Stalked Read online

  “Jillian, are you sure this is all you have?” The judge was frowning at Kita as if she’d pooped on the ancient Persian carpet. “I need someone to pose as my aide and…companion. But no one would believe I’d hire her.”

  His words and tone were so derogatory that Kita couldn’t speak. He’d just insulted her…to her face no less. “I assure you, Judge.” Jillian’s demeanor was all professional now. “Kita can look the part of your aide. You’ve caught her at a disadvantage.”

  “Perhaps we should review this.”

  It would be fine if she never saw this asshat again. She couldn’t believe what a jerk he was. How had Marsh Adams, an extraordinary and gentle man, been spawned from this chauvinist pig? Now she understood why Marsh had never introduced her to his father on the rare occasion he’d visited Marsh as a teenager. While the omission had stung back then, now she completely got it.

  “I don’t have anyone else,” Jillian said firmly.

  “Judge,” Alex started.

  “Call me Bobby.”

  Kita shuddered at the affable, hearty, smarmy smile.

  Alex Saunders continued, “Perhaps since this…agency is shorthanded, it would be best to only use the government-supplied, highly trained Marshals to protect you.”

  Oops. Wrong thing to say. Clearly. The judge stiffened.

  If she was annoyed, the judge was a million times more upset. His face reddened, pushing the small broken blood vessels in his nose and cheeks to the surface. The flush spread all the way up to his thick silver hairline. “I want additional backup to be provided by Adams-Larsen.”

  Kita definitely heard a threat in that statement.

  There was something else going on. Alex Saunders didn’t want her working with him. Or anyone else from Adams-Larsen? That remained to be seen.

  But based on the judge’s reaction, if Alex Saunders didn’t toe the line he’d be the one out and then Kita would be watching Judge Dickhead all by herself.

  There was the slightest of hesitations. So slight, Kita wasn’t sure if anyone but her noticed. The skin around Saunders’s pale eyes tightened. He hated the idea.

  But as if he flipped a mental switch, he dipped his chin deferentially. “Yes, sir.”

  “That’s better.” The judge nodded. “I guess I’ll give you a try.”

  Kita’s stomach rolled, the rice and kimchi she’d had for breakfast threatening to come back up.

  Alex Saunders said forcefully, “I’m the lead on security.”

  “Of course,” Kita answered. She gave Jillian a pointed look. They would be talking about this change of affairs later. In private.

  Jill dipped her chin in understanding. Because if Kita was doing this, she was getting something out of it.

  The judge waved off Saunders.

  “I have a fundraising event tonight.” Judge Adams had clearly moved on. “You’ll need to dress appropriately. Consider it a rehearsal. If things go well, then I guess you’ll do.”

  Chapter 4

  Alex had completely lost control of this assignment.

  Fuck.

  His inconvenient attraction aside, what was the judge thinking? Before he could offer a protest, quietly, discreetly, about using Kita Kim, his cell rang. His boss. He held up a finger, knowing that gesture was going to piss off everyone in the room. “Excuse me a moment.”

  “Saunders.” He paced to the outer edges of the stuffy, formal room, trying to keep his voice low.

  “We’ve got actionable intelligence,” Deanna Womack barked.

  “Name, location.” Motive?

  For some reason his gaze was continually drawn back to Kita Kim. Even though he never lost his focus on the information his boss was relaying, her essence was like a beacon. Once his boss finished, Alex said, “You want me and Gaffney to check it out?”

  Kita Kim swaggered over to him, all confident and cocksure, even with the disadvantage of being in sweaty spandex and a tight wicking top. “You have something?”

  He put his hand over the mouthpiece of his cell. “Give me a sec.”

  She edged closer, so close she invaded his senses. Woman and sweat and underlaid with some delicate citrus and spice scent that completely contradicted her aggressive personality.

  His boss was jabbering in his ear about important protectees and keeping the judge happy and yet still guaranteeing his safety. She finished with, “Take Jill’s operative with you.”

