Face the Music (COBRA Securities Book 9)

by Velvet Vaughn

  “May I?” he asked Ariel. She nodded and thrust it at him. “Look away,” he instructed the girl as he took a knife to the bear. He spread the sides apart and sure enough, a small black device dropped to the floor. Luke found a tissue in a box by the bed. He used it to retrieve the gadget and carefully pried the back off to remove the battery. He’d have Peter go over it for any information he could find.

  Monica was staring at the bug as if in a trance. “I led him right to us.” When she looked up, there was pain in her eyes. “I knew better than to accept something from a stranger, yet I did it anyway. And it could’ve gotten us killed.” Both the girl and boy ran over to hug her and she wrapped an arm around each of them.

  “You’re safe now,” he murmured. “Let’s go. We’ll take my car. I’ll send someone over to pick yours up later.”

  “What if there are more tracking devices?”

  “Leave the bag in your car. We’ll have everything scanned once we get it to the compound.” He bent down to the young boy and put his hand on his shoulder. His knees were screaming at him again but he ignored them. “Leo, I’ve got an important job for you.”

  The boy’s eyes widened and he nodded. “I want you to help me look around once we get outside, make sure no one is watching us. Okay?” Leo nodded eagerly. He knew the boy wanted to protect his family and giving him an important job would make him feel like he was helping.

  They made it outside and to the SUV without incident. Luke made sure the kids were buckled in and then waited for Layla to click her belt into place before closing her door and rounding the hood. He took the long way back, continually checking the mirrors for a tail.

  “You said your house burned down. What happened?”

  Layla had been staring out the window. She turned at his question. “We were renting. We need to be able to move at the drop of a hat, so there was nothing there that we needed, except for a small fireproof safe I hid in a closet. It was important only to me, and there was nothing to identify us. We holed up in a motel for a month after the fire, trying to decide what to do. If someone was watching the house, I didn’t want to go back too soon. I finally called the owner to see if the safe had been recovered. She said the fire was arson and one of the neighbor’s cameras picked up a person outside the house before it went up, but they wore a hoodie so there was no way to identify him or her. She told me the safe had been recovered, so we arranged a time for me to stop by and pick it up. When we got there, she gave me the safe and the bear, saying one of the firemen wanted the kids to have it, that they carried stuffed animals to pacify traumatized children. I asked if she knew what he looked like, but she couldn’t give a description. She’s older and her eyesight isn’t the best. She did tell me that two different firemen stopped by. One with the safe and the other with the bear.”

  She sighed. “Once I heard it was arson, I knew that somehow we’d been found and I had to get the kids out of town. My contact was dead so I had nowhere else to go.”

  “The man who was helping you, he knew where you were staying?”

  “Not the exact location, but the state. He thought it was safer that way.”

  “Could they have gotten to him?”

  She gasped and sat up straight. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She shook her head fiercely. “I trust him with my life. He would never give us up.”

  Luke didn’t say it out loud, but if the man had been tortured before death, he could’ve spilled all her secrets. The mind could only take so much before it cracked and pain was an excellent motivator.

  Chapter Six

  Layla couldn’t stop shaking. She’d come so close to losing Tiff and Sean. Would the thug have kidnapped them and returned them to their father? Or would he have just used the gun to… She shuddered, unable to finish the thought. Luke mistook her reaction for being chilly and cranked up the heater. Truth was, she was cold. Frozen to the bone. Without Henry, her anchor throughout the entire ordeal, she felt like she was drowning. She wasn’t sure where to go or what to do.

  Her gaze drifted to Luke as he capably navigated the streets to his office. His strong profile, filled with confidence and competence, calmed her. She felt safe with him. More importantly, she felt the twins were safe with him. She could never thank him enough for coming to their rescue. What would she have done without him? What if he hadn’t followed her? She didn’t think the man would’ve hesitated to use his gun on her. Probably even the maid to eliminate witnesses.

  She reached over and squeezed his forearm. The man was as solid as a slab of granite. “Thank you,” she whispered. Two simple words that meant so much. She could never express her gratitude for saving her siblings.

