CHAPTER 5

“We probably shouldn’t have watched that,” Elle Roberts said as she shut her laptop.

As tech expert for Benson Security, she’d been the one to install the cameras in Callum’s house. She was also the one who’d written the program that would make alarms go off in both Benson Security offices if Callum mentioned any key words or phrases—like “kill myself”, “end it all”, “dead”, and “I need my gun”. To say they were worried about his state of mind was putting it mildly.

“I think this is a sign he’s getting over his depression,” Megan Raast said as she fanned her burning face. Her smile was supermodel wide. “Who knew Callum was that hot?”

“You won’t be thinking that when he kills you after he finds out we watched him having sex.”

“Baby? You watching porn again?” Dimitri, Megan’s husband and fellow security specialist, sauntered into the computer room. “We talked about that. No watching porn without me.”

Megan launched herself into Dimitri’s arms. “I don’t watch porn. Trust me, women don’t find porn sexy. It’s an objectification of their bodies and it’s really icky. But I have watched erotic female cinema.”

“Lady porn,” Dimitri scoffed, but it was ruined by the smile that lit up his eyes. The one that said his wife could do no wrong.

“I can live with it being called that.” Megan pulled him in for a kiss. One that lasted until they were both panting.

“I’m sitting right here,” Elle snapped at them. “I just watched one colleague have sex. I don’t need a repeat right in front of my face.”

Dimitri tore his mouth from his wife, and his eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Callum had sex? Who with? Did you record it?” He looked behind him at the open door and shouted, “Joe, Ryan, Callum had sex.”

Elle groaned and smacked her palm to her forehead. “We were trying to be discreet, for Callum’s sake.”

“No we weren’t,” the blonde traitor, who was wrapped around Dimitri like a clip-on monkey, said. “If we’d been thinking of Callum’s privacy, we wouldn’t have watched in the first place. Mainly, we were thinking that it’s hot the way he goes all caveman when he does it.”

Elle scowled at Megan, but as usual, she shrugged it off.

“Callum had sex?” Ryan, the most laid-back member of their team, strode into the room. “Who with? Where? What position? Did you tape it?”

“You lot are sick.” Elle was aware she should be wearing a T-shirt with the word Hypocrite emblazoned across it instead of one that said I Own a Deathstar.

“He had sex with the woman who delivers his shopping,” Megan said, still clinging to Dimitri. “He threw her up against the hall wall. They didn’t even get as far as taking off their clothes. It was hot.” She leaned in and whispered something in her husband’s ear that made his eyes turn dark and his cheeks flush.

Elle pointed at them. “Whatever you’re planning, keep it out of the office. We don’t want to be your audience.”

Megan pouted, but there was pure mischief in her eyes. “I can’t help that I have an exhibitionist streak. It’s genetic.”

Dimitri looked towards heaven and clamped a hand over Megan’s mouth. “Pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Ryan snorted. “Like we didn’t already know.”

“What’s this about Callum and a woman?” Joe Barone, ex-US marine and team trainer, frowned as he came up beside Elle. “He didn’t hurt her, did he?” he asked her quietly.

Elle gasped. “He wouldn’t do that. You know he wouldn’t.”

“He hasn’t been himself for months. I’m worried about him.”

“We all are. But he’d never hurt a woman. You know that, Joe.” Elle glared at him. “That was out of order.”

“I know, I know.” The American ran a hand through his short brown hair, making it stand on end. “But he trashed his house, Elle. You were there. He hit Lake and would have knocked him out if he hadn’t been drunk off his ass. I’m not sure what he’s capable of anymore. He hasn’t even spoken to any of the team for months.”

Elle cast a glance at Dimitri to make sure he wasn’t listening when she brought up his sister. Although Katrina was doing well now, living and working in a shelter for abused women in Invertary, the memory of what had happened to her was still very fresh for all of them.

“You saw how Callum reacted after we rescued Katrina from the bastard who was holding her as his sex slave,” Elle whispered. “He would never force himself on someone. Never.”

Joe’s eyes went hard. “I didn’t say that. I asked if he was too rough. I wanted to know if he was in control.”

“Well, hell, Joe, why didn’t you just say that?” She turned back to her laptop, wishing she was dealing with code instead of people. There was never any chance of misunderstanding computer code. “I’ve been worried about him.”

Joe nodded, placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “We all are.”

“Why are you all in here?” Rachel Ford-Talbot’s voice cut through the room like a buzzsaw on glass. “We’re meeting in the conference room.” She made a show of looking at her Rolex. “Five minutes ago.”

Ryan caught Elle’s gaze and rolled his eyes. They were all desperate for Callum to come back to work, because that meant Rachel would no longer be their only on-site boss. Being in charge was going to Rachel’s head, and it was only a matter of time before someone locked her in one of the basement interrogation rooms and “forgot” she was there.

