Sweet Seduction Serenade

by Nicola Claire

  The door opened and Ben proceeded us through, saying over his shoulder, "A shadow job. Some high profile daughter Pierce and Stone think is in on her Daddy's business. The details are on your desk."

  "Good," Nick replied, holding the door open for me to follow behind both men. "She good for it, you think?"

  "Yeah, no doubt about it, she knows somethin'. But she also knows how to play the game. Gonna be a fun chase." His full lips spread into a predatory smile, white teeth glinting in the lights of the hallway. Gotta like a man who loves his job.

  Nick chuckled, then turned to face me. His eyes met mine briefly, but there was something different about them. As though as soon as we stepped off that elevator he had changed. Gone was the reckless man who kissed me with abandon in the garage despite the security risks. Replaced with a man who ran a tight ship and had a job to do. I was definitely not comfortable in this place.

  Nor did I feel my presence was desired.

  "Can you take Eva to the control room and dump her with Eric? I've gotta catch up on what's going on and you'd better get out on that job."

  Ben nodded. I just frowned. What the darn hell was up with Nick? Dump me with Eric? I felt my temper begin to boil, but didn't have the object of my ire to give it to, as Nick disappeared down the corridor and out of sight before his words had finished ringing in the air.

  "Come on, cowgirl," Ben said cheerfully. "You're gonna love Eric's cave."

  I followed Ben numbly towards a locked door and watched blindly as he entered a code, then waited for the camera above the door to zoom in on him, before the lock clicked open and the door released. Ben led the way inside a techno domain right out of a sci-fi movie. Banks of monitors filled one entire wall, a huge padded swivel chair before them with a guy with broad shoulders and jet black hair sitting in it, pushing buttons, tweaking levels and jostling various joysticks, which changed camera angles on the screens.

  The rest of the room had desks along the side walls, full of further electronic equipment and a few scattered smaller swivel chairs here and there. The guy in the chair swung round to look at us both, a huge grin gracing his gorgeous face, the greens of his eyes lighting up like jewels in a crown. Wow. What a looker.

  "Hey there, cowgirl. Welcome to control," he said happily, then swung back to the bank of screens.

  "Can you look after Eva for a bit, Nick's busy and I gotta get to that job," Ben said already heading back towards the closed door.

  "No worries," the guy - Eric I guess - replied. "Grab a seat, Eva, there's much to keep you entertained."

  I woodenly took a seat off to the side and prepared to just weather the storm. Surely Nick wouldn't leave me here for hours when I needed to get to my Dad before it was too late.

  "Where's she at now?" Ben asked, hand on doorknob.

  Eric swung his chair around to face a computer screen off to the side and hit a few keys, bringing up a series of code. He selected one and a map appeared on the screen. A few more buttons and he finally answered Ben's question.

  "Bingo, Sweet Seduction! Must be grabbing a coffee."

  "How long she been there?"

  "Two minutes. If she sticks to routine she'll stay for a further fifteen, then head to work. You'll probably catch her easy, before she opens up shop."

  "Good. I could do with an espresso," Ben said and knocked on the door twice.

  I watched stunned as Eric turned to a joystick and manoeuvred the camera out in the hall to get a good shot of first one direction, then the other, then right in front of the door.

  "All clear," he announced and Ben opened the door and offered a nod of his head to me, then slipped out of sight. These guys took security seriously. It made me feel safe, but it also made me feel trapped. I needed to see my Dad.

  "Eric," I started.

  "Yeah, Eva babe," he answered casually, eyes on the screens before him. How he could maintain a heightened level of concentration and not drift off to sleep staring blankly at all those screens, was beyond me.

  "I need to go see my Dad. When can I leave?"

  He didn't turn towards me, just shifted his chair to another joystick and began to zoom in on a form lying in a hospital bed.

  "He's right here, Eva. Take a look. Sound asleep."

  I jumped up from my seat and crowded ASI's control room man, staring at the supine figure of my father in a well appointed hospital type room. A lump formed in my throat at the sight of him. It had only been two weeks, but he looked like he'd lost another five kilos. He didn't have enough left on his frame to lose anymore. Dark shadows curved beneath each eye, greying stubble graced his chin and cheeks. His skin, even on the coloured monitor, looked pale and pasty. But he wasn't covered in a sheen of sweat, he wasn't fidgeting uneasily, he seemed at peace and indeed asleep.