  He placed his hand over hers and squeezed. Then he glanced at her and smiled. “No thanks necessary.”

  “Yes, I do need to thank you. I took off and didn’t have the courage to tell you. If you hadn’t followed me…” She couldn’t finish the sentence. When his hand clasped hers again, she realized she was still holding on to him…and he was still holding on to her. Embarrassed, she tugged her hand away. She felt the loss of his touch like a physical ache. “I don’t know if I had a premonition or what, but suddenly I was overcome with the overwhelming urge to go to the kids.”

  “Maybe it’s some kind of mother’s intuition.”

  She cringed. He still thought the twins were her children. She’d made the decision to tell him everything, including her real identity. He’d saved their lives so he’d proven himself. But she didn’t want to replay the story in front of the twins. She’d wait until they were alone to talk.

  #

  Luke’s blood was still pumping after confronting the man trying to break into Monica’s motel room. If her instincts hadn’t screamed for her to go to her children, it would’ve had a very different ending.

  He didn’t have the entire story yet, but it appeared as if they were running from an abusive husband. Was he violent enough to harm the children? Luke glanced in the mirror at the two sweet faces. Anyone who could harm a child was the lowest scum on earth. He vowed to protect these two from whatever danger they faced.

  He swung through a drive-through and picked up some burgers and fries. Both kids wanted a milkshake, so he ordered those as well. He didn’t eat fast food often. When your sister was a world-class chef, it spoiled you. He backed into a parking space so he could watch people coming and going. He didn’t want to spend too much time away from the compound, but the kids were hungry and Monica looked one strong wind from blowing away. She unwrapped her sandwich and nibbled. Her hands were shaking and he knew an adrenalin dump was probably hitting her, too. He wanted to chastise her for not eating, but it wasn’t his place. Yet.

  A hunk of hamburger lodged in his throat, cutting off his air. He grabbed his Coke and washed it down, assuring Monica he was fine. Where had that thought come from? He didn’t know anything about this woman except her name. She was raising two children and he’d been through that already with his three younger siblings when their parents had been killed. She was a case, nothing more. He didn’t need to get emotionally involved.

  Easier said than done.

  Once they finished, he dumped the trash in a bin and headed for home. He drove through the gates and stopped to give Tuck the children’s names. “They’ll be staying here for a few days.” He felt Monica tense beside him. They hadn’t discussed where they would stay but if he had to go all caveman, he would. There was no way he was letting these three out of his sight. Someone had tried to harm them today, on his home turf. He took that as a personal attack.

  Even though they had guest housing available that was nicer than most hotels, the trio would be staying at his house. He had plenty of room. It’d been empty since Kaitlyn moved out. Ben lived down the road with his wife, Rachel, and his other brother, Grant, a Navy SEAL, rarely came home.

  “Gotcha, boss,” Tucker said. Then he made a production of whipping out two Tootsie Pops—his favorite treat—from his pocket and presenting them t
o the children.

  “Thank you,” they called out in unison.

  Luke waved to Tuck and parked the Escalade. He checked the time on the digital clock before he turned the engine off. Dan Bradley would be hitting the gym now. He dialed his cell.

  “Yo, my brother, what’s up?”

  Luke was tired of correcting the irritating man. They weren’t brothers, yet. Sure, he and Dan’s older brother Logan were as close as brothers, so he’d grown up around Dan. He was always the annoying little gnat that wanted to do everything they did. Logan adored his brother, so that usually meant he came along…when he wasn’t hanging out with Luke’s baby sister. Now, Dan was engaged to Kaitlyn.

  “At least you aren’t calling me by that stupid Star Wars name,” he grumbled.

  “Oh, come-on, Skywalker, you know you love it.”

  Luke ignored him. “I know you’re about to work out, but could you come to the offices? I have a client with two children. I was hoping you could show them the obstacle course.”

  “Anything for you, bro. On my way.” As Luke disconnected, he glanced at the rear-view mirror when the SUV started rocking. The kids were bobbing up and down on the seat.

