Free Shattered Heart (Z series) by Jerri Drennen Page A

hesitate to take down anyone who got in his way. He might just think that about you, Charlotte.” Zack looked to JT for confirmation.
    JT nodded.
    All of a sudden, Charlotte wasn’t so tired. Every nerve in her body seemed to jump at any sound, and her heart slammed into her ribcage as if it was trying to leave her chest. “Do you think Shaun knew about William buying this stuff?”
    “I could only go back so far and with five or six different chemical companies. He certainly could have, though Terran seems to have ramped up his ordering in the past nine months. Just under an amount that would send eyes his way.”
    “So then what were those shipments that Shaun mentioned? What could they have possibly been? Something else needed to build one of these bombs?”
    Charlotte caught a look between the two men. That was exactly what they were thinking. But they didn’t want to come out and say it—because saying it made it all the more real.
    “Why don’t you go on to bed, Charlotte? There isn’t much we can do tonight.”
    “But...
    “Try to get some sleep. If we find anything out, I’ll wake you.”
    Charlotte didn’t want to, yet instead of arguing the point, she turned and headed for her room. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not with all the possibilities spinning around in her head. What if William was about to build this bomb and cause a horrendous catastrophe? What if those crates were filled with something that could turn that bomb into something even more devastating—that could have years and years of consequences to come?
    She sucked in a ragged breath. Now, she wished she was oblivious to the whole thing. She didn’t want to know what could happen. There was something to be said about living in the dark, especially with anything of this magnitude.
    Then again, why would William get involved in something like this?
    Charlotte entered her room and closed the door. She couldn’t think of any reason he’d want to work with someone to blow up anything in the US. It made no sense unless he himself was being forced to do so.
    Could that be a possibility?
    Maybe he got involved with the wrong people. Looking for a way to make money. To save his business. Look what she’d thought about doing to save hers.
    Perhaps William had no idea what he was getting into until it was too late.
    She walked to the bathroom and turned on the cold water. She leaned over and splashed the cool liquid over her face. She couldn’t allow herself to feel sorry for him. Because everything was just speculation. The man might be in it up to his comb-over.
    He did have her husband killed. So, he certainly didn’t deserve anything but her contempt.
    She grabbed the towel off the rack and quickly dried her face.
    After changing, she walked back into her bedroom and sat down on the bed. She was exhausted, but to sleep with so much going on? She doubt she’d be able to.
    Instead, she rose and walked to her closet, reaching on the top shelf for a box where she kept some of her wedding things and any memories of Shaun. All his clothes had been packed up and taken to Goodwill six months after he’d died. Cara had insisted that she get rid of them. They were only a constant reminder of what she’d lost.
    As she brought the box down, her eyes caught a flash of something shiny behind the air duct that the container hid. Why hadn’t she ever noticed that thing before? Because the box had been there since forever.
    Charlotte rushed to put the box down onto the bed and reached for her vanity seat. She wanted to know what was up behind that vent cover.
    She placed the chair inside the closet and climbed, using the shelf as leverage to pull herself up. She peered through the slates and made out something metal.
    Her heart started to pound hard in her chest.
    Was it a lockbox?
    Charlotte dug her fingernails under the lip of the thing and worked the vent lid forward until the thing fell. Inside was a green-tinted metal container, not