Formula for Danger, page 27
part #6 of The Phoenix Agency Series
“Okay,” he said at last. “Here’re your choices, girlie. I want that formula. It’s the key to saving my hide. Say yes, I’ll take you someplace nice and private, get whatever you need, and you can get back to work on it.”
“You stole my computer,” she pointed out, “and it blew up in that cabin. I’d have to start from the beginning.”
“But you know all the pitfalls now,” he reminded her. “You’ve made the early mistakes. I know how this shit works. I’m not stupid. It’s a lot easier to recreate than it is to start from scratch.”
“That’s true,” she agreed. “But I don’t work well with a gun at my head. Or at my father’s.”
“Too bad. Because that’s how it is.” Horner stopped, placing himself so he could shoot either of them but far enough away they couldn’t rush him. “So if you say yes, you and I and dear old Dad here are going to get in your car and get the hell out of here. And you’re going to tell that man of yours and the asshole sheriff that if they try to stop us, I won’t hesitate to shoot both of you.”
“Even though they’ll kill you if you do?”
“If I don’t get that formula, it won’t make one hell of a lot of difference.”
“And if I say no?” she asked. As unobtrusively as she could, she snuck a peek at her watch. Dan and Cole had given her the countdown, and she was doing her best to stick to it.
“Well, I’m not about to let anyone else get their hands on it. Get rich on it. So I guess we’ll all take that little trip out of here anyway, and when I get to where I need to be, I’ll get rid of both of you. So what’s it going to be?”
She dropped her gaze to her hands again, pretending to think things over.
“Don’t worry about me,” Jed told her. “You do what you have to for yourself, kiddo.”
“You shut up,” Horner snapped. “Or I’ll go ahead and shoot you now.”
JL wet her lips, eyeing the man watching the two of them. She’d figured out ahead of time what to do if she managed to get them in the kitchen. Shifting slightly, she pushed her chair back as if she planned to get up.
“You sit right there, damn it.” Horner pointed his gun at the ceiling and fired. “You hear me? I’m not kidding around here.”
JL jumped at the loud sound.
Take one step back. Just one.
“I mean business,” Horner repeated, and took one step farther away from her, one step closer to the window.
He stared from one to the other, the air heavy with his anger.
The sound of glass shattering broke the silence, and Horner pitched forward, falling heavily to the floor, the back of his head blown away by a sniper’s bullet.
JL stared at the body of the man for a long moment. She heard the chair scrape as her father got up, felt him lift her to her feet.
“You don’t want to see that,” he told her, and turned her face against his shoulder.
“JL?” The front door opened, and Cole raced into the house, gun in hand, looking left and right.
“In here.” Her voice was muffled against her father’s body. “I’m fine. We’re both fine.”
Cole reached her and tugged her into his own embrace.
“Everyone good in here?” The back door opened, and Dan strode into the kitchen, sniper rifle slung over his shoulder by its strap.
“Good job,” Cole applauded. “I guess you’ve still got the stuff.”
“Not that I enjoy using it, but thanks. Always happy to help take out the trash.”
Mike arrived, followed by Sheriff Davis and two deputies. Jed brought a bottle of bourbon from his den. Cole led JL into the living room and poured a short drink for her. He coaxed her into a chair before handing her the glass.
“Drink this, darlin’. You’re nerves need settling.”
“I’m okay,” she insisted. “I’m fine. Really.” Then gave lie to her words by bursting into tears.
Cole lifted her, sat in the chair, and settled her in his lap.
“It’s okay.” His lips brushed her forehead. “It’s over. It’s done. Finished.”
“I’m sorry I ever started that damn formula,” she sobbed.
“No, you’re not.” He stroked her hair. “When you perfect it, a lot of people will benefit from it.”
“Cole’s right, honey,” Jed put in. “This is a really important project, and a lot of people are depending on you.”
“We’ll take some time off first.” Cole tightened his arm around her. “And talk about a new place to set up the lab. But that’s all details. First, I’m going to make sure you get some quality downtime.”
Dan walked into the living room, Mike behind him. “They took Horner’s body out the back. I told them JL didn’t need to see it.”
“Damn straight,” Cole agreed.
“Jed, you might want to camp out at Cole’s until we get that floor cleaned and the window replaced.”
“I’m good. If someone can put a board over the window, I can handle the rest for the moment.”
“Uh-uh,” Dan disagreed. “That’s off-limits until we get it good as new.”
“Please, Daddy.” JL wiped the tear tracks from her cheeks. “Only for a couple of nights. I’ll sleep a lot better. And the hands can take care of the work around here.”
“Okay, okay.” His voice was gruff, but the emotion underlying it was evident. “Let me go pack a bag.”
