Deadly Purpose, page 18
“Then you won’t care if we turn over what we’ve found to the FBI.” Dex gave him a grim smile.
“Go ahead. All that will do is expose your attempt to defraud me.”
Declan wanted to find a way out of the situation before Merritt did something stupid.
“I’m curious, Meg,” Merritt asked. “How did ex-cop Murphy convince you to play your part in this fraud?”
“It doesn’t matter how the plan came about, the point is where we’re at now.”
“You already stole money from me. Wasn’t that enough?”
“That’s why we’re here, because it wasn’t hardly enough. I realize I should have taken more.”
“How do I know you’ll be honest with me? You could be conning me all over again. Like I said, you can give the police the files, but it’s much simpler to give them back to me.”
Meg pulled the lanyard holding the flash drive from under her shirt. “What you want is on this device. If you give back our laptops, plus a million dollars for our trouble, I’ll give you the flash drive. I know what’s in your bank accounts. With a little shifting of funds, you can get your hands on a million dollars in five minutes.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll send the files, anonymously of course, to the appropriate law enforcement agency.”
Despite the cool breeze flowing in from the open French doors, sweat was beading on Merritt’s forehead. “You’re asking me to trust someone who has already proven to be untrustworthy.”
“I don’t think you have any choice but to trust me, Julius. I know you manipulated data to make your medical devices appear more successful than they really are, and you used that altered information to entice investors. How could you do that when you know people were dying because the medical devices were failing?”
“I knew nothing of the sort. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I think you do.”
The expression on Merritt’s face turned cagey. “Okay, let’s say for argument’s sake you have evidence that I changed a few numbers here and there.” Dex wondered if Merritt realized he was hedging on his previous admission of “adjusting the data.” Cagey bastard. “Not saying that I did, but if I had, don’t you think I’d be smart enough to hide my involvement? Why, I bet I could change those numbers and implicate my assistant to make it look like she altered the data and sent that information to potential investors.” He let that sink in. “So you see, Meg, if you take that flash drive to law enforcement, it’s you who will end up in prison, not me.”
“Think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you, Merritt?” Dex couldn’t have kept the disgust out of his voice if he’d tried.
“That’s right, Murphy. You’re a thug, same as you’ve always been. All brawn, no brain. It’s the brilliant people like me who make things happen in this world.”
“Is that right?”
“That’s exactly right.”
“Except you weren’t brilliant enough to prevent Meg from taking all the files she wanted to copy.”
Despite his bravado, Merritt was continuing to perspire, his white shirt sticking to his body, damp spots evident under his arms. “All Meg has proven is that I can’t trust anyone. I haven’t done anything wrong, and she’s continued to try to take advantage of me.”
“I think you’re bluffing, Merritt. I think you’re freaked because you know what Meg has on that flash drive, and you’re petrified she’ll turn it over to the cops.”
“In case you’re interested,” Meg cut in, “I’ve arranged to have a duplicate of this flash drive sent to the FBI at seven o’clock this evening unless I give the order to stop the transfer. If anything happens to me, that information goes to the feds.”
“I’m done talking to you.” Merritt threw up a hand. “I should have done better research. I relied on employees to look into your background, and they obviously didn’t do a thorough job. But the second you landed at that cabin, I figured you’d joined forces with this idiot.” He indicated Declan.
“And how is that?”
“That cabin is in your dearly departed father’s name, and a little digging came up with the fact that your father had been a cop.”
“So?”
For the first time since they’d arrived, Dex felt uneasy.
“I’ll tell you. That’s how I knew you and Murphy are in this together. Your father was an LAPD captain, in charge of the division Murphy was assigned to. They knew each other, so it wasn’t much of a jump to figure you also knew Murphy. I’ve waited a long time to pay this asshole back for trying to humiliate me. Now’s as good a time as any.”
In the instant of humming silence when Meg turned questioning eyes on Dex, Merritt reached for the end table. In a quick movement, he yanked open a drawer and pulled out a small, snub-nosed revolver.
“Gun,” Dex yelled for the benefit of the feds in the van, then launched himself across the ten feet separating him from Merritt.
The impact sent both men tumbling over the back of the sofa, Dex grasping the hand holding the gun. Merritt’s head hit the floor with a solid thunk and the gun went spinning across the gleaming wood. Dex heaved Merritt onto his belly with his hands wrenched behind his back. Meg scooped up the revolver and moved far enough away that there was no chance he’d grab the gun if somehow he escaped Dex’s hold.
***
Heavy footfalls sounded and Meg rushed to the door to open it for the team who had been in the van. Four men, guns drawn and wearing bulletproof vests with “FBI” emblazoned on the back in block letters, surged past her. The last one across the threshold was Delgado. Once they saw that Merritt was in custody, they holstered their weapons. An agent passed Declan handcuffs, and he snapped them around Julius’s wrists and hauled him to his feet.
Meg passed the gun to Delgado, who discharged the bullets before dropping the weapon and ammunition into evidence bags. The entire scene took on a surreal atmosphere. She’d lived in this house, she’d known Julius for almost a year, and now she’d played a part in his arrest. She wasn’t sure if they’d gotten enough from him to make the best case, but that was up to the prosecutors to figure out.
