple ways leading in and out. Helpful for people who didn't like being hemmed in. He and Juliet had done business at this very location as Bob and Lisa Sinclair.

A door to one of the empty warehouses stood open and they drove straight in. There stood Vince Cady, leaning casually against his SUV, surrounded by four of his closest buddies. Evan got out of the car as it stopped.

“Mr. Sinclair.” Cady walked toward him and shook his hand. The man was in his midfifties, with salt-and-pepper hair, short and trim. “It is good to finally meet you. I am sorry for all the subterfuge and drama of switching locations.”

“You've got to have security measures. I understand.”

“And where is the lovely Mrs. Sinclair I've heard so much about?”

Evan hadn't expected Cady to start asking about Juliet this early. “She's not here.”

“I can see that.
Why
is she not here with you?”

“Lisa and I don't do business together anymore.” Evan tried to keep it as broad and simple as possible.

Cady stared at him for a long moment, one eyebrow raised. “I don't like unexpected changes, Mr. Sinclair. I was told you and Mrs. Sinclair always worked together. That you were the brawn and she was the brains of your partnership, no offense intended.”

Evan gave his most easygoing smile. “Well, now I'm both the brawn and the brains of the operation. Nothing has to go through a committee.”

But Cady didn't seem interested in Evan's friendly demeanor. “From what I understand, Mrs. Sinclair has not been seen for quite a long time. Over a year in fact.”

Evan shrugged. Cady knew more than Omega had thought. Evan didn't want to give away any info by blabbering. “We went our separate ways. So what?”

“I had heard such good things about you, Mr. Sinclair. About you and Mrs. Sinclair as a team.” Cady turned and walked back toward his men, who were standing by the car a few feet away. Evan was very well aware that he was in the middle of a warehouse surrounded by Vince Cady's thugs. Highly armed ones.

And he had no weapon and no backup coming.

“But I'd also heard a few rumors, too. Rumors that you might be law enforcement and that Mrs. Sinclair was no longer with you because she'd found out that fact and left.” Now surrounded safely by his men, Cady turned back and faced Evan. “I so hoped she'd be with you today so that those rumors could be put to rest. But she isn't, and I have no choice but to believe that you aren't who you say you are.”

So much for not worrying about any rumors surrounding the Sinclairs' absence. Suddenly Evan found six weapons pointed directly at him.

“That makes you a loose end. Unfortunately, I don't allow any loose ends.”

* * *

J
ULIET
HADN
'
T
BEEN
SURE
exactly where she was going in Baltimore when she jumped into her car not long after talking with Burgamy; she just knew she couldn't stay in the office. The Baltimore PD was being less than helpful, although, in their defense, Juliet wasn't sure exactly what she was asking them to do.

Look for someone, somewhere in your city, who may be in danger, but may be perfectly fine.

Baltimore law enforcement had their own problems, and right now Evan Karcz wasn't one of them.

They had put out the APB on Mark Bolick. And thanks to some cameras she'd accessed showing Bolick leaving the courthouse that morning, she knew what he was driving and his license plate.

Given all that information, the chances of Bolick getting picked up by the police were pretty good. But the chances of that happening before he blew Evan's cover were much slimmer.

She would start at the pier. Maybe there was something the officers had missed. Northern DC to Baltimore was only forty-five minutes. Juliet was already halfway there.

But the call came in before she ever reached the pier. Juliet's heart stopped just for a moment when she saw it was her contact at the Baltimore PD. She put the phone on speaker and answered it, still driving.

“Agent Branson—”

Juliet didn't bother to correct him about the incorrect agent title.

“—the vehicle from the APB you had us put out has been spotted. A uniform radioed it in, but then was called to a nearby emergency and so wasn't able to pursue.”

Damn it. “Okay. Was the vehicle seen near the pier?”

“No, near the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”

As soon as Juliet heard the words she swerved across two lanes to reach the exit from the highway, ignoring the angry honks from other drivers.

She was just a few minutes from the FSK Bridge, southeast of Baltimore. The officer gave her the last known whereabouts of Bolick's car. Not far from the warehouses she and Evan had used for some buys when they'd worked together.

Had he moved the meeting out here? If so, why hadn't he let them know? Of course, it was possible that Mark Bolick was in this area for an entirely different reason that had nothing to do with Vince Cady or Evan. Or that the car the officer saw was the wrong one or no longer held Bolick.

