Switched (6 page)

“I asked you for a simple job.” Brandon’s breathing had kicked up until every part of his body vibrated as he talked.

“And I told you no. I don’t engage in nepotism. I earned my way and you can, too. Frankly, it’s long past time you grew up.” Lowell was not going to relive this conversation. He’d made his decision. He took two steps toward the door in a silent declaration that the conversation had ended.

“That is why I asked for the job.”

He stopped and glanced at the young man he’d once hoped would followed him into the family business, and realized that dream had died long ago. “No, you asked because you’ve burned every other bridge. You lost your first job out of college because you were ignorant. I told you never to use your real name on the internet. You should have listened to me, but you didn’t. Well, Brandon, lesson learned.”

“I know the only one you like to help around here is Angie—”

“You will refer to her as Ms. Troutman and you will be respectful. She is a trusted member of my team.”

Brandon laughed. “Is that what we’re calling it these days?”

Behind the tough talk Lowell saw his son’s wariness. Realizing this was all false bravado stopped Lowell from kicking the kid out. “If you are trying to convince me you’re growing up, you are failing miserably.”

After a light knock, the door opened. Security chief Palmer Trask slipped inside, his eyes going between the two men. “Excuse me, sir.”

“Come in.” Lowell waved him in, more than happy to end the family discussion. “Brandon and I are done talking.”

Palmer nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Where have you been? And while you’re at it, explain why all the so-called security professionals to whom I pay huge fees can’t seem to be bothered to actually protect anything or anyone.”

“Sir, we have a problem.”

“I believe that was my point.”

Palmer cleared his voice. “There may be an issue that requires some delicacy.”

Since Brandon just stood there, Lowell decided the best recourse was to talk around him. “Pretend he’s not here and be more specific.”

Palmer linked his fingers behind his back and rocked back on his heels. “I haven’t seen McBain or his second-in-command in quite some time. They went upstairs to check on an issue and I’ve lost radio communication. He has a cell, but I can’t get through.”

From his dealings with McBain, Lowell knew the man took his job seriously. He wouldn’t leave his post without cause. “We need to check the conference center while the party continues.”

“Is that safe?” Brandon asked.

“This is all precaution. I’m sure everything is fine.” Lowell spared Brandon a glance before returning his attention to Palmer. “As quietly as possible, get Ms. Troutman and my finance man, Mark Fineman, and bring them in here. I’d like you to return and post two of your best men outside for extra protection.”

“Yes, sir.” Palmer threw a quick frown in Brandon’s direction, then left the room.

Realizing Brandon was in the mood to cause trouble and Angie was about to be in his line of fire, Lowell issued a new warning. “I expect you to be quiet and respectful as soon as our guests arrive.”

“I didn’t hear my name on the list of approved people who get to stay.”

“One more comment like that and you can fend for yourself outside like everyone else.”

* * *

A
ARON STARED AT THE SMALL
screen of his cell. If willing the phone back into service worked, the lights would flash. Something. “I can’t get through. Since we’ve lost the comm network, we’re on our own up here.”

Royal blew out a long breath. “This is just getting better and better.”

They’d moved farther into the open room, over by the windows and away from the body on the floor. Risa had seen enough violence for a lifetime. And he was ready to go a few minutes without someone tackling him or trying to kill him.

“We can try using mine.” Risa patted her pockets. “Wait, I left my purse downstairs in the manager’s office. Well, of course it is. Why should anything go right today?”

“It wouldn’t work anyway,” Royal said. “Someone is jamming the signal. Nothing would get through.”

The “why” behind that action was the piece Aaron kept missing. The recent threats centered on Lowell. Angie had a bedroom connection to Lowell, but not a linear one. Grabbing a related woman when the true target stood just downstairs was the type of logic Aaron had trouble reasoning through.

But he had to figure out a workaround. He wasn’t one to sit and wait, working on the defensive. An offensive strike was the answer. “Here’s the bad news—”

Risa’s eyes grew huge. “We haven’t had the bad part yet?”

