Locked, Loaded And Sealed

“You’re not making me feel any better.”

“You’ll be safe—with me.” The same couldn’t be said for Dr. Fazal, and Austin felt the failure of showing up too late to protect him gnaw at his gut.

The tires squealed and the car bounced as she pulled out of the parking structure. Austin’s forehead hit the back of the driver’s seat. “Did you see someone?”

“All clear so far. Why?”

“You stepped on that gas like you had the devil himself on your tail.”

“To get out of that parking structure, you gotta move or you’ll be waiting there all night.”

Apparently, every intersection she blew through had the same problem as the car sped up, lurched around corners and jerked to a stop every once in a while. If Fazal’s killers didn’t end him, Sophia’s driving would.

“No headlights behind you?”

“Not for any length of time. Don’t worry. I got this. I’m no stranger to losing a tail.”

“Should that concern me?”

“It should make you happy. We’re almost there.”

Rubbing his forehead, Austin sat up and peered out the window. They’d already crossed Longfellow Bridge and were speeding into Cambridge.

A few minutes later, the car crawled along a street lined with bars and restaurants as Sophia searched for a parking space.

He tapped on the window. “There’s a public lot with space.”

“Are you kidding? I’m not paying twenty-four bucks to park my car.”

“I’ll spring for the parking. We could be driving around here all night looking for a place.”

“Your call, but it’s a rip-off.” She made an illegal U-turn in the middle of the street and swung into the lot, buzzing down her window.

He pulled a crumpled twenty and a five from his pocket and handed them to her.

The attendant met the car. “That’s twenty-four dollars, please.”

She gave him the money, and then pinched the one dollar bill he gave her between two fingers and held it over her shoulder. “Here you go.”

When they got out of the car, Sophia crossed her arms, gripping her biceps and hunching her shoulders.

“You don’t have a jacket? It’s cold out here for just a long-sleeved shirt.”

“I had a sweater.” She slammed the car door and locked it. “It has Dr. Fazal’s blood all over it.”

“I’m sorry. Take my jacket.” He shrugged out of his blue peacoat and draped it over her shoulders, his hands lingering for a few seconds.

She hugged the coat around her body and sniffed. “Thanks.”

They joined the Friday night crowd on the sidewalk—students, professors, young professionals, a few tourists. They could fit in with this bunch, even though Sophia still wore a dazed expression on her pale face.

She led him to one of the many bars, crowded but not jammed, a duo at one end singing a folk song.

“We can probably still get a booth, but we’ll have to order some bar food.”

“That’s okay.” He tipped his chin toward a booth in the back of the long room that three people had just left. “There’s one.”

He followed her as she wended her way through the tables scattered along the perimeter of the bar. Her black hair gleamed under the low lights, and he had a sudden urge to reach out and smooth his fingers along the silky strands. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans instead.

A waitress swooped in just as they reached the table. “I’ll clear this up for you.”

When the waitress finished clearing the glasses from the previous customers, Sophia slid onto the bench seat and he sat down across from her.

Hunching forward, she buried her chin in her hand and the small diamond on the side of her nose sparkled. “Tell me who you are and what the hell is going on.”

“My name’s Austin Foley, and I’m in the US Navy.”

She blinked her lashes, still long and dark even though her mascara had run down her face. “How do you know Dr. Fazal?”

He massaged his temple. How could he explain things to her without compromising classified information?

Of course, the rescue of Dr. Fazal was no longer classified, and if anyone had a right to know about Dr. Fazal’s past, Sophia did. Maybe she already knew. All their intel on Fazal and Sophia indicated that the two had grown close.

“What did Fazal tell you about his past before coming to the US?”

Sophia bit her bottom lip as the waitress approached the table. “Now, what can I get you?”

“I’ll have a beer—whatever you have on tap.”

“Club soda with lime for me.”

The waitress left, and Sophia leaned toward him over the table. “I only know that his wife and two daughters died in a terrorist bombing in Islamabad. The US government resettled him here for safety, but then you know that already. You claim to know more than I do, so you’d better start spilling or I’m calling my new best friends at the Boston PD.”

