Chapter Eleven

Riley parked the SUV in front of the resort cabin and turned off the engine. He was worried about Chip. She hadn’t said a word on the drive back. “What’s going on in that head of yours? You’ve been quiet since we left Los Alamos.”

His phone chirped and he hesitated pulling it out, hoping Chip would share what she was thinking. It chirped a second time.

“Are you going to answer that?” She gave him a look that said she was still unhappy about the setback.

He sighed and thumbed on the speaker. “Riley and Chip here.”

“Senator Burnsworth received another phone call from the kidnapper,” Byron said, without preamble. “He knows we’ve rescued Lorraine Voras.”

“We were afraid that would happen,” Chip whispered, her face going pale.

“How?” Riley frowned. “Lorraine was the only person on Pomeroy’s property. The team barely took twenty minutes to get in and out.”

“Apparently the property’s security system was wired with cameras. Burnsworth received another video showing the entire rescue. From the angles of the footage, it appears every building had a camera transmitting live feed.”

“Why didn’t Pomeroy mention he had security cameras before the troops went in?”

“He didn’t know about the cameras.” Byron sounded annoyed. “The kidnapper must have installed them.”

“That was a tactical error on our part.” Riley swore, upset at how badly this assignment had turned. “You should have let us scout the location more thoroughly before sending in the troops.”

“Second-guessing won’t help now. We had good intel, more importantly, we had permission, and had to move quickly. We rescued one of the hostages. Now we need to deal with the next crisis. The kidnapper has threatened to kill Mrs. Burnsworth because the senator contacted the authorities.”

“No.” Chip snatched the phone out of Riley’s hand. “You can’t let that happen. Please. We need more time to find Fiona.”

“It’s too late. Burnsworth’s already agreed to rescind his vote on the UAS surveillance program.”

Riley leaned into the phone. “He what?”

“He also agreed to a trade.”

Riley and Chip looked at each other. “What kind of trade?” Riley had a feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“He’s offered the software code for the surveillance and UAS technology for the safe release of his wife.”

“I don’t believe it.” Riley refused to believe the senator would backpedal his position. “What about all that talk of national security?”

“Andrew said he wasn’t going to cave.” Chip’s voice raised in pitch, showing her distress. “He promised that vote would go through.” She paused, looking at Riley with wide eyes. “He’s planning to double cross the kidnapper, isn’t he?”

“He’s…we’re…considering all options.” Byron’s voice came through the phone’s speaker with quiet authority. “In the meantime, the meet is set to take place in four hours.”

“Where?” Riley wasn’t sure how this was going to play out, but he knew that Chip would never give up on her friend.

“There, in New Mexico. The clock is ticking for us to pull together a plan that will put the bad guy out of business.”

“Give us the location of the meet and access to the same troops who rescued Lorraine.” His mind started running through their options. “We can set up a trap.”

“We would if we could.” Over the line, he heard his father’s resignation. “But he’s holding all the cards. He’s only given us a general location of where to meet, and will supply the exact coordinates fifteen minutes before the deadline.”

Riley swore. “Depending on the terrain, fifteen minutes could be as many as fifteen miles in any direction. No way to stage anything.” He silently admitted the kidnapper had worked the situation to his advantage.

“Right. The good news is we don’t believe your cover is blown,” Byron said. “We’re hoping we can use that to our benefit.”

“What about putting pressure on Pomeroy to see what he knows?” Riley still couldn’t believe Pomeroy was totally innocent in all this.

“Already done,” Byron replied. “He’s been cooperating with us since we’ve learned of the connection between Ms. Voras and Dean Weston. Remember he gave us permission to enter his property.”

“Because he didn’t think we’d find anything.” Riley almost shouted. “What’s his explanation for Lorraine being inside his house?”

“He has none.” Byron’s tone indicated he was just as disappointed.

“What about Weston?” Chip interjected. “Have you found anything to link him to this? Does Pomeroy know where he is?”

