Imminent Danger (Adrenaline Highs) (35 page)

“You think she was out specifically to hurt you like that?”

“Me specifically? I don’t know. Maybe she was out for any man who she thought she could scam and I happened to be the one that ended up in her trap. There were a lot of men with deep pockets at the club that night…directors, producers, managers. With her clothes and makeup, she easily passed for twenty-five and she knew it. She had an agenda.”

“That’s one hell of an expensive lesson.” Kim tapped her chin. “Where is she now?”

Leo slowed down as he realized his foot had gotten heavier on the gas with the story. “Don’t know. Don’t care. But you better believe I check for ID now.”

“You didn’t check mine,” she mused with a lifted eyebrow. “What if I’m seventeen?”

Leo glanced at her. “I’ve never met one single teenager with your kind of style.” He slowed for a red light.

She cocked her head. “Leo. You dodge bullets better than anyone I’ve ever met. Instead of reminding me that seventeen was over a decade ago, you turned it around and gave me a compliment.”

“A decade ago?” Leo glanced at her again. “Now you’ve surprised me. I thought you were going to say five years ago.”

“And bam, he does it again.” Her smile turned serious. “I still don’t see why you never came forward to clear your name. Why let her get away with that?”

“No proof. Who’s the public going to believe? The actor with the bad rep or the high school cheerleader without a blemish on her record? I had no way to win. Trying to defend myself was only going to make me come out looking worse. It was easier to give her the money to shut up. And she
does
have to keep quiet or she has to give the money back.”

Kim growled, soft and low. “Nothing makes me angrier than conniving little bitches. I wouldn’t mind meeting her one day in a dark alley.” She’d had the same thought when Jennifer Baumgarten had slipped ex-lax in Kim’s smoothie on the day of cheerleader tryouts in high school. Kim had been stuck in the bathroom and never made the audition—much less the squad— and Jennifer had slipped into the open spot without any competition.

The light changed and Leo hit the gas. “I don’t think I’ve been championed before.” He liked the feeling.

“Well someone should’ve stood up for you when she came crawling out of the woodwork. Where’s your family? You must have a support system that can come forward when stuff like this happens.”

Dicey territory. “My parents died a long time ago.” He shrugged and hoped that worked as an answer. “Now, it’s my team. Agent, manager, publicist, assistant. They keep me moving. What about you? Still have your folks?” He edged into the left lane to pass a slow-moving bus.

“No.” She paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I lost them in a car accident not long after I moved to Indiana.”

“Wow. Sorry about that,” he said, glancing at her. “That must have been rough.”

She nodded. “It was. Especially since they were coming to visit me. I moved there from Chicago and they thought it would be fun to take a road trip and visit.”

“What happened?” he asked.

“My dad fell asleep at the wheel and went off the side of the road. Wrapped the car around a telephone pole.”

Ouch
. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too.” She adjusted the watch on her wrist and pressed her lips together. “It threw me off for a while. Really got me thinking about my life and what I want…and don’t want.”

“Tragedy will do that.” So would a crooked accountant. “So what
do
you want?”

“For starters, I wouldn’t mind a bigger city.” She smiled wistfully. “I loved Chicago, so moving to Indiana was an adjustment. Trust me, I’m not averse to someplace different.”

“Why couldn’t you sell your part of the business and move?” he asked.

“Honestly, I can’t imagine leaving my partner high and dry. Doesn’t seem fair.”

“I thought she was ‘living the dream.’ Would she really care?” Nathan’s building loomed ahead to the right. “Seems like if she’s really a friend, she’d understand your need to move on.

“Here we are,” Leo said, turning into the parking lot. “Whoa!”

A black GTO slammed on its brakes as it tried to exit at the same driveway and nearly plowed into Stella. The driver, an African American with a harsh look on his face, took the turn anyway and hopped the curb to avoid Leo. The GTO burned rubber as he departed.

“Asshole,” Leo muttered as he parked. Something about him seemed familiar.

“Did you notice his car didn’t have license plates?”

