His face transformed from heart-stopping to drop-dead gorgeous when he smiled. Then she noticed another man in the room, this one with spiky white hair.
“Tyler Redmond,” he said, holding out his hand. “I pretty much run this place.” He puffed out his chest.
Luke cleared his throat and Logan chuckled. “He’s one of our tech gurus.”
“Genius. I prefer genius,” Tyler sniffed.
Layla smiled and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“We’ll be meeting in my office if you need me,” Luke told them.
“Before you do, I need to speak with you.” Logan glanced at her and then back at Luke. “It’s important.”
Luke nodded slowly. “I’ll just get Ms. Webb settled and I’ll be right back.”
He guided her out the door but stopped to call out to a woman walking down the hall.
“Mags.”
The woman glanced over her shoulder and raised her brows. “Hey, Luke. What do you need?”
“Do you have a few minutes to take Ms. Webb to the gym? Her kids are running the obstacles with Bradley. I thought she might want to see them in action.”
“I’d love to.”
#
The beautiful woman Luke called Mags strode forward. She was an inch shorter than Layla but she was extremely fit. She wondered if she was an agent. She looked more like a fairy princess with her long, blond hair.
“Maggie McQueen, this is Monica Webb.”
“Nice to meet you,” Maggie said, shaking her hand. Her brows raised. “What?”
Monica realized she was staring. She pulled her hand away and shook her head. “Sorry, it’s just that you look familiar.” She almost cringed. When people said that to her, she had the urge to run and hide.
“Maggie is a ninja competitor, too,” Luke said.
A light bulb went off. “I remember now. You and your brothers competed.”
Maggie smiled with pride. “We did, although they made it farther than I did. We had an impressive showing of agents. Dante Costa was the hands down favorite to win, but he was hurt before the Vegas finals and couldn’t compete.”
“I saw that story. He’s okay now?”
“Oh yeah. He’s in charge of our strength and conditioning programs and he’s worse than a drill sergeant.” She smiled fondly. “But we love him anyway.”
“My si…kids are hooked on the competition. They were over the moon to meet Dan Bradley.” She never realized when she looked up COBRA Securities, it was the same company that employed so many of the ninja competitors.
“I’m working with Ms. Webb on a case but I need to meet with Logan,” Luke told Maggie. “If you don’t mind showing her the gym, I’d appreciate it.”
“When do you need her back?”
“Give me twenty.”
“Got it, boss.”
Layla followed Maggie down the hall, trying to keep up with the other woman’s quick pace. Maggie stopped and pushed the button for the elevator, then she turned and smiled. “You’ve picked the right agency to help.” She leaned in to whisper, as if imparting a secret. “And if Luke is helping you, then you hit the jackpot.”
“Really?” She’d felt that way but it was nice to have confirmation.
Maggie nodded. “He and Logan don’t take cases anymore, but they built the company with their hard work and dedication. It’s grown on their reputations.”
“I actually came with the intention of speaking with Mr. Mylonas.”
Maggie’s brows shot up. “Alex? Do you know him?”
Layla shook her head. “We were living in New York and the news was filled with coverage of the Vigilante case. He saved that television reporter.”
“More than once,” Maggie said with pride. “Olivia. They’re engaged now.”
“Really? Because of the Vigilante?”
The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. “They’d met before but distance kept them apart. They realized their true feelings during the ordeal. Now they’re getting married.”
“It’s like a fairy tale,” she murmured.
“Oh, we could write a book of them with the love stories around here.”
Before she could explain, the doors opened and they almost collided with a tall man with flashing blue eyes. Good grief, were all the men here Greek Gods?
“Magnolia Blossom,” he rumbled. Then he swept Maggie into his arms and kissed her soundly. Layla turned away, touched by the show of emotion.
When they finally broke apart, Maggie said, “Monica, this is my husband, Carter.” He held out a hand to shake, the other securing his wife to his side.
“Nice to meet you.” He smiled at her but could barely take his eyes off his wife. What would it be like to have someone focus all their attention on her like that?
“We’re headed to the gym. Want to join us?”
“I’d love to, but I need to take a call in,” he glanced at his watch, “two minutes.”
“Better hustle, Thunder.”
He smiled, gave her another thorough kiss and jogged inside. Maggie watched him with a wistful look on her face. She obviously lived one of the fairy tale love stories she’d mentioned.
“You’re both agents?” she asked.
Maggie drug her gaze away from her husband’s very fine backside and nodded. “I used to have BeBe’s job running the office, but I secretly wanted to be an agent. Then both of my brothers hired on. I’ve always wanted to do what they did. If they would’ve allowed women on the SEAL teams, I’d have tried that, too.”
Layla smiled with her. She’d always wanted siblings growing up. She was so happy when Tiffany and Sean came along, but she was so much older than them. Still, the love she felt for them was immense.
She glanced at their surroundings as they crossed to the gym. “This place is incredible.”
“It is,” Maggie agreed. “We’re a tight-knit community. Many of the agents live down that way.” She pointed to a road leading through the woods. “Besides the gym, which has everything you could think of, we have a shooting range, a combat training facility and a landing strip for the private jet and helicopter.” She pointed to a beautiful building off to the side. “That’s guest housing.”
