Island Holiday (Brookwell Island #4)

Chapter 10

Connor kept trying to behave like a normal person, but the anxiety wouldn’t subside. Nothing seemed to prove to his brain that she was safe. He kept hearing the bullet hit the glass, the sudden rush of wind. They were in the posh charter plane, at altitude for the brief flight, and still the worst-case scenario played through his mind.

Over and over. Unforgiving.

What if they’d succeeded? He rubbed a hand over his sternum. Losing her wasn’t an option.

He had to get his head back in the game before someone else tried to take her out.

“Connor?”

She’d parked herself in the seat next to his and he double checked that she was buckled in. “You almost undid your belt in the car.”

Her eyes widened, but her mouth softened into a gentle smile. “I thought about it, yes. But you handled it.” She held out a bottle of water. “Hydrate.”

He set the water aside and took her hands in his. “Do not take any more risks,” he demanded. “I know I’m being an ass, but really.”

She reached up, bringing his mouth down to hers for a kiss. Nothing light or easy, but intense from the start. He feasted on her lips, craving more, letting it spin out of control. This was too much, too fast and he didn’t give a damn.

“Need you to be safe,” he whispered when he finally had the strength to sit back.

“I am. Thanks to you.”

“Need to keep it that way.” He rubbed her hands between his palms. “Why are they targeting you?”

She shrugged. “I’ve pissed off someone. I’m threatening the scheme. When we land, I’ll look for whatever bread crumbs I left behind and fix it.”

“You think it’ll be that easy?”

Her gaze dropped to their hands, her long eyelashes hiding her gorgeous eyes. “Probably not. But I’m not much help to you in the search for the missing women.”

He snorted. “We each have our strengths.” And they were even stronger in tandem. Did she realize that yet?

“Do you take the company plane often?” she queried.

“Only one other time before these trips with you.” His skin felt too tight. He drummed his fingers on his knee, uneasy. He really should’ve told her everything before sleeping with her.

“Do they have more than one plane?”

“We.” He was stern to make the point clear. “It’s a company asset, after all, and you’re part of the company.”

“Right.”

“Gamble and Swann have connections. A clientele that gives them extra reach and resources.”

“I take it you can’t discuss the case that introduced you to this particular resource?”

Did she know more about him than he realized? This was his opportunity. He may as well clear the air. They still had to see this through together, but she should be informed before they landed in bed again.

He tried to smile. Wasn’t sure he managed it. “Yes and no.”

A smile teased one corner of her mouth before she turned away, watching the expanse of blue outside the window. She wouldn’t push—which was a gift in a way. He realized it was more than some kind of informed consent. He needed her to know his past, to accept him despite it. Because he could already see her in his future. It would take time for her to really trust him, but he could see them together. Always.

If he came clean now.

Grumbling about something, she reached for her computer bag.

“What are you doing?”

“Reviewing my notes. I’m restless. There must be something in the shell companies that I’m overlooking.”

“Swann told us to rest.” Would telling her the truth be helping that goal or hindering it? “We’ll be on the ground soon enough.”

“I guess you’re right.” She linked her hand with his.

He could feel the simmer of anticipation and something inside of him just knew it would be that way whenever she was close. “My first time on a company plane was the day Swann escorted me to Chicago to join the in-house research team. There are parts of that story I can’t tell you because they are classified. The shortest version I can provide is that Gamble and Swann got my conviction reversed.”

He watched the double take as his words registered. “Conviction?”

“Yes.” He watched as she schooled her features. “You don’t have to hide your opinion,” he assured her. If she couldn’t accept it, he’d find a way to get over her. “I should’ve told you earlier.” He’d known this would be awkward. “If it’s about me and jail and your health…”

She grabbed his shoulders. “It’s not that at all.” To his astonishment, tears gathered in her eyes. “What happened? Who railroaded you?”

“You, um, sound sure that I wasn’t to blame.”

“I am,” she replied fiercely. “You’re not a criminal. I should know, having been raised by miserable people with a variety of criminal tendencies.” She kissed him. “Although my first boss fooled me,” she admitted.

“He fooled a whole lot more people than you,” Connor reminded her. The man had been a piece of work. Thankfully, Sonya had blown the whistle. One more instance of her seeing a problem and taking action.

“Someone else must’ve fooled you.”