“I didn’t, but I’m not surprised if he drives like that on a normal basis,” Leo said, parking and cutting the engine in the almost empty lot. The same beat up Honda sat in the corner spot, assuring Bonnie’s presence.

Together they walked toward the building and Kim sniffed the air. “Do you smell something?” Leo took a whiff of the air as he opened the door. Black smoke trailed out and hit them simultaneously. “Oh my God,” she said, squinting into the dark haze. “Fire!”

Not again.
Kim’s pulse doubled as she bolted into the building. “Bonnie!” she called, staying low.

“Kim! Goddammit!” Leo’s voice sounded right behind her.

Fire crackled in the back office on the right, but hadn’t engulfed the whole place. Black smoke filled the air and burned her throat.

Leo grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. “Get out of here! Call 911!” He covered his mouth and nose with the bottom of his white T-shirt. “Bonnie!” he yelled as he ducked farther into the building.

Kim ran outside, sucked in clean air and made the call. The dispatcher kept her on the phone, asking questions and after a couple of very long minutes and no sign of Leo, she had enough. Tossing her bag and phone on the sidewalk she ran into the smoking entrance.

Hot air and black smoke hit her like a wall. “Leo!” she yelled and coughed up a lungful of smoke. Staying low, she squinted and tried to see through the dark haze. The fire had already moved out of the office and trailed along the sides of the walls almost as if it had a path to follow.

“Get out!” he yelled from the back office. “It’s moving too fast! Get out!”

Kim followed his voice, dodging burning desks and open file cabinets along the way. A piece of the roof fell next to her and she scrambled faster. She found him trying to heave a filing cabinet and almost asked
What the hell are you doing?
until she saw legs sticking out from underneath it.

Bonnie!

“Goddammit, Kim!” Leo said when she landed at his side.

She ignored him, grabbed the edge next to him and heaved. Smoke filled her lungs when she inhaled, but together they lifted and rolled the heavy cabinet. Bonnie lay unconscious, blood pooled beneath her torso. Kim choked out smoke as Leo scooped Bonnie in his arms.

“Go!” he yelled and Kim went.

Gasoline. That was the odor she smelled. No wonder the fire moved so fast. A minute ago it was only the back office and now the whole place crackled with flames. The faint sound of sirens combined with the crackling fire.

Kim made it outside and turned to help Leo. They set Bonnie on the cement and coughed up more smoke. Covered in soot, Leo had blood all over his shirt.

“Are you hurt?” Kim asked him.

He shook his head. “It’s Bonnie’s blood.” Even as he said it, a fresh stream of blood pooled next to her.

Kim pressed her hand over the wound but it didn’t seem to do any good. Bonnie’s eyes fluttered open and she spotted Leo. “You. The…ashdri—”

“Shh, Bonnie, help’s coming,” Leo said. He stroked her wild hair out of her face.

She shook her head. “Flashdri…” she choked out. “Wyncott’s. He wanted…wanted—” Her voice trailed off and her eyes glazed over before they became fixed and dilated.

Kim’s skin prickled and her chest got tight. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God.”

Leo started CPR.

Sirens blared loud as a fire truck and police cars pulled into the parking lot. First responders moved them out of the way as they took control of the scene. Though they attempted CPR, they never revived Bonnie before loading her into the ambulance.

Looking down at the soot covering her from head to toe, Kim’s stomach rolled in a nauseous somersault. Leo’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and Kim turned into his chest, into his arms.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”

But it wasn’t okay. Not for Bonnie.

“What do you think she was trying to tell you before…” Kim swallowed back the words.
Before she died.

“I don’t know. I barely heard her.”

“She said something about Carl’s flash drive.
Wyncott’s flash drive.
I wonder if that’s whose file we have.”

Leo shook his head. “I have no clue. I mean we picked up our stuff on the same day. Do you think she got them confused?”

