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KAYLEE SANK DOWN INTO the chair Nick pulled out for her in the sleek, modern conference room, her entire body tense. She could feel the eyes of Nick’s friends on her. They weren’t accusatory or suspicious, just curious. Clearly, Nick with a woman at his side was a rarity. Although she was surprised, she had to admit that thought made warmth wash over her. Even when she and Nick went their separate ways after this was over, which they no doubt would, she could leave knowing she wasn’t just another notch on his bedpost.
Not that she’d be jumping into bed with him. Yesterday at the motel had been a moment of weakness. They might both still be attracted to one another, but they also each knew how this would end.
Didn’t they?
Nick dragged out the chair beside her and sank down, his athletic, lean body folding into the seat. He was close enough that she could smell his musky scent, and that made her relax a small degree. She was used to briefings at Offutt, but this was different in a thousand ways. It was personal, and it affected her entire life and career.
Jett moved to the front of the room, and then a man she hadn’t met yet appeared, papers in hand. While they conferred quietly, Nick nodded to a secure phone on the table. “After the briefing, you can call your family. Unless you’d rather do so right now? I can take you to my office.”
She searched his gaze, noting the sincerity there. If she wanted, he’d get her out of here. Despite her uncertainty, she had to admit that Nick seemed to have her best interests at heart. Determined to move forward with the briefing, she shook her head. “No. I’d rather tell your friends everything I know first. The more information they have, the quicker this will be over, right?”
“Right,” he agreed. Nick reached over and squeezed her hand, and she loved the feel of his muscular hand holding her own. Flushing, she realized the other men were watching them. Nick’s thumb ran over her knuckles, and she resisted the urge to shiver at his touch.
One of his teammates, Luke, suddenly bit back a curse.
“What’s wrong?” Nick immediately asked.
Luke flipped the laptop he was looking at shut. “The apartment fire in Omaha is on their local news.” The rest of the men stirred around her, shooting sympathetic looks in Nick’s and her direction. “It doesn’t seem big enough to draw that much attention so quickly, but for some reason, multiple camera crews are stationed there, reporting on it.”
Nick bristled beside her.
“Maybe they were tipped off,” Ford surmised.
“It’s possible,” Luke agreed.
“I don’t like it,” Nick said. “Anything drawing more attention to Kaylee is bad news, no pun intended.”
“My disappearance hasn’t been on the news though,” she added. “I did Internet searches yesterday. Don’t worry, I was careful, using a private browser,” she added.
“Whoever started the fire could’ve notified the media,” Ford said. “I hate to say it, but your ‘disappearance’ might be a story soon, too.”
Kaylee frowned, knowing he was right. Before any of the men could respond, Jett was bringing the room to attention. “The information Ms. Thomas has shared with our team is concerning. As everyone is aware, she was working at Offutt Air Force Base on a contract for DEA. One evening approximately a month ago, Ms. Thomas witnessed Colonel Mike Cornwell, an officer stationed at Offutt, and a currently unidentified woman from Human Resources stealing classified information when she unexpectedly returned to her office. Ms. Thomas was approached by several men claiming to be Federal Agents approximately an hour later at her apartment building. They indicated she was a key witness to an ongoing espionage case. Rather than interviewing her on base or taking a statement, they escorted her to an alleged safehouse, where she was held for nearly one month.”
“This place was located in Omaha?” Luke asked, frowning.
“Yes,” Kaylee said with a nod. “It wasn’t far from my apartment, maybe thirty minutes or so. I was scared about what I’d just witnessed. I had no idea what they were photographing, but I was shocked to even have seen something like that. As everyone in this room is no doubt aware, they shouldn’t have had cameras in the secure area. I recognized Colonel Cornwell but didn’t even know his name at the time.” Kaylee continued, further explaining to Nick’s teammates what had happened that night. “The people holding me at the safehouse wouldn’t provide me with any updates, and I began to grow suspicious. I finally snuck out yesterday morning through a window and took a bus out of town.”
“You were held there against your will?” Gray asked. He shot Nick a look.
Nick huffed out a breath, seeming annoyed on her behalf. “She wasn’t held hostage, but she was kept there under the premise of it being for her own safety and instructed not to leave or make contact with anyone. She didn’t have her phone. While Kaylee did have a laptop, she wasn’t connected to any WiFi. We’re doubting the legitimacy of the men who took her there. She was never interviewed, never given a timeline as to when she’d testify, and she never provided even a brief statement to investigators.”
“They wanted me out of the picture,” Kaylee said. “If I couldn’t report what had happened, they could get away with it.”
