“THE CHAIR SUITS YOU,” Lynch called out from his car in front of the hospital.
Kendra made a face and stood up from the wheelchair being pushed by the orderly. “Not my choice. Probably more to do with the hospital’s liability insurance coverage than anything else.” She climbed into Lynch’s car and pulled the door shut. “Thanks for picking me up.”
“Sure. What took so long?”
“The doctor took his sweet time making his rounds. They wouldn’t discharge me until he saw me. I almost made a break for it.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.” Lynch pulled onto Delmar Boulevard. “So where are we headed? Collins, Collins and Levinsky, Attorneys at Law?”
“I just got off the phone with them, and Dale Collins is the only one who can talk to us about Elena Meyer.”
“Dale Collins. As in one of the Collins’ names on the door?”
“Yes. No one else is authorized to speak about her.”
“So let’s go talk to him.”
“He isn’t in the office today. He’s at the construction site of their new headquarters downtown. It’s going to be in the new Pinnacle Building.”
“That chrome and glass monstrosity on C Street?”
“That’s the one.”
“It’s not even finished yet and the neighbors are screaming bloody murder. I’ve seen it in the news. It’s reflecting a nasty glare in offices and storefronts all over downtown.”
“Well he’s there today and I don’t feel like waiting for a spot on his calendar to open up. Let’s go to that big, ugly building and ask him some questions.”
* * *
THE UNDER-CONSTRUCTION Pinnacle Building was visible from all over the greater downtown area, if not the structure itself, then the two massive yellow cranes towering on either side. Mirrored windows covered the lower forty floors, but the upper dozen or so levels were still little more than iron frames open to the elements.
They parked a block south of the building and walked toward the busy construction site. Barriers were plastered with large posters selling the new building as a mixed-use facility featuring high-priced condominiums, offices, and ground-floor retail shops. The sidewalk was closed on all four sides of the structure, but Lynch pulled open one of the barriers and ushered Kendra through.
Kendra looked up at the glass panels. “It’s pretty hideous all right.”
Lynch pointed to one of the posters. “But it’s ‘Downtown’s Most Exciting New Destination.’”
“We’ll see about that.” Kendra motioned for Lynch to join her at a construction trailer where there was a small pile of battered hard hats on the ground outside. She picked up two and tossed one to Lynch. “Not sure if it will fit on that big head of yours.”
He popped the hat on and smiled. “How does it look?”
Damn it if he didn’t look like a ruggedly handsome model out of every cologne ad she’d ever seen. “Disgustingly good. Great even.” She put her own hat on. “How about me?”
“Like you have no business ever visiting a construction site.”
“Wonderful.”
“Consider that a compliment. Do you have any idea where we’re heading?”
“The firm’s new offices will be on the forty-fifth and forty-sixth floors.”
“The firm told you that?”
“No. Google.”
He glanced around and adjusted his hard hat. “There’s probably a cargo elevator running somewhere. Let’s find it before someone throws us out of here.”
They quickly found the large open-air construction elevator, which they were forced to share with a half ton of ceramic floor tiles. Lynch grabbed the control box dangling from a yellow cable. He punched a button and the elevator lurched upward. Within seconds they could see the entire downtown and the San Diego Bay.
The sight literally took her breath away. “Beautiful.”
“Stunning.”
The elevator stopped, and Lynch guided her off. “Floor forty-five.”
The unfinished floor appeared to be deserted. Only a few of the rooms had been framed, and the perimeter was still open to the wind, which whistled around them.
Lynch glanced around. “Maybe one floor up?”
Kendra pointed to a footprint in the sawdust in front of them. “That’s a dress shoe. Collins has been here recently. Otherwise the wind would have disturbed it by now. And there are no footprints back to the elevator.”
“Very good.” A man stepped out from behind a pillar. “I take it you’re not architects or designers.”
Kendra recognized Dale Collins from her online search. He was a round-faced man who actually looked younger than he did in the photos she’d seen, although his hairline had receded a bit. “Mr. Collins, I’m Kendra Michaels. This is Adam Lynch. We’re investigating Elena Meyer’s murder.”
