Elite Ops: Black Jack Part 25

"But he's skittish on this one. He won't discuss this online or on the phone. He's willing to talk to a go-between, though. We promised we'd send one he could trust." He grinned back at Travis.

"How do we know he actually has something?" Travis asked.

"There were two men, the day before Lilly was shot. They were asking around about Lilly Belle, flashing her picture. They heard she had contacts in the area and were looking for those contacts as well as Lilly herself. According to good ole David, he can point you in the direction of a few people these guys talked to. But even more important, the contact names they were given?" He shot a look between Jordan and Travis. "They were both found floating in the Thames days after she was shot. We weren't notified of the deaths because the contacts weren't ones Lilly had listed."

Travis had taught her that. She had her official contacts, then she had those that only she dealt with. The fact that someone had found contacts that only Lilly dealt with hinted at the fact that someone had been d.a.m.ned thorough and efficient enough that neither the Elite Ops, nor Lilly, had been tipped off.

"Do we have anyone watching him?" Travis asked as he mentally began preparing a checklist for the flight out.

"We have a contact watching him until you arrive." Nik nodded.

"I'll have the plane prepped and ready to fly you out." Jordan turned back to the computer and began typing. "Nik, you'll be flying out with him and providing backup. We'll have everything ready for you to test the fluid samples when you get back."

"What about Lilly?" Travis turned back to him, concern unfolding inside him. "Whoever's trying to kill her isn't going to stop, Jordan. If they realize I'm out of town, or unavailable, they could strike again."

"We have Wild Card on site," Jordan reminded him. "He'll stay in close proximity. I'll have Maverick move in and cover the outside of the house in case of problems until you return."

Wild Card, aka Noah, and Maverick, aka Micah, would ensure that Lilly was protected, Travis knew. They had their own women, they understood the fears riding Travis's back where Lilly's protection was concerned.

It was the best he was going to get and Travis knew it. He'd discuss Lilly's protection with Wild Card and Maverick himself.

"The jet is prepping as we speak," Jordan announced. "You fly out in an hour."

Travis's jaw tightened. There would be no chance to talk to Lilly, and calling her wasn't going to happen. He couldn't be certain the calls were secure.

"Fallsworth will be waiting at the Wharf Tavern, two blocks from the warehouse district at noon tomorrow," Nik told them. "He's usually pretty reliable. Let's hope he is this time as well."

"Find Lilly's killer and we have a d.a.m.ned good chance of finding her father's killer, as well as the person or persons who's been targeting the savings, pensions and trust funds of the rich and famous," Jordan grunted. "And we hopefully shut down a major contributor to a nasty little terrorist organization at the same time."

But he was leaving Lilly without so much as a warning. That didn't set well at all with Travis, but at the moment, his choices were limited.

"Let's roll." Nik nudged his arm as he pa.s.sed by him. "Faster we get there, faster we get back."

He wouldn't have a chance to warn her he had to leave, but he could leave additional protection. He wasn't comfortable leaving her alone. Her memories were returning slowly, and only in pieces. There was too much she was still fighting, too many memories that were still evading her, leaving her vulnerable.

"We have her covered, Black Jack," Nik said, his voice low. "Let's find the bad guys, then you can figure out the rest of it."

Travis gave a brief nod before turning and leaving the room. Stepping from the house, he pulled the phone from its holster at his waist and quickly keyed in the speed dial.

"What's up, gorgeous?" Raisa, code name Raven, picked up the other end.

One of the remaining three Elite Two agents, she and the others were on standby in Hagerstown, waiting in case Lilly needed them. They were there unofficially; neither Elite Command nor their commanders were aware they had ditched their fact-finding missions and headed there to help Lilly.

They were a unit. They were family. Sisters, they called each other. They were Lilly's sisters.

"You and the others have night watch. Be careful, though, because Wild Card and Maverick are on watch as well," he ordered her. "I have to fly to London to meet a contact. Keep your eyes open and make sure she stays safe."