“We’re monitoring Callum,” Elle told Rachel. “He seems to be doing better. I think it’s time he came back.”

“I miss Callum,” Megan said. “I miss the way he’d come in, shout at us, grumble about having to work with a bunch of amateurs and then lock himself in his office for hours planning military manoeuvres, in case we needed them.”

“Good times,” Joe agreed.

“Elle’s right: we need to make more of an effort to get him back,” Megan said.

“How exactly should we do that?” Dimitri said. “He won’t even talk to any of us. If he knew about the surveillance we have on him, he’d lose his mind.”

“I thought he’d notice it months ago,” Elle said. “But he hasn’t been his usual paranoid self. He shows no interest in anything. The only person he talks to is Betty, and those conversations are seriously disturbing.”

Megan made the sign of the cross. “Betty McLeod is Invertary’s answer to Satan. She’s probably whispering ways he could off himself into his ear.” She stopped suddenly, her eyes going wide. “Could he be brainwashed?”

“Don’t be daft,” Ryan said.

“No, seriously,” Megan said. “Think about it. He was perfectly fine until Peru. Maybe Betty was in contact with him earlier than we think.”

“I don’t think Betty has the skills to brainwash anyone,” Joe said of the eighty-nine-year-old. “Half the time she can’t even find her own teeth. Brainwashing seems beyond her abilities.”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Megan warned. “That’s where people usually go wrong. It’s best to assume she can do whatever you suspect her of doing.”

“I’ve been monitoring his cell since he came on board with Benson Security,” Elle said. “I would know if he’d been talking to Betty.”

Everyone gaped at her.

“What?” She held up her hands.

Joe frowned at her. “Do you monitor our cell phones too?”

The tension in the room amped up. Elle wasn’t threatened. She was doing it for their own good. “Sure I do. I have GPS tracking on all of you. If there’s a problem, I’m going to know about it. And after Megan’s run-in with the psycho who kept texting her, I also record all your messages and calls.”

The glares were uniform, so Elle didn’t bother telling them that she had tracking devices planted in their belongings, and monitoring software on all of their devices. If someone was going to be threatened, or go missing, on her watch, she was prepared to deal with it.

“It’s not like I listen to your calls,” she told them. “I have a program that monitors for keywords, and alerts me if they come up.”

“Keywords such as?” Megan folded her arms over her black leather biker jacket and tapped her toe.

“Like ‘ransom’, ‘death’, stuff like that. Get a grip. I’m looking out for you the best way I know how.”

“Without our knowledge or permission,” Dimitri said.

“And in a way that is obviously illegal,” Rachel said.

“What she said.” Megan pointed at Rachel. “Plus it’s icky. You’re like a mastermind stalker.”

Rachel’s pointed a talon at Elle. “I’m ordering you to stop it. Immediately.”

“You didn’t wave your magic wand,” Ryan said. “It only counts when you wave the wand.”

They glared at each other.

“Whatever,” Elle muttered as an alert came from her laptop.

“What is it?” Joe stepped up behind her.

“Some keywords triggered my alert program.” Elle’s fingers flew over the keyboard.

“What keywords?” Dimitri asked as the rest of them crowded behind Elle.

Her fingers froze when the answer came up. “Dead body,” she said.

As one, they leaned towards the laptop while Elle brought up the sound bite that had triggered her program. A female voice rang out through the room: “I came here for help with the dead body!”

“What the hell?” Joe said. “Bring up the live feed. We need to see what’s going on. If Callum’s found trouble, he’s going to need our help.”

“Thank God,” Ryan said towards heaven. “It’s about time.”

“I’ll start packing,” Megan said. “How long will it take us to get there?”

“Couple of hours,” Dimitri said.

“Stop right there,” Rachel ordered.

As one, the team turned to look at her. She folded her arms, blood-red fingernails spread out against the dark wool of her designer suit. “Nobody is rushing to help Callum. Not until he asks for it.”

“But Rachel…” Elle said.

“No.” Rachel held up a hand. “He walked out on us. He can damn well walk back in. I’m tired of pandering to his childish tantrums. So he lost limbs. Boohoo. It’s time for him to man up and get past it. Until then, we focus on the work we do have, from the people who actually want us to help them. Am I clear?”

There was muttering, shuffling feet and dejected nods.

Rachel straightened her shoulders and flicked back her poker-straight hair. “Now. Meeting in the conference room. Five minutes.”

With that, she turned and swept out of the room.

“I hate it when she’s right,” Megan said. “It goes against the laws of nature.”

“I want Callum back,” Elle said.

“We all do,” Ryan said, watching the door which Rachel had just sailed through. “Hopefully before one of us kills Rachel and buries her body in the basement.” He looked at the others. “Which could be pretty damn soon.”

There was nothing to do with that, except agree.