Читать книгу Protecting The Boss - Beverly Long - Страница 13

When she finished writing down the information, she turned, but not before her eye caught the photo on the credenza behind Seth’s desk. Him, younger and in a flight suit, standing next to a plane. Her throat felt suddenly tight. “I didn’t realize you were a pilot,” she said.

“Air force for eight years. That’s where I met Royce, Trey and Rico. Flew an F-16.”

“They’re all pilots, too.” She felt suddenly sick.

“Nope. Royce worked security, Trey was a plane mechanic and Rico was tactical communications.”

“Do you fly still?”

“Is the pope Catholic?”

Probably because she showed no reaction, he added, “Yes. I have a Beechcraft Bonanza housed at the North Vegas airport.”

“I’m not terribly familiar with airplanes. Is that a nice one?”

He smiled. “Nice enough that I’ll need to keep working for a while in order to pay for it. But on a nice day, cruising along at 175 knots, I can barely remember that.”

“Right.” They needed to talk about something else.

“You know, I never wanted to be a pilot,” he said.

Okay. That didn’t make sense. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“My dad was an air force pilot. Killed when I was two.”

That sucked the oxygen out of her lungs. “In combat?”

He shook his head. “Training exercise. That doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” she said quickly, irritated that he’d think she thought that. She would be the last person to ever think that. But that was none of his business, either. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

He nodded but said nothing, as if he might be waiting for her to say something else. But really, she knew that words meant little, gave little respite. It dawned on her that he might already know about her parents—after all, his partner Trey had undoubtedly heard the story from Kellie.

But she didn’t talk about it.

Ever.

“Listen, I’m not sure how this...um...security assignment works,” she said. “What you will be doing, I mean.”

“What I won’t do is try to stand out in any way. The best security is one that is there but not too obvious.”

“Well, if fitting in is your goal, you probably need to know that there is one black-tie event.”

“Really.” He paused. “I was hoping I could pack my tux.”

She knew sarcasm when she heard it. But the idea of him in a tux was a nice one. Sometime this afternoon, he’d changed out of his wrinkled shirt and pants into nicely pressed gray silk trousers and a blue-and-gray button-down long-sleeved shirt. He looked really good.

“We...uh...should probably rejoin the party,” she said.

He immediately pushed the door wide open. “Of course.”

People were filling plates from the lavish buffet that had been set up in one corner of the lobby. They sat with Abigail at one of the high-topped tables. The food was delicious, and then it was present time for Kellie and Trey and for Laura and Rico. Both Seth’s bears and the scotch seemed to be big hits.

It was really fun. Certainly not how she’d intended to spend the night in a city where she knew no one. But once people had settled in for an after-dinner drink, she stood up. “It’s getting late,” she said to her sister. “I’ll share a cab with you.”

“No need,” Abigail said. “Evan is flying in tonight and he’s going to pick me up on his way from the airport. I just got a text from him. He should be here in ten minutes or so. We can drop you off.”

“Your new husband, who has not seen you for six whole days, is not going to want his sister-in-law around. Even for ten minutes. I’ll take a cab.”

“I’ll go with her,” Seth said, looking at Abigail. He turned to Megan. “I’m your security.”

She shook her head. “Store and event security. And that starts tomorrow.”

He shrugged. “Details,” he said, dismissing her objection. “At Wingman Security, we aim to under-promise and over-deliver.”

“Let him,” Abigail said. “Please.”

“Fine,” she said. It wasn’t that big of a deal. The ride would be shorter than the argument they might have about it.

“We can go down to the lobby together,” Abigail said. She grabbed Megan’s hand. “Let’s go say goodbye to Kellie.”

Once they had done that and were back at the elevators, she saw that Seth had put on a sports coat. He’d also retrieved her umbrella and he passed it to her before pressing the elevator button. There were several others leaving at the same time, which prevented conversation in the elevator. Once they were in the downstairs lobby, it was just minutes before a car pulled up outside and her brother-in-law got out. Abigail saw him and exited the building so fast that Evan didn’t even make it to the front door.

She watched as they kissed like the pair of newlyweds that they were. Her new brother-in-law was handsome, educated and rich. And definitely not good enough for Abigail. But who would be? “They almost didn’t get married,” she said.

“Sounds like a good story,” Seth said.

“They’d been dating for almost a year when Abigail unexpectedly got pregnant. He immediately wanted to get married but she told him no four times. I honestly thought he’d give up asking.”

“She didn’t want to get married.”

“She didn’t want to be an obligation.” Said she’d had enough of that in her lifetime. Megan didn’t tell Seth that last part. It would lead to all kinds of questions that she really didn’t want to answer. “But he finally convinced her that it was love, not obligation, that had him all but begging in the streets.”

“And you like him?” Seth asked.

“I do. And I’m pretty sure that he thinks that she’s the moon and stars all rolled into one. And I think he’ll be a good dad.”

“That’s important,” he said simply. He opened the door and flagged down a cab.

The vehicle traffic was even heavier than it had been earlier and the cab inched along at times. Definitely a city that came alive late in the evening. And there were lots of people not in cars. The crosswalks were filled with pedestrians. They waited long minutes even when they had the right of way to turn. “Where do all these people come from?” she said.

“Everywhere. The appeal of Vegas is far-reaching.”

“Are you a gambler?”

“Hard to live here and not try your luck once in a while. My mother lives in town and she likes slot machines, so we go sometimes. But most of the time, I prefer to bet on things where the odds are better.”

“Did your mother ever remarry after your father died?”

He shook his head. “No. I wish she would have,” he said. “She should have.”

Like Mrs. McGarry, his mom had been left to carry on alone. Would either one of her parents have wanted that?

“So, have you always lived in Carmel?”

She was grateful for the change in subject. “All my life,” she said. The cab slowed to pull in to the circular drive of the opulent Periwinkle hotel. It was jammed with cars.

She looked behind them. There was a break in the traffic. “This is fine,” she said to the driver. She opened her purse to pay but Seth beat her to it, handing the man cash. When he opened the door, she slid across the seat of the cab. Her purse strap slipped off her silk dress and the small bag fell to the ground. She bent at the same time he did to pick it up.

Just as bullets tore into the roof of the cab, ripping the metal.

“Stay down!” he yelled. He put one hand on her head to reinforce his words and the other around her to move her out of the street. The cab took off, door still open.

Fifteen big steps had them inside the circular drive, behind a half wall. Arriving guests had abandoned their luggage and flocked inside. Hotel valet staff were crouched down, scanning the street.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, checking her. She was pale but there was no blood. She had not been hit.

“Were they shooting at us?” she asked.

It sure as hell had felt like it. “I don’t know,” he said. “Who have you pissed off, Megan?”

Her head jerked up. “No one,” she said.

“I was kidding.” Sort of. Random shootings occurred. But not that often in the high-rent district that the Periwinkle occupied. It was bad for tourism. He heard the sounds of approaching police. Response time would be fast here.

“What’s the name of the competitor that you bested?” He’d thought he was going to have plenty of time to get into this but gunshots had a way of expediting conversations.

“J.T. Daly’s. But they’re a big operation. I really don’t think that they would be all that upset about not getting our four stores. And I certainly don’t want to publicly malign them without proof.”

He understood that she was warning him to be careful with any unfounded accusations he might make. “I won’t skewer them but I think it’s worth a mention to the police.”

Once the police arrived, both he and Megan gave a statement. He was pretty sure the shots had come from behind them, to their left, and gave that information to the cops. “I think you’ll be able to get a slug out of the cab’s roof,” he added. That made the cops happy. In a succinct manner, Seth also explained about J.T. Daly’s and how the retailer might have a bone to pick with Megan. The cops made no comments but dutifully took notes.

The process seemed to take forever. Hotel management hovered nearby and when the police were done with them, the night manager apologized profusely and offered to send food or alcohol to Megan’s room. She declined both.

