Scorchin' (The Hot Boys Series Book 2)

by Olivia Rush

  “Stone Black,” said the blond man as he paced slowly back and forth, his hands clasped behind his back. “Navy vet, divorcé, one of the best firemen in Brooklyn. And now…freelance investigator? Though, with how you ran this little operation, you might want to stick to your day job.”

  “I hope you assholes know it’s just a matter of time before you’ve got the FDNY and the NYPD all over your sorry asses.”

  The blond shook his head.

  “Nah,” he said, not seeming to be bothered in the slightest by what I’d said. “That’s not going to happen.”

  He turned to the squat man.

  “How long we got before we’ve got access?”

  “About ten minutes,” he said.

  “Perfect. Just enough time to get to the fun part.”

  “‘The fun part’?” I asked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “See, Mr. Black,” he went on, “a team like mine that has the particular set of skills that they do, they can find out all sorts of things about nosy little do-gooders who might be sticking their noses into places where they don’t belong. See, we’ve been keeping an eye on you and your friend, and we’ve been waiting for just the chance to get you out of our hair.”

  He went on.

  “And when you showed up to the firm today with your little rug rat in tow, we all realized that we had just the opportunity to teach you a lesson about meddling.”

  He nodded to the man with the gun, who nodded in response and headed down the hallway.

  I didn’t like where this was going, not one bit.

  “What the hell are you talking about with my kid?” I asked. “Tell me, now!”

  “You’ll find out,” he said.

  Moments later I heard a cry that cut right down to my core.

  “Dad!”

  I turned in my seat and was greeted by the sight of Jason, his arm held by the man who’d gone to get him.

  “Jason!” I shouted.

  “Get him out of here,” said the blond.

  The man complied, taking Jason back down the hallway.

  I struggled hard against my restraints, now more full of rage than I’d ever been in my life.

  “So,” said the blond, “we figured that you’d try to interrupt our little job, so we came up with some plans of our own. Any minute now we’ll have access to the servers, along with everything else here in the firm. That means, just like you’ve seen before, that we’ll be able to overheat this very expensive equipment and set this place aflame. Before, this was just to cover up electronic crimes. But now, it’ll be to dispose of you and your nosy journalist friend.”

  “You miserable fuck,” I said, straining hard against the bindings.

  “What did I say about the alpha-male crap?” he asked, shaking his head.

  “We got access!” shouted the short guy.

  “Great,” he said. “Then start the transfer. Make sure to get the overheating process started while you’re at it. I don’t want to waste any time.”

  My eyes flicked from one crook to the other as I sized them up. I knew I could take out the techs with no problem, but blond and the armed assistant were another issue, along with whoever else was here. But first, I had to get out of my restraints.

  “Funds are transferring now,” said the skinny crook. “And we’ve got the servers running hot as hell—should be going up in about ten minutes.”

  “Fire equipment down?” asked the blond.

  “Like it’s not even there.”

  “Good,” he said.

  Then he turned his attention back to me.

  “I know you’re a pretty resourceful guy,” he said, “but just in case you’re planning on trying anything, know that you might have time to save the girl, and you might have time to save the kid, but you won’t have time to save both.”

  “Transfer’s done!” shouted the short crook. “We got the cash!”

  The blond nodded, pleased.

  “Then let’s move,” he said. Then turning his attention to the guard behind me, “But you need to stay here, make sure that he doesn’t try anything.”

  “Got it,” said the man.

  “Pleasure knowing you, Mr. Stone,” said the blond. “And good luck.”

  And with that, he left.

  I considered my next move.

  32

  CALLIE

  I struggled against my restraints, my heart beating like a damn drum. I’d heard Jason’s scream through the door of the office where I was trapped, and every molecule of my body screamed out, pushing me to find some way to get free and rescue him.

  But there was one problem: the stern-faced man who’d found me in the lobby and was currently posted right in front of the door, his arms crossed over his huge chest.

  “It takes a special kind of asshole to threaten a kid, you know?” I said, venom dripping from my words. “It’s one thing to steal money. It’s another to put some child’s life at risk.”

  He said nothing, his small black eyes glancing at me for a moment before going back to staring straight ahead.

  I tensed my wrists against the ropes that held me in place, feeling the knots loosen just a bit. Luckily for me, this guy wasn’t the most skilled at tying knots. I figured with a little more effort I could have them loose enough to get my hands free. However, I’d still have to deal with the matter of getting past him.

  “Is this the kind of person you thought you’d be?” I asked. “Tying up women and children, and for what—some cash?”

  He continued to stare straight ahead, but I could tell by the way his jaw clenched that he was slowly but surely losing his patience with me. Which was just what I wanted.

  The ropes loosened even more, and I soon was able to slip one hand free. I kept it behind me, keeping up the appearance of not being able to move.

  “Just wait until Stone gets here,” I said. “You’ve crossed a line, asshole, and he’s gonna make you pay. You’re gonna regret the day you signed up for this gig.”

