HeatedMatch (21 page)

Chapter Eleven

Loren jogged up to the main office, hoping to get any sort
of status update on Adam’s mission. She hated living with this worry for Adam,
who hadn’t checked in even once yet. She found Gavin, Shep and Commander Keel
lounging in the lobby of the main office building. A glass pitcher of iced tea
stood sweating on the wooden table. As soon as she appeared, Gavin rose to
greet her and give her his seat. She ignored his hospitality and faced the
three men with a frown.

“Loren, how’re you doing?” Shep asked amiably.

His complacency annoyed her. How dare he hang around sipping
iced tea when Adam remained in danger? The three men should be standing in a
dark room filled with monitoring computers like on TV. “Fine. I’m fine, but I’m
really worried about Adam. Have you heard from him?”

“Not yet.” Shep shrugged. The three men exchanged glances
that had her balling her fists and holding down a yell of annoyance.

“I’m sure Adam’s okay. The RFID on his suitcase is tracking
in the hotel room, where he’s supposed to be. He’d call if he needed backup.
And Xander’s with him.”

“But what if he can’t call?” she asked.

Again with the looks.

This time Keel tried in a reasonable tone. “Ms. Stanton,
this is not a combat mission for Adam. It’s a research trip. Thanks to Chase’s
attack, Adam and Xander know to be on guard. He’ll call when he has something
to report. It’s common for our soldiers to go off-line, especially if they
don’t want calls to the Washington metro area tracked.”

She took a deep breath, comforted a bit that the experts
were relaxed. She decided to trust them. If they weren’t worried she wouldn’t
be either and would do something useful like visit her brother.

* * * * *

“Give Adam a break,” Chase advised. He sat up in bed, eating
a large late breakfast. His bruises faded away as rapidly as the pancakes on
his plate. “He knows what he’s doing. Stop worrying.”

She’d hoped Chase would take her mind off the nagging fear
Adam was in trouble. She bit her lip. Maybe she wasn’t cut out to be a military
girlfriend or wife, smiling at overseas missions and cooing over injuries upon
the male’s return. It was a nice goal in principle, but in practice, she wanted
to pace and panic over the gut knowledge he was in danger.

She hated that when she’d spoken of her concern, Adam had
not texted or called her. Commander Shepard dismissed her and reminded her Adam
was one of the best operatives who would surely proceed with standard alerting
practices if he were in danger. But Loren knew he was in a place where he
couldn’t contact the home base.

“Hey. Did you hear me?” Chase nudged her thigh with his toe.
“If you can’t handle this life, you need to get out now.”

She looked at her brother, understanding his position all
too clearly. Chase understood the meaning of broken family better than anyone
else she knew. He made a good point. It wasn’t fair to lead Adam on. “I’m not
sure how serious it is though. Adam is totally opposed to marriage and
children. Maybe it’s just sex.”

Chase winced. “Please don’t use the s-word about yourself.
It’s like you’re my sister or something. But don’t bullshit yourself. I see the
way the two of you look at each other. You’re cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs for each
other.”

Loren gave a reluctant smile at his offbeat humor. “I can’t
seem to shake the feeling something is wrong and Adam is in trouble.”

The door cracked open and Rowan peeked his head around.
“Chase?” His gaze found Loren’s and brightened. “Hey, girl.” He entered the
room fully, shutting the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?” Rowan and Loren both asked each
other at the same time.

“Chase is my brother.”

“I didn’t know that. I got a message he wanted to see me.”

Rowan walked over to one of the many chairs now circling
Chase’s bed and collapsed into it. “What’s up, dude? I’m Rowan. Adam’s
brother.”

The two men eyed each other. “Why did you want to see me?”
Rowan asked.

Chase shrugged, his movement much smoother now as he healed.
“Boredom. I never knew Adam had a brother and I consider him a good friend.”

If his words hurt Rowan, he didn’t show it. “Nice to meet
you. What happened to you? Car accident?”

Chase smiled. “Something like that.”

Rowan frowned. “Will Adam look like he’s been in an accident
whenever he gets back from wherever he’s disappeared to?”

