Control (Harper Security Ops #18)

Twenty-one

TWENTY-ONE

Ty

“We’re good, right? We’re going to be okay, aren’t we?”

Hearing that edge of fear in Alana’s hushed voice, I wanted to kick myself. It was obvious she could sense what I was feeling as we climbed the stairs, and I hated that I couldn’t seem to hide it from her.

But I’d never been in a situation like this.

Sure, I’d experienced high-pressure and tense moments throughout my life and in my career. I always succeeded in keeping my cool, in masterfully doing the job that needed to be done.

Never had I had to do a job like this where the woman I’d fallen for was at risk.

With each day that had passed, Alana had gotten closer and closer to uncovering the truth about what happened to Annie and who was responsible. And with that truth being revealed on the horizon, there was another level of risk involved.

Things were already bad—someone had gotten into her house, for crying out loud—but I now felt they were even worse with the way the last couple of days had gone.

Something about the encounter with Bethany and Reed had left me feeling wildly unsettled. Bethany was far too concerned about smoothing things over with Alana as soon as she knew they’d been caught, and Reed sneered at Alana in a way I didn’t like.

If I’d been holding out hope for the sake of the memory of the woman who’d died that her brother couldn’t have been involved in her murder, his actions early today made it difficult to cling to that hope. He was too bitter, too angry, for someone who most would have suspected would be distraught or, at the very least, melancholy.

My mind had been so wrapped up during that encounter on what our next move was going to be and how I was going to keep Alana safe while we focused every effort on proving his involvement in Annie’s murder that I hadn’t anticipated there could be any other threat.

Then Alana got that call from Georgia.

And I went from feeling an overwhelming sense of unease to crushing dread. There was a heaviness in my chest that weighed me down more and more as I continued to play out the worst-case scenarios in my mind.

As we took each stair, I felt the sweat break out over me that had nothing to do with physical exertion. Was I leading Alana into something that could have been a setup?

Georgia had called and requested that meeting that her boss apparently didn’t know about, and I wondered how truthful she’d been.

Did she really have something to share, or was Alana about to be put in an even more compromising situation?

I didn’t want to believe the worst, but I couldn’t rule it out as a possibility.

Georgia had asked Alana to meet her at the library—the same library we’d visited not that long ago—in one of the private study rooms. Being in the library felt less vulnerable than, say, a public park, but I still wasn’t fully reassured.

So, I called in reinforcements.

When Alana and I reached the top of the staircase, I took her by the hand and moved off to the side. “You’re going to be okay,” I promised. “I’ve got three guys in this building with us right now, and there are two more outside. If there’s even a hint of anything going awry, if anyone even appears suspicious, they’ll be on it.”

“You seem to be a little on edge, though,” she noted. “Is that necessary for Georgia?”

I refused to lie to her, so I nodded. “I seem on edge because I am. It’s one thing to do what we’ve been doing for a few weeks now and sort of surprising people along the way. It gives us an advantage. This isn’t that, and I can’t trust what Georgia’s true intentions are.”

“But she was so shy and quiet,” Alana argued. “I think this might be overkill.”

“A lot of times, people will tell you it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” I reasoned. “Besides, I’d rather assume the worst in a situation like this and be wrong than pretend everything is fine and have the worst happen. You’re too important to me for me to take any chances.”

Her hand squeezed mine just moments before she lifted on her toes and touched her lips lightly to my mouth. “Thank you for protecting me, Ty,” she whispered.

“Thank you for not fighting me on this and allowing me to do it the way I see fit.”

She kissed me again. “I trust you.”

With just three words, the heaviness I’d been feeling as we made our way through the front door and up the stairs had seemingly vanished. Warmth hit the center of my chest, and I lifted both of her hands between us. I kissed her knuckles, allowing my lips to linger a moment. “Let’s get this done so I can take you home.”

Alana didn’t hesitate, and the worry that had been in her expression moments before was gone.

The two of us walked down the corridor to the study rooms until we stumbled upon the one Georgia was in. Not more than twenty feet away, I was reassured at seeing Jagger, one of my fellow bodyguard and private security unit coworkers, sitting in a chair with a book in his hand, looking unassuming.

Alana opened the door to the private room, and I reached around her to hold it open. When she stepped inside ahead of me, I noted the way Georgia looked at me. She wasn’t relieved to see I’d joined Alana.

“Hi, Georgia,” Alana said, stepping forward toward the table in the center of the room.

“Hi, Alana,” Georgia returned. “Thank you for meeting with me. I didn’t realize you wouldn’t be coming alone.”

That statement right there set all my senses on alert. I’d been with Alana when we went to meet with Georgia’s boss, so there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t have expected me to be here now.

