Molten Gold (9 page)

“I see.” Adelaide frowned. She tried to piece it together
but it didn’t really make sense yet. The only thing that was really clear was
that Brett had felt his knowledge of Steve’s death was important enough to lie
about.

Adelaide and Moira exchanged a few more pleasantries and
hung up. Adelaide put her cell phone in the pocket of her clean chinos and sat
at the kitchen table as Jared placed a plate of hot food in front of her.

Although the eggs were a little overcooked for her liking,
the rest of the spread tasted delicious. As they ate, they discussed the case.

“I’m glad to finally have sorted that niggle out,” she
confessed. “But I feel really sad at the same time. Why would Brett lie to us?
What could he possibly gain?”

“Well, it makes him look more innocent,” Jared postulated.
“If he didn’t know about Steve’s death he couldn’t be responsible for that
missing gold bar. But maybe it’s as simple as him not being comfortable showing
his grief to us?”

“But he showed plenty of remorse,” Adelaide parried. “Being
the last man standing. Having no one else alive who was there with him. Could
Brett be the leak in your office?”

“No way.” Jared shook his head vehemently. “Brett isn’t on
any active lists, and he sure as hell isn’t on the Army intelligence email list
for internal memos.”

“I guess he could still have contacts. Maybe he knows
someone who is on that email list?” Adelaide asked.

Jared shrugged. “I’ll need to look into that, sure.” They
ate some more. Adelaide stood and got some iced tea from the fridge. She
offered a glass to Jared, who took it. Returning with her own drink, she sat
back down and finished her bacon.

“So if Brett is going to all this trouble to take all the
gold for himself, why did he give his two bars to me?” Jared asked.

“I really don’t know.” Adelaide frowned. “Do you think it
was a ploy? To make himself seem more trustworthy?”

“I’m getting a bad feeling about all this,” Jared replied.
He took his empty plate to the sink, then came back to the table and drained his
glass. Adelaide popped the last bit of bacon in her mouth and chewed slowly,
thinking.

“Maybe when Brett and the others took the gold, Brett found
something out about himself,” Jared guessed. “Gold fever certainly has some
basis in fact. It does make people act strangely and change them. Perhaps over
time, as his need for the gold grew, he found it easier to contemplate stealing
it from his friends. Hell, maybe he helped orchestrate their deaths.”

“Uncle Mark died of a heart attack,” Adelaide pointed out.

Jared just shrugged. “You’d be amazed what some modern
medicines can do, especially if no one is looking for them specifically on the
toxicology reports.”

Adelaide opened her mouth, astonished and completely
unconvinced. “It’s a big leap from a bit of smuggling to murder and theft.”

“I know, but I’ve got this odd feeling, and I learned long
ago to listen to my gut,” Jared said. He took her empty plate and placed it in
the sink. Adelaide drained her glass and followed his lead.

She wasn’t at all sure they were headed down the right
track, but she couldn’t think of anything to defend Brett’s lies. What if more
of what he’d said was untrue? She was confused and felt a little lost.

“I think we should get the gold somewhere safe,” Jared said.

“Who can you trust at your work?” she asked.

Jared walked down the hallway and she followed. He picked up
his satchel, checked its contents, then placed his wallet and phone in the
pocket of his trousers. Adelaide picked up her handbag, assuming they were
about to leave. She was interested in seeing Jared’s workplace, her mind
humming curiously.

“Okay, this is what we’re going to do—” Jared started. He
was interrupted by a bang as the back door slammed open, cracking the wooden
frame. Two masked men entered the kitchen, guns drawn.

Adelaide froze. Jared dropped his satchel onto the floor of
the hallway and rushed into the living room. Adelaide stepped forward and
turned to watch him as he pulled a gun from the inner pocket of the jacket
slung over the back of the couch.

Adrenaline kicked in and Adelaide realized how exposed she
was. She ducked into the bedroom and crouched down in the doorway. She balanced
herself so she could flee farther into the room and lock the door should it
become necessary, but for now it was also possible to tilt her head out and see
what was unfolding in the hallway.

