“The injection he tried to give me,” Nikki said, nodding toward her office. “What was it?”
Andrew smiled, like he was genuinely happy she’d asked.
“A paralytic cocktail of fun.” He raised his eyebrow. “One that should have kept you from being any trouble at all.”
“He didn’t get to inject all of it,” she said, answering his unasked question. Not that she needed to. Andrew Miller didn’t deserve anything from her.
“Ah, that would explain things.” He waved at her dismissively. “But still, now I have you here and it’s all all right.”
Nikki shook her head, frustration breaking through the wall of nerves that had gone up as soon as she saw they were at Orion.
“I still can’t believe you went through all this—all this trouble—to get me here,” she admitted, voice rising to match her mounting anger. “You’re basically giving up your life—your future—to what? Kill me? What you’ve done this week can never be taken back, you have to realize that.”
Andrew laughed, a terse sound.
“I can’t give up a life I’ve already lost, Nikki,” he said. His humor had gone again. Standing before her now was a man who had been wanting to tell her exactly what was on his mind for a long time. “A life that you took from me.”
“You lost your job,” she bit back. “Whatever happened after that was all on you and your twisted ideals of revenge.”
“Whatever happened?” he yelled, his collected composure cracking. The movement was so violent that some of his hair knocked loose from its gelled hold. “After you created your monster story about me, I lost everything.”
“I didn’t create anything,” Nikki interjected. “I told the truth!”
“Your truth,” he said, thrusting his finger into her chest so hard that the chair tipped back a fraction. She was barely able to keep from yelling out in surprise. “You told them a Nikki Waters—the woman who can do no wrong—truth. You painted me as some kind of soulless man for doing my job. You misplaced your guilt on me. It wasn’t my fault you felt responsible.”
“We were responsible!” Nikki felt her face heat, anger pulsing through every fiber of her being. “You told us to turn her away and we did without question, and then, then you admitted you wouldn’t have helped even if you could have. That unless she had money, she was worthless. Your words, not mine. You had already painted a picture of the monster that you are. I just showed it to the public.”
Andrew slapped her so hard across the face that her head flung to the side. The sound echoed through the lounge as the pain that was partnered with it burst across her cheek.
“Years of dedication to that job ruined by a mouthy secretary,” he continued, voice still carrying through the open room. “After that my name, my good name, was tarnished. No one wanted me. No one would take me. I couldn’t even get an interview anywhere. One moment I was dining with some of the biggest stars and the most beautiful women, and the next everyone was too embarrassed to be seen with me!”
Nikki turned her head back slowly, bracing for another hit. She’d never really seen the man in front of her before. He looked like a rabid animal. Eyes slit, teeth barred, spit flying when he spoke each word. True anger. Nikki once again thought about Jackson in the ambulance. She hoped he’d be able to escape.
Because right now she realized she had resigned herself to the likelihood that maybe she wouldn’t.
“When I heard about your new agency, your new success, I knew I had to teach you a lesson,” he continued. The color in his face was starting to fade. He rolled his shoulders back and straightened his slacks at the knees.
Nikki was almost afraid to ask but knew she couldn’t help it. “And what lesson is that?”
“That you can’t take what isn’t yours without consequences,” he answered.
“What isn’t mine?” she asked. Yet again unable to keep from encouraging him by asking another question.
He waved to the room around him. “You ended my career, tarnished my name, and ruined any chance I had to get everything I’d ever wanted in life,” he said. “Then you used my downfall to jump-start your career, get good press for your name, and created a future of possibility for yourself.”
He stood so suddenly that Nikki flinched away, afraid he was going to slap her again. “This,” he said, moving back and waving his arms around. “All of this should be mine.” A brilliant smile lit his face as he looked around the office, as if he was seeing his life in place of hers. For one startling moment, he seemed normal. A man who was happy. A man who had found peace. A man Nikki wished she’d known.
Whatever he was envisioning didn’t last long. Andrew faced her, still standing. His happiness, no matter how disillusioned it had been, was gone. He smoothed down his hair with his hand and cleared his throat.
“But, as you’ve pointed out, everything I’ve done has ensured that I can’t have what is yours.” He held up his index finger to stop her response, though she had none to give. He’d hired men to kill her and they had, in turn, killed others while he’d also murdered a man no sooner than five minutes beforehand. He’d have to live in hiding the rest of his life unless he wanted to pay for his deeds. And something told Nikki that he didn’t want to do that.
“The next best thing is to make sure you can’t have that, either.”
Nikki inadvertently cringed while a shiver ran up the length of her spine. Andrew Miller was a confident man and he sure seemed confident about that.
“So, what? You’re going to kill me now?” she asked when he’d seemed to exhaust his urge for long speeches. Her gaze went to the gun in his hand. He didn’t miss the shift in her focus.
