by Alison Stone
“I would have come by myself, but since my car is still in the shop…” Kathryn’s words blew away in the wind as they sped on the little yellow industrial scooter across the dark parking lot separating the plant from the warehouse. She adjusted her grip on the U-shaped bars mounted on either side of the seat. She hated riding backwards on the scooter. It reminded her of an amusement park ride. She didn’t like them much either.
The scooter rounded the corner and Kathryn held on for dear life. “Could you slow down a bit?” She swore he drove like a maniac on purpose to irritate her.
Benjamin braked hard and the scooter skidded on the gravel. Her back slammed against his. Again, totally intentional.
“Sorry.” He shifted in his seat. “I forgot how touchy these brakes can be.”
She slid forward and stepped off the scooter. “I’m sure.”
An amused smile lit his handsome face. “You got the key for the warehouse?” He stepped aside, and she slipped past him to climb the cement stairs to a side door.
Unlocking the door, she pulled it open. Heavy shadows cloaked the warehouse. The minimal security lighting around the perimeter of the building provided dim illumination at best.
“Great idea. We’ll learn a lot in the dark.” Benjamin rubbed his jaw. She couldn’t quite tell, but she thought he had a smile on his face.
“I prefer to do this without the workers around.” Her lips twisted into a grimace. “Know where the light switch is?”
“If we didn’t come here at night—” He bit off the end of his sentence, sounding his annoyance for the umpteenth time.
Leaning back on the edge of a metal rack, she sighed heavily. “I’ve only been here a short time and I’ve ticked some people off. I want to tread lightly for a little bit.”
His shadowed features gave nothing away, and suddenly she felt the need to lighten the mood. “I want to lay low until I break in the new tires, at least.” Her laugh sounded forced.
“Tell me, what do you think we’ll find tonight?”
“We’re definitely losing parts—most likely damaging them—somewhere between the time they come off the production line and the time they go out the warehouse door.” Kathryn scanned the warehouse, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim lighting. “It doesn’t make sense. The parts are packed in corrugated material before being placed in a rack. From the plant, they’re transported by fork truck to the warehouse, sorted and loaded onto trucks for shipment to the assembly plants. There’s no reason they should get damaged.”
“Wait here,” Benjamin said. “I’ll go to the main office and turn on the lights. No sense both of us tripping over something.”
“Do you have a smart-mouth comment for everything?” She closed the distance between them and playfully slugged him on the arm.
He grabbed her hand and held it. “Remember another time we came here?”
Her mind flashed on a long-forgotten memory. Once, when they were around seventeen, they had come to the empty warehouse to hang—just because they could—and their evening was cut short when Peter Hill had happened by. Heat infused her face. “He was so mad. He thought we were up to no good.”
“At least he never ratted us out to our parents.” The smile slid from Benjamin’s face. “A lot has changed since we were kids.” Sighing deeply, he turned on his heel. “I’ll find that light switch.” She stared after him until he disappeared around the corner. She regretted the shift in mood. Why couldn’t they just enjoy each other’s company for the short time she planned on being here? Ah, maybe because you’re trying to convince him to sell the plant?
Refocusing on the task at hand, she wandered around the nearby racks. The dim light provided enough illumination to read the part numbers if she held the tags close to her face. As she struggled to make out the writing on a tag, she felt a presence, the keen sense someone was there filling space, creating noise albeit subtle. Tiny pinpricks flushed the back of her neck. Her scalp. She spun around.
“Benjamin,” she whispered. The deep shadows shifted. Was she imagining things? Her heart raced. Her pulse roared in her head.
“Don’t play games with me,” she croaked out, taking a few steps in the direction, feigning courage she didn’t feel.
The eerie silence told her otherwise.
A course hand covered her mouth, pulled her back against a hard body. Icy terror surged through her veins. She opened her mouth to scream. The hand clamped firmly against her lips. Her teeth. Tasting of nicotine. Stifling her scream.
“You like to play games?” His breath hissed across her face. Her stomach clenched. From the smell of stale beer? Or fear?
She tried to shake her head, but he had a firm grip on her mouth and jaw. Her eyes scanned the darkness, searching for any sign of Benjamin.
The attacker yanked her back. Her head slammed against his shoulder. Pain tore down her neck. His other hand wrapped around her waist. She felt the heat of his palm through the thin fabric of her shirt. The intimacy of the contact brought tears to her eyes.
“What is she doing here?” A voice dripping with a combination of surprise and outright annoyance drifted out of the shadows. A fresh blanket of gooseflesh covered her skin. There were two of them.
Kathryn took shallow breaths. Think. Think. Think.
The second intruder sauntered into her field of vision. He handed her captor something. She wasn’t sure what it was. He had the drawstring of his hood pulled tight around his face, allowing only a small opening for his heavily shadowed eyes. “I thought this place was supposed to be empty.” He cursed under his breath and paced with jerky movements. “Tie her to the rack.” His words were mumbled. Disguised.
“Oh, come on, man. We could have fun with this one.” Her captor slipped his hand under the edge of her shirt and brushed his calloused palm across her flesh. Without considering the consequences, she bowed her head then jerked it back suddenly, striking his collarbone. A fresh pain radiated out from the back of her skull.
A chuckle ripped from deep in his chest. “This one’s feisty. Come on, man. Just a little fun?”
The hooded intruder shook his head and gestured to the rack. “Hurry.” Then he leaned in close to Kathryn. “Keep your nose out of things.”
The grimy hand clamped over her mouth prevented her from speaking.
“Stay out of it.” His muffled voice sounded ominous in the cavernous warehouse. “Go back to wherever you came from.”
Her captor took a step back, separating their bodies, his hand still pressed against her mouth. “I’m going to remove my hand. If you say anything, you’ll be sorry.”
He pushed her to the ground. She landed hard on her right knee and hand. A punch to her back knocked the wind out of her. She flattened against the cold cement, struggling to suck oxygen into her lungs.
Just go away, she thought. Just go away. Then a prayer flooded her panicky brain. Please, God, let Benjamin be okay.
The hooded intruder yanked her hand behind her back and wrapped something that felt like a wire around her wrist, then the other. With hands behind her, he dragged her to a seated position. Then he fastened the wire around her wrists to a bar on a nearby rack. She bit back a cry as the wire cut into her flesh.
The captor, a baseball cap pulled low and his collar pulled up, crouched down and whispered in her ear. “Don’t look so sad. They’ll find you in the morning.”
“Come on,” the hooded intruder said. “We’re all set. Let’s get out of here.” His efforts to disguise his voice made her wonder if she knew him. Her father’s words in the dream floated up, a reminder: “Someone you know will hurt you.”
She tipped her head back against the rack, trying to still her trembling body, trying to mask her fear. She narrowed her eyes. Her captor’s dark eyes glistened, but she couldn’t make out any features. The other man remained hidden behind his cinched hood. A new fear knotted her stomach. What if they thought she could identify them? Should she look away? Curl into a ball and pray they left her alo
ne? Her stomach dropped.
“Hey!” Benjamin shouted. Kathryn’s heart jumped into her throat. Benjamin. Thank God.
The intruders spun around to face him. Her former captor reached behind him into his waistband.
“Watch out!” Kathryn screamed. Did he have a gun? She pulled forward, wincing. The wire cut into her tender wrists.
Benjamin stepped back and lifted his hands. “Take it easy.”
The hooded intruder grabbed his partner’s arm. “Let’s go. Now,” he barked.
“It ain’t worth it.” The one who had been holding her turned and followed his buddy. They disappeared into the darkness of the warehouse.
“Katie, are you okay?” Benjamin’s compassionate voice washed over her. He kept his eyes trained in the direction of the fleeing intruders.
Convinced they were gone, he knelt and ran a finger across her cheek. “Hold on. I’ll get these off.” He leaned behind her and worked the wire. She breathed in his clean scent, trying to purge the rank smell of stale tobacco and beer. She liked the idea of Benjamin as her protector.
She frantically searched behind him. The deep shadows played tricks on her. “Are they gone?” Her vision blurred with the tears she could no longer hold back.
“I think so. They probably left through the open bay.”
Kathryn closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Clean. Familiar. Benjamin.
“Who were they? What did they want?” A mishmash of thoughts swirled through her brain. She couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Benjamin freed her hands and pulled her to her feet. His warm fingers massaged her raw wrists. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She nodded, choking on emotion. “What were they doing here?”
“I have no idea.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “I should have never left you alone. When the office was locked, I headed to the control panel by the back docks. When I got there, one of the bays was open.”
Kathryn needed to think. She pulled away from Benjamin and rubbed her wrists where he had left off. The abrasions seemed superficial. “We better call the police.”
He nodded. “You sure you’re okay?” He closed the distance between them and pulled her into an embrace. He caressed her back in small circular motions, sending much needed warmth to her bone-chilled body.
She lifted her face to look into his eyes. “What’s going on?”
Benjamin shook his head. He kissed her temple tenderly and ran a hand down the back of her head. The simple gesture provided more comfort than any words.
Chapter Seven
“Drug money. Pure and simple.” Officer Gavin leaned back in his chair and crossed one ankle over the other knee. Benjamin pulled his chair next to Kathryn’s, still feeling the need to keep an eye on her. Keep her close. Like when they were kids.
“We’ve had a lot of break-ins around town lately,” the officer continued.
Benjamin glanced around the otherwise empty Midport Police Department Headquarters. His gaze settled on Kathryn, her lower lip quivering. He put his hand on her arm.
“Why would they pick a warehouse? There’s no cash.” Kathryn pleated her brows. “Is there?” She looked pale as she pulled her coat in tight around her.
“No cash. The automotive parts sell for a lot on the black market,” Benjamin said, speculating this was what the men were after.
“Don’t forget,” Officer Gavin said, “that’s why Nicholas Smythe was fired.” He pursed his lips with a knowing look. “If the management at the plant had allowed us to do our job, we would have arrested him. Sent a strong message out to the rest of these clowns.”
“The police knew about Nicholas?” Benjamin asked. The way Uncle Peter had told the story he thought the incident had been kept under wraps.
Officer Gavin stood, came around to perch on the front of the desk and leaned toward them. “MPD doesn’t miss much.” He raised a knowing eyebrow.
Benjamin directed a measured gaze at the officer without saying a word. He figured the officer’s knowledge had less to do with MPD’s omniscience and more to do with his earning a few extra bucks moonlighting at the plant.
The officer shifted his attention to Kathryn. “You sure you can’t identify either guy?” He gestured toward the open mug-shot book on his desk.
She shook her head slowly. A few curls had escaped her braid and bounced against her cheeks. Of course she couldn’t identify the intruders. The warehouse had been too dark to make out a face. Anxiety and anger twisted in Benjamin’s gut as the reality of tonight crashed in on him. Anything could have happened to her. He exhaled slowly. What if I hadn’t returned when I did?
“What do you suppose the one guy meant by ‘Stay out of it’?” Kathryn gave the officer a pointed stare.
Officer Gavin tilted his head, considering. “I imagine they didn’t plan on being interrupted and wanted you to butt out. I wouldn’t read too much into it.”
“I don’t think I’m reading too much into anything.” Kathryn’s frustration was palpable. “I think they knew who I was.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Law enforcement will investigate.” He crossed his arms and gave her a smug look.
Benjamin squeezed her arm. Her body tensed under his touch. Her delicate features grew pinched as she seemed to fight back the urge to give the officer a piece of her mind.
“What now?” Benjamin asked, trying to defuse the situation.