Alana was quick on her feet. “Oh, well, Ty has been with me for weeks while I work on this story. He’s been involved in all of it, so I hope it’s okay that he’s here now.”

Georgia’s eyes slid to me one more time, and I could sense the overwhelming unease radiating from her. Regardless of that, she returned her attention to Alana and nodded. “Sure. It’s fine.”

Alana and I took seats on the opposite side of the table, and the moment we sat down, Alana said, “So, I have to admit, I’ve been curious ever since you called. I imagine you’ve had some personal encounter or interaction with Annie that you want to share.”

Georgia nodded. “I do.” She hesitated briefly, a real sense of fear creeping in, and that look only served to put me on alert. But a moment later, all the thoughts I had about what might happen instantly evaporated. “My mom is disabled.”

My brows drew together, much like Alana’s had. Had I gone through all of this today just to have this woman tell us that Annie set up some kind of fund to help offset the costs of whatever care Georgia’s mom needed? Talk about an overreaction.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Alana said. “May I ask what the nature of her disability is?”

“She was in an accident that left her permanently disabled,” Georgia revealed. “She needs help with the most basic of tasks, including bathing, getting dressed, and preparing meals. I do what I can to help her, but I can’t do it all and work.”

“As sympathetic as I am to what you and your mother are facing, I’m curious how Annie fits into this,” Alana said, the question in her tone evident.

“It’s costly,” Georgia revealed. “I have limited resources to care for my mother, and the large amount that doesn’t get covered by insurance has to come out of pocket. My boss covers that.”

Alana and I exchanged confused stares. Georgia still hadn’t said anything that indicated Annie was in any way involved in this story. When we turned expectant looks on her, Georgia only seemed to clam up.

“I think it’s great that Jackson Taylor is willing to cover those costs for you. It must come as such a relief.”

“I’m relieved that my mother’s care is covered, but it comes at a price,” Georgia revealed.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Alana said the moment at least a half dozen sordid thoughts ran through my mind.

“Mr. Taylor covers the cost of my mother’s care, but he requires payment from me in return,” Georgia murmured, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment.

The uneasiness she’d felt about me being in the room was making sense now.

“Are you… are you telling me that he?—”

“He takes what he wants when he wants it,” she confessed.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room. If I had to guess, Georgia was sitting with humiliation, and judging by the look on her face, Alana was horrified. As for me, I couldn’t stop my lip from curling with disgust.

Even not knowing how Annie fit into this, I could confidently say Jackson Taylor was a pig. What he was doing to this woman was wrong on so many levels, but that he was in a position of power, that he was her boss, made it worse. And because Georgia loved her mother and wanted to ensure her care, she was forced into this.

Alana was the one to break the silence. “I’m so sorry, Georgia.”

“Annie was going to fix it for me,” Georgia rasped. “It’s my fault she’s dead.”

My eyes widened in shock, my stomach dropping. For the first time in all of Alana’s interviews, I didn’t hold myself back. “I’m sorry, but can you please explain what you mean by that?”

Georgia inhaled deeply and let out a deep sigh. “It happened at the gala The Taylor Group hosted months before her death,” she began. “Obviously, I was there, along with Mr. Taylor and Annie. Mr. Taylor had pulled me away from the crowd at one point, and I knew what he planned to do. Somehow, I found the strength to search for help, and my eyes locked on Annie’s. She was across the room, but I guess she knew I was pleading with her. Annie, being who she was, likely got stopped by guests as she made her way to where Mr. Taylor took me. By the time she showed up, he had already groped my breasts, kissed me, hiked up the skirt of my dress, and freed himself from his pants.”

Unable to resist, I asked, “How old are you?”

“Twenty.”

Jesus. Jackson Taylor was thirty-seven. “How long has this been going on?”

“Since about six months after I turned eighteen.”

“What happened when Annie came in?”

She shook her head. “I don’t quite remember the exact words that he said, but Mr. Taylor made it seem as though what was happening was something we both wanted. Annie was quick on her feet, recognizing he wasn’t being honest, and she apologized for interrupting, noting that she needed me to help her with some of the favors for a few guests. I quickly righted myself and went with her. I felt his eyes on me the rest of the night.”

“Did you tell Annie the truth?”

“Not that night, no. But before the night was over, she slipped me a note with her personal phone number, and I called her the next day. We met up with one another, and I told her everything. She was going to fix it for me. She was going to get me out of it while securing the funds for my mother’s continued care. Annie wanted me to go to the police, to tell them what was happening, but I was too scared. I knew she was a good person, and I should have trusted her, but I didn’t want to risk my mom’s care. And now I’m just… I don’t even know why I called you. I just didn’t know who to turn to.”

