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Jenny didn’t think she’d ever been so happy in her life, as she opened the door and bent down to pick up the package that the UPS driver had just left. She just wished that Brax could feel the same way. Apparently, Edgar and Mr. Lynch were staying longer in Paris, and that had Brax and some of the rest of the team acting like they had ants in their pants. Come to think of it, she was going to get in trouble for having picked up the package off the front porch while Brax was at work. But she couldn’t help it, she was excited.

Clothes!

As she put the box down on the kitchen table, her cell phone rang.

“Damn, does Brax have cameras in this place?”

She scrambled to the bedroom and pulled her phone off her charger.

Fiona!

“Hey, Fiona! where in the hell have you been?” Jenny exclaimed.

“In Australia. I went there on a long holiday with a great guy. You’d really like him. Sorry I haven’t been answering my phone, but that was part of the deal. He wouldn’t answer his phone unless it was an emergency, and neither would I.”

That made sense. “You really like this guy, huh?”

“Yeah. I think he could be the one. You know? I just hate lying about who I am.”

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Do you know something?” Fiona asked eagerly.

Jenny winced and sat down on the side of the bed. “Nothing good, I’m afraid.”

“Has Edgar tracked down where I’m at?” Jenny hated the level of fear she heard in her friend’s voice.

“No, nothing like that. I promise.”

“That’s good. Then what is it?”

“Edgar and the CEO of Cyber Tech are involved, and that’s why the company wouldn’t pay my ransom when I was kidnapped in Bangladesh.”

“What? Kidnapped? What are you talking about?”

Jenny closed her eyes and tilted her head up to the ceiling. “You didn’t hear? It made the national news here in the US. I guess I just assumed you’d heard about it.”

“Jenny, tell me what happened,” Fiona ordered.

“Cyber Tech wouldn’t pay my ransom, basically leaving me to be killed by my kidnappers. Luckily, an American Navy SEAL team rescued me.”

“Bloody hell, Jenny, that’s horrible. How long were you held captive?”

“Three weeks. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that the CEO wanted me dead, and we figure it’s because Edgar told him something to make him believe I know about his embezzling. I’m still wrapping my head around somebody wanting to kill me. Then they tried again.”

“Oh Jenny,” Fiona whispered. “I am so sorry that I ever involved you in this.”

Jenny could hear anguish in Fiona’s voice.

“It’s not your fault, you didn’t know that it would get to this point.”

“I always knew Edgar had it in him, I just didn’t think it would be directed at you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He didn’t just put money into an account in my name, he did it to the other temp, Angela.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jenny was stunned.

“Three days before I left town, Angela died in a hit and run. I went to the police station. They told me that the driver actually sped up when she was in the cross-walk. They didn’t have a lot of hope of finding the driver because the plates were muddy and the windows were tinted. It was just another black Ford near King’s Cross. You know everybody drives those.”

“So, Edgar killed her when she found out what he had done,” Jenny murmured.

“She told me that she was going to call the States, and she’d told Edgar that. That’s why she quit. Because she quit, before she was killed, and she was just a temp, nobody knew about her death. Nobody but me.”

“Why in the hell did she ever tell him she was going to blow the whistle?” Jenny got up off the bed and walked to the living room, unable to stay still any longer.

“Your guess is as good as mine. You know I was already making plans to leave, but as soon as she told me that, that’s when I slept on your couch. I can never thank you enough for that.”

“It was only for three nights. I can’t believe you were able to come up with a new identity that fast and move to Spain.”

“Yeah, well, I grew up in a sink estate?—”

“Sink estate?”

“Like your projects. Like a bad neighborhood. I still had some friends from way back. What I can’t believe is that Edgar’s after you. You need to run, too.”

“No, I don’t. Edgar has to be stopped.”

“How can he be stopped if Mr. Lynch is on his side? He has more power than God.”

“I think it is mostly Edgar who is doing everything. I don’t think Mr. Lynch wants to lose everything he has by getting involved in this.”

“But he didn’t pay your ransom.”

“That’s not the same thing as trying to outright kill me,” Jenny said slowly. Maybe Edgar had something hanging over Mr. Lynch’s head .

“You said that there was another attempt on your life.” Fiona interrupted Jenny’s thoughts.

“Somebody pushed me into oncoming traffic.”

Fiona snorted. “Sure sounds like Edgar’s MO.”

“You’re right about that. Look, I need to get off the phone and tell my guy about all of this. He’ll need all of this new information.”

