Читать книгу Texas Lightning - Gerry Bartlett - Страница 12

Chapter Three

“Delivery just arrived.” Conchita came in carrying a laptop with a phone balanced on top. “Douglas is still down at the gate. You might want to get the other four-wheeler and meet him. There are quite a few components to the computer system. Guess Anna needs all of that.” She set her two pieces on the coffee table. “I’m getting dinner started. Anna told me you two had a big lunch on Sixth Street. Any preferences for dinner?”

“Whatever you have on hand. She’s new to Austin, so she might like to try some of your good Mexican food.” King strode toward the garage. “Let’s set her up in the library. I bet she’ll like the view from there if she ever looks up from her keyboard.”

“Where will you work?” Conchita frowned.

“Don’t worry about it. I came to town to meet with a few legislators about that agricultural bill. At least one of them is playing hard to get. When I’m sure she’s safe enough here, I’ll head back to the capitol and get in some faces, make my pitch. I won’t even be here all the time.” King had already tried setting up a new lunch date with the senator and been given the runaround. He was afraid the ag bill was going to have to wait awhile. “I can put my laptop anywhere if it comes to that. I’m sure Anna does need a big rig. She writes complicated programs.”

“You’re really putting yourself out for a woman you just met.” Conchita glanced down the hall. “Not that she doesn’t seem nice.” She smiled. “And very pretty.”

“I’ve got a lot invested in Zenon. Ron Zenonsky should have done a better job protecting that investment.” He frowned because he sounded like an asshole.

“Is that what Anna is, an investment?” Conchita stared at him like she didn’t know him.

“She’s the brains behind one.” King gave that lake view one more look. Yes, he lived well and made a lot of money, but he’d never been obsessed with the bottom line and wasn’t now. “Okay, it pisses me off that he didn’t protect Anna like he should have. It was careless. He knew damned good and well that what she was working on was important. Not only is she valuable to the future of the company, but what she’s creating can save lives. Now we know other people want her program bad enough to steal it. What if she’d been home when those thieves came after her computer?” He shook his head, trying to imagine Anna and her little .38 against professionals who could have been ruthless to get what they wanted.

“They could have hurt her. I’m glad you brought her here, King.” Conchita sighed. “So many bad people in the world. It’s a shame.”

“Yes, it is.” He opened the door to the attached garage and realized it had cooled off since they’d come in. “I’m thinking Ron must have a leak at Zenon. As soon as I get this computer stuff inside, I’m calling him back.”

“Oh, you won’t have to do that. He’s outside, talking to Doug. He brought the computer system himself. A security crew as well.” Conchita smiled. “I think he’s finally taking Anna’s safety seriously now. I will see about dinner. I have plenty if you want him to stay.” She headed for the kitchen.

King grabbed the keys to a four-wheeler from by the door and punched the automatic garage door opener. So Ron had come to see Anna. About damned time. He backed out and headed down the driveway. Doug and Ron were standing next to a pile of boxes right inside the gate. He didn’t think Doug’s own four-wheeler would hold it all. It looked like Ron had brought an entire freaking computer lab.

There was a parked car outside the gate with two men keeping watch. The security team. They should have been out, patrolling the fence line. Maybe they were waiting for instructions. Ron’s Tesla, black, with all the bells and whistles, was parked behind them. His old friend wouldn’t drive his car down King’s gravel drive, afraid rocks would damage his precious undercarriage. King pulled to a stop next to the boxes and climbed out.

“We were about to call you to come help. Let’s load up.” Ron reached out to shake his hand. “Where’s Anna?”

“Taking a well-deserved nap. I think she’s in shock.” King picked up a box. “I should make you walk to the house. What were you thinking, leaving Anna unprotected until something like this happened?”

“Surely you don’t think I could have predicted a move on her place.” Ron hefted a box. Doug was right behind him with the biggest box. “We’ve intercepted some attempts to hack our servers but they were easily blocked. There was no reason to think any major players were going to do something like they did today.”

“But someone had made a move.” King settled behind the wheel and Ron got in the passenger seat. “Where are you going?”

“To see Anna, of course. To make sure she’s all right, personally, and to put this computer system together for her. She’s a valuable employee. I thought I made that clear.” Ron sighed. “You were right to ream me out. I should have provided security for her sooner. Trouble is, Anna is quiet, works hard, and I just assumed she’d be okay. I had other things on my mind.”

“Like digging yourself out of a bad marriage. I get it, pal. But that’s no excuse. You have a lot of investors, me included, who are counting on you to take care of business. And a woman who could have been hurt because you took your eye off the ball at Zenon.” King was glad he’d never been trapped by a manipulative woman like Ron’s ex. It could have dire consequences.

