Deadly Fallout (Red Stone Security Series Book 10) (2 page)

Gerard shook his head and made a disapproving sound, likely because he’d heard this before. She really was going to tell them, it was just…hell, if she said it out loud, it became real. This whole, horrible situation became real. Not to mention that if she admitted it, it almost made her feel weak. Like she was admitting that she’d become a victim in this mess.

Sighing, she nudged the glass door open with her hip and shoved her hands in her jacket pockets. Her phone and keys were in one and the pepper spray she always carried now was in the other. She’d actually gotten a concealed weapon permit but simply couldn’t carry a gun around. It felt too weird. The chilly December air rolled over her, reminding her that she still needed to buy Christmas presents for her huge family. Of course her put-together sisters would have already done their shopping months ago. Not Zoe, she saved everything until the last minute. It worked for her.

Gerard began locking up the exterior glass door. She knew from watching him do it a hundred times that he would set the alarm remotely once the building was locked up tight. Instinctively, she scanned the parking lot—and froze when she saw Klein leaning against the back of her two-door car.
No.
Her throat tightened as fear scraped across her skin.

“Gerard,” she rasped out, wondering if she’d lost her mind and was now seeing things.

She heard the snicking of the deadbolt sliding into place before he said, “What’s…” Suddenly Gerard was standing in front of her, moving incredibly fast as he started striding across the parking lot with determination.

That was the only thing that moved her into action; seeing her boss taking action. Because the truth was, the sight of Klein terrified her. She’d always been so sure of who she was and what she wanted to do with her life. From the time she’d been a kid she’d wanted to be a doctor and no matter what, with everything else going on in her life, the hospital had always been her safe haven. She’d loved it there—and he’d taken that feeling of security from her.

No more.

Gripping her pepper spray tight, she pulled her hand out of her pocket and hurried to catch up with Gerard. Her boots clicked softly against the pavement as she fell in step with him, her stride unwavering. There was no way she was letting this monster steal the new job she’d made here. She wouldn’t let him force her to move jobs or move away out of fear.

Klein pushed up from her car, a smug look on his face as he eyed her. For a brief moment, when he glanced at Gerard, Zoe could see his mask slip a fraction. His expression was one of barely concealed rage, as if the monster inside him was clawing to get free, but just as quickly, it was gone, replaced by a charming-looking middle-aged man.

“You’re on private property. Leave before I call the police,” Gerard said, his voice clipped.

Damn, he got right to the point. Right now Zoe was grateful she’d bared her soul to the man.

Klein’s eyes narrowed a fraction, but he didn’t move any closer to them. Zoe remained where she was, about fifteen feet away from him, her legs simply refusing to work any longer. It didn’t matter how angry she was, or how many times she’d played out this scenario in her mind, she was fucking terrified of this man. It was the deadness in his eyes. Now that she looked at him, truly looked, there was nothing inside his soul.

That was scary.

“Are you fucking her too?” Klein asked abruptly, his gaze narrowing on Gerard.

Damn it, no. She didn’t want this psycho’s attention on her friend and boss. Anger detonated inside her, shoving her fear out of the way. “Well, ‘too’ would imply that I’ve fucked you and we both know I haven’t. And never will.”

Aaaand, that did it. Klein’s attention was back on her, that laser-like intensity unnerving. But she stood her ground. She refused to cower in front of him, not when she knew he craved it. He took a menacing step in their direction. Zoe tensed, her grip on her pepper spray tightening.

Gerard jerked a thumb behind him. “Our security cameras send an automatic dump to an external server every few minutes. So you being here has been recorded. Even if you decide to be stupid and try to attack us then break in and erase the history, you’ll never be able to cover anything up. So why don’t you get the hell out of here and never come back? Because if I see you again, you won’t get a warning.” There was something deadly and serious about Gerard’s voice. A tone Zoe had never heard before.

Klein’s entire body drew taut as he went impossibly still, his dark eyes intent on her until just as suddenly, he relaxed and let out an eerie laugh. “Just wanted to stop by and see you, Zoe. Now that I’m back in town, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other.” Turning away from them, he headed across the parking lot, his gait steady and unhurried.

Just like when she’d seen him leaving that hospital room months ago.

A shiver snaked down her spine. She kept her gaze on Klein until he got into a dark luxury sedan and steered out of the parking lot. As he sped away, she released a pent up sigh of relief and turned to Gerard. “That was an impressive threat.” He was always so mild mannered and easy going. She felt as if she was seeing a different side of him.

“I don’t like bullies.” Jaw clenched tight, he finally looked back at Zoe when Klein’s car pulled out of sight down the road.

“I’m filing a restraining order tonight,” she said before he could continue. She’d filed a temporary one right before Klein had left, but it had expired a month ago. With him out of the country, she hadn’t attempted to get it extended, mainly because she’d moved and she didn’t want to list her new home address on it. Not when she’d gone to great lengths to hide where she was now living.

He nodded. “Good. I’m going with you.”

Her first instinct was to argue that it wasn’t necessary, but she knew that look of determination by now and the truth was, she didn’t want to go alone. Instead of arguing she nodded. “If you’re sure it won’t affect you getting home in time for dinner?” Because she knew he loved having family dinners with his two teenage daughters every night. Especially since his wife had died a couple years ago.