A slight harrumph came over the line. "You think we're not doing that anyway, hotshot?

You taught us to be family, Travis. That hasn't changed just because she doesn't remember us."

Travis's lips quirked into a smile as the door behind him opened and Nik stepped out.

"Take care," he told Raisa softly. "I'll call when I land."

Disconnecting the line, he shoved the phone back into the holster, disconnected the leather carrier, and handed it to Nik as he accepted the mission sat phone the other man tossed to him.

Any calls into the cell would be directed to the satellite phone. The satellite phone was more secure and reception more dependable.

"Let's roll, Black Jack," Nik sighed. "I'll contact Fallsworth that you're on your way in and see if we can't get this over and done with as soon as we land. Hopefully, we can fly back and get the arrest warrant processed for our killer as a nice little present for Night Hawk."

Travis had a feeling it wouldn't be nearly that easy. It was a nice thought, though.

Rubbing at the back of his neck, he strode quickly to the Hummer and moved into the driver's seat as Nik opened the pa.s.senger-side door and slid in.

Leaving like this wasn't setting well with Travis. Something felt d.a.m.ned wrong about it.

The dull throb of a headache in her temples was becoming irritating. Lilly walked slowly down the curved staircase of the house that her mother and uncle, well, her stepfather now, she guessed, had taken for the summer, and headed for the kitchen.

Coffee might have a chance of easing it. She had developed a taste for the rich brew in South America during training exercises.

Pain seared her temples as the memory slowly filtered through her mind. It wasn't a flashback, it was something that was just there when it hadn't been before, and with it was heavy pressure and sharp pain at the sides of her head.

This could become a definite distraction, she thought as she extracted a cup from the cabinet and moved for the filled, heated coffee pot at the end of the counter.

Things had changed, not just with her, she thought as she filled the cup and moved to the heavy walnut table that sat in front of the bay window in the breakfast nook of the kitchen.

Things had changed with her family as well. Six years didn't seem that long, unless one was dropped into the situation rather than easing through it as they lived daily life within it.

Her family had changed. Her uncle was now her stepfather. Her brother had disowned her, and without the steadying influence of her father, her mother was more neurotic than ever before.

Lilly almost grinned at the thought.

Her father had commented many times that perhaps her mother needed a vacation in the south of France. The wording in reference to her mother's friends who checked themselves into the clinic, or forced their children in for whatever transgressions they had committed.

Her mother didn't deal well when she perceived a threat to her social standing or the appearance of perfection that she strove to project where her life and her family was concerned.

Lilly could just imagine the nightmares Angelica Harrington had when it came to that investigator's report being released to the public or the paparazzi.

And then to have Lilly herself projecting the very appearance of the wild, unconventional life she had lived those six years? No doubt her mother had been trying to convince Desmond that the south of France was the best place for Lilly right now.

Desmond and her father both had had a strong dislike for the Ridgemore facility, thank G.o.d. Unlike some families who sent their children for a stay there over the smallest of reasons, Lord Harrington and his brother had expressed their disapproval of it often. Several times they had stood by other fathers who had been forced to fight their wives over the tradition of using the facility as a form of punishment.

How many times had her mother threatened to send her there? Lilly knew there had been more times than she wanted to remember. As much as she was certain she had missed her family and her life here, wouldn't there have also been a sense of relief at having to no longer live by the rigid guidelines her mother had set for the family?

Wouldn't she had loved the adventure, the easing of the restlessness that had always filled her?

"There you are." Her mother stepped into the kitchen, moving for the teapot at the side of the stove. "Would you like more tea, dear?"

Lilly lifted her cup. "It's coffee, Mother."

Angelica grimaced in distaste. "You were raised on tea, dear."

"I enjoy the coffee." Lilly sipped at the warm drink before setting the cup back on the table and crossing her arms on the table top as she watched her mother.

"Your manners have seriously deteriorated." Angelica nodded to Lilly's arms crossed on the top of the table.

"I know, Mother," Lilly agreed as she left her arms in place. There was no polite company present, so there was no need to worry about it.

