Page 28 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

W hile Cam talked with the principal at Fiona’s school, Jo composed an email to Mel. She gave her a list of suspects, which included Don, all the foremen and building inspectors, as well as the people who had been fired after they’d been implicated in the scheme. She asked her boss to get as much information as possible about all of them. Especially financial information. She told Mel who to start with, and who to focus on second, third and so on. She explained about the bomb she’d found beneath Cam’s truck that morning and stressed that she needed the information ASAP.

Mel responded immediately. She told Jo that, depending on how many layers people had created that would shield their financial information on the dark web, Jo might expect some information later today.

Thanking her boss, Jo logged off and turned off her computer.

“You look like you’re really focused on something,” Cam said when Jo inhaled a deep breath, then blew it out.

“Yeah, I asked Mel to dig up some information for me. She’s an extraordinary researcher. I have no idea how she digs into the dark web and gathers information, but I’m damn glad she can.”

“Yeah?” Cam said, but he frowned. “Is that really ethical?”

Jo spun in her chair to stare at him. “Are you serious right now?”

“Of course I am. It doesn’t seem right for her to hack into people’s personal lives without permission.”

“She’s not hacking into anything. But she knows how to use the dark web, and you’d be surprised how many people with bad intentions use it. How much they brag about what they’ve done. They’re proud of what they’ve done.” She stared at him for a long moment.

“Was it right for someone to put a bomb beneath the truck that you, I and Fiona would be riding in?” she finally asked. “Is it right to send someone to your house armed with guns and knives to kill you and Fiona? Was it right for someone to deliberately ram their truck into yours and put you in the hospital with a concussion?”

When she opened her mouth to say something else, Cam raised his hands. “Whoa,” he said. “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking of it that way.” He sighed. “If we can narrow the suspects down based on information your boss finds on the dark web, we need to do it.”

“Damn straight we do.” She held his gaze for a beat longer, then glanced down at the truck. No one even close to it. So she looked back at Cam. Stared down at her hands. “You’d be surprised how much people will reveal when they think it’s safe. If she’s lucky, Mel might have some results by this afternoon.”

“Okay,” Cam said wearily. “That’s good. I guess.”

“No ‘I guess’ about it,” Jo said, her voice sharp. “The dark web is like a trash can sitting at the curb. It’s perfectly legal to go through it. Search for Information. All our lives are on the line here, Cam. If Mel can find out who it is on the dark web, what’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing!” he said, scowling. “All I know about the dark web is that it’s a cesspool of the evil and dangerous. But if Mel can wade through it? More power to her.”

Jo scoffed. “ Nice people don’t use the dark web,” she said. “And the person or persons targeting you are not nice . I can almost guarantee you that they’ve already looked there for information about you. Me, too, probably, since I’m always with you. We just don’t know who it is. What were they looking for? Not sure. But I am sure they were looking for something to use against you. A wedge to get an advantage over you. Probably your financial information since that’s the currency of the dark web.”

“Fine.” He held up his hands. “We’ll wait and see what your boss finds. Go from there.”

“Thank you,” Jo said. She stood up and paced the room, keeping her eye on the truck she’d parked in the same place she’d parked the truck yesterday. She swiveled to face Cam. “Can we put the car into your parents’ garage tonight? To make it more difficult for someone to access it?”

He nodded. “Great idea. I’ll talk to my mom before we go home and see if we can use it. They only have one car, and it’s a two-car garage. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’ll rig up a temporary alarm so we’ll hear if someone tries to break into your parents’ garage. And, of course, I’ll check the car in the morning, just like I’ve been checking the truck.”

Cam nodded once, a jerk of his head, and went back to what he’d been doing. As Jo watched him, she rubbed her chest, trying to get rid of the ache. This was why people didn’t act as bodyguards for people they cared about. There was always at least one issue where the bodyguard and the protectee had a difference of opinion.

For Cam, it was apparently not tracking his enemy through the dark web, where financial information was bought and sold on a regular basis.

Jo stood near the window, staring at the car parked below them without really seeing it. She’d do whatever it took to protect Cam and Fiona. Like many protectees, Cam wouldn’t like her techniques. But neither Cam nor Fiona was going to die on her watch.

Tension swirled through the room, but Jo ignored it. She didn’t care if Cam didn’t like how she operated. Her goal was to keep them alive, and she’d do whatever it took

A knock rattled the door, and Cam called, “C’mon in.”