  "You watch him?" I asked, noting my voice cracked at the end.

  "Yeah, keep an eye on him and the hospice. It's monitored twenty-four-seven. Key code access, perimeter alarms, only those on an approved sign-in list are allowed to visit. The place is wired, secured and impenetrable. There's no way they can reach him there."

  They being my relatives. I slumped down in a chair beside Eric's. Closer than I had been before. He didn't say anything, just left me to stare at the screen with my father in it and returned his attention to all the rest. Methodically moving from one to the next to keep tabs on any changes. I ignored him for a while and just watched Dad's chest rise and fall. A reassuring movement that seemed to settle my soul.

  He seemed so close, but yet so far away. I desperately wanted to be sitting next to him. If the hospice was so secure, surely I should be able to.

  "When can I go to him?" I asked, not removing my eyes from the screen.

  "As soon as Nick says you can," Eric replied, tweaking another joystick and then leaning forward in his chair.

  I went to open my mouth and demand he call Nick now so I could go see my father, but Eric held up a hand to still my words.

  "Hang on a tick, cowgirl. Something's happening." He zoomed in on a screen, tweaked the joystick for a better angle and there they were.

  Levi, Bailey and Leo, standing around a car outside of a house. The house seemed familiar. Perfectly trimmed green hedge, manicured lawn.

  "Whose house is that?" I asked softly, already knowing the answer.

  "Nick's," Eric answered, pushing a button on the console before him. The sound of a line ringing came out of speakers set into the desk. Nick's voice came on line when the ringing stopped.

  "Eric?" he said abruptly, but even that tone of voice - his voice - made my heart skip a beat.

  "Found 'em, boss. Your place. Three in total that I can see, I'll let you know if I spot any more. No visible weapons. Just milling around awaiting your arrival. House is still intact.

  "Levi one of them?" Nick asked, casually it seemed.

  "Yep. And looking pretty pleased with himself." I felt bile rise up my throat at Eric's words. Levi did look darn well chuffed to be standing there in front of Nick's house.

  "Keep me informed if they do anything. We'll force their hands before we make a move."

  "Got it," Eric said reaching forward to snag the button on the console, but not quite making it before he muttered, "Shit."

  "What?" Nick demanded, no longer casual at all.

  "Katie's on approach to your place. What the fuck is she doing there?"

  "Jesus Christ. Phone her!" Nick almost shouted down the line.

  "On it," Eric mumbled as he hit another button and we waited for Katie to pick up. The ringing tone seemed to go on forever, but finally Nick's sister answered the call.

  "Hello, darlings. What's up?" she said in her signature chirpy voice.

  "Keep driving, Katie," Nick's voice instructed over the line. Obviously he was keyed into the phone call by Eric. "Do not stop at my house, just maintain your speed and drive on by. Do not look at it, pretend you don't even know it exists. Understand, sweetheart?"

  "Absolutely," she replied, no longer
chirpy, but sounding fully focused.

  We waited with bated breath. Eric's and my eyes on the screen showing my cousins, waiting for Katie's car to roll past. Eric had widened the angle of the camera and also brought up another couple of shots from different spots around Nick's property. In one we could see a convertible BMW approaching, which I assumed was Katie's. Eric confirmed it by pointing at the car and offering me a thumbs up sign.

  My blood thundered in my veins and I kept repeating in my head, please don't notice her, please don't notice her, please don't notice her.

  We watched as Bailey's head came up at the approach of the car. I sucked in a breath. Then he said something to his brothers and nodded his head towards the BMW. Levi's eyes narrowed on Katie's car as it came in line with the corner of Nick's property. He said something to his brother and I watched in impotent horror as Leo pulled something from beneath his jacket. Everything happened in slow motion, but seemed to pass so quickly as well.

  "Put your foot down!" Eric instructed urgently. "Left hand down to swerve. Now!"