Silence fell over the room again. Georgia was clearly hoping we were going to give her answers as to how to proceed. Alana seemed to be feeling a mix of emotions, unsure which way to turn.

So, I stepped in. “You said you believe it’s your fault Annie’s dead. I can’t imagine that means you were the one to harm her. Would I be wrong to assume you believe it’s Jackson Taylor who killed her?”

Georgia pressed her lips together, her eyes filling with tears. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I knew he was an evil man, but I didn’t think he’d kill her.”

“Do you have any proof, or is this just a hunch?”

She swallowed hard. “At first, it was just a hunch. Deep down, I believed he was responsible, but I couldn’t connect him to it. And he never appeared to be off when he was at work.”

“Did that change?”

“I learned about what they found.”

“I’m not following.”

“The mark they found on her back. That odd bruising. That diamond shape with the perpendicular lines through it. That’s him. That’s from his ring.”

All the thoughts I’d had about Bethany and Reed and their involvement in Annie’s death flew out the window. No matter that Georgia had said at the start of the conversation that she felt responsible, it wasn’t until she said the mark they found on Annie’s back was from Jackson Taylor’s ring that I believed we’d just learned the truth.

“Oh, my God,” Alana gasped, reaching into her bag for something. “Are you serious? How do you know?”

Georgia directed her gaze down and to the side. From that side profile, I could see she was tormented. She brought tear-filled eyes to us and rasped, “When someone puts their hands on you in ways that you don’t want, and you have no other escape, you try to find something else to focus on, anything to take your mind away from what’s happening to you. I studied that ring more times than I care to admit. The diamond is missing a piece on the upper right side, because that’s the G and the perpendicular lines in the middle of it are the T .”

TG.

The Taylor Group.

Fuck.

Fuck!

This guy killed an innocent woman because she was trying to help another innocent woman.

Alana pulled out a notepad that I’d only seen the day she sat in the Harper Security Ops conference room and went over all the notes and information she had from work she and Yasmine had both done. I hadn’t realized she was still carrying around this notepad.

Frantically, she flipped through the pages until she landed on one, pointed her finger at it, and said, “Yasmine knew. I saw this the first day I went through her notes. I thought she was simply doodling.”

Right there on the paper was a drawing that matched the description of the ring Georgia had just given us. There was no time left to waste.

“Georgia, are you ready to talk to the police about this?” I questioned her. She squirmed in her seat, growing visibly uncomfortable. Needing her to understand the full scope of the problem, I said, “I’m not a journalist. I’m not a reporter. I’m a bodyguard. I’ve been by Alana’s side for weeks now, because somebody has been coming after her, threatening her life. That same person went after her friend, who is also a reporter. That friend wound up unconscious in the hospital and has a long road to recovery ahead of her. And this is all because they both have been trying to figure out what happened to Annie. You have the chance to stop this, to make a difference for them and yourself, just like Annie did for others and tried to do for you.”

Georgia’s wide eyes slid to the side, her gaze settling on Alana. “You mean, you’re not doing a piece on the kind and selfless woman that Annie was?”

“I am,” Alana assured her. “I still fully intend to do that, but it wasn’t my motivation from the start of this. I wanted to find out what happened to her and to my friend.”

For a long time, we sat there in nothing but tense, awkward silence. I worried that Georgia wouldn’t give us the answer we were hoping for. “I… I don’t want you to think I don’t want to do this. I do. It’s just that I’m worried about my mom, about how I’ll afford to take care of her. If Mr. Taylor gets arrested, especially because of me, I’m not going to have a job.”

Alana reached across the table and took Georgia’s hand in hers. “We’ll help you. I’ll help you. I’ve met a lot of people throughout my career, many who own businesses. I fully believe we can find you a job in no time at all. And we’ll work together on figuring out a solution for your mom’s care. But you can’t keep doing this. It’s not even about Annie at this point, Georgia. It’s about you. You’re being taken advantage of, and that’s not okay.”

I could see the moment Georgia made her decision. Something changed in her expression, the look in her eyes growing determined.

A moment later, she shifted her attention to me. “He won’t be able to hurt us, right?”

I shook my head. “Not at all. Until he’s arrested and I can guarantee your safety, I’m happy to have one of the other bodyguards on my team with you. We’ll keep you safe.”

She gave me a slight nod. “Then I’m ready.”

With that, I stood and said, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

When I stepped out of the room, Jagger made his way over to me. I brought him up to speed on what I just learned. Then, while he told the rest of the team what was happening, I got Alana and Georgia, and we made our way down to the police station.