“Pretty much.” He laced his fingers through hers. “I was set up and took the fall—unwillingly—for others in my unit. The Army court-martialed me, found me guilty of treason and sentenced me to life in federal prison.” He rolled his shoulders, annoyed that he still tensed up when he thought about those days. “Everyone behind bars claims they’re innocent.”

“I know,” she muttered. “But you were innocent. Tell me what you can. Did you reach out to Gamble and Swann from prison?”

“No.” He sighed. “I was prepared to be a martyr and never talk about it. I’d accepted my mistakes and my fate. Easier to do when my family wrote me off. My sentence included a ban on computer usage. Those first weeks and early months, I was consumed with figuring out whether or not I wanted to survive.”

Her hands trembled in his grasp and he released her, only to have her grip tighten. “How did they scrub your record? I did a decent background search. Either I suck at those or you changed your name. Not that it’s any of my business.”

Oh, but it was. He wanted her to know all of him. This need to share was new, but he didn’t hesitate. “You don’t suck at background checks. My record was scrubbed. I figured they’d change my name, but it wasn’t required.”

“More of those connections you mentioned.”

“Yes.”

She snuggled as close to him as she could get, tucking herself under his arm. A reaction far better than he’d hoped for.

“I don’t know exactly who told Gamble and Swann about my situation,” he continued. “But they took the intel seriously and saved me. Swann came to the prison and arranged for me to have computer access almost immediately, as an agency consultant. Eventually, their team found the real culprit and proved my innocence.”

“That’s incredible.”

“The best second chance I’ve ever had,” he agreed.

She tilted her head up to look at him. “What’s the best part of being free?”

You. Somehow, he managed not to say it. “The sky. Looking out to the horizon without any fences. I get all knotted up if I’m stuck inside for too long.”

Her laughter surprised him, lifting the mood. “Then why live in a place where you could get snowed in?”

“Good question.” He hadn’t found anyone who made him want to leave the peace and safety he’d found in Chicago. He willed himself to be calm and present with her. Just to enjoy the here and now without any additional pressure of the past or the future. It wasn’t as easy as it should’ve been.

“It’s hard to imagine you without a computer.” She raised their joined hands to her lips, kissing his knuckles. “With one relative or another in jail at any given time, stories of life behind bars were common conversation during my childhood. None of them were pleasant.

“Do people pester you about your incarceration?”

He shook his head. “No, people don’t ask, because they don’t know. You’re the only person I’ve talked to about it since I got out.” He studied the view through the window, his throat clogged with emotion. “The only people I wanted to talk to were my family. They aren’t interested in anything I have to say anymore.”

“That’s not fair—”

“It’s on them.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Prison sucks. Simple as that. I wasn’t in long, but it affected me. I spend as much time as possible outside. It’s like every day I wake up and need to see a sky that isn’t framed by concrete walls and fencing crowned with barbed wire. I need some confirmation that I can go and do whatever it is I want to do. I’m not a big fan of tight spaces. And I am careful as hell about my work.”

Her brow furrowed and she was quiet for a long minute. “You wouldn’t have been traced back the way Zimmer caught me.”

The topic change left him behind for a second. He expected her to ease away from his touch or tell him to get lost. But she was still right there at his side, though her mind had clearly wandered back to the case.

Connor snorted. “That’s not a given. And neither one of us believes Zimmer did that.”

“Probably not. But someone caught me.”

“I don’t think you made a mistake, Sonya. I think he has another ally. Someone with serious computer skills. Makes sense, considering he has hired muscle too.”

“Here’s hoping we can identify the computer expert and rescue those girls.” Her gaze slid back to the window. “Whoever traced my snooping must’ve gotten lucky. No one in my past has the skills.” She nipped her lip. “No one would even care enough to bother me.”

He didn’t like the misery in her eyes. “Sonya, talk to me. Trust me.”

“I do trust you,” she replied immediately. “Talking about old baggage?” She shook her head. “I don’t see how that helps.”

“Come on. It’s me,” he said, his tone going sharp. “I built a file on Zimmer and the people he’s used, not just the women who are missing. You built a profile from his finances. Together we can sort this out.”

“Maybe.” She scooted away from him. “As a kid, I was a pest, a snitch, and a problem. I’ve worked hard to go unnoticed. It’s been working. I’m a shadow slipping along through life. A shadow with the perfect bosses and a couple of amazing friends.”