“At least I got a beautiful daughter out of that fiasco.” Ron turned when Doug made a noise. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story, Doug. Everyone has. Lesson learned, my man, a very expensive lesson learned. I’ve sworn off marriage. Never again.”

Doug was a man of few words, his wife doing most of the talking. He just rolled his eyes as he loaded the last of the boxes into the back of his vehicle.

“Wait. Are you paying those men in that car to sit and drink coffee?” King gestured at the black car and the two men inside. “They should be doing something.”

“What?” Ron frowned. “I told them to watch the gate.”

“They should take turns walking the fence line.” King turned to Doug, a former Marine. “What do you think, Doug?”

“I’ll talk to them, tell them Mr. Z wants them patrolling. That okay with you, Mr. Zenonsky?” Doug waited by the gate.

“Sure. Whatever you think will keep Anna safe.” Ron watched as Doug punched in the code to open the gate then approached the car. “Man, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you bringing Anna here, King. I sure couldn’t take her to my house. I get Lea every Wednesday and alternate weekends. If the creeps try to come after Anna again, how could I risk my baby girl?” Ron held on to the roll bar when King started the vehicle and Doug shut the gate again. “You’ve got the right setup here. Isolation, security fence. I can’t match that.”

“You should have done something about Anna’s security sooner.” King stopped the vehicle in front of the garage. “Seriously, Ron, looks to me like she’s the key to the success of this billion-dollar program and you did nothing to protect her.”

“You’re right.” Ron stared at the closed garage door. “If she’d been hurt, or taken… Shit, man, I’m not used to thinking like that. You’ve known me a long time. I’ve built this company on my brains. Those two goons by the gate? I hired them from the same company that wired my headquarters for security. Found it on the internet when I started Zenon years ago. I have no idea if they’re any good or not because no one’s ever come after us before. I sure as hell don’t own a gun, and don’t want to. Certainly won’t have one around my daughter.”

“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t invite Anna to come work at your place. She packs a .38 Special.” King would have laughed at the look on Ron’s face if this wasn’t so damned serious.

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope. She was going to shoot me before I called you to verify that I was one of the good guys. The woman is not to be trifled with. Keep that in mind, boss man.” King climbed out of the four-wheeler. “Let’s unload.”

“She obviously has more to her than I realized. A dangerous woman. Am I crazy to think that’s hot?” Ron grabbed a box and followed King inside. “Obviously my brain doesn’t work where women are concerned.”

Doug laughed as he carried his own load inside. “I can tell you, strong women can be a handful.” He shut up when Conchita came out of the kitchen and directed them to the library.

“What is so funny, mi amor? I am worried about Anna. We must keep her safe.” She took King’s laptop when he handed it to her. “Look at all of this new equipment. Don’t scratch King’s desk. Wait! I will put a tablecloth over it. That is zebra wood. Very expensive.” She hurried out of the library.

Doug pulled out a knife and began cutting open boxes. “She means it. Don’t scratch the wood. She takes pride in everything in this house being perfect.”

“Was that sarcasm, Douglas?” Conchita was back and covered the desk with a snowy tablecloth. “There. That’s better. Anna won’t have to worry about what she does here.” She walked over to her husband and patted his back. “Of course I take pride in my work. And I expect every bit of that packing material to be taken out to the garage to the recycle bins when you men are done. Sí?”

“Of course, my love.” Doug stood and kissed her cheek.

“Conchita, you can relax. You know I don’t care about the desk.” King handed Ron each piece of equipment as it was unwrapped. He had no clue what most of it was for. He used computers for their convenience but didn’t have a love affair with them. Not like Ron did. His friend started to describe details about the equipment as he hooked it up, but King held up his hand to stop him. “Spare me, Ron.”

“Ha! I do care about your furniture. Will Mr. Ron be staying for dinner?” Conchita leaned over to where the computer expert had crawled under the desk to plug something in. “Mr. Ron?”

“Sure. Count me in.” He gestured and King handed him a bundle of wires. “This may take a while.”

“Dinner will be ready whenever Anna wakes up.” Conchita hurried out of the room.

Ron was in his element, putting together the complicated system for Anna. He had them leave her replacement laptop in the living room, intent instead on setting up the desktop computer with backup and a printer that could interface directly to his office.

“Your Wi-Fi is fast, but I’ll jack it up even more. Then I’m adding firewalls. Even so, I’m leery about her sending out anything over the internet that might be hacked.” Ron soon had the computer up and running.

He worked the keyboard so fast King turned to stare out the window. He used two fingers on his own keys and still made mistakes.

“Maybe she shouldn’t work here. You can keep her safe in your office, can’t you?” King asked when the keyboard had gone silent.

