Assassin In My Bed Read online

  Table of Contents

  ASSASSIN IN MY BED

  Samantha Cade

  And it must follow, as the night the day,

  -William Shakespeare, Hamlet 1603

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  The End

  A note from the author

  Dangerous

  Samantha Cade

  ‘Dangerous’ Copyright Samantha Cade 2017

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  The End…

  Chapter One

  Other titles by Samantha Cade

  The Romano Brothers Series

  ASSASSIN IN MY BED

  Samantha Cade

  ‘Assassin in my Bed’ Copyright Samantha Cade 2017

  All Rights Reserved

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  "This above all: to thine ownself be true.

  And it must follow, as the night the day,

  Thou canst not then be false to any man.”

  -William Shakespeare, Hamlet 1603

  Chapter One

  Penny shouldn’t be here. It’s a fact she can’t forget, and can’t keep her brain from repeating. She tells herself that to get away with this, she’ll have to convince people that she belongs here, and that means believing that very fact herself. But her intellectual mind fails to get the rest of her body on board. Penny balances the vase of roses in the crook of her elbow, and wipes her sweaty palms on the thick, khaki pants she wears. She’s sweating, making her scalp itch fiercely beneath the blonde wig that covers her real hair, which is deep brown, almost black.

  As Penny passes through the revolving door into the lobby, she gives herself a passing gaze in the reflective glass panes. The badge she and Hunter had sewn onto her beige collared shirt is slightly askew. Hunter had assured her that it’s fine, that no one would notice such a small detail. She had agreed with him then, but now, she’s not so sure. Hunter had also come up with the name, Morris Florist, such a stupid name in Penny’s opinion. She hadn’t fought Hunter on that, because at the time, it seemed irrelevant. Now, every loose detail in this plan, no matter how small, is enough to feed her doubts and help them thrive.

  Panic rises up Penny’s spine as she enters the florescent brightness of the building. On the far wall of the lobby, a desk runs the length of the building, and is manned by five people, all dressed smartly in black, and wearing chipper smiles. It’s after hours. Penny and her team picked this time because only a skeleton crew would be working. But for a massive, worldwide company like VC Solutions, it never fully goes to sleep.

  Penny positions the flowers in front of her flawed shirt, and strides confidently across the marbled floor. The bud in her ear crackles to life, and a digitally altered voice sounds in her ear.

  “You don't have to check in with them,” Em Dash says. “Take a left and walk straight towards the elevators. Don’t forget to act like you belong here.”

  Penny turns on her heels, obeying the voice in her head. Penny’s never seen Em Dash in person, or heard his real voice, so she can’t help picturing him as a rolling, beeping machine, who looks a lot like the robot from the movie Short Circuit. She doesn’t even know his real name, only his handle, Em Dash.

  “Seventh floor,” Em Dash says, when Penny enters the elevator.

  There are three men in the elevator with her. She’s careful not to respond to the voice that no one else can hear. Keeping her gaze lowered, she casually presses the button to her floor. A harsh, beeping noise sounds from the elevator’s electronics. Even though she expected this, it makes her jump.

  “Stay calm,” Em Dash soothes. “You can always rely on the kindness of strangers.”

  Penny turns to the man closest to her with a sheepish grin. “Can you help me, Sir? I need to go to the seventh floor.”

  The man gives her a annoyed, but polite smile. “That floor’s restricted to those without clearance.”

  “Oh,” Penny bites her lip, grimacing at the floor numbers. She can sense the other men growing impatient. “It’s just, I have a delivery to make on that floor. It’s my first day, and I don’t want to mess it up.”

  The man sighs. “You could drop it at the front desk.”

  Penny squints her eyes, seeing if she can muster a tear. It doesn’t materialize. She softens the tone of her voice, and makes it a bit shaky. “My boss says the recipient has to sign for it. No exceptions.”

  The man opens his mouth to speak again, when one of the others steps up. He swipes a keycard across the scanner, then presses the button for the seventh floor.

  “There you go,” he says, with an exasperated smile.

  After a few moments of awkward silence with her elevator companions, Penny arrives on the seventh floor. She steps out into the hallway. In her ear, Em Dash tells her exactly where to go. Penny arrives at a room at the end of the hall. Inside, there’s a small desk manned by a woman named Helen. Behind the desk is another door, which leads into a restricted area. There’s a mirrored glass pane behind the desk, giving Penny a glimpse of Helen’s game of Candy Crush.

  When Penny enters, Helen looks surprised. She stands abruptly and forces a smile.

  “No one’s allowed up here,” Helen says with shaky politeness. “Are you lost, ma’am?”

  Penny takes a deep breath. She focuses on Helen, and not the foreboding signs on the wall behind her that prohibit entry from unauthorized persons, and actually list the legal charges that could be brought against someone who does not heed their warning.

  “Are you Helen Conway?” Penny asks, pretending to read the card sticking out of the roses.

  Helen blinks. Her shoulders drop from her ears. “I am.”

  Penny smiles cheerily. “Then I’m in the right place.” She steps forward, placing the vase on Helen’s desk. “Such beautiful flowers. Whoever sent them must be pretty smitten.”