“I don’t know. All your stuff seemed to be on the first one.” Kim held tight, needing Leo’s strength and the comfort of his voice. “I should probably call Carl, but I thought I’d had all his information when I started going through his books. It doesn’t make sense.” The steady beat of Leo’s heart under her hand gave her much needed solace. It could’ve just as easily been him on the way to the hospital. If a piece of that ceiling had fallen on him or if he’d gotten trapped in that office trying to free Bonnie… Kim shuddered and Leo held her tighter.

“Excuse me, miss,” someone said.

Kim wiped the moisture from her stinging eyes and pulled away from Leo. An officer and EMT stood waiting to talk to them and it was like the other night all over again.

But this time, they had a suspect because both of them had seen the man leaving the scene. Kim soon discovered that Leo recognized the guy from his first visit to Nathan’s office when he’d collected his files.

It was hours later, after EMTs treated a few minor burns on both Kim and Leo and they had given a description of the suspect, that they returned to Leo’s house. Kim showered off the soot and came downstairs to find Leo in the den, sitting in front of the muted flat screen TV. Shower fresh himself, he’d thrown on a pair of navy blue sweats and looked like every woman’s fantasy. Clean shaven, hair still damp and eyes that could melt a pair of panties in the Artic.

“I like your outfit,” he said a second after a prolonged once over. The heat in his eyes gave her a full body flush, which went against everything she stood for. Just because he flashed those amazing eyes at her didn’t mean all her girl parts had to wake up and sing.

She looked down at the oversized black sweats—his again—and looked back at him. “Technically, I think it’s your outfit.” She ran her hand over the material on her thigh. “These are the softest things I’ve ever had against my skin. If I thought I could afford them, I’d buy a pair for myself.”

Leo gave her his slow, sexy smile. “Take ’em. They look better on you anyway.” He patted the sofa. “C’mere. I need t—” The doorbell interrupted him and he jumped off the sofa. “Gimme a sec. This won’t take long.” He jogged out of the room and Kim sat down on his spot on the sofa.

She snuggled against the cushions into the heat he left behind. She barely heard him at the front door as her lids closed over her eyes. Exhaustion blindsided her.

A few minutes later, Leo entered the room and the crinkle of paper piqued her curiosity. Kim cracked open an eye and spotted a couple of shopping bags from Cesar’s store.

“What’s that?” Nothing gave her a hard-on quite like a shopping bag.

“Just a little somethin’ somethin’,” Leo said, his smile sly and devastatingly handsome.

Somethin’ somethin’
looked very expensive. “Leo… What did you do?” Kim sat forward, the accountant battling the woman.

“I thought since you ruined another outfit today, you’d need a replacement.” He handed out the bags and when she didn’t take them, he set them on the coffee table in front of her.

She shook her head. “No. I’m not even looking in those bags.” She bolted up to catch the delivery guy. Maybe it wasn’t too late and the contents could go back now. But Leo anticipated her move and blocked her. She ran right into his hard chest and slowly looked up at him.

“Take the bags,” he said softly.

“No,” she repeated just as quietly. “You can’t afford what’s in those bags. If we don’t send them back now, we take them tomorrow before my plane leaves. I refuse to be responsible for any unnecessary spending and I honestly can’t afford any more of Cesar’s clothes. They go back.” Now she should
move
back, but being this close to Leo set her pulse hammering. She loved his aftershave or cologne or whatever he used to make himself smell so damn sexy.

He shook his head too. “What if I told you everything is bought and paid for without money. Would you keep it then?”

“You can’t buy things without money.” What had he done? She narrowed her eyes as she tried to figure it out.

“Don’t look at me like I’m a criminal,” he admonished quietly. “It’s all legit. The bags don’t go back.” His lethal smile gave her a quick chill across her arms. “Open ’em up.”

“Not until you tell me how you paid for them.” She stepped back and crossed her arms.

Leo backed up a step to the bags. “Fine, then I’ll open them.” Before Kim got a word out, Leo removed the contents of the first bag. A skirt and top similar to the ones she’d lost in today’s fire along with two more tops. The next bag contained a gorgeous dress and another skirt and top ensemble. The outfits were spectacular. Ones she’d already tried on and discarded days ago. They’d fit her perfectly.