“Is that enough?” he asked.

“Has to be.” She sighed. “My point is that my past isn’t the real issue. Missing a tripwire or leaving a trail is a big screw up.”

He recognized the worry on her face. “You’re worried about your job.”

“Not sure how you do that so well, but yes.”

He read her so well because he paid attention. First to the big things, but since meeting her in person, all the little things as well. “Well put that concern away,” he stated. “Gamble and Swann haven’t lost faith in you.”

“What about you?”

“Not a chance.”

“You don’t need to spare my feelings,” she said. “Most of my life has been one trap after another. I didn’t serve time, but that was luck more than anything else.”

“Not buying it,” he said. “You’re you.”

She dropped her head back against the seat. “I am. Given a choice, I always side with law enforcement. The habit didn’t make me popular with my family.”

“Which is why you found a new family.”

“True.”

He wanted to be included in that tight circle. Eventually. “We have some time, let’s talk it through.”

“Okay.”

She was clearly skeptical, so he approached it as he would any other research task. “Who knows how you work well enough to catch you? A jealous college classmate, an ex-boyfriend…” He paused, waiting for her to fill in the gaps.

She didn’t. “I’ve told you, no one from my past has the skills. My family isn’t overflowing with scholars or computer geeks.”

No, he wasn’t surprised, he just needed her to think. “What about more recently?”

She looked up, her gaze catching his. “The finance firm.”

“Yes.” That would’ve been high on his list of search parameters. “You already have someone in mind.”

“Oh, crap.” She unbuckled and scrambled for her bag.

“Let’s talk it through.”

“Right.” She pulled out a notebook, flipping pages. “Here we go. I was tracking shell companies and the flow of money into the project fund.” She tapped the page, turned it so he could see. “There it is. Morning Acquisitions. I completely overlooked it. Chalked it up as one more layer in the shell company game.”

He was reviewing her notes when she reached over and turned the page. “Look at their reported charitable donations.”

The numbers didn’t match up at first glance, but then again, numbers were her thing, not his.

“Could it really be that simple?” Sonya was leaning against the back of his chair, restless and edgy. “I should’ve seen it. Should’ve known.”

“Known what?” he pressed. “Don’t shut me out.”

“No. I won’t. It’s not like that.” She kissed his cheek. Her eyes were bright and she looked ready to charge into battle. “When I turned in my old boss, I pissed off nearly everyone. Some of them were really powerful people.”

“I remember.” One more reason he’d kept an eye on her.

“Sorry. It’s just blowing my mind that I didn’t see it sooner. We might’ve saved those girls.”

“We will save those girls,” he vowed. “Talk to me.”

“Morning Acquisitions must be linked to Alice Mertens.” Sonya swore. “Her initials are A and M. She used ‘morning’ in several business dealings when I managed her accounts at the firm.” Sonya rubbed her temples. “It should’ve clicked.”

“It’s clicked now.” He tapped the notebook. “Morning Acquisitions shows several property assets.”

“They’re legit,” she said. “Based on what I found, I marked them as a potential victim in the whole scheme.” She swore. “That’s exactly how she operates. The woman is conniving. She has extensive business interests all over the world. Back at the firm, I suspected she was profiting too much from certain introductions between interested businesses. Real estate, car dealerships, trucking. But I couldn’t prove it.”

“Did you give her name to the police when you took down your boss?”

Sonya flopped back into the seat. “Not specifically. The authorities went through all my accounts. That alone would’ve caused her problems.” Her nose wrinkled. “If she is the money backing Zimmer’s scheme, she has someone on her payroll looking for snoops like me.”

“And the list of people like you is short,” Connor said. “From what you’ve described and turned up already, she likely has Zimmer under surveillance.”

Sonya groaned. “Go me.”

“There’s a silver lining,” he said, leaning close. Her scent teased his nose, made him wish they had another hour in the air, just the two of them.

“Do tell.” Her fingers stroked his beard.

When she wet her lips, he almost forgot what he meant to say. “She doesn’t know we figured out the connection. This is a new lead.”

“For both of us,” she agreed.

He felt the plane shift as they began their descent. “This one thread might untangle the knot you’ve been wrestling with for weeks.”

Happiness flared in her eyes and he kissed her quickly. He planned to get in as many kisses as possible and make the most of his time with her before the case or the holidays or something else interfered.