Officer Gavin lifted his index finger. “Hold on a minute.” He picked up a cell phone and barked out orders, then snapped it shut. “Officer Orlando of the K-9 unit had his German shepherd, Chase, searching the exterior of the warehouse. He picked up a scent, but lost it. Probably where they got into a car.”
“Do you think they’ll be back?” Kathryn’s voice shook.
Officer Gavin pushed off the desk and looped his thumbs through his duty belt. “Usually in cases like these, someone starts talking. Bragging. I’m sure once we get one, we’ll get the other. They always give up their buddy. There’s no honor among thieves.” He waggled his eyebrows. “No matter what you see in the movies.”
He flipped closed the mug-shot book. “We’ll call you as soon as we learn anything. I’ll have one of my guys drive you home.”
Kathryn stood and buttoned her coat. Benjamin guided her from the police station, his hand on the small of her back. For the first time he could remember, she felt small, fragile. Not the confident, assertive woman he had come to know again. A longing he couldn’t quite identify disturbed him. He quickly dismissed it as nostalgia for their childhood friendship and the simplicity of their lives. It all seemed like a lifetime ago.
The next day, Kathryn strolled into work sometime after lunch. She had woken up late that morning only to be met by her frantic mother who had heard about the warehouse break-in from the gossips at the market. As much as Kathryn tried to reassure her mother it was nothing, the knot in her stomach told her otherwise. She really wanted to believe it was a one-time incident.
With renewed determination to find a way to sell the company and return to her former life, she marched down the long gray tunnel to the factory floor and up to her second-story office. She was relieved to find her office empty. She needed time to compose herself before dealing with Benjamin. After yesterday, she might have been tempted to allow him back into her life, but that wasn’t part of the plan. She had to keep professional distance if she wanted to convince him to sell the plant, assuring her mother a secure future.
In the meantime, she called Peter and told him she wanted to meet with him. Taking the coward’s way out, she asked him to notify Benjamin about the meeting.
As she waited for them to arrive, she stared out the window overlooking the plant. The overhead carriers hummed along their rails, the halogen lamps casting everything in a yellow-orange glow. Nothing much had changed in the plant in ten years. She wanted to do something about it.
The click of the door drew her attention. The window in the doorway framed Benjamin’s strong
profile. She sucked in a quick breath to quell the nervousness churning in her stomach.
“What’s up?” He plopped into his chair, and the castors creaked under his weight. Before she had a chance to answer, Peter entered the office and sat down, lifting his feet to rest on the round conference table. Strips of beige laminate curled near the edges.
Kathryn pushed back her shoulders, determined not to be dissuaded from her plans. “Hi, gentlemen.” She cleared her throat, hating the tremble in her voice.
I better spill it.
She locked eyes with Benjamin. “Xenon is ready to come in for a tour.”
Something resembling hurt flashed in his green eyes. Seeming to recover quickly, he furrowed his brow in disbelief. “Have you scheduled it already?”
“Yes.” Kathryn drew herself up. “They are available in a few days.”
Peter’s feet thudded to the floor. “What? You can’t do that.”
“Stop kidding yourself,” Kathryn said, emboldened by Peter’s angry words. “This plant needs the shot in the arm Xenon can provide. This opportunity won’t last. If we don’t welcome Xenon and any potential offer, they’ll move on.” She twirled a strand of hair at the base of her neck then quickly stopped. Even though her insides had turned to jelly, they didn’t need to know. “We can’t let this opportunity slip through our hands.”
Benjamin sat motionless, his arms crossed over his broad chest. “We’ve talked about this,” he said, his voice even. “Xenon will take our product technology and build a more efficient plant elsewhere. You know that.” A hardness set around his eyes. “Don’t pretend differently.”
A rap at the door provided a welcomed reprieve from the tension-charged atmosphere. Bill Summer’s wiry frame was visible through the glass panel in the door. Kathryn motioned to him. Timidly, he poked his head in, obviously sensing he was interrupting something important. “Sorry to bother you. There’s a guy from OSHA downstairs. He needs a signature to wrap up his report.”