“Yeah, but these computer geniuses work odd hours when they get struck with inspiration. Anna did her best work at home. She’d come in with a problem solved after she’d been up in the middle of the night and worked for hours.” Ron laughed. “It’s weird, but sometimes we solve problems in our sleep.”

“He’s right.” Anna spoke from the doorway. “Mr. Z, uh, Ron. You brought all that here?”

“Sure did. Sit and see what you think.” Ron got up from behind the desk. “How are you, Anna? I’m sorry about your place. I hope you know I’ll cover your losses. Everything that was damaged or even touched by those thieves. My fault for not taking your safety seriously.” He nodded toward where King still stood next to the window. “King’s already ripped me a new one for failing to provide you with proper security.”

“King! How could Ron know this would happen?” Anna had approached the computer layout and stroked the forty-inch monitor like it was a diamond bracelet. “This is a beauty—4K.”

King just watched the two computer geeks talk bits and shits as Ron explained what he’d brought. Anna had changed clothes, wearing her jeans again and a loose blue shirt that he recognized as one of his sister’s. It matched her eyes. Not that he got to check that out up close since she was totally engrossed in computer talk with Ron. He was clearly forgotten. Then he heard his name.

“I can’t stay here with King. You wasted your time bringing all this. We’re strangers, and I’m imposing on him. Surely we can figure out someplace for me to crash that’s safe enough for me to finish the program.” Anna took one more longing look at the computer then faced her boss. “Seriously. I’m not comfortable with this arrangement.”

“Get comfortable, Anna. King has offered his home and I think we should be grateful for it.” Ron walked over to slap King on the back. “Where else would you have such security? Did you see the coded gate? His fence? Is it electrified, King?”

“No, there’s too much wildlife in these woods that would be harmed for that. But the house is wired to alert us to intruders, and we have cameras that we can monitor at the gate and around the perimeter. You’re safe here, Anna.” King hoped so, anyway. He was counting on no one knowing she was here. But then Ron had arrived in that flashy car. If someone at Zenon was working for the bad guys, they might have put a tail on him.

“See? And you’ve got a world-class cook like Conchita in the kitchen.” He sniffed. “Do I smell her enchiladas?”

“I think you do.” King realized Anna wasn’t happy. “We’ll talk over dinner. If you can come up with a better solution, I’ll personally help you move.” He took her elbow and eased her out of the library. Of course she gave that computer setup a last glance. She was obviously dying to try it. “You need to eat first, work later. Unless we have to waste time finding you a new place to crash.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult. But this is an imposition.” Anna stopped at the open French doors then walked to the dining table set up on the deck outside. “Oh, look at the lights reflecting off the water. The view is spectacular, King. I don’t think I really appreciated it earlier. I wasn’t myself.”

“Yes, he has quite a place here.” Ron greeted Conchita. “You fixed my favorite, Señora. Enchiladas. And I see guacamole, rice, and frijoles.” He gave her a hug. “We’re trying to persuade Anna to work here. Your food should win her over.”

“It certainly smells good. What are frijoles?” Anna slid into a chair.

The air was cool and King saw her shiver. He grabbed a throw from the living room and draped it over her shoulders. “Beans. Conchita makes some of the best. I can’t say the best or my abuela would kill me.”

“Abuela?” Anna smiled and pulled the throw around her. “Why do I feel like I’m in a foreign country?”

“Abuela means ‘grandmother’ in Spanish. King’s grandmother is from Mexico. She’s a wonderful cook.” Conchita hovered next to the table. “I didn’t know what you wanted to drink. You want to open a bottle of wine, King? I can make some margaritas. Or I have iced tea.”

“No alcohol for me. I want to work tonight. If I don’t move.” Anna smiled at Conchita. “I’d love some iced tea. That’s a Texas thing I’m getting used to. But not the sweet kind. Just with lemon, please.”

“Sounds good.” Ron pushed the dish of enchiladas toward her. “Eat. And think about how convenient this will be. King is one of our investors at Zenon. So he has a vested interest in seeing your program become successful.”

“You told me that before.” Anna stopped filling her plate. “I’m still finding it hard to believe. That I met him accidentally and he’s connected to the company.”

“Call it fate. Two people who happened to be in the right place at the right time. A dozen other people walked past you when you were about to faint and ignored you. I couldn’t do it. I was raised to help anyone, man or woman, who is in distress. The fact that we have something in common, like the company you work for, is a bonus.” King took a glass of tea. “Thanks, Conchita.” He stared at Anna, willing her to believe him. Why the hell this was so important to him, he didn’t know. But the idea of her in some unknown place, vulnerable, made him uncomfortable. Okay, maybe that word wasn’t strong enough.

“It’s weird.” She put a timid spoonful of beans on her plate.

