The door to Jarrod’s room slammed open, hitting the wall behind it so hard that the door handle stuck in the drywall. “Are you kidding me?” Jarrod said, his voice somewhere between a terrifying yell and a sobering accusation.
Mindy tried to sit up in bed, but as she moved, her head throbbed. “What? What is it?” As she looked up at him, rage and hurt in his eyes, she was brought back to what had happened between them.
“You’ve been lying to me,” he said, pain flecking his voice.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, trying to force her body to submit to her will and simply regain her equilibrium. “I don’t know why in the hell you’re pissed off at me, when I’m the one who has every right to be angry here.”
“I admit that I screwed up.” He took a long breath as though he was trying to control his temper. “I kept the truth of who I was from you, but I did so for both of our benefits. But how dare you judge me when you’re keeping your own secrets from me.”
She was at a loss. “What are you talking about, Jarrod?”
He thrust her phone at her. “Why didn’t you tell me that you’ve been working with Agent Arthur?”
She had no idea what he was talking about. “Agent Arthur?”
He clicked on the screen, using a password that she hadn’t given him yet he seemed to somehow know. She thought about asking why he thought it was okay to steal her password and invade her privacy, but they were well past that point. Now, as far as she could tell, they were both at a place of all or nothing.
If she hadn’t fainted, she had no doubt that he would have had her ass on a plane at that very moment.
“Who is this?” he asked, pulling up a picture of the company’s last summit meeting.
There was a large group of people in the photo. When the photo had been taken they were in the middle of reviewing next year’s weapon prototypes. They were going to unveil a new line of long-range military-grade rifles.
Her engineers had put a great deal of time and effort in the design. In fact, it was the line they had intended on manufacturing in Sweden.
The thought made her stomach clench as she thought of Hans and the Riksdag. And Daniel.
“Who?” she asked, looking at the many faces of people standing around her in the photo.
He pointed at a tall and muscular man standing behind her in the picture.
“That guy?” she said with a chuckle. “Oh, you are being ridiculous if you are worried about him. That’s one of my assistants, Arthur McDuffy.”
Jarrod made a strange wheezing sound as he dropped her phone onto the bed beside her. “Did Daniel know him?”
“They might have seen each other, but rarely. Why?”
Jarrod shook his head, saying nothing as he stared down at his toes.
“Now, was there a reason you thought it was okay to go through my things?” She shut off the screen on her phone and slid it under her leg. “If you want, I can go find my purse and let you look into that, as well. Or, you could just ask me about whatever it is that you think I’m guilty of.”
He stared vacantly at the place where she had tucked the phone beneath her leg.
“I bet this is just your way of taking the pressure off you. Something you learned in the CIA? You know, the old bait and switch thing? Make me look guilty of some nonsense thing in order to make me think that you aren’t the worst kind of man on earth?” As she spoke, anger roiled through her, washing away any remnants of the feebleness she had been feeling. “Well, guess what? You are the one who is in the wrong here. I’ve done nothing.”
She stared at him waiting for a response. He didn’t move.
“You asked me to listen to your side of the story, to hear why you did what you did. I get that you didn’t think you had a choice, but you know what, Jarrod? I don’t forgive you. You lied to me. You played Anya and me for fools. And no matter what comes, or what risks are waiting for us, I want to go back home.”
He jerked. “You can’t.”
“Why? You want me to stay here?” she rebuked, knowing that she was calling him deeper into the fight. She gave a dry, angry chuckle. “You’ve done nothing but manipulate me. Enough is enough, Jarrod.”
“I know you aren’t going to listen to me, but I wish you would.” He paused. “I didn’t bring you here to manipulate you. I just wanted to help.”
“You keep telling yourself that,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest and protecting what little there was left of her heart.
“You have every right to be angry,” he said. When she didn’t respond, he continued. “How long have you known McDuffy?” He finally looked her in the eye.
She shrugged. “You aren’t about to change the subject on me.”
“Just answer me.” He wasn’t angry, just insistent, which made her come to a screeching halt.
What was he getting at by going after Arthur? And what did it matter?
“I don’t know.” She thought for a moment. “I guess he’s been working for me for about the last six months.”
Jarrod turned away from her and slowly paced around the room. “How did he get hired?” Before she could answer, he continued, “Did you run any sort of background check on the man?”
“That kind of thing is my HR team’s job, but I’m sure they were done.” She paused. “Do you think he had something to do with the nerve agent attack, or something to do with Daniel?”
He snorted like he knew something that she didn’t. Her anger rose to the surface once again.