  “These are for me?” Helen runs her thumb over one of the velvety red petals. She bends down and inhales their scent.

  Penny bites back the guilt in her throat. Em Dash knew that Helen, who became a widow five years ago, had recently joined an online dating site. Em Dash had even hacked into Helen’s text messages, where Helen had told her daughter in a few emotional texts how ready she was to find companionship again.

  “I wonder who-“ Helen gazes at the flowers in blissful awe.

  “You wonder who? Why, Helen, you minx.” Penny nudges her teasingly. Helen blushes, giving Penny a coy wink.

  Helen adjusts the position of the vase, cocks her head at it, and adjusts it again. “I’ve been on a few first dates, nothing serious. But if it’s from who I’m thinking of-“

  Penny shrugs. “Wish I could say.”

  “Go for it now before you lose her,” Em Dash warns.

  Every cell in Penny’s body is telling her to run far, far from this place, but she’s here for a reason. A very important reason. As much as she hates lying to a nice person like Helen, justice must be served.

  Penny drops her head into her hands, and stumbles on her feet. It’s not
difficult to pretend that she’s about to pass out, because she’s not pretending at all. Helen jumps into action. She grabs Penny’s arm to steady her.

  “Is everything all right?” Helen asks with genuine concern.

  “Could I sit down?”

  “Of course.” Helen assists Penny to her chair in front of the computer monitor.

  “Thank you,” Penny says. “I just need a moment.”

  “Take as long as you need.” Helen rubs Penny’s back, which is actually a comfort. “Have you not been feeling well today?”

  Penny looks away, allowing a smile to infect her face. “I haven’t told anyone yet, not my parents, not even my husband. But I guess I could tell you.”

  Helen brings her hands to her mouth in anticipation. Penny leans forward, lowering her voice.

  “I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh.” Helen clasps her chest. “Congratulations.”

  “It’s very early. I only took the test last night. My husband will be so excited. We’ve been trying for over a year now.”

  Helen grasps her hand. “That’s excellent news. You should go home. Put your feet up.”

  “I will,” Penny says with conviction. “I only have one more delivery.”

  Penny starts to stand slowly, unsteadily. Helen extends her arms, ready to catch her at any moment.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Helen asks.

  Penny waves her off. “I’m sure. Just, could I trouble you for some cold water? I think that would do wonders for me.”

  Helen looks at her desk uneasily, then back at Penny. Penny grimaces slightly, causing Helen to straighten her spine.

  “You wait here,” Helen says. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

  Helen exits the room, and starts down the hall.

  “Well done,” Em Dash says in Penny’s ear. “Poor Helen can’t take two steps away from her desk without someone asking her to do something for them. You should have plenty of time. Open the top right drawer.”

  Not a moment passes before Penny hears Helen talking with another male voice who’s telling her to collate something. Penny’s hand is shaking so badly, she has to hold her wrist, stabilizing it, so she can open the desk drawer. There’s Helen’s keycard, right on top of a stack of documents. Penny takes it, and stumbles to the door of the restricted area.

  She was scared before, but she’s terrified now. Blood pumps through her ears, and she can barely hear what Em Dash is saying. She’s sweating profusely. She wishes more than anything she could rip the wig off. If she had her choice, she wouldn’t be here at all. But Penny and her entire team tried for weeks to hack past VC Solutions’ firewall, to no avail. Someone has to be physically on the premises to access these classified files.

  The room contains nothing more than a table with three desktop computers. Penny sits behind one, and quickly gets to work. She's run through this a million times in her head, and goes quickly through each step. She changes the configurations of the firewall to allow unauthorized access.

  “We’re in,” Em Dash says. “Downloading files now.”

  Penny’s foot taps incessantly beneath her as she waits for the files to download. Her eyes are trained on the door. She expects someone to rush in at any moment. After a while, she checks her watch.

  “Are you done?” she whispers into the microphone beneath her shirt.

  There’s a pause, then a solemn “no” from Em Dash. “There’s more data than we expected. A lot more.” The heavy silence that follows sends Penny’s blood pressure skyrocketing.

  “How long is it going to take?” Penny asks.

  “Too long. You don’t have time. Abort mission.”

  “What? No way. I’m not doing this again.”

  “We already have thirty percent of the files. There’s got to be something in there we can use.”

  Penny grits her teeth, fighting off a panic attack. “But we might not have what we need.”

  The electronic voice grows stern. “Need I remind you, we don’t need your brother’s report to take these assholes down.”

  “If I don’t get it now, I’ll never know what happened. I’ll never know the truth.”

  “You’re taking a selfish risk, Penny. You still need to change the configurations back to the way they were. Or else they’ll know we were here. I need you to do that now.”

  Penny knows Em Dash is right, this is a selfish risk, but she can’t spend the rest of her life wondering how Ben died. She also doesn’t want to deal with the faint, gnawing hope that somehow he’s still alive.

  “Just keep downloading,” Penny hisses.

  She runs to the door and peeks out. Through the narrow glass in the door, she can see Helen’s desk, but not much else. She opens the door, keeping it propped open with her foot. From this position she can see well down the hallway.

