Elle James - Marine Force Recon

Declan gripped her elbow and glanced at the parking lot, where a long black limousine stood, blocking police cruisers into their parking spaces. He chuckled. “I’m surprised you don’t have a handful of tickets on that boat.”

“I left my driver in the driver’s seat for just such an occasion.” She waited for him to open the door before slipping inside. Charlie patted the seat beside her. “I’d feel better if you rode back here with me. Although, you might not want to. My other bodyguards—God rest their souls—didn’t fare well earlier today.” Her smile dipped into a frown. “Those bastards deserve to die for killing my men and all of those innocent bystanders.”

Declan slid into the back seat, next to Charlie.

She captured his gaze with a shadowed gray one of her own. “Don’t you see? Those are the kinds of wrongs I want to right. I have more money than I could ever spend. I want to do something to help others. If it means going around the law to see it’s done right...so be it.”

“I’m not in the habit of breaking the law, despite my lousy military record,” he warned her.

“I’m not asking you to break the law. Maybe bend a few rules, but not exactly break the law.” She reached for his hand. “Sometimes the authorities get in the way of justice or let people off who we know good and well are as guilty as sin. I’ve seen it happen more often than I’d care to admit. Someone like me, with more money than sense, buys his way out of jail or buys his son or daughter’s way out of serving time. No one should get away with murder.” Her hand clutched his tightly.

“Why are you so passionate about this?” he asked.

For a moment, she stared down at his hand. Then she released it and stared out the window. “My husband was murdered. The police got nowhere. No matter how much money I threw at private investigators, they couldn’t tell me who pulled the trigger. I know how I felt, losing my husband, who should have been around to grow older with me. I don’t want others to have to go through what I did.”

“I’ll work for you and do what I can,” Declan said. “But I won’t break the law.”

“Unless you have to in order to save a life,” Charlie said. “I had to pay a big bribe to get you out of hot water for using that submachine gun.”

Declan hadn’t considered the fact he might have been breaking the law when he took up the gun.

Charlie nodded with a smug smile. “That’s right. Possessing that kind of weapon isn’t legal in DC.”

Declan cursed beneath his breath. “I didn’t know. All I was worried about was saving you.”

“I know that, and you know that.” She sighed. “But the law is clear. If you’re caught in possession of a submachine gun, you can be thrown in jail. Again, some rules are meant to be bent. You wouldn’t have saved my life if you hadn’t snagged that man’s weapon and used it on his cohorts.”

Declan had once again backed himself into a corner of his own doing. If not for Charlie’s ability to sway the police force with a sizable contribution, he wouldn’t be free. He’d be sitting on a hard cot in a cell. “How much do I owe you? All I can do is work it off.”

Charlie touched his arm. “No, dear. I owe you my life. The least I could do was make sure you weren’t blamed for something you didn’t do.” She pressed a button on the armrest and the window between the driver and the rear of the vehicle slid downward.

“Carl, could you stop at the next corner? I believe there’s a hamburger establishment there.”

“Excuse me?” Carl glanced back at them through the rearview mirror, his expression incredulous. “Hamburger?”

“You heard me. And not one word to Francois, my chef. He would be appalled to know I had eaten something as banal as a hamburger with extra onions and pickles.”

Declan sat back against the seat, wondering just who this woman was and why she’d decided to hire him on the spur of the moment.

He was grateful for the opportunity to work and earn an honest paycheck, but he wondered if there was more to Charlie than met the eye.

Time would tell. For now, Declan was grateful for the wealthy woman and the hamburgers they ordered at the drive-through window. Or rather, the hamburgers the driver ordered, paid for and received on their behalf.

Declan leaned across the seats to grab the bag of burgers and fries, the scent nearly crippling him, he was so hungry.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as Charlotte, Declan and the driver consumed the food, washing it down with iced tea.

When Charlie asked where Declan lived, he knew it was useless to lie. “I’m new in town,” he said, avoiding an answer rather than attempting a lie.

“Oh, so you haven’t had time to check into a hotel?”

“No, ma’am...er... Charlie. But I’ll be fine.”

“Getting a hotel at this late hour can be hit and miss.” She talked to the driver by using the intercom. “Carl, take us home.” Charlie patted Declan’s arm. “You’ll stay at my house until you can get a place of your own. I’ll start you out with funds to set you up in an apartment as part of your pay.”

Declan stiffened. “I can’t accept your charity.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it charity.” She sat back on the leather seat. “You will be earning your pay in my employ.” She patted her belly. “And that was perhaps the best hamburger I’ve had in a very long time.”

“Charlie, I can’t do this. I’ve never in my life taken advantage of a woman’s generosity.”

She lifted her chin and stared down her nose at him. “Oh, believe me, I have plans for you. You’ll earn every dime working for Halverson Enterprises.”

With no other choices to fall back on, Declan squared his shoulders and faced his future.

Grace stood outside of the Halverson Enterprises building near K Street at 8:20 a.m., feeling like she’d been hit by a truck, and probably looking like it. She’d spent the majority of the night retracing what she would have thought would be Riley’s route on her way home the evening before.

The guard at the gate to Riley’s office complex had refused to let her in, insisting that the building was closed for the night. She’d have to return in the morning and talk with the security supervisor. He didn’t seem to understand that the morning might be too late. The train held no clues as to Riley’s whereabouts, and the path between the office complex and the train was clean of any traces of Grace’s roommate.

The police had done a perfunctory investigation, running into the same issues as Grace and coming up as empty-handed as she had, and they hadn’t contacted her in the past three hours.

She’d even tried calling Riley’s supervisor. But all she had was his work number. The connection went straight to his voice mail.

Riley was missing, and Grace had an interview for a job she could care less about as long as her friend and roommate remained missing. Still, she could have stayed at her apartment and hoped Riley would stroll through the door, announcing she’d spent the night with a hot guy she met at a bar. But the waiting would have killed Grace.

Instead, she’d showered, blow-dried her hair and applied a minimal amount of makeup. Dressed in a tailored skirt suit, she’d tucked her cell phone in her purse and left the ringtone on high in case Riley actually called. Grace didn’t care if she was in an interview or a meeting with the President of the United States—she’d answer the phone.

After taking a deep breath, she strode through the glass doors and stepped up to the reception desk.

The woman took her driver’s license and handed her a visitor’s pass. “Mrs. Halverson is expecting you.”