Her Officer in Charge Read online

  “Hey, Vince.”

  “I knew it, I knew it,” Bella exclaimed. “I told you he couldn’t be a bad guy, I told you.”

  “You did,” Vince nodded.

  “I always had faith in you, Scott,” she said earnestly. “I’m so glad I was right. I think it would have made me crazy if I’d been wrong about you. Oh, my gosh, I’m so relieved.”

  “Me too,” he laughed. “I have no desire to be a bad guy. By any chance do you have any coffee here?”

  “Sure, there’s a whole setup for coffee, tea, just about anything around that partition there. I’ll make you some,” Bella said happily.

  “That would be great, thanks,” Scott smiled, then, dropping his voice, he added, “it sure is good to see you, Bella. I’ve been worried about you, though I probably shouldn’t have been with the captain around. He’s one smart guy.”

  “Yeah, he kinda is,” she sighed, glancing across at Vince, who was still sitting on the couch with his arms crossed. And the sexiest man alive.

  “Go get the man his coffee,” Vince winked.

  “Oh, right, yes,” she said, and disappeared around the small partition.

  “Sit down, Scott,” Vince offered. “There are a couple of things I need to tell you.”

  “Yeah, and I have a couple of things to tell you too,” Scott replied, walking over to join him.

  As she made the coffee, though she could hear the men talking in hushed tones, she didn’t even attempt to listen. Her heart was full and happy. Scott was still her wonderful, sweet sound man. He was innocent, and though she’d had some momentary doubts, in her heart she didn’t believe he could be anything but.

  I’m still living an enigma wrapped up in a mystery, but I can feel the pieces falling into place. Scott’s right, Vince is one smart guy. No, he’s one brilliant guy, he’s amazing. I wish he didn’t have to go back to his house.

  She knew how Scott liked his coffee—cream with two packets of sugar—and, carrying the mug, she walked back into the living area.

  “Time for me to head out,” Vince said, rising from the couch.

  “Oh, phooey,” she grumbled as she placed the mug on the coffee table.

  “Scott will stay here tonight, he’ll have to pop out for a short time in the morning, then he’ll bring you back to my house. You can order breakfast if you want, but do it while he’s on his errand.”

  “Make sure it’s breakfast for two,” Scott piped up.

  “When I get back to your house tomorrow, you’ll tell me everything, right?” she asked.

  “We’ll see. I hope I can.”

  “Unbelievable,” she said, staring at him wide-eyed.

  “I know, but it is what it is,” he said, wrapping up in his arms. “You be a good girl for me.”

  “Yes, captain,” she mumbled. “I miss you already.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” he whispered. “Keep the faith.”

  She walked him to the door, and as she closed it after him, she leaned her back against it and stared at Scott.

  “You two are such a match,” Scott remarked. “It’s like you’re bookends. Totally made for each other.”

  “You think so?”

  “Yeah, Bella, I think so. Look at you, you’re like a big pile of glop.”

  “What’s glop?” she frowned, walking over to him.

  “Terrible choice of words,” he laughed. “You’re all sort of soft. You’re still you, but it’s as if your sharp edges have been smoothed out.”

  “Scott, I’m scared,” she declared, sighing dramatically as she flopped down next to him.

  “Scared? You don’t look scared. Why are you scared? This is all going to work out.”

  “That’s what Vince said, but I’m not talking about the whole crazy, whatever is going on, business. I don’t even know what to call it.”

  “Then why are you scared?” he asked.

  “Because I’m so crazy about him. I’ve never felt like this, and I don’t know if he feels the same way. I think he does, but what if he doesn’t, and then there’s his job. He said he might be leaving the marines soon, but he’s still a captain, and he still lives hours away from me.”

  “Whoa, steady there,” he said, putting an arm around her. “Of course he feels the same way. It’s written all over him. As for his job and where you live, Bella, that’s all bullshit. Those things will work themselves out if you want them to.”

  “You’re right,” she muttered, leaning into his shoulder. “So much has been happening. You don’t think it’s just all this drama that has caused all these feelings, do you?”

