by Virna DePaul
“You don’t have to answer. And I can see you’re too smart to stand up. But I want to show you something. Peek at the black building. Sideways. From where you are. Right across from your window. Do you see.”
In less than a second, a thin red line traced a shape on the shroud of netting. It was a heart. Imperfect but a heart. The laser outline burned inside her eyes before it vanished. Cara closed them.
“From me to you, Cara. I told you I wasn’t far away.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Cara fell back, collapsing onto the floor. She stayed down for a few agonizing seconds, her mind a blank, in shock, her senses numbed by fear. Her eyes stayed closed until she dragged in a raw breath and summoned up the nerve to crawl below window level toward her phone.
What if he saw her? What if he had a rifle? She would know the answers when she reached up to the table. Cara propped herself up on one forearm and fumbled near the laptop. She could see it but not the phone.
There was nothing but the smooth surface of the table. Then she had it. Cara flattened herself to the carpet, clutching the phone, expecting the zing of a bullet overhead.
There was only silence.
She breathed out a prayer of thanks, knowing good and goddamn well she wasn’t out of danger. She started to dial 911, then hesitated as she envisioned how that conversation would go.
Please state the nature of your emergency. A heart? You saw a heart out your window? And someone sent you nasty pictures? That’s all?
The cops wouldn’t rush over.
But Branden would.
All she had to do was call him.
She wanted to. Just thinking about calling him made her feel better. Safer. She knew he’d do everything in his power to protect her. But there was a madman after him. A madman that was trying to use her to get to him.
Branden has to meet with me. You have to make him do it. By himself. You can’t watch what happens. Just get him there.
No. She couldn’t tell Branden. She knew him. She knew he would meet the man. To stop this. To protect her.
And in doing so, he’d put himself in danger.
Cara knew what her stalker wanted, and it wasn’t to chat with Branden or even to extort money from him. For some reason, he wanted Branden dead.
Cara wasn’t going to let that happen.
Shaking, she put her phone down next to her on the floor and curled into a ball. She thought of Branden. How happy he’d made her, in bed and out. How kind and honorable he was despite the ridiculous amounts of money and power he had. She wasn’t a match for someone like him.
She’d always believed her father to be a coward. A good man, but a coward nonetheless.
It turned out that Cara was the biggest coward of them all.
—
The shrill sound of her phone ringing caused Cara to jerk awake. For a moment, she was disoriented, uncertain why she was curled up on her living room floor, her bones aching from having obviously fallen asleep there.
Then the memories came flooding back.
It was morning. She was supposed to be leaving on vacation, but that creepy voice and heart had kept her locked in her apartment all night.
She cringed as her phone kept ringing, unsettled by the default ringtone. Not anyone she would know. She used pop songs for friends and her mother. Then she stiffened with fear.
Oh, God—was he calling her?
She stared at the phone until the ringing stopped.
Then it started again. Cara lifted her fingers and saw Branden’s number on the screen.
“Hello?” she whispered. “Branden?”
“You sound freaked. You saw it, didn’t you? Another fucking freak show starring you and me.”
“Where are you?”
“The link came up on my work computer. Where are you?”
Curled up on my floor like the pathetic coward I am.
Instead of saying that, she said, “I’m freaked, Branden. But not just because of the video. He—he talked to me. He could see me from my laptop. He hacked into my video feed.”
“What did he say?” His voice held barely controlled fury.
“Crazy crap. Threats. Then, bam, the video.” She swallowed hard, trying to calm down. “Branden—he’s outside somewhere.”
“You mean in your building?”
“No. But close to it. Maybe across the street.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No! No, you can’t. Promise me you’ll stay away, Branden.”
The line practically quivered with tense silence. “You said he made threats. He threatened me, didn’t he?”
“He’s crazy and he wants to meet with you, Branden. He wants me to set it up.”
“Then that’s what you’ll do.”
“No,” she said, forcing strength and authority into her voice. “I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t be the one he uses to try, either. Now promise me you’ll stay away.”
“I’ll be right there, Cara. Don’t open your door to anyone.”
“Branden—”
But he’d already disconnected.
He was on his way to see her.
And despite everything, despite her genuine desire to keep him safe and away from harm, she was so glad he was.
Cara crawled into a corner to wait for him. She called the doorman at the lobby desk and let him know she was expecting a visitor. She described Branden and provided his name, emphasizing that he was the only person to be allowed up.
“Yes, Miss Michal. Someone was just here, though, asking for you. A man.”
A sudden sense of dread held her motionless. “What did he look like?” Branden couldn’t possibly have gotten here that fast.
She had no idea what her stalker looked like. But any description would help.
“Ah, I can’t say exactly. Not young, not old. He was bundled up. It’s cold out.”
“Yes, I know. What was his name?”
“I didn’t get a chance to ask that. Sorry, Miss Michal. Another resident was picking up a delivery and when I looked up he was gone. Do you think he was your visitor? Hold on, please. May I help you?”
A huge wave of relief washed over her when she heard Branden give his full name.
“That’s him. Send him up.”
“He has a friend with him.”
Had to be Alex. “That’s fine.”
The fear that had her half paralyzed made it hard for her to stand. She hugged the wall, keeping her gaze on the windows, ready to drop to the floor again.
Reflexively, she looked at the building across the street. The black netting let the sunlight through the window openings in the facade. She could see some of the steel beams that had been left in place to hold up the walls. But there were no floors.
A gust of wind lifted an unsecured part of the black netting from the gutted structure, revealing the steel-and-glass walls of the skyscraper Branden lived in. With nothing in between, it was possible to draw a direct line from his building to hers, something she hadn’t noticed before.
But that wasn’t what troubled her most. There were no floors in the gutted building. There’d been nothing for her stalker to stand on to point a laser beam. How would he have positioned that heart for her to see?
Maybe he hadn’t pointed the laser from the building across the street.
Maybe he’d pointed it from her own.
—
Pausing in front of Cara’s door, Branden turned to Dexter Howe, the man who’d been watching over Cara the past few days. “Don’t let anyone in here unless I approve it.”
“I won’t, Branden. They’ll have to get through me first.”
With a nod, Branden knocked.
He’d barely been keeping it together as it was, but the instant Cara opened the door, pale and obviously scared out of her mind, he wanted to kill someone. “I brought backup.”
Her tight expression seemed to relax somewhat when she saw Howe. “Not Alex?”
He shook his head. “Not for th
is kind of work.” When he closed and locked the door, she retreated several steps, her arms crossed against her chest. She was trying to hold it together, just like him, but he could see she was shaking.
“Cara, baby—”
“He’s crazy and he wants to hurt you, Branden. He won’t leave us alone until he does. Oh, God!”
Her knees buckled, but Branden grabbed her arm before she fell, holding her close to him. He pulled her into his body, wrapping her clumsily in his open coat, rubbing her back.
“Take it easy. I got you,” he whispered.
“He was in the lobby. Just before you got here. What if—”
God, the bastard’s games had done their job. She was terrified, and truth be told, so was he. He couldn’t believe the man had talked to her. Had gotten so close to her. He blamed himself. He should never have allowed her to leave the protection of his building. Of his arms.
It was a mistake he wasn’t going to make again.
“You’re safe now.” He pressed a kiss against her tangled hair. “I’m not going to let him hurt you.”
She pulled back and grabbed his coat by the lapels, shaking him. “You’re not listening to me. He’s fucking with me, yes, but you’re the one he’s after. He wants to hurt you!”
He covered her hands with his. “And you don’t want him to. Why?”
She tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let her. “What do you mean? I wouldn’t want anyone to be hurt. You’re my boss and—”
“Don’t you fucking say I’m your lover, Cara, because that’s not all I am. And it’s high time the two of us admit that to one another. You care about me. Admit it.”
“Fine! I care about you. I don’t really want to go on a vacation, not without you. And I don’t want to quit my job. I want to spend more time with you. I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know me. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Fuck yes,” he growled before pulling her up on her toes and kissing her.
Her taste exploded on his tongue and the tight knot that had been inside his chest ever since she’d told him she was leaving finally loosened. He was still tense, still worried and furious that someone was threatening her, but having Cara in his arms calmed him in a way nothing else could.
He ripped his mouth away from hers. “I care about you, too, Cara. More than I’ve ever cared for any woman. I don’t know where things will wind up for us, but I promise you this. We’re going to find out, and that means I’m not going to let some sick bastard play his games with us any longer.”
“You can’t stop him! You’ve been trying to find out his identity but have come up empty. He’s smart. He—”
“He wants to meet me. So I’m going to meet him. This is going to end.”
“No.”
“Cara—”
She cupped his face. “No, Branden. We just admitted we have feelings for each other and you think I’m going to let you walk into some death trap a madman has set up for you? Absolutely not. We’ll think of another way.”
There is no other way, he thought. He remained silent. Because she was touching him, he could feel her still trembling. He could hear the way her voice rose as she talked, as if she was becoming hysterical.
“Shh,” he said, rubbing his palms soothingly over her back. “I’m here. We’ll figure something out, but right now I’m here.”
“That’s right. You are.” She buried her face in his chest and muttered, “And you’re staying here.”
Chapter Twenty-five
An hour later, Branden was lying in Cara’s bed, holding her as she slept. She’d told him everything before she’d nodded off. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep but one plagued by restlessness and nightmares. For the past fifteen minutes, however, she’d been sleeping soundly.
In the meantime, Branden had been making plans.
“What are you thinking?” she asked suddenly.
He glanced down at her, mouth tightening at the sight of the dark circles under her eyes and the fear she still couldn’t quite mask.
“That you should be sleeping, not worrying what I’m thinking. You need your rest, Cara. That’s another thing someone has to pay for. I didn’t want you leaving but you deserved vacation time. Forget Niagara Falls. When this is all over, I’m going to take you away someplace warm and exotic. How does that sound?”
