In Her Sights (36 page)

Lexie blinked. “Sweating?”

“Like a pig.” Julia nodded and leaned close to them both. “I
put him in the library. He’s pacing too. I offered something to drink and had
Mike pull together some finger snacks, but he hasn’t touched any of it. He’s
taken a napkin and is constantly wiping at his forehead.”

Arnold was still nervous. Something must have encouraged his
return. Clayton looked out as he closed the front door, wondering who all saw
Arnold come to Lexie’s house a second time. Lights illuminated the gate, but he
could see nothing past it. Just the road.

Lexie walked past Julia. “Thanks. We’ll take care of it.”

“Do you want me to get the box?’

Lexie shook her head. “No. I’ll get it in a bit.”

Clayton walked next to Lexie as they headed down the hall. “Sounds
like he’s ready to bolt.”

“I got that feeling, too.”

He opened the door for her and, true as Julia had said,
Arnold paced the room. He stopped mid-stride and looked up as they stepped in. “Lexie,
thank you for coming. I don’t know what I was thinking when I dropped that
package here. Just in another world.”

She moved further in the room. “It’s okay. When Julia saw
your name on the mailing label, she sealed the box up. When you didn’t answer
your phone, we decided to keep it my safe just in case it was valuable. It hasn’t
been any trouble at all.”

“Oh.” Arnold blinked. “That’s nice of you. I really
appreciate it.” He dabbed at his forehead again. “I hate to be pushy, but I
need to meet someone this evening. They’re expecting me to have that package.”

“Of course.” She gestured to Clayton. “Excuse my manners.
This is Clayton Addison.”

Clayton shook the man’s hand and found it as damp with sweat
as his forehead. “Nice to meet you.”

“Addison. Sounds familiar.”

Clayton moved around the room and sat while Lexie slipped
out. “I own an investigation and private security company called Addison’s
Security.”

“That’s.” Arnold swallowed. “I think that’s it. I—I didn’t
know Lexie was dating anyone. Not that it’s any of my business, but the papers
and all haven’t said anything.” Arnold pulled at his collar. “I’ve been out of
town, but electrical, I mean, well tablets with subscriptions and stuff.”

“I love those. I get all of my magazines on my tablet now. So
handy. Lexie’s had some break-ins recently, and I’ve been seeing to her
protection.”

“Oh. You’re not dating.”

“No, we are.” He paused and smiled. They were. Earlier this
evening, he would have said what Lexie did. Just friends. That had ended when
she walked in his bedroom and undressed him. “That’s just how we met.”

Arnold nodded and sat on a couch across from him. “I hope no
one was hurt with the break-ins.”

“Everyone is fine. The police have suspects in custody who
think she has a stolen ancient dagger, and that seems to be what caused the
trouble. I had two bodyguards here and we were able to stop them before hurting
anyone.”

“Two?” Arnold paled.

Clayton leaned forward. “Are you feeling all right? You look
a little sick.”

“The, ah, jet lag. I had to leave on a business trip and I
just got back.”

Clayton stayed relaxed and tried not to push. “I find
airports to be the most frustrating part of flying.”

“Yes.” Arnold shifted on his seat. “About your bodyguards.
Do they deliver things?”

He kept his tone easy and conversational. “Not generally.”

“Oh.” Arnold stared at the carpet.

“There’s always exceptions and circumstances, though. Do you
have something you need taken care of?” Like a stolen dagger he needed
delivered?

“I….” He shook his head. “I was asking for a friend.”

Sure he was. He’d never met Arnold before, but he understood
now why Lexie found it unbelieving that this guy had been at the base of the
theft. Sitting in front of him while he was sweating it, it was hard to
believe. Something good must have been motivating him to take that kind of a
risk. “If this friend wants some help, I’m open to talk about it.”

Lexie stepped in the room. The dress she’d worn was
gone, and she was in a shirt and a pair of shorts. A box was tucked under
her arm. “Here it is. Sorry it took so long. I was all the way in the bedroom
and wanted to change out of that dress.”

Arnold all but jumped from the couch and was around and in
front of her. “Thank you, Lexie. Sorry for bothering you.”