Juliet's familiarity with the roads near the warehouses helped her as she navigated. But the area was large and there were lots of places to stay hidden if someone was trying to. That was one of the reasons she and Evan had chosen it for use in their undercover work.

She spotted Bolick's car, with him still driving it, thank goodness, as it pulled up in front of one of the warehouses. Juliet cursed under her breath. Vince Cady must be around here somewhere and Bolick was about to walk in on his meeting with Evan. It was too late to call for any sort of backup, and if she tried to arrest Bolick right here, he might yell and tip Cady off. She needed to do something more drastic.

Juliet pulled in behind Bolick as he was getting out of his vehicle, glad that the relaxed dress code at Omega made her look less like law enforcement. She didn't let herself think about what she was doing, just threw her car keys under the floor mat, grabbed her Glock 9 mm out of the glove compartment and slid it into the back waistband of her jeans as she quickly opened her own door. She grabbed some papers resting on the passenger seat.

Bolick wasn't a big guy, thank goodness.

“Hi. Excuse me? Sir?” Juliet ruffled through the papers as she got out of her car. “I'm so sorry. I'm completely lost.”

“I can't help you, lady.” Bolick made no move toward her, didn't even look at her, but Juliet didn't let that deter her. She kept walking.

“I just need to figure out where I am, based on this address. My phone died—”

“Sorry. I don't know anything about this area.” Bolick turned away and began heading for the warehouse door. Juliet rushed to catch up with him.

“Can you just look at this?” She touched him on the arm and he turned, scowling. Juliet didn't wait to see what he would do next. She hit him in the chin with a brisk uppercut, putting her weight behind the punch, before he could get a good look at her.

She caught Bolick as he crumpled to the ground, just as she had expected.

Juliet could feel her entire body shaking as she dragged him the few feet to the trunk of his car. She got the keys out of his pocket and unlocked it, using all her strength to heft his unconscious form and roll him in. She knew he wouldn't be out forever, so grabbed some duct tape from her own car and tied his hands and covered his mouth. Then she got into his car and drove it a couple blocks away, where it couldn't be seen.

Juliet walked back to the warehouse, adrenaline still pooling through her entire body. Hopefully, the threat to Evan had passed, because she didn't think she could possibly be any help to him at this moment even if he needed it. She clenched her jaw in an attempt to stop her teeth from chattering. Mark Bolick was the closest she'd come to any sort of physical altercation—hell, almost any physical contact—with a stranger since her attack.

Juliet crouched down, focusing on her breathing and getting in as much oxygen as possible. Eventually, her hands stopped shaking and her heart rate settled into a less frantic pace. She made a call to Omega, reporting the location of Bolick's car and that he could be found in the trunk. Someone from headquarters would handle it and make sure Bolick was kept out of the picture while Evan was undercover with Cady.

Feeling a little better, she stood up. Her job here was finished, right? Mark Bolick no longer posed a threat to Evan's mission, so she was free to return to the safety of the Omega offices. Juliet began walking toward her car, but then stopped abruptly.

She couldn't just leave. Yes, Bolick was out of the picture, but she couldn't just go, not knowing if Evan was okay. Why couldn't he be reached? Why couldn't they track his phone? Juliet knew she would never be able to forgive herself if he was in trouble and she had left him to run back to safety.

Observe. That's all she had to do. She wouldn't need to make her presence known. She wouldn't interfere. She'd just make sure nobody was about to kill Evan or anything like that.

And if he
was
in trouble? Then she'd call for backup. Juliet took out her phone. As a matter of fact, she'd call Omega right now, let them know her status and get Baltimore PD on standby if necessary. Done. She could do this.

Keeping her breath slow and even, Juliet turned and began walking back toward the warehouse, deciding to go to a rear door she knew each of these buildings contained. She rubbed her damp palms on the thighs of her jeans as she silently made her way along the wall, her weapon still tucked in the waistband under her lightweight sweater.

She just prayed she wouldn't have to use it. And if she did, that she wouldn't freeze up. Sweat broke out on her forehead just thinking about it.

Juliet opened the door to the warehouse as silently as possible. She could hear some people talking, but couldn't make out the words. She eased inside.