He thought a double on the rocks would be nice. He generally had real steady nerves—most pilots did. But the vision of what those bullets might have done to her skull wasn’t a good one.

“Thanks for getting me out of the street,” she said. “I’m not great in those situations—I tend to freeze. And that might not have been good.”

“You did fine,” he said. She had. She’d stayed low, moved quickly and thus far, hadn’t cried.

“I’m hoping that’s the most excitement we have for the next twelve days,” she said. They were at the bank of elevators. She extended her hand. “Good night.”

He ignored her head. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to make sure that you get to your room safely.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” she said.

He pressed the up button. When the door opened, he motioned her in and then quickly followed. She pressed the seven.

When they got to 710, she waved her card in front of the electronic reader and it immediately clicked. He held up a finger. “Let me go first,” he whispered.

Before leaving the party, while Megan and Abigail had been saying their goodbyes, he’d stepped into his office and gotten his gun. He wore it in his shoulder holster, carefully hidden by the sport coat that he’d put on.

Now he pulled it, ignoring the gasp behind him. He swung in through the door, grateful that she’d left a light on. It took him just seconds to ensure that the main room, bathroom and closet were clear.

“You had that gun the whole time,” she said after he’d motioned her in.

“Yes.” And his first instinct had been to pull it earlier but he had known that it was much more important to get her to safety. “I didn’t show it earlier because I wasn’t confident in the ensuing chaos that somebody wouldn’t take me for a bad guy and decide to shoot me in the back.”

“Do you always have a gun?” She sounded shocked.

“I provide security services. I have a permit to carry it and I know how to use it. And while Las Vegas is as safe as any other city, I usually don’t go out at night unless I’m armed.”

“I guess that’s good. I mean, that you have a gun.”

He studied her. “You have no idea why anybody might be shooting at you?”

She shook her head.

His gut told him that she was lying. And his gut was rarely wrong.

“What are your plans in the morning?” he asked.

“Why?”

“Just trying to figure out if you’re planning on leaving the hotel. I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” she said. “I have commitments at the boutique.”

It wasn’t much but evidently all he was going to get. He shouldn’t be surprised. Earlier tonight, she’d also not been very forthcoming about her parents dying in a plane crash. He’d given her the perfect segue when he’d talked about his own father’s premature death in a plane accident. But she’d said nothing.

He was usually good at reading people but she was better than most at hiding her emotions. Her pretty face gave him no hint of what she might be thinking.

“I guess that’s good night then,” he said.

“Yes,” she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Lock the door behind me,” he said. With any other business associate, he would have extended his hand. But he kept it to himself. He’d felt her silky smooth skin when he’d wrapped an arm around her and shepherded her behind the hotel’s half wall.

Another feel and he might not want to let go.

Megan flipped the bolt lock and barely made it to the couch before her legs gave out. She’d been shot at. With real bullets.

It was so unbelievable that she felt as if she must be having a dream. A nightmare.

If Seth hadn’t been there, she had no idea what might have happened. But he’d responded like a machine, not pausing, just acting. And when he’d started asking questions, she’d desperately wanted to tell him the truth. Even at the risk of seeing disbelief in his eyes.

Seth had asked her who might be shooting at her. She’d given him nothing. It wasn’t an outright lie. She really had no idea. But given the other things that had happened over the last several months, she could not ignore the possibility that the attack had not been random.

The idea that somebody had followed her to Vegas, had traveled hundreds of miles, was so objectionable that it made her skin crawl. It made her think that the person had to be very determined.

But that in itself made no sense. She didn’t have any enemies. She lived a peaceful, quiet life. Who could be that angry with her?

It gave her a headache. And tomorrow they would begin reopening the four stores that had been closed for months. She couldn’t afford being tired or off her game.

She was going to have to move on. Not forget it and certainly not ignore any other odd circumstances or take unnecessary chances with her safety, but for now, she was going to have to set it aside.

She undressed for bed and pulled on a nightgown. She slipped between the cool sheets and decided that she would think of something else.

Seth Pike.

