His Secret Life
Excellent timing. Evidently she’d already been in the area since the office in Chicago was more than an hour away. That a member of the agency staff was standing by, indicated that the client was getting anxious. He wanted the name of the hero who’d rescued his wife and son.
Jane polished off her burger, paid her check, left a generous tip and headed for the rendezvous with Merri. The hotel was only a few blocks from the diner, so Jane had chosen to walk. According to one of the waitresses, the entire diner staff worked until around eight cleaning up and prepping for the next day. Benson wasn’t likely going anywhere before eight.
And if he did, Jane knew where he lived. She was waiting for one thing, approval to approach. That approval would come when the Colby Agency had done all possible to rule out a criminal record.
As Jane rounded the corner at the end of the block, she hesitated. The sun hovered above the trees, still generating enough heat to draw a sweat. The occasional car rolled down the street. A few pedestrians were out and about. Still, that creepy sensation that crawls up the back of one’s neck had camped at the base of her skull.
Jane stopped, turned around.
Nothing.
Her instincts still humming, Jane sped up her pace and made it to the hotel in record time. She surveyed the block in both directions. Nothing or no one appeared out of place. No sign of Merri.
Jane waited out front until her colleague arrived. She parked at the curb and Jane slid into the passenger seat, thankful for the cold air blasting from the air-conditioning vents.
“Any trouble finding the place?” Jane was careful to wait until Merri had turned in her direction before speaking. The newest member of the Colby Agency staff was deaf. She was inordinately skilled at lip-reading.
“Your directions were very clear.” Merri glanced around the street. “Has your target noticed your presence yet?”
“He’s suspicious.” Jane couldn’t help wishing she’d been born with Merri’s bright blue eyes and silky blond hair. Truth was, no one was really ever happy with their appearance. At least that was what she told herself each time she had a “plain” moment. “I think he’s keeping an eye on me.”
“I guess I should make this quick, then,” Merri suggested. “I don’t want to draw any unnecessary attention.”
She was right. Jane retrieved the bagged side order bowl and passed it to her colleague. “The waitress may have blurred Benson’s prints, but it was the best I could do for now.”
Merri placed the bag in the console of her sedan. “I’ll get this to Ian this evening. He has a friend from CPD and one from the bureau standing by.”
“Good. Maybe we’ll know something early tomorrow morning.”
“That’s Ian’s goal.”
Before getting out, Jane hesitated. “How’s Victoria?” The last couple of weeks had taken a tremendous toll on the head of the Colby Agency. Her granddaughter’s safety was at stake and the source of the threat was still untraceable. Victoria now knew his identity, but finding him was proving impossible.
Merri’s expression turned grim. “She’s holding up.” She shook her head. “The little girl, she doesn’t really understand what’s going on. Which is good.”
Until now Jane hadn’t noticed the slight distortion in Merri’s speech. Maybe because they hadn’t talked alone like this before. Merri had been deaf for about six years now. Her speech had begun to suffer in the extended period without the resonance of sound to maintain rhythm and modulation.
“Have a safe trip back to the city.”
Merri nodded. “Ian will be in touch.”
Jane watched Merri drive away. After living her entire life in the South, Merri was certainly getting her bearings in what she teasingly called Yankee territory.
Fishing for her keys in her purse, Jane walked toward the car she’d rented for this assignment. By the time she drove back to the diner, the dinner crowd would have thickened. Taking up a surveillance post nearby would be fairly simple.
She wasn’t cleared to approach Benson yet, but keeping an eye on him in case he decided to cut and run was essential. Norcross was insistent on learning as much information as possible on Benson.
She slid behind the wheel and drove the few blocks to the diner. Parking down the block and on the other side of the street, she watched the customers filter in and out. Even with the windows down, the July heat was sweltering.
From time to time she got out and walked a short distance, just to stretch her legs and get some air flowing beneath her blouse.