“Without the schematics, we depend on my memory of the layout of this place. I looked at a lot of paperwork and retained a great deal of it.” At least he hoped that was true.

Royal glanced at the ceiling. “If you say so.”

“I have to agree with Royal on this one.” Risa leaned back with her head balancing against the window and let her eyes slip shut. “Except for the part where you know how to throw that weapon around—”

“Excuse me?”

“I wish you actually were a lawyer. They have to memorize a lot of stuff in school. That skill set could help us here.”

Time for another shot of truth. Aaron wondered if he’d spent the next month unraveling the lies he’d told her. “I am.”

Her eyes popped open. “What?”

“A lawyer.” He scowled at Royal, trying to get him to at least pretend he wasn’t listening in. Some things should be private.

She looked at Aaron, at Royal and back again. “But that was a lie.”

Aaron slid next to her with his hands balanced behind him on the edge of the windowsill. The space between them contracted and his fingers touched hers. “Just the tax part. Lawyer, navy JAG, to be exact, and now security expert. But, since I pay my bar dues, still a lawyer.”

The words hung in the quiet until Royal snapped his fingers. “Uh, shouldn’t you know that?” he asked Risa. “I thought you two were dating.”

Her eyes sparkled when she answered, “Right now I feel lucky I even know his name. It is Aaron, right?”

The byplay had Royal grinning like an idiot. Aaron understood the goofy reaction. Something about the way she lost herself in a moment made that hard shell he’d fought so hard to build around him crumble. He’d seen it as she smiled over an email or described the perfect latte.

It was the reason he switched from talking with her over coffee to asking her out for dinner. Picking up random women over scones was not his usual style. He made an exception for her.

She leaned toward Royal and he met her halfway, as if sharing a big secret. “Your coworker—”

Aaron broke in. “Technically, I’m his boss.”

“—has a problem with dating honesty.”

“Now is not the time for this conversation.” There was a dead guy on the floor and two injured down the hall. All of this amusing talk could wait. Aaron turned to Royal. “To be clear, there will never be a time for you to join in the conversation about my dating life.”

Her fingers slid through his as her smile faded. “You’re right. We’re not going to talk about anything if we don’t get off this floor alive.”

He hated killing the lighter mood, but this was not the time to get lazy. Anyone could be waiting around the next corner. In fact, he would bet there was at least one more guy close by because he doubted these guys worked solo and they had an odd number down.

“Normally I would suggest we not exaggerate, but since three men have come after you in the span of a half hour, we need to assume you’re a potential victim here,” Aaron said.

“Gee, do you think?”

Royal held up a hand. “Except for the empty cartridges. That throws the whole scenario off.”

“Not all of them are empty.” Aaron hated to break the physical connection with Risa and regretted it the minute he lifted his hand. He slipped out one of the cartridges he’d emptied in the bathroom and chucked it to Royal. “These went with the first attacker’s other gun, the one he pointed at us. They sure seem real.”

Royal studied the bullet. “None of this makes sense.”

“Shouldn’t we warn Angie?” Risa bit her bottom lip. “I mean, these guys want her, not me. She could be in real danger.”

He didn’t want to scare her, not when they’d spent the past few minutes coming down from the adrenaline rush, but she had to be ready for the next guy who shoved a gun in her face, and Aaron feared there would be at least one more. “So long as they think you’re the one they want, Angie should be safe.”

“Then I guess I drew the short straw on this one.”

Royal nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“We need to split up.” Until Aaron knew what was happening throughout the building, just hopping on the elevator and taking a chance that no one would be there ready to fire was not an option. Not a feasible one anyway.

“For the record, I’m sticking with you.” She eyed him as if daring them to disagree. “You ran into the bathroom and now you’re stuck with me.”

“Agreed. You’re not leaving my side.” How he’d gone from forgetting to call her to not wanting to leave her, he wasn’t sure, but this went beyond offering protection.

Her shoulders relaxed. “What are we going to do?”