  “You were taken with him the minute you saw him. I know, I was there. I’ve never seen you speechless before, and your face was totally flushed. You looked like you were seventeen and the quarterback was running off the football field to talk to you.”

  “That’s exactly how I felt,” she exclaimed. “I honestly don’t know why I’m all weirded out and insecure.”

  “I do,” he said, smiling at her. “It’s called being in love.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Before pulling into his home, Vince did a drive-by to make sure it wasn’t being watched. When he was sure everything was as it should be, he rolled his car into the garage, entered the house, went directly into his bedroom, and turned on the television. While it played in the background, he did a quick scan for bugs. Finding nothing, he checked his study, then the kitchen and living room. He wasn’t surprised there were none, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if there were. Back in the day he had learned to roll with the punches and expect the unexpected, but the lack of listening devices told him his nemesis had either underestimated him, or was foolishly overconfident. Vince was happy with either, and after taking a quick shower, he turned off the television and crawled into bed, setting his internal alarm clock for six a.m.

  The banging on the door came at seven. He’d already had his breakfast and read the morning paper, and, fully expecting the visitors, he sauntered from the kitchen to answer it. Peering through the glass windows on either side, he saw the major with four MPs in tow.

  “Major,” he smiled, opening the door. “What are you doing here, and with MPs for company? Is that Colonel Brady getting out of the car?”

  “It is, he came in last night, and I’m afraid I have some unfortunate news,” the major said grimly.

  “Oh, well, you’d better come in.”

  “I’ll wait for the colonel,” he said gruffly.

  Colonel Brady strode up the walkway, and Vince stood aside as he entered the house.

  “Wait here,” the major ordered the men behind him.

  “What’s this about?” Vince asked.

  “Where’s Bella Montgomery?” the major asked brusquely.

  “She’s not here,” Vince replied. “Why don’t we go into the kitchen? I’ve just made some coffee and you can tell me what’s going on.”

  “I don’t—” the major began.

  “That sounds good, captain,” the colonel interrupted. “I could use a cup of coffee.”

  Vince led them through, and as he poured them both a mug, the colonel sat at the table while the major loitered, finally standing at the end of the center island.

  “Help yourself to cream and sugar,” Vince said, gesturing to the tray in the center of the table.

  “Captain,” the major said grimly. “I’m here to arrest Bella Montgomery. Where is she?”

  “She’s out,” Vince replied. “Are you sure she’s the guilty party?”

  “Absolutely sure. The night she did her show at your event, several classified files went missing from an office close by. As you know, she was spotted lurking on the grounds. She evaded capture by ducking into the venue, and that’s when you caught her.”

  “This is shocking,” Vince declared. “I find this hard to believe.”

  “We found her fingerprints on the filing cabinets in the office where the documents were stolen.”

  “You did? Huh. How d
o you know they were her prints?”

  “We dusted, of course. We assumed they’d belong to Bateman, but when we compared them to what you gave us, they matched those you identified as Bella Montgomery’s, the ones on the coffee mug and the CD case.”

  “You thought those were Miss Montgomery’s prints?” Vince, said shaking his head. “I’m sorry, major, those weren’t Miss Montgomery’s prints. These,” he announced, picking up an envelope from the counter, “are Miss Montgomery’s prints.”

  “What are you talking about?” the major blustered.

  “These were taken last night by a notary public,” Vince declared, pulling a sheet from the envelope and laying it on the island.

  “What are you trying to pull, Valenti?” the major growled.

  “The prints you claim belong to the culprit are those of a gentleman who runs a café in town. He’s been there for almost fifteen years, and I would guess, at the time you claim those documents were taken, he would have been in the middle of a dinner rush.”

  “I, uh, I…” the major stammered, his face turning white.

  “Your attempt to frame Bella Montgomery has failed,” Vince exclaimed.

  Standing up from the table, the colonel stepped forward, and in a voice as cold as an arctic blizzard, he said, “It’s over, major.”

