Dark And Dangerous (13 page)

 
"And why you come?" Carlos asked,
his accent growing heavy.

 
"We wait for a man and woman."

Nathan stepped closer and
looked down into his eyes. "Why?"

 
"We were told to take them with
us."

 
"To where?"

 
"To Mr.
Schnyder
."

 
"Who's Mr.
Schnyder
?"

 
"Colin
Schnyder
.
He owns Smith Imports," Carlos answered before the Slavic could.

 
"You know him?" Nathan asked
surprised.

 
"No, but Joe is a good friend."

 
"Do you know where he is?"

 
"No. He went underground about a week
ago."

 
"Do you know why?" Nathan's eyes
narrowed intensely.

 
"He said he was in trouble and that some
people were after him," Carlos said.

 
"Did he tell you why they are after
him?"

 
"No. He only said they might come
looking for him here, and he didn't know when he would be back."

Nathan looked back down at
the Slavic "Why is this
Schnyder
looking for
Joe?"

 
"I don't know."

 
"Where can I find
Schnyder
?"

 
"He's in his office at the Smith Imports
warehouse."

Nathan turned back to
Carlos. "What do you plan to do with them?" he asked, nodding his
head towards the three men.

 
"We'll tie them up and dump them at an
abandoned warehouse with a couple bags of coke. Then we'll get the hell out,
and call the police from a pay phone." Carlos grinned a hard row of teeth.

 
"Right." Nathan quickly picked up
the gun Kayley had laid on the coffee table and wiped it clean from her
fingerprints with his shirt. He made sure to do the same with the gun he had
taken from the Slavic,
before
 
turning
back to Carlos. "If you hear from Joe or need help
with anything, here's my number." He handed Carlos his business card and
headed for the door.

Chapter 14

 
"What
the hell do you think you're doing?"

Surprised Kayley stopped
dead in her tracks. She had just taken the first steps down the stairs, after
having waited for what felt like an eternity.

 
Full of anger at the way he had commanded her
around, she spun back to face him. "I'm just doing as you told me to do.
Getting out." She turned away from him and kept walking down the stairs.

 
He caught up with her in a couple of strides,
taking her arm and keeping it firmly as she tried to pull away.

 
"I told you to go into the hallway, not
to walk down the stairs. And where the hell were you planning on going
anyway?" His voice was cold and hard as ice.

 
She hadn't known where she was going. But
furious at the way he had treated her, she had finally decided that she wasn't
waiting around for him. Indignant, she walked down beside him, keeping icily
quiet.

 
She ignored him completely as he held the car
door open for her, and watched him under her lashes while he walked around the
car. Anger vibrated from him and rolled over her in waves when he got into the
car, and returned the icy silence.

 
He started the car and drove smoothly through
traffic, while she intentionally stared out the side window, ignoring him. Even
through her anger, she had to admit she was happy and relieved he wasn't one of
those men who drove with their temper.

 
He pulled up at a red light and tapped his
fingers on the steering wheel, trying to keep his temper under control.

 
"What did you think you were
doing?" he asked his voice cold with steel.

 
"I left just like you told me to
do," Kayley said turning to look at him with eyes that burned with fire.

 
"I told you to leave the room so you
wouldn't have to see what happened. Not to walk away to God knows where."
The lights turned green and he drove calmly through traffic. "That's not
the kind of neighborhood you can just go wandering around in."

 
"I can take care of myself. I grew up in
a much worse neighborhood than that, and besides I'm not a child or a servant
to be ordered around at your whim."

 
"My whim?" he repeated.

She hadn't thought his
voice could get any colder, but it had just cooled several frosty degrees.

 
"You call it a whim to tell you to leave
the room, so you don't have to see torture?"

She paled at that, but
didn't back down. "I didn't intend to stand by and watch torture, I
intended to stop it."

 
"You would only have ended up getting
yourself hurt, and I might not have been able to prevent it."

 
"Did I ask you to?"

 
He didn't answer, simply kept on driving as
his silence told her in bristling ice how unfair she had been. She had
regretted it the moment the words had left her mouth, but it was too late to
take them back now. Turning away from him, she looked out the side window again
and wished she could simply vanish. This just went to prove that she wasn't any
good with humans, she thought. Her first reaction was always defense, and she
naturally assumed other people were out to hurt her. But hadn't she warned him
of how bad she was with people? It was hardly her fault that he hadn't believed
her.

 
And she was just making up excuses for her
bad behavior, she told herself. He had tried to protect her and she had
misunderstood, and compared it to experiences from her past. Which she always
did, she admitted. It was easier to just assume the worst to begin with, and
then push others away. That way she never risked getting hurt.

 
But then she never risked actually loving
someone either, she thought. Always distancing herself from people before she
could get too involved.

Of course she hadn't
started out like that, she thought. The two men she had risked trusting, had
rejected her the minute they had gotten what they wanted. Sex.

She had been heartbroken
when they had, although she hadn't loved them. That was why, she had to admit,
that Nathan scared her to her bones. She had never met anyone like him and he
confused her completely.

 
But she had messed it up, and she knew from
experience that she was no good at fixing her mistakes. She could help other
people fix their problems, but when it came to herself, she somehow always
managed to make it worse.

 
Feeling drained, she looked out the window
and noticed the surroundings. They were driving through what appeared to be an
industrial area, with big warehouses lining the streets behind wire fences.

 
She wanted to ask where they were going, but
took one look at the scowl on Nathan's face and decided against it.

 
She was going to find out anyway, she
decided, and went back to looking out the window. Despite the sunny day the buildings
looked gray, bleak and lonely, she thought, even though men were busy working
in front of them.