More than two hours passed before the waitresses started to, one by one, head out the front entrance. The brightly colored neon sign that announced the diner was open for business went dark. Benson came out the back door a couple of times pulling a trash container. Another employee hustled out to help him dump the containers. The second time, Benson paused before going back inside. He surveyed the street, his gaze settling on Jane’s car.
Oh yeah, he was well aware that he was being watched.
If he had something to hide, he might very well ditch his comfy life.
Jane watched him swagger back to the rear entrance. His suspicious glances piqued her curiosity. “What are you hiding, Mr. Benson?”
Pretty soon the lights went out inside the establishment and the kitchen staff trickled out the rear entrance. Benson waved good-night to his coworkers and headed for his old blue truck. He climbed inside and backed out of his parking slot. He hesitated at the street, probably checking out her position again before driving away.
Jane gave him a few seconds’ head start before executing a U-turn and following. He’d already made the turn that led deep into the woods when she reached the turnoff to Grissom Spring Road. His farmhouse sat a couple of miles into the woods. At one time the farm had been pastureland and cultivated acreage, but for the past fifteen or so years the woods had closed in, leaving a small yard around the old house.
There were no streetlights on the old road, making the path dark beneath the canopy of ancient trees. Jane’s weapon was in the rental car’s console. But before she got out of the car, it would be in her purse. She was no fool. Being armed, especially on an assignment like this, was the only way to go.
She passed Benson’s place and almost braked, but checked the urge at the last moment. His truck wasn’t in the driveway.
What the hell?
When she’d rolled past his property far enough to be unseen, she braked to a stop and shoved the gearshift into Park. How had she lost him? There were only a couple of turns between town and his place, other than driveways leading to residences and those were few and far between.
“Damn it.”
She reached for the gearshift. Turn around and pick a spot to wait him out. If he didn’t show up in a reasonable length of time, she’d have no choice but to hunt him down.
“Get out of the car.”
Jane’s breath caught at the shouted command. She turned to stare out the window. Troy Benson stood at her door, the business end of a large handgun aimed at her face.
“Get out,” he repeated.
So much for waiting until she heard from Ian.
Jane didn’t really mind having to bump up her schedule. The only part that really bothered her was the fact that his gun was seriously larger than hers.
Chapter Four
“Hands up.” Troy Benson backed up a step as the driver’s side door opened.
The woman slowly raised her hands as she dropped her feet to the ground and pushed out of the vehicle. “I don’t know what this is about, mister, but I’m lost. All I need are some directions on how to get to town.”
He would just bet she needed directions. “You have some ID?”
She nodded. “In my bag.”
He motioned to his right with his weapon. “Step away from the car.”
When she’d sidestepped, not taking her eyes off him, to the middle of the road, he reached, equally careful not to take his eyes off her, for the purse sitting on the console inside the vehicle. He closed the door and jerked his head toward the place he called home for now. “This way.”
She didn’t argue, which surprised him. It shouldn’t have. The woman wasn’t lost. She had been watching him all afternoon. She’d come into the diner earlier that day.
Leading the way, she walked along the gravel road, then made the left into the dirt driveway leading to the house. Midway down the drive, she hesitated.
“Look.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “I don’t want any trouble. I just need to find my aunt’s house. She called and I haven’t seen her since I was a kid and I don’t have a clue where she lives except that it’s—”
“Keep moving,” he ordered, cutting her off. She could just save all that babble. Whatever she was up to, he would soon know.
As she climbed the rickety steps to his porch, he considered the idea that he should have left already. He had known this was coming. What a damned fool he was. This town didn’t mean anything to him. The job damned sure didn’t. Still, he hated like hell to pick up and leave. He’d gotten close to a couple of people, as close as he dared anyway.
Stupid. Way stupid.
Anyone close to him was a target. He knew better. But four years had allowed him to lose his edge…to believe it was over.
It would never be over.
The only thing he could do to protect those around him was to get the hell out of here as fast as possible.
At the front door she stopped and faced him defiantly. “Okay, I’m not going in there with you.” She stared him straight in the eye. “You’ll just have to shoot me here, I guess.”