  Katie's car made a dramatic sweep away from Nick's house to the other side of the road and picked up speed.

  "Straighten up!" Eric commanded, his voice raised, but still contained in a vice-like grip.

  The door to the control room burst open and Nick came rushing in. His eyes a blaze of ice-blue, his fists clenched at his side. He came to rest behind Eric's chair, eyes fixed on the screen and his sister. I looked up at him briefly, noted the clenched jaw and twitching muscle in his neck, and then returned my attention to the screen in time to see Leo raise what was obviously a weapon in his hand and aim for Katie's car.

  "Duck now, Katie!" Eric instructed. "Keep your wheel steady and head below dash, now!"

  We couldn't see inside Katie's car from the angle of the cameras. Even though Eric was constantly tweaking the joysticks and moving the lens to track her progress as she passed by. A second passed. Two. Three. An eternity. A puff of smoke from the barrel of Leo's gun. There was no sound to accompany it, the cameras only gave visuals it seemed, but the shattering of glass a moment later could be heard over the phone line from Katie's car.

  "Fuck," Eric muttered. My eyes flicked to Nick's furious and frightened ones. I wanted to reach out to him, but was immobilised by what my cousins were doing right now. Shooting at a woman in a passing car. Just because they knew she was connected to me.

  "Oh my!" Katie announced. "How rude."

  Eric released a breath of air, but Nick demanded, in a stilted voice, "Status, Katie."

  "Rear window shattered, but I'm OK. No injury and I've passed the house, turning the corner now."

  "We got you on GPS, sweetheart," Eric replied, bringing up her car on the computer screen to the side he'd used to locate Ben's job earlier. "Come straight here, can you manage that?"

  "Of course I can, darling. I'm an Anscombe," Katie announced firmly and Nick finally smiled.

  "That's my girl," Eric said, enlarging the screen with her dot moving in incremental bursts along the road on the map.

  "I'll meet you in the garage, Katie," Nick announced. "No stopping, not even for red lights."

  "If I get a ticket, Nicholas, you're paying."

  "Put it on my bill," he shot back. "Just get your arse in here as quick as you can."

  "Roger, copy," she replied chirpily. Katie was back to her usual self.

  "I'm ringing off now, sweetheart," Eric announced. "Let you concentrate on those lights. I'll try to clear your path, make 'em all green."

  "Oh goodie. It's not what you know, it's who you know," she replied breezily.

  "I've heard it said differently to that," Eric offered. "I'd be glad to show you sometime."

  "Over my dead body, Shaw," Nick growled low at his back.

  "You spoil all my fun, boss."

  "My sister is not your fun," Nick shot back and reached forward to disconnect the line, cutting Katie off from the rest of his tirade. "And quit it with the 'sweethearts'. She ain't your fucking sweetheart either."

  "She could be," Eric announced, with what I assumed was a death wish. "Had my eye on her for years."

  "Like I said," Nick growled, leaning forward and eye-balling his employee threateningly. "My. Dead. Body."

  "Could be arranged," Eric muttered, hitting buttons on the console, which must have corresponded with traffic lights along Katie's path. Impressive.

  "Do you even value your job?" Nick demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Eric just laughed, finding the whole episode amusing as hell. His eyes darting from Katie's dot on the computer screen, to Levi and the boys at Nick's house, back to the screen showing various traffic intersections where Katie's car came into view. They must have been linked into the local live traffic cameras on the Land, Transport and Safety network to see all of that.

  Nick scuffed him over the back of the head affectionately and finally shifted his gaze to me.

  "You OK, angel?" he asked, his voice still a little raw from what had just transpired.

  No, I wasn't, but I just nodded, enormously relieved that he bothered to show he cared. He reached forward and ran a finger down my cheek gently, then rested his hand at my chin, lifting my face up to his. His lips brushed mine softly then he pulled back.

  "Hang in there, babe. This is just the beginning." Darn it, that wasn't what I wanted to hear. I opened my mouth to say something, but Eric interrupted.

  "They're on the move. They know you're aware of them being there, no point hanging around."

  "Surprising, really. If they could shoot at a car in broad daylight, the least they could do is throw a grenade through my front window." I blinked in shock at his casually spoken words.

