The Big Guns

Chapter Four

Trevor Walters paced the length of his office from the door to the windows towering behind his desk. With every step, the memory of the call played in his mind. The toneless whisper of the male voice and the threat.

It is over. All ends will be tied.

That was three weeks ago. Three weeks after the WitSec mess screamed to a halt and he reached a tenuous new peace agreement with the Recovery Project. Even now he waited for the windows to implode and the agents to storm in with guns at the ready.

Except for the soft hum of the computers set up on the credenza, the executive suite remained quiet. The main offices one floor down buzzed with the usual decreased level of weekend-morning activity. His was an around-the-clock business. He set strategies in place for businesses that sent employees into dangerous locations. He could handle the worst, often did.

Ever since Recovery agent Adam Wright breached the office’s security and infiltrated Trevor’s office with weapons aimed at his head, no one got up on the private elevator and his floor without his express approval. He hadn’t granted it to anyone except the two guards stationed by the elevator. Visitors or Orion employees trying to get in would need the security codes and the guts to get through men with guns.

Except for Sela. She worked on the floor. She belonged there.

Being at work on a Sunday wasn’t unusual for him, but he was there on this Sunday, at this predawn hour, because she called with an emergency. Since starting as his assistant almost a year before, she’d been consistent. His most loyal supporter. As his life fell apart and his ex-wife raged in the newspapers about the need to limit his access to their son, Sela stood strong.

She ignored the whispered comments about sleeping with the boss and concentrated on her work. In return, he piled even more responsibility on her. She was the only one who knew about the extent of his surveillance on the Recovery agents. She coordinated the information he gathered and kept her mouth shut.

She was a valued assistant. And she was running late today. That never happened. From the wobble in her voice, the rushed words over the phone a few hours earlier, he knew something had happened.

Now she didn’t answer her home phone or cell. Her desk chair was empty and she didn’t leave a message after the one begging him to come to the office immediately.

She was missing.

Sela, with her integral knowledge of his dealings, could very well be a loose end to be tied. Her death would guarantee her silence and his.

Trevor didn’t waste another minute. He slipped between his desk and his chair. Typing in the code to his bottom right drawer, he opened the small safe and pulled out the gun. He brushed his fingers over the cool metal. The weapon felt good in his hands, solid.

He ran a multi-million-dollar business, but he wasn’t the type to just sit behind a desk. He’d taken the time to learn how to shoot. And he would use those skills to protect Sela. He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

SELA SAT ON THE COUCH and rubbed her knee. The chair barricading the door ensured she couldn’t get out before Zach could get to her.

But that didn’t stop her from talking. “Zach, you’re not listening to me.”

He stopped counting the number of times she said that sentence. Pretty soon he’d need a calculator to do the addition. “That’s right.”

“You have a chance here.”

“Uh-huh. A chance.” He rattled around the kitchen drawers until he found rope sturdy enough to hold Johnnie once he regained consciousness.

Zach checked for weapons. Also looked for a phone and evidence of a partner or a real boss. This time.

Seeing Sela run into the dark woods had rocked his concentration enough to make him screw up that big. In his rush to get to her before anyone else could grab her, he’d failed to watch his flank. He’d let Johnnie launch an offensive strike that could have taken Sela out, anyway.

Zach wanted to kick his own butt for missing the obvious.

And Sela wanted to talk him to death.

Somewhere in the past few minutes she’d decided he was one of the bad guys and was set on redeeming him. She kept up her motivational speech from her seat on the couch. “You’re on a road to nowhere.”

“Actually, I’m not sure what town we’re in.”

“What?”

“Nowhere is probably ten miles to our east.” He wrapped the rope around Johnnie’s legs and arms and pulled tight, making a perfect military knot.

While Sela lobbied her position, Zach did what he could to stop the bleeding on Johnnie’s shoulder and chest. He added a gag, just in case Johnnie woke up yelling. As a final protection, Zach dragged the injured man across the floor and locked him in the tiny bathroom. No need to see him if he wasn’t conscious to answer questions.

“He could die in there,” she pointed out when Zach returned to stand in front of her at the couch.

“I’m rarely that lucky.”

“Zach.”

Hearing her say his name, with her big brown eyes all soft and hopeful, made him feel something. He couldn’t put a name to the feeling but an unsettling sense of lightness poured over him. Rather than deal with that unknown, he focused on his other problem. Getting them out of there alive.

She had other ideas. “You’re still not listening to me.”

“I’m trying very hard not to, but you sure are not making it easy.”

Her chin raised and a deep red stained her cheeks. He’d seen that look many times since he’d started watching her. There was something else, too. Her eyes, glazed with distress and fear, told a different story.

He felt like a piece of crap for not seeing it sooner. She had to be in pain. A bruise marked her soft skin. A torn blouse. Swollen knee. Seeing her hurt made him sick.

He didn’t dwell on the sympathy but there it was, pulsing in the dark spot in the back of his mind. “Let me see your leg and check that cut.”

She braced her hands against the sofa cushions. “I’m fine.”

And ticked off. The beautiful woman with the model face and stripper body definitely was not happy.

Leaning down on one knee, he met her face-to-face. “Don’t be a hero, Sela. You’re injured.”