Loren shuddered and Chase scowled.

“Watch your mouth, man. She’s been moaning all morning about
how worried she is about your brother.”

Rowan faced her. “I’m sick of all the mystery around here. I
finally know where my brother lives and works, but I’m still kept in the dark.
Do you know where he went?”

She nodded.

“Is it a dangerous mission?”

“Well, it shouldn’t be. But I can’t shake the feeling
something’s wrong.”

Rowan sat up straight. “You’re his match, right?”

“What?”

“I’ve only been here a day, but I’ve been briefed. Have you
slept with him?”

She rolled her eyes. “What is it with everyone thinking they
have a right to my personal life today?”

“I have a right if it means helping my brother,” Rowan said
with a hard edge in his voice.

“How would our sleeping together help him?”

“Because you’re connected,” Chase said. “Rowan’s right.
Maybe we shouldn’t be dismissive of her fear Adam’s in trouble.”

“I agree,” Rowan said.

“What do we do?” she asked.

“Go see Shep,” Chase advised.

“Already done. He totally ignored my concerns.”

“Then we take it on ourselves and go on a rescue mission if
needed,” Rowan said, already on his feet and at the door. “Nice meeting you,
Chase. I’ll be back later.”

Loren followed Rowan to the door then turned to her brother.
“Let’s try Shep one more time. Maybe if I remind him about the match intuition
thing, he’ll listen.”

They raced down the hall to where she’d last seen Shep
throwing back iced tea, but he was no longer there. They checked his office to
no avail, and then heard voices from one of the conference rooms. Rowan threw
open the door and gestured she should enter. The room was filled to capacity
and every computer screen was on and half the men in the room spoke in low
voices on cell phones while Shep, Gavin and Adam’s dad huddled around the
center conference table speaking in low, harsh whispers.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

All heads turned her way then bent back over their work.
Shep strode over. “You need to leave.”

“What? Why?” Anger and fear started boiling low in her
belly.

“Because you are not an official member of this
organization.” He turned away from her, but she latched on to his forearm.

“Tell me, is it Adam? Is he all right?”

For a moment Shep’s gaze softened. “We had a call from
Xander. Adam did not show at their preplanned meeting spot. He is not in the
hotel room either.”

The air
whooshed
out of her lungs and she swayed on
her feet, but forced herself to stay standing. If she showed weakness, they’d
never let her stay. Rowan stepped forward with dark shadows clouding his
expression. “What are you doing to find him?”

“Everything we can. I promise you,” Shep said.

“Are you checking out the fertility clinic?” Loren asked.

“For now our focus is on the hotel room. Adam checked in,
and we will be sending a team to sweep it for any clues.”

“You don’t need to waste time doing that. He’s at the
fertility clinic. I know it.” Her grip on Shep’s arm tightened.

He removed his arm from her claw-like grasp. “Loren, you’re
a civilian journalist. We are the professionals. Let us do our jobs. Please
leave us to it.” He turned back to the assembled men, obviously dismissing the
two of them.

“If I were his wife, would you let me stay? Would you listen
to me?”

Shep glanced back. “If you were his wife, we would certainly
keep you informed every step of the way. As you’ve made no formal commitment to
the Program or Adam, we owe you nothing.”

She felt as if she’d been slapped. “C’mon,” Rowan murmured
and slung his arm around her waist as he guided her out of the room. Neither
noticed that William followed close on their heels.

“Son. Wait a minute,” William called after they’d left the
command room behind.

Rowan halted their progress and turned her to see Adam’s
father hurrying toward them.

Worry was painted all over the older man’s face. “Where are
you two going?”

She glanced up at Adam’s brother. “Back to Chase’s room?”
Chase could help them plan what to do. She was at a loss. Shep was obviously
going to keep them out of the loop and there was no way she’d hide out in
Beltsville while Adam was in danger.

“I’m coming with you,” William said.

The three of them burst into Chase’s recovery room where
they were met with a wide grin that quickly turned into a frown.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Adam’s…”

“Adam’s gone missing,” Rowan finished for her when tears
caught in her throat, limiting her ability to speak.