Handsome. Fast thinking. Quick acting.

She hoped he didn’t make a big deal about driving. He’d been insistent about getting his name registered with the rental car company. But she did not intend to hand over the wheel.

Bad things happened when you gave control to others. Her parents had made that mistake. Did it make it better or worse that it had been to someone they trusted? To someone she trusted? Loved?

She closed her eyes.

It had been a beautiful clear day. Everybody had said so.

And every day, she comforted herself with the image that her parents’ last hours had been full of sunshine and beauty. And she tried never to think how horrific the final moments might have been. How worried they would have been about her and Abigail.

They’d have had no way of knowing what the future held for their daughters. She liked to think that they’d have been happy with her decisions. Even proud now.

She’d done everything within her power not to let them down. She wasn’t stopping now. She started making her mental list of all the things she needed to do the next day. Felt a measure of peace. Work had always been her salvation. And Abigail her joy. It was a life that most would be very content with.

And she was. She certainly didn’t need Seth Pike messing that up.

Six hours later, Megan woke up when her alarm went off at five. She stretched and glanced out the window. It was not yet light out. Still, she forced herself to swing her legs over the side. She ran most mornings, tried to get in at least five miles. She had a treadmill at home and while she was on the road, she intended to make good use out of the hotel fitness equipment.

She brushed her teeth, washed her face and put on her workout clothes. Then she pulled her long hair back into a low ponytail. Once she’d tied her shoes, she made sure she had her hotel key card in her shirt pocket and then flipped the bolt lock.

She opened the door, turned and almost fell over Seth Pike. She let out a little squeal. He was sitting on the floor, his back up against the wall on the same side as her door. He opened his eyes and turned his head, as if he was scanning the hallway.

“Keep it down,” he said. “It’s pretty early yet.”

“What are you doing here?” she hissed.

He shrugged and stood up. “Morning,” he said. He ran his eyes from her head to her toes. “So you’re the type that gets up and heads to the gym.”

It wasn’t a character flaw. “I run.”

“I see,” he said, not sounding thrilled. “Let’s go.”

“I wasn’t anticipating company at the gym.”

He nodded and ran a hand over his head. “Yeah, but I got a streak going here and I don’t want to break it.”

His clothes were again wrinkled, like they’d been after the rain. With his innocent act, he reminded her of a mischievous little boy.

Except she wasn’t fool enough to fall for it. She’d seen him in action last night, immediately after the shooting and then again when he’d very competently inspected her hotel room, looking quite at ease with a deadly looking gun in his hand.

“You’re not exactly dressed for the gym.”

“Maybe I’ll just watch this morning.”

He was not going to watch her run. Just the idea made her warm.

He fell into step next to her. But then stopped suddenly. He was staring at her shoulder. At the lovely green and purple. “What the hell is that?” he asked, his voice deep.

“It’s a bruise,” she said. She hadn’t expected company, hadn’t thought to keep it covered. Yesterday, when they’d first met, her scarf had been strategically arranged to cover her upper arm. Last night, her dress had sleeves that had done the trick.

“I know that,” he said. “But how did you get it? Not from last night,” he said. “It’s not a fresh one.”

“No. Two weeks ago, I rolled my car and hit my shoulder pretty hard.”

“Tell me you went to a doctor,” he said.

“Of course.” She’d been taken by ambulance. “It wasn’t broken, just badly bruised. It’s getting better every day.”

“Right,” he said, starting to walk again. “How did the accident happen?”

“Another car blew a stop sign,” she said. “Hit the passenger side. My car was totaled.”

“Any serious injuries?”

“No. Thankfully. And the other driver got the ticket. Look, if you’re coming to the gym with me,” she said, wanting to make sure he understood, “you have to do something. Keep yourself busy.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he said.

She was starting to think that Seth might be something to worry about. It had been a long time since she’d dreamed about a man. But she certainly wasn’t going to tell him that. “Fine,” she said, starting to walk fast.

He kept up with her no problem. “How did you sleep?” he asked.

“Fine,” she said.