“So are you. Johnnie landed a punch or two.”

Zach pretended to be offended. “Is that a comment on my manhood?”

“Take it however you want.”

“Men are sensitive about stuff like that, you know.”

“Johnnie needs medical attention.”

She knew how to kill a decent try at chitchat. “Like I care.”

“You’ll care if he’s dead and you’re on trial for his murder.”

“You’re the one who wanted to know why I didn’t shoot him earlier.”

“That was adrenaline talking.”

“Well, Johnnie is lucky I didn’t kill him.” Zach sent a disgusted look in the direction of the locked bathroom. “I might yet.”

“You wouldn’t.”

He scoffed. “Why would you think that?”

“You’re not a killer.”

The matter-of-fact way she said it stunned him. “Sounds as if you’ve had a change of heart about me.”

When he leaned forward, she pulled back, forcing her bruised body deeper into the couch cushions and away from him. “Not that much.”

“I’m trying to help.”

“If you want to help, drive me home. Call Trevor. Do whatever you need to do so I can talk to the police.” Her voice dropped. “Or just leave me alone.”

Hearing her talk about Trevor—her boss and suspected lover—made Zach’s jaw clench tight. “Not going to happen.”

“Which part?”

“Any part.” Especially the part where he left her alone.

He slipped his hands under the hem of her skirt. Ignoring her slapping hands and yelp of surprise, he skimmed what was left of her tattered stockings down her legs and ripped them from around her injured knee.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a voice more breathy than firm.

Yeah, what was he doing? More bad timing. This time his.

Concentrating on her bruise instead of the silky feel of her skin proved impossible. It hit him out of nowhere and without warning. He wanted her.

He knew she was messed up with Trevor, a man Zach despised. She was likely sleeping with the guy, caught up in whatever garbage Trevor had going. But no matter how hard Zach tried to make that matter, it didn’t. After all those days of watching her, studying her, Sela’s image played in his mind, and he could not figure out a way to shake her loose.

He swore under his breath, berating his lack of control. She’d been hurt and mistreated. She’d probably just experienced the worst three hours of her life. All he could think about was bunching that businesslike skirt around her waist.

He had become an animal.

“Well?” she asked.

He swallowed down a lump of unwanted attraction. “It’s not broken, just badly bruised and a bit cut up.”

“Tell me why,” she said.

“I’m not a medical expert, but a bruise has something to do with blood pooling under the skin.”

“Not that.” Her face didn’t show any emotion. “Why did you save me from Johnnie only to drag me back here and continue to keep me against my will?”

Because reinforcements were on the way. Zach knew if he had any hope of finding out the person behind Sela’s kidnapping, he needed to stay put. Knowing Adam was heading there right now made holding the position a bit easier, but Zach still hated being out in the open in a situation he couldn’t control.

“It’s not over,” Zach said.

“Did anyone ever tell you that you tend to talk in half sentences?”

“Once or twice.” With as gentle a touch as possible, he probed the area around her knee. Sela winced and squirmed but stayed quiet. He knew she feared letting him see her weakness. He admired that.

“Call the police.”

“Your knee will feel better in a minute.” He unbuttoned his shirt and yanked it off his shoulders. His sore ribs protested, but it was more important to keep Sela’s knee immobilized and stable than to worry about his battered insides.

He stripped down to his white undershirt and folded his dark shirt into a long, slim bandage. “I know it’s not clean but it should work okay.”

Sela’s body turned to marble. The sudden change caught his attention. His gaze shot up to meet hers. Her seething anger evaporated and in its place came surprise.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

She blinked several times. “Nothing.”

His eyes narrowed. “Tell me.”

When she continued to stare over his shoulder with her mouth clamped shut, he gave up and wrapped her knee. “Better?”

“You keep ignoring my questions. What are we going to do now?” she asked, this time her voice a bit less shaky.

“We’re not going to do anything.”

She leaned against the cushions. “We’re just going to sit here?” If her bulging eyes were any indication, she didn’t like the idea.

“For a second.” He glanced at his watch.

“Care to tell me why?”

“I need to keep Johnnie covered so he doesn’t call in more guys to pick up where he failed. I also want him dragged in and questioned.”

“What does that have to do with us sitting here?”

“I can’t do it alone. We’re waiting for reinforcements.”

“You mean more Recovery agents.” Her mouth twisted as if she’d just smelled spoiled milk.

“You don’t sound too happy about that.”

“No.”

“What did we ever do to you?”

“Adam Wright threatened to kill me.”

The news surprised Zach…and it didn’t. When Adam had thought Trevor kidnapped Maddie, Adam’s woman, he’d stormed into Orion with guns loaded. Sela had tried to get in the way, which was one of the things Zach both admired and upset him about her. Loyalty was an impressive commodity. Too bad sleeping with Trevor blew every positive attribute apart.

Zach cleared his throat as he blinked the disturbing idea from his mind. “I’m thinking you’re exaggerating.”

“He held a gun on me.”

“Well, yeah, that sounds like him.” Zach could imagine that happening. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll force him to apologize the second he gets here.”

“When will that be?”

Zach stared at his watch one more time. “Good question.”

“Could you narrow it down?”

“My guess is about five minutes from now.”

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