“Sheriff Davis wants to talk to everyone,” Mike told them. “He agreed it can all wait until tomorrow, though. He’ll come to your place, Cole, and take everyone’s statement. We’ll keep an eye on Cassandra Grigsby, but I don’t think she’ll be a player after this. And I understand Thiago Cervantes is back in Argentina. I don’t expect we’ll see him again anytime soon.”
Cole rose from the chair and set JL on her feet. “Let’s get you and your dad out of here. I think all of us can use a good drink after this.”
Epilogue
JL pushed back from the table and ran her fingers through her hair.
“I think I’ve looked over these plans so many times all the drawings seem the same. When Grant signs off on them, you should be ready to start building.”
Cole set a mug of fresh tea in front of her. “We want to be sure everything you need is included.”
“Are you sure about all this? It’s a huge expense.”
No lie. After all the disasters, and the awareness the formula could continue to be a target for greedy people, she had agreed to have a facility built on Cole’s property near the Lone Star Phoenix site.
“We salvaged most of the equipment from the lab,” he reminded her. “Horner wasn’t interested in any of that because he’d outfitted his own. This won’t be the last project you work on, and all of them may require security in some form or other. It’s a win/win situation.”
“I do like your idea about taking half an acre in the corner of that area to plant the test seeds.”
He nodded and dropped into the chair across from her. “That area will need protection, too,” he reminded her. “It’s easier to keep it all under one roof. So to speak.”
Ten days had passed since everything had come to a head at her father’s place. JL still felt the vestiges of the fear from when her father had called to tell her Horner was at his place. She still had nightmares in which she heard glass breaking and saw Horner’s head exploding as he pitched forward. She awoke every night, heart hammering and sweat drenching her body. Cole always held her and soothed her, brought her tea, and curled her into his warmth until she was able to fall sleep again. She didn’t know what she would have done without him.
The Phoenix Agency had done its thing, closing up the lab for her and securing the equipment. They had also scheduled visits to Cassandra Grigsby and the Cervantes brothers. It stunned JL they had made a trip to South America expressly to warn people to stay away from her. Whenever she tried to thank them, all any of them said was, “It’s what we do.”
“What’s the latest on the other culprits? And on Horner’s organization?”
Cole checked his watch. “As a matter of fact, we’re due for a Skype conference right about now. Let’s go into the den and sign on.”
Cole insisted JL sit in the desk chair while he pulled an ottoman over next to her.
“How are you doing, JL?” Mark Halloran asked as soon as they were live.
“Much better, Mark. Thank you so much.” She smiled at Cole. “Big thanks to Cole, of course. And to all of you for letting him off the hook for the past few days till I got my brains back together.”
“No problem,” Dan Romeo chimed in. “We’re all glad to see you smiling again. How’s your dad?”
“Feisty as ever.” She laughed. “He keeps saying it takes more than some guy with a gun to put him off his feed.”
“Speaking of which,” Cole said, “what’s the latest on the mop-up?”
“Horner’s empire is pretty much dust,” Dan answered. “It was already crumbling—he was leveraged to the max. And with the civil unrest in some of the countries where he was used to drawing down the big bucks, he was in a shaky situation before he even heard about the formula. And big surprise—a lot of his deals didn’t pass the smell test. The feds are all over the conglomerate.”
“He deserved whatever he got,” Troy said. “The person we all feel for is his wife. She knew nothing about his business or the things he’d done. And she won’t be left with much, either.” He sighed. “Plus, we really feel for all the employees who also lost everything.”
JL shivered. “I can’t imagine what kind of woman would marry a man like him.”
“You’d be surprised,” Dan told her. “She’s a pretty nice person. In a way, I feel sorry for her.”
“What about Leo Guerra?” Cole asked. “We have him on video at the break-in, and who knows what else he did.”
“He’s in the wind. Apparently after he got Horner out of the building that day, he pulled money out of all his accounts and disappeared like smoke. If we’re lucky, we’ll never hear from him again, but you can bet we’ll keep an eye out for him. Electronic and otherwise.”
“I had a nice chat with Cassandra Grigsby,” Mark told them. “Up close and personal. I think she understands she made some calculated mistakes here, although the only illegal thing she did was sending someone to break into the lab. She’s assured me she’ll be checking other areas of development, and I assured her when the grain formula is ready, she’ll be invited to submit a bid.”
“That’s more than I would have done,” JL said.
“You know what they say. ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”
“Mike, did you actually go all the way to Argentina to meet with the Cervantes brothers? That’s a long trip to take.”
“I wanted to deliver the message in person that we don’t take well to pressure up here in the great state of Texas. I don’t think we’ll be hearing from them again.”
“How are the plans for the building coming along?” Troy wanted to know.