  “This is wrong, this is a—”

  “Major,” the colonel interrupted. “I’ve been on to you for some time. Scott Bateman, your trusted messenger boy, has been working for me. Your cohorts on the other bases are being arrested as we speak. Moses, your contact, is also being picked up.”

  “What? No, no, you’ve got it all wrong,” the major protested, flailing his arms in the air.

  “You started to get worried, so to protect yourself and Bateman, you decided to point the finger at Bella,” Vince interjected.

  “Captain Valenti,” the colonel said calmly, “would you please ask the MPs to step in and get this piece of shit out of here?”

  “Yes, sir. It will be my pleasure.”

  “This is insane,” the major snapped.

  “Major, give it a rest. I’ve just been waiting until we were sure we had all the players. You’re done, major.”

  “Valenti?” the major stammered after Vince had left the room. “Has he been working for you as well?”

  “No, and when I asked you to investigate, it was only because I wanted you to feel secure. I wanted to make sure we had your entire network before I closed in. Tell me, major, why did you ask Bateman to break into an office on your base? We know you have a man there, Bates, I believe.”

  “I, uh—”

  “Off the record, I’m just curious.”

  “Bates has been getting cold feet, he refused to do it, and I’d promised Moses I’d deliver him something from here this weekend. He’s a really fucking scary guy. I had to do something.”

  “I see, and having Scott followed when he left here?”

  “Just keeping up the pretense,” the major said, slumping his shoulders.

  Vince entered the kitchen with the MPs behind him, and ashen-faced, the major stared at him.

  “Valenti, why the charade with the prints?” he asked. “If you already knew the colonel was ready to arrest me… I don’t understand?”

  “I wanted to make sure there was no way you, or some overpriced, slimy lawyer, could implicate Bella,” Vince replied.

  “How did you figure it out?”

  “Colonel?”

  “Sure, go ahead.”

  “When you claimed you couldn’t get Bateman’s prints I knew something was off, and when you rushed me home to bring something in from Bella, I realized you were making me run to stop me from thinking.”

  “Fuck,” the major grumbled. “That’s all? That’s not much.”

  “There was something else, but I’m going to let that torture you. You’ll never figure it out.”

  “Fuck you and fuck that bitch!” he exclaimed, lunging across the island.

  The major’s unexpected violent explosion sent the MPs into action. Vince stood back and watched as they wrestled him, finally getting him under control and bustling him out. Vince and the colonel stood silently as they heard the front door open and close, then Vince stepped forward and extended his hand.

  “Thank you, colonel, for listening to me yesterday, and allowing me to finish this so there’d be no doubt about Bella.”

  “There wouldn’t have been anyway,” the colonel said, shaking his hand, “but I know it will give you peace of mind, and I enjoyed this moment. It was like a postscript to the whole sordid business, but tell me, captain, what was the other thing, the something else?”

  “It was Bella. She’s an extremely intuitive woman, and I had a hard time believing Bateman was a traitor because of her faith in him. After months on the road she would have picked something up, and she would have mentioned it to me when we talked about him, but she didn’t. The only other explanation was that he was working for us. There’d been documents stolen, and you needed someone on the inside to uncover the network, so you imbedded him. I was in a similar situation a few years back.”

  “You’re both very good at what you do,” the colonel remarked. “You were smart to whisk Miss Montgomery away somewhere. Bateman’s been worried about her. The major’s been edgy and unpredictable. Scott thought it was because of Moses. Apparently the man was demanding more, and the major is afraid of him, deathly afraid.”

  “Scott mentioned that to me,” Vince nodded. “At least Moses will be in custody shortly.”

  “Yes, Scott set up the meeting with him for eight o’clock, that’s very soon,” the colonel said. “I need to return to the base. There’s much to be done. It’s going to be very busy. Consider yourself free for the day. Take care of that girl.”

  “Thank you, sir, I appreciate that.”

  “Captain,” the colonel said thoughtfully. “I know you’ll have the option of leaving us in a few months, and I don’t know why you left the intelligence service, but we’d love to have you back.”