The lady was tall and slim, but not at all helpless or frail looking. In fact, she looked damned determined and fearless for a woman lost on a deserted road.
Troy reached past her and pushed the door open. “I don’t know who you are—” he held his aim steady on her chest “—but I do know who you aren’t. You aren’t lost and you definitely aren’t looking for your aunt’s house. Now get inside.”
A pulse-pounding moment passed with her staring defiantly at him. No way was she some lost stranger. The lady was way too steady, way too in control. Evidently she thought he was as stupid as his recent actions had shown him to be.
“Fine.” She executed an about-face and stamped inside. “But I’m warning you, my aunt’s expecting me. She’ll call the police if I don’t show up soon. I left her a message saying I was in the area.”
Brave, determined and smart. He kicked the door closed behind him. “Sit.” He gestured to the sofa.
When she’d taken a seat, he plopped her purse onto the back of the closest chair and dug through it. He tossed the usual female items into the chair’s seat. Brush. PDA. Lip balm. He opened her wallet. Jane R. Sutton. Chicago. Twenty-nine. No other forms of ID, no credit cards. One bank check card. A picture of her with an older woman.
“That’s my aunt,” she piped up. “Like I said, she’s expecting me.”
He tossed the purse onto the seat with the other stuff, then walked around to sit on the coffee table directly in front of her. That her eyes didn’t flare with fear and she didn’t draw away with the same confirmed his suspicions.
“Why are you here?”
“I told you—”
“The truth, Ms. Sutton—if that’s even your real name,” he fired back. “I want the truth now.”
She shook her head. Dropped her hands into her lap and shrugged. “You’ve got problems, mister. Have you seen a shrink about your paranoid delusions?”
He ignored her question. “Who sent you?”
“My mother,” she retorted. “She thinks her sister needs help after her surgery. I’m supposed to stay with her a couple of weeks.”
She was good. He’d give her that. “Just stop,” he warned. “I’m not playing that game with you.”
“What game?”
That she could look so innocent only fueled his fury. “I tell you what, Ms. Sutton. I’ll tie you up in the basement.” He stood. “And when you’re ready to tell me the truth, we’ll try this again.”
There was the widening of eyes he’d anticipated several minutes ago. She did not want to be tied up.
“Wait.” She leaned forward a bit. “I’ll tell you the truth. Just don’t put me in the basement.”
He resumed his seat on the coffee table. “Why are you watching me?”
She heaved a big breath. “I’m from the Trib. My boss wanted me to get the story on how you rescued Stuart Norcross’s wife and son. It’s a big story. Maybe you don’t realize, but Norcross is—”
“I know who he is.” Troy’s fury simmered. He should have left the woman and child before the cops arrived. But the woman had been so shaken, her injuries possibly life-threatening, he had been afraid to leave her alone with the child until help arrived.
So much for the good Samaritan bit.
“Then you know that any event, large or small, in his life is big news.” She chewed her bottom lip a second. “I need the story. That’s all I came for, I swear.” She glanced at the gun. “I won’t say anything about your lack of social etiquette.”
Troy searched Jane Sutton’s face, then her eyes, looking for the lie. It was entirely possible that one of the cops had leaked his description to a reporter friend, especially one as determined and persuasive as this one. She could be telling the truth. But her demeanor, her lack of fear of the weapon in his hand, indicated otherwise. If she was a reporter, she had a background in something else. Yes, Stuart Norcross was a big deal in the social and business pages, but this story wasn’t big enough to merit staring down a gun barrel to get.
“If you get your story, you’ll leave me alone?” he ventured. “That’s all you came here for?”
She nodded. “The readers love hero stories. Especially the ones about ordinary guys who come to the rescue. They’ll eat it up.”
“And show up at the hero’s door wanting autographs and photo ops,” he countered.
She shook her head this time. “Oh, I would never leak your location. You have my word on that.”
He needed a new strategy. “Where are your press credentials?”
Her right hand moved to the pocket of her slacks.
“Wait. Stand up.”
Her brow furrowed with confusion.
“Stand up,” he repeated.