“Those are the questions everyone’s trying to answer right now.” Byron sounded weary as though he’d been up all night, which Riley suspected was true. After Riley’s mother died, his father typically stayed involved in all Northstar cases, even though he didn’t do fieldwork anymore.

“What’s the next step?” Riley tapped impatient fingers on the steering wheel.

“We want you to scout the area around the location we’ve been given. Determine how we can use the assets we have on the short notice.”

“What about satellite time?” Chip leaned closer to the phone. “Did we get any? Do we have any real-time intel available to us?”

“Unclear at this time. The general is still working on it. We’ll keep you updated as we have more data available. You have a little time before the deadline to eat and rest. I suggest you take advantage of both.”

Byron signed off, leaving an uncomfortable silence inside the vehicle. Chip sat back in her seat, a scowl marring her pretty face. “I don’t like waiting around. Why can’t we check out this area now?”

Riley’s phone beeped. He glanced at it and smiled. “We can. Just got a text with the directions.” He looked over at her. She was still a bit muddy from her fall into the stream. “It’s not that far from here. Do you want to take a shower or change first?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I want to see what we’re up against.”

“I’m sure the troops were given the same location and instructions, we’ll have them in our corner through the exchange.”

“I’m happy for any help we can get at this point.” The corner of her tempting mouth lifted slightly. “All I care about right now is getting Fiona home safely.”

*****

Chip was glad Riley hadn’t tried to change her mind about cleaning up before they left the resort. She wasn’t in the mood for an argument, and the sooner she saw what they were up against, the better she’d feel.

He pulled out of the resort, turned on the highway and headed northwest. “You’re extremely passionate about this rescue.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” She wanted to blast him with a piece of her mind about how vested she was in saving Fiona, but he stopped her with a raised hand.

“Settle down. I want Mrs. Burnsworth safe, too. I’m curious where all the zeal comes from. I would’ve expected a more calculated, methodical approach, given your background.”

Chip wanted to tell him it wasn’t his business how she approached her cases, but in a way, it was. Her drive to rescue Fiona directly intersected with the way she and Riley first met. The more she was in his company, the more attuned to him she became. And since their kiss, that damned attraction was growing whether she wanted to admit it or not. “You’ve never had to move around much as a child. Am I right?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” He raised a brow.

She shrugged. “You brought up my background. I’m offering a different perspective. If you’re not interested—”

“I had a few different homes when I was fairly young,” he interrupted. “While my parents were overseas, I stayed with an aunt and uncle on my mother’s side. After my parents returned from their final overseas assignment, bringing home a little sister as a surprise, they resigned from the CIA and started Northstar Security. I was around ten years old when we moved to our house in Maryland. Dad still lives in that house.”

“An interesting coincidence on the age.” Chip considered that maybe their backgrounds weren’t so different after all. “I was ten when my dad was posted to a location on the west coast. We lived there for six years. The longest we’d stayed in one place.”

“That must have been hard, especially at an age where you’re figuring out who you are, trying to make friends, meet boys…”

“Yeah. It was.” She was quiet for a moment, remembering how hard it had been to keep friends over the years and how easily, at age ten, she and Julia clicked in a matter of seconds. Over the years, the pain she felt when she thought of Julia had lessened, until something like this brought it all to the surface again.

“What does moving around have to do with this rescue?”

“I’m getting to that.” She stared out the window as memories rushed to the fore. “My first day at the new school, I was at recess, minding my own business, and feeling like an outsider, when some playground bullies started shoving me around. Then, out of nowhere came this girl, a head taller than me, and the boys. She started pushing them back. They ran off like their clothes were on fire.”

“She was a very brave girl to step in and save a stranger.”

“I thought so.” She smiled at the warm memory. “Julia and I became inseparable after that. We finished grade school and junior high, then started high school together. She was the best friend I’d ever had.”

“Was?”

“Dad got a new posting and we moved right after my sophomore year.”

“But you kept in touch. Right?”

“We did. I’m sure you know that social media is a girl’s best friend. Even more so now than it was a few years ago. Julia’s e-mails started mentioning a new boyfriend. After a while, the e-mails became less frequent. Then stopped altogether.”