Collins stepped closer to them. “Elena Meyer. Very sad. But she wasn’t based here in San Diego. You’d probably do better to talk to her colleagues in Connecticut.”
“She was killed here. And we know she was out here quite a bit for her work.”
“Not this trip.” Collins turned and stepped toward the gaping hole at the end of what would soon be the corridor. “Whatever brought her out here, it wasn’t the job. I talked to the head of her office yesterday. He had no idea she was here.”
“Who would know?” Lynch said. “Did she have friends in your office she may have been visiting?”
“I don’t think so. Every time she was here, she was with her team from Connecticut. She stuck pretty close to them. I don’t think I ever heard of her socializing with anyone from my group.” He looked behind them as the cargo elevator returned with a group of well-dressed men and women in hard hats. “Speaking of whom, here are some of my colleagues now.”
Kendra turned toward them. Four men and two women, all dressed in expensive suits and shoes.
“In less than four months, this will be our new West Coast headquarters. I’m giving some of our partners a first look at their new home.” Collins motioned toward Kendra and Lynch. “Ms. Michaels and Mr. Lynch are investigating Elena Meyer’s unfortunate death. There’s some question as to why she was even in San Diego this week. Do any of you have any idea?”
Collins’ colleagues shook their heads.
Kendra studied the group. One of the men and both women were clearly disturbed by the subject of their colleague’s death, the others showed no concern. Kendra kept her eyes on them as she spoke. “What case brought her out here?”
Collins shrugged. “We represent a technology company on the East Coast. A major defense contractor. They were being sued by a company here in San Diego. It looked like we were going to trial, but our client eventually settled.”
“Any lingering bad blood there?” Lynch asked.
“Like something that could have gotten a young woman killed?” Collins shook his head. “It was a routine case and it’s over. And in the end everyone came out of it with a lot of money. Including this firm.”
“Which companies were involved?” Lynch asked.
Collins shrugged. “It’s in the public record. We represent Maritech Industries. They were being sued by The Philby Group. Ms. Meyer was a paralegal. She had very little direct contact with the principals in this case. She mainly just supported her team when they were out here formulating strategy with us and working through mounds of memos and emails.”
Kendra’s eyes narrowed on one of the young women she’d targeted for extra attention. She was an attractive redhead whose facial expression had changed from sadness to one of slight annoyance. She was reacting to her boss’s words. What was going on here?
Kendra nodded. “Or does anyone know of friendships or possible romantic relationships Elena may have formed during her times here?”
Again, there was no response from the group besides shaking heads and vague shrugs.
The redheaded woman was now typing something in her phone.
“Okay. Thanks for your time,” Kendra said. “I’m sure SDPD will be talking to you. Naturally we’ll do everything we can to find who did this to Elena.”
She and Lynch moved toward the elevator. But as the group of attorneys separated to clear a path, the redhead discreetly flashed her phone screen at Kendra.
The screen was blank except for block letters which read: BROCK LTD.
The woman pressed the phone’s side button and wiped the screen clean. She didn’t look at Kendra as she moved past her to keep pace with her colleagues.
* * *
“BROCK LIMITED?” LYNCH ASKED as they approached his car. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Brock L-T-D.”
“Hmm. Interesting.”
“Why? Does that mean anything to you?”
“Brock Limited is a private security company. A lot of ex-law enforcement and ex-military. They have contracts all over the world.”
“Corporate security?”
“Government contracts, too.”
“Sounds like your line of work.”
“They’ve tried to hire me several times and I’m sure they’ve reached out to some of your FBI buddies. They pay extremely well.”
“Then why haven’t you joined them?”
“They can’t afford me. And they have a reputation I really don’t want tainting me.”
“Surely it can’t be worse than the ‘taint’ you’ve already acquired over the years. Your own reputation is lethal.”
“You’d be surprised. And I used the word very selectively. Just as I choose my jobs and the way I perform them selectively. There’s a certain … brutality to their methods.”
“Isn’t that what you want from a security firm?”
“They have the reputation of using a pile driver when a feather duster will do. I’ve known some of the guys who went to work for them. Kind of a nasty bunch.”
“You’ve yet to convince me that you wouldn’t fit in there.”
“Trust me.”