Aaron started with Royal. “Try the roof. See if you can get the phone or the comm to work. We’ll check the floor to make sure it’s clear.”

She made a face. “Really? Because at this point I vote for hiding.”

Though it was not his style and not his job, she needed reassurance and he’d give it to her. “It just might come to that.”

Chapter Six

Angie paced around the small conference table. Five people in a twelve-by-twelve space and one of them a twenty-something with an attitude and a staring problem. Not her idea of fun.

Being locked in a room with Lowell was one thing. They’d spent hours in hotels and even a few nights in his big house behind the high fence while Sonya was away. Right in her king-size bed, on those thousand-dollar sheets Angie knew the other woman had scoured the stores picking out.

The memory of walking around naked in Lowell’s country estate made her smile. Hunting through the other woman’s closet, touching her clothes and trying on her jewelry had given her satisfaction. All those hours of exploring almost made putting up with Lowell’s mood swings worthwhile.

It had been so tempting to take the rubies with her. Just slip them into her overnight bag and sneak them home. Heaven knew she’d earned them. Listening to Lowell. Being with Lowell. As far as Angie was concerned, her job was far harder and more taxing than that of wife.

If only sleeping with the boss carried the same financial benefit. But she intended to rectify the deficiency as soon as she figured out what was happening right now.

Mark Fineman stepped in front of her and handed her a glass of something she assumed was eggnog. “You seem pretty happy for someone being held in a room at a lame holiday party.”

“I’ve had worse.”

That went for the situation and the finance guy. He had just inched into his forties, but thanks to the marathon running he talked about incessantly and the countless hours in the gym, he possessed an enviable trim waist. And brown hair that appeared to be all his, and a handsome face that likely once hooked women in college bars across the country.

He had potential, but he also had an ex-wife, and if the rumor was correct, a hefty alimony payment. Apparently his wandering eye and skillful hands had cost him big the first time around. He’d lost the house, part of his income and now depended on his fancy new sports car to start a conversation with a lady.

“You okay?” he asked.

She doubted the concern was real. More likely he decided it was time to make a run at a woman with more power in the office than his usual targets. He’d already worked his way through two interns and an assistant. Angie admired his goal in aiming higher this time around, but he needed to point his radar in a different direction. One nowhere near her.

“Why wouldn’t I be fine?” she asked him over the rim of her glass as she took a sip.

Mark glanced at Brandon. “This is a tense situation.”

Angie wondered if Mark expected some expression of guilt or evidence of shame. If so, he was looking at the wrong woman. She’d built a life and did it using the assets her mother had passed to her. If that meant not being the office favorite, so be it. Those nitwit women bugged her anyway. They were just jealous she had the thought to start climbing the office ladder first.

If her life’s choices meant upsetting an overgrown kid who didn’t understand the realities of his parents’ messed-up marriage, fine. She did what she had to do to survive and she refused to apologize for her drive. Brandon had everything handed to him. She didn’t. As far as she was concerned, she was evening the odds.

“Are you standing here because you think I need protection from something?” she asked Mark. The idea was laughable, but she knew men often bought into those foolish thoughts.

“My guess is you have a guardian angel with more power than I have around here.”

Mark grew less interesting by the minute. “I also have nothing to hide.”

“Fair enough.”

Lowell glared at her from across the room. Then his attention turned to Mark. With a flick of his wrist Lowell had his subordinate scurrying around the desk to his side.

Pitiful.

No way was she running when Lowell snapped his fingers. She wasn’t even supposed to be in this room. She should be on a higher floor, working through the steps she’d memorized. It all fell apart when Aaron McBain went hunting where he didn’t belong.

When she regrouped and adjusted her plan, she’d be sure to take care of McBain first. She wouldn’t give the man a second chance to ruin everything.

* * *

R
ISA VOWED NEVER
to
ATTEND
another holiday party. She might skip Christmas this year all together. She hadn’t planned to go anywhere anyway. With her parents gone, what little family she had scattered all over the U.S. and out of contact, and her personal life in repair mode, she didn’t have a lot of options.