Andrea pulled out the cellphone she'd gotten back from Carpenter and dialed her brother. Zach picked up on the first ring.
“Can you talk?” His deep voice was exactly what she needed to hear, especially after the day she'd been having. Zach didn't go for small talk, especially after the call earlier, and she knew exactly what to say.
“Screecher, please.” Her brother would know she wanted him to activate the scrambler which would block anybody from recording or listening in on their conversation. All they'd get was a loud screeching sound, an unintelligible garbled mess. It was one of his newer toys that the Agency desperately wanted to get their hands on. Big brother was smart, though, and was holding out on them.
“Done. What the hell is going on, sis? How'd you get involved with Carpenter? I've gotta tell you, the man is sharp and he's connected. I don't know how high his reach goes, but you are in over your head.”
“I'm not backing down, Zach. You know I can't.”
Her brother sighed loud enough to be heard over the phone. “John wouldn't have wanted this for you. He loved you and he'd want you to be happy, not focused on some twisted path of revenge.”
Andrea winced at the mention of her former fiancé's name. John Lockwood had been her best friend for years before they became engaged. A cop, he'd been killed in the line of duty during a drug bust gone wrong. He'd loved his job and helping people, but he'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and interrupted a deal gone bad and been shot through the head, execution style.
“I have to do this. Richard Webster was behind John's death and until he's brought down, locked in a jail cell or planted six feet under, it's not over.” She stared out her bedroom window into the vivid blue water filling the pool. It was a beautiful oasis, but right now its serenity wasn't having any soothing effect on her rattled emotions.
She'd almost broken down and told Carpenter the truth, the real reason she'd gone to work for Mitchell. How had she let him get to her like this? She'd loved her fiancé with all her heart, but she found herself attracted to Samuel Carpenter with an intensity she'd never felt with John.
“What can I do?”
“Right now, nothing. Carpenter's suspicious of me, but I don't think he's got any idea I'm searching for Webster for my own reasons. His computer guy, Carlisle? He's really good. I had no idea he'd trailed the wire transfer Mitchell had me send, but somehow he sniffed it out, and that's what put Carpenter on my tail.”
“Carlisle? Do you mean Stefan Carlisle?” Her brother let out a whistle. “I tried to hire him a couple of years ago to work for me. He's brilliant.”
Andrea smiled. She heard the aggravation in her brother's voice. He didn't like not getting what he wanted, and apparently he'd wanted Carlisle.
“He's good enough he found a back door into Simco.”
“Seriously? You and I both tried and couldn't get past their encrypted firewall.”
“He did. Got all the way into the Human Resources Department, but when he tried to get into Jacob Simmons' file, he got attacked by a fast-moving virus that fried his laptop. I doubt that will keep him out for long though. He's kind of—focused.”
“It all comes back to Simmons. Have you got any idea what they were looking for?”
“Not a clue. Can you send me everything you've got on him? Files, photos, anything. He's connected to this somehow. Maybe if I play nice with Carpenter, I can get more info. I have to get to Webster first.” She clenched the phone in her hand tight enough it'd probably have fingernail marks when she hung up. The thought that Webster still walked the streets as a free man while John was buried six feet under burned like acid in the pit of her stomach. Damn him!
“I'll send everything to your cloud backup. But, sis, be careful. Carpenter can be a deadly enemy if you cross him. He's relentless, but I've heard he's also fair. Find out what he knows, and trust your gut. Maybe work with him instead of separate. It might be the ticket to bringing down Richard Webster once and for all.”
“I'll think about it.” She'd done nothing but think about working with Carpenter ever since she realized they had the same end game, finding Richard Webster. But she was afraid she'd lose out on her chance for revenge when they caught up to him. Carpenter seemed the kind to toss a man behind bars and leave him to the tender mercies of the judicial system.
She couldn't allow that to happen. Webster had too many friends in high places and he'd find a way to walk away a free man. No, she'd come too far to let him live.
“Love you, Zach. Thanks for everything.”
“Love you too, sis. Call if you need anything. I can be there in less than an hour.”
She couldn't help smiling at his words. Even after all this time, he was still the overprotective big brother, wanting to shield her from all the evils of the world. Only some things you couldn't be protected from—you had to protect yourself or die trying.
“I will, I promise. Just get me those files ASAP.”
She disconnected the call, and tried to figure out what to do next. Could she trust Carpenter? Everything he'd done up to this point would indicate he wasn't trustworthy. Shoot, he'd run her down with his car just to get close to her.
Plus, there was the tracker he'd put in her shoe at the benefit. He didn't know she'd found it, but she wasn't stupid. Unless he had some kinky foot fetish, what man takes off a woman's shoes and massages her feet when he barely knows her? Though it had felt wonderful, she'd instinctively grown suspicious. He'd been up to something and it hadn't taken more than a quick trip to the ladies room to find his little added bonus tucked into the toe of her shoe.
She'd left it there since she hadn't planned on going anywhere else after the party, and hadn't worn those heels since. Now, she always checked to see if he'd tagged her with a tracker, but so far there hadn't been any more. Then again, he really hadn't needed one. She was practically a prisoner in his home.
Could she afford to trust him? Her mind said absolutely no. But there was more at play here than just her brain. Her heart told her to follow her gut instinct, the little voice that said he'd never hurt her, to give him a chance.
She was torn. Torn between the image of her fiancé lying on the cold dark ground with a bullet in his brain, and the tall, handsome man who made every nerve tingle with unawakened promises.
First things first, though. She needed to get her laptop back from Carpenter and study Zach's files. Maybe they'd help make her decision. If she made the wrong choice, Richard Webster's life wasn't the only one on the line, and that thought chilled her to the bone.