[B.S. #3] Claiming Laura Read online

  Clay took a deep breath as he walked up to the front door of the house and knocked.

  Jared opened the door. The disappointment must have shown on Clay’s face, because Jared just laughed and told him to come in. Clay walked into a large living room where the main focus was on the huge fireplace taking up one whole wall of the room. On the other wall was a large picture window that let anyone sitting in the living room have a great view of the mountains. Clay took a quick glance around, noticing everything, but his eyes were only for Laura, whom he spotted asleep on the couch.

  “Don’t worry Laura’s fine. She taking a nap, she still gets tired fast, but Janet said that was to be expected. We’ll be in the kitchen if you need us.” Jared took his coat and left Clay alone to make his way to Laura’s side.

  Clay took a minute and just looked his fill. There was his woman. As he started to walk to her side, Clay had such protective feelings mixed with lust come over him so intense that it stopped him in his tracks. Was this love? He didn’t know. He just knew he’d never had feelings like this before.

  Finally reaching the couch and getting to his knees, he reached over and gently moved her hair off her cheek and tucked it behind her ear.

  His movements must have awakened her as he was suddenly looking into large green eyes that he could drown in. Her eyes seemed to change to a warmer hue as she spotted him beside her.

  Reaching out a still red hand, she cupped his jaw. “Are you really here? I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you.”

  Clay rose, scooping her off the couch and into his arms, hugging her tightly. He then lowered his head and kissed her like he had wanted to do before he left. He ate at her mouth, loving her taste and just wanting to get as close to her as he possibly could.

  Laura returned his enthusiastic greeting by wrapping her arms around his neck, almost choking him, and kissing him like he had been gone a year.

  Clay let his hands slide down her back and cupped her ass, bringing her close so she could feel what she did to him. Clay didn’t know how long they stood there and just breathed each other in, but he finally heard a load clearing of someone’s throat.

  He let go of Laura’s lips and took a long breath. Looking over Laura’s shoulder, he could see their three hosts standing in the doorway to the kitchen, each with a large smile on their face.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” Janet spoke first, walking up to them with a bottle and spoon in her hands. “But it is time for her medicine. We”—she looked back and forth between the two large men on either side of her—“thought that you should come up for air. After all you’ve been going at it for almost fifteen minutes. While I approve, I don’t want Laura to have an infection on her hands because she didn’t take the medicine. I think it’s in your best interest also, Clay, if her hands heal as fast as they could.”

  Clay took his hands off Laura’s ass and gently set her feet on the ground. He noticed that she was also breathing heavily and looking dazed. Gently taking one of her hands, Clay made her sit on the couch and nestled close beside her. “The faster she heals the better. Give me the bottle and I will give it to her. She’s my responsibility now that I’m here. I can’t thank you all enough for keeping her safe.”

  Jared walked behind his wife, with Stan taking a chair in the living room. “Stan and I really didn’t want to interrupt, but the wife said it was time.”

  Janet turned to Jared as she handed the bottle to Clay. “Yeah, blame it on me. You guys stick together. I know you both would have let them go as far as they wanted and cheered them on while you stood watching.” Walking up to Jared, who had also taken a seat on another large chair in the living room, she climbed onto his lap and curled up, laying her head on his shoulder.

  “Well, we don’t get TV up here…” Stan trailed off.

  Janet gave Stan a dirty look and Clay just laughed as he opened the bottle and gave a spoonful of the liquid to Laura.

  Laura also was grinning at the three of them. She had gotten to know them well over the last few weeks and she was becoming used to this kind of back-and-forth banter between them. The words might be stinging, but looking into each of their eyes, she could see the love shining through. Obviously they got off on razzing each other. Sometimes they even disappeared on her for a while. Not long, they wouldn’t leave her safety to chance, but Laura knew why, just by looking at the sparkle in Janet’s eyes when she returned.

  The rest of the day was spent with all of them catching up. Clay told them about Cyn and Angel and how the cult leader had hidden diamonds in the garden of their compound. He also told them about the Native ceremony that he had just come from as the girls pushed him for more details. Finally, after supper, Clay turned the conversation around to ask Laura about the General.

  “Do we have to talk about him tonight? Can’t we just spend a nice night and worry about it tomorrow?” Laura asked him while they all sat back relaxing in the living room and had an after-supper glass of wine.

  “I wish we could, but something’s been bugging me since you mentioned the General. I didn’t have time to give it my full attention with helping Angel, but something is nagging me in the back of my mind. I don’t know if it’s the time frame of ten years ago, or his name. Ten years ago was when our unit was discharged. At the time we were trying to ferret out an international enemy of the states that we had reason to believe was hiding in the village. Could be just a coincidence, but the two could be connected.

  “We know General Brown well. We suspected that he had a say in—if not the final one in our discharge. I would like to hear the facts from you. I know some from my friends the Feds, and I think we should get Grant to do some more digging around. Grant and Brad decided to drive back to Detroit, but he is the best and can do this remotely from the car. I would like to get him on it right away, but I need to give him more info on your case.” Clay watched Laura as she sipped her wine.

