Exchange of Fire

by P. A. DePaul

  Ted bobbed his head, then asked, “What do you want me to tell my old roommate?”

  “Send me that e-mail and his contact information. Then find out who he got this from. Depending on the answer, we may just give him what he wants in return for a favor.”

  Chapter 5

  Three Weeks Later—Ridge Creek, North Carolina

  Grady crossed the Security Room and glanced at the eight large-screen TVs broken up into four panes on each. Thirty-two security cameras mounted at various points inside the building and the surrounding parking lots of his company displayed a myriad of images in full color.

  “Hello, Mr. Grady.”

  “Just Grady,” he automatically countered, the battle over his name now a standing argument between him and one of his longtime security guards. He mentally counted down: three, two, one . . .

  “There is nothing wrong with your given name. Casper is a strong southern name you should be proud of.”

  Right on cue. Same reply every time. Per convention he followed with his standard response: “Casper Grady was my grandfather.”

  “Humph,” Henry muttered (also in the script they had every time the old man worked).

  “All quiet tonight?” Grady asked, watching the monitors.

  Most screens showed families and teenagers having fun on a Saturday night at Gradwick Adventure Center. A few displayed inconsolable kids acting out after losing a game in the arcade or because their parents refused to take them in the direction they wanted to go. But one screen revealed the image he searched for.

  “Yes, sir. Nice and quiet so far,” the retired police officer responded, but his next line showed that at seventy-two, he was still as sharp as ever. “She’s been busy. Flitting between the arcade, the outside go-karts, and checking on the construction for the new miniature golf.”

  Grady smiled. “Can’t slide anything past you.”

  The security guard chuckled. “I’ve been around the block a few times. I know the signs when a man’s trying to court a woman.”

  “It may be a little too early at this stage to call it courting. I need to get her to notice me beyond the role of her boss.”

  “Eh. You’re closer to that goal than you think.”

  Grady’s gaze sharpened on the old man. “Really? Do tell.”

  Henry cackled. “You’re a strapping young man with all those muscles still honed from protecting this country. The woman would have to be blind not to notice.”

  He waved the compliment away. “I’m talking about seeing beyond that. She flirts, but I don’t think there’s any real intent behind it.”

  “So those gazes she throws you when you’re turned the other way don’t mean anything?”

  “Interesting.” He dragged the word out as he stared at the sable-haired beauty navigating the crowds.

  “Yeah. But you also watch her when she’s not looking, and the employees watch you both. It’s quite entertaining.”

  “Happy to oblige,” he responded drily.

  “If you ask me, she’s one of the best hires you’ve made in a while.”

  “I agree.” He followed Sandra’s progress as she trekked through the central eatery. The way her jeans hugged her hips and the yellow uniform polo conformed to her breasts definitely had him noticing. But it was more than her sexy body that kept him interested. She had a quick wit and sharp mind that drew him in for more.

  She skirted past the escalator that carried patrons up to the laser tag floor and slipped into the Employees Only hallway. Grady rubbed his chin. He could be imagining it, but she seemed twitchy and her complexion a little pale. His internal radar went up.

  The persistent twinges in his gut over the past month suddenly grew stronger. Ever since that evening he challenged her to test her aim on a harmless video game, he’d noticed her pulling away and becoming more distant. Hell, some days he wondered when she left for the night if he’d ever see her again.

  When Sandra had applied for a position as Operations Manager four months ago, he couldn’t believe his good luck. Her résumé read like a page from his wish list of experience. What she accomplished in her twenty-nine years still astounded him. He even ran a background check twice to be sure.

  Wonder what could be upsetting her?

  Henry’s chair creaked as he rocked forward, pulling Grady out of his troubled musings. The guard picked up his walkie-talkie and clicked the side button. “Sid, move in on the group by the door leading to the paintball arena. See what they’re up to.”

  The receiver squelched and a youthful voice responded, “On it.”

  “Glad to have you in here.” Grady patted Henry’s shoulder. Over the past few days he had overheard some of the regular kids talking about a drug ring migrating east from Knoxville. Disturbing on many levels. He refused to allow the haven he worked hard to build to be threatened by a bunch of thugs. Young folks needed a place where they could go that was free from all the bad influences they were bombarded with. A place where they could just hang out and not be bullied or harmed—in other words, a place to just be a kid.

  Unbidden, a memory of his eleven-year-old self down on his knees, hovering over his best friend Ashlyn’s unconscious body, rolled through his head. Tears had poured from his young eyes as he screamed for help and tried to wipe the blood off her face. The one day she had refused to wait for him to walk her home, a goddamn bully attacked, wanting the portable music player Grady had lent her. When she refused to give it up, the guy beat on her until Grady stumbled upon the horror hidden behind a vacant home’s line of trees and tossed him off. Impotent rage filled Grady because he had suspected the jerk of harassing her, but she wouldn’t talk about it, constantly brushing off his questions or blatantly changing the subject. His gut had told him he should skip football practice, but he had ignored it, allowing her to convince him that she’d be fine on her own. Two days later, she had died in the hospital from brain hemorrhaging. And the bully? That bastard’s father had lobbied to the court that Ashlyn had provoked his son and had gone so far as to throw the first punches. “My innocent little boy had only been acting out of self-defense when Grady came along.” Bullshit. But the courts didn’t have any proof to the contrary, so the kid walked away with only a few hours of community service.