Austin squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. If he’d thought handling Sophia Grant would be easy, he’d been completely mistaken. She’d probably catch him out in a lie in about two seconds, too. Were there any girls back home like this? If so, he’d never run into one, and given the size of White Bluff, Wyoming, he’d run into all of the women.

“Okay.” He ran a hand across the top of his head, his hair still short from active duty. “Dr. Fazal helped out the US military, helped us nail a wanted terrorist hiding in the area. His life wasn’t worth much in Islamabad after that, so we hustled him out of Pakistan.”

She nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me. I figured there was more to his story.”

Nothing seemed to surprise this surprising woman. “We settled him in Boston. You know he went to medical school here?”

“Yes.” She drummed her fingers on the table. “Were you one of the guys who helped rescue him?”

“Uh-huh.”

The waitress delivered their drinks and Austin held his up. “To Dr. Fazal.”

Sophia clinked her glass with his. “To Dr. Fazal.”

She took a sip of her drink and laced her fingers around the glass mug. “What were you doing here at the precise moment he got murdered?”

Austin ground his back teeth together and took a bigger swig of beer than he’d intended. He gulped it down. “He’d contacted us a few weeks back, said he was being watched, followed.”

“So that’s why he’d been agitated.”

“Was he?”

“For the past several days—distracted, even curt with me, which was unusual.”

“After his initial contact, we didn’t hear from him again. I guess he thought we could help him, but I was too late.” His hand curled into a fist on the table.

“D-do you think that’s it? The people he betrayed in Pakistan wanted revenge?”

“That’s what it looks like on the surface, but it’s hard for me to swallow that they’d go to all this trouble to get to him. The main guy he betrayed is dead. Were his followers that loyal to track Fazal to the US and murder him here? That’s taking a huge chance on their part, and how did they even get into the country if they’re on a no-fly list?”

“You’re asking me? I’m just a physical therapist in training. You’re the—” she waved her hand at him “—navy guy. What is a US military man doing operating on domestic soil, anyway?”

“This is strictly under the radar.”

“That’s the reason for all the cloak-and-dagger stuff? You’re lucky I didn’t scream bloody murder and run back to tell the cops a man had broken into my car and had been lying in wait for me.”

“Some of it’s luck.”

“Some?” She raised her dark brows as she took a drink from her glass.

He shrugged. “We had a little intel on you. I didn’t figure you for the screaming type.”

“That’s creepy.” She swallowed. “The government can just spy on anyone these days. Is that it?”

“I wouldn’t call it spying.”

“I would.” She flipped her black hair over one shoulder. “So, what do you want from me? I can’t give you any more information about Dr. Fazal than I gave the police.”

“The Boston PD thinks he may have committed suicide. Now I just gave you this other info about Dr. Fazal. Does this change your view of what was going on with him?”

“He never said anything to me about it, but his killers were definitely searching for something in the office.”

“That worries me, makes me think this is about more than revenge.”

“What could they have been looking for? Dr. Fazal already gave up what he knew about the terrorist in Islamabad, right?”

“Maybe he had more information that he didn’t even tell us.” He grabbed a plastic menu from the end of the table. “Are you hungry? The waitress didn’t make us order anything, but you probably haven’t had dinner.”

“I’m not hungry.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “My date.”

“You had a date tonight?” Of course she did. An attractive, vibrant woman like Sophia Grant wouldn’t be sitting at home alone on Friday night.

“I did. I was supposed to meet him downtown.”

“Give him a call. Is there still time?”

“I don’t have his phone number, and he doesn’t have mine, thank goodness, or he would’ve been calling me.”

“That’s a weird date.” He drew his brows together. At least this guy wasn’t her fiancé or the love of her life if they didn’t even have each other’s phone numbers.

“It was a date on Spark.”

“Spark?”

“Where’ve you been, Islamabad?” She tapped her cell phone. “It’s a dating app.”

“Is that safe?”

“Safer than this.” She drew a circle in the air above their table.