“Great,” Cole answered for both of them. “I expect to put it out for bids next week and get started shortly after that. The downtime has been good for JL.” He winked at her and grinned. “Although I think she’s getting antsy to get back to work.”
“Actually,” she chimed in, “it gives me time to do a little more research on other strains and talk to people at other labs, so it’s all good.”
“Cole, if you’re ready to get in the saddle, we’ve had calls from three clients—one in Texas and two in Arizona—who want to meet with you about having Phoenix train their corporate security.”
“Send along the information, and I’ll get right on it.” He paused. “JL got a call from one of her old friends yesterday, who asked if she could come talk to her about something. To me, actually. JL had told her about us and a little about what we do. I don’t know if there’s anything there, but if there is, I’ve got Jace Whitney plus the agents we added before we rescued JL. I expect we’ll be pretty busy here.”
“Good.” Dan smiled. “Always music to my ears. By the way, Cole, we checked out your friend Tom Schrader. He’s squeaky clean. He really needed help securing his prize bull. The attempted thefts just came coincidentally at the same time as the rest of this.”
“Good to know. That makes me feel a lot better.”
“And now he’s turned into a legitimate Phoenix client.” He smiled at Cole. “And we cut h a big break because he’s a longtime friend.”
Cole didn’t know how to thank these people enough,
Dan turned to JL. “Mia wants to know if you can come up to San Antonio in the next week or so and meet with the women about your role in the Psi Department. Rick and Kelly will be in town, so it’s a chance for all of you to get together. That is, if it won’t interfere with your lab work.”
“That will never get in the way, Dan. I owe all of you so much. And I’m honored to be a part of it.” She meant every word of it, too. “Have her call me, and we’ll set a date.”
“Good deal. Mike or Ed will come down and get you in one of the helos.”
Cole looked at JL, and she nodded. “One more thing, guys. We’d like it if all of you and your wives could come down here next weekend for a barbecue and celebration. The runway’s fully functional, so you could bring the plane.”
“What’s the occasion?” Troy asked.
Cole lifted JL’s left hand so they could all see the exquisite solitaire on it.
“You finally going to make an honest man of him, JL?” Mark teased.
“I’m giving it my best shot. So can you make it? A week from Saturday?”
They all consulted their calendars and nodded, noting they still had to check with their wives.
“Although I don’t see it as a problem,” Mark commented. “This is one event they’ll really want to help celebrate. Congratulations, you two. From all of us.”
After a few odds and ends, they all signed off.
Cole closed the Skype program and tugged JL up from the chair.
“Can I tell you how glad I am to have you in my life?” He brushed his lips lightly against hers.
“Same goes.” She tunneled her fingers through his thick hair. “I never thought I’d be able to love again. I was afraid of so many things after what happened with—well, you know.”
“JL . . .”
She shook her head. “No. Let me finish. This is so much more than I had before. And there’s a trust between us that was missing my first time around. I’m not sure what Brian and I had was even love. But this? This is real. I’m all in. I told you that when you asked me to marry you.”
“Same goes. I love you.” His voice was raw. “You are my life.”
“I love you, too. Always. Forever.” She ran her fingers through his hair and stroked his cheeks. Stared hard into his eyes and saw everything there she’d always wanted.
“Forever,” she repeated.
He nodded and smiled. “Forever.”
Other romantic suspense by Desiree Holt:
The Phoenix Agency
Jungle Inferno
Extrasensory
Scent of Danger
Freeze Frame (Preorder August 2017)
Feel the Heat (Preorder August 2017)
Vigilance
Hide and Seek (Available October 2017)
Without Warning (Available 2018)
Hostage (Available 2018)
Strike Force
Unconditional Surrender
Lock and Load (Available November 2017)
Retreat to the Rear (Available 2018)
Take No Quarter (Available 2018)
Corporate Heat
Where Danger Hides
Double Deception (Available Fall 2017)
Book #3 (Available 2018)
Book #4 (Available 2018)
About the Author
USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything from romantic suspense and paranormal romance to erotic romance, a genre in which she is the oldest living author. She has been referred to by USA Today as “the Nora Roberts of erotic romance,” and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book Award and the Holt Medallion, as well as a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice nominee. She is a USA Today bestselling author, has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and profiled in the Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, the (London) Daily Mail, the New Delhi Times, and numerous other national and international publications.
Desiree Holt has produced more than two hundred titles in nearly every subgenre of romance fiction. Her stories are enriched by her personal experiences, her characters by the people she meets. After fifteen years in the great state of Texas, she relocated back to Florida to be closer to members of her family and a large collection of friends. Her favorite pastimes are watching football, reading, and researching her stories.
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Desiree Holt, Formula for Danger
