Page 1 of Laura's Truth

Prologue

Cypress Security Office Haleswood, SC

“This looks serious,” Ross Carpenter said, joining his partners Rick Dryer and Eva Battaglia in the Haleswood office of their private investigations firm.

Rick’s new wife Nicole stood near the window, her gaze on the street below. They rarely had reason to either exclude or involve their respective spouses, so naturally Ross wondered if this meeting involved any of the skeletons rattling around in Nicole’s past.

“It is,” Eva replied, waving him over to her side of the desk. “Nicole caught these during Rick’s last case.”

“The bank bag thief in Charleston? We closed that and turned it over a week ago,” Ross said. “Did we miss something?”

“Nothing related to the case we were hired for,” Rick answered. His head tilted toward his wife. “But she found a connection to us that I’d overlooked.”

Ross couldn’t remember a time when Rick had overlooked anything. Not during their military service and definitely not since they’d all transitioned to civilian life. “Why call me up here just to dance around the issue? You’re all acting as if you’re afraid to tell me something.”

Rick’s somber face twisted into something resembling sympathy. “It’s Andrew Garner,” he stated. “In Charleston.”

“That’s impossible,” Ross denied it immediately. “No. Garner…” Had turned traitor on the other side of the world and been ripped apart with shrapnel courtesy of an improvised explosive device. He didn’t survive his injuries. Ross had seen the remains. The scorched clothing, the blood. “Garner is dead.” His voice turned hard under the onslaught of the grim memories.

“Take a look, boss,” Eva said.

He bristled. She was using the unflappable, utterly calm voice she used with irate or panicked clients. He was neither. Garner was dead.

Eva enlarged a segment of the picture, zeroing in on a man seated near the garden wall of a sidewalk café. In Charleston, South Carolina. No way.

“A doppelganger,” Ross said, ignoring the sarcastic laugh Rick couldn’t smother. “One of Garner’s strengths was his common, forgettable face, remember?”

“Have you forgotten his face?” Eva hit a key and the entire series of Nicole’s surveillance photos filled the screen.

He bit back the harsh retort. The rage bubbling in his system wasn’t Eva’s fault. They’d nearly lost the entire team out there thanks to Garner’s greed. Over Eva’s monitor, he met Rick’s gaze. “What do you want from me?”

“Permission to pursue and verify,” Rick began. “Nicole and I can—”

“Permission denied.”

Eva sucked in a breath. Ross had never been a dictator. They’d come to this venture as a team and though they might disagree, they always discussed. Oh, well, first time for everything.

Garner was dead. This lookalike couldn’t become a distraction.

Ross felt Rick’s glare biting into the top of his head as he bent low for a closer look at the pictures. Damn, the resemblance was uncanny. If it was Garner—highly unlikely—a miraculous survival only made him more dangerous.

“You see it, too,” Eva stated.

He swore. Striding to the window, he forced himself to think rationally, like a leader. A leader who wanted to keep his people alive.

“Yeah. I see it,” he admitted. “Let me call in a favor.” He had to smooth the feathers he’d ruffled.

“Who would that be?” Rick demanded. “I know you’ve got connections all over, but who would you trust besides us to verify someone like Garner?”

“It’s not Garner,” Ross insisted. It couldn’t be. The man was dust, barring some deceptive and perfectly executed plan. Either way, Ross would not expose anyone on his team to the bastard again. Once had been more than enough. He turned to Nicole. “Why is this man familiar to you?”

Nicole swiveled, her expression a mask of endless patience. “I saw that man a few times when I was with the pharmaceutical company. I’m sure Allie would remember him, too. She might even know his name.”

“A few times.” Ross clenched his teeth. Having spent so much of her life looking over her shoulder for enemies, Nicole had a gift for remembering faces. He couldn’t ignore her opinion. “And he sticks out in your memory because?”

“Because he felt dangerous.” She confirmed his suspicions. “When I mentioned seeing him before, I thought Rick would pass out.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Rick muttered.

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