Royal blew out a long breath. “This is just getting better and better.”
They’d moved farther into the open room, over by the windows and away from the body on the floor. Risa had seen enough violence for a lifetime. And he was ready to go a few minutes without someone tackling him or trying to kill him.
“We can try using mine.” Risa patted her pockets. “Wait, I left my purse downstairs in the manager’s office. Well, of course it is. Why should anything go right today?”
“It wouldn’t work anyway,” Royal said. “Someone is jamming the signal. Nothing would get through.”
The “why” behind that action was the piece Aaron kept missing. The recent threats centered on Lowell. Angie had a bedroom connection to Lowell, but not a linear one. Grabbing a related woman when the true target stood just downstairs was the type of logic Aaron had trouble reasoning through.
But he had to figure out a workaround. He wasn’t one to sit and wait, working on the defensive. An offensive strike was the answer. “Here’s the bad news—”
Risa’s eyes grew huge. “We haven’t had the bad part yet?”
“Without the schematics, we depend on my memory of the layout of this place. I looked at a lot of paperwork and retained a great deal of it.” At least he hoped that was true.
Royal glanced at the ceiling. “If you say so.”
“I have to agree with Royal on this one.” Risa leaned back with her head balancing against the window and let her eyes slip shut. “Except for the part where you know how to throw that weapon around—”
“Excuse me?”
“I wish you actually were a lawyer. They have to memorize a lot of stuff in school. That skill set could help us here.”
Time for another shot of truth. Aaron wondered if he’d spent the next month unraveling the lies he’d told her. “I am.”
Her eyes popped open. “What?”
“A lawyer.” He scowled at Royal, trying to get him to at least pretend he wasn’t listening in. Some things should be private.
She looked at Aaron, at Royal and back again. “But that was a lie.”
Aaron slid next to her with his hands balanced behind him on the edge of the windowsill. The space between them contracted and his fingers touched hers. “Just the tax part. Lawyer, navy JAG, to be exact, and now security expert. But, since I pay my bar dues, still a lawyer.”
The words hung in the quiet until Royal snapped his fingers. “Uh, shouldn’t you know that?” he asked Risa. “I thought you two were dating.”
Her eyes sparkled when she answered, “Right now I feel lucky I even know his name. It is Aaron, right?”
The byplay had Royal grinning like an idiot. Aaron understood the goofy reaction. Something about the way she lost herself in a moment made that hard shell he’d fought so hard to build around him crumble. He’d seen it as she smiled over an email or described the perfect latte.
It was the reason he switched from talking with her over coffee to asking her out for dinner. Picking up random women over scones was not his usual style. He made an exception for her.
She leaned toward Royal and he met her halfway, as if sharing a big secret. “Your coworker—”
Aaron broke in. “Technically, I’m his boss.”
“—has a problem with dating honesty.”
“Now is not the time for this conversation.” There was a dead guy on the floor and two injured down the hall. All of this amusing talk could wait. Aaron turned to Royal. “To be clear, there will never be a time for you to join in the conversation about my dating life.”
Her fingers slid through his as her smile faded. “You’re right. We’re not going to talk about anything if we don’t get off this floor alive.”
He hated killing the lighter mood, but this was not the time to get lazy. Anyone could be waiting around the next corner. In fact, he would bet there was at least one more guy close by because he doubted these guys worked solo and they had an odd number down.
“Normally I would suggest we not exaggerate, but since three men have come after you in the span of a half hour, we need to assume you’re a potential victim here,” Aaron said.
“Gee, do you think?”
Royal held up a hand. “Except for the empty cartridges. That throws the whole scenario off.”
“Not all of them are empty.” Aaron hated to break the physical connection with Risa and regretted it the minute he lifted his hand. He slipped out one of the cartridges he’d emptied in the bathroom and chucked it to Royal. “These went with the first attacker’s other gun, the one he pointed at us. They sure seem real.”
Royal studied the bullet. “None of this makes sense.”
“Shouldn’t we warn Angie?” Risa bit her bottom lip. “I mean, these guys want her, not me. She could be in real danger.”
He didn’t want to scare her, not when they’d spent the past few minutes coming down from the adrenaline rush, but she had to be ready for the next guy who shoved a gun in her face, and Aaron feared there would be at least one more. “So long as they think you’re the one they want, Angie should be safe.”
“Then I guess I drew the short straw on this one.”
Royal nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“We need to split up.” Until Aaron knew what was happening throughout the building, just hopping on the elevator and taking a chance that no one would be there ready to fire was not an option. Not a feasible one anyway.
“For the record, I’m sticking with you.” She eyed him as if daring them to disagree. “You ran into the bathroom and now you’re stuck with me.”
“Agreed. You’re not leaving my side.” How he’d gone from forgetting to call her to not wanting to leave her, he wasn’t sure, but this went beyond offering protection.
Her shoulders relaxed. “What are we going to do?”
Aaron started with Royal. “Try the roof. See if you can get the phone or the comm to work. We’ll check the floor to make sure it’s clear.”
She made a face. “Really? Because at this point I vote for hiding.”
Though it was not his style and not his job, she needed reassurance and he’d give it to her. “It just might come to that.”
Chapter Six
Angie paced around the small conference table. Five people in a twelve-by-twelve space and one of them a twenty-something with an attitude and a staring problem. Not her idea of fun.
Being locked in a room with Lowell was one thing. They’d spent hours in hotels and even a few nights in his big house behind the high fence while Sonya was away. Right in her king-size bed, on those thousand-dollar sheets Angie knew the other woman had scoured the stores picking out.
The memory of walking around naked in Lowell’s country estate made her smile. Hunting through the other woman’s closet, touching her clothes and trying on her jewelry had given her satisfaction. All those hours of exploring almost made putting up with Lowell’s mood swings worthwhile.
It had been so tempting to take the rubies with her. Just slip them into her overnight bag and sneak them home. Heaven knew she’d earned them. Listening to Lowell. Being with Lowell. As far as Angie was concerned, her job was far harder and more taxing than that of wife.
If only sleeping with the boss carried the same financial benefit. But she intended to rectify the deficiency as soon as she figured out what was happening right now.
Mark Fineman stepped in front of her and handed her a glass of something she assumed was eggnog. “You seem pretty happy for someone being held in a room at a lame holiday party.”
“I’ve had worse.”
That went for the situation and the finance guy. He had just inched into his forties, but thanks to the marathon running he talked about incessantly and the countless hours in the gym, he possessed an enviable trim waist. And brown hair that appeared to be all his, and a handsome face that likely once hooked women in college bars across the country.
He had potential, but he also had an ex-wife, and if the rumor was
correct, a hefty alimony payment. Apparently his wandering eye and skillful hands had cost him big the first time around. He’d lost the house, part of his income and now depended on his fancy new sports car to start a conversation with a lady.
“You okay?” he asked.
She doubted the concern was real. More likely he decided it was time to make a run at a woman with more power in the office than his usual targets. He’d already worked his way through two interns and an assistant. Angie admired his goal in aiming higher this time around, but he needed to point his radar in a different direction. One nowhere near her.
“Why wouldn’t I be fine?” she asked him over the rim of her glass as she took a sip.
Mark glanced at Brandon. “This is a tense situation.”
Angie wondered if Mark expected some expression of guilt or evidence of shame. If so, he was looking at the wrong woman. She’d built a life and did it using the assets her mother had passed to her. If that meant not being the office favorite, so be it. Those nitwit women bugged her anyway. They were just jealous she had the thought to start climbing the office ladder first.
If her life’s choices meant upsetting an overgrown kid who didn’t understand the realities of his parents’ messed-up marriage, fine. She did what she had to do to survive and she refused to apologize for her drive. Brandon had everything handed to him. She didn’t. As far as she was concerned, she was evening the odds.
“Are you standing here because you think I need protection from something?” she asked Mark. The idea was laughable, but she knew men often bought into those foolish thoughts.
“My guess is you have a guardian angel with more power than I have around here.”
Mark grew less interesting by the minute. “I also have nothing to hide.”
“Fair enough.”
Lowell glared at her from across the room. Then his attention turned to Mark. With a flick of his wrist Lowell had his subordinate scurrying around the desk to his side.
Pitiful.
No way was she running when Lowell snapped his fingers. She wasn’t even supposed to be in this room. She should be on a higher floor, working through the steps she’d memorized. It all fell apart when Aaron McBain went hunting where he didn’t belong.
When she regrouped and adjusted her plan, she’d be sure to take care of McBain first. She wouldn’t give the man a second chance to ruin everything.
* * *
RISA VOWED NEVER to ATTEND another holiday party. She might skip Christmas this year all together. She hadn’t planned to go anywhere anyway. With her parents gone, what little family she had scattered all over the U.S. and out of contact, and her personal life in repair mode, she didn’t have a lot of options.
When Paul had emptied their joint bank account and moved out, sticking her with a rent payment she couldn’t afford, he’d made her life miserable. Then there were the credit cards he’d opened in her name and then didn’t pay. He’d ruined her credit, which led to her losing her bank job and many friends. Amazing how they assumed she was the problem rather than the victim, which made her wonder about the stories Paul had told her friends while she was out of the room.
The engineers at Buchanan had given her a chance to start over. She appreciated it, coveted it, but she wasn’t willing to die for it.
“You’re doing great.”
When she glanced up from staring at her hands, Aaron was looking at her. Those eyes gave away his concern. He acted tough and in charge, and he was, but she spied a layer of worry underneath. That bit of humanity made her heart turn over.
“I feel like I’m ten seconds away from imploding.”
He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. “That’s normal for the situation.”
She leaned into his hand and missed the touch the second after he pulled back. “I have no idea how you can use that word.”
“Situation?”
“Normal.”
A smile broke across his face. “Ah, that one.”
“Why did you lie?” She hadn’t meant to ask the question. Not now, not here. It popped out and she had no idea how to stuff it back in.
But since it was out there, all she wanted in the world, in that moment, other than to live from one minute to the next, was to understand his choices. When he went back to scanning the room in his stiff stance and with his flat mouth, she thought he was going to let the question hang there without an answer.
She sighed. “How long do we wait for Royal to come back?”
“You seemed content.” Aaron had turned his back to her, acting like a human shield, and pitched his voice low.
She heard him. Understanding the words took more effort. “What does that mean?”
He shifted until his body lined up next to hers. He didn’t face her. He stared ahead while his arm kissed her shoulder. “I live this bizarre life that sometimes comes with danger, and you sat in a coffeehouse humming some strange tune I’d never heard before and working on papers. I didn’t even intend to approach you that first time.”
“Why did you?”
He laughed. “I have no idea.”
“So the tax thing isn’t a line you use on all the ladies?”
He glanced at her then. One eyebrow lifted along with the corners of his mouth. “If I was making a play I would have said something sexier.”
“Real estate attorney?”
“Pilot. Firefighter. You seemed too smart for this one, but astronaut.”
“Oh, that’s kind of sexy.” Though she had to say, any guy with a gun and the whole ability-to-rescue thing was now number one on her hot-male-occupations list.
His body stiffened. It was as if every muscle clicked to alert status. “Problem.”
The change in him had her snapping to attention. “Another one?”
“Do you know how to shoot?”
“A gun?”
“Forget the long lesson. Take this.” He slipped a small gun out of an ankle holster and handed it to her.
The metal felt odd in her hands. She’d never handled a gun but expected something different. Something light and sleek that filled her with power.
She suspected the churning in her chest was more like dread. “I don’t think I can kill anyone.”
“Even if they’re coming at you?”
Forget being girlie. She wanted to live. “I just squeeze the trigger, right?”
He pointed out the safety and angled her so her back was flush against the solid corner of the room with nothing behind her and an unobstructed view in front, “Don’t shoot me or Royal, but don’t give anyone else even a second to talk. No hesitation.”
“You make it sound easy.” She turned the gun over in her hands, knowing holding it and shooting it were two very different things.
He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back.”
“You heard something.”
“Sensed something.” He took a few steps, this time heading toward the left, down the part of the hallway they hadn’t explored.
When Royal slipped around the corner and back into the open area in front of Aaron, both men froze in shooting position. All movement slowed, then cut off, as if someone had hit a giant stop button.
When their shoulders fell, her breathing started again. “False alarm.”
“I almost shot you.” Aaron lowered the gun to his side.
“Never would have gotten off the shot in time. I’m an expert at this sort of thing, remember?”
“What did you find on the roof?”
“Nothing. The door at the top of the stairwell has a lock on it.”
She wasn’t a security expert, but she knew about fire code. “That doesn’t sound safe. Maybe it’s part of the center’s soft opening. One of the glitches.”
Royal’s lips twisted in a frown. “It looked out of place.”
“I’m guessing we just figured out what these guns were doing up here.” When she frowned, Aaron continued explaining. “Blocking possible exits.”
Hope
shriveled inside her. “There’s no way to misinterpret that. They trapped us inside.”
Something in her expression had Aaron turning back to Royal. “You sure there’s no way through?”
“This isn’t my first day on the job. I can shoot the lock off, but there’s a soldering iron on the floor and a tight seal around the door. Unless you’re carrying explosives, we’re out of luck on this one.”
While they argued gun size and trigger speed, she rested her cheek against the cool glass. She hadn’t realized her skin was on fire until she felt the relief.
In the time they’d been stuck in there, the sun had gone down and the sky had turned a soft gray. Flurries blew around under the streetlights, giving the trees Christmas-card softness.
Movement caught her attention. She saw people in the parking lot and walking around the grounds. There was enough light to see Elan staff huddled in groups and several partygoers heading to cars but being rounded up by men in suits.
Since Craft was the only group in the building except for a few strays like her, there were limited explanations. “Aaron? Everyone is outside.”
“What?” Both men rushed to her position at the window, but he got there first.
As far as she could see, the outside gathering was just one more incomprehensible event in a sequence of confusion. “Is the party over? And who are the guys in suits?”
Aaron put his hand against the glass. “They’re mine and they’re keeping people from leaving, which means they know something is wrong and they’re protecting evidence and witnesses.”
Royal lowered his weapon. “Good training will do that.”
“I don’t see Craft.”
“Or Palmer,” Royal said.
She’d never even heard the second name. At least, she couldn’t remember hearing it. So much had happened in such a short time. She could no longer keep track of everything. “Who is that?”
“The head of Craft’s security.”
The new information had her head spinning. “I thought that was your job.”
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