When his body started to fall again, she put an arm around his waist and held him up. A backache settled in a second later as she wrenched her muscles and locked her knees and arms to support him. He braced his hands against the table and leaned on her.
She looked up, thinking to ask Connor for help, and saw the strain across his face. More than that, worry. These men might work together, but their bond went deeper. She wanted to curse them all for making this situation so hard on her. They expected her blind faith and gave nothing in return.
She thought about it another second and decided that wasn’t true. They gave her protection, but she still wasn’t clear on why she needed it.
If Pax had just stood up without trouble or had the courtesy to stay seated, she would have kept fighting him. Thanks to the mention of her injuries, every muscle and cell inside her started to ache. Talk about the power of suggestion.
But the real problem was Pax.
Her gaze traveled over him. Over the way he kept weight off his right leg and the cut along his cheek. If the clenched jaw were any indication, he was in pain. She was confused and angry, but the guy who stormed in to save her, protected her from a crushing fall and killed for her looked unsteady on his feet and ready to drop.
It was the wake-up call she didn’t want but couldn’t ignore. She swallowed back the rest of her questions and fell deep into appreciation mode. She didn’t know him but she owed him.
She faced Connor and skipped over the stuff she wanted to know to the stray comment that caught her attention. “You have women’s clothes here?”
His white-knuckle grip on the edge of the table tightened. “My wife’s.”
Now, there was a bit of news she didn’t see coming that sent her gaze zipping to the thin band on Connor’s finger. “Where is she?”
“Out of town.”
Yet another person not there. That appeared to be the norm around this house...or office...or whatever it was. “Fine. If someone checks Pax’s injuries, I’ll clean up, then you can all decide that I deserve to know more and start talking.”
Pax snorted. “Wrong.”
Before that minute she’d forgotten she held on to him. She gave his waist a reassuring squeeze and then dropped her arm. “That’s the only solution I’ll accept.”
Joel glanced at Connor. “Told you.”
He nodded. “You’re right.”
They’d lost her in all the partial sentences. “What are you two talking about?”
Joel shot her a huge smile as he stood up. “Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of Pax.”
“You’re qualified?”
If possible that smile grew even wider. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, I don’t agree to the schedule.” Pax practically snarled when he said the words.
Tough.
This time Connor stood. Something about the way he moved had all eyes focused on him. “I do. The lady is—”
“Kelsey,” she said.
Connor gave her a nod. “Kelsey is right. Pax gets treatment, she gets changed and a once-over for injuries, and we meet back here in thirty. No arguments.”
Pax pushed off the table and stood up straight. His large frame wobbled but he didn’t fall this time. He didn’t match his friends’ smiles with one of his own, either.
When he looked at her, his mouth had fallen into a flat line. “One thing you should know.”
Dread tumbled through her. “What?”
“We control all the doors and windows, so there’s no way for you to escape once you’re up there.”
Honestly, the man was clueless. She’d turned that corner when a third attacker showed up and a bullet whizzed by her head. “Why would you think I would try?”
“Experience.”
Chapter Five
Dan Breckman appeared in Bryce’s office doorway shortly after three that afternoon. He carried a file and wore a scowl. Neither of those proved unusual for the man. He was sixty, retired military and a constant nuisance.
“We have a problem.”
Bryce tried to mentally count the times Dan had wandered out of his corner office and said that each week. Whatever the number, Bryce didn’t have time for his nonsense now. “I have a phone conference in a few minutes.”
“This can’t be ignored.”
Bryce tapped his pen against his keyboard and cursed his decision to hire Dan as a consultant. With his knowledge and reputation, the man added a level of legitimacy to the new intelligence division as it fought its way through a corporate field loaded with big players, but he was far too used to being in charge. He turned out to be the hands-on type rather than that sit-quietly-and-collect-a-check type, as Bryce had hoped.
Dan failed the keep-your-enemies-closer test. Giving him the office turned out to be a fatal mistake. Access to programs and business plans was one thing, but Dan tried to worm his way into every aspect of the new operations, including personnel issues, which were out of his purview. Bryce said no, but people in the workplace talked. Shared information.
And when Dan started asking questions about the one subject for which Bryce did not have a satisfactory answer, telling the older man to get back to work only solved part of the problem. Bryce could push Dan off but that didn’t solve the Sean issue.
Dan didn’t wait for a conversation opening. He stepped up and hovered on the other side of Bryce’s desk. “Sean Moore didn’t show up for work again today. That’s sixteen weekdays in a row.”
Bryce knew exactly how long it had been. Right down to the minute, and he could feel each one tick by inside him. Hear the knocking in his head.
The click of the pen beat into one long, rapid-fire drumming line. “I had human resources use all of our contact information to find him. It would appear he left town.”
“In light of his history, I can’t say this is a surprise, but I continue to be confused about how he was hired and why he was put on my team.”