“Whatever it was that brought us together, you’re here now, and it would be silly and maybe dangerous for you to look for another place when you’re comfortable here. I won’t bother you while you work. I have my own things to do while I’m in town.” King passed her the guacamole after taking a big portion for himself. There were fresh tortilla chips on the table and he piled them on his plate. “Relax. You think I get meals like this every night? Conchita pulled out all the stops for you.” He dipped up the green avocado dip with a chip and bit into it. “Delicious.”

“I’m happy to have someone besides King to cook for.” Conchita smiled and set a bowl of sliced lemons on the table next to Anna. “King is out too much when he is in town. You stay and work and I will have fun feeding you. Douglas will help guard the gate and we will play with your dog. Right now, your YoYo is out on the grounds with my man, looking for squirrels to chase. It is good for them both to have something to do. Please stay.”

Anna dipped her fork into the beans, tasted, then smiled. “I guess I’d be stupid to say no. I wanted an adventure in Texas and it looks like I have one. Count me in.”

* * * *

Anna had to admit, being served a delicious meal while looking at a million-dollar view was something she could get used to. But then there were distractions here she sure didn’t have in her bland little apartment.

First, there were the two men who clearly had nothing better to do than to fix themselves an after-dinner drink and talk about the ongoing basketball season. When they’d seen her grab her replacement phone, they’d given her privacy to get her numbers restored and catch up with texts and emails from her friends and family back home. She decided there was no reason to explain her move or the delay in answering any of them. She just sent them a quick response, enough to let them know she was okay. For now, anyway.

Ron Zenonsky kept watching her, probably worried she’d have a meltdown and be unable to continue her work. She’d noticed King, on the other hand, had zoned out when she and Ron went over the new equipment. Clearly her host wasn’t into tech.

Too bad her boss was off limits. He was just her type, smart and able to talk her language. Ron wore neatly pressed designer shirts and jeans and had his medium brown hair professionally styled. Cute. No surprise that he was pale compared to King Sanders. If Ron ever got out in the sun, it was only because his four-year-old daughter dragged him out to watch her play in his pool.

“Are you all right, Anna?” Ron finally asked what he’d obviously been wondering.

“Yes, no, I don’t know.” She fell onto the couch next to King. “I feel like my world has been turned upside down.” She tapped her phone. “Crooks have my old phone. They’ll probably break into it and…”

“Nothing. It was deactivated as soon as you called me. Mona saw to that. It’s nothing but a paperweight now.” Ron smiled. “You think we didn’t take care of that? How do you like your new one? The latest upgrade. Facial recognition.”

“It’s cool.” Anna meant it. She loved tech. She felt King looking over her shoulder and handed it to him. “Just came out. I’ll have fun exploring all the features.”

“Anyone worried about you, Anna?” King frowned at it, clearly mystified by the fact that the familiar buttons on his phone were missing and it was smooth glass. He passed it back with a shrug.

“No. My family is used to me ignoring my phone when I’m in the zone. They know this program is my priority right now.” She sighed and leaned back against the soft leather. “I’m so close to finishing too. It’s important to all of us. I got interested in it because of my grandmother. She almost died because of a drug interaction. We thought she had dementia. Turned out her confusion and other symptoms were caused by the combination of drugs she was taking.”

“No kidding!” King stared at her. “So this isn’t just a job to you, it’s personal.”

“That’s right.” She stood. “Which is why I’m anxious to get back to it. My notebook had some things I’d jotted down last night that I want to try tonight, so I have to recreate my notes.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Do you think I could make some coffee? It helps me stay sharp.”

“Conchita will fix you a pot. We can set it up in the library for you.” King was on his feet, close beside her. He told her the security code for his Wi-Fi. It was ridiculously simple and made Ron smile.

“Bud, no one should use their phone number for access like that. Tighten up.” Ron stood and headed for the bar. “At least throw in a word or two.”

“He’s right. After I get in, I’ll change it to something stronger and write it down for you. Now, surely Conchita goes off duty after dinner. I hate to bother her.” Anna turned to Ron. “Thanks for bringing the computer system here. It’s even better than what I had before.”

“You deserve the best, Anna.” Ron set his empty glass on the bar. “Don’t work too hard. You’ve been through a traumatic experience. You should take a night off.”

Anna was tempted to take that night off. She was so tired. No, a jolt of caffeine would fix her. “I can’t. The sooner this is done, the sooner people can be helped. My grandma is fine now, but she could have died or ended up in a nursing home because of her meds.” She headed toward the kitchen. “I’m going now. Good night, gentlemen.”

“Good night.”

She heard the rumble of male voices and the front door close, then the roar of a four-wheeler. King must be driving Ron to his car. She found Conchita cleaning the kitchen and arranged for a pot of coffee and a mug for the library. It took some persuading, but she finally got the housekeeper to leave for her own place.