  Ever since then, Grady vowed to always listen to his instincts and never let anyone bully or take advantage of anyone else again, especially when it came to women.

  “Just a heads up: I’m going to be hiring more guards and adding cameras in the next few weeks. Can you help train when they come on board?” Grady’s eyes roved over all the screens again, but he found his gaze drawn to Sandra’s progress in the hallway.

  “Certainly. You want me to sit in on the interview?”

  “Nah. I’ll just look for copies of you.” Grady winked. “But I’d definitely appreciate your feedback once they’re hired.”

  “You got it.”

  Grady turned to go. Something about Sandra’s stride across the building bothered him. He hoped tonight would be the night she let him peek behind that impenetrable wall so he could find out what had her spooked. Four months of working closely together had to count for something in gaining her trust. Right? Right? Nothing.

  He twisted open the door handle.

  “Tell her I say hello,” Henry retorted, then picked up his walkie-talkie to give more instructions.

  Grady left, chuckling. The man was almost too good with his observations.

  ***

  Sandra shut the door to her office and leaned against it. The chaotic noise from the main floor lowered to a muffled drone. She placed a hand over her racing heart. Something was off. The small sense of doubt she’d had earlier this afternoon now felt like impending doom. She lifted a trembling hand and stared at it with disgust.

  Every day for the past four weeks an internal war waged over splitting town. And every day she kept putting off the decision, thinking she’d finally come up with an answer tomorrow. Son of a bitch. Had she pushed i
t one day too many? She swiped her shaking fingers against her jeans.

  Bam. Bam. Bam.

  “Eep!” she yelped, then slammed a hand over her mouth at the swift knock on the wood by her head. She closed her eyes and commanded her body to get it together. Once she had firm control of her nervous system, she straightened and opened the door.

  Tall, blond, and sexy leaned against the doorjamb. His tousled hair appeared as if he’d been running his fingers through it. She still had a hard time believing he was thirty-six years old by the way mother nature had blessed his youthful skin. If she were a normal girl, she’d be threatening every other woman and staking a claim on this man. Just imagining how explosive the sex would be if he was half as good as he let on made her almost give up her self-imposed off-limits stance. But she had to stay strong. He was too good a man to drag into her world, and the clusterfuck of her existence wouldn’t allow her to stay.

  Damn. Not exactly what she needed at the moment when her body was already going haywire . . . but maybe he’d prove to be enough of a distraction that she could sort through her flight instincts.

  His full lips parted into a playful smile. “Did I just hear the normally unflappable woman actually say ‘eep’?”

  “Hey, Grady,” Sandra greeted him nonchalantly, in spite of her toes curling at his deep Carolina drawl.

  He laughed. “You know, no response is the same as saying yes.”

  “If you want to think that, go ahead,” she retorted, refusing to give in to her body’s sudden melting at his flirting. High school was a long time ago. Stop ogling him like he’s the first good-looking boy you ever talked to. With her libido firmly put in place, she stepped back and offered casually, “I was just taking a break. Come on in.”

  His well-toned—okay, she’ll admit it—yummy physique slipped past her, and she inhaled the exquisite mixture of him and his cologne. For some reason, every time she smelled it, a sense of peace pervaded her mind. Which was totally nuts, because he was about as bad for her as it could get, making her want things she couldn’t have. Her first priority had to be remaining off SBG’s radar, Victor Dalmingo specifically. Staying on the run and finding places to hide was strictly a solo mission.

  She dropped into her chair and swiveled it to face him. Gliding her finger under the dragon pendant on her necklace, she slid the symbol back and forth on a small section of chain. “I see you’ve taken my advice about letting your hair grow a little bit longer. Looks good.”

  He finger-combed the mop absently. “Figured I’d see how it goes retiring the military cut.” His dimple appeared at his laugh. “So far, it’s itchy. I’m not used to having so much hair on top.”

  She grinned in return. “It’s cute. Like a surfer dude. You can always buzz it if it gets too annoying.”

  His mouth turned down. “Cute.” The way he said it with so much distaste had her giggling.

  “Yep. The women’ll love it.” She paused and snorted. “Never mind. You’ve always got a gaggle of girls following you with that face and body; you’d never notice a few more admirers.”

  He grinned, but she had to wonder at the speculative gleam in his eyes. He appeared on the verge of saying something, then changed his mind. Now curiosity ate at her. What had he stopped himself from saying?

  Instead of asking, she focused on work. “I chased away a few kids trying to sneak into the miniature golf construction. The fact that they couldn’t have been older than six led me to believe they weren’t corporate spies. I’m pretty sure I heard the mothers calling their names, so I’m guessing they were trying to play hide-and-seek.”

  He crossed his arms, causing the tantalizing muscles to bunch, and leaned against the tall filing cabinets. “I assume you lectured them on the dangers of being away from their parents?”