 
She watched as Nathan drove through an open
gate and parked
beside
a large building. She felt a
sting in her heart when he simply got out of the car without saying a word to
her. Squaring her shoulders, she quickly opened the car door and hurried after
him. He might reject her, but she was damned if she was going to let him leave
her behind before they were back in Monterey. She followed, returning the
silence, refusing to show that it hurt her.

 
They walked into the building and into a big
storage room where men worked busily, transporting large crates from one place
to the next. She followed Nathan towards what appeared to be offices lining one
wall, and walked up the steps leading to a door with manager written in fat
black letters across it.

 
Nathan knocked once, before unceremoniously
opening the door and walking inside. At least he still held the door for her,
Kayley thought, even though he hadn't looked at her once since her tongue had
slipped.

 
A small brunette jumped up as they walked in.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked. "You can't come in here
without one." She smoothed down her skirt and looked at Nathan.

 
Kayley watched as the woman smiled and her
cheeks bloomed rosily while she batted her lashes at Nathan, and felt a prick
of jealousy.

 
"We need to speak with Mr.
Schnyder
," Nathan said, while Kayley watched him out
of the corner of her eyes. He didn't appear to be the least bit affected by the
other woman, she noted surprised.

 
"I'm sorry, but you can't see the
manager without an appointment. Maybe I can schedule one for you next
week?" she asked trying to please him, and gave him her most flirtatious
smile.

 
"That won't do. We need to see him
now."

Flustered her flirtatious
smile failed to stay in place. "Well, I
—
"

She didn't get any further
before the door behind her opened, revealing a very well dressed man.

 
"
It's
okay,
Betty, I'll take it from here," he said with a German accent. He was of
medium height and built, with brown hair and cool blue eyes. "Why don't
you come into my
office.
" He stepped back, giving
them room to enter. Kayley followed Nathan inside and sat in one of two chairs
in front of a large desk, while Nathan took the other.

Closing the door behind
them, the German walked over to sit behind his desk. The scent of cologne hung
in the air around him.

 
"Colin
Schnyder
,
I presume?" Nathan said coolly.

 
"Yes. And you must be Kayley
Hamilton,"
Schnyder
said looking at her.
"You have caused me quite some trouble." He shifted his gaze to
Nathan. "But you I don't know."

 
"We were just at Joe Hamilton's
apartment," Nathan said overriding
Schnyder
,
"and were met by three men claiming to work for you."

 
"Were you?"
Schnyder
watched them with cold eyes, stroking his chin. "You can't trust anybody
these days."

 
"So it appears. Your men mentioned you
gave
them
orders to bring us here, so we thought we
would come by ourselves and find out what it is you want."

 
 
"Your brother has something that belongs
to me, and I want it back,"
Schnyder
said
addressing Kayley.

 
"What makes you think she has it?"
Nathan asked before Kayley could. It was becoming an annoying habit, she
thought.

 
"My informants believe Joe mailed a
packet to his sister."
Schnyder
watched Kayley
closely to see her reaction.

 
"And what was supposed to be in that
package?" Nathan asked trying to get
Schnyder's
attention away from Kayley.

 
"Something that belongs to me," he
answered, but kept his eyes on Kayley. "Your brother never told me he had
such a beautiful sister." He smiled charmingly, and Kayley was sure it was
a smile that was very successful with women. If they didn't look close enough,
she thought, to see his eyes. They stayed cool and calculating.

 
A chill ran down her spine when she looked
into them. There was something hard and mean behind them. Deadly. Reminding her
of a snake, always ready to strike.

 
"Were you close to my brother?" she
asked changing the subject.

 
"I thought he was a very promising
employee." The smile disappeared from his face. "But then he betrayed
me. And I don't take kindly to being betrayed." Before any of them had
time to react he pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. "Now, I want some
answers."

 
"So that's why you wanted your men to
bring us here," Nathan commented coolly.

 
"Of course. Now, where is the thing he
sent you?" He turned his cold eyes on Kayley.

 
"And what are you going to do if we tell
you?" Nathan asked, waiting for the first opportunity to fight.

 
"I'll let you go,"
Schnyder
lied easily. "So where is it?"

 
"It's in the glove compartment of our
car," Nathan lied smoothly.

 
"Is it?"
Schnyder
asked Kayley, watching her closely for signs that they were lying.

 
"Yes, though I don't know why you want
it," Kayley said quickly picking up on Nathan's lie.

 
"Okay, get up,"
Schnyder
waved the gun at them, "and turn around. Keep your hands where I can see
them."

 
They turned and waited, listening as
Schnyder
walked around his desk and came up behind them.
For the first time Nathan looked at Kayley, silently mouthing 'follow my lead'.

 
"Open the door and walk slowly through
it."
Schnyder
kept the gun pointed at their
back, keeping a safe distance between them.

 
Opening the door, Nathan gestured Kayley
through it first, so he would be between her and the gun.
Schnyder's
secretary jumped up as the door opened and smeared on a flirtatious smile.
Despite the situation, Kayley noticed she had used the time they had been in
the office to put on an extra layer of makeup, and a blood red lipstick. Her
red mouth gaped open in shock when she spotted the gun
Schnyder
was holding.

 
"I'll just be taking these two for a
short walk, Betty. And I expect you to have forgotten about it by the time I
come back."

 
"Yes, sir." She looked away quickly
and sat down behind her desk, fidgeting with her computer.

Kayley opened the outer
door and walked down the steps, closely followed by Nathan and
Schnyder
.

 
"Keep walking slowly,"
Schnyder
said, "and don't try anything, or I will
shoot you both on the spot."

 
Nodding, Kayley spared a sideways glance at
Nathan. He had the same grim focused expression she had noticed right before he
had attacked the Slavic.