Perilous Pursuit. Kathleen Tailer

few minutes later, they retrieved her camera and other equipment she needed from her assistant’s house. Then they made a third stop by her safety deposit box at her bank, and she downloaded copies of all her movies onto her new hard drive, leaving the original backups in the box so they would remain safely tucked away. Jake was anxious to watch her film about homeless children to see if he could find any connections to the case, so he was glad a copy of her work still existed. Even though he wasn’t thrilled to be working with her, he realized that Mackenzie and her movie project were his best leads for finding and arresting Beckett. Before he could watch the video, however, he knew he had to do something about her safety. She had already been attacked twice in twenty-four hours. He couldn’t risk losing her to Beckett and his goons. As soon as they returned to his workplace, Jake led her along a long hallway. He unlocked a door and motioned for her to follow him in.

      “What’s this about?”

      “Security. Have you ever worn a bulletproof vest before?”

      Mackenzie shook her head. “No. I’ve never needed one before.”

      “Until we have Beckett behind bars, you need one.” He pulled a vest off a hook, checked the tag and handed it to her. “This is a medium. Let’s see if it fits. It’s the smallest size we have.” He helped her get it on and showed her how to tighten the straps. When he breathed in, he paused. Jasmine. It had to be jasmine in her perfume. The sweet scent distracted him once again, and he gritted his teeth. Why did this woman affect him so?

      He thought back to the skinny, awkward kid whom he and Jonathan had done their best to ditch when they were in college. They could have treated her better. He felt a pang of regret.

      “Wow! It’s so heavy!”

      “Yeah, they’re definitely heavier than they look.” He stepped back, trying to erase the memories and put as much space between them as possible. “I think that’s the right size—at least, it’s the best we can do.”

      Mackenzie adjusted the vest and stood up straight. “What do you think? Am I ready to go?” She flashed him a smile that sent a warm sensation from his head to his toes. He didn’t think she was purposely trying to flirt with him, but he seemed unable to resist her innocuous grin. How could she still be smiling after being shot at and losing all her equipment? Why wasn’t she reduced to tears and hysterics the way most people would be?

      He didn’t understand. After everything that had happened to her, Mackenzie should be stressed and bad-tempered, but she wasn’t. Even on the job, Jake had seen so much ugliness that he now came to expect it, even from the victims. Mackenzie’s attitude was like a breath of fresh air. Yet it also irritated him for reasons he couldn’t quite identify. She was nothing like he remembered. In fact, he was starting to believe that he had really never known her at all.

      He shook his head and leaned back in his chair, focusing again on the vest. “You’re not even close to being ready, Mackenzie, but it will have to do.” He reached over and adjusted the straps one more time. “You do need to tighten it a bit. We don’t want it to chafe you as you move.”

      Mackenzie nodded and seemed to note his adjustments. Then she removed the vest since it wasn’t necessary to wear it while they were in the US Marshals office. “Okay. What next?”

      “Now we’re going to watch your movies and see if we can figure out why you’ve become target practice for Carter Beckett and his friends.”

      “Got any popcorn?”

      Jake raised an eyebrow at her quip but didn’t smile. Her positive attitude was such a different reaction than what he usually experienced that it was starting to concern him. Didn’t she realize that her life was in danger? That most of her business equipment had just gone up in smoke? That she had to move and find a new place to live? Why wasn’t she depressed and angry? Why wasn’t she taking the threat seriously?

      “Look, this is grave business, Mackenzie. Carter Beckett and his friends aren’t playing a game. They’re criminals, and for some reason, they’ve focused their attention on you. Carter is a murderer. He’s also got a history of committing all sorts of other crimes. He hurts people and doesn’t think twice about it. You’d be wise to take both him and his threats seriously.”

      His words made her eyes flash, but the smile didn’t waver from her lips. “Believe me, Jake. I am very aware of the gravity of the situation. I don’t get shot at every day, and I’ve certainly never had my apartment burned by an arsonist. In fact, this entire situation is totally new to me, and it scares me to the bone. But I’m not going to crawl into a hole and let them win, either. I’m in no hurry to die, but I’m not going to just roll over and cry ‘uncle.’ I’ve got a job to do and a life to live, and neither Carter Beckett nor his friends are going to keep me from doing either one.”

      Jake raised an eyebrow again but decided against continuing the argument. She was driven to succeed, and apparently nothing he said was going to change her mind. Once again, he found himself admiring her spirit, despite the fact that her attitude scared him a bit. Anybody with that much determination might also act recklessly, though, and like it or not, it was now his job to protect her—at least until her movie about his US Marshals unit was completed and the threat against her was extinguished.

      Mackenzie followed him to an interview room, and they plugged in her new laptop and hard drive. A few moments later her documentary on the homeless was rolling across the screen. Jake realized she had probably seen the footage hundreds of times—both throughout the filming and then again during the editing process. This time, however, he hoped she might be looking at it with fresh eyes. Maybe one of them would see a link between her movie and the horrible events of the last two days that would bring some insight into the case at hand. Right now, the pieces just weren’t fitting together.

      They watched the first half hour or so without comment, but suddenly, Jake’s chair fell forward. “Stop right there.” He motioned to the screen where there was a kid sitting on the sidewalk in the foreground. “See that man there in the back? Can you blow up that image?”

      Mackenzie looked where he was pointing, and with a few clicks on her keyboard, isolated the image. There were a few people in the background, including a couple of teenagers, but she quickly focused on the man Jake had identified and expanded the picture. Jake leaned forward to get a better look. Once it became clear, it was easy to identify Carter Beckett’s features.

      “That’s our man,” Jake said, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. “There’s the link we were looking for.”

      Mackenzie gave him another smile. “It sure is. You have a good eye for this. I don’t think I would have even recognized him.”

      Jake shrugged. “I’ve dealt with Carter in the past on more than one occasion. You only saw him for a few minutes during a high-stress encounter.” He looked closer at the screen. “Where was that shot taken?”

      With a few more clicks, she expanded the view further and moved it around so the buildings were more identifiable. “We filmed this over on Mission Road. Yes, here,” she said, pointing. “It looks like the address is around the 4500 block. That’s an office building there, but I’m not sure what organization rents the space.” She turned and raised an eyebrow. “So what’s the connection? Do you think Carter Beckett was doing something illegal in that building and wanted to destroy my film so no one noticed he was at that address?”

      “That’s a good guess. Or maybe his activity is illegal and he just happens to be meeting someone there. In either case, I think we should head over to that office building and see if we can learn anything.” He looked at his watch. “Now’s a good a time as any. I’ll assemble the team, and we’ll head on over and see what we can discover. Hopefully, we’ll find Mr. Beckett himself.”