CHAPTER TWELVE
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Brody loathed field work almost as much as he loved his official Magnum PI Hawaiian shirt collection. That was saying something, and maybe—just maybe—he was in this fucked-up situation because he wasn’t wearing his usual attire. He hadn’t had a chance to wash his clothes with the schedule he was keeping, so he’d thrown on a white dress shirt over his cargo shorts. He’d even rolled up the sleeves so that the stiff garment felt more casual, but he should have known first thing this morning that the alteration in his dress code would instantly bring bad luck.
Tension had settled in his shoulders and the small hairs on the back of his neck had lifted as he noticed the slightest movement from each and every person within a hundred yards. It was as if he were taking a stroll down memory lane, and it was a walk he could certainly do without at the moment. His combat tours were a thing of the past, yet his body was disagreeing with that assessment.
On his list of things that he would always hate were also hospitals, but that didn’t seem to matter to anyone. The only saving grace was that he’d been able to move Remy from the emergency waiting area where anyone could walk in off the street and start shooting, to a more private waiting room for those family members and friends anxious to hear if their loved one had pulled through an emergency surgery. He sure as hell wished the nurse or doctor would make some type of appearance soon so he could get Remy back to a safe location, if not the estate proper.
Brody hadn’t shared with her yet that Varan had chosen this hour to exit the hotel. Keane was following his every movement, where every step the man took appeared to be meticulously calculated. This was all too much of a coincidence, and he was starting to wonder if Varan hadn’t somehow, someway, made a friend within Forsythe Advertising. He would have to check all the personnel files once they headed back to the house. Maybe Varan had an informant tucked away at the agency, although that would be a farfetched deduction.
“Here,” Remy said rather quietly, coming up to him with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She looked out of place in such a setting, with her pink business suit and starched white dress shirt that designated she was a force to be reckoned with. He, for one, understood exactly how strong-willed she could be. It was the reason they were in this godforsaken place to begin with. She was nothing but a heap of trouble that he couldn’t seem to ignore. “I just wanted to say thank you for understanding that I needed to be here for Julia.”
Brody wanted to stress that Julia Forsythe seemed like a woman who could handle her own business. She came across as slightly submissive, but there was an underlying strength that had her subtly taking charge without anyone the wiser. Remy was just too caught up in her worry over Ralph to notice the ruse, but it was most likely how the older woman always got her way.
“I can give you one more hour, Remy.” Brody took the coffee but raised his other hand in front of her face. He hadn’t meant for the gesture to be so intimate, but he couldn’t draw his arm back in time without looking like a complete idiot. She hadn’t regained the color she’d lost, so he palmed her pale cheek in hopes that she would listen to him for once. “I was hoping to tell you this after we’d left the hospital, but it can’t wait. Keane has verified that Varan left the hotel and drove to Sorrento.”
“Sorrento?” Remy whispered in disbelief, stepping closer to him so that no one could overhear them discussing the matter at hand. Her friend, Susan, had come to the hospital as well upon hearing the news about Ralph. She’d done so thinking that Remy was still out of town. Her surprise at finding her friend here was unmistakable. The woman had a lot of questions about Brody’s presence that Remy had been able to stem against the tide, but it appeared that would no longer be the case. Susan’s green eyes were all but drilling a hole into Remy’s back in her curiosity to discover the truth. “David knows where I’m staying? How is that even possible?”
“Varan thinks he knows where you’re staying. He doesn’t actually know the physical address of the property,” Brody amended, knowing full well all the fail-safe plans were in place. SSI owned a building in Sorrento that was listed on paper as the package delivery point, purposefully doing so in order to have it close enough to monitor with video surveillance and also have it within reach in under ten minutes’ travel. That particular address was used in every aspect of the business, and though it was currently sitting empty with a small office and a warehouse space, Calvert did have plans to make it an actual storefront for the agency in the future with some support personnel. It would be damned nice to have someone else make the travel arrangements for this crew. In the meantime, Varan was currently doing a couple of drive-bys of the address he’d somehow acquired. It would only be a matter of a few more minutes or so before he realized he’d been duped by his informant. “But someone gave him SSI’s name.”
Remy had proceeded to shake her head well before he’d finished his sentence, but she couldn’t stop the truth from being told. There was only one person with the knowledge of her present location, and that was the man currently undergoing heart surgery. All signs pointed to Ralph’s heart attack as a natural occurrence, but Brody wasn’t ruling anything out.
“Ralph would never have told anyone where I was staying or the fact that he’d hired SSI to—”
“Who is footing the bill?” Brody gently reminded her, dropping his hand from her face before Susan decided that he was more than a friend. Remy had introduced the two of them, saying that Brody was a friend who’d been with her when she’d gotten the call. Susan didn’t seem predisposed to believe Remy’s cover story, but then again, she wasn’t that good at lying. His reminder that Ralph was having Forsythe Advertising pay the tab on her protection appeared to have finally dawned on her. “Others are somewhat aware of what has been transpiring, although they might not be privy to all the facts.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Remy argued, casting a quick glance over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching them. When she realized that both Julia, Susan, and a few of Ralph’s relatives were all watching them, she stepped back and put a slight distance between them. “Why would anyone talk to a known killer? I’ve been at Forsythe Agency for a very long time, and there is no one there who would knowingly do such a thing.”
“It could have been an innocent exchange of conversation,” Brody pointed out, having already accepted that they were missing a big chunk of intel. He needed access to his arsenal of computers. “Or maybe Varan gained admittance to Forsythe’s network. He could have obtained the address of SSI without having to speak with anyone.”
“Would David even have that type of knowledge to hack into a secure server handling our financial transactions?”