The door opened and Don walked in. He spotted Jo and nodded at her. “Hey, Jo.”

“Hi, Don,” she said, sitting down at the desk by the window and pretending to look at something on her computer.

Behind her, Don said to Cam, “I have some questions for you about those new hires that Jo recommended. You have a few minutes to come by my office and talk?”

Cam shook his head. “Sorry, Don. I have a meeting at Fiona’s school, and we have to leave in a few minutes. Can it wait until tomorrow?”

Jo had swiveled to watch their interaction, pretending to be reading some papers. Don’s jaw twitched, but he said, “No problem, buddy. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” Cam said. He pulled his calendar toward him. “Want to schedule a meeting?”

“Nah.” Don shook his head. “You’ll be here tomorrow, right?”

“All day,” Cam said with a smile.

“Then I’ll just drop in.” He glanced at Jo. “If that works for you.”

“Sounds good,” Cam said, and Don nodded. Walked to the door and exited the room without saying anything more to her or Cam.

As soon as Don closed the door, Jo said in a low voice, “You know you can’t go to his office alone.”

Cam sighed. “Believe me, Jo. I know. We’ll meet in here. You can pretend to be busy.”

“I will be busy, Cam. Watching Don,” Jo shot back.

Cam began to respond, but turned away. He was probably as tired of fighting over Don as she was. Cam might trust Don completely, but Jo didn’t trust anyone.

She and Cam didn’t say much for the rest of the day, and she was fine with that. She didn’t want to spend time justifying her methods. And if Cam were thinking clearly, he wouldn’t, either. But he was worried about Fiona’s safety, as well as his own and hers. And like a lot of people, the idea of prying into someone’s personal business and financial affairs horrified him. She got it.

But she wasn’t going to change her tactics. Financial information was often the best tool to nail down a suspect. She was trying to prevent Cam and Fiona from being killed, and she’d do everything in her power to succeed. Including asking Mel to use the dark web to find some answers.

No one had approached the car, and when Jo glanced at the clock in Cam’s office, she saw that it was almost time to leave for his meeting with the principal. So she gathered up the papers she’d been studying, slid them and her computer into her bag, and reached for her jacket.

“You about ready to go?” she asked. “I’m assuming you want to get to school around the time when it lets out.”

“Yeah, I do,” he said without looking at her. “You all set?”

“I am,” she said, shrugging on her jacket.

As Cam donned his own jacket, he studied her. “Jo, I wasn’t criticizing Mel’s methods of winnowing through suspects. I just… I just had no idea that you could find people’s financial information on the dark web. It was… unsettling.”

“I don’t put the information out there, Cam,” she said. “And I don’t do the digging. Mel wades into the muck of the dark web. I especially wouldn’t do that with someone I’m… involved with. And if everything is on the up and up, that’s all the information I get. It’s only when there are issues with the financial information that Mel tells me any details. And only the details that are relevant.”

She studied Cam for a long moment. “But I really don’t care whether you like it or not. You promised to play by my rules, and my job is to keep you safe. Knowing if someone has a motive for hurting you or eliminating you is information I need.”

“Does Mel get a warrant before she dives into the dark web?” he asked.

“Hell, no,” she said, scowling at him. “You don’t need a warrant to go through a trash can on the curb, and no one who’s on the dark web gives a shit about a warrant anyway. And if they did? They’d be laughed at.

“I’m fine with Mel’s use of the dark web. If bad guys want to use it, it’s open season for other people looking.” She sighed. “If Mel doesn’t find anything incriminating about any of our suspects?” She shrugged. “I’d be surprised as hell. The dark web is the darling of people who aren’t stand-up citizens. So I suspect that she’ll find some information that will suggest who the guilty party is.”

She glanced at the clock. “It’s time to leave,” she said, irritation that she’d had to defend her methods to Cam still spiking. “Let’s go.”

They didn’t speak on the way to Fiona’s school. Every once in a while, she felt Cam glance over at her. Was she going to apologize if Mel didn’t find any irregularities in any of the information she found?

Hell, no. She’d delete the information and go on to the next avenue to explore.

When they reached the school, the long line of cars had already formed. Instead of joining it, Cam parked in the visitor’s lot again. They walked together to the school, but neither of them spoke. She felt like there was an enormous space between her and Cam. Not only did she have no idea how to close it, but right now, she didn’t want to.