“Were you able to figure out what happened?”

Chip bit the corner of her lip. “Not for a while. My senior year, I got a call from her mother. Julia had gotten involved in drugs and wasn’t herself. She’d run away from home with this boy. Her mom wanted to know if I’d heard from her or knew where she might be.”

“But you hadn’t.”

“Not a word.” Chip’s throat tightened with tears. She swallowed them down.

“That must have been hard.”

She nodded. It had broken her heart to know Julia was out in the big, ugly world alone, doing things she never would have done if Chip had stayed close to her.

“You can’t blame yourself.” Riley broke into her thoughts.

“It’s hard not to.” She buried the regret. “But I had to move on. I got involved in ROTC at my new school. Signed up for early enlistment. I was doing everything I could to stay busy. Once I was on my own, I was going to search for Julia and try to reconnect with her.”

“What happened to change that?”

“I got a phone call that Julia was in the hospital—dying from a botched abortion. I got there as quick as I could.” She swallowed again, tears close to the surface. “She told me she’d tried to get out of the drug scene, but kept getting pulled back into it. She wished she could have found help to get her off the streets.”

****

A piece of the “Chip” puzzle fell into place for Riley. “That’s why you help runaway teenagers.”

She nodded. “I’d already committed to joining the Army, but instead of going full-time, I opted for the reserves. Changed my MOS to military police and intelligence.”

“MOS?” He’d heard the term, but wasn’t quite clear on what it meant.

“Military Occupational Specialty. The specialized training a recruit selects when entering the service. I also got my college degree in criminal law, with a minor in child psychology. Because of Julia, I’m committed to helping as many youths as I can.”

“And because of Fiona, you have a place to take them when they choose to get off the streets.”

“Yes.” She gave a small sigh as she continued to gaze out the window at the passing landscape.

With her explanation, Riley had a sense of why Chip slipped into the Mary persona when searching for runaways. Her actions, her fierce protectiveness all made sense now. He viewed his partner with new appreciation for her commitment to find Fiona. He just hoped they would be able to get to the senator’s wife in time.

He glanced at the GPS and saw they had arrived at the location Northstar had given. “This is the place.”

The drive had brought them to the Valle Caldera National Preserve, an expansive valley area between the resort and Los Alamos that offered an amazing meadowland surrounded by a forest of pine. They’d already passed it twice, going to and coming from the hospital.

He looked over the area with an evaluating gaze. There wasn’t a tree line close enough to set up an ambush, or lie in wait for the kidnapper to appear. “This is run by the National Park Service. It’s a lousy place for a meet.”

“A sniper’s nest will be impossible to set up.” Chip was obviously following the same line of thought. “Even if we could get guns on the preserve.”

“If the meet is on the preserve, we’ll be exposed from all angles.”

“So will the kidnapper.” She pointed out. “What is he planning by asking to meet here?”

“I wish I knew.” He looked at his watch. “The drive took thirty minutes. It’s still daylight, but in another three hours it will be dusk.”

“That time of day will work in his favor.” She angled her head to look up at the sky. “Enough light to see up close, and not dark enough to require lights and create a target.”

“It’s like he’s done this before.”

“I’m having a hard time picturing Pomeroy or Weston as battlefield strategists.” She straightened in her seat and glanced at him. “I’m beginning to wonder if someone else is calling the shots.”

“Me too.” Riley put the SUV in gear and turned it around. “Let’s get back and grab lunch before we see if Northstar has turned up anything more on who’s behind this setup.”

****

After their conversation during the drive, Riley couldn’t help but notice how strained and silent their lunch was. Other dining room patrons paid little attention to them sitting in the back corner, barely speaking or looking at each other. He sat with his back to the far wall and scanned the room with assessing eyes before bringing his gaze to linger on Chip’s face. The more he was around her, the more fascinating he found her. He wondered if she had any idea how great an agent she’d make for his firm.

As if feeling his stare, she lifted her gaze to meet his. “I feel like we’re wasting time sitting here.”