Hoping to calm the tight spring of tension coiled inside her, Meg slipped into the kitchen and out through the open door to the deck where she leaned against the rail and took in the view of the ocean.
A long V of pelicans flew past, their awkward bodies rising and falling with the beat of their wings. As her emotions zinged along her nerves, thoughts pinballed through her brain. Declan had lied to her. From the beginning, he’d lied. He’d fudged about meeting with Delgado, and even after she’d told her whole long story about why she was on the run, Declan had kept his relationship with Julius a secret. Now she’d learned he and her father had been in the same division in the LAPD, never mind that her dad had been Declan’s captain. She wondered how many more lies she’d discover.
Voices rumbled from inside the house, Delgado’s carrying the loudest, informing someone they’d obtained a search warrant. That was that. Julius would be charged, and in all likelihood end up in jail.
Meg pulled in a deep breath of salt-tinged air. Now it was time for her to figure out the next phase of her life. She’d have to deal with the consequences for taking the investors’ money and disbursing it to women through microgrants. Brenda Nguyen had suggested a strategy for coming away from that without being charged, and Meg had given the lawyer the go-ahead to see what she could do.
Once the house was cleared by Delgado’s team, Meg went to the rooms that had been hers while living with Julius Merritt that still contained her things. She pulled a duffel bag from the closet and began carefully folding her clothes and placing them in the bag. She slipped into the kitchen to retrieve gallon-size zip bags. Declan was on the back deck, deep in conversation with one of the FBI agents who’d been in the surveillance van. She returned to the bathroom to gather her toiletries. At least wherever she ended up, she’d have her own shampoo and skin care products. Placing the sealed zip bags in the duffel, she took a last look around the room, hefted the bag over her shoulder, and walked out.
Meg didn’t want to deal with Declan. She sent a text to her mother, then checked in with Delgado. For now, he didn’t need her. After declining his offer of a ride, she slid into the Lyft she’d ordered when it arrived at the front of the house.
Chapter Seventeen
“Where’s Meghan?
The glint in Delgado’s eyes instantly put Dex on guard.
“Your girl’s gone.”
“What the hell do you mean, she’s gone?”
“She packed a bag and ordered a ride. Left about fifteen minutes ago.”
“No way. You need her statement, you wouldn’t let her leave.”
“I have her cell number.” Delgado shrugged. “She’s an adult. She wanted to leave. I didn’t have any reason to stop her.”
Dex battled back the urge to slam a fist into the wall. Her expression when Merritt had dropped the bomb that Roy Evans had been Dex’s captain haunted him. He’d fucked up big time, and he needed to fix it.
“Do you know where she was going?”
Delgado shrugged, the gesture telling Dex as clear as words that Delgado wouldn’t be any help.
“Shit. How about at least her phone number. Come on, Delgado, you owe me. If Merritt had pulled that gun with Meghan here on her own, she’d have been hurt, or worse, and you’d be explaining to the director how using her had put her in danger.”
“You’re a fucking bastard, Murphy.”
“No doubt. Now give me her number.”
Delgado did, and seconds later Dex was impatiently waiting for the call to go through.
“Hello?”
The knots that had a strangle hold on his heart loosened marginally when he heard her voice.
“Meghan, it’s me.” Dead air greeted that statement. “Don’t hang up.”
“What do you want, Declan?”
“You.”
Her quickly indrawn breath grabbed him by the throat. That he wanted her was the absolute truth. She’d feared she would fall in love with him, but he was the one who’d fallen, and hard.
“Listen to what I have to say. Please. Then if you decide you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll leave you alone. At least until I can figure out a way to be more convincing.”
He’d been hoping for a laugh, some small indication of her softening. He got nothing, no reaction at all. He stepped out onto the deck and pulled the sliding door shut behind him. He had privacy, but the fog rolling in had the temperature dropping.
“Look, I know I blew it. I should have been honest with you from the beginning. I wanted to, but I’d already agreed to work with the FBI, and I couldn’t jeopardize the operation.”
“And it would have jeopardized the operation to tell me that my dad was your commanding officer? How is that, Declan? Maybe I can understand you holding back about your relationship with Julius. But not telling me there was more to the story than that Dad saved your father’s life in Vietnam doesn’t make sense.” She paused. “Or did you make all that up about what happened in Vietnam?”
“I did not make it up. But Roy was my captain when I arrested Julius. I didn’t want you to make the connection back to him.”
“What you’re saying is it was okay to lie to me.”
“It wasn’t okay, but it was necessary.”
“So what now?”
“Where are you? I’ll come get you.”
“No. I need to think without you clouding my brain.”
“Meghan, I want some time with you, time so we can get to know each other without the rest of this crap going on.”
“The crap, as you describe it, is still going on. I can still be charged for taking the money, and at the very least, I’ll have to testify against Julius if there’s a trial.”
“Let me come pick you up. We can go back to the cabin together. We’ll figure it all out.”
“No, I have to decide what it is that I want. I’ll get in touch with you about a good time to pick up my car and get my things.”