“Got me there.” He shoved the menu aside and finished his beer. “You’ll let me know if anything unusual happens, won’t you?”

“Yes, but shouldn’t I tell the police, too?”

“Of course, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention our meeting. I’m not supposed to be here, not supposed to be investigating this.”

“My lips are sealed.” She dragged her fingertip across the seam of her mouth. “Where should I drop you off?”

“I’m at a hotel downtown, but since you’re in the other direction I can catch the T back to the hotel—unless you want to head downtown to meet your Spark date.”

“You know where I live?” She pushed her half-full glass away from her. “Forget the date. It was just our second. He probably figured I got cold feet.”

“Does that happen a lot? I mean, with Spark dates.”

“Quite common.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a wallet.

“I’ll get this. I can call it a business meeting.”

“Ah, but you’re not supposed to be here, remember?”

“Somebody somewhere has to reimburse me.” He dropped a ten on the table. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“I really don’t mind dropping you off.” She scooted from the booth, hugging his coat to her chest.

“That’s okay, as long as you keep a lookout when you drive home, just like you did on the way over here.”

She jerked her head up. “Do you think I might still be in danger?”

“Not if Dr. Fazal’s killers found what they were looking for tonight.”

“And if they didn’t?”

“They might be at his house right now. Hopefully, the police got there first, but Fazal’s killers will return. They might return to the office, too, if they got spooked the first time.”

“They might’ve heard Norm—he’s the nighttime janitor.”

“Are you going back to the office next week?” He held the door of the bar open for her as she huddled inside his coat.

“Just to wrap up business. All of my patients were Dr. Fazal’s patients. We worked together and he referred his patients to me after their surgery, so I could rehabilitate them. I’m not sure what’s going to happen now, and I’m not sure what’s going to happen to Ginny our receptionist and the two nurses who worked with him.” A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and she dashed it away.

“You’re going to miss him. He was a good man.”

“The best.”

Austin tipped his head toward the parking lot down the street. “I’ll walk you to your car, and you can drop me at the nearest T station.”

The attendant manning the parking lot had called it quits for the night and the entrance was chained off. The exit had spikes to make sure nobody sneaked in that way.

Austin put his hand on Sophia’s back as they made their way through the cars.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sensed movement and his reflexes jumped into action. He spun around just in time to see the dull glint of a .45 in the moonlight.

Chapter Three

The mysterious stranger walking beside her shoved her to the ground. She thrust out her hands as she fell to her knees, her palms shredding against the asphalt.

Her instincts had failed her. The guy was turning on her, attacking her. She coiled her body into a crouch. She whipped her head to the side, ready to launch herself at his legs—but which legs were his?

Austin had one arm wrapped around another man as they staggered back and forth under a circle of light from the parking lot. Austin had his right arm thrust in the air at a weird angle, grasping the other man’s wrist.

Sophia froze as her gaze focused on the gun clutched in the man’s hand, pointing at the sky. How long would it be pointing upward?

As she scrambled toward the other side of the car, someone grunted. Gunfire ripped above her head. She flattened her body against the asphalt, the smell of oil invading her nose. The smell of gunpowder replaced it.

“Hey, hey!”

The male voice came from a distance but Sophia didn’t dare lift her head.

A rough hand grabbed her arm, and Austin’s harsh whisper grated close to her ear. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. What...?”

He practically yanked her to her feet. “Let’s go. Now.”

“But...”

He snatched the keys still clutched in her hand and herded her into the car from the driver’s side, coming in right behind her. She crawled over the console as Austin made it clear he was taking the wheel. He started the car, and she turned her head toward the passenger window.

A dark figure limped away between the remaining cars as a cop came running up the sidewalk, shining his flashlight into the parking lot.

Without turning on the headlights to the car, Austin pulled out of the lot on the other side of the officer’s probing flashlight. When he hit the street, he kept his speed slow and steady until he turned the corner. Then he accelerated until he reached the next major thoroughfare when he put on the lights and reduced his speed to the limit.