Each accusatory word scraped against the inside of Bryce’s brain, inflaming the anger already burning there. He shouldn’t have to handle hiring at the lower levels, to oversee every bothersome detail. He had too much work to do running the company without sitting in on the interviews of every petty administrative assistant and mailroom clerk.
From now on Glenn would have that task. With his charts and spreadsheets, he would be in charge of ensuring that stupid mistakes like this never happened again. Either that or he’d lose his job.
But Bryce had no intention of sharing any responsibility with Dan. “You’re referencing Sean’s father’s history. Sean’s academic record and criminal history were perfect.”
“He failed his recent lie detector test.”
A fact Bryce had buried but Dan had clearly uncovered. While he was investigating this matter, ripping it apart and dissecting every piece of paper, every line, Bryce would look into Dan’s role, as well. The man knew too much, too quickly, and Bryce vowed to find out where the information leak in his office came from.
“I am aware of young Sean’s test. As the owner of this company—” Bryce emphasized the word owner, letting the syllables bounce off his tongue “—I am advised immediately of this sort of thing. When an employee’s clearance is revoked, since the clearance is a condition of employment, the job position is pulled, as well.”
“But this young man conducted preliminary computer work on the new Signal Reconnaissance Program before his security clearance had been approved.”
Another piece of information Dan should not know. Each word moved him closer to the top of Bryce’s things-to-handle list. “And if the time comes, I will contact NCIS.”
Bryce had spent his youth being pushed around, but those days were long behind him. He dropped his pen on the desk, letting it thud against the wood, before he stood. He stretched
every vertebra as he straightened to full height. Dan may have worn a uniform, but Bryce had the sort of shield that came with harsh and unwanted life experience.
“You’re depending on my reputation to open doors for the company at the Pentagon.” Dan dropped the file on the desk and balanced his fists on each side of it, allowing him to lean in close across the expanse. “That gives me some rights, including the right to question employment choices.”
Dan’s point about needing an “in” at the Pentagon wasn’t wrong. Starting tomorrow, Bryce would begin the search for another consultant to handle that. One satisfied to collect a check and confine his work to wining and dining former colleagues. Someone who would know when to shut up.
“You know, Dan, I get that you’re used to a certain chain of command and being at the top of it, but that’s not where you are now. I do not answer to you nor do I appreciate your interference.”
A tense silence followed the comment. It took a few seconds for Dan to relax the grim line of his mouth. “Fine.”
He pushed the file across the desk.
Bryce didn’t make a move toward it. In this game, he would not be the one to blink. “What exactly is that?”
“All the intel I gathered on Sean Moore and his family.” A small smile played on his mouth. Gone was the blank stare and muscle twitch in his cheek. “You’re not the only one with connections.”
“Which is supposed to mean what?”
“Just trying to make sure we have an understanding. An investigation into Kingston and the issue about having a noncleared individual working prematurely on a top-secret project, even in the planning stages, could be a problem for the company’s contracting status with the government. That’s why I am willing, you could even say insisting, that I be allowed to help resolve this.”
The threat wasn’t an empty one. There were laws associated with entering into contracts with the government and lists of rules to follow. Bryce didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink. “I’ll consider the request.”
* * *
MINUTES TURNED INTO hours before Pax made it downstairs again. He took the last few steps from the second floor without letting up on his death grip on the stair railing. His sneakered feet fell with heavy thuds, but at least he could still walk. While standing under the scalding shower spray twenty minutes ago, he doubted he’d be able to maneuver his body to get where he needed to be. Relief replaced his growing headache when he realized he’d been wrong.
He limped into the main workroom, ignoring the plates piled on the table’s edge. They’d switched the afternoon agenda and eaten first. With limited conversation except for Joel’s ongoing commentary about the movies he’d recently seen, the food went down easy, and Pax no longer worried Kelsey would dive out the window at the first chance. Yeah, she’d promised previously, but watching her smile and laugh and never once scan the room for an exit convinced him.
After the shower and rounds of unnecessary medical attention, Pax now had a rebandaged thigh from his old gunshot wound and a constant dull ache that flared into full-blown raging pain when he put too much weight on that side. Made walking tough but not impossible. The treatment combined with clean clothes, and he felt ready to go again.
But he planned to do it from a seated position for the next hour or so. He dropped into the closest chair and leaned back into the soft leather. A quick glance around the room started a buzzing in his head. “Where’s Kelsey?”
“Calm down.” Joel walked in from the kitchen and exchanged a new pot of coffee for the old one. “She’s upstairs.”
“Good...and I’m fine. Perfectly calm.” Except for the adrenaline kick that still had his heart triple-timing. Pax closed his eyes and tried to steady the beat.
“Uh-huh.”
At the hint of amusement in Joel’s voice, Pax’s eyes popped open again. He shot his friend a you’re-on-the-edge frown. “Don’t do that.”
“The woman has you spinning.”
Spinning. Fantasizing. Forgetting his training. Losing control. All of that. “She tried to run before, so I was just checking.”