"Do you now make gross noises in public as well?" Distaste marred Angelica's face.

"Not hardly, Mother."

Silence fell as Angelica made her tea and moved to the table.

"Desmond and I are heading to D.C. for an early dinner with friends; would you like to join us?"

Lilly shook her head. "I might lie down for a while. I woke this morning with a headache."

She might take the opportunity to snoop around Desmond's office a bit. She hadn't had a chance before now. It seemed either Desmond or her mother was constantly around her if she left her bedroom.

Her mother finished her tea, an uncomfortable silence falling between them.

"Lilly, you need to make a choice." Her mother set her empty tea cup to its saucer and stared back at her coolly.

"What sort of choice, Mother?" she asked as she leaned back in her chair, laying her hands politely in her lap.

"Whether you're Lady Victoria, or the hoodlum Lilly Belle." Angelica rose to her feet, her eyes glittering damply though her expression was willfully set. "Both cannot coexist. You must be one or the other. Decide quickly which it will be."

"Or what, Mother?"

"Or I'll have to make the decision for you."

With that, Angelica moved from the kitchen, her head held high, her shoulders straight.

Lilly sighed. It seemed her mother was perhaps a bit more irritated with the situation than Lilly had a.s.sumed.

Covering her face with her hands, she inhaled slowly and fought to bring her own emotions under control.

Once, she had fought daily to please her mother and to still live the life she had wanted to live. That had worked, to a point, until she had turned eighteen and her mother had introduced Lilly to the man she had expected her daughter to marry.

h.e.l.l, Lilly could barely remember him. She certainly couldn't remember his name. Lilly had taken one look at him and escaped the room on a pretense that her father was expecting her in his study.

She had, as far as her mother had accused her, shown her contempt for her mother that day.

Lilly had, in her own estimation, showed her mother that she wasn't a child who needed her friends, or in this case her husband, chosen for her.

Living with her mother had not been easy, but Lilly had loved her. Just as she had loved her brother. She had adored her father. And through the six years she had been away from them, she had missed them to the point that at times, it had felt as though the pain would kill her.

Her eyes widened.

That was a memory.

She remembered that now.

She had ached to go home, to play with her niece and nephew, to watch them grow up, to protect them from her mother's neurosis and to even argue with her mother when she had to.

She hadn't missed the threats of being committed to the Ridgemore Clinic, though.

She almost smiled. Well, maybe she had missed the threats.

As she heard Desmond and her mother leave the house, Lilly rose from her seat and walked to the foyer to see Isaac trailing out the door behind them.

The house was eerily silent now. With her family gone, the servants were p.r.o.ne to congregate in the bas.e.m.e.nt servants' quarters and relax.

That left Desmond's office deserted.

And locked.

Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the small, seemingly innocuous leather case in the items she had grabbed from her storage shed.

Making her way upstairs, she quickly extricated it from the luggage she had hidden it in.

Her lock-picking set.

And she remembered how to use it.

Getting into the office was simple. The electronic keypad security was bypa.s.sed and the key lock simple to get through once Lilly began working. Within minutes, rather than the seconds it used to take her, she was sliding into the office.

Once there, she looked around, wondering at first where the h.e.l.l to start.

Instinct was an incredible thing, though.

She moved to the computer, powered it on, and as she stared at the request for the pa.s.scode, that memory as well slowly emerged.

Once she was in, she was able to begin the download of the hard drive and the online vault into an account she had set up that morning herself.

As the information uploaded, Lilly turned her attention to the files in the room. The file cabinet contained mostly financial information that she was certain would be easy enough to find in the electronic files she was downloading. It appeared to be printouts of specific information used for business purposes.

Desmond, as her father had before him, did quite a bit of business while taking the yearly trip to the States.

There were other files scattered around the room, though. Going through them, Lilly found something she hadn't antic.i.p.ated finding. Tucked into a long, slender yellow envelope were pictures of her.

Those weren't investigator's reports.

She stared at one, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember.