Deadly Betrayal (The Rockford Security Series Book 1)

by Jones, Lee Anne

  “You know what I mean.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I really don’t. I’m not seeing anyone, if that’s what you mean, and maids aren’t really my style.”

  She raised her head and stared at him then, her expression an odd mix of satisfied and skeptical. “Thanks.”

  “For what?”

  “For dinner.” She devoured the last few bites of her omelet then took her plate to the sink. He followed suit. “I really was hungry.”

  “Me too.” He rinsed off their plates and stuck them in the nearby dishwasher then turned and smiled down at her. “And you’re welcome. I can show you how to make those some time if you want. It’s really easy.”

  “I’d like that.”

  Jan stared up at him, grinning, and for a moment, all the years fell away, and he found himself back in high school again, in her bedroom, the need to be near her, to hold her, to touch her, damned near overwhelming. A tiny bit of egg clung to the corner of her mouth, and before he knew what he was doing, Dino raised his hand and brushed it away with his thumb. She shivered beneath his touch, and it took all of the self-restraint he possessed not to lift her in his arms and take her right there in the kitchen, on the island, on the counter, anywhere and any way she’d have him.

  Instead, she stepped back, and his hand fell away, his arm dropping to his side as they stared at each other across the expanse of three feet. It might as well have been a mile for all the distance he felt between them now. She swiped the back of her hand over the area he’d touched as if he’d burned her, her voice tense as she said, “I’ll get you bedding for the sofa.”

  He watched her walk out of the kitchen and forced his heavy feet to move. This is exactly what he deserved for staying here. A head full of memories, a heart full of pain, and a body full of want that would never be fulfilled. Served him right for trying to be so damned noble.

  Jan returned with sheets, blankets, and a pillow and handed them to him. Their fingers brushed, and their eyes met, and for one brief moment the awareness between them burned brighter than the sun. Then Jan pulled away again and stepped back toward the door.

  Wise woman.

  “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then,” she said, hesitating in the doorway out to the foyer. “The lights will go off by themselves in a few minutes after you stop moving. They’re all eco-friendly. Do you need anything else?”

  You. “No.” The word emerged as little more than a rough grunt from his constricted throat, and he coughed hard before trying again. “Uh, no. I’m good. Thanks.”

  “Great.” She walked away then stopped at the bottom of the stairs. “Good night, Dino.”

  “’Night,” he called, keeping his back to the doorway, not trusting himself to look at her again. Looking led to wanting, and wanting led to taking, and taking would be a colossal no-no at this point. He kicked himself for kissing her in the alley in the first place. He could tell this stalker thing had her frazzled, and he knew when Jan got frazzled she made rash decisions that she regretted later. He didn’t want to be one of those rash decisions.

  Dino quickly made his bed then stripped down to his boxer-briefs and stretched out on the super-long, super-comfortable sofa. With one arm slung over his eyes, he did his best to fall asleep and not think about the woman cuddled in bed on the floor above or how badly he wanted her here beside him tonight.

  Fourteen

  “I need a break,” Jan said to Lou as she passed him on her way out of the production area of the studio. She’d been working on the title track again all morning. The “happy” song that Lou kept berating her for singing too maudlin. Honestly, she wasn’t sure she had enough “happy” in her to make it work today. Not after waking up to Dino dressed and waiting in the car before she’d even brushed her teeth. She’d hoped that the time they’d spent together the night before, talking, reminiscing, making out might have meant as much to him as it had to her.

  But maybe not.

  She’d not seen him since he’d dropped her off at the front door of Treble Studios at nine a.m. sharp then took off, claiming more errands to run.

  “Wait!” Lou called from behind her, mercifully breaking into her thoughts. “Don’t take too long. We need to nail down this track today.”

  “Whatever,” she called back while heading downstairs. “Give me fifteen minutes, okay?”

  Lou grumbled something under his breath that she didn’t quite catch, but at this point, she didn’t care. Jan needed some time and some space alone to breathe and regroup. Pace brisk, she charged into her dressing room then closed and locked the door behind her, leaning back against it to catch her breath.

  Eyes shut, she concentrated on relaxing her tense muscles and centering her scattered thoughts. The fact that her stalker had gotten as close as the same location, the same party, as her the night before only added to her ever-increasing stress levels. Something had to give pretty soon, and she’d be damned if it would be her. She’d worked far too hard to get where she was to give it all up over some whacked-out fan.

  Moments later, Jan opened her eyes and gazed across her dressing room. The cleaning people had tidied up the night before, and Blake had, thankfully, removed all those creepy, cut-up magazines and taken them with him when he left the day before. Things were finally back to normal in here, except…

  A small box sat atop her vanity table, wrapped in plain brown paper.

  Straightening, she walked over and peered down at it. No address, no card, just her name printed on a computer label stuck to the top. After checking all sides, she raised it near her face and listened. No ticking. That was always a good sign. And it felt light—so light, she wondered if there was anything inside it at all.

  A chill ran up her spine. Was it from the stalker?

  Then she reminded herself not to be so jittery. Rockford Security had installed cameras all over the place, and it was broad daylight. There was no way the stalker could get in here. Plus, she’d gotten packages here plenty of times. Flowers. Gifts from fans. This was probably just one of those … except usually they had a note included.

  She should have waited to have security check it out, but curiosity got the better of her, and Jan grabbed a nearby letter opener and used it to tear through the paper and packing tape sealing the small parcel. Once inside, she pulled out the contents—a folded torn-out page from a magazine and a wad of something wrapped in pretty glittered purple tissue paper. She opened the magazine page first and gasped.

  In vivid Technicolor was a candid photo of her and Dino kissing in the alley behind The Venetian’s ballroom the night before, splashed across the top-selling tabloid in the music industry. Hands trembling, she dropped the paper and peeled back the tissue-paper bundle next. Lingerie, red and slinky and just the size she wore. Bile rose in her throat as she spotted another tiny computer-printed label stuck to the front of the impossibly tiny thong panties:

  For you and your new lover’s enjoyment

  Dino. She needed to call Dino.

  Jan fumbled to pull her phone from her pocket with trembling hands and took three tries to dial his number right.

  He picked up after the first ring, his tone abrupt. “What is it?”

  “A package. The stalker left a package in my dressing room. Where are you?”

  “Just pulled into the parking lot. I’m on my way. Stay right there.”

  She ended the call and wrapped her arms around herself, feeling sick and tired and entirely too vulnerable. She’d expected with Dino here and Blake installing the new cameras, things would get better, not worse.

  Seconds later, Dino knocked then called through her dressing room door. “It’s locked.”

  “Sorry.” She let him in then stood to the side while he inspected the parcel and its contents. “What do you think?”

  His stern expression held no small amount of concern. He shook his head and stared at the tabloid photo and the lingerie. “I was afraid things would escalate, but I didn’t expect it to happe
n so fast.”

  “Escalate?” Jan stepped closer, her overwhelming anxiety brimming over into anger. “You expected this? Really? Because no one mentioned it to me. You said it probably wouldn’t get any worse.”

  Dino stuffed the items back into the box. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “Too late.” Jan thought about the envelope on her counter at home. She’d assumed that one of Blake’s people or the housekeeper had put it there … but what if the stalker had been inside her house? No. Impossible—the place was under surveillance. Still, she should probably tell Dino about it, but the disapproving glare he was piercing her with stopped her.

  He stared down at her, hands on hips. "Why did you open this? You should have called me first. It could have been something dangerous."

  "Well, I …" Who the hell was he to tell her what to do? "I get packages a lot. I didn’t think it could be dangerous because you told me I had nothing to worry about."

  Dino’s face softened, and he turned toward the door. "From now on try to be more careful."

  She followed him, determined to get the full story from him one way or another. This was her life, her career, at danger. If anyone deserved the whole truth and nothing but the truth, it was her. “Where are you going now? More errands?”

  “Security office.” He gave her a quick glance at the snark in her tone then stalked across the lobby to the guard’s office. “I need to check the footage. With all the surveillance in that dressing room, at least one of the cameras should’ve caught who put this in there.”

  “I’m coming too,” she said, sticking close to his heels.

  “Fine.”

  “Fine.” They pushed into the small room, and she stood shoulder to mid-arm with Dino while he instructed the guard on which footage they needed to see. Soon, the grainy black-and-white footage ran on three flat-screen monitors before them, and a familiar face appeared in the frames. Jan leaned closer and squinted. “That’s Bobby—he’s one of the morning-shift guards. He must’ve brought it in while I was upstairs rehearsing.” Her stiff posture slumped. “But why would Bobby bring me something like that? He’s a nice guy—wife, kids. He doesn’t even listen to country music. I don’t think he’s the stalker.”

  Dino reached past the guard at the controls and rewound the tape then played it again. “Is this Bobby still here?” he asked the guard.

  “I’m not sure,” the guard said. “Sometimes he hangs around to pick up extra work. I can check, if you’d like.”

  “Yeah, I need to talk to him.” Dino stopped the tape, and the guard stood.

  “Be right back.”

  Jan watched the guard leave then turned to Dino again. “I’m telling you, it’s not Bobby.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. Either way, I still need to talk to him. Even if the package isn’t his, he might’ve seen who brought it here, give us some clue who might’ve asked him to put it in your dressing room.”

  Minutes later, the first guard entered with Bobby by his side. “Found him.”

  “Great.” Dino escorted the large guard back out into the lobby. Jan patted Bobby on the arm after she’d taken a seat next to him. She’d known Bobby since her first day at Treble. No way would he do something like this. No way.

  “So, Bobby.” Dino took a seat across from Jan and leaned forward, his forearms resting on his knees and parcel in his hands. “What can you tell me about this?”

  “Not much, sir. Honest.” He glanced at Jan before continuing. “I heard the alarm on the side door buzz, and when I got there, the door was cracked open, and this was sitting on the floor. Since that’s the delivery entrance, I figured the guy got tired of waiting for me and just left it. They do that sometimes.” Bobby rubbed his face, his expression nervous. “I swear I didn’t know what was in that thing. I just saw Ms. Winters’ name on it and figured I’d save everyone some extra work and took it to her dressing room myself.” He looked at Jan again, eyes wide. “Honest, Ms. Winters. You know how much I like and respect you. I’d never send you something like that. Never.”

  “I know, Bobby.” She smiled and patted him on the arm again. “I know.”

  Dino frowned at her then turned his attention back to Bobby. “Are there cameras at the side door?”

  “Yes, sir.” Bobby nodded then winced. “Won’t do you much good though.”

  “Why not?”

  “Some of the guards, they still like to smoke out there sometimes, even though it’s against city ordinance now. To keep from getting caught, they turned the cameras toward the wall so no one can see them.”

  “Perfect.” Dino exhaled long and slowly, slumping back in his seat.

  “Plus there’s them girls too.”

  “Girls?” Dino raised an incredulous brow at Bobby’s words. “What girls?”

  “The ones who hang around outside that entrance. They want a look inside the studio, thinking they’ll meet some famous people, and they’re willing to do anything in order to get it.”

  “Seriously?” Jan scrunched her nose. “I had no idea.”

  “They try to keep it secret, ma’am.” Bobby pushed the brim of his officer’s hat higher. “Doesn’t sound good to the talent, you know.”

  “Doesn’t sound good period,” Dino said, shaking his head. “I could have every single one of you fired for what you just told me. Hell, I should have you all fired for gross incompetence.”