“It’s hard to trust you when no one ever knows what you’re doing once you disappear undercover.”
He smiled. “You can trust that I’ll get the job done. What else is important?”
Kendra shrugged dismissively. “Brock Limited.” Kendra remembered the woman’s trembling fingers curled around her phone, flashing that message. “What does it mean?”
“You could always ask her.”
“I don’t even know who she is.”
“Don’t let that stop you.” They approached Lynch’s parked car. Lynch crossed around to open the passenger-side door for Kendra then he climbed behind the wheel himself.
He reached under the seat and pulled out his tablet computer. “Collins said she was a partner, didn’t he?”
“Yes.”
Lynch navigated to the Collins, Collins & Levinsky website. “What do you know? There’s a tab here that says ‘Our Partners.’ Probably bios and photos.”
“It’s a big firm with offices all over the country. There are probably hundreds of partners.”
“You’re right.” Lynch handed her the tablet. “You find her.”
He started the car and pulled onto the busy street.
Kendra scrolled through the web page scanning the partner photos. “It’s amazing how much alike the men in this firm look. Same haircuts, same suits, same ties, even the same square jawlines. At least the women show some individuality.”
“Any sign of yours?”
“Not yet. But she has flaming red hair so she shouldn’t be too tough to— Wait!” Kendra stopped.
“Success?”
“Yes. Misha Watkins. That’s her, I’m sure of it.”
“Good. We’ll contact her at home tonight.”
“Hate to break it to you, but they don’t include home addresses on this website.”
He smiled. “Don’t worry about that. I have other sources for that.”
She wasn’t surprised. Lynch had contacts everywhere. “Ones that aren’t tainted?”
“I didn’t say that. I never object to dealing with anyone who hasn’t made the choices I have, as long as they’re productive. But I don’t believe that I’ll have to dive too deep in the mire just to get an address.”
* * *
MISHA WATKINS LIVED in a sleek, modern house in a subdivision in Encinitas.
Lynch found a shady spot under an oak tree down the street from the house and they spent the next two hours waiting for her to appear.
“Stop being so edgy,” Lynch said. “You’re burning up calories and adrenaline. You don’t need that after fighting off that damn allergy.”
“I’m fine. I just wish she’d get here. I hate waiting.”
“So do I. But sometimes the prize is worth waiting for. You have to make a decision and then just suck it up.”
There was something in his tone. Her eyes flew to meet his. “Are we still talking about Misha Watkins?”
He smiled innocently. “What else?” His gaze switched from her face to a BMW roadster driving up the street. “And speak of the devil, I believe I see a redhead at the wheel of that car.”
“We don’t know that she’s a devil. Probably the opposite if she was trying to help us.”
But the driver was undoubtedly Misha Watkins, she saw as the woman pulled into the driveway and then jumped out of the car. Kendra watched her go into the house before she turned to Lynch. “I want to go in to see her by myself. Okay?”
“Why?”
“I was the one she contacted. I think I’d have better luck alone. You can be … disturbing.”
He chuckled. “Only to you. I can be anything I want to be. I’m sure our Misha would find me both soothing and comforting.”
Kendra made a rude sound as she opened her door and jumped out of the car. “No way.”
“I’m hurt. Didn’t you find me comforting last night?”
His hand holding hers in the darkness, just knowing he was there keeping all the terrors of the day at bay.
“Maybe.” She started walking down the street toward Misha’s house. “But then I was drugged out of my mind. Stay here.”
Misha Watkins’ eyes widened when she opened the door and saw Kendra. “What are you doing here?”
“Why, weren’t you expecting me? Did you think I’d just let it go when you tossed that name at me, Miss Watkins? You must have known I’d regard it as an invitation. May I come in?”
Misha didn’t move. “It was an impulse.” She made a face. “And I had second thoughts immediately. I should never have done it. I was hoping you’d just accept it as a hint and run with it.”
“That’s what I’m doing,” Kendra said. “But I prefer facts to hints, so I came to the source. I’m sure that as an attorney yourself, you’ll understand that philosophy.” She repeated, “May I come in?”
“I guess you might as well. You appear very determined.” She reluctantly moved aside. “Dr. Michaels, was it?”