That’s when Sophia realized she was breathing in short spurts. The whole attack had gone down in a manner of seconds and she still couldn’t quite believe it had happened—except for her stinging palms...and the gun in the cup holder.

She rubbed her hands together, loosening bits of gravel into her lap. “What the hell just happened?”

“Are you absolutely sure you weren’t followed when you left the medical building?”

If she hadn’t fully absorbed the terror of the altercation in the parking lot before, it now hit her like a wall of water.

She gripped the edge of the seat, digging her fingernails into the nubbed fabric. “D-do you think that man had something to do with Dr. Fazal’s murder?”

“Of course. Could you have been followed?”

“I don’t think so.” She pressed her fingertips to her temples. “I watched, just like you said.”

He made a sharp right turn and her head bumped the glass of the window.

“Sorry.” He pulled the car to a stop along a side street near the MIT campus and jumped out.

With her head spinning, she tumbled out of the car after him. He was already on the ground, scooting backward beneath the car, propelling himself with the heels of his boots—cowboy boots. What kind of navy guy wore cowboy boots?

“What are you doing?” She crossed her arms over her chest, hugging Austin’s jacket around her body, noticing for the first time the fresh, masculine scent in its folds.

He swore and rolled out from beneath the car, clutching something in his fist. Hopping to his feet, he uncurled his hand. “They were tracking you already.”

Her mouth dropped open as she stared at the black quarter-size device cupped in his palm. “Why? What do they want from me?”

“I don’t know.” He tipped his hand and the object fell to the pavement, where he crushed it beneath the heel of his boot. “I don’t know what they wanted from Fazal. If it was just revenge they were after, they got that. They didn’t have to search his office. And why come after you?”

“Come after?” She fell against the back door of the car.

“I’m sorry, Sophia. Let’s get you home.”

“Home?” She shuffled away from him. “If they already put a tracker on my car, won’t they know where I live?”

“Not if they placed the bug at the office.” He kicked the pieces of the tracking device with his toe, scattering them into the gutter.

“Was that man in the parking lot going to shoot me?”

“I don’t think so.” He cocked his head to one side and scuffed the bristle on his chin with the pad of his thumb. “He could’ve taken the shot from farther away. When I saw the gun out of the corner of my eye, the guy didn’t have it raised and ready to shoot.”

“I suppose that’s something to be thankful for.”

“He could’ve wanted info from you.”

“But he wasn’t expecting you—or at least wasn’t expecting my date to be a trained...whatever you are.” She waved her hand up and down his body.

“SEAL.” He rubbed his hands on the thighs of his jeans. “I’m a navy SEAL.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You’re a long way from foreign soil where you usually do your thing, aren’t you?”

“I thought I explained to you that’s why I can’t come in contact with the police. It’s—” he shrugged “—unorthodox for us to operate stateside.”

“Unorthodox or illegal?”

“Depends on who you’re asking.”

She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “And that’s why we sneaked away under the cover of darkness and extinguished our headlights back there when the cop showed up?”

“I don’t want to have to explain anything. That’s not my mission.”

“This is a mission?”

“Did you think I was just dropping in on my old friend Dr. Fazal?”

Her nose stung with tears and she squeezed her eyes shut. “He was my friend...and so much more.”

He dropped his hand where it lay like a weight on her shoulder. “Do you want me to take you home?”

“Will I be safe there?”

“I’m staying with you—for now.”

She studied his strong, handsome face, and the question echoed in her head. Will I be safe there?

He blinked. “I’ll keep watch over you.”

Sighing, she hoisted herself off the car. “I suppose I don’t have much choice. I have to go home at some point, might as well be now.”

When they got back into the car, Austin turned to her. “You can call the Boston PD right now and let them know you feel threatened—that you think you’re being followed. They might step up patrols around your house.”

She chewed her bottom lip and traced the scratches on her palm. Have this navy SEAL, who’d already taken out a guy with a gun, watching over her or the Boston PD, who’d made her life a living hell when she was a teen—easy choice.

“Let’s see how it goes before I call in the big guns.”

Austin started the car. “Where to? I know you live in Jamaica Plain, but I don’t know how to get there without a GPS.”

“Back across the bridge. I’ll be the GPS.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Should I look out for a tail?”

“I think I solved the problem, but it’s not a bad idea.”

She called out directions as she shifted her attention between the side mirror and the mirror on the visor, watching for headlights and suspicious cars.

Her life growing up had hardly been rainbows and unicorns, but it had just shifted into a strange kind of nightmare that didn’t quite seem real. And the man next to her? The most unreal part of it all. He’d literally popped up in the backseat of her car, spouting crazy theories and scaring the spit out of her.

She slid a gaze at his profile. Pretty much everything that had happened tonight, except for Dr. Fazal’s murder, had originated with this man.

Yes, she’d seen the stranger with the gun, but had never seen that gun pointed at her. Maybe he was a cop trying to rescue her from Austin. Of course, he had run away, too.

The tracking device on her car? That could’ve been anything. What did she know about tracking devices?

If Austin had never appeared in her rearview mirror, would she be home snug in her bed, oblivious of gun-wielding assailants and bugged cars? She scooted closer to the door and leaned her head against the cool glass of the window.

With or without Austin, she still couldn’t escape the reality of Dr. Fazal’s death. He’d seen so much in his life but had gotten to a place where he could appreciate the simple pleasures...and he’d been teaching her to do the same.

A sob escaped her lips and fogged the glass of the window.

Austin touched her knee. “Are you thinking about Dr. Fazal? He was a good man—honorable, courageous. We were both lucky to have known him.”

The sincere tone of Austin’s voice washed over her like a soothing balm, and a tear welled up in one eye. Only Dr. Fazal had been able to make her cry. Now if she let herself go, she’d never stop—and she already knew tears did nothing but signal your weakness to the world.

She clenched her teeth and dragged in a breath through her nose. Rubbing the condensation from the window with her fist, she said, “He was a great guy...and I’m going to have to find another job.”

She could feel Austin’s gaze boring into her, and then he removed his hand from her knee.

She tossed back her hair. Let him think she was a cold bitch. She’d opened herself to Dr. Fazal and he’d left her...just like everyone else had. Not that it was his fault. He never would’ve abandoned her.

“Next?”

“What?”

“Right or left?”

She jerked her head up. She hadn’t even been checking the mirrors. She bolted up and grabbed the visor.

“It’s okay. I’ve been watching.”

“Left.”

She trapped her cold hands between her knees and took a deep breath. “Why are you here? You were responsible for getting Dr. Fazal out of Pakistan and, what? You kept tabs on him?”

“Me personally? No.” He cranked up the heat in the car. “US intelligence? Yes.”

“CIA?”

“Sort of. There are intelligence organizations under the umbrella of the CIA that are deep undercover.”

“You work for one of these organizations?”

“I’m a United States Navy SEAL.”

“But one of these organizations contacted you, right?”

He nodded once.

She hunched forward, stretching her fingers out toward the warm air seeping from the vent. “Are you revealing too much? You’re not going to have to kill me now, are you?”

He raised one eyebrow without cracking a smile at her clichéd joke. “You’re in the middle of this. You deserve to know.”

“Am I? In the middle of this?”

“Fazal’s killers put a tracking device on your car and tried to pull a gun on you. What do you think?”

The warm air blowing from the vent couldn’t melt the chill stealing across her body. She snuggled into Austin’s jacket and the comforting scent from its folds. “I think I’m in the middle of it. These intelligence agencies must’ve known Dr. Fazal was in danger since you showed up at the precise time he was murdered.”

Austin’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I failed him.”

“Had you been watching him?”

“I just got to Boston this morning. I read the file on the plane. I read about you, your job, your car, even your address.”

Checking the mirrors again, she slumped in her seat. “So much for privacy.”

Her paranoia about authority hadn’t been misplaced all those years. They really were out to get her. Did Austin also know about her messed-up past?

He snorted. “There is no privacy.”

“You knew all that, but you hadn’t seen Dr. Fazal yet?”