  Operative. A strange word for a PR person but whatever. His initial instinctive reaction was to argue. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in any position to disagree with his boss. Dammit.

  “Ten-four.”

  Kita poked her finger into his pectorals. “You’re taking me with you.”

  She’d tilted her chin up, her nearly black eyes sultry, and blasted his thoughts to a place that was far from an appropriate reaction to a coworker. Dammit, he needed to get his raging hormones under control.

  Something about her, certainly not her attitude, had caused his body to react in a most innately visceral and unexpectedly sexual manner. Which was insane on several levels. But damn, his body had stood up and taken notice the moment she’d come into the room. Despite the fact that she was disheveled, sweaty, and clearly not his type.

  Jillian Larsen eyed him shrewdly. “You have a lead.”

  “Yes.”

  Alex studied her. While he could appreciate her attributes, she left him cold. As Kita Kim swaggered into his personal space, he realized, amused at himself, he was more turned on by the woman who had been wrapped up in a thick insulated suit and smelled like it, than the sophisticated, urbane Larsen. What did that say about him?

  He’d been working too long without a break.

  And he was going to have to take Kita Kim with him, at least for right now. Maybe he could still luck out and she wouldn’t pass the judge’s sexy aide/playmate test.

  “Judge, you’re going back to your office with Deputy Marshal Gaffney while Ms. Kim and I check out this lead.”

  Kita nodded, a purely satisfied smile curved her mouth.

  Alex couldn’t resist. “Consider it your audition for me.”

  Her smirk made him want to press closer, throw her off her game, muss up that supreme confidence. Which was completely unprofessional. “Not sure you can handle me.”

  He knew how he’d like to handle her.

  Alex reverted to protocol to save himself from blurting out something completely inappropriate, “Ms. Larsen, we need to escort the judge to his car.”

  “Of course.”

  “Give me five minutes to change into something a little more professional.” Kita Kim headed out the door.

  This case was already too complicated. Maybe they could catch a break and it would be over before it started.

  Kita waited for Alex Saunders to fold his large form and long legs into the front seat of her Prius.

  Unassuming. Good gas mileage. Excellent for the environment. But hell on super long legs. He fit but it wasn’t optimal. His expression reinforced her observation. Grumpy.

  She must have imagined that smoldering look in Jill’s office. “I guess you’re too big.”

  Flirty, a little inappropriate, but guaranteed to throw the guy off.

  He shot her an inscrutable look. She wanted to snicker but instead she said blandly, “Where to?”

  He named an address in the outer suburbs. But didn’t say anything more.

  Kita peeled out of the Adams-Larsen parking lot across the back alley. “Who are we going to see?”

  “Disgruntled husband of a woman the judge just sent to federal prison for violating a non-compete clause on an employment contract.”

  “Seems somewhat harmless.”

  “Except the government has been cracking down on this kind of white collar crime, and the evidence was irrefutable. She benefited by stealing client contact lists.”

  Kita thought for a moment. “Hardly seems passionate enough to physically threaten a sitting federal judge. What else have you got?”<
br />
  “That’s it.”

  She hummed, turning over possibilities and scenarios in her head. She might not have been field certified for the CIA but she was a hell of a strategist. She’d written briefs on interrogation analysis. But Alex Saunders didn’t know that, and he likely didn’t have the clearance needed to find out. So she’d allow him the lead unless she saw an opportunity. “What’s our strategy going in?”

  Alex Saunders lifted his eyebrows.

  “I can be bad cop,” she said with a particular glee. If she was going to go into the field, she wanted to have some fun.

  “I’ll question him.”

  Keep your mouth shut was implied.

  “What type of intel have you got then?” She sighed. He was no fun.

  Alex Saunders thumbed through the screen on his phone. “He made verbal threats at the sentencing hearing.”

  “Why wasn’t this checked out before?” Kita frowned. He seemed like a rule-following kind of guy. And overt threats made against the judge in the courtroom seemed to be a slam dunk. Of course, nothing was ever an actual slam dunk. The nuances and intricacies of espionage situations were convoluted and complex.