“Like a hotel?”
“Better. It’s nicer than any hotel I’ve ever stayed in. We use it for clients or if we hire someone and they need a place to stay before they find permanent housing.”
The business must be very successful to have a compound of this magnitude. It stretched as far as the eye could see with sweeping views of a body of water and plenty of mature trees. There were people buzzing around on golf carts and children playing in a massive playground. The landscape looked professionally maintained.
Maggie opened the door and Layla stepped through. She belonged to a gym in Los Angeles, but it was nothing like this. The space was massive with every kind of weight machine possible in one corner, many of which were being used. There were several rooms off the main area. A boxing ring took up the middle. A climbing wall spanned to the lofty ceiling. Beyond that, she could see a swimming pool, a basketball court and a racquetball court. The second story was open in the middle, surrounded by a running track. Off to the other side was a huge obstacle course. She recognized several from the ninja competition. She heard squealing and laughter and spotted her siblings. Tiff was perched on Dan Bradley’s back and Sean clung to another man. They were racing up the warped wall. A young boy was cheering them on.
Layla gasped. What if one of the kids fell off?
“Don’t worry,” Maggie said, reading her mind. “They’re strapped on so they won’t fall. They do this all the time. Kids are always wanting to go up the wall.”
Layla hurried closer to see who won. It was a photo-finish as both men ascended the wall as if the added weight was nothing and smacked the buttons. The one on the left lit first. Sean threw his arms in the air and whooped. The man was doing some kind of victory dance, obviously taunting Dan. Sean was gyrating al
ong with him.
“Again, again,” Tiff yelled, pointing. “You cheated!”
“How did we cheat?” Sean asked.
Her bottom lip turned up in a pout. “Because you won.”
The two men swung down from the wall and unstrapped the devices securing the twins to their backs. Sean spotted her and waved.
“Mom, did you see that? We won!” He raced over and grabbed her hand, tugging her over. “We beat the ninja champ so that means we’re ninja champs, doesn’t it, Alex?”
“Sure does, Leo.”
Alex? She glanced at the man. It was Alex Mylonas, the man she originally came to see.
“Mom, this is the guy who brought down the Vigilante! Can you believe it? We watched the news and saw you,” Sean told him.
Alex smiled and held out a hand. She already knew he was gorgeous from seeing him on television, but she wasn’t prepared for the impact of his smile. If all the men who worked for COBRA Securities looked like him and Dan and Logan and Maggie’s husband…and Luke, especially Luke, she wouldn’t mind staying here forever.
“Nice to meet you. You have a couple of great kids.” He ruffled Sean’s hair, who beamed.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too. We were living in the New York area so we caught all the coverage. You’re a hero.”
He shook his head and deflected the praise. “It was a team effort.”
“Mom, this is Kai Costa. He’s almost as good on the obstacles as the grown-ups.” This from Tiff, who if she wasn’t mistaken, had developed a serious case of hero worship. Kai shook her hand and she had to smile. He was a heartbreaker in the making. He was probably the twins age, and he was adorable.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Ma’am. That made her feel old. “Are you Dante Costa’s son?”
“Yep.” He puffed up with pride. “That’s my dad, over there.”
She followed the finger he pointed and struggled not to swallow her tongue. She remembered from the competition that he was tall with dark hair and lots of muscles, but goodness, in person he gave Luke a run for his money.
“Mom, watch.”
Tiff and Sean showed off their prowess on the obstacles. Both kids were wearing COBRA Securities tank tops and shorts in children’s sizes. Tiff’s were pink and Sean’s were red. They weren’t very good, but they were determined. Kai was every bit as talented as they claimed. He was currently dangling upside down from a bar.
“Hey, Kai,” Dan called out.
“What, King Ninja, Conqueror of the World?” Behind his hand, he whispered, “He makes me call him that. Poor guy needs his ego boosted regularly, so I oblige.”
Layla laughed out loud. Dan narrowed his eyes playfully, obviously knowing Kai said something about him.
“Do you know what they call a baby monkey, seeing as how you look like one hanging there?”
Kai scrunched his red face in thought. “I give up. What?”
“A chimp off the old block.”
Kai laughed so hard, he fell off the bars.
Maggie came up beside her, chuckling. “Kai memorizes jokes to cheer people up when they’re sad. We all try to give him material to use.”
“That’s sweet.”
“Kai’s a little sweetheart. And he’s so brave. Sometime I’ll tell you the story of how he saved his stepsister from a convicted murderer.”
Layla’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”
“No and I hate to tear you away, but it’s been twenty minutes.”
“Really?” Time flew by. The kids were having so much fun and it made her heart swell to see them so happy. She wanted them to live every day like this, with laughter and happiness.
She walked over to Dan. “Are they bothering you? I can take them back with me.”
“Not at all. We love having them here. Go ahead with your meeting and don’t worry about them. We’ve got this.”
“Thank you.” She called Sean and Tiffany over. “Are you two okay here for a little longer?”
“I want to sleep here!” Sean exclaimed.
“Me, too!” Tiff joined in.
