Kieran closed the door to the sound of Ian’s crystal glass shattering against the wall.
* * *
“She’s what?” Greg Wilds yelled into the phone.
The special agent guarding Cassie at the hospital sounded groggy. “Sir, she was taken out with a medical team at Luke Paulsen’s instructions. He told the head nurse they were taking her to Johns Hopkins. The hospital was working on getting a court order to stop them. The people taking care of her went with her in an ambulance. Her doctor saw her early this morning and took the rest of the day off.”
“Son of a bitch. They took her out in front of a waiting room full of friends and family. I want you to get over to Hopkins and find her. How hard can it be? Get two men over to the Paulsen house—and don’t come back until you know something. I want full-time surveillance on the house and everyone in it. I’m going after Chase myself.”
* * *
Robert Bynum Jr. viciously thrust his hips into the young blonde woman on her knees. She cried out in pain with each drive. “You can take it, baby. You know this is how you like it.”
The pretty blonde girl’s eyes clouded, and her speech was slurred. “Robby…hurt….” The drugs made it impossible to resist him. He lifted her back against his chest, and his hand snaked around her long neck. He climaxed hard as he compressed her throat without mercy.
A cell phone rang. Without missing a beat, he dropped her to the floor, ripped off the condom and answered.
“We need to talk. She’s not in the hospital anymore. And, there’s a bigger problem. There’s proof. This is messed up.”
Robby’s face hardened. “I’ll call you back.” He stepped over the socialite’s body. “Sorry, baby.” He pulled up his pants, stepped into his shoes, and threw her over his shoulder. When the freight elevator fell to the main floor, he popped open the trunk of his black BMW and dropped the body of Phyllis Wilson inside.
Moments later, Robby drove out into the bustling afternoon traffic. With a press of a button, he made a call. “What’s the proof?”
The caller’s voice was hoarse. “A death certificate for a newborn.”
Robby turned pale. “Remember, I warned you. You should have let me have my fun and ship her out.”
“Well, it’s too late for that now. Ames was an insecure child. Who knows what he told her? Maddox is an incompetent jerk. And you—did you need to trash her place? You and Ames couldn’t let her be.”
“Don’t blame me. You started this mess years ago. I told Ames we’d take her and package her. I didn’t tell him to go after her there. Hell, if I knew about the baby, I would have taken her after her morning run.”
“We need this mess cleaned up fast. She’s going to blow everything. Find her and that dead baby and make sure they both disappear forever.”
* * *
The crescent moon was setting in the predawn sky when an operator opened the door to the pool house for Ian. Hunter Montgomery lay sleeping on the big white living room couch, his face illuminated by the television. Ian headed up to Cassie’s room. On a cooling blanket, her body shivered. Eric stood nearby wearing an intense gaze. “How’s she doing?” He lifted her bandaged palm against his lips.
“Her fever is still high—102.8. On the positive, blood pressure is holding without help. We are lightening the sedation more, but she becomes combative; it’s slow-going.”
“Thanks, Eric. Mind if I stay for a few minutes?” Jamie moved out of his way. “I’m here, sweetheart. You’re going to get better. I promise.” Jamie handed Ian a cool, damp washcloth, which he positioned against her heated brow. The blue newborn’s hat he kept in his pocket reminded him how little he knew Cassie.
* * *
Later that morning, Ian pulled into the secure underground parking structure of the 460,000-square-foot, ten-story building that was the DC home to Chase Group. The first floor contained a full cafeteria, while the remaining levels comprised an employee health center and Chase Ventures, the venture capital company. Two more floors contained the beehive of personnel, accounting, finance, licensing, legal, and Internet technology for the group’s 37,000 employees worldwide. Chase Security occupied the eighth and ninth floors. The tenth floor held a reception area, office suites, and a conference room. Secured in the two subbasements was the covert workspace necessary to run the Eagle’s Talon Teams.
Ian walked over to what appeared to be a basic standard card access device. The plastic slipped through the slot, which then opened a hidden box and prompted a thumbprint, numeric code, and a retinal scan. After the sequence, an unmarked elevator opened, providing another critical card slot, which granted him direct access to the secured portion of the tenth-floor penthouse.
A cup of coffee steamed beside him at his desk while he signed off on training center instructor renewals for the Department of Justice of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
* * *
An angry voice rumbled from the reception area. Greg Wilds stood flush against Esther’s desk.
“Can I help you, sir?” Esther, retired after a twenty-year career as a Master at Arms in the Navy, was not intimidated. She gave the arrogant man a coy smile.
“I’m FBI Supervisory Special Agent Greg Wilds. I demand to see Ian Chase.”
She stood in the man’s path. “I am sure your parents are very proud of you for having such a spiffy title, Mr. Wilds, but I’m sorry, sir, you need an appointment.”