  More jaw-clenching. I did a quick scan of the room, noting the heavy, metal hole puncher on the desk nearby. It wasn’t much, but if I used it just right…

  My mind went back to the moment the guard had found me in the lobby. I’d dialed up the fire station chief, just like Stone had said. But a “Stone, what’s up?” on the other line was all I heard before the guard snatched the phone, dropped it to the floor, and crushed it under his heel. I hoped against hope that the chief knew something was up and was somehow able to trace my call.

  “You know what you are?” I hissed, hoping this would do the job. “You’re a fucking coward. At least actual bank robbers put their asses on the line—you’re just some goon standing around while a bunch of nerds hack into a computer. Some crook you are.”

  That did it. His beady little eyes latched onto me, anger and frustration boiling behind them. With two long strides, he cut the distance between us. He shoved his ugly face in front of mine, glaring at me hard.

  “Listen, you annoying little brat. I’m here to make sure you don’t get any big ideas about leaving, but I’m not against smacking that mouth of yours shut if you don’t keep your fucking opinions to yourself.”

  And that was just what I wanted. I yanked my hand free from the ropes, grabbed the hole puncher and swung it hard toward the thug’s head. The metal connected with his temple with a fleshy thud, and a look of shock formed on the guard’s face as he stumbled backward.

  “You,” he said, his voice dazed. “You…little bitch!”

  I didn’t wait for him to say or do anything else. With swift arc, I hit him again in the head with the hole puncher, this blow sending him stumbling backward. His head slammed into the wall, and he was out like a light.

  “That’ll show you for not talking to women with a little freaking respect,” I said, tossing the hole puncher onto his chest.

  My eyes went to the gun on his hip. I’d never held a weapon before, and I didn’t know the first thing about using one.
Still, I quickly went for it, yanking it off his belt and sticking it into the waistband of my jeans.

  Slowly, quietly, I opened the door to the office. The hallways were just as quiet as they were before, except for one key difference: the low roaring of what sounded like fire.

  Right at that second, I noticed gray smoke gathering near the ceiling. My heart began to race as I realized that the server room was likely already ablaze. I frantically scanned the hallway, trying to figure out where Jason might be.

  I knew where Stone would be, however, and I realized that with him at my side we’d stand a better chance of finding Jason and getting out of there safely. I hurried down the hallway toward the server room, the smoke growing thicker above with each step I took.

  Once I reached the end of the hallway, I turned the corner and was face to face with the server room’s glass walls. Sure enough, there was Stone, bound in the same way I’d been, a similarly huge guard posted in front of him.

  Behind them, crackling flames slowly spread across the servers. I knew it was only a matter of time before the fires consumed the equipment and began spreading throughout the rest of the office.

  I had to think of something, and fast. Yanking the gun out of my pocket and clicking off the safety like I’d seen on TV, I aimed it at the walls of the server room, closed my eyes, and fired.

  The gun sounded a pop, and a hole appeared in the glass. I turned toward Stone and the guard, their eyes locked on me.

  Stone knew right away that this was his chance. He stood up, still tied to the chair, and swung his body, slamming the chair into the guard. The man stumbled in place, and Stone went in for another blow. The chair connected with the guard’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the floor in a heap.

  I watched the action go down, impressed at how deftly Stone was able to take out the guard. But I didn’t have time to stand around and admire—there was work to be done. Stone made a face that said “hurry up and get in here!” and I didn’t waste any time in doing just that.

  I threw open the door to the server room, smoke belching out into the hallway and the heat from the fire already uncomfortable on my skin.

  “Help me out with these ropes,” he said.

  I looked them over, noting how tightly they were done.

  “Too bad you didn’t get the incompetent knot-tier that I had,” I said, my eyes frantically searching over the knot as I tried to figure out just where to begin.

  But before I got too overwhelmed, I caught the sight of a huge buck knife on the guard’s hip. I rushed over, took it, and hurried back to Stone. The blade cut through the ropes easily, and Stone was free.

  “Did you get in touch with the chief?” he asked as he rubbed his wrists.

  “I don’t know!” I said.

  “You don’t know?” he asked. “What do you mean you don’t know?”

  “I mean the guard broke the phone just as he picked up. Your phone’s broken, by the way.”

  “Shit,” said Stone. “So we don’t know if the crew’s on their way or not.”

  He shook his head before turning his eyes back to the spreading fire.

  “We gotta get out of here, now,” he said. “And we need to find Jason.”

  “Don’t need to tell me twice,” I said.

  “We’ve got about ten minutes before this whole place goes up, and that’s if the smoke doesn’t take us out first. Let’s move.”

  Stone and I rushed out of the rapidly burning server room, but just as we crossed the threshold, he turned back toward the guard on the ground.

  “Hold on,” he said. “They’re crooks, but I can’t leave them to die.”

  He scooped the guard up and dragged him out of the room. We headed down the hallway toward the lobby, Stone stopping by the room where I’d been kidnapped in order to grab the other guard. He took each guard by the arm and dragged them down the hallway with incredible, effortless strength.

  I glanced back behind us at the fire, which looked like it’d spread through the entire server room. It wasn’t going to take much time for the flames to spread down the hallway and consume the entire floor.

  Once we reached the lobby, Stone and I stopped in our tracks as he let go of the guards.