“Kendra Michaels.” Kendra came into the house. “I won’t take much of your time. I just want to ask a few questions. The manner in which your ‘hint’ was presented was rather odd. And I admit to being curious about those second thoughts.”
Misha shrugged. “I was impatient and irritated that no one had mentioned Brock Limited when there was no reason not to tell you about them. I’m not always a team player and I thought I’d throw a wrench into Collins’ corporate wheel. Which is probably why I’ll end up getting tossed one of these days.”
“What did Brock Limited have to do with Elena Meyer?”
“The same as the rest of us on the team. Elena worked on the wrongful death suit involving Brock’s private security personnel overseas. We did a stellar job and were successful in defending them. It didn’t make sense to not mention Elena was part of the team.”
“Did she have a particular role to play in the victory?”
Misha doubtfully shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. We were a team. Maybe Collins just didn’t want you to bother one of the firm’s top clients.”
“It could be you’re right,” Kendra said. “But lies usually come back to haunt you, and if it wasn’t important, an intelligent man would tell the truth.”
“Look, you’re not going to go back and tell Collins I told you about Brock, are you? He’s my boss and I’m not ready to move on to another job yet. He wouldn’t be pleased I didn’t go along with his bullshit.”
“Have you told me everything you know about Elena Meyer?”
“Of course. I didn’t know her that well.”
“Then there’s no reason to go back to Collins and mention you. I appreciate you taking time to talk to me.” She paused. “Providing you take a little more time and watch a video for me. I need to know if you know any of these people, or if this wedding means anything to you. If you’ll do that, then I won’t bother you again.”
“Wedding?” Misha frowned. “What the hell?”
Kendra dialed up the video and handed her phone to her. “Please.”
Kendra thought she was going to refuse. Then she shook her head and pressed the button.
Kendra carefully watched her expression but saw only confusion and impatience. However, she stuck it out until the end and then handed the phone back to Kendra. “Total waste of time. I didn’t know any of these people. Though the bride’s gown was kind of awesome.”
“Yes, it was lovely. Thank you for watching it for me.” She handed Misha a card. “If you happen to think of anything else that might be of interest, please call.”
“I will.” Then she grimaced. “Maybe. The more I think about it, the more I’m sure Collins would be pissed off about me opening my mouth to you. He must have had some reason for not mentioning Brock Limited. Remember you promised you wouldn’t go back and tell him that I told you.”
“I remember.” She turned to go. “Mums the word. Good day, Miss Watkins.”
As she closed the door behind her, she saw that Lynch had pulled up to the curb in front of the house. He was leaning against the driver’s door with his arms crossed. “How did it go? Were you able to wrest her deepest secrets from her?”
“No, it was a little harder than I thought.” She came toward him. “She’d had second thoughts. And I don’t believe she had any deep secrets, but she eventually told me what I needed to know.” She amended, “Well, not what I needed, but all she thought she knew.” She frowned. “But maybe there is more. Why else would she have made contact with me, unless she had an instinct that something was distinctly rotten in Denmark? And the way she scurried back to hide when she realized what she’d done…”
“You’re jumping all over the place.” Lynch opened her passenger door. “I don’t doubt that something could be rotten if it concerned Brock Limited, and I approve of instinct, but I won’t be able to judge until you tell me what she told you.”
“Not much. Only that Elena was very definitely a member of the team that recently worked on a case that involved defending Brock’s personnel team overseas on a wrongful death suit. They won the suit and Elena had no special interaction with Brock as far as Misha knew.” She got into the car. “And she got me to promise that I wouldn’t squeal on her to Collins in exchange for looking at the video.”
“You wouldn’t have done it anyway.” He ran around the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. “But perhaps you’re getting less transparent if she believed you.”
“I’m not transparent.” She leaned back as he started the car. “I was very tough and professional. I just didn’t see any sense in being unpleasant when she had tried to help us.” She added sourly, “I don’t have your insatiable drive to come in first in every race.”
“Yeah, sure.” He glanced at her with a grin. “Only when it concerns your kids or anyone else you care about. Besides, you knew that you could rely on my competitiveness to fill in the blanks.”