Another of those beleaguered sighs accompanied her push up from the sofa.
“Hands back up,” he ordered.
She rolled her eyes but obeyed.
He reached into her pocket. She tensed, drew in a sharp breath. Their gazes locked. “Just making sure you don’t have any pepper spray tucked in here.”
A curt nod had him forcing his fingers deeper into her pocket until he’d found what he was looking for. He pulled out a press badge for the Chicago Tribune. After turning the badge over a couple of times, he said, “Looks real enough.” He held on to her phone as he resumed his seat.
“So.” She sat down on the sofa again. “Do I get the story?”
He thought about the question a moment, settled on his strategy. “Sorry. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lowering his weapon, he stood and rounded the coffee table. “You’ve got the wrong guy.”
“Are you kidding me?”
He didn’t have to look back to know she was following him to the door. Good, that would make getting her out of his house a little easier.
“Wait.” She stalled halfway across the room. “You said you knew what I meant about the story being big.”
“I said,” he reiterated, “I knew who Norcross was. Anyone who reads the papers would. I know his wife and child were in an accident—that was in the papers, too. But I don’t know anything about the guy who rescued them. If you thought that was me, you made a mistake.”
Jane Sutton held up both hands stop sign fashion, then waved them back and forth as if to erase his statements. “No way. Mrs. Norcross described you.” She glanced at his left arm. “All the way down to the cut on your arm. You got that injury dragging her out of the wrecked car.”
He folded his arms over his chest as if that would hide the truth she spoke. “According to the papers, the accident was pretty bad.”
“That’s right. You should know.” She matched his stance. “You were there.”
“I would imagine that Mrs. Norcross was panicked and confused. Probably scared to death. Worried about her child. Who knows what the guy who rescued her really looked like? Could’ve been anyone around here. Folks in this town don’t go around bragging about doing the right thing. Or—” he sent her a pointed look “—nosing around for rewards.”
Her gaze narrowed. “So if you didn’t cut your arm in the rescue, what happened?”
“I’m a short-order cook, lady. I get burned all the time. The diner’s equipment is old. Things don’t always work right and I have to tear ‘em apart to find the problem.” He held up his arm. “I cut my arm working on the grill’s wiring.”
“I don’t believe you, Mr. Benson.”
“Believe what you like, Ms. Sutton.” He opened the door. “Give your aunt my best.”
“What about my phone and purse?” Her lips pinched in frustration. “And my press credentials?”
He handed her the phone and press badge, then jerked his head toward the chair. “Take your stuff. And go.”
She stalked across the room, shoved her things back into her purse. When she’d slung the strap over her shoulder she glared at him. “For a hero, you’re a really rude guy.”
“I’m no hero, Ms. Sutton.” He studied her profile as she hesitated at the door but refused to look at him. “I’m just a short-order cook trying to get by.”
Jane Sutton hesitated one more beat before walking out the open door. She stormed up the drive and to the road. Once she’d made the turn toward where they had left her car he lost sight of her in the dusk.
He hadn’t seen the last of the lady.
The other thing he was completely certain of was that he had to get on the road.
What had he been thinking hanging around after that accident?
The paramedics had asked him questions. The two cops had gotten a good look at him before he’d found an opportunity to slip into the woods. Mrs. Norcross had obviously remembered the details far too clearly.
Troy was glad she and her son were okay. No way could he have walked away after witnessing her car going off the road.
If he’d opted to forgo his run that night.
If it hadn’t rained so hard so suddenly.
If she hadn’t chosen that particular route that particular night.
But she had. And he’d had no choice but to do the right thing.
Now he was left with no choice once more.
If the press, assuming Jane Sutton actually worked for the Chicago Tribune, was on to his identity, it wouldn’t be long until others learned those details as well.
Troy Benson was finished.
He would have to pick a new name.
A new address.
New job.
But first he had to kill Troy Benson.
That was the hardest part. Finding a way to end a life without getting caught or leaving too many lingering suspicions.
He could do it.
He’d done it before.