“Who’s your guy?”

“He’s one of the SEALs who rescued me. I’m living at his house for the time being.”

Fiona barked out a laugh. “Is he hot?”

“Shit. Why do all my friends ask me that question?” Jenny demanded.

“Because it’s important,” Fiona laughed. “So, is he hot?”

“Yes, he is, and yes I’ve slept with him.”

“Good for you. Okay, go tell your SEAL.”

“Good-bye Fiona.”

“Stay safe, Jenny.”

Jenny called Brax, and he said he’d be home in less than an hour. She needed something to take her mind off her conversation with Fiona so she went to the kitchen and opened her package. She mentally rubbed her hands together as she pulled out item after item. She couldn’t believe how much she’d let Jada and Leila talk her into spending, but as she rubbed her fingers along the lush fabrics and felt the smooth linings of the suit jacket, she grinned like a fool.

She was in the second bedroom when the doorbell rang. After hearing everything that Fiona had to say, she didn’t just run to the door, she approached it with caution.

Woof.

Woof.

Woof.

“Whoever’s behind the door is a friend, huh Faith?”

Jenny looked through the peephole, grinned, unlocked the door, and opened it wide.

“Oh my God, the clothes came,” Jada said as she looked Jenny up and down. She shut the door behind her and waved Jenny to the middle of the living room. “Turn around.”

Jenny did a circle.

“That dress is gorgeous on you. I just wish it was summer already.”

Jenny looked down at the yellow sundress. “So do I. I can’t believe I let you talk me into buying this. I don’t need it right now.”

“It was fifty percent off the clearance price. It fits you like a dream. Of course you had to get it. It offset the costs of the other clothes.”

Jenny shook her head. “Jada, that’s not how math works.”

“Sure, it is. When you look at it that way, most of my shoes only cost about forty dollars a pair.”

Jenny laughed at Jada. Just laughed at her. She’d seen her rebuilt shoe closet. She had designer shoes that she’d seen worn by models in Vogue magazine.

“You’re so full of shit.”

“Stick with me, and learn the ways of the world.” Jada grinned. “Now go try on something else before we're surrounded by male aggression.”

Jenny sobered. “It’s not going to be good.”

“I didn’t think so, otherwise Gideon wouldn’t have asked me to clear my calendar,” Jada said as she trailed Jenny into the bedroom.

Jenny looked over her shoulder. “He doesn’t even know what I’m going to say.”

“Those boys will have a hair trigger until Edgar is put away. That’s just the way they roll.”

“Do you want to know?” Jenny asked.

“Nah, tell us all together. I want to see clothes. Hustle up.”

Jenny was sitting in one of Brax’s fluffy chairs, Gideon and Jada were sitting across from her on the couch, and Brax was sitting beside her on the arm of the chair with his hand on her shoulder. She’d just told them about her conversation with Fiona.

“Let’s get her on the phone so I can talk to her,” Gideon said.

“What’s the point?” Jenny asked with a frown.

“We want to track down those accounts that are in her name and track them back to Edgar,” Jada said soothingly.

“I can’t believe she kept you in the dark about Angela being killed. That left you with a big target on your back, without you knowing about it. She’s not a good friend.” Brax squeezed her shoulder tighter.

“Neither of us knew that Edgar would think that I had anything to do with her or Angela,” Jenny protested.

“Bullshit,” Brax said. “It was obvious.”

Jenny cringed. Brax was right, and she really didn’t want to admit it to herself. She really liked Fiona.

“Look, we need to talk to Fiona so we can track down those accounts. We need some evidence against this bastard when we confront him,” Gideon said.

Brax’s head shot up and he glared at his friend. “We don’t need shit. Just give me two minutes alone with him, and I’ll find out everything we need to know. Then I want another two minutes alone with that fucking CEO.”

“Brax.” Gideon’s voice was one that Jenny hadn’t heard before. It must have been his commander voice. “We’re not out in the field. We’re here in the US dealing with two prominent men in a Fortune 100 corporation. We’ve got to have our ducks in a row.”

“One left Jenny hanging in the wind in Bangladesh on a maybe chance that she might know something about his lover, and the other one killed one woman in England and attempted to kill Jenny right here in Virginia.”

“Yeah, but we have no proof.”

“And I just said I can?—”

Jenny put her hand on Brax’s thigh and gently squeezed. He looked down at her and she mouthed the word, please .

Brax nodded.

“Okay. But we better have a plan of action by the time they get home from Paris,” Brax growled.