“Get out of my home!” Jared shouted.

The two men moved forward into the kitchen, guns aimed, and
swept the room in what looked to Adelaide to be a trained and professional
manner.

“This is your last warning. You’re trespassing and breaking
a dozen laws. I’ll shoot next,” Jared said.

“Clear,” she heard one of the men say.

The other waved his gun down the hallway. “There,” he said.

Adelaide didn’t know who they were after—she didn’t think
they’d seen her, but they’d pointed in her general direction. She crouched
back.

Running feet preceded the hard slam of two bodies colliding.
She peered out again and saw that Jared had tackled one of the men to the
ground. The other ignored the byplay, leaping over their tangling legs as Jared
and the man wrestled on the ground.

The second masked man jogged down the hall and bent to pick
up Jared’s satchel.

“Hey!” Adelaide shouted, outraged but simultaneously
relieved that this could be something so mundane as a purse grab. The man cast
her a quick glance then immediately returned his attention to the satchel. He
grabbed one of the gold bricks and placed it inside his zippered jacket. By the
time he’d pulled the second bar free, he was already dropping the satchel and
heading toward the door.

“Hey, stop! You can’t do that,” Adelaide shouted. She tried
to grab the man as he passed her, but he hit her in the head and she fell like
a rock. Her ears whirred, filled with a ringing sensation, and pain exploded
across her skull. Adelaide closed her eyes, feeling nauseated.

“That wasn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” she
mumbled, more to herself than anything. A warm hand closed over her arm and she
jerked back, worried the attacker had come back for her.

“You’re okay. Open those beautiful brown eyes, Addy my love—come
on,” Jared crooned to her. Adelaide’s heart raced. She was sure him calling her
love was just a slip of the tongue, but they were sweet words to be the first
she heard.

“I’m fine,” she mumbled. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth,
her words possibly even slurring a little. She felt as if she’d been crushed by
a linebacker.

“Let me secure this guy, then we need to check out your
head,” Jared insisted.

He moved away and she could hear him dragging the other man
into the living room. Adelaide rubbed her head, feeling blood slick her
fingers. She winced and stood slowly, gingerly making sure her legs would hold
her.

As she walked toward the bathroom, she heard Jared on the
phone. “…going to bring a suspect in for questioning. We’ll need to get an ID
on him as soon as possible. He’s refusing to give me his name, but I’d bet
anything he’s in the Army, maybe connected with our mole.”

Things were happening so quickly. She didn’t want to miss
out. Adelaide felt tired, but washed her face, wincing as she saw that a bruise
had already begun to form. The graze was small and stopped bleeding almost
immediately when she washed it clean.

Considering the damage the man could have done, she was lucky.

Jared came into the bathroom and cupped her face. She
scrunched her nose as he tilted her head and brushed her hair back.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’ll be fine. This is going to be an awesome
story.”

“Ah, the journalist surfaces again. Remember your promise to
wait,” he reminded her. They kissed gently. “But I don’t think this will last
too much longer. Brett must be getting desperate if he sent these men to
recover his gold.”

“It could still be someone else,” she insisted, though her
doubts were growing stronger about her uncle’s friend.

“Come on, you’ll be safe at the base,” Jared insisted. “I
can get a physician to check you over too. I’ll feel better when I know there’s
no concussion or anything else.”

“I want to be there when you question this man,” she
insisted. “I’m just as involved in this as you are.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises,” Jared replied. “Honestly,
this is spiraling out of control. We might both be off the case if my boss
decides to handball the problem to another division.”

“You might have to follow orders,” she said stubbornly. “But
I don’t.”

“Let’s see what happens first,” Jared placated her. “I’d
hate for our first fight to be about something avoidable.”

Adelaide hugged Jared and rested her head against his chest.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said softly. “That was scary.
I’m sorry I wasn’t more help.”

“You did fine, love. I’m sorry you were hurt.”

They kissed again and Adelaide sighed happily. Her head
still ached, but she was eager to get moving. Jared led her out of the bathroom
and they got ready to leave with their new visitor.