  “Did you hear that, Ariel? We get to go to an obstacle course!” Sean waved his Tootsie Pop like a flag.

  “Yay!” The little girl was clapping her hands, her sucker planted firmly in her mouth.

  He glanced at Monica to see her twisted in her seat, smiling fondly at the twins before she glanced at him. “They’ve been begging me to take them to one. They’re hooked on watching all the ninja warrior shows on television.”

  “Ah.” Luke smiled. “Then I have a special treat for them.”

  #

  A tall, dark-haired man strode across the parking lot, dressed in a workout t-shirt and shorts, even though the wind had a bite to it. Her gaze slid to Luke. He was smiling fondly at the man, much like a younger brother. Kaitlyn had said that Luke raised her and her brothers. She met Ben earlier. Was this another one?

  “Thanks for taking time out of your busy workout schedule, Bradley.”

  “Anything for you, my brother.”

  The only similarities she could see between the two men were height and dark hair. Luke was serious, confident and so handsome, he took her breath. The other man looked like he smiled all the time…and he looked very familiar. He also sported a sparkly red heart on his forehead.

  “You aren’t my brother yet,” Luke growled.

  “Just a matter of time,” Dan remarked.

  Luke rolled his eyes and glanced at Layla. “He’s marrying my baby sister. Against my better judgment,” was muttered under his breath.

  “Oh, you love me.” Dan crushed Luke in a hug. Luke pushed him away, much to Dan’s amusement. Meanwhile, her siblings were literally vibrating with excitement. She narrowed her eyes at them but she couldn’t figure out why they were bubbling over with enthusiasm. Both sets of eyes were goggled behind their chunky frames and their mouths were hanging open. Finally, they couldn’t hold it in any longer.

  “It’s him! It’s the ninja warrior champion!”

  “Oh my gosh, it’s Dan Bradley! Oh, I’m going to die!”

  Layla glanced at the man and her eyes widened. It was Dan Bradley. Tiff had a major crush on him and Sean wanted to be him. They’d watched replays of his runs repeatedly.

  Funny, but her siblings had met icons in the music and entertainment industries and they didn’t rate so much as a peep. A polite hello, nice to meet you. But introduce a ninja warrior champion to them and they were screaming fans.

  “Mr. Bradley, can I have your autograph?”

  Tiff elbowed her brother. “We. Can we have your autograph?”

  “Nope,” Dan said shaking his head. Both kids—and Layla—stared at him in shock. He seemed so friendly before. “Not if you call me Mr. Bradley,” he finished. “Call me Dan, or, you know, King Ninja, Conqueror of the world,” he said this with one hand raised in the air and the other on his hip. The kids giggled with mirth. “And I’ll not only sign autographs, but I’ll even take you to our certified ninja course and let you try some of the obstacles.”

  She breathed out a huge sigh of relief. Her siblings had been through so much. If their hero was nasty to them, it would crush them. Both kids squealed in glee. He held up his hands and they high-fived him.

  “Can we, Mom, can we?” Sean pleaded.

  “Pretty please,” Tiff added.

  Before she could answer, Dan whipped out a cell phone and gathered the kids close. “Let’s take a selfie,” he said. “I’ll post it to my Instagram.”

  Tiff and Sean’s eyes flew to hers. They didn’t need their picture floating around out there in cyberspace when Mullins was trying to track them down. “Uh…”

  “Dan,” Luke said softly and shook his head. Dan instantly understood. He slid the phone in his pocket. “This is Monica Webb and her children Leo and Ariel,” Luke introduced.

  Layla winced. She hated deceiving these people and having her siblings lie as well. Hopefully they would forgive them for the ruse once their story was revealed.

  “Apparently, they’re excited to meet you.” Luke’s voice was dry.

  “And why not,” Dan boasted, his arms out wide. “I’m a neat guy.” He leaned down to shake her siblings’ hands. “Ariel, Leo, it’s good to meet you.”