  “I don’t know,” he said grimly. “But I will find out.”

  They arrived at the residence of the man in question. The front yard was overgrown, weeds choking out the dead and dying annuals in the front flower bed. The grass was trimmed but the rest of the bushes and flowers had a neglected air about them.

  Kita bent to finger a bright red geranium that just needed to be deadheaded for the flowers to come back. The leaves were velvety and green and well-kept.

  “What are you doing?” His dress shoes clicked on the cement walkway leading up to the front door. The blue door with glass panels to each side displayed a grapevine wreath wrapped in a red, white and blue flag ribbon and festooned with faded red silk carnations.

  Kita glanced around the neighborhood. Middle class, well-maintained, the kind of neighborhood that kept secrets as well as nicely manicured lawns. The cars were mid-range older models, and the suspect’s home was no exception.

  Although the residence certainly didn’t indicate any type of imbalance in income or a status beyond the rest of the neighborhood. Not that the woman the judge sentenced couldn’t have hidden her ill-gotten gains, but something definitely seemed a little off.

  “Where’s her money?”

  Alex ignored her and knocked on the front door.

  They could hear someone coming. Alex unsnapped the strap on his holster and put his hand on the grip of his government-issued weapon.

  “Is that necessary?”

  Kita wasn’t worried. But she was very cognizant that an upstanding, middle class façade could hide evil.

  “Precautionary.”

  “We’re just talking to him.”

  Alex nodded shortly.

  The door jerked open. A disheveled man—hair askew, at least a week of gray stubble on his chin, and clad in pajamas and a bathrobe that definitely hadn’t seen a washing machine anytime lately—stared blankly at them.

  No one spoke. Finally Kita said, “Mr. Gauss?”

  Her question seemed to shake him out of his stupor. “Yes.” His voice was gravelly, as if he hadn’t spoken in a while.

  She could be wrong but he didn’t appear to be in any shape mentally to be threatening the judge.

  “Deputy Marshal Alex Saunders.” Alex shoved out his hand. “Can we ask you a few questions?”

  The man turned around and shuffled toward the sofa just visible past the open door. “I have to talk to you, right?”

  The weary acceptance in his rough question sparked Kita’s compassion. She glanced around the living room. A fine layer of dust covered everything. A philodendron in the corner had ruffled leaves brown at the edges, and a spider plant in a stand by the front window was more transparent fronds than healthy green-and-white striped leaves.

  Kita stuck her finger in the pot and jammed up against hard dirt.

  “Would you prefer a lawyer present?” Alex Saunders asked. Dumb. He should have just gone for it. Mr. Gauss wasn’t thinking clearly.

  And if this guy had anything to do with threatening letters to the judge, she would eat her poisonous pothos.

  Mr. Gauss laughed cynically. “Lawyer didn’t do any good. Why pay one now?”

  Kita wanted a look at the guy’s computer while Alex Saunders quizzed him.

  “Mr. Gauss. Would you like me to water your plants?”

  He blinked, looked around as if just noticing that his houseplants were dying. “Sure?”

  Saunders frowned at her.

  Kita hustled into the kitchen, listening with half an ear while Alex Saunders began to interrogate the man.

  Kita rummaged through the cabinets until she found a tall glass. She lifted the tap and let the water run. A desktop sat on the small desk built into the kitchen cabinet area and was covered in dust. Kita glanced in the living room, then pressed the power button.

  While the laptop powered up, she filled the glass with water and bustled back into the living room. First she pinched off the dead leaves from the spider plant then slowly watered the plant, careful not to overwater.

  Alex kept his focus on the man, who was becoming agitated, but she could feel her partner’s censure in the tightness of his mouth. What had she done wrong?

  Kita strode back into the kitchen and bent over the keyboard, checking the last time Mr. Gauss had gotten online and what kind of programs he had on his home computer.