“Like a pipe dream. But wait a second. How did you know I was going to Buffalo? Did you have my travel plans investigated?”
“More than that. I was all set to be on that plane with you today. I wanted you safe, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that you’d be safest with me. Maybe I was wrong—”
She shook her head and laid a hand on his chest. “You’re not wrong. Whatever is happening, we have to stick close to one another.”
He cupped a hand around her neck and drew her in to kiss her, his tongue sliding hotly against hers for several moments before pulling away. “You were cutting it close by going into work this morning, though. You might have missed our flight,” she teased him.
“I couldn’t help it. I needed to see that video.”
Slowly, she pulled away and sat up, and Branden did the same. “Wait. What? You knew the video was coming? How?”
Branden reached into his shirt pocket. He pulled out a small plastic bag holding a folded torn-open standard envelope clipped to a sheet of white paper. “This came in the mail. The return address is bogus. I checked.”
Cara read the single sentence, which wasn’t handwritten but printed. The envelope had a printer-made label and a freebie return-address label from some charity solicitation. The sender had used a Forever stamp. With a heart.
Tune in tomorrow morning for more hot stuff. Not Workplace Appropriate, but that’s where to find it.
“So I went in, waiting for it. Unfortunately, my fingerprints are all over this envelope and the note, but there may be others. The envelope and the stamp are self-stick, but I’m going to ask Lee to have the whole thing checked for DNA traces anyway. Hell, maybe I’ll ask Mike Gaunt. You never know.”
“Gaunt?”
Branden set down the envelope and shifted until he leaned back against the headboard. Then he pulled Cara into his side. “I have to level with you. He is an FBI agent—undercover. It’s funny that you picked up on it. He’s good at covering his tracks.”
He felt the shock vibrating through her. “That’s not an explanation.”
“Wait for it. Dubois & Mellan has been under suspicion for stock fraud. It’s a real can of worms. And no, Max Dubois never had anything to do with the scams. But they did happen while he headed up the firm and that’s why he decided to step down and sell. The SEC is investigating…with my help.”
“Holy cow. So you’re a—what?”
“The CEO. I don’t have a secret identity. I’m a financier. Name it, I’ve done it. I came up the hard way. Started as a stockbroker, moved into venture capital, hedge funds—”
“You can skip the résumé. I Googled you when you took over.”
He grinned. “Due diligence, huh? Anyway, I really did buy Dubois & Mellan and I really do own it. When the SEC heard of my initial interest in the company, they asked if I’d help with their investigation and I agreed. I’ve helped them with investigations in the past. Mike’s an expert on cyberfraud, which, given Deena’s expertise, was a bonus but not a necessity. Not exactly a fun guy, but we needed a pit bull and we got one.”
Those cold eyes and thick neck—the description fit, but it wasn’t flattering to pit bulls. Cara hadn’t ever warmed up to Mike.
“I generally use Alex and Lee when I need information,” he continued. “Frankly, I enjoy their company more, and Deena usually works with Mike.”
“So Deena…What’s her role in all this?”
There was a note of dread in her voice, one he was glad to finally address.
“She’s an SEC investigator. Has been for years. She’s also my stepsister, Cara. And she recently married the love of her life.”
> “Holy shit,” she said. “I hated her guts. I was so jealous of her, imagining…”
She bit her lip, and Branden reached out and rubbed it until she stopped. “She’s protective of me. We’re protective of each other. But you have no reason to be jealous of her or any woman.”
She blushed, and for the first time since he’d seen her again, her eyes sparkled. “Good. But what does all that have to do with our stalker?”
“Someone must have realized what we’re doing and is trying to get to me. Through you. He—and by the way, I doubt he’s acting alone, though he may want me to think so—is probably not as crazy as he acts. That’s all I can say for sure right now.”
“So you no longer think Davies is involved?”
He shook his head and explained what had gone down with Alex. “Davies is being hunted as we speak. I have no doubt he’ll be taken into custody soon, but unless our stalker is someone who’s taking orders from him, I think someone else is at work here.”
—
Cara’s mind was reeling.
She’d known Branden Duke was a financial genius, incredible lover, and overall good man, but he was more than that. He was a freaking hero. She felt like she’d walked into a movie.
But that didn’t mean she was safe and there would be a happy ending, she reminded herself. It also didn’t mean that just because Branden was a hero he needed to handle what was happening here alone.
She’d been doing a lot of thinking over the past hour as she’d rested in Branden’s arms. And what she’d been thinking was she wanted this. To relax with him, open up to each other, and explore what could develop between them when their lives weren’t consumed by safety and professional concerns.
But that meant they had to deal with their stalker once and for all.
And she’d come up with a plan to do so.
The only question was whether Branden would go along with it.
Slowly, she pulled out of Branden’s arms and stood up. He raised a questioning brow. She pointed at her phone and laptop, which they’d brought into the bedroom with them and placed on her dresser.