Chapter Five
Jane turned the car around and headed back to the highway.
Troy Benson might have the people in this town believing he was just a short-order cook, but that was so far from the truth she wanted to laugh.
It wasn’t so unusual for a guy living out in the country to have a handgun. It wasn’t even unusual for him to investigate anyone hanging around his property. But the whole interrogation thing had been totally out of character for the persona he was going for.
The guy had something he seriously wanted to hide.
And it had absolutely nothing to do with avoiding the limelight or a much-earned reward.
Jane got a glimpse of a turnoff she’d noticed earlier and slammed on her brakes. She shoved the gearshift into Reverse and backed up. It looked as if there had once been a driveway here, but it had long ago been overcome by weeds and grass. With a glance in the rearview mirror to ensure that Benson hadn’t followed her, she pulled forward a little and backed into the drive. When she’d backed a good enough distance from the road to avoid being spotted, she turned off the headlights and ignition.
Since Mr. Benson was armed, it would be in her best interest to carry her weapon just in case he wasn’t so pleasant the next time they met. She reached into the console and retrieved her weapon. After adjusting the interior light so that it didn’t come on when she opened the door, she got out and closed her car door as quietly as possible.
Sliding the weapon into her waistband, she listened past the sound of the leaves rustling in the slight breeze. It was getting darker by the minute. Thankfully the moon had appeared and was filtering light through the trees. Another five minutes and she wouldn’t need to worry about being spotted when she made her way back to the farmhouse. Since she’d carefully staked out the area earlier today, she knew the most pedestrian-friendly route to stay out of sight and clear of the gravel road.
Keeping a close eye on Benson until she heard back from the print search was imperative. Jane’s instincts were shouting at her that the man was planning to disappear. Though she had no evidence to indicate anything in his past would send him running, and certainly nothing about Norcross’s interest in him would prompt such a reaction, she could feel Benson’s desire to escape. He was not going to hang around long.
His tension had been palpable. He was worried big time about who she was and what her exact intentions might be. Her appearance alone was not nearly enough motivation to prompt him to cut and run. Something else had to be behind the escalating tension.
Headlights turning onto the gravel road had her stepping back into the tree line. The lights going dark while the vehicle still rolled sent her instincts to the next level.
Since it wasn’t hunting season and the only inhabited house on this stretch of the road was Benson’s, there was every reason to believe this visitor was here for similar reasons as she.
Logic told her this could be an actual reporter attempting to track down the hero who had rescued Norcross’s family. But her gut told her differently. So far, no one had the scoop on the anonymous rescuer. At least not that had been reported. Nope, this was no reporter.
This was trouble with a capital T.
The sedan stopped short of Benson’s drive. The front doors, driver’s and passenger’s, opened. Despite the dark clothing and the ski masks, the hazy light of the moon allowed her to make out enough about the tall, broad-shouldered frames to recognize that both were male. The driver motioned to the passenger, sending him through the overgrown pasture toward Benson’s house.
Damn. Definitely not good.
Jane weaved her way through the dense underbrush, trying to keep noise to a minimum. If she had Benson’s number she could warn him.
“Damn it,” she muttered under her breath.
If these guys got to his house before she did—
“Don’t move.”
The barrel pressed to the back of her skull proved far more persuasive than the issued order.
“I…need to borrow a phone,” she said, offering the first excuse that came to mind. “My car broke down. I’m totally lost.” She could use the aunt story again. The insistent pressure against the back of her head warned that this guy wasn’t going to be nearly as amiable as Benson had been.
Using his free hand, he patted her down, took possession of her weapon and phone. “Turn around and start back in the direction of your car.”
That he growled the order confirmed her speculation. This guy wasn’t going to make this easy.
“Okay, okay.” She moved around him and started toward where she’d left her car. “I didn’t realize I was trespassing. Chill out. As soon as I can get in touch with AAA I’m out of here.”
“Next,” he said, giving her a prod with the muzzle of his handgun, “I guess you’re going to tell me that you didn’t have enough bars on your cell to make the call already.”