“No bother at all.” She handed him the package. “How is your
girlfriend? She stopped by, worried about you when you left town.”

Arnold’s swallow was audible. “We broke up.”

“That’s a shame. Betty seemed very sweet.”

“Betty?” Arnold frowned and shook his head. “No, her name
was Janet.”

Clayton found his mouth opening before he could catch it.
Being behind Arnold, it didn’t matter. Lexie, though, didn’t betray a single
thought. She only frowned. “I could have sworn she said her name was Betty.”

“Nope. Janet Parker.”

And there was the missing link. The two had been dating and
no doubt, that’s what motivated Arnold to buy the dagger. It was a symbol for
an engagement. Whatever broke them up though must have been big for Janet to
have hired a gang for help.

“I guess I’m mixing up names somewhere. You know how it is.”

“Easy to do.” Arnold lifted the box. “Thanks, I need to go.”

“Let me—”

Arnold stepped in the hall and was gone.

Lexie looked to Clayton and shut the library door. “Anything?”

“Not much. I’m pretty sure he’s taking the package to
someone tonight.”

She was all grins. “Good thing I snuck a little bug in the
box so we’ll know where it goes. Are you up for a little adventure this
evening?”

He just shook his head and laughed. It wasn’t everyday he
met a woman who stocked things like tracking devices in her house. “I’m ready
when you are.”

“Give me five minutes and meet me on the street behind my
house.”

“On the street?”

She nodded. “All of your cameras and no blind spots to use. I
have things I want to take that shouldn’t be viewed.” She put a small device
with a screen to track the bug in his hand. “The dot is the box. I’ll hurry.
Wait for Julia. I’ll have her give you whatever information my contact dug up.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Instead of walking out the front door of the guest house, Lexie
slipped out the back. She circled around and popped out on the street, well
away from the cameras. She didn’t think Clayton would ever do something like
poke behind her back, but it just wasn’t worth the risk to him or her. No one
from the business could discover Clayton’s knowledge about her, or they’d be
real trouble.

She adjusted the weight of her bag over her shoulder and
sprinted under the trees to Clayton’s car. She opened the door and dropped in,
the bag in her lap. “Is he still moving?”

He nodded and showed her the screen. “Right back to
Gillette.”

Lexie shook her head. The last place she wanted to go, but
at least she’d be able to retrieve her car while there. “During my meeting out
there, it was mentioned she knew someone in the Sidewinders gang, and that’s
how she made initial contact to hire them. I bet that’s where she’s holed up.”

He handed a couple sheets of paper over. “Here’s the papers
Julia gave me. It’s more information on Janet.”

“Good.” She took the pages and scrolled through, stopping at
Janet’s birthplace. “She’s originally from the same town in California where
the dagger was stolen?”

Clayton nodded. “Lived with them too since her single mother
worked for the family at the time.”

She scrolled further through information. “When Janet was
six, her mother, who was a housekeeper, bought a house in the suburbs of
Mississippi with
cash
.”

“Right.” Clayton glanced at her with his brow raised. “Where
her mother retired and never worked another day in her life. Janet grew up,
went to college without a scholarship, and her mother paid the whole ride with
more cash.”

“Wow.” Lexie blinked. “Somebody was paid off.”

“Exactly what I thought. Janet’s mother found something out,
and they got rid of her.”

Lexie lowered the pages. “And years later, Janet wants an
ancient dagger that symbolizes a new engagement owned by this same family.”

“I still haven’t figured that part out.” Clayton’s hand
lifted off the top of his steering wheel and lowered. “Why this dagger? I
looked at the family a little. They don’t have just a ton, but they’re
well-to-do people. They collect a lot of artifacts.”

Lexie tapped her legs. “We know Arnold made the contact to
get the dagger. Somewhere along the way, he got scared and Janet pops up,
wanting it. What if she wanted it all along, and he was getting it for her?
They break up, he’s got a lot of money invested in buying this thing for her,
and now what’s he supposed to do with it? He doesn’t know and asks his college
buddies to mail it around to buy him time”

Clayton nodded. “I wondered something like that. Maybe she
found out he was trying to get rid of it, and that set her off.”