“We need to eat while we can.” Riley took a drink of his water. “We can’t go into this meeting starving and distracted.”

“I know. But I wish the waiter would hurry.”

“Relax.” He silently admonished himself to do the same. “It’s only been a few minutes. We’ll be back in the cabin in no time.”

She took a long drink of water, then put the glass down and ran a finger over the sweating side. “I owe you an apology.”

He raised a questioning brow. “For what?”

“I was churlish and uncooperative when we met at the briefing.” She took another sip of water. “I’m not normally like that.”

He recalled what his father said about Chip reminding him of Riley’s mother. And he was starting to see similarities himself. Maybe that wasn’t such a good thing considering his fascination with this woman.

“I’m as much to blame as you.” He picked up the knife next to his plate and tested the sharpness of the serrated edge, mostly out of habit. “Seeing you in the conference room surprised me. You’re not totally responsible for our bad beginning.”

Her shoulders relaxed as though the olive branch she’d offered was truly accepted.

“We got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we could start again.” He extended a hand across the table. “Hello, my name is Riley O’Neal.”

Chip cautiously took his hand and he braced for the flash of contact he expected to feel.

“Pleased to meet you. My name is Chip—” She hesitated briefly and smiled. “I’m Mrs. Chip O’Neal.”

The way she announced her name affected him in a surprising way and he couldn’t help holding her hand a bit longer, but he recovered quickly and joined the game.

“Do you come here often, Mrs. O’Neal?” He put a slight emphasis on her name.

“No, this is my first visit. What about you?”

****

Chip savored the warmth of her palm in Riley’s as he jumped right into the spirit of the get-to-know-you game. And she missed it when he let go as the food arrived.

“I have to admit I was impressed with the DVD collection back at your apartment.” He slid a pickle to the side of his plate with a fork. “I’ve never forgotten that take-down last year. Which martial art did you train in?”

She took a bite of her salad as heat warmed her cheeks. Of course he would bring up that incident. She pushed down her embarrassment and owned up to her part in that disastrous first meeting. After swallowing her food, she said, “I started my training in Wado-ryu karate, but switched to Tae Kwon Do.”

“Why did you switch?” Riley took a bite of his sandwich.

“Wado-ryu wasn’t always available where my father was posted. Tae Kwon Do was taught on most of the posts, or there were schools close by. I found the training more consistent and easier to keep my rank as we moved around.”

“And what is your rank?”

Embarrassment heated her face again, but she lifted her chin as she answered. “I hold a second degree black belt.”

“That’s a lot of training.”

She nodded and wiped the corner of her mouth. “It’s an assistant instructor level in many styles, nothing more.”

“Don’t shortchange yourself. It takes dedication and commitment to achieve that rank. Especially if you couldn’t train consistently.”

“Thank you.” She lowered her eyes, unused to compliments about her training. “I made it work. Once I reached a certain level, most of the training was up to me, not my instructors. If a person is dedicated enough, they can train anywhere.”

“Do you do anything else in your free time?” He picked up the other half of his sandwich.

“I like to hike,” she admitted. “It’s a shame to come all this way and not try out some of the trails the resort offers. This is beautiful country.”

“I thought the same thing when I checked out the location.”

Chip put down her fork and leaned toward him. “Maybe when this is over we could—” She broke off the thought and straightened. “What am I thinking? We’ll have tons of paperwork.”

“Probably.” He mumbled around a bite with a chuckle. “Like you, I have after-action reports to write up following a case.” He leaned in. “I’ll take a rain check on the hike, though.” His eyes glittered in the dim light of the restaurant.

“Deal.” Her voice whispered across the table between them. He leaned closer and she seemed to gravitate toward him. Her heart thundered at the recollection of his kiss and the anticipation of tasting it again.

“More coffee, sir?” The waiter appeared with a coffee pot in hand, breaking the spell. Riley declined and slid his chair from the table.

Hiding her disappointment, Chip took the cue and placed her napkin on her plate. “We should get back.”

“I agree.” He stood and tossed some bills on the table, ending the intimate moment.