Jared looked up from his computer as he heard a light tread
approaching. Adelaide sat on the edge of his desk and he saved the work he’d
been doing. Reaching a hand up, he brushed her temple, pleased to see the Band-Aid
covering the small cut but still enraged by the bruise forming on the side of
her face.

“The doctor gave me the all-clear,” she told him. “And a few
pain meds, which I’m grateful for. Frank’s been on the phone to me, he still
has a few suspicions about that leak. He’s digging into it. I know he’ll get
there, he’s stubborn. Anyway, do we have anything on these guys yet?”

“I was waiting for you to come back before I questioned our
new friend,” Jared said.

“Can I sit in?”

Jared shook his head. “No, but you can watch with my boss
and a few others on the closed-circuit TV in the next room. Which is as good as
I can offer.”

Adelaide sighed, but Jared was relieved when she didn’t
argue. No one had decreed that Adelaide couldn’t sit in, but Jared didn’t want
her anywhere near these men. He’d far rather any further heat come down on his
head. When he’d seen the other man punch Adelaide, he’d been blinded by rage
and worry. Jared didn’t think his heart could cope if she was hurt any further.

So he wanted to do this on his terms, with Adelaide as
safely tucked away as possible. It was sexist, but the truth.

“Private Marsh, could you please escort Ms. Baker to the captain
in the viewing room?” Jared asked one of the underlings nearby. The youth
saluted him—Jared struggled not to smile—and waited for Adelaide.

Jared nodded at her. “The captain will show you what’s going
on, and I’ll be in to question our guest in a minute. It won’t be long now
you’re back.”

Adelaide reached out and touched the tips of her fingers to
his hand, then followed the private into one of the small offices. Jared took a
deep breath, grabbed a few folders he’d collected on his desk and headed into
the interview room.

He closed the door behind him with a snap. The unmasked man
didn’t move a hair or even blink.

Definitely Army,
Jared figured. Trained. Disciplined.
Obedient. Jared hoped this wouldn’t be too difficult. He had no desire to
hammer a fellow soldier, but then he recalled the ease with which the other man
had hit Adelaide and his resolve firmed.

“You’re in a lot of trouble, officer,” Jared said as he sat.

Jared placed the folders directly in front of him and
clasped his hands over them. The other man didn’t even glance at Jared or
acknowledge his words.

“For starters there’s breaking and entering, trespassing,
not to mention theft, which as you know here in the Army is a serious crime,”
Jared continued. “But to add accessory to assault on an unarmed woman. What do
you have to say for yourself, officer?”

The man pressed his lips together but otherwise didn’t move.

“What’s your name, officer?” Jared demanded. “I know you’re
in collusion with a retired man named Brett McLean, but I need to know who else
is involved. Brett McLean and his Delta group took those gold bricks your
associate stole from me and might even be involved in murder.”

At this last allegation, the officer glanced at Jared, then
hastily looked away.

“You might have wondered what I was doing, making you wait here
since we arrived,” Jared said in a conversational tone. “I wasn’t trying to get
you to sweat, officer. I was carefully checking my facts. There has been no
sanction of your attack on my home. Indeed, Brett McLean was the only person
other than myself and my companion who knew the whereabouts of that gold. So I
know he told you about it, or he informed someone who passed it along to you.
So I repeat. What is your name, officer?”

The man swallowed, then answered. “Corporal Nolan Reeves,
sir.”

“Right,” Jared said. He jotted the name down. “And who was
your associate?”

Reeves shook his head once. Jared could see the hesitation
in the movement and despite the circumstances felt a small measure of respect
for the man. Even though Reeves was in the wrong here, he still was unsure
enough to hold his ground and refuse to give his friend up. That took balls in
this situation. Jared changed tactics.

“Come on, Reeves, use your head,” Jared said with
exasperation. “Why would one man, a retired officer no less, need you to steal
this gold? I’m Army Intelligence, I’m officially sanctioned on this case. I’d
been given those bars by Brett McLean and was bringing them here to HQ for
safekeeping until we either close the case or go to court. What part of your
mission even makes sense, let alone seems legal?”

