Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (29 page)

“Well, fuck me,” she mumbled under her breath. “That woman’s old enough to be my mother. What the hell is wrong with him?” She started her car and tore out of the parking lot. Next time she’d damn well be first in line.

“I
’m sick of this shit,” Laura mumbled as she emptied her suitcase. Tony had one of his employees, a young man named Jeremy with burn scars on his arms, come to the hospital, pick her up, and take her to Steve’s apartment. She wasn’t sure why they were going to such lengths. Wagner was going to find her and kill her – she’d resigned herself to that. Better to be prepared for it than let it sneak up on her. That had already happened once and, like Wagner, she’d decided that wasn’t going to happen again. If she was going to die, she wanted to do it with her eyes wide open.

“You’re just gonna have to stay sick of it, because this is what you’re getting.” Steve plopped down on the sofa while Laura paced back and forth. “And I don’t want to hear a lot of bitching and whining about it either. At least you’re alive.”

“Not much of a life,” Laura growled.

“Better than a coffin. And that’s your alternative.”

“No, that’s what I’m going to get anyway,” she whispered.

“Not today, and not tomorrow if all of us have anything to do with it,” Steve told her. “Now what’s for dinner, wench? I’m famished.”

“Whatever the hell you can have delivered, tyrant. I’m going to bed,” she said, skulking down the hallway.

“Hey, it’s only noon! You’re going to bed?”

“I don’t have another damn thing to do,” she called back to him.

“Come back here! I want to talk to you about something,” Steve called after her.

Laura stomped back up the hallway and dropped onto the chair across from the sofa. “What the hell could you possibly want?”

“Listen, let’s get serious. I know you’ve got some issues. Correct?”

“And I’m the only one in the world who does?” Laura snarled.

“Hey, look, I’m not kidding. I want to have a serious conversation with you, okay?” Laura shrugged at him and looked down at the floor. “So, about your issues – what would you like to see happen so you’re comfortable in your own skin?”

Laura shrugged again. “I dunno. I don’t think there’s any hope for me. Nikki says there is, but . . .”

“That’s ridiculous. Nikki’s right. There’s more than hope for you; there’s a life out there for you if you want it. Do you want it?” He waited for an answer. “Well?”

“Well? I don’t know what to say. Yeah, I want it, but it’s impossible,” Laura whispered.

“No, it’s not. It just depends on how bad you want it.” He waited again. “Well?”

“It’s a lost cause, Steve. Just let it go.”

“No, it’s not a lost cause. I think I know something that could help you if you want it to. But you have to want it.”

He’d managed to snag Laura’s attention at that point. “So . . . exactly what is this ‘something’ that you’re talking about?” she asked, perking up.

“Well, actually, it’s not a something. It’s a someone,” Steve started. “It’s Cabrizzi.” He held his breath and waited.

He expected her to start yelling and stomping around, but her response surprised him. “Yeah, he said something to me at the hospital about how he’d help me if I wanted him to. But I don’t know what that means,” she said. She sounded kind of hopeless, but there was a spark in her eyes that Steve hadn’t seen before.

“I don’t know what it means either, but I think you should give him a chance. For reasons I can’t even fathom, the guy seems to care about you. Given the way you treat him, I think that’s nothing short of remarkable,” Steve smirked.

Steve was right, she knew. Vic had never done anything to her to warrant getting the kind of treatment she meted out to him. He’d made a commitment to her to keep her safe when she hadn’t even been able to speak a kind word to him. He’d agonized over being unable to protect her from Wagner, but most of the time Vic needed protection from her, from her stinging words and callous disregard of his feelings.
What the hell is wrong with me?
, she asked herself over and over, but she didn’t have any answers, except that she couldn’t feel a damned thing.

“So you need to think about it and let us know. I have no idea why this guy cares anything about you. But know this: Vic Cabrizzi would be one fine catch. He’s got money, class, personality, and that’s aside from his obvious physical attributes which, by the way, I’m insanely jealous of. If you don’t do what you need to, your ship’s going to sail. It’s entirely up to you, but he won’t last forever. Trust me, if you could see the way those women at the club fawn over him, you’d understand. I think he has two or three a night who ask him to collar them, and he keeps turning them down. One of these days the right one will come in, and he won’t turn her down. Your chance will be gone.” Steve stood, stretched, and started down the hallway. “Now all of this huggy-touchy-feely stuff has worn me out. I’m going to take a nap. I’ll order out when I wake up. Make yourself comfortable.”

Laura sat for a long while and thought about what Steve had said. He was right; Vic wouldn’t wait forever. She needed to decide, and she needed to do it soon.

“What’s my day going to look like?” Laura asked Steve over a bowl of cereal. The guy didn’t have much in the way of food.

“I’m going to the office. I’ve got some people downstairs monitoring what takes place up here. You’ll be safe until I get home this evening, and you can come to the club with me if you like.” He headed back to the bedroom.

I wouldn’t like,
Laura thought. She hoped she could come up with somewhere else to go, maybe to Tony and Nikki’s. She’d call and ask.

Before she could finish the cereal, Steve came back up the hallway. “Okay, dear, come and kiss me goodbye. I’m headed to the office. Make sure little Johnny and Janie get their homework done before I get home so we can play Parcheesi after we eat the fabulous dinner you’re going to cook.”

Laura smirked. “Okay, honey. See you later.” Steve grinned and opened the front door. Then he slammed it shut. “What the hell?” she asked him.

When he turned, his face was white. Laura’s eyes went wide. What was outside the door? “Steve? What is it?”