  “Thank you, sir, but I think my field days are behind me.”

  “Bella’s show, it’s a great cover,” the colonel continued. “Bateman’s in place; she could tour anywhere in the world. You and Bateman, her sound man and bodyguard.”

  “Oh, sir, I don’t think—”

  “Please, I want you to think about it,” the colonel interrupted. “I’m glad the major decided to pick you to track down the supposed culprits. Even though we were going to nab him soon, Scott was concerned. The major was becoming unglued, and it’s entirely possible he might have disappeared. Who knows what would have happened if you’d not become involved.”

  “Thank you, sir. It’s been a bit difficult with Bella, she’s naturally curious.”

  “You know we don’t give civilians any information they don’t need to know.”

  “Yes, sir. I do.”

  “Goodbye, captain. We’ll be speaking soon.”

  Vince walked him to the door, shook his hand, and watched him stride down the path.

  Me, Bella, and Scott doing covert operations together? I don’t think so. I’d be out of my mind with worry every second. I’m worried now, I need to talk to Scott and make sure everything’s okay, and I need to hear her voice. God forbid that Moses character has gotten wind of something.

  Walking quickly into his study, he picked up his burner phone and called Scott.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Scott, how is everything?” Why is your phone on speaker? “As fine as a snowy day in the Alps,” Scott replied.

  “Good to hear it, let me say hello to Bella.”

  “Hi, Vince.”

  “Hi, sweetheart. I’ll be seeing you soon. Keep the faith.”

  “Vince?”

  “Yes?”

  “I need to tell you, oh, never mind, I have to go. Breakfast has arrived.”

  “No worries. I’ll see you when you get here,” Vince said calmly, then, ending the call, he
raced into his study, retrieved his gun and dashed out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ‘As fine as a snowy day in the Alps’ was an SOS.

  “Fucking Moses,” Vince muttered as he jumped in his car.

  He’d grabbed his shoulder holster, but with no time to put it on, he stuffed the gun in the waistband of his trousers, and as he sped toward the hotel, his mind was swimming.

  Do I call the colonel? I don’t want a parade of troops turning this into some kind of hostage thing. Moses, what’s his play? Think, Vince, step away from the emotion and think. Fuck. He could have moved them to his room. Probably has. Why did I put Bella in that hotel? Shit, there was nowhere else. Shit. First things first, Vince, get there and assess.

  As Vince was racing to the scene, Bella and Scott were still in their suite, sitting on the couch watching the overweight man struggle to move a dining room chair. He was holding his gun in one hand, and attempting to move the chair with the other, but he was having trouble. He’d broken out in a sweat and looked extremely uncomfortable.

  “I don’t think you can move that,” Bella said softly. “It’s so hot in here. I don’t think the thermostat is working. I think it got stuck on heat. I’m burning up myself, and moving that chair is such hard work. That chair is extremely heavy. I tried to move it too and it wouldn’t budge, it’s stuck on the floor, completely stuck, like it’s glued, and it’s getting hotter in here, hotter by the second.”

  “Shut up,” Moses barked, waving the gun at her, “just shut the fuck up.”

  Scott turned and looked at her, a disapproving scowl on his face.

  “It is hot in here,” she repeated, her eyes boring into Scott’s. “It’s really hot. Can’t you feel how hot it is, Scott? You must.”

  Scott was staring back at her, completely bewildered, then he suddenly realized what she was doing.

  “Yes, very hot, I couldn’t get the thermostat to work this morning.” Bella, you’re a genius. If anyone can pull this off, it’s you.

  “It’s so hot I’m starting to feel faint,” Bella continued, keeping her voice even and calm, “and I’m starving and incredibly thirsty. I’m starting to feel really strange, weak and faint. Sir, you’re feeling it too? I can see it in your face. Hot and faint, so hot and faint, dying for water, desperate to drink something. It’s so hot in here, so hot and dry, and that chair is made of concrete, it won’t move.”