Page 104 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
Candy was trembling. “You don’t get it. They’re willing to kill. I was there.”
Lark frowned at Candy. “What do you mean, Schroeder?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. Maybe somebody working for Schroeder. All I know is that they will kill.”
Kostya put his arm around Lark but it didn’t help. “You saw them kill Rick?”
Candy nodded. “Three men came to his house in the middle of the night. I was in the bathroom. I hadn’t wanted to wake Rick up, so I’d closed the door and kept the light off.”
Lark nodded for her to continue.
“I was still, you know, tinkling, when I heard Rick shout. Then I heard another man yell at him to shut up. He sounded foreign. I got up and hid in the tub, behind the shower curtain. It was loud out in the bedroom.”
Candy was crying and Dawn was staring daggers at Lark. She didn’t care. She needed to know everything that happened.
“What did you hear?” Lark coaxed gently.
“It lasted for hours. Again and again, they asked Rick where the code was. Rick said he didn’t have it, he said he’d never had it. They didn’t believe him, because he’d shown him some of it. Whatever it was had to do with missiles.”
Lark shivered. That was bad, really, really bad.
“Sometimes they would talk to each other in a different language. I’m pretty sure it was Arabic because I’ve heard it on TV, but I’m not a hundred percent sure.”
Kostya’s grip got tighter on Lark and she was glad he was with her.
“Candy, can you tell me what else you heard?”
“I heard Rick scream, and cry and beg. I heard him tell them about every other person he worked with at Sanofi. He even mentioned me. I thought for sure he’d tell them I was in the house somewhere, but he didn’t. Instead, he…” She covered her face.
“What did he do?”
“He told them I was on vacation. Las Vegas with my sister. He protected me. I told you, he was a nice man.” Candy sobbed.
“Did he ever tell them how to get their hands on the code?”
“No, he didn’t. He would have if he had it. Rick couldn’t have withstood that kind of torture.”
“How did you get out of there?” Lark wanted to know.
“Rick eventually quit crying and it got quiet. I knew they’d killed him. I still didn’t leave the bathroom for a long time.”
“But when you did?” Lark prompted.
“All the bedding, including the sheets were gone. So was Rick. I saw a little bit of blood on the carpet, but Rick had been screaming about a knife, so I know they’d been cutting him. There should have been a lot of blood. That’s why they took the covers and sheets when they took his body.”
“You should have told me as soon as you left the house,” Lark admonished. “I would have been there for you. I would have helped you.”
“No, you would have taken me to the police. There is no way the police could have saved me against these guys. Even though Rick told them I was out of town, they still went to my apartment.”
“What?”
Candy nodded. “I went home and I heard noises inside, like they were tearing the place apart. I had to run. So I called Dawn.”
Lark wanted to deny Candy’s words, but she couldn’t. She stepped forward and pulled her away from her sister, then wrapped Candy in a hug. “Please don’t ever disappear on me like that again. You scared the hell out of me. You’re my friend.”
Candy gave her a dazed look.
“It’s true, you are. Youareone of my friends, Candy. Believe it. Please stay in touch. As soon as this is over with, I will get back in touch with you, I promise.”
“What will you do?” Candy asked.
“We’re going to stop them,” Lark said emphatically. “No more selling secrets, and the men who killed Rick will pay.”
“Do you promise?”
Lark pulled Candy in for another fierce hug. “On my honor.”
