Love in the Shadows (12 page)

“I can do that,” Katherine
said.

“I’m going to stick around, Joe. I
don’t want Katherine left alone,” Derek said.

“She’s safe here in the building, Red
Hawk. No one can get in or out without us knowing. You are supposed
to be resting at an unknown location.”

“Someone has already gotten in.” Derek
pointed at the hawk figurine. “I’ll slip into Shadow if someone
comes to this floor. I don’t want her alone.”

“All right. Hugh is going over the
footage now. Charlie and Stacey are at your house. They’ll let us
know if someone shows up at the cabin unannounced.” Joe ran his
hand over his shorn head, a sure sign he was worried. “I’ll get to
the bottom of this.” Joe turned and headed for the door.

“Thanks for having so much faith in me,
Joe,” Katherine said.

He stopped, his hand on the door.
“Derek is lucky to have you.” Then, he headed for the
elevator.

“Finally, we are alone again.” Derek
pulled her onto his lap.

“Derek, I have to get to work. I can’t
monitor who comes in the elevator if I’m not in my office.” Derek
gave her a pout and his famous puppy dog eyes. Katherine laughed.
“You are so bad. Come sit in my office with me. If you hear the
elevator ding, you need to disappear.”

§

Derek watched as Katherine flipped
through files and worked at keeping Isanti going smoothly. Raven
hadn’t exaggerated when he said he couldn’t run the company without
Katherine. Could that be why the spy targeted her?

Derek heard the elevator chime and
quickly ducked into the Shadow Dimension. This wasn’t the first
time someone had come to the top floor. Both Raven and Cara had
walked in this morning. Their offices were the only ones besides
Katherine’s on this floor. Derek had complained to his brother
about not letting him know telepathically that it was Raven and
Cara in the elevator. The cold of Shadow made his latest bullet
wound ache.

The elevator door opened, and Nurse
Eschbach walked out. She went over to Katherine’s desk, carrying a
bundle of flyers.

“I thought you might be able to
distribute these. The Annual Race for the Cure is coming up in a
few months, and Dr. Rick suggested the women should get a team
together to represent Isanti, Inc. Would you be interested in
running?”

Derek pressed forward, and Katherine
shivered in her chair. Could she feel him in the Shadow
dimension?

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to check my
calendar with the dates. Leave me a couple of flyers, and I’ll make
sure they get posted,” Katherine replied.

“So where is the playboy of Isanti
hiding? You two sneak off to some love nest? Rumors are flying that
you and Derek are a couple now.”

Katherine stiffened. Derek
hoped she didn’t give her suspicions away. Was Nurse Eschbach the
mole?
Tell her I am visiting with Quiet
Thunder,
he sent telepathically to
Katherine.

“Derek hasn’t fully recovered from his
injuries. He is visiting with Quiet Thunder at his ranch in
Montana,” Katherine said.

“I heard that the doctor performed
emergency surgery. The people who work here sure get injured a lot.
I wasn’t on duty the night they brought Derek in, though I did
assist the last time he was injured. That’s another strange thing
about the people here. They seem to heal extremely
fast.”

“Healthy eating and lots of exercise, I
would expect, is behind their fast healing. Nurse Eschback, I
really have a lot to do to catch up after being out so long. Just
leave the flyers, please.”

“Of course, here they are. Have a nice
day, Mrs. Sloane.”

“You too, nurse.”

Derek waited until Nurse Eschbach
entered the elevator and the doors closed before slipping back out
of the Shadow dimension. He leaned down and kissed Katherine’s
temple.

“Did that seem strange to you?” he
asked.

“She always makes me uncomfortable. She
comes up here on a regular basis. I’ve walked into my office and
found her leaning over my desk. Do you think she’s the
one?”

Derek sat down in the chair in front of
her desk. “I’m not sure. Joe can have a chat with her and find out.
He’s really good at getting into other people’s heads. If she is,
we’ll know who to feed the false information to. Why don’t you call
him and have him come up.”

§

“I’m telling you, it’s not Nurse
Eschbach,” Joe said. “Believe me, I didn’t enjoy poking around in
her head. She doesn’t have any knowledge of spying or espionage.
It’s possible that the real mole is pumping her for information.
But she isn’t the mole.”

Raven sat behind his desk while Cara
and Katherine sat in the chairs in front. Derek stood behind
Katherine’s chair, while Joe stood next to the desk, his hip
leaning on the edge.

“Well, if it’s not her, who is it?”
Raven asked.

Derek wanted to know that, too. He
wanted this whole mess to be over so he could get on with living
with Katherine as his wife.

“From what we can see on the security
footage, it’s a man or woman, somewhere between five nine and six
foot,” Joe said. “The elevator lights are dim, and the person is
wearing dark pants and a hoodie. I’m going to assume it’s a man. He
never looks directly at the camera, as if he knows it’s there. The
man has come up here only three times in the last seven months, and
he always comes at night when the lights have been lowered. The
first time he came, he carried a small package in his hands. I
would venture to guess that is when the hawk was delivered to
Katherine’s desk.”

“Seven months, so right around the time
of the wedding?” Derek asked.

“Two days before, actually,” Joe said.
“Katherine, Hugh will be coming up to go through your computer. We
want to make sure he hasn’t tampered with the hardware.”

“For a minute, I thought this had to do
with my shooting Amanda at the wedding. If he planted the listening
device before that, how could it be?” Derek asked.

“It could still have something to do
with Amanda. Didn’t she get arrested right before the wedding?”
Cara asked.

“That’s correct, and then she was
allowed out on bail. It was her first offense,” Joe
said.