They didn’t currently have a place to stay and some of the mats did look rather comfy. Who knew? Maybe they’d end up back here.
She followed Maggie back across the lot and into the building. When they passed Luke’s secretary, she told them to go on into his office and he would be there soon. Maggie made sure she was comfortable and brought a bottle of water before leaving.
Layla glanced around the office, which was as large as some apartments. She hadn’t had a chance to fully appreciate it earlier. The view of the outdoors was impressive. The couch against a wall looked comfy and there was an attached bath. Maybe they’d sleep in here instead.
She walked over to check out the pictures and certificates that she hadn’t had a chance to peruse before. There were several photos of Luke with Kaitlyn, Ben and another gorgeous man she didn’t know. There were a few of a couple she thought might be his parents because she recognized him in them. In the pictures, they looked young. There weren’t any recent ones. Kaitlyn had said something about Luke raising her. Had their parents died young? In one photo, Luke wore a police uniform surrounded by his siblings. He’d been a cop? She bet he was a good one. There were shots of his partner Logan on a boat and a few others of people she didn’t know. In any photo Luke was in, he instantly drew her eye. There was something so magnetic about him. He was strong and authoritative and so damn sexy.
She turned away before she started drooling. She hadn’t noticed his desk before. It was massive and made of cherry. The top was neatly organized. His chair was large, covered in black leather and well padded. Two chairs, also leather, were placed in front for guests. Yes, the company was certainly doing well.
The door opened and she spun around, her heart thumping against her rib cage. She started to smile but noticed the look on his face. He was studying her, much like his partner earlier. She had the sudden urge to rush past him and flee.
#
Luke waited until Maggie and Monica disappeared down the hallway before he turned back around and reentered Logan’s office. He couldn’t figure out his reaction to the woman. He felt energized when she was around, like his body had been in hibernation and was just waking up. His nerve endings sparked to life. When he innocently placed his hand against her back earlier, he almost had to jerk it back. Electricity shot from the end of his fingertips throughout his body. What was it about this woman that affected him so much?
When he stepped into Logan’s office, the mood was serious, driving any thoughts of chemistry from his mind. Logan was seated behind his desk with Tyler taking up a chair in front.
He closed the door before turning to face his partner and their tech genius. Today, Tyler’s hair stood up in white spikes instead of the fire engine red he’d been sporting for a few weeks.
He glanced between the two men. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got a major problem.” This from Tyler. Luke’s brows lifted and he glanced at Logan. His partner’s poker face gave nothing away but Tyler couldn’t hide the excitement shining in his eyes.
“What’s the problem?”
“So, as you know, I’ve been perfecting the facial recognition program, skads better than the FBI’s. I may have,” he made air quotes, “borrowed a few…or all…of their database photos, and from Scotland Yard, and Mossad—”
“Tyler?”
“Huh?”
“You aren’t supposed to break any laws. You signed a contract. Remember?”
He made a “pshaw” noise and waved a hand. “They never even knew I was there.”
Luke sighed and rubbed his eyes. “How is it you don’t work for NASA?”
“Afraid to fly.”
“Can we get back to the reason you called me in here? I have a client waiting.”
“First, we got a hit on the guy from the motel.”
For results that fast, Luke was willing to overlook any dubio
us lines Tyler might’ve crossed to perfect his program. “Who is he?”
It was Logan who answered. “Bad news. Gary Palmer. He’s a former cop turned private investigator. His PI license was revoked and now he’s basically a gun for hire. He finds people who don’t want to be found. His record’s impressive.”
“Damn impressive,” Tyler emphasized. “Most of the people he finds end up dead, but there’s never evidence that can tie him to the murder.”
“So he covers his tracks,” Luke concluded. “We need to circulate his picture and description to all the local and surrounding law enforcement offices.”
“Done,” Logan stated.
Luke should’ve known his partner was on top of things. “Do we know who hired him?”
Tyler glanced at Logan and Luke’s worry kicked up a notch.
“Your client, she said her name was Monica Webb?” At Luke’s confirmation, Tyler continued. “The camera at the gate automatically scanned her photo and it ran through my program. Look at this.” He stood and padded to the large television attached to the wall. Luke and Logan followed. Tyler clicked a button on a remote and the screen came to life. It showed Monica standing at the gate, a toboggan covering her shaggy brown hair and chunky glasses obscuring her eyes. Tyler clicked a button and the screen split into two frames. Large orange spots appeared on Monica’s face and then another picture popped up with the same dots. Lines shot out from the points on both pictures and connected, confirming a perfect match. When Tyler cleared the lines away, it revealed a stunning woman with long blond hair and blue eyes, holding a microphone and smiling. He jerked back. Sonofa—
Tyler voiced his realization. “Monica Webb is music superstar Layla Brooks.”
Chapter Eight
“No.” Luke’s denial was instant. “Layla Brooks is dead.”
Tyler produced another picture showing the charred remains of a vehicle. “She supposedly died in an accident. Her car exploded so there was pretty much nothing left. They identified her by dental records.” He clicked to another frame, showing the solemn pictures of a young boy and girl. “Her stepsiblings went missing the next day.”
Face the Music (COBRA Securities Book 9) Page 6