  "Police Comms have been inundated with calls from concerned neighbours, several units are already on the way to your street. They might be loser criminals, but they know when to bail." Eric's face swiftly turned to look at me. "No offence, Eva."

  "None taken," I replied automatically. "They are losers," I agreed. More so than I had ever thought possible. Levi Russell and his brothers were the lowest of lows. How dare they try to harm Katie because of me.

  I vowed I'd seek revenge. For everything. For how they treated me and my friends when I was growing up. For how they assumed my father's money was their God given right. For how they threatened people who meant something to me.

  I felt my cowgirl-in-the-rodeo-ring slip into place like a well worn leather glove. If I had thought they'd taken it too far before, I was convinced the line had been well and truly crossed now.

  Levi Russell wouldn't know what hit him when I caught up with his cowardly fat frame. I glanced across the room to where Nick was watching me intently, clearly seeing the resolve, that was forming in my mind, evident on my face. My eyes scanned his muscular body and rested on his belt and the ASI gear hanging there and I wondered if he'd give me a gun. I could shoot, I'd learned how to in Nashville. No self respectin' cowgirl doesn't know how to handle a gun.

  I lifted my eyes to his narrowed ice-blue ones and took a deep breath in to ask.

  "No," he said, crossing his arms over his chest again. "Over my dead body," he added, what seemed to be his favourite phrase right now.

  But that was what I was afraid of. More than anything in my life before. Him. Dying. Being killed by my loser cousins when I could do something about it and prevent it from happening at all.

  "I can protect you and you can protect me," I said evenly, repeating the words he'd said to me in Nashville, back at him. His arms uncrossed and he sighed deeply, the tension in his frame evaporating slightly, but not entirely.

  "Angel," he said softly. Nothing more.

  And I understood every word he didn't say.

  Chapter 25

  And I Didn't Miss It

  Twenty minutes later I found myself in ASI's small one tunnel firing range, situated right next to their gym. Katie perched on a seat behind me, hearing and eye protection in place, swinging her legs beneath the seat
like a school girl. She didn't seem any worse for wear after Leo's shooting. Maybe she thought the same as Nick, that my cousins were merely trying to frighten her, send a message to me, and not actually shoot to kill. It made sense, but certainly didn't make me feel any better about the whole thing.

  Katie had assured me repeatedly, after arriving at ASI, that she was OK. But how could a lovely woman like Katie accept bullets flying so near her person so easily? Darn it all to hell, they'd shattered her rear window of her very expensive car. I'd be at least ropeable, but Katie seemed happy, merrily swinging her legs and waiting with anticipation for me to prove to Nick that I could handle a firearm.

  "This is a Glock 26 sub-compact pistol or more commonly called Baby Glock," Nick said, holding out the matt black utilitarian handgun for me to accept. "It's the smallest firearm we have in stock. Should fit your palm nicely. Give it a go, angel. Show me what you know."

  I took the gun from his outstretched hand and checked its grip and weight in the palm of my right hand, then went through the motions I'd learned at the firing range in Nashville. I have a small firearms license for America, but I'd need to obtain one here if I planned on carrying this weapon all the time. Part of me recoiled at that idea. New Zealand is not known for its firearms, even our uniformed police don't carry guns. Pierce and Stone did because they were detectives. But most people knew our cops' weapons went only so far as tasers and pepper spray.

  In truth I had expected Nick to offer me those as a substitute for a gun, but he'd surprised me after Katie arrived by suggesting we fire a few rounds on their practice range.

  I'd not used a Glock in Nashville, but the Sig Sauer P239 was similar in size and weight so I didn't feel too much like a fish out of water with the Glock in my hands. After I'd checked the magazine and safety I positioned myself for firing down the tunnel at the target. One glance over my shoulder to make sure both Nick and Katie were suitably protected and aware, and I proved my worth. Thank the Lord for all the practice I'd had back in Nashville. I didn't go every week to the range, but at least twice a month. I was in America, I'd decided to assimilate as deeply as I could. Firing a gun on the range was as close to firing a gun on a ranch as this cowgirl could get.