“You mean, am I going to shoot you?” He shook his head. “No. Not when I have one more point to make.” When he seemed to realize she had no idea what he was talking about, Andrew sighed. “Don’t tell me you’ve missed my nods to your golden boys’ most well-known jobs. I admit I didn’t go in chronological order, but still I hoped you’d pick up on the similarities.”
“I’d hoped no sane person would go that extra mile,” she admitted, anger growing again. It wasn’t enough that he was going to kill her. No, he had to rub Oliver’s, Mark’s and Jonathan’s noses in it, too. Using horrors that had somehow played a part in each of their most dangerous contracts. The question now, though, was which past case held her fate?
“The bathtub was for Oliver’s contract in Maine?” she asked, already knowing she was right. Andrew nodded as another piece connected. “And the injection was for Jonathan’s case in New York.” Andrew nodded again, explaining the chronological comment, since Jonathan’s contract hadn’t happened until after Mark’s biggest case.
Which brought her to the question of what part of that particular case would be used to kill her.
“Oh, my God,” Nikki breathed. She didn’t need to think about that too long. There was one terrifying detail about the case that had brought Mark and Kelli together.
Andrew smiled wide.
“I take it you’ve guessed correctly,” he said. Instead of asking for her conclusion, he held up his finger again and then went back to her office.
As soon as his back was turned, Nikki tried to break free. She threw herself around almost as violently as Andrew’s earlier outburst, but the ropes still didn’t give.
Nikki thrashed around, miles past panicked.
Andrew returned in the middle of her trying to tip her chair over. Anything that could possibly get her free.
“Calm down, Nikki,” he chided playfully. She zeroed in on what he had in his hand. How she wished it was the gun.
“I’m assuming you know what not-so-subtle reference I’m making with this?”
Nikki felt her head nod as she recalled all too clearly what had happened.
“The fire,” she whispered.
Chapter Nineteen
The pain in his shoulder was nothing compared to the fear of what Andrew Miller was doing to Nikki inside Orion.
“If she dies, you’ll pay for it,” Jackson tried. Heather still hadn’t dropped her aim on him. “The people who care about that woman will find you and, repaying a favor or not, they won’t care. You’ll go down with the rest of them.”
Heather raised her eyebrow in perfect sync with the corner of her lips.
“Says the man bleeding in the back of an ambulance with no hope in sight,” she deadpanned. “Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m not as crafty as my friend in there. If I need to disappear? Well, that’s just another Tuesday for me.”
Jackson gritted his teeth.
Once again he mentally went through the motions of trying to get through Heather without getting shot. It wasn’t the pain that made him wary. It was the possibility that she just might kill him, which meant he couldn’t help Nikki. What he needed was a distraction. One good enough that she’d look away. All he needed was a lapse in her attention and he’d find a way to disarm her.
He didn’t have to hope for long.
Movement over Heather’s shoulder caught Jackson’s attention. Someone was walking toward them. Hope rose hard and fast.
Then crashed back down.
The man was coming from Orion, which meant he probably wasn’t an ally to feel good about. Jackson slid off the stretcher to the small space between it and the steel bench, wishing there was some kind of cover.
“That’s not Michael,” Jackson said, nodding to the approaching man.
“Good try,” Heather huffed. She rolled her eyes. “But how stupid do you think I am? I’m not falling for that ‘there’s someone behind you’ bit.”
No sooner had she said it than the echo of the man’s boots bounced around the empty street. Heather’s eyes widened. Jackson in turn tensed, knowing the window he was about to have would be a small one.
He’d asked for a distraction and he was about to get it.
Heather spun around, taking the aim of the gun with her. The moment it cleared him, Jackson ran forward and flung himself out of the back and onto the asphalt. Instead of trying to fight Heather, he immediately turned and ran alongside the ambulance until he got to the door. Heather didn’t follow. She was shouting at the man. Seconds later a weird pop sounded. A body hit the ground.
Heather.
Jackson didn’t wait around to see if the man would come for him. He already knew that was the plan. Something told him that Michael might have already met the same fate. He stopped at the passenger door, still hidden from the rest of the street, and tried the handle. It opened without a problem.
Jackson peered inside and could have clapped.
The keys were still in the ignition.
Without hesitation, he rocketed himself over the passenger’s seat and maneuvered into the driver’s side. The pain from his shoulder made him suck in a breath, but the thought of Nikki being hurt, or worse, kept his limbs moving without pause. He turned the key in the ignition just as a loud bang followed the rev of the engine. Jackson swore, afraid it was the vehicle dying, when the right side started to sag.
“Oh man,” he said as another bang made the vehicle shudder. The man had just shot out the back tires.
Jackson threw the ambulance in drive and slammed his foot down on the pedal. It connected with the floorboard. Metal scraped against the asphalt as the vehicle jutted forward and picked up speed. In the side mirror Jackson saw sparks flying. Beyond them he could see the gunman standing in the middle of the street. Jackson glanced into the passenger side mirror and saw Heather’s body next to the curb. Orion stood even farther back, its metal sign reflecting light from the streetlamps.
