Page 45 of Securing Jane

“I mean, nothing’s wrong with a military member getting thank-you gifts. That asshole Creasy wouldn’t even listen to him during his court-martial. The entire thing took less than ten minutes. Ten minutes, and our lives were ruined. Fucking asshole! He’ll regret kicking Simon out. I’ll make sure of it.”

“What’s your plan?” Jane asked, both needing to know the answer and dreading it at the same time.

“Well, I was going to wait until the scrutiny died down, then strike when Creasy least expected it, but after those NCIS guys came to our place this weekend and grilled Simon, I had to move my timetable. Those assholes aren’t going to be happy until they completely demoralize my husband. I have to get on base,” Carlin told her. “I couldn’t send the kind of bomb I wanted last time. I knew it would get jostled too much and the explosive would be set off before I wanted it to. I thought I’d perfected the CS bomb to go off only when the box was opened, but apparently I was wrong.”

Yeah, apparently she was. “Then what?” Jane asked.

“I can’t get on base by myself because my military ID was confiscated when my husband was court-martialed. So I need you to get me on. You’ll show your ID at the gate, and I’ll give them the fake driver’s license I’ve obtained. It’ll go nice and smooth when you vouch for me. If you do that, you’ll be home free. So be a good girl and don’t do anything stupid,” Carlin said in a hard tone. “I won’t hesitate to set this fucking bomb off. I’ll kill as many people as I can in the process.”

Jane looked in the rearview mirror and saw Storm’s car behind her. She couldn’t think of any way to warn him about what was happening and who was sitting next to her without setting Carlin off. “What about Simon?” she asked.

“What about him?” Carlin asked.

“What’s he going to think about all this?”

“Once he hears what I’ve done, the lengths I’ve gone to in order to avenge him, he’ll be proud of me. We’ll leave this fucking state, get new jobs somewhere else, and live happily ever after. He just needs to put this behind him. And making sure Creasy isn’t around to make anyone else’s life miserable is just the way to do it.”

Jane swallowed hard in disbelief. Did the woman really think she could deliver a bomb, kill a rear admiral, sneak off base, and live happily ever after? That her man would approve of such a thing and snap out of the funk he was in?

And what about her? Had she even thought about what a loose end Jane would be?

Carlin was sitting there telling her all her plans. She had to know Jane would go to the authorities as soon as she got out of the car.

Knowing she was in deep shit, and it was likely Carlin had some other plan for her, Jane did her best to stay calm. She couldn’t panic. Had to think about what to do and be ready to get the hell out of this car at a moment’s notice.

Jane thought about causing a car wreck, but that might set off the bomb in Carlin’s lap. The last thing she wanted was to involve anyone else in this woman’s evil plan. She didn’t want to be responsible for someone losing their life.

“Why me?” Jane asked softly.

Carlin shrugged. “When I saw you on TV, I actually felt bad that you were caught in the middle of my revenge plan. You’re just a lowly mailman. I tracked you down, thinking I’d apologize somehow…but then I saw you with him.”

“Who? Creasy?” Jane asked, confused.

“No. His friend. I don’t know his name, nor do I care. I followed you, realized you were fucking him. But I knew you drove separately to work. It was easy enough to hide out by your car and surprise you. Since you’re sleeping with the enemy, there’s no reason for me to feel sorry for you,” Carlin said matter-of-factly.

Jane’s head spun. “Storm isn’t the enemy,” she blurted, hating to hear anyone talk bad about him.

“He is!” Carlin insisted. “He hangs out with Creasy. Probably has kicked out his share of decent, hard-working sailors too. They’re all assholes—and if you’re sleeping with him, you’re a bitch. So it doesn’t matter if you die. In fact, since you know all about what I’m going to do, it’s inevitable.”

Carlin talked about killing her so nonchalantly, so easily, that Jane was shocked. And it was hard to surprise her after everything that had happened with her marriage, her daughter’s troubled teenage years, and after working on the military base for so long.

“Don’t try to be a hero,” Carlin told her, pressing the knife she hadn’t taken away from her side a bit harder into her flesh.

Jane inhaled sharply as the tip of the blade sliced through her shirt and nicked her skin. “I’m not. I won’t,” she said immediately, doing her best to pull her body away from the knife. But her small Camry didn’t have that much room between the passenger’s and driver’s seats. It was a detail she loved when Storm was in the car with her. She definitely didn’t like it now.

They drove toward the base in silence, and when they began to get close, Jane’s heart rate accelerated, and she could feel adrenaline coursing through her veins. The best time to get away was when she had to stop at the gate. When the naval officer asked for her ID. She definitely didn’t want him to get hurt, but she didn’t want Creasy to die either. Or herself.

“Be cool,” Carlin warned as they approached the gate to the base. “Don’t do anything stupid, or kablooey! You’ll never fuck that asshole you’re with again.”

A drop of sweat fell down the side of Jane’s face, and she knew Carlin wasn’t kidding. She was insane, obviously, and if she was willing to die in order to get revenge on Rear Admiral Creasy, she wouldn’t have any problem taking down anyone who stood in her way.

Looking in the rearview mirror once more, she saw that Dag had pulled up so close to her as she inched forward in the short line at the gate she couldn’t even see his headlights.

Did that mean he knew something was wrong? That he had a plan?

Jane hoped with all her heart that was the case, even as she also hoped he was oblivious. The latter would mean he was safe. The former could get them all killed…

But it might just save them too.