pleased. Frankly, I’ve decided I’m too old for this sort of thing. All I want to do is find a comfortable bed for a few hours.”
Clay and Cody followed him across the ballroom.
“Sorry it took so long to have this meeting,” Cole said. “The man heading up the group just arrived. We could have waited until morning but he was eager to meet with us for a few minutes, and since you were still here, I thought we could get the deal going.”
He paused in front of a door and opened it, standing back so that first Cody, then Clay walked through.
Two men stood at the end of the room talking. Clay immediately recognized his uncle, Cameron Callaway, who was second in command of Callaway Enterprises. However, it was the other man who made him stop in his tracks.
Cole closed the door and walked to the small conference table. “Sit down, everyone, and let me introduce you to Lieutenant Colonel Sam Carruthers, who is here to explain the reason for this meeting.” He glanced at Clay and smiled, as though amused by the look of shock that Clay figured must have registered on his face. “As well as your presence here, Clay,” he added.
Cole nodded to the man dressed in casual clothing and said, “Sam, these are my brothers, Cameron and Cody.” With a deliberate pause, he added, “I believe you know Clay.”
Even though neither of them was in uniform, Clay fought the reflex to salute a superior officer. He vaguely heard Cole say, “I’ll let you take over this meeting,” to the colonel.
Sam Carruthers was a wiry, tough-looking man of medium height. There was nothing about him to draw attention. Clay knew that was intentional. What in the hell was Colonel Carruthers doing there?
Carruthers looked around the small room and said, “Sit down, gentlemen, let’s get down to business. I’ll try to make this meeting as brief as possible.”
Each of the men quickly found a chair and sat down.
“First of all, I want to apologize for my delay in getting here. I’ve just come from a meeting with the deputy director of the CIA; the deputy director of National Security; and General Allred, head of Army Intelligence. We’re all concerned about the recent trouble you’ve had with several of your installations.”
He looked around the room, making eye contact with each man. “For the past five years, one of your companies has been working on a top-secret fuel for the military. As you’ve discovered, certain oil wells here in Texas have a tendency to develop a very high-octane fuel that the government has been interested in testing in our rockets and missiles, as well as possibly developing for tank and jet fuel.
“The recent attacks on your various facilities around the state have us very concerned, gentlemen. I’ve been assigned to head up my own team to investigate.” He looked at Clay. “When I was going through the roster of possible men to choose for this particular mission I came across your name. I remembered you from our training sessions at Fort Benning.”
Clay would never forget his training in Georgia, or the fact that Colonel Carruthers was the toughest of all the instructors he’d had.
“I decided to make you a part of our group,” Carruthers continued. “It was easy enough, given the circumstances, to arrange to send you home. I figured you’d want to be in on this mission since it affects your family. Am I right, Captain?”
“Yes, sir!” Which was the truth, of course, but they both knew there was only one correct answer to the colonel’s question.
Carruthers permitted himself a brief smile. “That’s what I figured. Of course, that leaves us with the dilemma of why you’re back home. We certainly don’t want it known that you’re on temporary assignment.”
“I’m on leave, sir. I was overdue for one and was told that I had no choice but to take it now.”
Carruthers nodded. “That will work for us. It goes without saying that no one must realize that the government has a private investigation going. I’m sure all of you understand that we’ll need to keep a very low profile. Therefore I’ll be working this mission undercover as well, so you can start thinking of me as Sam for the duration of this investigation.”
“Yes, sir. Uh, Sam.” Clay felt like a fool when the other man smiled slightly.
“I don’t happen to agree with the government’s position on this, Colonel,” Cole drawled. “Our security has been too tight on the fuel testing. Outside of the offshore drilling rig and its oil exploration, none of these explosions had anything to do with our government ties. I’m hoping that your investigation will also include a check for someone with a grudge against the family or some other kind of personal vendetta.”
“Yes, your theory was brought up at the meeting today. As thorough as you are, I take it you’ve done background checks on all your employees.”
Cameron spoke up for the first time. “We’ve had that system in place for several years, sir. This isn’t the first time our family has been the target of terrorism. I doubt it will be the last.”
“I understand your point,” Sam replied, meeting each man’s gaze. “As it happens, I decided to borrow one of the FBI’s best investigators to run a series of profiles on anyone who might be interested in harming the family. Pamela McCall informs me that she knows the Callaway family and she has the added bonus of having lived a large portion of her life in Texas. She said she’s looking forward to working on this project.”
He turned to Clay, who felt as though he’d just been slugged in the middle of his chest with a fist. The air seemed to have been knocked out of him with the colonel’s words.
“Clay, you and Pamela will be paired off on this mission. Our other man won’t arrive until early tomorrow morning. I’ll arrange a meeting for the whole group once he arrives. In the meantime, I think we could all use some sleep.” He looked at Cole. “On behalf of the government, we want you to know that we appreciate your concern and cooperation in this matter and we intend to get to the bottom of it quickly.”
“We appreciate the help, Sam.”
Carruthers nodded and stood. “Thank you for your time, gentlemen. Sorry to have this meeting so late, but as I said, we do what we must.” He shook hands with the three older men before turning to Clay. “I’ll call you in the morning and arrange a time to meet for breakfast. I take it you’re staying in the hotel?”
Clay had taken in little of the conversation after Pam’s name had been mentioned. When he realized the colonel was speaking to him, he forced himself to focus on his question.
“Uh, yes, sir.” He paused to recall the room number Melanie had mentioned earlier in the evening. “It’s room 937, sir. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
Clay left the room, his mind reeling. Sam Carruthers had requested him for this assignment. He still couldn’t believe it.
Carruthers had made a name for himself in Special Forces. Clay had the greatest admiration and respect for the man. Carruthers didn’t suffer fools gladly, and Clay was grateful he’d never been at the receiving end of one of Carruthers’s tongue-lashings.
He also knew that he would not make any points with the man if he asked not to work with Pam. However, he couldn’t fathom being paired with her for the duration of the investigation. So what in the hell was he going