When they reached the front door, she said, “I’ll wait out here for Fiona, then take her to the playground. You can meet us there when you’re done.”

“I’ll do that,” he said, pulling one hand out of his jacket pocket to ring the doorbell.

When the security guard appeared, Cam smiled, but Jo could see it was forced. “Hey, Howie. Got another meeting with Ms. Morrison.”

“Come on in,” the security guard said. He nodded at Jo. “She gonna be at the meeting, too?”

“No, she’s taking Fiona to the playground.”

“Got it,” Howie said, stepping aside so Cam could walk into the school.

When Cam looked back at her, she jerked her head up, acknowledging him. Then he disappeared around a corner, and she slumped against the brick wall.

A few minutes later, the bell rang and the kids poured into the hall. Jo took a few steps back so they could spill onto the sidewalk, then watched for Fiona.

When she spotted the girl, she edged closer to the door. Fiona was walking with Mina again, and the two girls were chattering away. “Hey, Fiona,” Jo said quietly as she walked through the door.

“Jo!” Fiona’s face lit up, and the ache in Jo’s chest from the argument with Cam loosened. “What are you doing here?”

“Your dad is talking to Ms. Morrison. I’m going to wait on the playground with you.”

“Yay!” Fiona cried. She turned to her friend. “Mina, can you come to the playground, too?”

Mina shook her head. “I have to go to the doctor today. Maybe another day?”

“Yeah. Another day.” Fiona watched Mina run to her mother. Nahid glanced at Jo and Fiona and gave them a wave and a tiny smile. Jo waved back, then watched them walk away.

“Ready to hit the playground?” she asked Fiona.

“Yes!” the girl said. “Let’s go.” She held out her hand to Jo, and a lump formed in Jo’s throat as she took Fiona’s hand. She curled her fingers around the baby-soft skin of Fiona’s hand, shocked at how touched she was by Fiona’s gesture.

Jo sat on the same bench that she’d used the other day and watched Fiona. A different girl was already on the playground, and Fiona seemed to know her. Before long, three more girls showed up, and soon all of them were laughing and playing some hard-to-decipher game.

Behind Jo, a car door slammed. She wondered who it could be, since all the other kids had been picked up. Sliding her hand under her jacket, she rested it on the grip of her Glock, then glanced over her shoulder. She was shocked to see Don Kincaid walking toward her.

“Hey, Jo,” he said when he was close. “Fiona. How are you guys doing?”

“We’re fine, Uncle Don,” Fiona said. “Did you come to play with me on the playground?” she asked eagerly.

Don had kept his right hand in his pocket, and Jo had no trouble seeing the outline of a gun there.

“Sorry, Fee, I can’t. I need Jo’s help with something.”

Jo swallowed and let her hand rest on her hip. She wanted easy access to her gun, but she didn’t want it to be obvious.

“I’m not allowed to be on the playground by myself, Uncle Don. So can I come too?” Fiona asked eagerly.

“Sure,” Don said easily. “There’s plenty of room in my truck for you.”

Jo glanced at Don’s black truck. “He doesn’t have a car seat, Fiona,” she said. “You go into the school and have them find your dad. Tell him I left with Uncle Don.”

Don’s jaw tightened as he studied Fiona. “No, I think you need to come with us,” he said.

“No, Fiona,” Jo said sharply. “Run into the school. Right now.”

The girl studied Jo’s face for a long moment, then turned and began running toward the front door.

Don started after her, and Jo stuck out her foot to trip him, then began running for the school door. As Don was falling, he pulled the gun out of his pocket. Jo sprinted for the school door, but Don called, “I’m a damn good shot, Jo. Stop right there.”

She glanced over her shoulder, then stopped. The gun was steady in Don’s hand. He switched its target from her to the girls on the playground.

“You come with me right now, without any fuss, or I’ll start shooting those kids.” He gripped the gun with both hands, moving it from her chest to the playground. Back to her chest. Over and over.

“What’s it going to be, Jo?” Don called. “You come with me, and those girls live. You refuse?” He mimed pulling the trigger, and Jo’s stomach churned.

Jo shifted her gaze from Don to the laughing girls on the playground. She believed him when he said he’d start shooting them, and she couldn’t let that happen.

So she dropped her hand to her side and nodded at him. Walked toward his truck, with Don close behind her, his gun pointed at her back.