“Which brings up another point.” Joel balanced a thigh on the conference room table. Sat right there, a few feet away from Pax, and talked with a thread of laughter in his voice. “Your lady skills need help. You now have them all but jumping out of cars to get away from you.”
“I was watching over her.”
“Oh, I noticed.”
“There’s nothing else between us but the job. That’s it.” Pax repeated the lines over and over in his head, as he’d been doing for days, and he still didn’t buy them. He’d moved beyond watching for danger and started just plain watching her a week ago.
Joel closed one eye and looked at the ceiling as if pretending to count. “So many words in that denial.”
“I can think of two words for you.”
Joel laughed out loud that time. “Man, don’t make me say ‘uh-huh’ again.”
Letting out a long, exaggerated exhale, Pax gave in. “Clearly, you have something to say. Get to it.”
“I see the way you look at her.” Some of the amusement left Joel’s voice this time. He spoke lower, quieter.
Pax knew he all but drooled in Kelsey’s presence and hated that Joel had noticed the weakness. “I’m watching to see if she’s going to bolt and whether I’m going to get injured running after her.”
“Nope, that’s not it.”
Since hitting the subject head-on didn’t appear to be working, Pax went for the obvious parry. “Where’s Connor?”
Joel tapped his thumb against the rim of his mug. “Are we changing the subject?”
“Definitely.”
Joel got up from the conference table and headed for his usual desk, the one lined with monitors and other assorted equipment. “Connor headed out to play cleanup, then was meeting up with Ben to see if they could identify your attackers. The one you stabbed and put in the hospital is still out but he has to wake up sometime.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Ben is standing guard, just in case.” A rhythmic clicking filled the room as Joel tapped on the keyboard and sent the one monitor flipping through streets around the historic district. “Any chance Kelsey is involved in her brother’s mess?”
Joel dropped the question without fanfare. Just put it out there and dragged that elephant right to the middle of the room.
Still... “Excuse me?”
Joel shrugged. “You said yourself you don’t know her. You’ve just been watching her. She could be Sean’s partner.”
“That’s not true.” Pax refused to let the doubt take hold in his mind.
“My mistake. I guess you know this woman better than I thought.”
But he didn’t, and that was one of the problems.
Chapter Six
“Sounds like I’m interrupting something important,” Kelsey said in a near whisper.
Pax almost jumped out of his chair. Forget the increased heart rate. Every cell inside him whipped into a frenzy at the surprise sound of her voice until he had to grab on to the chair to stay in it.
She’d snuck up on them. Them. The undercover operatives with all the training. No way that happened without her trying to make it happen, which made him wonder what information she’d hoped to overhear.
Then there was her outfit. Frayed gym shorts and a trim white tee. She smelled sweet, like fruit. He had no idea what women used in the shower to make their skin glow, but Kelsey had found some of it. Even now the ends of her long hair curled as they dried.
A man could take only so much before he had to dunk his head in a bucket of ice water, and Pax was right on the edge. “It was nothing.”
She shot him that look women gave when they knew they had the upper hand. “Oh, it was something. Care to tell me
what?”
“Kelsey.” Joel stood up. Even cleared his throat, but that didn’t hide the sudden flush to his skin. “How are you feeling?”
“Nice try at throwing me off, what with that make-the-ladies-swoon smile and all, but answer the question.” She could have picked any chair. She headed straight for the one next to Pax. “One of you, both of you, I don’t care.”
The compliment about Joel went overboard, in Pax’s view. He was about to point that out when she started walking and talking, and something about that combination left him speechless, if only for a second.
Joel started to put his earphones on. “Once Connor gets back—”
She sighed at them. “No.”
Joel froze. “What?”
Pax weighed the risks. There was protocol for this type of situation, but they’d already blown through the rules by bringing her here. The hide-and-seek portion of the day was over. If she had information, he needed it and wanted her to give it up without the games. “Sean disappeared with top-secret information.”
The front two legs of Joel’s chair hit the hardwood floor with a crack. “Pax, what the—”
“She deserves to know, and she’s not going to take ‘it’s nothing’ or some big stall for an answer.” Pax had already tried that game and failed. Kelsey was not a woman to push to the side and feed trite lines so she’d stay quiet.
“Thanks for recognizing I’m not an idiot,” she mumbled under her breath.
Pax didn’t bother whispering. “It would be easier if you were.”
“That’s charming.”
Since that wasn’t his goal at the moment, the comment didn’t bother him at all. “Do you know about Sean’s job at Kingston Inc.?”
“We are not exactly on speaking terms, but you probably know that, too.”
There was no use in denying it. Pax had read the files. They all had. “I have some information about your past.”
“Like how my dad wrote bogus insurance policies for people then took their money and left them with no coverage? It’s a lovely family story, one Sean thinks is a mistake. He refuses to listen to reason or look at the evidence, and there’s a ton of that.”
Ruthless Page 5