Page 103 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
“Sounds good.”
Soon they were one row back from the employee entrance, watching for vehicles that entered this side of the lot. It didn’t take long before they saw a Ford Prius pull up three spaces away from them.
“That’s them.” Lark damn near squealed. She jumped out of the truck and started walking over to the economy car.
The driver’s door opened and Candy got out. She jolted as she spotted Lark.
“Lark? How did you find me?” Candy looked around the parking lot.
“I’ve been worried as hell, Candy. I knew something was up as soon as you told me that Sanofi had liquidated its assets from your bank. Then you disappeared. What’s going on?”
A cute little redhead came up beside Candy, then pushed her behind her back. Dawn glared at Lark. “You’re that reporter. You need to leave Candy alone. And if you know what’s good for you, you need to quit butting your nose into things that could get you killed. Now go away.”
Lark was floored. What was she talking about, people getting killed?
Lark turned her attention back to Candy. “Candy, I can help.”
Candy stepped around Dawn. “No, you can’t. This has gotten way out of hand.” Her bottom lip trembled and Lark saw that she was fighting back tears.
Lark stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “What is it? You know you can tell me. We’ve been through so much, you can trust me.”
Candy shook her head and looked back at Dawn. “I can’t tell you this,” she mumbled.
Lark looked back at Kostya. He’d come closer so she knew he’d been listening. He shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know what to make of things either.
“Candy, I want to help you. If we put a stop to Schroeder, then it’s done.” Lark took a step closer and put her hand on Candy’s arm and gave it a comforting squeeze. “You know this isn’t what you want for your life. This isn’t the future you intended. Let me help you.”
“They killed Rick,” she spit out. “They killed him.” She shook off Lark’s hand. “I heard it. I heard the whole thing.”
Dawn came up and wrapped her arms around her sister and pressed her cheek against the side of Candy’s head. “It’s okay. It’s going to be all right,” she crooned.
“No, it’s not. It’s never going to be okay. Rick is dead.” Candy covered her face and started to cry.
Lark knew that Candy had to be talking about Rick Turner. He was one of the sales execs who worked for Schroeder. If she was remembering right, his two big projects were two government contracts. One with the FDA and one with the Missile Defense Agency.
“How do you know someone killed Rick?” Lark asked. “I mean, all you’ve been doing is watching how Schroeder and the men deposit money into the First United bank where you work.”
Candy looked down at the ground. She didn’t answer for a long time. “He wanted to set up a college fund for his daughter. That’s my department, so he was assigned to me. That was two and a half months ago.”
Lark’s whole body began to tingle. Holy hell, two and a half months ago?! “Candy, what happened? Are you saying you met with Rick Turner?”
Candy’s eyes were pleading when she lifted them up to look at Lark. “Lark, Rick is, I meanwas, such a nice man. He showed me pictures of his daughter, and he wanted good things for her. That’s the only reason he was involved with Schroeder and his scheme.”
“How often did you meet to discuss this college fund?” Lark asked suspiciously.
“Pretty often. He asked me out to coffee that first day. After two weeks I invited him to my apartment for the night.”
Lark remained silent, waiting for her to go on.
“I fell in love with him.”
Lark felt her entire body slump. “When did you tell him that we were investigating him and the others?” Her voice was resigned.
Candy looked back down at the pitted asphalt. “Three days before he died. I told him if he turned himself in now and agreed to provide evidence to the Feds, he might get out of this without serving any time.”
Candy’s eyes grew wide as she stumbled two steps backward. Lark didn’t have to turn around to know that Kostya was now right behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder, then turned back to the women. “This is Kostya Barona. He’s one of the Navy SEALs who is going to help us. I promise you, Candy, we’re going to be safe. We’re taking Schroeder down.”