  “Oh, man, you, too,” Sean said, pumping Dan’s hand enthusiastically. Tiff couldn’t quit giggling.

  “Mrs. Webb, it’s a pleasure.” His smile was a slash of white with a hint of wicked. My goodness, he was potent. He shook her hand and then addressed the children. “You two ready to hit the gym with me?”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Sean chanted, thrusting his hand in the air and then high-fiving Tiff.

  The twins looked to her for guidance. The excited hope shining in their eyes was impossible to deny. “They’re not really dressed for running obstacles…” Layla hated to burst their bubble, but their jeans and sweatshirts weren’t conducive to getting sweaty. Plus, they had so few clothes, she didn’t want them ruining the ones they had.

  Dan waved her concern away. “We’ve got gear they can wear.”

  Luke stepped closer and whispered, “You don’t have to worry about them. They’re safe here.”

  It warmed her that he understood her hesitation. Plus, his breath against her ear sent ripples of heat shooting through her body. She wrapped her arms around herself to hide her body’s instant reaction. She truly believed they were safe here. Luke had mentioned them staying, but they hadn’t discussed it. It would be nice to finally have a good night’s sleep without having to worry about fleeing in the middle of the night. How would she ever be able to repay him for all he was doing for her and her siblings?

  Tiff and Sean were staring at her hopefully. She was still rattled from the earlier encounter, but she couldn’t deny them. “Okay, but—”

  Tiff and Sean squealed and high fived each other again before she could finish. “Be careful,” she yelled after them when they took off for a dead run towards the large building across the way.

  “Guess that’s my cue. Good to meet you,” Dan said with a wave as he jogged after them.

  Maybe, just maybe she made the right choice in trusting the agents of COBRA Securities.

  Chapter Seven

  Layla watched the children skip away until they disappeared inside the gym with Dan on their heels. It made her heart happy to see the kids having fun.

  A hand grazed her back and she jumped. It’d been a long time since a man had touched her and none had ever created these instant sparks. She felt singed by the contact.

  “Why don’t we go back to my office and you can finish telling me your story.”

  With one last look, she turned and followed Luke to the door, smiling as he opened it for her. Reeling from his touch, she strove for something to distract her. “Your office building is beautiful.”

  “Thanks. When we built it, we planned for expansion so right n
ow, only the top two floors are occupied. All our computer operations are housed underground. We affectionately call it the Bat Cave.”

  Luke punched the button for the elevator and the doors opened instantly. She stepped aboard and studied the floor on the ride up. She needed to gather her strength to tell him the entire story. After seeing him in action earlier, she had no doubt he was the best possible solution to her problems.

  He held an arm out for her to precede him out of the elevator. She wasn’t used to gentlemanly manners. People in her business were in it for themselves. Chivalry was indeed dead in the music industry.

  “Oh, good.” BeBe zoomed from behind her desk to block their path. “I was afraid I chased you away. Sometimes I act like Mario Andretti in this thing.”

  Layla smiled at her and touched her arm. “You didn’t. It was totally me.”

  “Good. I would hate for this guy to fire me. I love my job.”

  “Your job is secure, BeBe,” Luke said fondly. “We’d be lost without you.”

  “Oh gosh, you’re gonna make me blush.” Zipping her chair back, she executed a perfect half turn, allowing them to pass.

  He popped his head inside his secretary’s office as they passed. “Hold my calls, Jane.” She nodded and waved at Layla. The door directly across the hall from Luke’s office stood open and someone called out for him. He ushered her inside. “Monica, this is my business partner, Logan Bradley.”

  Layla’s heart pounded. Meeting so many new people at once made her nervous. Even though there was a very slim possibility she’d be recognized, it still made her stomach churn. In her former life, she met dozens of people daily and it never fazed her. She took a step forward and almost gasped. Goodness, this man was incredible. Dark hair and eyes, he was built like a Greek warrior. He bore a strong resemblance to Dan. She could also see why Jade fell in love with him. He was beautiful, but his strong grip and assessing gaze made her feel exposed. Fighting the urge to cower, she said, “I met your family earlier.”