  A pang stole through her heart. She was all too familiar with what could happen to kids outside of an adult’s protection. Those memories were part of what drove her to Grady and Gradwick Adventure Center in the first place. Helping these kids wouldn’t make up for her colossal screwup, but she’d hoped she could make a difference, garner a little redemption.

  He straightened at her lack of response. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  She blinked away the memory that was never far from her mind and waved a hand. “Nothing. And yes. I gave them all a stern talking-to before leading them back to their group.”

  When he stayed silent, she met his eyes. Not much emotion showed through those beautiful blues, but she could see him analyzing and contemplating something. Probably whether or not to push her for a real answer. “Really, Grady,” she finally said, proactively steering the conversation away from her past. “It’s nothing. I don’t like seeing kids in jeopardy. They could’ve gotten hurt if they’d tripped over the construction equipment.”

  A flash of disappointment crossed over his irises before he grunted and leaned against the cabinet again. “I’ll post a guard over there and tell Henry not to move him unless absolutely necessary.”

  “Good idea.” She slumped in the chair, grateful he’d let the moment pass.

  “Speaking of good ideas,” he replied, his dimpled-grin firmly back in place, “there’s this seriously cool event on Wednesday night. You may have heard of it? The You-Worked-Hard-So-You-Deserve-A-Party Employee Event. Since you’re the first to volunteer to coordinate and host every kid’s party we’ve had since you got here, I figured it’d be right up your alley. But, ironically, I still haven’t received your confirmation. Weird, huh?”

  She inwardly groaned. Shit. She’d hoped he had been so caught up with the renovations and the winding down of summer season that he’d overlooked her lack of response.

  Guess not.

  “Kids head back to school on Tuesday,” he continued. “Once we get through Labor Day weekend, the place will empty out. Wednesday’s a perfect time to bring the staff together and reward them for their hard work.”

  “You’re right. They’ve worked their asses off, and we’ve had record profits. They deserve to be treated to a special night.”

  “Exactly. And it’s been proven that team-building events help keep turnover down and make a company stronger. Throw in a few rewards at a campy ceremony and you have a night of fun.”

  “All true.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “So, if you agree with me, I have to wonder what’s holding you back.”

  “Nothing momentous.” Other than I thought I’d be out of here before then and now the twisted feeling in my gut. “I’m just not that big on laser tag,” she threw out, relieved at finally being able to state the full truth for once.

  “What?” He blinked twice, his face a laughable cross between bewilderment and horror.

  She grimaced. “You know my thing about shooting games. Can I attend the dinner and campy awards ceremony but skip running around in the dark trying to kill the employees?” After the disaster the last time she pulled a trigger, she’d vowed to never fire the weapon again . . . plastic included.

  Chapter 6

  Grady couldn’t believe his ears. “How can anyone not like laser tag? It’s laser tag. Such a great way to blow off steam and have some laughs.”

  “I see I’ve rocked your world with my big”—she fluttered her hands—“reveal. But there’re those of us who can get their laughs and blow off steam by other means.”

  His mind instantly went into the gutter. Yeah, he could think of a few ways he’d like to help her relieve stress, and they all involved their naked bodies. He shifted his hips to hide the semi now perking up at the images.

  “I’m—”

  Sandra jumped in the leather chair like she had been goosed, then stilled ominously. What the hell? Her hands all but wrung together, and he could see the wheels turning in her mind.

  He straightened from his feigned casual pose and stepped forward.

  As if she carried the weight of the world, she stood and slowly reached into her front pants pocket and pulled out a key chain.
>
  Unable to take it anymore, he growled, “What’s going on?”

  Guilt flashed across her vivid hazel eyes before she lowered them to the device.

  “Sandra?” Why wasn’t she saying anything? Tension coiled in him from the suspense. Goddamn wall of hers.

  When she didn’t look up, he focused on what held her attention. Three small red LED lights stood in a row on the black plastic key chain. No markings or designs were visible to tell him what its purpose was. His gaze zeroed onto the first of the three small lights now flashing steadily. Just as he opened his mouth to demand an explanation, the middle light started flashing in time with the first.

  Her posture stiffened, and she took in a swift breath.

  The third and final LED lit up, joining the other two.

  Her hand shook as she continued to stare at it.

  That does it. He closed the distance between them and grasped her shoulder. She jerked under his touch, and her eyes flew to his. To the day he died, he knew he’d never forget the haunted, scared, and pissed-off expression filling her irises.

  “What the hell is going on? What is that thing? What do those lights mean?” He gripped her tighter when she started pulling away. That same sickening, helpless feeling pooled in his gut.

  “I’ve got to go.” She wrenched from beneath his hand. With a slightly wild air she scanned the office.

  Warning bells clanged in his head. Every instinct told him not to let her out of his sight.

  She ripped open the side drawers of her desk and rummaged through the contents roughly. A few small personal items were plucked out and placed into her purse, but most of the stuff she left behind. From the middle drawer she grabbed a beat-up magazine whose edges no longer remained flat but were rolled and torn, and she jammed that in her purse along with the rest. She maneuvered around the far side of her desk—opposite where he stood—and snagged an old sweater off the coat rack. By the time he caught up to her, she already had one foot out the door.