LITMIR.BIZ

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had access, your actions became questionable…it makes sense.”

      Logan swore, low and harsh, and his fists clenched. “I don’t believe this. I don’t believe you.”

      Harkin lifted a brow, his expression showing that same trace of superiority his voice had earlier. “Can’t believe you’re not the big hero anymore? You’d better believe it, Beck. You’re already buried, you just don’t know it yet. Cops like you give the rest of us a bad name.”

      Logan consciously relaxed his hands. He gave up battling the chill he’d been fighting since Harkin and his cohorts had shown up at his undercover apartment. He let it envelop him, cooling his anger. When he spoke, his voice was flat, emotionless.

      “Am I under arrest?”

      “Not yet,” Harkin admitted, obviously grudgingly.

      “Then get the hell out of my way,” Logan said, and pushed past him toward the door.

      “Don’t even think about running, Beck.”

      He turned on his heel to look back at the man. A sour taste rose in his throat. “Why not? Then you could just shoot me and be done with it. Maybe in the back.”

      “Just doing my job,” Harkin said, and the smirk that crossed his face then told Logan he’d fallen for the bait, done exactly what the man had wanted.

      Logan spun back around and continued out the door. He resisted, with no small effort, the urge to slam it shut behind him. Instead he closed it quietly, walked quickly around the corner to the elevators, jammed the call button, then slumped against the wall, feeling utterly exhausted. He shoved a hand through his tangled hair, the length reminding him yet again of what he’d lost in the last seventy-two hours. His case, nearly a year of his life, quite probably his job and possibly even his freedom. His fingers pushed down on his scalp, wishing he could ease the sensation of the top of his head wanting to blow off.

      The elevator door slid open, and he was grateful to see it was empty. He’d had enough of the sideways looks, the glances rife with either suspicion or pity, coming from people he’d once considered his family, the ones he’d thought had his back, as he would have had theirs, no questions asked.

      He stepped into the elevator, let the door slide shut after him, but didn’t reach for the control panel. He told himself he was panicking, but he couldn’t quite stop the thought that his career as a cop, the one thing he’d aspired to his entire life, was over. He’d never really wanted anything else. His view of the job had changed, he’d learned it wasn’t quite the pillar of justice and fairness he’d imagined as a kid, but it was still the only thing he wanted to do. He’d dedicated his life to it, at the cost of almost everything else. He’d done his best, had been proud of his accomplishments but never given up the drive to do better, do more, help more of the good people, put more bad guys away.

      And now it was he who was likely going to be put away.

      He suppressed a shudder and wondered what the current life expectancy was of a cop who went to prison. But at least in prison, he’d know who to trust—nobody. And he couldn’t help thinking that that might be easier than finding out he couldn’t trust those he’d thought he could count on. He was on his own, and sinking fast.

      Chapter 2

      When they finished the tour of R & D, and with a promise of a complete tour of Redstone Headquarters later, Lilith asked Liana to join her in her office.

      “We have a big job,” the woman said as she leaned against the edge of her desk and gestured Liana into a chair. “Stan Chilton left a lot of chaos behind him, after we caught him selling out Ian’s work. Ian himself is only now getting back to where he’d been when Chilton tried to destroy everything he’d done.”

      “How certain are you that you’ve isolated the damage?”

      “Fairly,” Lilith said. “But we’ll also need to check the project data that wasn’t tampered with anyway. After we’ve finished the more urgent tracking.”

      Liana thought for a moment. “Do we know that the explosive-sensing material is the only thing Chilton sold?”

      Lilith smiled, Liana guessed at her use of the word “we.” And she realized that Josh’s reaction to her concern about Logan Beck had cemented her perception of Redstone as indeed a family, and she already felt like a member.

      “That’s one of the things we need to confirm,” Lilith said. “I’ve done the preliminary checking of our files, and haven’t found any sign yet. But this department is nothing if not prolific, so there’s a lot to track.”

      Which was why she was here, Liana knew. “What access do I have?”

      “Just about anything. You’ll likely want to go beyond traditional channels. And if you need something…more under the radar, Redstone Security has some interesting capabilities.”

      Liana smothered a smile at her tone. “I imagine they do,” she said neutrally. “I assume our search needs to cover any entity in the world with the capability of completing any of the work that might have been stolen?”

      “Yes.”

      Her mind was already racing ahead, planning, figuring out how she would find those entities and track their actions, looking for any sudden leaps in progress, or heretofore unknown projects paralleling Redstone’s research, using Redstone’s massive resources to access information.

      “You have an idea?” Lilith said quietly.

      Liana nodded, still focused on her thoughts. “I assume you have IT people in house who could write me a program?”

      “Of course.”

      “Good. I’ll need one to monitor Web site changes.”

      “You think something would show up publicly?”

      “I think when you need to dig, you start at the surface,” Liana said absently, then realized she had sounded a bit less than deferential to her new boss. Her gaze shot to the woman’s face. “I’m sorry, that sounded rude. I—”

      Lilith quickly waved her into silence. “It sounded like you’re off and running. That’s why we hired you, so don’t apologize.”

      Liana smiled. “Thank you.”

      “First, though, I understand you have another concern. Something about that police officer who’s being investigated?”

      She blinked. How on earth had Lilith found out so quickly? She’d only told Josh, and that had been barely an hour ago.

      “I…yes, I am concerned,” she admitted. “Because I know it can’t be true.”

      “He’s the officer from your situation with the armed robber, isn’t he? I remember seeing the reports about that when it happened.”

      Liana wasn’t surprised; the robbery had been headline news for days, as had the heroics of the police officer who had saved her life and nearly died in the process.

      “Yes,” she said. Then, feeling more explanation was required, added, “I owe him my life.”

      “Is it possible that’s coloring your perceptions?”

      She couldn’t fault the question. “Normally I’d say that was possible,” she admitted honestly. “But the time I spent with him was under the kind of conditions where…you tend to tell the truth.”

      “As hostages, you mean?”

      “And after. When he was in the hospital.” She looked up then, meeting the woman’s gaze levelly. “When he thought he was going to die.”

      Lilith looked surprised then. “I see. I didn’t realize.”

      Whether she meant she hadn’t known Logan had expected to die, or that Liana had been with him in the hospital, Liana didn’t know. But clearly her words

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