Latvis Security Services

by Lexie Ray

  Chapter Twelve

  Andrea darted into the main dressing area just as Dwayne rushed through the door. He instantly met her gaze with a questioning look. She tried to express with her own look that she had no idea what was going on. Impressively, he picked up on it in an instant and joined her in making a beeline for the panicked group. Slipping through the crowd, she got through the front line and almost stepped on a live rat.

  An undignified scream that she would be embarrassed about later escaped her throat as the startled rodent charged toward her. She managed to choke down her startled shriek as Dwayne came up behind her, wrapped an arm around her waist, and yanked her off her feet. Then he noticed the rats. With a startled yelp of his own, he leaped back, Andrea still in his arms like a shield.

  “Seriously, you’re afraid of rats?” Andrea snapped.

  “I’m cautious of the disease that the little vermin carry,” he replied quickly, his eyes never leaving the scampering swarm. He added in a sing-song voice, “Rossi is going to be sued.”

  “This is not my fault,” Rossi bellowed from somewhere behind him. “This is sabotage, and I demanded to know who is responsible.”

  Dwayne swung around to see him, taking Andrea with him.

  “What are you doing in the women’s locker room?”

  “You ran in here.”

  “That’s what you say,” Dwayne snapped before he began to stomp and kick, never making contact with the animals, just driving them toward the hat box that Mads had picked up from the back of the room. Completely unaffected by the situation, Mads collected the critters with swift ease and secured the lid back into place. The box trembled as he placed it to the side.

  “You know that didn’t make any sense, right?” she whispered to him.

  “Exactly. Does he look as ticked off as I was hoping?”

  She snuck a glance over his shoulder. “If you were going for absolutely enraged, yes.”

  “Perfect,” he grinned.

  “How did these get in here?” Mads asked.

  “Someone had to bring them in,” Rossi cut in with an angry flourish. “We have pest control in here on a regular basis.”

  Willow appeared by his side, her arms crossed over her chest. “I think that he was asking the women. You know, the witnesses.”

  “Who are you?” he hissed.

  “My dear friend,” Mads said, like that was the end of the conversation. He turned back to the crowd and waited.

  One of the models lifted a trembling hand. “They were in a bouquet that was delivered to me today.”

  “I told you not to open anything until I got a chance to look at it,” Andrea said. She glanced down at Dwayne. “You can put me down now.”

  “It’s okay. You’re not heavy.”

  “That’s not really the issue.”

  While it was impossible for him not to have heard her, he acted as if he hadn’t. Mads continued his interview with the model. Between Dwayne and the prolonged argument between Willow and Rossi, Andrea missed most of it. But she didn’t lose track of the time. Everything today had to go down to the second. As it turned out, still being held up by Dwayne had some perks. She towered over everyone else in the room and reminded them that it was almost show time.

  Professionalism was restored quickly. The girls dressed rapidly and began to flood out, hurrying to take their positions.

  Mads slipped up beside Dwayne and subtly turned his back to Rossi for some privacy.

  “The box appeared on the dressing table only a few hours ago.”

  Dwayne nodded. “Portia did drop by a while ago.”

  “So, it was Portia?” Andrea said. “I’m going to kill that girl.”

  Mads glanced over his shoulder to check if Willow still had Rossi properly distracted. As it turned out, the unassuming woman was highly skilled at creating and prolonging screaming matches. Assured that Rossi wasn’t going to be paying any attention, Mads spoke over his earpiece.

  “Does anyone have eyes on Portia?”

  He must have gotten an answer before both men nodded and began to move toward the door.

  “So? Does someone have her? If you’re not going to give me an earpiece you have to at least tell me what’s going on,” Andrea said with a strong edge of annoyance.

  There were exactly three minutes and twenty-three seconds left until this all went live. Until all of her hopes and aspirations since childhood would be finally actualized or completely destroyed. She wasn’t sure how much she could take at this point, but anything would be better than being blindsided.

  “Daren is in the process of finding her now,” Mads said smoothly.

  “Why didn’t you stop her before?”

  Dwayne carried Andrea easily, cocked on one hip like she was a toddler. At first, it had been annoying, but now she liked that the position put her above him. It was a lot easier to sound threatening when he had to look up to make eye contact.

  “It’s a joint dressing room and Portia is in Justin’s show. I couldn’t keep her out.”

  “Justin took her in?”

  “Yes, but right now it seems like he’s having a bit of trouble locating her,” Mads answered, one finger delicately placed against his earpiece. “I’m going to go help him with that matter. And I believe that you have a show to attend to.”

  “Right. We’re probably going to have to jog to make it.”

  Mads exited the room with a passing glance at Willow. Rossi had gone bright red in the face, and it didn’t seem like he was capable of screaming as loudly as he wanted to, although he was trying his best. Still, Willow offered Mads a sly smirk. She was the distraction, and she was doing it well.

  Mads returned the smile, tipped his head to her, and strode down the hallway with renewed purpose. He didn’t pause as he called back to them.

  “Dwayne.”

  “Yes, Mads.”

