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And if what this Clearwater said was true, he and that Meadows guy were involved in the abduction of those poor girls. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach.
“What’s wrong, Dr. Roswell? You seem pretty quiet,” Clearwater said with a sneer as he stood in the doorway. “Please don’t tell me you made the mistake of falling in love with your bodyguard, like Whitney Houston did in that movie with Kevin Costner.” He smirked. “Too bad he’s dead and won’t be able to help you now. Especially once my boss gets his hands on you. He’s pretty pissed that you messed up his human trafficking ring.”
Lennox stared at the opposite wall, refusing to even look at the man. He was evil. He had even admitted on the drive here that the reason he’d wanted Roland dead was because Roland had killed his brother—the man who’d attempted to murder her, that first night in her condo.
“Although you might not tell me where that box is, youwilltell my boss. He has ways to get information out of you and I’ve got to warn you, it won’t be pretty,” the man said. “I’ve seen him in action. He’ll probably start by carving up that pretty face of yours.”
She was glad when he finally stopped talking and closed the door, locking it behind him. Honestly, with her hands tied did he think she could escape? She had no idea where she was. All she knew was that it had taken them about an hour to get here. Two of his men had been here, waiting on him when they’d arrived, and another had shown up after.
She was scared. There was no one who could save her now and what that man had told her about his boss only made things worse. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she began to cry. She’d lost the man she loved. Roland was dead and it was all her fault.
• • •
Special Agent Cobb Warner studied the six men sitting in front of his desk. They were part of his team. He’d known each of them for years and had felt he could trust them. Obviously, he couldn’t. This was the second time information had gotten into the wrong hands.
Perhaps the betrayal hadn’t been intentional. Possibly one of them had shared information with someone they trusted--a wife or even a girlfriend. Regardless, pillow talk or sharing of information violated the code of confidentiality.
He and DuBose had had a heart-to-heart talk with each of the men, asking them to come forward and admit if they’d shared information about the Bellamy case with anyone. When no one admitted to anything, he allowed them to leave.
It was now close to five in the morning. He and DuBose had gotten word that the safehouse where Dr. Roswell and Summers had bunked down for the night had been leveled.
By the time the authorities had arrived, they’d found two men dead and four others tied up in the woods. They’d been beaten pretty bad. No doubt they’d tried to get a piece of Summers and he’d kicked their asses.
Now everybody was wondering where Summers and Dr. Roswell were. He figured the FBI would be the last ones they’d tell about their whereabouts. And who could blame them? The Feds had failed twice to protect Dr. Roswell. And there was no sense in asking Summers’s friends, which included Lt. Joy Courson. No one was talking.
An hour after he had dismissed the members of his team, one of the agents, Agent Thornton, returned. He admitted that this week over a card game, he had talked about the case to former FBI agent Paul Holley. Everybody knew Paul and what a dedicated agent he’d been before an injury had taken him out, resulting in him settling for early retirement.
Holley was also well-respected among those who’d worked with him. Hell, because of Holley’s expertise, even Warner had sometimes run things by him. But he’d always been careful never to reveal any specific case, always presenting his questions as hypothetical.
He and DuBose admonished the agent for discussing any case outside the office, even with someone as trustworthy as former Agent Holley. They advised Agent Thornton that he would be placed on administrative leave until they could conduct an investigation into the matter. Although no one wanted to question Holley’s trustworthiness, at this point it couldn’t be helped.
Before Agent Thornton left, Agent DuBose got a call. From the look on his face, Cobb wondered if it was bad news about Summers and Dr. Roswell.
“What’s wrong, Marvin?” Cobb asked when Agent DuBose had hung up the phone.
“That was the local police. There was a shootout at the home of former FBI agent Paul Holley. Two men are dead and Holley is nowhere to be found.”
“Damn,” both Cobb and Agent Thornton said at the same time. All three men knew this was no coincidence. Holley was mixed up in something.
• • •
Clearwater continued pacing. Where in the hell was Wallace and the others? It should not have taken them this long to finish off that bodyguard. But then, there was a chance law enforcement had arrived before they could get away and they’d been arrested.
He knew Wallace. The man had worked for him for years. Even if he had been arrested, he wouldn’t talk. Clearwater couldn’t be as certain about the others, though. He would give them another hour. If they weren’t back by then, it would mean something was wrong.
Meadows’s men were on their way to get the woman. The last thing Clearwater wanted was to get his boss upset about anything, so he wouldn’t say anything to him yet. He hoped he was fretting for nothing.
He needed to get his anger under control. Hell, he was tempted to put a bullet in the woman’s head himself, just for causing so much damn trouble.
In addition to the issue with Dr. Roswell’s bodyguard, he hadn’t heard from the men he’d sent to kill Holley. To him, that was an even bigger threat…especially if something had gone wrong. Holley would be out for blood if he knew Clearwater was responsible. Meadows hadn’t given him the order to get rid of Holley and that decision might come back to bite them both in the ass.
He continued pacing, hoping he was working up a nervous sweat for nothing. He stopped suddenly when he thought he heard something, but glancing at the security screen, he saw nothing outside. Letting out a deep breath, he relaxed. Those high-powered cameras could pick even the smallest movement. Everything was fine.
He glanced at his watch. He would give his men another hour, but no more than that.
• • •
Staying far away from the road, Roland found what he considered a safe place to park and observe what was happening at the cabin in the clearing. There were two cars parked out front. He further noted several video security cameras stationed like floodlights around the perimeter of the house, to detect any intruders. They would be no hindrance to him. Thanks to some of Dak’s other technology, Roland could deactivate them without the occupants knowing.
