Silver Fire (Guardians) (24 page)

Beth was grinning like she hit the lottery, Stephen was looking uncomfortable and so was Derek.
 

“Layla,” was all he said.

Sophie’s eyes widened in recognition as she exchanged glances with Beth whose head she wanted to smack because her friend couldn’t hide her glee. This was the woman Derek had sex with while Sophie watched. She wanted the ground to swallow her up. Derek made the introductions at the table, mentioning only that they were friends of his.
 

“Darling, I haven’t seen you in almost two weeks,” Layla purred in her breathy, sultry voice. “You are coming to Dad’s fundraiser this Saturday, aren’t you?”

Derek nodded. “I’ve sent in my RSVP, yes.”

Layla eyed Beth venomously, to which her friend raised an eyebrow. “Well, I hope you’ll be through with whatever arrangements you have so we can hook up again.”

Sophie felt her cheeks burn, whether from anger or jealousy, she didn’t know. But the misconception Layla obviously had that Beth was who Derek was interested in had her bursting out in laughter. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who found this funny because Stephen was chuckling, and Beth choked on her drink when she tried to divert her amusement to her wine.

“Oh, sorry did I say something funny?” Layla haughtily asked the group.

“Honey, you’re looking at me like you want to claw my eyes out,” Beth said before turning to Derek. “Baby, she seems like fun. Why don’t you ask her to join us next time?” The group laughed harder.

Derek obviously had had enough. At that moment, his beer arrived and he took a quick swig, stood up and pulled Layla off to a corner. Sophie could not make out his words, but whatever he said to Layla hurt her. The beautiful woman’s face transformed to disbelief as she turned her furious eyes on Sophie.
 

“Looks like Derek is setting the record straight,” Beth observed. “Don’t feel sorry for her, Sophie, she put herself in that situation. Spoiled daddy’s girl thinks she can always get what she wants.”
After a few more words were exchanged, Layla squared her shoulders and said loudly so everyone could hear: “Well, when you get tired of your virginal blonde, you know where to find me, but don’t expect me to wait forever.” She stepped toward their table and gave Sophie a once over. “You don’t have what it takes to hold a man like Derek,” she sneered softly. “He thinks he wants this innocent facade, but he’ll be back between my legs in no time. He always comes back.”

Sophie was too shocked by the woman’s crudeness to say anything. Beth stood up angrily, prepared to let the other woman have it but luckily for Layla, Derek intervened.

“That’s enough, Layla,” Derek said angrily, pulling her away.
 

“Fuck you, Lockwood!” She yanked her arm free and stomped off.

“Damn, sweetie, that was intense,” Stephen said with a low whistle, but Sophie was looking at Beth, who had an evil gleam in her eyes.
 

“Do not make this fodder for your paper,” Sophie warned her friend.

“What? I could see the headlines now,” Beth quipped. “New Park playboy and Senator’s daughter in sidewalk breakup.”

“There was no breakup,” Derek informed them when he sat down. Their table had caused a scene; the outdoor patio was crowded with every ear straining to listen to their conversation. Derek, aware of this, lowered his voice. “Layla and I were never together, we had an arrangement to fuck, that’s all.”

“She apparently doesn’t want to give up her favorite dick,” Beth said, deadpan.

Sophie shook her head. Beth and Derek tended to devolve into bizarre conversations. “Why me?”

 
“Sorry about that, Angel,” Derek said softly. “But I made it clear to her that I was seeing you.”

“So you two ARE in a relationship,” Stephen said, almost as if he was demanding a confirmation.

Derek frowned and looked at Sophie accusingly. “Yes, at least this is my understanding. Did Sophie say otherwise?”

“She’s confused,” Stephen added.

“Well, let’s just make sure there’ll be no confusion later,” Derek said with a smirk before shooting Sophie a heated look that had her tensing up in anticipation. Sophie held his eyes and returned his gaze meaningfully.
 

“You two need to stop eye-fucking each other before we all spontaneously combust,” Stephen announced. There was smothered laughter from other tables around them.