She was silent. “You seem to know a good deal about Brock Limited. I think you’ll enjoy exploring the situation yourself. It seems your cup of tea. If I’m wrong, then I’ll be glad to do it by myself.”
“No way.” He was no longer grinning. “You don’t go anywhere near them without me.”
Her brows rose. “You’re afraid they’ll taint me?”
“You seem to have adopted that word. It’s not the one I’d use in this case.”
Kendra turned toward him. “You say you know people at Brock Limited?”
“Several.”
“Anyone you can reach out to?”
“Would one of the company vice-presidents do?”
She looked at him in surprise. “He’s on your speed dial?”
“Practically. His name is Josh Blake. He’s head of acquisition and training. He calls me every six months like clockwork, trying to get me to join the company. I have a standing invite to visit their training facility in Jacumba.”
“Near the hot springs spa?”
“Yes, it’s not far from here. The facility is in the desert, just a couple miles from the Mexican border. I hear they have quite an operation out there.”
“Think he would agree to meet with us?”
“I know he would if he thinks I might join their company.”
Kendra was thinking quickly. “And would he know about this case that Elena Meyer was working on?”
“I’d bet on it. He’s working on moving up in the company and spends half his time at the San Diego office trying to persuade his boss, Vivianne Kerstine, how valuable he’d be if she made him a director.”
“Then let’s do it. Let’s talk to him. How soon can you get us a meeting?”
As if in response, Lynch pulled over and stopped at the curb. He pulled out his phone, browsed his directory, and tapped a name. He raised the phone to his ear and listened. Seconds later, he was speaking.
“Josh, it’s Adam Lynch. Good. Very good. I understand we almost ran into each other in Vilnius last spring.” He smiled. “Well, you can’t win ‘em all. Listen, I thought I’d take you up on your offer. I’d like to visit your training facility in Jacumba and maybe get a personal tour. How about tomorrow? Noon? Perfect. See you there.”
He cut the connection, winked at Kendra, and pulled back onto the busy street.
“Just like that,” Kendra said. “He really must want you to work for him.”
“What can I say? I’m a rock star. I told you. Every six months like clockwork.”
Kendra checked her watch. “I suppose we should check in with Griffin to make sure the FBI is kept in the loop.”
“Must we?”
“Yes.” She shook her head. “I suspect Mr. Blake wouldn’t be so eager to hire you if he knew about your complete aversion to authority.”
“It’s a two-way street. Authority figures tend to have a strong aversion to me.”
“Not as long as you keep delivering for them the way you do. But I can see why you’re better off as a free agent.”
“Infinitely better off.”
“Anyway, I’ll send Griffin and Metcalf an email after you drop me off at my condo.”
“About that … I’d prefer it if you stayed with me at my house tonight.”
Her brows rose. “I’ll bet you would.”
“I’m serious.”
“I’m sure you are.”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “Do I need to remind you that you were attacked in front of your building less than twenty-four hours ago?”
“Believe me, I haven’t forgotten. It would have such been a humiliating way to go. Death by dog leash.”
“It’s not funny.”
She shrugged. “It’s a little funny. And even your doctor friend doesn’t think they were trying to kill me.”
“But he did say it was an unusually sophisticated attack. You don’t know what you’re up against and you shouldn’t take chances.”
“I’ll be careful.” She grinned. “But if you want to show me a new martial arts move, I’ll accept that.”
“You still want to know how to break someone’s wrists?”
“Under the circumstances, I’m now more interested in learning to break someone’s neck.”
“Brutal. The head-grab and twist, like in the movies?”
“Yes.”
“It takes an incredible amount of strength plus the element of surprise.”
“You sound like you’ve done it before.”
Lynch drove in silence.
Kendra’s jaw went slack. “You have?”
Lynch shrugged.
“You’ve actually grabbed a man’s head and—”
“It’s nothing I’m proud of. It had to be done.”
Kendra couldn’t help it. She started to laugh. “Of course! Of course it had to be done! Because sometimes one’s only option is to spin a man’s head a hundred and eighty degrees.”
“It’s wasn’t the only option. Just the best one.”
Kendra’s smile faded. “Who was he?”