  He knew that she dreaded going over everything and didn’t want to ruin the mood of the evening, but he knew time was of the essence. They had already taken too much of a chance with allowing this much time to elapse without looking into it.

  Clay took Laura’s hands in his and rubbed her knuckles with one of his fingers, trying to reassure her. “Don’t you want this to be over as soon as possible? Having to look over your shoulder every time you go out? We also don’t know how long it will be before they come after you again. My friends will keep what they know under wraps, but the General has long arms and he will put the pieces together, if he hasn’t already done so. I’ll make a deal with you. Tonight we will just talk about what you did for the General on a day-to-day basis.”

  Janet added, “I agree with Clay. The sooner you talk about it and deal with everything, the sooner you can have your life back. I know you’re scared, but with Clay’s team and my guys, you have the best help you’re ever going to get. I can assure you that they can deal with whatever you tell them, and they will keep you safe.”

  “Yes, you are both right. I just don’t want you, any of you”—she looked around at Janet and her men then back at Clay—“to get hurt trying to help me.”

  Jared answered her from his chair. “Don’t forget that we all do this for a living. Janet likes to nose in, but we have learned to keep her safe even with her trying to help. So really—”

  He was cut off when a pillow flew at his head from Janet who was now sitting on Stan’s lap. “Sometimes I come up with good suggestions,” Janet told him with a huff.

  Jared, his eyes twinkling, put a hand out and grabbed the pillow before it could connect with him. “Yes, love, you do help in your own way. We couldn’t do without you.”

  Stan grabbed the second pillow that Janet had picked up. “No more fighting from you. We just might have to return the favor later tonight.”

  Janet just blushed and put her arms around Stan’s neck and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “As long as you don’t forget that I’m needed.”

  “Love, we need you every day. D
on’t ever forget that,” Jared told her.

  Clay, after watching the back-and-forth banter, turned to Laura. “Well, what do you say?”

  Laura took a deep breath and looked right in Clay’s eyes. She hadn’t been completely honest with him. If she was going to accept his protection and his love, she had to tell him everything.

  Taking a sip of her wine for courage, Laura sat up. “I need to tell you my story, my real story. Ten years ago, I was working in Washington as an executive secretary. I did a little of everything. One thing I did take care of every month was the General’s expenses that he needed reimbursement on. He was always bad at keeping receipts, so we set up a bank account for him to use just for that purpose. Between the few receipts that he had and the bank statement, I could usually figure out his expenses and do up the report.”

  Clay nodded, urging her on. “That’s completely normal for a secretary.”

  Taking a moment, she put her glass down on the coffee table before her nervous hands spilled what wine was left in it, and continued. “Anyway, one day the General was on the phone when I went in to get the information. He just pointed at the corner of his desk and I picked everything up and went back to mine to start making the list. But that day I picked up more than just his receipts and regular bank statement. Amongst the pile of papers was another bank statement. I took a quick look at it, and didn’t think too much of it, until I saw that it was a bank statement from the Cayman Islands of and in the General’s name.

  “Even looking at that didn’t clue me in right away. Then I took a closer look at the balance and the amount of the deposits going into that bank and knew that something wasn’t right. The amounts being wired in were in the hundred thousands and the account had close to three-quarters of a million dollars in it. I knew the general was paid well, but this was ridiculous.” Laura got up and started pacing. Walking back and forth in front of the fireplace, her head down, as she paced, she continued.

  “Looking back, I know the next part was stupid of me. But I had worked for the General for years, so I had to give him the benefit of a doubt. At least I was smart enough to make copies of the statement, which I hid in my purse. I took the statement and showed it to the General and asked him about it. I could tell he was startled, then angry that I had gotten my hands on this statement. So he blustered through some made-up story about his wife’s father passing away and that they had gotten an inheritance. He went on to tell me he was just keeping it offshore because the interest was higher. That should have been the end of it, and would have been if I hadn’t kept looking into it.”

  Laura started to twist her hands together as she paced. “Stupid me, I bought it up again after reading an article on a charity event held the night before. In the paper was a picture of the General, his wife, and her father. How could the General have gotten an inheritance from him if the man was still alive and well?

  “This time I could tell that he was having a hard time containing his anger. He just told me I hadn’t heard him right and it was his father, not his father-in-law, who had passed away. The next day, I noticed that the General was giving me strange looks and a guy that I had never seen before started coming in the office.

  “Most days this guy just hung around the office asking questions. He told me he was a new aid for the general and was just trying to get to know the lay of the land. I know he was also trying to make it seem like he was attracted to me, by asking me where I lived, where I passed my off time, but not much about the day-to-day operations of the office.”

  “Probably a thug brought in to intimidate you.” Clay guessed.