  “Please, sir.” Bobby sat forward, his tone apologetic. “I’m so sorry about what’s going on with Ms. Winters, and I want to do anything I can to help. Please don’t say anything. I’ll make sure to keep that delivery entrance locked at all times from now on, and I’ll turn the cameras back out toward the alley myself. Please, sir. I’ve got a wife and a baby on the way and…”

  “I said, I should.” Dino scrubbed a hand over his face then met Bobby’s gaze directly. “I didn’t say I would.” He inhaled sharply and pushed to his feet. “C’mon, we’ll both fix those cameras, and you can show me exactly where you found this package.”

  “Yes, sir.” Bobby stood. “This way, sir.”

  “Jan, stay here while I take care of this, okay?”

  She nodded, too upset to argue. Her own security staff had failed her, the people entrusted with her care and safety. What she needed to hear right now was a friendly voice, a friendly person with no other motives regarding her than friendship and compassion. She pulled out her phone and dialed her cousin Stacy’s number. Stacy didn’t exactly fit the bill perfectly, but she was the only family Jan had left. Family should count for something, right?

  The call rang four times then went to voice-mail. Jan left a brief message in her best cheery tone, not wanting to scare Stacy or guilt her into calling back. “Hey, it’s Jan. Call me when you get a chance.”

  Jan ended the call then decided to text Stacy too. Maybe she was working at the diner today and had her phone off. She typed in the same message she’d left on her cousin’s voice-mail then tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans. A chill passed through her despite the warm temperatures outside, and she snuggled deeper into the chair.

  Alone. She was here at the studio, surrounded by people, and yet she’d never, ever felt more alone in her life as Dino’s words from earlier continued on an endless loop through her exhausted brain.

  I knew things would escalate, but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast…

  He’d known, and he’d not told her. Why had he not told her? Was it her fault? Had her tough-as-nails, I-don’t-need-anyone act convinced everyone that she really didn’t need anyone? If so, they were wrong. Right now, she definitely needed someone. Someone to hold her and comfort her and make her believe that everything would be all right.

  Even if it wasn’t true.

  Fifteen

  A half hour later, Dino returned and wiped his hands on his jeans. "Okay. The cameras are turned, and the delivery entrance is secure. I also spoke with all the security guards here and set up a meeting for first thing tomorrow with th
e ones who aren’t. Things are back under control.”

  Except they weren’t, at least not for Jan. Lou had been down every five minutes, bugging her to get back to work, and each time her phone buzzed, she’d pulled it out, hoping, expecting it to be Stacy, returning her call or text. But so far, nothing. Much as she hated the thought of being seen as needy, she didn’t want to be alone. Not now and certainly not later tonight. Maybe Dino would stay over at her place again. As they walked upstairs to the recording studio again, she gathered up the courage to ask. “So, um, are you coming to my place again tonight?”

  He gave her a quick side glance then grinned. “Miss me already, huh?”

  “No,” she said fast. Too fast. “I just meant that with all this happening, you should probably do another search of my place and all.”

  “Right.” They walked in, and Dino gave Lou a warning look as they passed, enough to keep him from bitching at her again, at least. “I can stop by your place this afternoon while you’re recording and do another sweep and make sure everything’s secure, but tonight’s out.”

  “Why?” She did her best to keep the disappointment from her tone and failed miserably.

  “I’ve got plans.”

  Her heart sank. Of course, he had plans. Probably a date. “Oh.”

  They both stood and stared at their toes for several seconds as awkward silence ensued.

  “You, could, uh...” Dino shrugged. “You could come with me, if you wanted.”

  Jan gave him an incredulous look. Like that would go over well on his date. Not. “Nah.”

  “C’mon. You’ll have fun. There’ll be lots of people there. Some of them you know.”

  Great. So it was Erin. No, that couldn’t be right—at her house after the party he’d distinctly said he vaguely remembered her. He wouldn’t have said that if he was dating her now. Not unless he’d gotten really good at lying in the past fifteen years. But he’d have no reason to lie to her about Erin. Which meant it was someone else she knew.