“And I’m to take your word over that of a superior officer?”
Reeves snapped back.

Jared blinked, pleased to have gotten a response but unsure what
Reeves was referring to.

“Excuse me?”

“That gold was in your satchel within your home residence,”
Reeves pointed out. “How does that make you any better than—”

“Than Brett McLean?” Jared finished for him.

Reeves ignored that. “Maybe it’s you who should be sitting
here explaining why the gold was in your home and not safely here at the base?
With respect, sir.”

Jared pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why don’t we call
McLean, then?” Jared said. “If he’s innocent, he’ll come in to explain things
when we invite him. I can get him on the phone now. Will that satisfy you?”

Reeves didn’t reply but looked away instead. Jared took that
as tacit agreement. Jared pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through until
he found Brett’s number. He dialed. When it rang through and switched to
voicemail, Jared had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Despite himself, Reeves
watched and seemed perplexed when Jared put his phone away.

“No answer,” Jared said. He sat back and thought for a
moment. He looked at Reeves again. “Clearly you and your partner were not keen
on shooting at fellow Americans. But why hurt a civilian? A woman, for fuck’s
sake?”

“I was not informed a woman would be present,” Reeves
replied stiffly. “We had our mission and attempted to carry it out without
incident. I can’t answer for my associate, but I expect he simply reacted in
the heat of the moment, needing to get away. I’m sorry if she’s hurt. That
wasn’t the plan.”

Jared nodded, unsure what else he could glean from the
solider.

“Thank you,” Jared said. He collected his folders as he
stood. “Another officer will be with you shortly. I expect you’ll be allowed to
make a phone call soon, if there’s anyone you need to contact.”

Reeves tilted his head in the tiniest of nods and looked at
the wall. Jared felt equal measures of sympathy and irritation for the man.
Sympathy for the situation he found himself in, irritation that he hadn’t been
more forthcoming.

Jared left the room and returned to his desk. Adelaide met
him halfway.

“Your captain sent a few men over to Brett’s house as soon
as you tried to call and he didn’t answer. Do you think he’s dead too?”
Adelaide asked.

Jared shook his head. “I’m betting he’s taken his pilfered
gold and done a runner.”

“I can think of a way we might be able to bring him back, or
out of hiding at least,” Adelaide suggested.

Jared paused, wary. “What sort of plan?” he asked. Already
his gut was telling him he wouldn’t like this.

Adelaide leaned closer and lowered her tone. “You still
haven’t been able to work out who the leak is here, have you?” Jared resisted
the impulse to look around them and make sure no one was paying attention. That
would draw more notice than anything else.

He shook his head.

“Well,” Adelaide continued. “What if we bait a trap with my
uncle’s gold? If you send out a memo like last time, stating that I’ve found
the gold hidden in my house, which was also my parents’, that might draw Brett
out.”

“But why wouldn’t you have found it before now?” Jared
asked.

“We can say it was buried in my backyard,” Adelaide
continued excitedly. “We’ll say I hired a metal detector or something. Mark
stayed with us a lot through my childhood, and when he returned from duty I was
still in college and he lived with me until he found his feet. It was almost
two years before he found his own place. He had plenty of time and opportunity
to bury his treasure.”

“I don’t like the thought of using you as bait, though. What
if Brett attacks you again? He’s already tried twice now,” Jared said.

“We can limit the opportunity,” she replied. “That’s the
beauty of using the mole for our own purposes. We find somewhere remote, somewhere
on the Army grounds. A training cabin or something like that. We say we’re
transporting the gold to a secure location in the middle of the night. That
will draw him out, I’m sure of it.”

“I guess you wouldn’t be happy with staying safely out of
it?” Jared sighed.

“Not a chance. This is my idea, and when it’s all over this
will be my story,” she insisted.

“Let’s go talk it over with my boss,” Jared said, resigned.
“At least if we can plan it out carefully enough we might have a chance.”