“I can’t believe Conchita didn’t insist on setting up a coffee service in here.” King almost startled her into dropping the mug.

“She wanted to. I had to bully her to go home. By tomorrow I’m sure I’ll have a mini kitchen at my fingertips in here.” Anna carefully set the mug next to her keyboard. Her fingers were itching to explore this new gear. She hoped King wasn’t going to make a pest of himself. But then, she was in his office. “Do you need to get something? Am I in your way? This isn’t going to work, is it?”

He stared at her for a moment. “It’s fine. Except I’m worried about you. Have you dealt with today’s trauma? Where’s your dog?”

“YoYo’s with Doug and Conchita.” Anna felt a stab of guilt. “Honestly? I think it makes her nervous, having the dog in here with your expensive rugs. They love him already and she really wanted to keep him out there so I agreed. I’ll get YoYo in the morning for a walk. My work schedule isn’t kind to him. He doesn’t rest well when I pull an all-nighter.”

“You’re pulling an all-nighter?” King shook his head. “After what you’ve just been through?”

“I have to, King. I want to try to recreate my notes while they’re fresh.” She sipped her coffee. Yes, that helped, even though exhaustion made her lean back in his ergonomic chair and wonder where and how to start.

“You’re crazy. How productive can you be after the day you’ve had?” He stood beside her and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, admit it. The notes can’t be that important. They’re just notes!” His hands tightened on her arms. “Ron does not expect you to push yourself so hard. He told you as much.”

“I push myself.” Anna jerked out of his grasp. “This is important to me! Don’t you get it? I’ve spent years on this project. Years. I’m close, really close, to finishing. I have to keep going.”

“What I get is that when you’re tired you make mistakes.” He wasn’t backing off. He just stood there, so sure of himself, so tall and strong and masculine.

Anna inhaled. And swayed, almost falling back into the leather office chair. Well, hell. He was right. She couldn’t run on fumes and expect to produce any quality work. And as for those notes? Her brain was mush. The only thing in her head right now was this man in front of her smelling like something spicy and delicious. Okay, that was proof enough that she might as well call it a night. She didn’t have the energy to even lift her hand to her keyboard, much less explore the arms that reached for her again and lifted her into—

“What the hell are you doing?” Her head fell against his chest. He’d picked her up, his arm firm under her butt as he carried her out of the room.

“Taking you to bed. Do you realize your eyes were closing? Woman, you need a keeper. And, for now, I’m it.” He kicked open her bedroom door and laid her on the queen-sized bed. “Do I need to undress you?”

Anna stared up at him. She found a smile. “Try and I’ll pull my gun from this bedside table drawer.”

“All right then.” He did reach down and jerk off her tennis shoes. “See you tomorrow.” He dropped the shoes beside the bed and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Anna lay there, mustering the energy to get up and take off her clothes, brush her teeth, and put on her new sleep shirt. By the time she was in bed again and enjoying a truly great mattress and high-thread-count sheets, she realized she could never have accomplished a thing on her computer after the day she’d had. She ran her hand over the pillowcase, a pretty pink, then pulled the extra pillow to her and hugged it close. Comfort. She needed it. Because her life was a mess and there was no denying it.

* * * *

“Your phone is ringing and ringing.” Conchita stared down at her. “I think someone may be worried about you. You’re getting texts too. You’d better answer.”

“What time is it?” Anna sat up, feeling like she’d been flattened by a semi. Crazy, when everything that had happened to her yesterday had drained her emotionally, not physically.

“After ten. You needed the sleep so King said to leave you to it.” Conchita handed her the new phone. “I’m fixing waffles. I hope you like them.”

“Sounds delicious.” Anna glanced at the texts. “Oh, it’s Sunday!”

“All day. I’ll bring you coffee.”

“Thanks.” Anna hit the last message and realized her friend was frantic. She hit speed dial.

“Anna, where are you? I came by for our usual brunch date and your bike is here but you didn’t answer the door. So I got worried and used the key you gave me. Your apartment is a disaster! Were you robbed?” Scarlett Hall sounded breathless. “Do I need to call the police?”

“I’m okay. But, yes, I was robbed.”

“Where the hell are you?” Scarlett sounded mad now. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I just got a phone. It was stolen too. I’d like to explain it all but you have to calm down. Don’t call the police, it’s been handled.” Anna reached out for the mug of coffee Conchita handed her. “Thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me? Explain. Handled? How? I can’t calm down. I’m sitting in what used to be your place and it’s been destroyed. Your beloved computer is gone and so is your precious dog. Is YoYo okay?” Scarlett’s voice broke.