Lexie finished the rest. “Went to Gillette to recruit the
help of an old friend.”

“And that really scared Arnold. This makes more sense than
what we’ve had so far.”

“Yes, it does.” Finally, the last of the pieces were
starting to pull together. Now to catch them, end it all, and see the dagger
returned. She pointed at the screen tracking Arnold. “Looks like he stopped.”

Clayton glanced at the screen. “We’ll be there in a few
minutes. Surely it’ll take him that long.”

“I hope longer.” She pointed at the intersection. “Take a
right.”

“That’s going to put us further away.”

“I know, but I have somewhere secure you can park your car so
we can slip in and out.” She gave him directions to her private parking garage,
and he pulled up to the box.

“What’s the code?”

She unbuckled. It wasn’t as simple as that. She put her
knees in the seat, planted a hand on his seat between his thighs and leaned out
the window. She punched in the number and then, on a blank section of the pad,
pressed her thumb. The red light on the keypad flicked to green, and she eased
back in the car as the garage door lifted.

Clayton shook his head. “You mean you didn’t upgrade to
voice activated?”

She laughed. “The idea is to avoid noise. Pull in and go to
the left. My car is going to be parked in the center, but there’s room.”

He drove up, and his headlights brightened the end of her
car. “I can’t believe you drive a Mustang. I was expecting something foreign
and expensive like James Bond.”

“That would stick out and be completely memorable. Next time
you’re driving around, count how many Mustangs you’ll see. I bet you’ll get at
least ten or fifteen just going across town.” The garage door lowered, and she
stepped out. “I hope you have some weapons or something with you. I can’t let
you get caught with anything of mine.”

He grinned and popped the trunk. “I own two vehicles and my
day-to-day schedule can change.”

She unzipped her bag, dug through to the bottom, and pulled
out the belt she’d already loaded with her gun, knife, small pack, and staff.
She belted it around her hips, then pulled on her mask.

She stepped around the back as Clayton pulled up black cargo
pants. He left his jeans over the trunk, and he added a shoulder strap and
tucked a pistol under his left arm. On his belt, he clipped a case that held
extra magazines. At last, he pulled on a plain ball cap, tossed his other
clothes in the trunk, and shut it.

“I didn’t even think. Are your bruises okay for this?”

“Hurts like a mother, but I’ll be fine. Let me lace up my boots
and I’ll be ready.”

She checked the tracer and found the dot was still in the
same spot. “He’s still there. Or at least the box is.”

Clayton came around the end, looking like the man who had broken
in her home the first night she had met him. While the suits and all were nice,
she had to admit she liked this commando look on him.

She pointed at the ladder. “To the roof.”

She took him through the same route she had followed last
time. Across rooftops, down another ladder, and through alleys. She watched the
dot on the screen as they moved closer until they came to a trashed-out
apartment building. She tapped the screen. “Looks like they’re on the fourth
floor.” She gestured across the street to the truck parked at the curb. “And
Arnold’s still here.”

Clayton nodded. “What do you want to do?”

“If you have any rope hidden in your pockets, I’ll rappel down
the side of the building and go in the window.”

“Fresh out of rope.”

She tsked. “I figured.” Thanks to Samantha who was from this
area, Lexie knew that all the apartments of the Sidewinders were in this
section. They lived together like a fraternity and at this time of night, most
of them would be out. But a few might still be around. She pulled her staff off
her hip. “Looks like we’re taking the stairs.”

He followed as she ran. “How do you know we won’t be seen
there?”

“I don’t. But by the dark windows I’m seeing, people either
aren’t home or they’re asleep.” She stopped just before crossing the street and
looked up at him. “You can stay here if you want. You don’t have to follow me
in.”

“I’m going.”

“Just that if the shit hits the fan, you’re going to be
stuck. This is your whole life on the line. Your business will be picked
through. I won’t think less of you for staying.”

“Ask me again and I’m going to leave you here on the street
and go in alone.”

She was really starting to like this man a whole lot. She
grabbed the end of her staff and pulled it out to full length as they moved. “All
right. If you see anyone, hit them first to get away, think later.”