  “Listen,” he said. “I overheard the gang say that the equipment to connect to the other firms’ servers was downstairs.”

  “That must’ve been what they were installing,” I realized.

  “That’s right,” he said. “And if one of us can get down there soon, we can stop the techs from sending the signal. The fires might still start, but the block on the sprinkler systems will be turned off, so the fire will get put out right away. But Jason’s still here!”

  “I’ll get Jason!” I said.

  “No way,” said Stone, shaking his head. “He’s my son. I need to make sure he’s safe.”

  “No,” I said. “If more of the gang’s downstairs, then you’re gonna be the only one who can take them out. You need to trust me—I’ll make sure that Jason gets out safe.”

  Stone regarded me with a stern expression. “Get my boy,” he said. “And I’ll stop those fires.”

  “You got it!” I said.

  Stone stepped into the elevator, his eyes on me as the doors shut.

  As soon as Stone was gone, I realized that there was no time to screw around—I had to find Jason, and fast. There were two halls on both sides of the floor, both leading down to the end of the floor where the server room was located. I hadn’t heard Jason when I was in the first hallway, so I figured he had to be somewhere along the second, in one of the rooms just like I’d been.

  I dashed madly down the hallway, pounding on each office door as I hurried along.

  “Jason!” I called out, screaming so loudly it pained my throat. “Jason!”

  I glanced down the hall to see that while the fire hadn’t spread as far as on the other side of the floor, it wouldn’t be long before the flames totally engulfed the area.

  I called out more and more, panic rising in my chest as I searched frantically, throwing open doors and listening for any sign of him being near.

  Just as I was beginning to lose hope, I heard a familiar voice.

  “Miss Callie!”

  It was him!

  “Jason!” I called out. “Where are you?”

  “Here!” he said.

  I didn’t know where “here” was, but I could certainly follow the sound of his voice.

  “Keep yelling!” I said.

  “Okay!” he responded.

  I hurried over to the closet at the end of the hallway, nearest to the fire, and threw it open. Sure enough, tied to a chair was Jason. He was in surprisingly good spirits considering everything that was going on.

  “Jason!” I cried. “Are you OK?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “The big man in here left, said I’d be on my own.”

  I shook my head, disgusted at the idea of a grown man leaving a child behind. But I didn’t have time to worry about what a shithead the guard was. I hurried over to Jason and quickly undid his bindings. He let out a few rough coughs as smoke began to slowly fill the room, and I realized we were cutting it very, very close.

  “We gotta go now, buddy,” I said.

  “Where’s my dad?” he asked, a trace of worry forming on his face.

  “He’s fighting the rest of the bad guys,” I said. “And he’s waiting for you downstairs.”

  “Cool!” said Jason.

  “But we have to go now-now-now,” I said. “There’s a fire and it’s not getting any smaller.”

  “OK!” said Jason, still more excited than anything.

  I took him by the hand and led him out of the office. The smoke had gotten thicker, and the orange glow of fire was visible on the walls down at the far end of one of the parallel hallways leading to the server room.

  “No time for little kid steps!” I said, bending down and scooping Jason up.

  “Hey!” he said. “You don’t need
to carry me like a baby!”

  “Don’t have time to argue, kid!”

  Jason secure in my arms, I rushed down the hallway. But as soon as I reached the end, I saw to my horror that the fire had already spread down one of the hallways from the server room to the lobby. The flames had reached the elevator, and there was no way to get out.

  “Oh no,” I said, my heart pounding as I held Jason tight against my chest. “We’re stuck!”

  “What are we gonna do?” asked Jason, worry now creeping into his voice.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. I had no idea what we were going to do. Despair began to take hold of me as I realized that we were stuck high up in an office tower, the fire growing closer and closer by the second. I had to find the staircase. There had to be a staircase that wasn’t right next to the elevator. Something.

  I held Jason tight, and part of me worried that this just might be the end.

  Right as I was about to give up all hope, however, the doors leading to the emergency stairs burst open and a half-dozen men in clad head to toe in yellow rubber rushed in. They stepped through the flames, several of them carrying a massive hose that they immediately set to spraying on the raging fire.

  One of the figures, however, the tallest of the group, rushed over to Jason and me. He put his arm around my shoulders and hurried me out of the lobby, the way to the stairs now clear.

  At first, I was puzzled at just who it was that saved us. But as soon as we stepped into the stairwell I smelled that familiar scent, that musky, manly scent that could only belong to Stone.

  “Is, is that you?” I asked, my lungs raw and sore from the smoke.

  “Of course it is,” he said. “You think I was gonna leave you two behind? I met the crew outside and suited up as fast as I could to get back here to you.”

  “Dad!” shouted Jason as he threw his little arms around his father.

  “What about the gang?” I asked as we rushed down the stairwell.

  “NYPD’s on their way,” he said. “And the fires haven’t started yet at the other buildings. If I hurry, then I might be able to stop the signal before they start.”

  We soon arrived at the lobby where a medical team awaited us, the lights of the fire truck and ambulances blaring out in front of the building. The EMTs on the scene swarmed over to me and Jason. Before they could take us away, however, I turned to Stone and gave him a big kiss on his handsome, sweat-slicked face.