The ambulance whined something awful the farther away he got until he was at a four-way stop. He started to slow but had no intention of stopping. He also had no intention of driving forward anymore. Sure, he knew he could keep going and be completely out of harm’s way. The man behind him couldn’t hurt him now. Jackson could drive away from Orion, from the street, from this part of town... But what he couldn’t do was drive away from her. Jackson said a quick prayer and turned the wheel hard. The back end of the vehicle swayed something awful, but it didn’t flip, tip or even spin out. Jackson punched the gas again, sights set back down the road.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Jackson didn’t have a weapon on him. Which meant that, for all intents and purposes, the ambulance had become his only weapon and shield. The gunman saw him speeding toward him and backtracked to the curb. Jackson turned the wheel, slightly angling his direction toward the man. The ambulance shook in response.
The man raised his gun and smiled, as if to say, “Yeah, right, buddy. You’re going to hit me with a busted-up ambulance.”
He was right about that, but Jackson had no intention of trying to run over the man. He cut the wheel again and slammed on the brakes. The gunman, appearing confused, was still several yards away. Heather’s body, however, was not.
Jackson threw open the door as another pop cut through the air. The passenger window shattered, but Jackson was already at Heather’s body. Or, more aptly, her discarded gun. He grabbed it from just outside her open grasp and ducked as another spray of glass filled the front seats.
Definitely not going back in there, he thought, seeing the windshield was majorly gone. He moved along the driver’s side of the vehicle down to the corner. Checking the clip and making sure the gun was cocked and the safety was off, Jackson took a deep breath and peeked around.
The ambulance was angled enough that the gunman wasn’t in view. Which, Jackson hoped, meant he was still at the curb. Holding out his new gun, he moved past the opened doors. He bent low and swung around to try to get a visual on the man.
Sure enough, he was still at the curb and, sure enough, he still wanted to kill Jackson.
* * *
FOR ONCE, HEARING a gunshot wasn’t the most alarming thing for Nikki. In fact, it was far enough away that it didn’t even seem real. Every part of her was currently frozen in fear because of one very real red gas can that was being used to pour very real gasoline around the room.
“You don’t have to do this,” she whispered, knowing full well it was a weak attempt at an impossible goal. Andrew’s attention toward the sound of the shot switched back to his current activity. She didn’t miss his smile.
“Oh, but I do, Miss Waters,” he said. A moment later he let out a loud laugh and slapped his knee. “Miss Waters... How fun is it that your name is Waters and yet you’re about to burn?” He laughed again and looked at her, eyebrow raised. She didn’t return his mirth. “No? You don’t even find that a little funny? Tough crowd.”
Another gunshot went off and then another, still far enough away that it didn’t seem to concern Andrew too much. He continued along the wall that connected the lounge to the gym, furthering the line he’d started at the hall. Nikki watched in muted horror as he kept on, making a box around the room, before finally emptying the can back at the hallway. He threw it behind him with a sigh. Brushing his hands together, he made his way back to her.
“I know you’re wondering why I didn’t douse you,” he began. “But, you see, that would be too easy. Once I threw the flame you’d go up too quickly. That’s not what I want.” He motioned to the path he’d made around them. “I want you to feel trapped first.”
Nikki couldn’t look away from his smile. The way a man whom she’d once worked for had turned so hateful terrified her to her very core. There was no remorse or doubt in his actions. No last-minute regrets. He had a plan and he was going to finish it. There was nothing in the entire world that would change his
mind.
So Nikki didn’t try. Instead, she thought about her sister and her children and how much they’d grown in the last few years, then her father, who had always been nervous about her starting Orion but had always supported Nikki without pause. Then she thought about her godson and his mother, Oliver’s wife Darling, who had become such a dear friend, which always led to Kelli and Kate—Mark’s and Jonathan’s significant others, respectively—before her mind went to the three agents who were her closest friends. She tried to picture them at their happiest in the various stages of their relationships with their equally wonderful women—the day Oliver and Darling became parents, Mark and Kelli’s wedding, and the day Jonathan and Kate had announced their engagement—and only wished what happened to her wouldn’t darken the many other great moments they deserved.
Nikki’s thoughts brought up the memory of when she first walked through Orion’s front door after it had opened for the first time. She’d been so determined to make a difference, focused on helping as many people as she could. Oliver, Mark and Jonathan had followed her inside, ready to help her achieve that goal. Not once had they questioned the validity of her position. Not once did they tell her a former secretary couldn’t run a security agency. They had believed in her so strongly that she’d felt fear that first day. Fear that she’d fail. That, in the end, she’d let them all down.
But what about now?
How did she feel years later?
Nikki squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.
Proud.
Proud of Orion’s successes, proud of those who had helped accomplish them, but, mostly, proud to be lucky enough to be a part of it all. Nikki finally decided to acknowledge the heartbreaking realization that had been on the back burner since she had walked into the building.
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