“Look, Jarrod, if we are going to get along…and if you want me to forgive you for lying to me, then you and I are going to have to get something straight. You have to tell me the truth. We have to be honest with one another. Or else, what is the point? I won’t be able to trust you and you won’t be able to trust me.”
As it was, even if he was honest with her, she wasn’t sure if she could ever really trust him again. He had broken her heart into a million pieces. Her trust was completely shattered.
“Let’s just say that I know Arthur.”
She could have sworn he said something under his breath that she couldn’t quite hear.
She sighed. He still wasn’t telling her anything. She should have seen him for the interrogation specialist he was. “Arthur formerly worked for my father. He was one of several of his assistants. How do you know him, Jarrod?”
She could have sworn Jarrod’s face paled.
“Did he have access to any private information?” he asked.
“Not my files.” She nibbled at the corner of her cheek. “At least I don’t think so.”
“And what about your father’s?” he pressed.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. It was rare that my father even let my brother and me into his office, let alone have any kind of dealings with the day-to-day running of the company.”
“And yet you and your brother were left with the company after your father’s death?”
He sounded so judgmental. What was he trying to insinuate?
“Look, I’ve done the very best I could, given the circumstances of my father’s death. I have worked hard to understand and run the company the way he would have wanted.” She stood up, readying herself for another battle with the man with whom she had previously shared her bed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking her hands in his.
She wanted to pull away, but she yearned to feel his touch once again. When he had been with her on the plane, his touch had reawakened a part of her that she had given up hope on.
If he truly didn’t have anything to do with her brother’s death, and had been merely a bystander as he claimed, then perhaps there was room in her heart for forgiveness.
She may have caught him in a lie, but he didn’t have to tell her about his investigation. In divulging the truth to her, he had opened himself up to far-reaching consequences. If the CIA found out that he had acted against their best interest, his job—and maybe even his life—would be in jeopardy.
Not for the first time, she was reminded that he had put his life on the line for her.
But it didn’t negate the fact that he’d kept the truth of her brother’s death from her.
Still, she didn’t pull away from his touch.
“Now, are you going to answer me, Jarrod Martin, or do I need to sit you down on this bed and interrogate you as you have interrogated me?”
His lips formed a smile, like he found what she was saying to be some kind of turn-on instead of the castigation it was intended to be. She considered correcting him, but oh, that smile. She loved that smile.
“Ask away.” He let go of her hands and sat down upon the bed.
“How did my brother die?”
“Do you really want to know?” he asked, giving her a look of pity.
“I just need to know if he suffered.” The lump returned in her throat.
“No, don’t worry, it was quick,” Jarrod said, taking hold of her fingers and giving them a reassuring and apologetic squeeze. “During my questioning, the rookie agent, Agent Arthur was there.”
“My Arthur?” she asked, some of the faintness she had been feeling threatening to return.
“The one and only.” Jarrod nodded. “Your brother moved for something in his pocket and pulled out a pen. Agent Arthur mistook it for a weapon and shot him in the chest. At least that was how it seemed at the time. Now I have to assume he intended to kill him all along.”
“What happened to Arthur?” she asked, moving to sit back down on the bed beside Jarrod.
“I’m sure his actions are being investigated by the CIA. Though spooks have a different set of standards, shooting someone in the middle of interrogation isn’t something they are going to ignore.”
“And you think Arthur was out to murder my brother?” Her words came out as a whisper, like they were some kind of secret that she could barely utter.
“Until I saw that photo, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind. But now I’m sure that was his intention.” Jarrod reached up and pushed a loose hair behind her ear. “Are you feeling any better?”
She had been until now. Just when she thought her world couldn’t be more in turmoil, there was another twist.
“Do you think it was Arthur who was selling our company’s secrets to North Korea?”
Jarrod nodded. “Everything seems to be pointing that way. My best guess is that he was compromised by North Korean agents when he worked for your dad. They probably paid him well for his services.”
She leaned into him, letting him wrap his arm around her. “Did you try and save my brother?”
He sighed. “There wasn’t time. I should have seen Arthur going for his gun, but I missed it. I’m so sorry, babe.”
She felt herself soften as he called her by the pet name. Though she was deeply saddened by the loss of Daniel and the lies that were unfolding around them, she didn’t have it in her to completely turn Jarrod out. She was angry and hurt, but without him at her side she was left with no one. As it was, she was already more alone than she had ever been. She needed him. And gauging from his rapid heartbeat as she drew closer, she could tell that he needed her, too.
Right now, they were each other’s rocks, and the world around them was their hard place.