“We’re causing a scene,” Sophie softly berated her friends. She frowned when their server laid down a decadent slice of pineapple white chocolate cake beside her plate with a bar napkin bearing scrawled words on it. “I didn’t order this.”

“No, the gentleman...” the server began, breaking off as her gaze showed confusion. “He was just sitting over there.”

“Sophie?” Beth’s voice sounded far away as Sophie vaguely registered Derek rising from his chair to quickly get to her.

“He’s here,” Sophie whispered, her mouth turning dry. “Oh god.” She looked down at the writing on the napkin and a chill slithered up her spine.

To taste the sweetness of your lips

To see the passion in your eyes

As I possess you

Soon, my beauty

***

Derek could barely contain his fury, but he struggled to remain calm because he needed to make sure that Sophie was okay. He crouched beside her and handed her a glass of water. “Drink this,” he muttered tersely. She took a sip without hesitation. At least she wasn’t in hysterics. She seemed more skeeved out than frightened.
 

“Why do I attract all the stalkers?” Sophie whispered to him.
 

“I’m not a stalker, baby, and I’m attracted to you,” Derek said, attempting to inject some humor.
 

“Ah, yeah, Lockwood, you’re quite a stalker,” Beth added. To Sophie, she said, “We’ll get him, Sophie.”

Derek stood up. “Stay with her. I’m going to find out what I can.” He walked into the cafe and waylaid the waitress who handed Sophie the cake.
 

“I need to talk to you.”

“I’m working,” the woman said, annoyed.
 

“Is there a problem, here?” the manager of the cafe asked.

“Yes,” Derek said. “Your employee has information regarding a suspect in a heist.”

“What?” their server asked, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, the man is more than just a stalker. He’s a person of interest and I need you to tell me everything you know.”

“But—”

“We’re wasting time—”

The waitress nodded, suddenly frightened. The manager let them use his office where Derek immediately asked for a description of Justin. The server said he was dressed in jeans and light blue t-shirt, wore aviator shades and had brown hair. She had no idea how tall he was since he was sitting, but she surmised an approximate height of 5’9” which was about how Derek remembered
 
as close to Justin’s height.

“Any distinguishing marks?”

“None.”

“Age?”

“About late twenties, early thirties.”

The man was slick, Derek thought grimly. He had already changed his appearance. Derek handed her his card and told her to call him if she remembered anything else. Pulling out his phone, he called Taggart.

“Taggart, he was here—Justin,” Derek said. He repeated the description. “I know it could be anybody. I don’t give a damn if you pick them all up. I’m taking Sophie back to the condo. Call me if you have something.”

Derek called Viktor next. “Justin was here,” Derek said tersely. “The corner cafe at Old Towne Alexandria. Fucking asshole was seated near our table the whole time.”

“Damn, Lockwood,” Viktor murmured.
 

“He has pissed me off for the last time.”

“I’ll have Tim pull up whatever feeds we have of that area.”

“Tell Marissa I have Taggart scouting the grid around the cafe.”

“Copy that. Anything else?”

“Find him, Viktor.”

Viktor said nothing, but Derek knew his friend was eager to get a noose around this Justin guy. It was something else to steal the research, but it seemed Justin’s interest was personal and fixated on Sophie. And judging from the words on the napkin, there was no question what kind of fixation it was. Derek’s gut twisted with anxiety. Some stalker wanted Sophie, but Derek would be damned before he allowed that bastard near her again. Justin was too cocky for his own good, but Derek was betting on that cockiness to get the man caught.

***

Justin checked his rearview mirror for any tail. When he got back to his car, he quickly changed his shirt and put on a cap. He was careless and his desire to upstage Lockwood nearly cost him his advantage. That man infuriated him, and he was getting his hooks deep into Sophie.
 
Justin might have a hard time making his woman forget Lockwood. But he had methods of coercion, and he was excited to try them on her.

He felt himself harden with his arousal. Her gray eyes had mesmerized him ever since he got up close and personal with her at the bar—the smattering of freckles on her nose and those pillowy lips he couldn’t wait to taste. He imagined her flawless smooth skin turning red while he willed her to submit to him. Those eyes would be hazed with pain until he could teach her to find beauty in that pain. Where he had failed with his wife, he would succeed with Sophie.
 