He was silent for a moment. “Well, actually there’s been more than one.”
“No freakin’ way.”
“I’m not at liberty to say more, but each of them deserved it,” he said quietly. “And they certainly would have killed me if they’d seen me first. I hope you believe me when I tell you that.”
She was scrambling to gather her composure. It wasn’t often she received a glimpse of the Lynch that agencies and governments fought to acquire. She knew she sometimes deliberately avoided looking at that shadow figure. She had an idea that if she did, she would see an entirely different man than the one who was her Adam Lynch. No, that wasn’t fair, she thought quickly. He would still be the Lynch who had saved her life, been her friend, and kept drawing her closer with every encounter. There was just so much more about him that she was afraid of learning because it would mean that she’d be pulled into those shadows that surrounded him. But if she didn’t take that step, then she would have to trust him or let him go. That was not an option. She couldn’t let him go. “I believe you.”
The corners of his lips were turning up. “That took you a long time to decide.”
“Not really. I’m certain there are all kinds of people who want you dead. I’m sure you were very selective about which ones you decided to separate their heads from their bodies.”
“Very selective,” he said solemnly.
“Did you tell me all of this so that I’d feel safer staying with you?”
“Or safer having me stay with you.”
“That’s not going to happen either.”
“Too bad. But no, I seldom resort to such tactics. It would devastate my ego. And as you know, my house is fortified against almost any attack. No head-twisting necessary.”
Kendra nodded. Lynch was right. His home was a beautiful Tudor located north of the city and most passersby had no idea that it was equipped with motion sensors, steel shutters, and iron-reinforced walls that could withstand a military-style attack. Before she had come to know him well Kendra had often wondered what Lynch had done to necessitate living in such a fortress. He’d only given her the vaguest hints, but the longer she knew him, the more it became clear that there were times that he needed a safe house just to survive.
“No, thanks.”
“I was afraid you would say that.” He sighed. “Okay. As soon as you find the time, I’ll show you some of my favorite fighting techniques.”
“But not the head twist?”
“Let’s work up to that, shall we?”
She smiled. “If you insist.”
In fifteen minutes they were back at her condo. Lynch slowed to a stop in front of the building. “Last chance for a secure and restful night at my place. It could mean the difference between a good night’s sleep and keeping one eye open all night.”
She opened her door. “I’ll sleep just fine, thank you.”
“I’m not sure I will.”
“What time will you be here to pick me up tomorrow?”
“Eleven.”
“Good, I can catch up on some work.” She hesitated. She didn’t want to leave him, dammit. “Thanks, Lynch. For everything.”
“Of course.”
She gazed at him for a long moment. She wanted to touch him.
Oh, what the hell.
“Bye.” She leaned in to give him a quick hug, but at the last moment it became something else.
She kissed him on the mouth, pressing her lips against his, then lingering for a moment after. She kissed him again. Crazy. This was crazy. She tried to pull away, but Lynch was holding her close.
“I’m staying,” he whispered.
“No. I don’t tease, but this kind of got away from me. But not tonight. Okay?”
“It’s not okay.”
She leaned her forehead against his. The scent of him, the warmth … “It has to be. For now. I’m confused enough about what’s going on. I won’t be confused about you. Everything has to be clear in my head, dammit.”
“Kendra…”
She climbed out of the car and closed the door behind her. “No.” She strode toward the door before she could change her mind. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I almost had you,” he called softly. “And I didn’t even try. Think about it. You’re not really confused at all.”
“Goodbye, Lynch.”
She stopped just inside the door to get her breath.
Close. It had been so close. Her entire body was still hot and shaking from those last minutes. Her heart was beating hard and she wanted to run back out to him. Why not?
Just do it. He was probably right, she knew what she wanted, and she was just putting off making a final commitment.
Take the time.
Don’t think about him.
Easy to say. He seemed to fill her world right now.
But she didn’t want him to be her entire world. He was too dominant and she’d have to struggle every minute to hold her own against him. Very dangerous.
Yet when had she ever been afraid to face a challenge? And he might be the greatest one of all.
Be sensible. Give herself a chance to forget about sex and not let herself be carried away by that sheer magnetism that was always present.
And don’t think about him.