  Laura nodded. “It worked. One night I noticed a car behind me, following too close. It seemed to be dodging my every move, in and out of the rush hour traffic. At the next stop light, I got a good look at the person driving the car. It was the same guy from the office. That really scared me. So that night in my apartment, I stayed up with the door locked and a chair wedged under it, and the phone near me. I was scared and I knew that the General had many connections, possibly even with the local police. So as soon as it was light out, I took a chance and called the Feds. They took me seriously, said that the General was known to them and promised to send some men to pick me up. I didn’t want to take a chance that the guy was waiting for me outside of the apartment and they agreed.”

  Laura walked back to the coffee table and picked up her glass and took a long drink of her wine. Holding on to the glass, she looked at them sitting around looking back at her.

  “The rest is a comedy of errors. The Feds put me in protective custody, while they went after the General. They couldn’t get anything to stick. The Cayman Islands did not have any sharing agreement with the states so they couldn’t get any information, or the bank records.

  “The General’s wife’s father, would not confirm or deny if any money had changed hands. The old man is so rich that it could have come from him. The General’s own father also had his back and didn’t deny that he gave the money. They were working hard on building a case, but every step forward was a step backward.

  “After being shuttled between safe houses, the Feds finally allowed me to get a job. I was going mad being cooped up all day. The Feds found a small town, where nothing much went on. I got a job in a small bistro. One day shortly after I got the job, I was parking in front of the shop and it burst into flames. Thank God everyone got out in time, but I knew that the blast was meant for me. The General or his people had found me, even though the Feds had done their best to keep me safe.”

  “So you decided to run?”

  Laura nodded. “So I hurried back to my apartment and found that someone had already broken in and ransacked the place. The only thing I could find missing was the original copies of the statements, nothing else. So I packed up some of my things, and got out of town as fast as I could. I stopped every once in a while, in other small towns, and got jobs to keep me going.

  “It wasn’t until I got to Detroit and found a job working at an upscale restaurant that I met my boss that I have now. He used to come in regularly and we got to talking. When he found out that I was qualified, he offered me a job in his office. I was lucky to get the job. I couldn’t give him any real backup for my claims. He started me on the bottom level and I worked my way up.

  “That was three years ago. I finally thought that all of this was behind me. I didn’t like living under an assumed name, but I got used to it and I even made some friends.”

  Laura sat back down on the couch beside Clay, and took a last sip of her wine and put the glass on the table. “That’s it. You know it all now. I know you all want to help and at any other time I would say go for it. But we are dealing with a high ranking General. He probably has resources that we don’t even know about, like Clay pointed out.”

  Clay just reached out and hugged Laura as she stopped talking. She looked so depressed that Clay tilted her chin up with one of his hands and gave her a small kiss. Looking deep into her eyes, Clay told her, “Don’t worry, love. I think the deck is now stacked evenly with us on your side.”

  Clay took out his cell phone as he moved into the middle of the living room. He was strung so tight from hearing her story that he couldn’t sit still.

  Janet moved from Stan’s lap and joined Laura on the couch. Picking up the bottle of wine, she poured each of them another glass. Handing Laura her glass, she told her, “Have a drink. The worse is over now, for you. Our guys can take it from here. They’re probably already plotting in their heads how they are going to take the General down.”

  She said it with so much force and with such conviction that Laura laughed and couldn’t help believe her. She took the glass from Janet and downed half of its contents.

  Clay speed-dialled Grant and impatiently waited for him to pick up.

  “Grant here.”

  Clay didn’t give him time to continue. “Grant, this is Clay. I need your help. Remember General Brown from ten years back?”

  “Yeah, I
remember that bastard. Why the hell are you bringing him up now? I thought we all agreed not to mention his name again until we could bring him down. That slimy asshole!”

  Clay butted into his tirade, knowing, like the rest of them, he could go on for hours about the bastard. “Grant, stop! I agree. But I just might have something that could help us bring him down.”

  “Just a minute, Clay. I’m going to get Brad to pull over so I don’t lose your signal.” Clay waited and heard Brad ask Grant, “What’s up?” He heard Grant answer back with General Brown’s name. There was a screech of brakes and the sound of a car pulling onto a gravel shoulder. Brad was letting the curse words fly loud enough for Clay to hear every curse muttered. Clay didn’t blame him. They would be flying from his lips, too, if he wasn’t in mixed company.

  Clay could hear Grant tell Brad to simmer down, then he came back on the phone. “OK, how can we help? Brad wants in, too, as you can tell.”

  “I’m back here with Laura now and she just told me her story. The General that she worked for, and who has been after her, is our friend General Brown. Maybe this is finally the break we’ve been looking for and we can bring the bastard down. But I need your help. He’s one slimy bastard, as we all know. The Feds couldn’t make any charges stick in Laura’s case, so we will need to work our magic and make sure this time that it does.”

  “Give me the details and I’ll start right away. I will look into the mainframe of the office and start. Brad wants to know where you are and if we should join you.”

  Brad must have grabbed the phone from Grant, because Clay heard his voice. “I want in. Tell me where you and Laura are and we’ll pick up our pace and get there as soon as possible.”

  “Hold your horses, Brad. I know you’re anxious, but I have to ask Jared and Stan. It’s their place.”