She swallowed and tried to calm down enough to talk.
“Shepard is focusing on the hotel room and ignoring the fertility clinic.”

Chase tsked.

“I know. I think it’s stupid also. What do we do?” Loren asked.

“We go to the fertility clinic,” Rowan said. “And I’m going
to need someone to catch me up and tell me what the
hell
Adam is doing
at a fertility clinic.”

Adrenaline started pumping and a focused calm took over her
brain as Chase quickly briefed him. Rowan was right. If Shep wouldn’t
investigate the fertility clinic, they would. After all, she and Rowan weren’t
official members of the Program. They were under no obligation to follow
orders. “I agree,” she said and turned to William. “You?”

He nodded. “Legally, I’m obligated to follow Shep’s chain of
command, but I support you one hundred percent. In fact, I’ll put together the
money to get you two on the soonest flight to Heathrow.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Rowan said.

William acknowledged Rowan’s endearment with a small smile,
but remained outwardly focused on rescuing his eldest son.

“I’ll call Xander and get his take. He’s on the ground in
London and you’ll need him if you’re going to do a little B and E at the
fertility clinic,” Chase said.

“We’re not going to sneak in,” she said. “We’re going to
make an appointment. Right, honey?” she asked Rowan with a meaningful stare.

“Huh?” Rowan frowned then grinned. “Oh, yeah, darling. Is my
little honeypie sad because she wants a baby and can’t get one from my swimmers?”

“You better believe it.” She smiled at Rowan’s quick
comprehension and acceptance of her plan to pose as a married couple to get
into the clinic.

“I’ll get you on a plane,” William said. “You make the call
to the clinic, Loren. Chase, get Xander on board. Rowan, go pack, and if anyone
sees you with a suitcase, tell them you’re bringing more stuff from home now
that you’re moving on campus.”

“You’ll need a suit,” Chase advised, “if you’re acting like
a wealthy couple with fertility issues. Adam’s suit will be too short for you.
Take one of mine. Apartment 420. Door’s open. No one bothers locking around
here since most residents could pick nearly any lock in seconds.”

Rowan saluted then left the room.

Loren raced out and back after retrieving her laptop with
all her information about the clinic. She and William got busy making phone
calls. William borrowed Rowan’s phone so no evidence of his misdeed would be on
record. Loren used her laptop’s voice-over IP option since she didn’t want the
clinic to be able to trace the call back. Any claims of being a wealthy power
couple would be immediately shot down if the clinic did a simple internet
search on the number popping up in their caller ID.

“No luck,” she said a few minutes later, hanging up in
disappointment. “There’s a six-month waiting list to get in.” She slumped into
her chair, debating what to do next.

“Call in a favor,” Chase said. “Would Ambassador Christenson
get you in?”

“Don’t think so. He doesn’t know me, but one of the other
families I spoke to may help.” She scrolled through her list of other families
she and Adam had called and found the name she was looking for. Marilyn Rutger
was one of the moms who had used First Choice to impregnate her. She was a
single mother and founder of a large European cosmetics company. She had both
the clout and sympathetic nature to possibly be willing to help Loren. She
glanced at her watch and made some quick calculations. It was midmorning here,
so there was a good chance Marilyn would still be at the office and have time
to pull some strings at First Choice. Loren got busy dialing.

“Marilyn Rutger, please,” she said to the pleasant voice
playing gatekeeper for the woman. After a few rebuffs, Loren was able to talk
her way onto Marilyn’s direct line. She quickly made her request, lying through
her teeth about her sudden need to get into the clinic. It helped that she and
Adam had made all their research calls in the guise of a married couple looking
to have children and researching their options. Marilyn was pleased she’d made
a decision to go with First Choice.

Loren said nothing about her suspicions that the clinic was
a front for more nefarious purposes. If her theory were way off base, she’d
have started a rumor with a powerful woman with access to mainstream media.
Better to say nothing of her suspicions and possibly get a huge lead into where
the missing children were.

It went far easier than expected. Marilyn had her
administrative assistant make the call to the clinic and a few minutes later,
Loren smiled down at the email confirming their appointment time at First
Choice.

* * * * *