His phone buzzed. It was Morgan, one of his crew.

“Bishop.”

“We have the location.”

“Status?”

“We can break in tonight.”

“Time?”

“Night shift changes at eleven.”

“OK. Good work. I need to make one stop before I rendezvous with you guys. We can figure out logistics.”

Justin smiled. Everything was falling into place. He dialed Opperman’s number.

“Eric?”

“Something wrong, Justin? This is not a scheduled call.”

“I need facial recognition of a picture I’m sending you. Subject’s name is Layla and her father appears to be a man of consequence, a senator I think. There is a fundraiser connected to her father. I want you to find out how I can get in.”

“What does this have to do with the job?”

“Just do it, Eric. I have a good feeling about this.”

Justin ended the call, slightly irritated with his partner. So what if he decided to mix business and pleasure? But something told him that Layla would be playing an important role in his plans.

Soon, my beauty
.

***

Derek was pacing the length of the “war room”—the most technologically-equipped briefing room at AGS. A widescreen monitor, with direct feeds coming from the datacenter, displayed a satellite image of Olde Towne Alexandria including a street level video of some areas.
 

After two hours of sweeping the immediate vicinity, Taggart and some Guardians called it a day.
 
Justin had vanished. All they had was a brief footage of a man leaving the Corner Cafe, but no recording of which direction he took. The resolution was so grainy, there was no clear description of Justin either. A ghost through and through.
 
Justin Bishop was a registered political science student at Georgetown University. He had never attended any classes. All the data that was out there was planted for misinformation.

“He must have been watching Divergent Research Zone this whole time,” Viktor said. “How else would he have followed Sophie to the cafe?”

Derek glanced over to Sophie who had been quiet since he had bundled her into the car and whisked her straight to AGS instead of his condo. He was furious at her for taking a foolhardy excursion to the lunch cafe, but biting her head off while she was still reeling from a stalker encounter was not the way to go. Besides, he did not trust himself not to say something he might regret.
 

“Could he still be watching Beth Turner?” Maia asked.

“Possible,” Derek surmised.

“Are any of my friends in danger here?” Sophie asked anxiously.

Viktor leaned onto the conference table, leveling his gaze at the blonde scientist. “Yes,” he stated bluntly. “Anybody close to you could be a target.”

“Viktor, I don’t think—” Derek said.

“Derek, stop it,” Viktor cut him off tersely. “Stop shielding Dr. Leroux from the reality of her situation.”
 

“I want them protected,” Sophie said.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Viktor replied. “But we’re not certain how Justin is following you around. However, we are taking some precautions.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked, his eyes narrowing.

“At the bar, Dr. Leroux, did you keep an eye on your drink at all times?”

Sophie squirmed in her seat as Derek tensed when he realized where Viktor was going with this.

“I...not the whole time,” Sophie admitted as she cast a troubled look at Derek.
 

Viktor nodded to Maia who stood up and asked Sophie to do the same.
 

“I’m going to hold this device and scan your body for any internal tracking devices that may have been slipped into your drink,” Maia stated carefully. Sophie paled, but she nodded wordlessly.

Derek clenched his fists at his sides, wishing
 
Justin were here right now so he could beat the shit out him. He held his breath as Maia waved the wand all over Sophie’s body. Orally-administered tracking devices had become more sophisticated in the past few years, leveraging nanotechnology and molecular biology to manage to remain in the target’s system for weeks.

“She’s clear,” Maia announced. Derek exhaled in relief.

“Was that the bag you carried to the bar?” Maia jerked her head to the hobo purse that was sitting beside Sophie.

“Yes, it’s the only purse I own right now.”

Maia changed the setting on her detector and picked up the bag, and even before her wand was fully on the object, the device pinged loudly.

Sophie gasped in dismay.

“Motherfucker,” Derek growled under his breath. The bastard had tagged Sophie this entire time and had been one step ahead of them since the beginning. “Fuck!”

“Derek, calm down. You’re freaking out Sophie,” Maia said angrily.