“Don’t open the door.” Of course, Laura got up and shot straight for it. “I said don’t open . . .” Steve screamed just as Laura turned the knob and slung it open.

Laura didn’t see anything until she looked down. There, at her feet, was a box. And across the box, in a large, red scrawl, were the words, “HEY, BILLINGS – DISARM THIS!” It took her about two seconds for the meaning to register, and she slammed the door shut. “How the hell do we get out of here? Where’s the back entrance?” she screamed at Steve.

“There’s not one,” Steve answered in a whisper.

“God, we’re screwed,” Laura whispered back and crashed down onto the sofa.

“Yes, this is Steve McCoy of Citadel Security and the McCoy Law Firm,” Steve was saying into his phone. “I’ve got what appears to be an explosive device outside my front door. It’s the penthouse of Mellott Towers.” Steve looked impatient as he listened. “Yes, please. And the bomb squad. And call Bryson Hawkins, tell him what’s going on. He’s been involved in a case that, oh, hell, just call him and tell him what’s going on, please. I’ve got to try to find us a safer place to be in the apartment.” He hung up and looked at Laura. “Come on. We’re going to the back.”

She followed him down the hallway, then stopped and turned back. “Wait! I did ordnance. I can disarm . . .”

“Oh HELL no. You’re going to come back here with me and stay put. I mean it, Butler. Don’t give me a hard time, you hear me? If I’m gonna die, I’d like it to be with a friend, not somebody I want to smack the shit out of.” He grabbed her hand and dragged her down the hallway with him.

Steve shoved her through the doorway of his home office at the end of the hallway, slammed the door shut, and started putting stuff up against it, scooting things around and making a mess. “Hey, no one’s trying to break in! We’re trying to keep from getting hurt, remember? This stuff would just fly around and hit us,” Laura told him, and Steve stopped, then sat down in his desk chair and cast a listless eye around the room.

“What are we supposed to do? Just wait?” he growled.

“That’s
exactly
what we’re supposed to do. I guess. I’m not sure. I’ve never done this before.” She sat down on the floor and wrapped her arms around her bent knees, then put her face against them. When Steve’s phone rang, they both jumped. He looked at the screen: Vic.

“Hey, bud, Laura’s not answering her phone and I was . . .”

“I can’t talk, Cabrizzi.” Steve’s voice was strained, and Laura looked up when he said Vic’s name.

“Give me the phone, ass hat,” she barked at Steve, and he handed it to her and turned away. “Vic?”

“Hey! Are you . . .”

“Vic, Wagner left a bomb outside Steve’s door.”

It took Vic a few seconds to process what she had said. “You mean right now? This minute?” he stammered.

“Yeah. We’re waiting for the bomb squad. Steve wouldn’t let me . . .”

“No! You absolutely
do not
go near it, you hear me?
Don’t!
” Once the order left his lips, he added pleadingly, “Let them take care of it, please?”

“Yeah, yeah, I won’t touch it. We’re in his office in the back. I don’t know what’s going on.” Vic was astonished; for someone who might die in the next few minutes, Laura had a weird calmness in her voice.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I mean, this is sort of how I figured the cowardly bastard would get me, you know, poetic justice and all that, but I kind of hate that I’m taking Steve with me. But just kind of.” Steve howled from the chair, and she shot him a look.

“You’re not going anywhere. I’m at the Louisville office; I’m on my way. If I get there and they won’t let me in, I’ll call you and tell you what’s going on, okay? I’ll be there as fast as I can get there.” Vic was already in the car and speeding down the street.

“Okay. We’re not going anywhere. And Vic?”

“Yeah, hon?”

“I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you. I don’t know why I . . .”

Vic interrupted her. “We’ll talk about it later. Don’t give it another thought. Just stay as safe as you can manage. I’ll be there in just a few.”

Bryson was standing by a patrol car when Vic got to Mellott Towers. He saw Vic coming, walked up to the big Italian, and put both hands on Vic’s chest. His voice was firm when he told Vic, “You’re not going in there.”

“I know.” Vic made a face. “What are they doing about this?” There were at least twenty squad cars, fifteen ambulances, enough fire trucks for a parade, and three tactical teams. And the bomb squad; three units, in fact. Plus every person who was in Mellott Towers, except Steve and Laura, of course.

“They’re sending the robot up. It’s harder because it’s got to navigate the elevator, but they’ve got it under control. The robot scans the package and sends an x-ray type image back, then brings it down the hallway and puts it in the bomb disposal vehicle,” Bryson said, pointing at a huge rig with an enormous cannonball-shaped container on the back, its door standing open like a giant front-loading high-efficiency washing machine.

A radio crackled on Bryson’s hip and Vic heard a voice say, “We’ve got a visual on the contents. We need everyone out of the area. Move your people back one hundred yards. Repeat: All emergency responders move back one hundred yards from the entrance to the building.” When Vic glanced over at the detective’s face, it hid nothing – it was the worst possible scenario.

Steve’s phone only rang once and Laura answered. “Please tell me what’s going on,” she whispered into the phone.

“I’m not going to lie to you, baby. It’s bad. I need you guys to just stay right where you are for now. Please. Don’t go to the front of the apartment for anything.”

“Did they get an x-ray of the package?”

Vic swallowed hard. “Yes. And I need you both to stay right where you are. I’ll let you know when it’s all right to come out.”

She understood. In a tiny little voice, Vic heard Laura say, “Okay,” and she didn’t make another sound.