“Hold it. For God’s sake, don’t cry. YoYo’s fine. Though those creeps who broke in left him loose in the parking lot. He could have been run over.” Anna realized her coffee mug was shaking and she set it on the nightstand. What might have happened to her dog still made her heart stutter. As if she’d called him, YoYo jumped on the bed and sat in her lap. She rubbed his ears and kissed the top of his head. He’d obviously had a bath in some kind of herbal shampoo. Conchita’s idea, no doubt. Or had it been Doug’s? Tears filled her eyes at their kindness.

“My God! Where are you? I’ll come get you. You can stay with me.” Scarlett was in fix-it mode now. “We can ride into work together tomorrow.”

“I’m staying with one of Ron’s friends. The boss bought me a new computer setup and I’m working from here. The guy is an investor in Zenon and it’s a beautiful place with good security on one of the lakes. Obviously this theft was espionage. Someone wants to steal my program.” Anna picked up her coffee and leaned back against the padded headboard.

“Ron? You mean Mr. Z? You’re calling him Ron now? How did that come about? Who is this friend?” Scarlett kept firing questions. “Anna! Answer me. I want to see you. Hear every little detail. Give me an address. I’m on my way.” Scarlett sounded very determined.

Anna didn’t know what to say. Was she allowed to give out King’s address? Could Scarlett be followed here? She looked up and King stood in the doorway.

“I don’t know, Scarlett. I don’t think I can tell you where I am. I’m here to work on my special program. I won’t be coming into the office, it’s not safe.” She saw King nod.

“What the fuck, Anna? Are you being held prisoner? I don’t like this one little bit. If I don’t get to see you with my own eyes, I’m calling your brother, you know the one. First you’re robbed and now you’ve disappeared? I’m sorry, pal, but you’re not allowed to vanish. I’m not going to just let that go, you hear me?”

“Scarlett, calm down. You can’t make waves like that. Talk to Mr. Zenonsky tomorrow at the office. He can explain everything.”

“I’m not waiting until tomorrow. Not when I’m sitting in your place where there’s drawers emptied and underwear strewn from the bathroom to the living room. Plus you won’t tell me where the hell you are!”

“Okay, okay. I’ll give you Mr. Z’s phone number. You can call him right now. Would that make you feel better?”

“I’m not sure. I really want to see you, pal. We were supposed to have this Texas adventure together. And now you’re missing?” Scarlett’s voice had gone up several octaves and she sounded like she was hyperventilating. “We’ve only been here a couple of months and I don’t know Mr. Z from Adam. I swear I’m calling Chance and getting the FBI on this if I don’t get some answers pronto.”

“I get it. I love you too, Scarlett. Let me see what I can arrange. For God’s sake, leave Chance and the FBI out of it.” Anna looked down and saw King holding out his phone, Ron’s phone number displayed for her. “Here’s Mr. Zenonsky’s cell number. He’ll answer, I’m sure of it.” She rattled it off. “Call him. Listen to what he has to say. He’s been terrific about the break-in. He’s paying for all my stuff to be replaced and has already brought me a new computer system, a fabulous setup.”

“I don’t want to hear it. I know you. Buy you a tower with a bunch of RAM or whatever and you’d follow a man anywhere.” Scarlett was near tears again. “Damn it, Annie, this reeks. You’d better be okay.”

“Call me again after you talk to Ron. I swear I’ll keep my phone by my side. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Anna ended the call.

“Sounds like you have a good friend there.” King stepped back from the bed. He took YoYo with him. “Breakfast is almost ready.”

“Good, I’m starved. Yes, Scarlett is an old and dear friend. She came with me from Boston and is an office manager at Zenon. Our old boss made a special deal when he sold the company. Zenon had to take a certain number of employees with the purchase. Scarlett’s not into computers like I am but she’s an organizational whiz.”

“Then I’d probably like her. We have a lot in common.” King grinned. “You and Ron made me feel pretty damned dumb last night.”

“Sorry about that.” Anna waved him away. “Leave so I can get ready for that breakfast.”

He did and took her dog with him, closing the bedroom door behind him. Not into computers. Why did that suddenly seem like a good thing? Her former boyfriends had shared her love of all things that go click in the night—which had made for lots of screen time and little between-the-sheets time. And that time spent horizontally hadn’t exactly been full of fireworks. Was she crazy for imagining that King would know his way around a woman’s body with a heck of lot more finesse than a guy who got most of his experience from videos on the web?

Anna shivered, imagining King’s big tanned hands roaming over her and finding spots that could make her scream. She’d never thought of herself as particularly passionate, not about anything but the latest software. But suddenly she was very aware of what she’d been missing, stuck in her cave, working too much and rarely playing.

Her pal Scarlett certainly never denied herself pleasure. She’d had at least two boyfriends in the months since they’d hit Austin. Both relationships had been flaming hot but had burned out quickly. Of course, that was Scarlett’s pattern. She tended to leap then look, figuring out later that there was chemistry but little else to hold her to a man. Anna was the opposite. She was slow to commit, needing that connection to be solid before she’d give a guy a real chance. So what was she doing daydreaming about hitting the sack with the stranger down the hall?

Her limited wardrobe wasn’t exactly going to help her cause if she did decide to break her cautious pattern and hit that hottie. She put on her new bra and a loose orange University of Texas sweatshirt. Her jeans were too far gone and she ended up tugging on some knit workout pants King’s obviously tall sister had stashed in a drawer in her bedroom, rolling them up at the waist. Conchita had encouraged her rummage through those drawers, though Anna had hated doing that. Everything she’d found had been expensive and looked new.

The full-length mirror in the attached bathroom convinced her that she wasn’t going to have King chasing her around the house for a fling in this outfit. Just as well. She had work to do and he had his own business to deal with. Good. But makeup from Karen’s stash and an effort to tame her hair was just a matter of personal pride. Her mother would have insisted.

Anna decided she’d stalled long enough and headed to the kitchen with her empty coffee mug. Conchita gave her a refill and looked her over while Anna added cream and sugar.

“You look better, chica. You must have slept well.” Conchita patted her shoulder.

“I passed out. That bed is very comfortable. Where are we eating? Not outside again.”

“No, it’s cold this morning. This crazy weather. In the breakfast room. Through there.” Conchita picked up a platter of bacon and pointed at a door. “You will see. It is a beautiful view. King likes to look at the lake.”

Anna held the swinging door open and Conchita preceded her. There was a round table with six chairs. Placemats were set for two and a coffee carafe sat in the middle of the table, along with butter and syrup. King stood when he saw her and pulled out a chair.

“Finally. I waited for you.” He snagged a piece of bacon and fed it to YoYo, who sat beside his chair.

“You shouldn’t have waited.” Anna grabbed a piece of bacon for herself. “This is a treat.” She chewed, sighing when Conchita brought in a platter of Belgian waffles. “Surely you don’t eat like this every day. You wouldn’t look like you do if you did.”

“And how do I look?” King grinned as he speared a waffle with his fork.

“In shape.” She took her own waffle and reached for the butter. “How do you stay that way?”

“I run most mornings. You have the shoes for it, I noticed them yesterday. Do you run?” He grabbed the syrup and drizzled it over the waffle.

“Sometimes. My friend Scarlett bought them for me. She’s trying to motivate me to get out in the fresh air and exercise. Away from the computer. Since we haven’t heard from her, I guess Ron talked her off the ledge.” Anna smiled thinking about Scarlett. “She’s always been protective of me. We met in junior high, in physical ed.” Anna could laugh about it now, but then it had been the worst day of her life. “I was the slowest runner in class. Even fell down at the start of a race, if you can believe it.” She glanced at King but he just sipped coffee, waiting for her to finish her story. “I just lay there, wishing I could die. You’re so dramatic when you’re thirteen.”

“Hey, anyone can trip. Was your shoelace untied?” King put down his mug.

“No such luck. I was trying too hard. Tripped over my own two feet. So I lay there, spitting out gravel, the kind they put on those tracks, and praying for invisibility. Then here came Scarlett. She was one of the fastest runners in the school. She pushed everyone else aside, even one of her teammates on the track team who was taunting me. ‘Anna Banana, slipped on her own peel.’” Anna laughed again. “That was actually pretty clever coming from that bonehead. Anyway, Scarlett helped me up and took me to the nurse to doctor my bleeding knees. Oh, yeah, I was scraped up good. Then she asked for my help in math, making a big deal later about her pal, the brain. We’ve been friends ever since.”

“I can see why. And don’t worry, I won’t make you go running with me.” King grinned. “You want to discuss that phone call? You really had to talk fast. She was obviously upset.”

“Scarlett threatened to call my brother in Boston if I don’t meet with her and show her I’m all right.” Anna took a bite of waffle and savored it. “I should probably do it.”

King worked his way through one waffle and started on a second. “Maybe you should warn your family, let them know you’re okay.”

“And have them go into protective mode?” Anna almost choked. “Chance, my oldest brother, is in the FBI. That’s all we need, to bring the FBI into this.”

“I don’t know. The Feds can provide some powerful resources. Ron is against asking for help because he’s afraid the competition or our other investors will get wind of it, but I’m more concerned about your safety.” King laid down his fork. “Seriously, if you’d been in the apartment when they’d come after that computer, Anna…”

“I wasn’t, and I think they planned it that way.” She stabbed the waffle, her appetite gone. Damn it. He’d better stop bugging her about this. “Clearly they’d been waiting for me to leave, King. I’d been holed up in that apartment for days, working nonstop, then the one day I go somewhere, they hit it. Don’t you think that’s how they wanted it?”