“Unfortunately, nothing surprises me anymore.” Brody met Julia’s gaze, who seemed to recognize that whatever was happening couldn’t be good. She very charmingly caught Susan’s hand to garner the woman’s attention. Even through Julia’s concern for her husband’s health at the moment, she recognized the need to protect Remy. “I can give you a little more time, but it’s not wise to stay here for very much longer.”
“Aren’t David’s actions against the conditions he was given upon his release?” Remy asked, apparently attempting to seek a reason for Varan to be brought in by the authorities for violating the stipulations of his release. Only it wasn’t that cut and dry. “I know I let his appearance outside of my office slip for selfish reasons, but this is different. I want to stay here with Julia and the family until we know for sure that Ralph is going to make a full recovery.”
“We would have to prove that Varan knew of your location before he drove into Sorrento, and we cannot do that,” Brody pointed out, noticing once again that Remy was caressing the silver heart attached to the matching chain around her neck. “You and I both know that he won’t cop to that. I do know that this changes everything. Varan has shown his hand, and it isn’t to start a new life. You’ll continue to be under the protection of SSI, but we will now set out to prove Varan wasn’t ready to be released from custody. As I said, I can give you a little more time, but we’re leaving at the top of the hour.”
“Why would Mr. Calvert purchase a building so close to his property? That doesn’t make sense.” Remy didn’t seem to think that Brody wouldn’t forcibly remove her from this hospital. It was apparent that his previous statement would in no way alter her decision to stay in this waiting room until they received word that Ralph was out of surgery and into recovery. He didn’t look forward to the battle ahead. “Never mind. I’m going to go back and sit with Julia. I’m sure you’ll let me know what the plan is once we leave here.”
Brody didn’t know whether to be insulted or take her confidence in his judgment as a win. She turned on those pretty pink heels of hers and walked back to where Julia and Susan had started up another conversation. They were probably talking about him, but Julia was already in the know regarding his presence. She was no doubt distracting Susan with talk of something mundane, and maybe that was a good thing…even for her. It kept her mind off her husband, who she clearly loved above all else.
“Mrs. Forsythe?”
Brody had seen the surgeon walk in the waiting room before anyone else had taken notice. The tired man’s stature told him all he needed to know, and so he relaxed his stance while keeping an eye on the entrance.
The small group had all risen at once, with Remy the only one who’d had her back to the door. She now stood by Julia, who had taken hold of her hand in support.
The surgeon went on to explain that although it was touch and go, Ralph was expected to make a full recovery. He went into further detail, though Brody’s attention was slightly diverted by the text he’d just received.
Subject headed back to city. Following.
It appeared the first move of the game had just commenced.
Varan’s destination could provide the identity of the person who gave a psychotic killer SSI’s information. In the event that he’d obtained the address through other means than human contact, it would signify that they weren’t working with the average psycho-type criminal with limited access—which went against the information listed in Varan’s dossier.
Brody drank the bitter coffee Remy had supplied him while monitoring the door to the waiting room, grimacing at the aftertaste. It still gave him something to do while Ralph’s family members were all speaking on their phones with other relatives in order to share the news of his recovery. Susan had stepped to the other side and was texting someone, while Remy had held up her cell and mouthed that she was calling the office.
His gaze was drawn back to Susan. How had she known that Ralph had even been brought to the hospital? He wasn’t surprised when she looked his way, though he saw nothing in her expression other than idle curiosity. He made a mental note to ask Remy about her friend and also look into her background. Maybe he was missing something there. His attention was diverted when his cell phone rang.
“Novak.”
“I hear we may have a bit of trouble,” Calvert assumed, most likely from Keane’s call. Brody had instructed his teammate to do so, not wanting to draw attention to those people who’d been close by him down in the emergency waiting room.
“You could say that,” Brody replied, tensing when a middle-aged man leaned into the room and looked around. He apparently didn’t find who he was looking for, immediately moving on to another area of the hospital. “I don’t think this is going to be the easy babysitting job that we originally thought it would be. This Varan guy has help and it most likely came from inside Forsythe Advertising.”
“I heard Mr. Forsythe is expected to make a full recovery, pending the first twenty-four hours.” Calvert sounded as if he was inside his vehicle, speaking on the hands-free system. Brody didn’t even ask how his boss had already received word on Forsythe’s status. He would never reveal his sources or how he always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise him in the least if Calvert had the surgeon on speed dial. “I’ll be home by this evening to assist in the Moss case. Those patrolmen you substituted for Keane can only do so much in monitoring the comings and goings of Rollins College.”
“Keane is currently tailing Varan back to the city. His destination is unknown, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he swings by Forsythe Advertising,” Brody surmised, taken aback when Remy signaled she was ready to go before telling Julia that she had to leave. The older woman slid her phone inside her purse before pulling Remy close and giving her a tight embrace. The two quietly exchanged words while Susan looked on and pressed her lips together in frustration. She certainly didn’t like being kept in the dark. “My gut is telling me someone from the inside gave him information regarding SSI.”
“Then follow up on that lead while making sure our client remains safe. I’ll see you soon.”
Brody had just deposited his cell phone in his right pocket when Remy came to stand before him. Her blue eyes were filled with worry about Ralph Forsythe, but that underlying anger was still simmering below the surface. She was tired of Varan running the show, but Brody needed to ensure that Remy didn’t take ahold of the reins. She was liable to do something that would force a confrontation, and that wasn’t advisable. Yet she stood in front of him and proceeded to confirm his original assumption that she was nothing but trouble.
“If David wants to see me so badly, then let’s make that happen. Shall we?”