  It was a basic model probably bought on sale. She skimmed through the directory on his hard drive. He hadn’t even logged online in two weeks. There was no way this guy was the stalker.

  Kita quickly powered down the computer and filled the glass once more.

  She returned to the living room and tended to the philodendron with the same care she’d given the spider plant.

  Mr. Gauss was ranting. “Haven’t you people destroyed my life enough? My wife was innocent.”

  Alex Saunders was trying to placate the man but it wasn’t going well. “Judge Adams has been receiving threats.”

  “Good.” Mr. Gauss’s hand trembled as he took a sip of water. “I hope he’s as miserable as I am.”

  “It’s a federal offense to threaten an officer of the court.”

  “Whatever. The man deserves whatever he gets. He sent my wife to prison.”

  For a crime it seemed clear she committed. Except where were the funds? Where was the extravagance? Kita saw no overt signs that Mrs. Gauss had skimmed client lists to benefit her new company. But even Mr. Gauss’s anger was lackluster. He was not their guy.

  Kita patted him on the shoulder. “If you just pinch and water once a week, your plants will stay healthy.”

  He blinked and smiled wanly at her. “Thank you. My wife usually takes care of the greenery.” He looked around his living room as if seeing the still banded-up newspapers and the dirty plates on the coffee table for the first time.

  He stood abruptly. “I didn’t have anything to do with those threats. But I’d like you to leave now.”

  Alex Saunders shot her a dirty look. “Thank you for your time.”

  He quietly stormed out the door. He didn’t say a word as she followed behind him.

  “What was that?” Alex gritted his teeth. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d lost complete control of that interview.

  He was trained to analyze people for a living. While of course the psychiatrists and doctors had their own analyses of potential WitSec recipients, the agents weighed in on suitability since they tended to spend more time and interact with the witnesses. And he knew what to do to assess and report on a potential witness.

  He’d been surprised by her compassion toward the broken man.

  Kita shrugged. Shrugged! “He isn’t our guy.”

  She was right. “We still have to follow protocol and interview him as if he were our suspect.”

  “That was your job.” She put the c
ar in gear and headed back toward the center of DC. “Besides, I checked his computer log. He hadn’t been online in two weeks. If he’s been sending encrypted emails, he hasn’t been doing it from home.”

  Frustration boiled inside him like a cauldron. “You…checked his computer.”

  “Yeah.”

  He noted her relaxed posture, her delicate hands loose on the wheel. As if she hadn’t just broken several laws by illegally searching his computer.

  “We didn’t have a warrant.” And shit, his voice had risen. Was she trying to get him fired?

  “If I’d found anything, I would have shut it down and we could have come back with a warrant.”

  “With enough time for him to delete or hide the evidence.”

  “C’mon, Al—Deputy Saunders,” Kita said. “If he’d done it, we would have found another way to prove it. Unless you completely wipe a hard drive, which ding ding would be a huge clue that you’d done something wrong, most deleted data can be retrieved.”

  “There are rules, laws in place for a reason.” His heart pounded into his throat. How the hell was he supposed to work with someone who had no respect for protocol?

  She laughed, the sound a light cascade of notes, that raised his blood pressure even more.

  Then she patted his hand, just like she’d patted the sad and pathetic Mr. Gauss. “It all worked out.”

  The sexual attraction he’d kept under wraps unexpectedly zapped him. How could he be attracted to her? Yes, of course, his hormones appreciated her, but her disregard for proper procedure and her lack of respect for the rules should override any physical attraction.

  But his body didn’t give a shit. His dick was interested and happy to be near her.

  She snatched her fingers back and kept her eye on the road. “All’s well that ends well.”

  Alex could only hope that the judge would find her lacking as a potential companion.

  Because his boss told him he had to play nice, which meant he couldn’t object to her presence no matter how much he wanted to.

  “Do not subvert the rules again.”

  “Sure, Deputy Marshal Saunders.” Her voice was a low throaty purr and he thought she was poking fun at him.