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Before Derek could answer, Viktor walked into the room with Tim.
“Good, you’re all here.” His eyes swept over Maia and Derek. “You guys look terrible. Looks like old times.”
Derek smiled wryly. He and Maia had gone on several missions together and they had gotten into and gotten out of a lot of scrapes, which frequently ended with one or both of them in a hospital. Today, Maia had a bump on her head, a big bandage across her forehead, and her left wrist was bandaged up. She also had sustained a couple of bruised ribs. Derek himself had a cut above his eye, a bump on his head, broken glass fragment cuts everywhere and his chest hurt where the airbags hit. Luckily, the Escalade was a solid car to get tumbled in.
“It’s fortunate both of you were wearing seatbelts this time,” Viktor added dryly. “After this meeting though, I want you two knuckleheads to go to the hospital and get a full body scan. No exceptions. That should have been your first stop.”
“What I said,” Jack muttered.
“Dr. Leroux.” Viktor turned his attention to Sophie. “I’m afraid this is a private meeting. I will have Manning escort you to my office where you can wait for Derek.”
Sophie nodded and stood up when the big guy came in to take her to Viktor’s office.
“Jack, you weren’t supposed to be in this meeting either, but given what happened this morning, I’m afraid the incident has escalated.”
“What do you mean, this meeting wasn’t originally about Sophie?” Jack asked, his eyes growing alert.
“No.”
Derek frowned.
“We’ve picked up data searches on your name, Maia,” Viktor said. Before anyone else could say anything, Viktor handed out a picture of her as she was sitting at Rooster Bar. “This picture was used to do facial recognition on you.”
“So was I the target or Derek?”
“Nothing was uncovered that would reveal your connection to AGS,” Viktor replied. “The mined data revealed only your work as a marketing executive. However, further investigation was done on MDI. Jack, here of course, because he’s your husband, and the rest of the board at MDI. But specific digging was done on Jack and Derek, even deeper than what was done for you.”
“This doesn’t make sense,” Jack said tersely. “Who would want to dig into my wife’s background in the first place?”
Derek could think of a few people, but decided not to aggravate Jack further. Maia continuing to be a Guardian while being married to him was a disaster waiting to happen. Most of her dangerous missions were covertly done abroad, but if she were recognized, no amount of data laundering could protect her.
“Where did the searches originate?” Derek asked.
Viktor and Tim looked at each other.
“The searches were made to look like they were originating from Morocco,” Tim said, stopping momentarily at the scowls that crossed everyone’s faces. “They’ve got a sophisticated way of covering their tracks, but they’re going up against the best.” He smiled smugly. “It’s from South Africa. It’s from an office space being leased by a businessman—Eric Opperman.”
“What does he do?”
“Well, according to his file, everything. He’s an information broker, he fixes paperwork for shipments, that kind of work. Most companies use him as a middleman.”
“A facilitator,” Maia said. “So we’re back to Sophie Leroux as the crux of everything that’s been happening. These people, whoever they are, are digging up information on everyone who has something to do with her. They’re looking at me, because I was with her at Rooster Bar. Ever since the fire at her house, she’s remained pretty hidden. The only way they could have tracked her down is Beth Turner. Someone is following her.”
“Should we put her friends under protection?” Derek asked.
“Good luck locking down a reporter,” Tim said.
“Tim’s right, Beth would be like a rabid dog in a cage,” Derek agreed.
“What we’ve concluded from the attack this morning: Derek was the target, Maia was collateral,” Tim said. “Whoever is after Sophie is threatened by him. Since we’ve put the perpetrators at Rooster Bar, it’s conclusive to say they’re aware of your relationship with her.”
Or non-relationship as of this morning,Derek added silently.
“Maia, you will be on leave until we clear this up,” Viktor said.
The redhead was about to protest, but Jack scooted his chair beside her, wrapping an arm around her head, and covering her mouth with his hand. “With pleasure, Viktor,” Jack said with satisfaction.
Viktor shook his head in amusement and glanced up at Derek. “I suggest you stay low too. Keep an eye on Sophie. Do you need any extra security?”