  “Put Ms. Chin down.”

  ***

  Eventually it seemed like Rossi ran out of things to say, or more accurately, bellow. Willow figured that it wasn’t exactly unusual behavior. Not when his wife pulled out her mobile phone and settled against the wall, ready for a long wait. It seemed that the longer she didn’t react, the more fevered he became with rage, which only fueled Willow’s desire to keep her own reactions calmly under wraps. She had squared off with masters of mental manipulation, so withstanding a blowhard wasn’t that taxing. It was actually quite fun. She could see why Dwayne liked doing it so much.

  But when Rossi pushed a chubby finger against her shoulder, she decided that she had distracted the man for long enough. Swatting his hand aside, she moved toward the door. Rossi grabbed the strap of her purse and tried to yank her back. The aged material ripped along the seams and scattered the contents across the floor.

  Crouching down, Willow grumbled under her breath as she began to gather up the items. Of course, to make the situation more infuriating, there were even items that she didn’t remember putting in the bag. She should have brought a clutch.

  Rossi fumbled, seemingly caught between wanting to help and wanting to spread out the items as much as possible. In the end, she decided that she would just come back for her things later and lurched back up to her feet.

  At last, Rossi’s wife had started to pay some attention to the matter at hand. She stepped forward, not blocking Willow’s path but slowing her slightly. She lifted a hand and spoke softly.

  “He’s just a little stressed.”

  Caught between numerous reactions at once, Willow could only gape at the woman. A good thirty minutes of berating a person seemed to need a little bit more of an explanation.

  The woman smiled sweetly and patted Willow on the arm. “I’ll buy you another purse. One that’s actually pretty.”

  “How generous.” Willow forced a smile, but she was sure that it only came as a sneer.

  She left the room with a sigh, not caring that Rossi was looking over her belongings, and headed down toward the main room. Decorations covered the wa
lls, offering a thousand different places to hide. It wouldn’t be hard to find a place that would let her stake out Rossi without having to interact with him. After all, Mads was paying her good money. At least the whole thing was more interesting than a day at the flower shop.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dwayne bounced on the balls of his feet, a habit he had when he wanted to keep his attention sharp and his mind focused. His mother used to tell him it was like he had to be in motion for his brain to work. After he had discovered it was a brilliant excuse that allowed him to get away with a lot, he’d never really tried to break the habit.

  The only downfall was that it tended to leave him looking nervous. Andrea kept casting glances over to him, a small frown on her face. He tried to reassure her with a smile, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect.

  Her attention quickly shifted back to her clipboard. How she still managed to look completely immaculate while surrounded by pure chaos was beyond him. But she did, and the memories of last night constantly fluttered around the edges of his mind. He bounced harder, hoping to derail his thoughts.

  Yet another change of designers was underway as the dance music played loud enough that it seemed to vibrate in the air. It should give him enough cover to have a little fun. Sliding up next to her, he dipped down enough to whisper in her ear.

  “You look stressed.”

  “Thank you, Dwayne,” she mumbled before barking out a few orders.

  The strong, authoritative tone in her voice did odd little things to the pit of his stomach which he would have to remember to tell her when they were alone. Andrea seemed to find it fun to provoke a few kinks in him that he’d never known he had.

  “I’ve got a few suggestions to help you relieve your stress.”

  She fell still for a moment before she turned to glare at him.

  “Does now look like an appropriate time?”

  “Cupcake, I can be amazingly inappropriate.”

  Despite the anger in her words, she was having a hard time suppressing a smile. Eventually, with a sputtered laugh, she shook her head. She pointed to her headset with one finger.

  “This is a live mic, Dwayne.”

  “So is your earpiece,” Jai’s voice buzzed in his ear with a long-suffering sigh.

  “This is just some playful banter.”

  This time, it was Jamie who chimed in. “Or sexual harassment.”

  “So all of you know, I like the other voices in my head a lot better than any of you.”

  “That’s sweet.” Andrea bit her lip to keep in a smile.

  The motion provoked a need inside Dwayne, and he didn’t hesitate to indulge it. Placing a hand over her mic, he leaned in as if he was reading off her clipboard.

  “If you don’t let yourself smile soon, I may be tempted to lick you until you do. My first thought had been your lips, but I’m remembering other places that make you smile a whole lot more.”

  “Still a live mic!” Daren screamed loud enough to make Dwayne wince.

  It left a ringing in his ear but made Andrea giggle, so he guessed the pain was worth it. Dwayne worked his jaw in a desperate attempt to pop his ears. It didn’t work too well.

  “Dwayne,” Andrea sighed. “Get back into position.”

  “I’ll take any position you like.”

  He wiggled his eyebrows, right up until the moment that Daren, Jamie, and Jai all screamed again. Andrea’s laugh took the edge off the pain cracking through his skull, and he figured it was worth it.

  “It’s almost your turn,” she noted.

  “Well, if you won’t believe me that we have time for some fun,” he said with his hand still around the microphone of her headset, “believe me that we are all over this.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  “Just like I’d love to be all over you.”