“Well, if this man is getting in the
building, he has to be an employee,” Raven said. “Katherine, call
the clinic and have them send me the records of all employees with
a height of five nine or above. To keep the real reason we want the
files secret, tell them we are making a study of persons’ heights
compared to the height of office furniture and back
pain.”

“Raven, that could be a huge amount of
people,” Cara pointed out.

“We’ve got to start somewhere,” Raven
replied. “I planned on doing a similar study this year, anyway. All
the tribal members are tall, and I keep hearing complaints about
their backs.”

“Okay, boss. I’ll get right on it.”
Katherine rose from her chair.

Derek took her hand and walked her out
of the office.

§

“I can’t believe there are so many
people five nine and above who work here.” Derek threw the papers
down on the desk.

They sat at Katherine’s desk with a
pile of files in front of each of them. The files they hadn’t
gotten to yet rested on a trolley cart that one of the interns
brought upstairs after Katherine made her request.

“Only five percent are women,”
Katherine murmured as she read the latest file. So far, out of the
hundred she had looked through, there were no clues as to who might
be the mole.

“How many files are there?” Derek
asked.

“Five hundred and forty. I’ve gone
through a hundred and two. How many have you gone
through?”

“Sixty-five. It’s late. I think we
should give it a rest and go get something to eat. I’m
starving.”

At that moment, Katherine’s stomach
made a loud rumble. “I guess I’m hungry too. It’s after five. Where
do you want to go?”

“Why don’t we take my convertible into
Albuquerque for Mexican food? It’s parked downstairs in the company
garage. After we eat, we can come back and give the file search
another hour or so before we go home to the cabin.”

“Sounds good,” Katherine agreed. “Cara
said we can use the apartment here if we want some privacy. With
Stacey staying at the cabin and Hugh and Charlie in and out, it
might be nice to have some alone time.”

“Let’s get you fed, then. If I’m going
to have you all to myself, you’re going to need your strength. I
wonder if we can get some whipped cream and chocolate sauce to go?”
Derek smacked his lips and winked at her.

Katherine laughed. “You are so bad, Mr.
Darkwood.”

“Only with you,
tehila
.”

They pushed the file cart into a closet
with a lock and took the elevator downstairs to the Darkwood
private parking area. Derek stopped at a locked cabinet on the wall
and opened it to reveal car keys neatly hung in a row. He picked up
the BMW keys and shook them in the air.

“I have to admit, having this car was
one of the perks of pretending to be the playboy of Isanti. I love
this car.” He smiled, and Katherine was transfixed. Her heart
swelled with love for this man.

Derek took her hand and
led her down the row of cars to a powder-blue BMW convertible. As
he hit the key fob to open the door, a telepathic message slammed
into their heads from Raven.
Do Not Get In
The Car! Get Away from it.

They both stepped back. Raven and Cara
appeared next to them, coming out of the Shadow
dimension.

“The car has been tampered with. I saw
it explode.” Cara ran up and grabbed Derek’s arm.

Katherine’s heart raced. Someone wanted
them dead. Derek walked over and put his arms around her. “We’re
okay, honey. I think we should order something in. Raven and Cara,
why don’t you join us upstairs?”

“How can you be so calm?” Katherine
asked.

“You’re here in my
arms,
tehila
,
safe and sound.”

Derek looked over at Raven, and once
again Katherine was sure they were talking telepathically to each
other. Raven took out his phone and started giving orders for the
car to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Cara stood at his side,
wringing her hands.

Feeling sorry for her, Katherine
reached over and gripped her arm. “Thank you for saving us
tonight.”

Raven put his arm around Cara and
pulled her under his shoulder. She nodded and leaned her head back
against his chest.

Is she okay?
Katherine asked Derek telepathically.

It’s hard on her to be the
tribe’s seer. She is always afraid we’re going to think she is
crazy,
Derek sent back.

§

I think this proves that
the assassin was out to kill, not kidnap. I want Katherine kept
safe.
Derek sent to Raven.

We all want that, and you
need to be safe too, Derek.

We need some answers and
soon. Katherine and I will stay here tonight.

Raven nodded, and they all walked back
into the Isanti building. Once they reached the elevator, Derek
felt as if he could relax some. Nobody would try something under
the watchful eyes of Isanti security.

“How did they get the bomb in the car?”
Katherine asked. “Aren’t there cameras in the garage to monitor
it?

“That’s something we can find out as
soon as we get to my office,” Raven said. “I’ll call down and have
the camera footage sent up. Don’t worry, Katherine. We’re going to
find out who is behind this.”

After an hour, food was delivered, and
they all sat in front of a monitor watching Derek’s car.

“It’s the same guy who was in the
elevator. He’s wearing the same clothes,” Raven pointed
out.

“Wait a minute. Can you pause the
picture?” Derek asked. “Look at his shoes. He’s wearing steel-toed
boots. Whoever he is, he isn’t an office employee. He’s got to be
with maintenance or the ground crew.”

“Nurse Eschbach is dating one of the
mechanics,” Katherine said.

“How do you know that?” Raven
asked.

“Gossip in the cafeteria. Everyone
talked about it. I guess no one believed she was the
type.”

“Maybe this guy is our mole. He could
be using Nurse Eschback to gather information for him.” Derek
turned to look at Raven.

“Why don’t we give it a test?” Raven
said.

“What did you have in mind?” Derek
asked.

“Are you sure this is going to work?”
Katherine paced back and forth in front of the bed in the penthouse
apartment of Isanti, Inc. “I’m afraid, Derek.”

“Come here,
tehila
.” Derek sat in
the chair by the window. He motioned her over.”