Whitney is the majority stockholder in that company. Bartlett’s name appears on a company in Oregon as well as several tracts of land in Wyoming, Colorado, California, and Nevada. The land in Wyoming is supposedly used as a secret military training facility, as are all of the rest of them. We know the facility in Wyoming was really a research lab for Whitney’s experiments, specifically his breeding program, because Kane was stationed there.”
Mack’s hand moved to the hem of her top and pushed at it. His fingers brushed against bare skin right at her waist. “Bartlett is the name tying all of these places together?”
Butterflies flooded her stomach. She swallowed hard but continued. If he could breathe normally, then so could she. “I believe that there are more secret places supposedly used for military training, but Whitney remains hidden and this fictitious Bartlett is helping him.”
“You’re talking about the CIA.” His voice was soft. Sexy. He leaned into her just a little, bunching her shirt in his fist, raising the material inch by slow inch. He was looking at her body, not at her.
She was having difficulty breathing no matter how hard she tried to stay cool.
“Bartlett’s got to be their money man, Mack. And he doesn’t exist anywhere.”
“But you know who he is.” He made it a statement as he bent forward until she could feel his warm breath against her belly.
Jaimie closed her eyes. “You won’t believe me if I tell you.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Had his voice shaken? She didn’t know. His lips were against her skin as he spoke. She could feel them, velvet soft, moving over her tummy. He moved into her, forcing her body back to give him more room.
“Because he was arrested and charged with murder and espionage and convicted.
He was serving out his sentence in a military prison. According to his records, he attempted suicide by hanging himself and lost brain function. At that time he was transferred to a hospital for the insane and is currently residing there.” She dared to touch him. To put her hands in his hair, that thick mass of short hair that felt so good moving over her skin.
“He does all this from the hospital with no brain function?” His tongue moved in her belly button. His fist yanked her shirt up over her br**sts. He frowned at her.
“Why the hell do you always wear a bra?”
“I’m modest.”
“Take it off.” He stood there, wedged between her thighs, angling her body back over the desktop, his fist holding her cami up. “Take it off for me, Jaimie.”
Her fingers trembled. She glanced at the stairway, but she unhooked the front clasp and let the cups part in the middle, spilling her br**sts out into the open air.
There was relief as the cool air touched her skin. “I thought I was briefing you.”
“You are. You were telling me about your suspect losing brain function and still running things from a mental hospital.”
She took a slow breath, her br**sts heaving. Mack just kept his head close to her body, his mouth pressed against her belly button. She could barely think with the roaring in her head. “I don’t think he was ever in prison, Mack. I think someone else was taken to prison, probably this man . . .” She caught his head in her hands. “I’m going to need the computer.”
“Then take off your top.”
“You want me to brief you topless?”
“Yes.” He stepped back slowly, his eyes moving broodingly over her face.
“Will you remember what I tell you?”
“Every damn word,” he said, “will be etched into my brain.”
“Well, then.” Jaimie drew her top over her head and set it aside.
Kane, I need some time down here alone, Mack reached out to his second-incommand.
You got it, boss.
“Your bra,” he prompted.
She let the bra straps slide down her arms and she placed the lacy scrap on top of her shirt. She heard his indrawn breath and found herself smiling as she turned to her computer, her fingers flashing across the keyboard to bring up a picture of a young, earnest-looking man with dark hair and scared eyes. “This is Thomas Matherson. He was an aide to Phillip Thornton, who happened to be CEO of Donovan Labs a couple of years ago. Matherson disappeared right after Thornton was arrested. Everyone thought he was involved and that he ran. The rumor is, he was paid off and is living the high life in Costa Rica.”
Mack ran his finger down the side of her breast, but his eyes stayed on the screen.
“But you think he’s in a mental hospital as Phillip Thornton.”
“Absolutely I do.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “There are tons of documents with Bartlett’s signature, Mack. There’s no picture of him, but his signature is everywhere.” She brought up a document and enlarged the signature at the bottom. “Earl Thomas Bartlett” had been signed with a flourish. “Now look at Thornton’s signature. Our brain-dead Phillip Thornton.” She placed a second signature beside the first.
Mack walked right up to the large screen and studied the two signatures. “You ran them both I take it and there’s no mistake?”
“Numerous times, Mack. The signature was really the only consistent thing I had to ID him with, so I ran it against every single person that had a past with Whitney.
Thornton worked for him, with him, for years. They went to the same school together.
He was implicated in Whitney’s supposed murder.”
“You think he helped Whitney disappear and that he’s assumed a new identity and is now providing Whitney with everything he needs to stay gone?” He turned away from the screen, his gaze moving possessively over her body.
Jaimie faced him, very conscious of the fact that he was fully clothed and she was half naked. There was something very sexy and exciting about having a man look at her the way he was, his gaze hot as it moved over her. “Yes, I absolutely believe he’s the man covering Whitney’s butt. I think he tipped off Whitney that there was a conspiracy to kill the GhostWalkers. General Ronald McEntire was assigned to the National Reconnaissance Office, building spy satellites. He was a major influence in the Donovan Labs getting government contracts. He went to school with Thornton and Whitney. They were all thick as thieves for a while.”
Mack sank into a chair, rubbing his shadowed jaw as he looked at her. “Are you wearing panties, Jaimie?”
“Is that relevant? What exactly are you doing?” Now he was making her nervous.