“That’s two fines. I think this is going really well.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. She stabbed the elevator button. The gym was on the top floor. Once they were inside the space, she took two deep breaths, then turned to him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t normally wake up bitchy. But you surprised me.”

He shrugged, not looking concerned. “Well, then we’re even. You surprised me, too. Wasn’t expecting the door to open at five o’clock.”

“You were in the hallway all night?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

As if that were perfectly reasonable. “Because you were worried that somebody was going to try to get in or that I was going to try to get out?”

“Maybe a little of both,” he said.

“We have no idea if somebody was actually shooting at me. Maybe they were aiming at you.”

“No way. Everybody loves me,” he said.

“Then it was probably just random.”

“Very possible. I’ll follow up with the Vegas police this morning to see if they know any more.”

She’d been planning to do that. But it wouldn’t make sense for both of them to call. “You have to be exhausted. You couldn’t have gotten much sleep sitting up in the hallway.”

“I got enough,” he said. “Had a nice conversation with the night manager around three when he tried to remove me. Evidently, they picked me up on camera. It’s not comforting that it took them that long.”

The elevator doors opened and she stepped out. “What did you tell them?”

He didn’t answer right away. He was looking around, to the left, to the right. There was only one other guest using a treadmill. Finally, he turned to her. “That you’d dumped me and if I couldn’t change your mind in the morning, I was going to throw myself over the Hoover Dam.”

“You didn’t,” she said.

“Maybe,” he said. He walked over to a rowing machine that faced the elevators. “I’ll give this a go.”

She told herself not to watch him, to just run her miles and forget him. But that was hard to do. Even in his dress shirt, she could see his muscles flex as he pulled on the rope. She was getting all hot and sweaty and it had nothing to do with her pace.

She ran for forty minutes before slowing the machine down to a walk. After another minute, she stopped it and grabbed a towel from a nearby shelf. She wiped her face, then draped it around her neck. He was already off the rowing machine.

He was watching the man who’d been on the other treadmill approach them. When the elevator door opened, she stepped in. Then felt a hand on her hip. She almost let out a yelp but realized in time that it was Seth, simply edging her in the direction of the corner. Then he placed himself in front of her, between her and the man.

By the time they got off on their floor, leaving the poor man by himself, she was strangely irritated. “Don’t you think you’re carrying this a bit too far? The man was just jogging. Not a threat to me.”

“Can’t be too careful,” he said. They were at her door. “In that spirit, give me your room card. I’ll open your door.”

She decided it wasn’t worth arguing over. It wasn’t going to take him long. It was just a bed and a small bath.

He handed her back her key when he was finished. “I need to go home and get showered and changed.”

“That’s fine. We’re not leaving here until four.” That had been clearly stated on the contract. “You have the whole day.”

He continued to stand there. “What time are you headed over to the boutique?” he asked.

It was none of his business. But she didn’t say that. The man had slept in the hall. Not her fault, but still. “At eleven. I’ve got back-to-back meetings with our general contractor and our architects.”

“You have our office number?” he asked.

“I do.”

“And my cell?”

“Already in my phone.”

“And you would call if you needed something?”

“I’m not going to need anything,” she said. “But yes, I would,” she added, because she had the feeling that he was seconds away from insisting that he spend the day with her. She needed some space. Some time to get her head together. She couldn’t start a big road trip with somebody who had her off her stride. “I’ll meet you in front of the boutique at 4:00 p.m.”

“I could swing by and give you a ride later this morning.”

“Evan and Abigail are picking me up,” she said.

“Oh, okay.”

He didn’t sound convinced but she wasn’t giving in. She couldn’t be concerned that he wasn’t completely satisfied with the plan. Probably he wouldn’t be satisfied with anything that wasn’t his plan. He might be providing security but he wasn’t calling the shots. “Is there anything else?” she asked, her voice deliberately curt.

He shook his head. “Naw. I should probably get going. I can tell you’re busy,” he added, letting her know that he knew he was getting the brush-off.

She refused to feel bad about that.