  “I have a vantage point,” Penny says to the mic. “I can see for yards down the hallway.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m standing in the doorway. I have a clear view. And I’ll be able to run inside and change the configurations as soon as you tell me.”

  “You don’t have the door open, do you?”

  Penny looks down at her foot wedging the door open. She tastes metal in her mouth. “Is that bad?”

  “Close it right now,” Em Dash yells, making this only the second time Penny’s heard the hacker raise his voice. “An alarm goes off it it’s open for more than thirty seconds.”

  Penny’s blood runs cold, making her yelp. On instinct, she yanks her foot out, and the door slams closed.

  “It’s closed,” she says, breathlessly. She looks around, and wordlessly calls herself an idiot. She’s on the wrong side of the door. “I just need to get back inside.” She searches through her pockets until she finds Helen’s keycard. She trembles as she brings it up to the scanner.

  “Sorry that took so long.”

  Penny’s heart stops at the sound of Helen’s voice. The fear of being dragged off by guards and dumped in Guantanamo Bay feels like a very possible reality. Penny whirls around, her face contorted into an overzealous smile. To her dismay, Helen’s kind expression is now pinched and suspicious.

  “The download is finished,” Em Dash says. “Change the configurations and get the hell out of there.”

  Penny stumbles forward woozily, and it’s not an act. “I’m sorry, I still feel a little-“ She swallows, steadying herself, then points towards the restricted door. “Is that the restroom?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Em Dash says impatiently. “Is Helen back? Get rid of her. You have to get back in there.”

  Helen squints. “No, that’s not the restroom. It’s down the hall.” Helen steps forward and hands Penny the bottle of water. It’s ice cold, and the plastic is sweating. Penny grips it to keep it from falling to the floor.

  With a grateful sigh, Penny unscrews the top. She dips the bottle back, drinking deeply, and buying time until she figures out what to do next. Her heart throbs in her chest as she nearly chokes on the water. She decides she’ll ask Helen for a soda, something sweet, to stabilize her blood sugar, but she doesn’t get the chance.

  Helen’s eyes turn into narrowed slits when she sees the keycard in Penny’s hand. Penny’s stomach constricts, threatening to send the water back where it came from.

  “What are you doing with that?” Helen asks.

  Penny holds the keycard up to her face. “This?”

  “Yes, that.” Helen places a hand on her hip.

  “You’re going to have to hit her,” Em Dash says calmly. “Hard enough to knock her out. You have to change those configurations, Penny. It’s her or us.”

  Penny clenches her fist. She scans over Helen’s body, sizing her up.

  “Right in the temple,” Em Dash says. “It’ll put her out like a light.”

  Penny raises her arm to strike. When Helen sees her fist, she doesn’t cower in fear. She looks disappointed. All this woman tried to do was help a poor pregnant delivery
girl. Penny relaxes her muscles, lowering her arm by her side.

  Helen puffs out her chest, and extends her hand. “Give that back right this instant.”

  Penny nods sheepishly, then lays the keycard on Helen’s palm. Helen looks down, and Penny lunges forward, hurling her body right into Helen’s middle. Helen falls backgrounds and lands on the desk. The computer monitor crashes to the floor.

  Penny runs. Frantically, wildly, her rushing blood propelling her forward. She has tunnel vision as she speeds down the hallway, to the emergency exit, the location of which she’d memorized before hand.

  Em Dash groans and buzzes in her ear, but Penny can’t make out any words. The back staircase leads her down to a side door on a different block as the main entrance. Penny throws the door open, and flees to the expansive park on a neighboring block. It’s crowded with old Magnolia trees, wide, bushy, and tall, and perfect for hiding.

  Penny tries to gain control of her breathing. She watches the building she just left, waiting. A moment later, alarms begin to sound.

  “What happened? Talk to me,” Em Dash demands.

  “I-I had to get out.” Penny inhales, desperately trying to fill her lungs.

  “You didn’t change the configurations back?” Em Dash says.

  “No-I, I didn’t. I couldn’t.”

  There’s a long pause, filled by Em Dash’s electronic breathing. “Then you know what that means. We’re both dead. See you in hell, Penny.”

  There’s an abrupt clicking noise. The feed has been cut. The sudden silence is deafening in Penny’s ears.

  Chapter Two

  Zane steps out of the shower into the steam filled bathroom. The smoky haze clouds his vision as he makes his way to the sink. Though his last tour was years ago, he still can’t help but think of raging dust storms, or the smoldering remnants of an IUD. He closes his eyes and concentrates, keeping the flashback from overtaking him, from quickening his pulse, or thickening his blood with the dread.

  He shakes off visions of a mangled man who he’d just smoked a cigarette with before the bomb exploded, and focuses on his reflection. His olive skin is slightly reddened from the heat of the shower. Ripples of water run down the expanse of his muscular chest, and collect in the deep indentations of his abdomen. It’s hard work keeping his body like this. It doesn’t come as easily now as it did when he was younger. During basic training, his muscular form had been quickly molded through days of grueling physical activity.