Before he could say another word, the connection went dead.
***
Meg kept a firm grip on Gertie’s leash as her mother locked the back door of her little cottage. Sarah Bennett looked fit and trim in her stretchy leggings and hip-length windbreaker. Silver dramatically streaked her black hair held back with a headband that also protected her ears from the cold.
“Let’s go, Gertie girl,” Sarah called to the dog. The cottage was only four blocks from a path that would lead them through low grass and down the bluff, and then to the beach. Gertie wasn’t one to walk sedately, and Meg had to keep a tight grip on the dog as the three of them took the wooden steps down the face of the bluff.
A stiff, bone-chilling wind made her glad for the gloves and her own headband. The cries of seagulls rose over the roar of crashing waves, pitched high above the barking of a pair of seals who had pulled themselves up onto a grouping of rocks. Once on the coarse sand, Meg unclipped the leash and Gertie bulleted along the shore, oblivious to the cold as she splashed in the surf.
Agent Delgado had messaged her twice. Since the FBI had her and Declan’s recordings of what happened, Delgado didn’t expect her to come in to give her statement until tomorrow. Meg was happy to take the reprieve.
Walking beside her mother, Meg turned her face into the sea spray. She had always loved the wildness of the California coast, but today she found herself missing the jutting granite peaks and tall pines of the Sierras.
Her mom had given her a refuge, a listening ear, and a little time to get her head together after the drama of the previous few weeks. In the two days since she and Declan had knocked on Julius’s door, Meg had done nothing but think about her future. She was in love with Declan. She’d known days ago. She couldn’t decide if that complicated or smoothed the way to figuring out if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him. She’d ignored his text messages and phone calls until they’d stopped coming. That had made her wonder if he was giving her space, or he’d given up on her altogether and gone back to the cabin on the other side of the mountains.
“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Meg eyed her mother. “I already told you.”
“You told me about that horrible Julius Merritt. But he’s not the one who put shadows in your eyes. I’m guessing that has more to do with the young man staying at your father’s cabin.”
Yeah, him. He was definitely the problem.
Meg dodged Gertie as she raced up to shake water from her fur.
Sarah stared out past the waves, hoping to spot a whale or dolphins surfacing, but was really waiting Meg out.
Finally, she shrugged and confessed, “I’m in love with him.”
Her mom draped an arm across Meg’s shoulders. “That, being the intuitive person I am, and one who knows her daughter, I already gathered. Does he love you?”
Meg poked the toe of her shoe into the sand to flip over a scallop shell. “I don’t know. He seems to care about me, but love is a big step for anyone.”
“Meg.”
She glanced up at her mother’s no-nonsense tone. “What?”
“Trusting men is hard for you, but not all men are like your father.”
“That’s not the issue.”
“I think it’s at least partly the issue. Roy wasn’t the kind of father you needed and deserved. I raised you on my own, and I regret that you didn’t have a good male role model. Don’t let that keep you from being happy.”
“Declan hasn’t been honest with me.”
“Sometimes people aren’t honest for good reason, and sometimes they have issues of their own. All I’m saying is if he’s a good man, this should be something you can work through.”
Meg considered her mother’s words as they walked side by side crunching along the rocky shore, the only people on the beach on this drizzly fall day. Gertie nosed her way through driftwood heaped by the tide until she found a stick to her liking, pulled it free, then pranced over to Meg with her prize clamped between her teeth. With careful deliberation she laid the stick on Meg’s foot, then backed up several steps, eyes shining in expectation. Meg hurled the stick as far as she could. Gertie gave chase, splashing through the low rippling tide and sending sandpipers scurrying. They repeated the process at least a dozen times before Meg clipped on the leash for the return trip to the cottage. She still hadn’t figured out what to do about Declan, but maybe it was time to call him.
With Sarah in the lead, Meg and Gertie climbed the bluff, following the path until sand gave way to concrete.
Meg knew Declan cared for her, and believed that he was a good man. Flawed, but who wasn’t? What she didn’t know was if he felt more than a transient “love the one you’re with,” or if they had the beginning of something that could stand the test of time.
“Looks like matters are going to come to a head sooner rather than later,” Sarah murmured. Gertie let out a bark, pulling on her leash as Declan stepped from the 4Runner parked in front of the cottage.
Meg’s heart lodged in her throat at the same time her stomach dropped to her knees, which nearly buckled at the sight of him.
Damn.
He wore a leather jacket over a dark maroon shirt, his dark hair tossed by the wind. With his thumbs tucked in the front pockets of his jeans, he looked exactly how the young man at the bar had described him—seriously badass.
And good enough to eat.
He directed his attention first to Sarah, holding out his hand. “Ms. Bennett, I’m Declan Murphy.”
“It’s Sarah, and nice to meet you, Declan.” Sarah shook his hand. Gertie nosed between them, and Declan lowered his hand for the dog to sniff, then rubbed her head.
“Why don’t you two go on in the house to get out of the wind,” Sarah suggested.
Meg escorted Declan into the living room while her mother took Gertie around back to clean her up.