Adelaide beamed, clearly pleased.

Jared felt a little sick to his stomach. Nerves, and they
hadn’t even begun yet.

* * * * *

3 a.m. the next day

Adelaide wriggled her toes and tried to stay awake. Despite
the heat of each day, the nights were quite incredibly muggy. She sat in the
back of a truck with four camouflaged soldiers. They all had earpieces in and
Adelaide felt a thrill each time someone spoke in a coded whisper over the
device, giving status updates.

This was like being in a movie, only a thousand times better.

And sweatier.

She wanted to thank Jared again, but she didn’t want to
embarrass him in front of his men. This was easily the most exciting story
she’d ever followed and it was hopefully about to wrap up soon. Jared reached
over and touched her chest, checking the shoulder straps of her body armor and
tightening the notch for the dozenth time.

“I’ll be fine,” she reassured him. “I’ll hang around at the
back, like I promised.”

Adelaide had the feeling her agreeing to his demands still
hadn’t assuaged his fear. She knew Jared well enough to have noticed when he’d
bitten down to stop himself from arguing when his boss had agreed she could
ride along. And the way Jared seemed distracted, constantly checking her safety
gear and warning her to stay behind once the action started, spoke volumes to
her.

But she was too excited to care about any of that.

Very soon this would be over. Part of her worried that her
blossoming relationship with Jared might be over too. But she wouldn’t let that
happen. She realized there would be challenges. Jared’s work wasn’t easy and
neither was hers. But they could make it if they were prepared to try. People
in far harder situations than theirs made it work.

They’d just have to compromise and keep at it.

Adelaide could commit to that. She knew she was falling in
love with Jared, and had an inkling that his feelings weren’t casual either.
They’d make it, she knew they would.

Potential target has been acquired…

Adelaide sat up and looked around, not able to see much at
all in the darkness of the night. The woods were sparse, but with no streets
nearby there was no ambient light. She wished she’d argued more strongly to get
a pair of the night-vision goggles the other men wore, but there hadn’t been a
spare pair and she hated the thought of taking equipment from one of the guys
who really needed it.

The back door of the truck opened in silence. The men
climbed out with hardly a sound, even the whisper of their fatigues kept to a
minimum. As promised, Adelaide climbed out last.

Her heart beat so fast in her chest that she felt certain
she’d pass out any minute now. Sweat beaded down her back and across her
shoulders and neck. She felt faintly sick, but refused to give in to it. This
was her moment, the crowning glory of her story. She’d be damned if she’d pass
out like some storybook heroine from the dark ages.

Adelaide swiveled around, panicking for a moment. She
couldn’t see Jared in the darkness. Where was he? She could see the retreating
back of one of the other men, but she realized they’d split up as they’d left
the truck.

She followed the man she could see, ducking into a crouch as
she ran along behind him, scared, adrenaline racing through her blood.

Jared has done far scarier things that this,
she
tried to comfort herself.
Brett is one man against a team. Jared will be
fine.

There was a shout and the small log cabin halfway up the
hill lit up brightly. The lights were nearly blinding and Adelaide fell to the
ground and covered her eyes. For over an hour they’d been sitting in the
darkness and her eyes had become accustomed to that. The lights in the cabin
were painfully intense.

Another shout called out through the still night air, then
she heard a gun go off.

Rational thought left her.

“Jared!” she called, forgetting every single thing she’d
been told for hours through the day before. There was no intelligence in her,
no thought of blowing cover or drawing attention to her position or anything.
The gunshot echoed through the night and all she could feel was abject fear that
her partner might be shot and hurt. Bleeding. Dying.

She started to run up the hill.

More shouts rang out and two more shots were fired.

Hold your fire!
an angry tone snapped out over her
earpiece.
Suspect is down. Repeat, suspect is down.

Adelaide raced into the cabin and looked around. Numerous
men were milling about, but she had eyes only for Jared. He stood out to her in
the crowd, handsome and perfect, bent over Brett, who was being restrained with
cables around his wrists and ankles.