“Maybe so.” He picked up his fork again. “I’m changing the subject since this one has you riled up. So. Tell me something.”

“Good. I don’t want my family involved. That subject is closed.” She swirled a bite of waffle into syrup and tried to decide if she wanted it or not. “What do you want to know?”

“Why you don’t have the accent? I’ve known people from Boston before. They talk with a broader ‘a,’ you know what I mean. ‘Pawhk the cawhr.’ Instead of ‘park the car.’” He smiled. “You sound more Midwestern.”

“That’s an easy one. My mom is from Kansas City. She arrived in Boston at eighteen to attend college. She met my dad when she was protesting for women’s rights and he arrested her. Dad is a cop. Believe it or not, it was love at first sight. Mom insists we speak Midwest English. She’s a professor now, at Harvard, brilliant. Dad’s a captain with the Boston PD. My brothers are all law enforcement in one way or another, very protective. If I called them about the break-in, I guarantee at least one of them would show up here and try to drag me back home.” Anna gave up on eating. “That would make it difficult, if not impossible, for me to finish my project.”

“You don’t have to do what they say.” King put his hand over hers. It was warm, comforting. But a little sticky from the syrup.

“You have no idea the kind of pressure they can bring to bear.” Anna pushed back from the table. “I need to get to work. We may have to arrange for Scarlett to come here, to see for herself that I’m okay. Otherwise, she may well call one of my brothers. She’s known them most of her life and is just as protective of me as they are. She’d see it as her duty to call them if she’s afraid I’m in trouble.”

“You are in trouble, Anna.” King jumped to his feet and walked with her to the library. “Ron has been busy this morning, even though it’s a Sunday. I asked him last night if there could be anyone inside the company who might be working with the thieves. You know, someone jealous of the attention you and your program are getting. Seems like Ron’s pouring a lot of money into this one project. But he laid off people in another department last fall.”

“I don’t know about that.” Anna thought about it. “I really don’t know many people there. Only four of us came from Boston. Scarlett is in the office and the other two are hardware people. Not my area.” She’d been surrounded by strangers. No one had been particularly welcoming, but not nasty either. “He’s let me work from home a lot. Then he sent me out of town to those special classes. Scarlett said that caused a bit of an uproar in the office. Some of the long-time employees have been asking for special training for years and he never sent anyone else.”

“There you go. Motive. Do you think she can come up with names for Ron? He’s checking out every Zenon employee anyway. Looking for cash payoffs in bank records, expensive purchases, things like that. He’s into it. Playing detective.” King frowned. “Jealousy is a powerful motive. People have done some really bad things in the name of it.”

“Call Ron and tell him to check with his secretary. Mona knows everyone and everything happening at Zenon.” Anna put a hand on her stomach. She’d enjoyed her new role in Texas, happy to be appreciated. It hadn’t occurred to her that someone might think she was getting perks that they deserved. “Do you really think it could be someone at the company who broke in to my place?” Could it be someone she knew? Someone who’d worked side by side with her?

“He just started looking. But he’s hired more security, and I’m going to post someone to watch the boat dock at the back of the house.” King glared out the wide window with the view of the lake like he hated it.

“Seriously? Isn’t that a little extreme?” Anna felt her phone vibrate in her pants pocket and pulled it out. Finally, Scarlett calling her back. She answered. “Hey, pal, you convinced I’m okay now?”

“You may be okay, but your little friend isn’t.” The male voice was deep and had the same Texas drawl King had.

“Who is this? Where’s Scarlett? How did you get her phone?” Anna hit the command for speaker and held the phone so King could hear.

“Think you’re so clever, don’t you, Anna Delaney, with your heavy-duty password and encryption? We got your backpack too. Bet that got your goat, computer gal.”

“I don’t care about that.” Anna’s hand was shaking so hard she would have dropped the phone if King hadn’t grabbed on to hold it steady. “What have you done to Scarlett? Let me talk to her.”

“You want to talk to your gal pal, give us the encryption key for that program of yours.”

“Not until I hear her voice.” Anna swallowed bile. Scarlett, so brave. She’d probably do something to make these people mad. Make things worse. Calm, she had to be the voice of reason here. Anna had a brother in SWAT. This was a hostage negotiation. Oh, God. “Prove to me she’s all right. I want her safe and away from you before you get access to my program.”

“As if we’re letting you call the shots.” The voice was nasty and sent shudders through her. “Here’s your proof of life. For now.”

“Anna! Don’t give these assholes anything!”

“Scarlett!” Anna heard a scream, a clatter, and the phone went dead.