  “Get back into the lineup, Dwayne.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  With a little salute, he hopped back into place, a grin stretching his face and Andrea’s laughter echoing in his head. Even as the noises of the show took over, he felt like he could still hear her. The more he heard it, the more he was certain that Andrea had the best laugh he had ever heard. As he took his place in the line of models readying themselves to go out, he resolved to make her laugh as much as she’d allow. He got a few looks from the other models, some annoyed, some snide, but they all received the same reaction from him: a wide grin and a happy smile.

  The music changed and the line began to shuffle forward. People were already coming back in, running off to get their wardrobe changed before it was his turn. Just before he hit the stage, he glanced back to see Jamie toward the end of the line. They exchanged a nod of acknowledgement, and Dwayne took his first step out into the blinding stage lights.

  For a moment, he couldn’t see anything beyond the harsh white. His heart picked up its pace. Not being able to see while in a room full of people was one thing. Knowing that he was the focus of all of those people beyond his sight was another. All he could do was put one foot in front of the other until his eyes adjusted.

  His anxious awareness of the lights let him instantly notice when one of the blinding orbs shifted. It swayed and dropped. He shoved the person in front of him before spinning around and tackling the person in line behind him. The light fixture crashed through the thin boards of the stage, the impact spraying shards of glass and plastic down over his back.

  “On the riggings,” Daren said swiftly in his ear.

  Dwayne snapped his head up to glance into the broken string of lights. He could barely see the two figures racing across the metal catwalk that hung from the high ceiling over his head. He was able to tell which direction they were headed. His head swiveled toward the back stage, toward where Andrea had been.

  “On my way,” Dwayne said as he leaped to his feet. He hurdled the models he had tackled and bolted for the backstage. The organized chaos had crumbled into a mix of panic and confusion. It was easy to tell the models who were the targets of the stalker and who knew about the threats from the ones who thought that it was only an accident.

  Jamie was struggling to make his way through the crowd to cut off the attacker. Dwayne came to a sudden halt when it occurred to him. Andrea was gone.

  ***

  Andrea hadn’t realized that the hotel was full servants’ hallways until she was yanked into one. The doorways had been built into the walls, expertly hidden so that they were unnoticeable from the outside. To see the door, you had to know that it was already there, and the person who pulled her inside knew them well.

  She struggled, kicking and thrashing as she was lifted off her feet. A hand around her mouth turned her screams into muffled groans. Drawing back with all of her strength, she slammed the point of her stiletto into her attacker’s shin. The hands around her fell away, and she sucked in a deep breath as she tried to regain her footing.

  “Justin?” she snapped. Even with the warning, she still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that he would take it this far. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m getting rid of the competition.”

  “Rivalry is one thing, but this is a literal crime. You’re kidnapping me. Did you even think this through?”

  He scrambled behind his back for a moment. With an awkward jerk and twist, he pulled a small handgun out from the back of his waistband. Holding it level at Andrea’s chest, he snarled, “This isn’t exactly how I had envisioned it going down. But everything had to change when you brought those men in. Oh, you’re surprised. Did you think that I wouldn’t find out?”

  “No, I just don’t know how you thought this was a good Plan B.”

  Andrea was pleased that the tremor she felt throughout her whole body didn’t enter her voice. Her eyes locked onto the gun. Each muscle in her chest contracted in a painful clench until she could barely breathe.

  “We both know this was a long time coming,” Justin growled.

  “Why do you hate me this much?”

/>   He jolted with shock. “Are you serious?”

  “I knew we didn’t get along–”

  “Get along? You’ve been systematically seeking to destroy my career for years. Did you really think I’d never strike back? That I would just sit back and take all of your abuse?”

  “What abuse?” Andrea screamed. It was hard to keep the gun in sight and study his face at the same time. “I never did anything to you, Justin. I don’t even know how you got this idea. It’s crazy.”

  “Crazy?” Justin laughed bitterly.

  “I’m serious.”

  “What about the McKenzie account? Does that refresh your memory?”

  Her heart thundered against her ribs. Panic rose up, choking off all possibility for logical thought.

  “I didn’t even know you went in for it.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “I will swear to anyone you want. I didn’t know. I didn’t sabotage you.”

  “And the models in Paris?”

  “They were under contract with my boss. Just like yours were for you.”

  “Stop lying!”

  “I’m not! I promise you, Justin. I have never given you even a passing thought. Whatever grudge war you think has been going on between us, I was never playing it.”

  She realized her mistake the second she saw the rage flash within his eyes. His pride had convinced him that she couldn’t simply have better luck or possess more talent than he did. Now she had basically just told him that he was completely beyond her notice. His hand began to shake as his jaw clenched tight.

  “Move.”

  Andrea forced herself to look away from the gun barrel and met his gaze with every ounce of strength she had left.

  “Or what? You’re going to shoot? I don’t think these hidden passageways are soundproof, and guns are very loud.” She swallowed thickly and hoped that he hadn’t thought to turn off her headset. Someone still had to be listening. “If you shoot me, how do you think you’re going to get out of here?”