Gray cleared his throat. “Excuse me for being blunt, but why would they waste their time holding you there? If they wanted you out of the picture to avoid reporting what had happened, there are other ways to make you disappear.”
Kaylee felt Nick stiffen beside her.
“Why didn’t they kill me?” she asked, suddenly feeling numb. “I don’t think they were real FBI Agents, but they probably worked for the government in some capacity. I can only assume covering up a murder wasn’t something they wanted to deal with. Plus, they likely were being paid to hold me there.”
“It would draw more attention to the situation if Kaylee disappeared for good,” Jett said. “We’re assuming they’d let Kaylee return at some point but convince her not to talk via one means or another.”
“Blackmail?” Sam wondered.
“I don’t think we can rule anything out,” Jett said.
Kaylee sucked in a breath. “They didn’t have a plan. I’m sure Colonel Cornwell and the woman from HR didn’t expect anyone to catch them that night. The entire office was empty. I’m a graphic designer but don’t work on current issues. Other offices have reports that are immediately disseminated to the wider military, intelligence, and law enforcement community. My office isn’t one that’s staffed twenty-four-seven. Other areas of the building would’ve been teeming with people.”
“They went where they knew they’d have privacy,” Sam said.
“Exactly,” Kaylee agreed. “They were in an office, um—” She cut off, feeling her face turn red. She might be a grown woman, but somehow explaining what she’d seen and heard to a roomful of gruff, former military men made her feel like a shy teenager.
“They were having sex,” Nick said. “And then Kaylee witnessed the woman photographing the documents after they were done.”
Sam crossed his arms, eyeing them. “This was a classified area of the building, right? Assuming they had to badge in to enter, there’d be a record of it.”
“And a record of Kaylee,” Nick pointed out.
She glanced at him, thinking. “What if they were planning to blackmail me? Or somehow tie me to the incident? I never went into my office on Sunday nights, and now I’ll be electronically fingerprinted as having been there as well. Maybe they held me for a month to somehow link me to all of it in additional ways.” She closed her eyes, frustrated, and felt Nick shifting beside her, taking her hand again. “I should’ve called security right then, not left the building.”
“You were scared and didn’t know what to do,” Nick said, his voice calm. “No one knows how they’ll react in that type of situation. Didn’t the guy threaten you?”
“Sort of,” she said, trying to fight back the tears she felt coming on.
The man who’d been conferring with Jett earlier moved to the front of the room and introduced himself. “The guys all know me already, but I’m West. I’m head of the IT department here at Shadow Security. I ran a background check as well as some additional searches on the dark Web about Colonel Cornwell,” he said. “It appears he’s had multiple affairs in the past and is currently separated from his wife.”
Kaylee frowned. “I remember the woman from HR saying his wife didn’t know he was there. He seemed, um, quite happy with her attention. They were in an office with a door open, so I could hear everything.”
“He probably hasn’t let anyone know that he’s separated,” Nick said.
“He had plenty of reasons not to be caught. He didn’t want to lose his job or his pussy,” Sam spat out.
Jett leveled him with a look, but Kaylee filled with anger. Sam was right. Cornwell was in it for money and sex. That was all. Kaylee had simply been in the way. Because she was a witness of his misdeeds, she’d been effectively silenced, whisked away from it all until he could determine how to deal with her.
“They couldn’t have held Kaylee in that safehouse forever,” Nick said, his voice hard.
“I still don’t understand what happened at my apartment today,” she said, hating the way her voice wobbled. “Maybe they were looking for me or planting some fake evidence, but then why set it on fire?”
“They were covering up something,” Nick said. “Whatever they did, maybe it didn’t go as planned.”
“We need to find out exactly who those men were that took Kaylee,” Ford said, leaning forward and resting his forearms on the table. “Identifying them is crucial. They’ve got to be associated with Cornwell. Either he ordered her to be brought to the supposed safehouse or the woman from HR did.”
“They could’ve been hired guns,” Luke said.
“We don’t know that,” Nick ground out. He was pulsing with anger, and Kaylee wasn’t sure what to make of it. She reached over, running her hand over his forearm. He looked down at the table and huffed out a breath.
“I’m fine,” she said, sensing his anger was purely on her behalf. “I left the safehouse, and they have absolutely no idea where I am right now.” He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“We’re pulling all surveillance footage from your apartment complex and the surrounding streets,” West said. “If we can ID these guys, I can pull background info on them as well. It’ll help tie this entire investigation together.”
“What about Colonel Cornwell?” Kaylee asked. “Should I report what I saw now that I’m somewhere safe and have access to a phone? I can reach out to our Security Information Officer.”
Jett looked toward her, his face grim, and Kaylee felt her heart drop. “The Security Information Officer was found dead this morning.”