Half-smiling, he shook his head. “My sister is with the girls. They’re fine.”

Palming her keys, she nodded, already feeling stronger. “Let’s do this then.”

* * *

Zoe stood in front of the security desk at her friends Mina and Blue’s high rise luxury condo. After filing a restraining order against Klein, she’d been too wired to go home. Well, and scared. Terrified that Klein had found a way to follow her, she’d checked her car for freaking trackers. She’d felt stupid doing it, but was relieved once she’d finished her inspection and found nothing.

After leaving the police station she’d driven around aimlessly for what felt like forever until finally she’d decided to come here. Their building had the best security she’d ever seen. The couple could certainly afford it and Blue was security-minded by nature, especially since his new wife had just inherited her father’s billion-dollar empire, and he worked for Red Stone Security.

The twenty-something aged man behind the desk smiled politely at her as he placed the phone back in its cradle. Zoe was on their approved list of guests, but it was still late, and security didn’t let anyone up without verbal approval. Not workers, friends, family, no one.

“You’re cleared to go up, Ms. Hansen,” he said, nodding toward the elevators where another two security guards stood like Roman sentries.

And these weren’t typical security guys, not like the type they’d had at the hospital. Every single man or woman she’d seen here had a distinct military bearing and they were all visibly armed. Probably had hidden weapons too. Strangely, the sight of those guns actually made her feel safe.

A couple minutes later she stepped out into the lobby of the penthouse floor and found two more armed guards. She didn’t recognize them, but knew they must work for Red Stone Security, the same company Blue and her brother worked for.

They nodded at her in that same polite way as the guard downstairs. Completely professional, but it was clear they were looking at her as if she might be packing heat or something. Before she’d taken two steps, the front door of the condo flew open.

Both men turned and went to stand in front of Mina protectively but she brushed past them, her arms outstretched. “Zoe! This is such a pleasant surprise.”

And the woman meant it. The welcoming note in her voice did something to Zoe. She hadn’t cried over the entire mess with Klein, not after her attack and not after the hospital treated her like garbage, forcing her to leave a job she loved. But seeing Mina opening her arms to her, Zoe lost it.

She burst into tears, clearly taking Mina off guard. Well, she’d taken herself off guard too. God, she hated crying—because it was embarrassing and she was an ugly crier. Ugh.

Zoe was vaguely aware of Mina wrapping her in a hug and ushering her into the plush place as tears blurred her vision. She should probably be more embarrassed but Mina was her friend and she knew she could be real with her.

“He’s back,” Zoe blurted as Mina led her to one of the couches in a spacious living room that overlooked downtown Miami. The city lights below were a kaleidoscope of bright colors, all blurred by the tears in her eyes. “I parked across the street but was careful not to be followed,” she added, wiping the wetness on her cheeks away as she managed to get herself under control.

Mina just snorted softly. “This place is a fortress, don’t worry about that. So…you’re sure he’s back?” she asked as she sat next to her, turning her body to face Zoe’s.

She nodded. “Oh yeah, he showed up at my work.” Just thinking about that made her shiver.

When Mina let out a surprising curse, Zoe smiled, the small action loosening something inside her chest.

Her friend stood and moved to the small mini-bar by the window, grabbing two glasses and a bottle of red wine before sitting back down next to her. “Tell me everything.”

Twenty minutes later Zoe had unloaded everything that had happened, including her trip to the police station and that she’d finally told her brother about what was going on. He was in California on a job now so she felt even worse that she’d unloaded so much with him out of town. He’d been pissed that she’d withheld something so important, and in typical Vincent fashion, he’d threatened to kill Klein. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but that was the real reason she hadn’t told her brother before.

As a former SEAL, Vincent wouldn’t have a problem defending her against a psycho. But she didn’t want him to do something he couldn’t take back, something that could affect his career and the rest of his life. He’d worked so hard to get to where he was and she couldn’t ever be responsible for him ending up in jail.

Mina leaned back against the couch, wine glass in hand, her finger idly tracing down the stem. Zoe noticed that Mina hadn’t actually drank anything, but didn’t comment as her friend set the glass down on the table next to her. “So the restraining order bars him from coming to your work?”

Zoe nodded. “Yes. And I’ll be making copies of it for everyone at work and including his photo so they know who he is.” She just hadn’t listed her home address on the order. Considering Klein knew where she worked, which wasn’t a surprise since people she used to work with were aware of her new job, she hadn’t wanted to make it easy for him to find her house in case he didn’t know yet. Because a piece of paper wouldn’t stop him from coming after her. It would certainly get him in trouble with the law if he broke the order, but if he decided to attack her, she’d still be injured or dead, piece of paper or not.

After his attack at the hospital, he’d been smart about harassing her, making sure nothing could be traced back to him, but she knew he’d slashed her tires, stolen her mail, and sent her too many anonymous, vile texts from a burner phone to count until finally she’d changed her phone number. The police had actually believed her. But believing her was one thing. The State’s Attorney wouldn’t press charges against someone like Braddock Klein—upstanding citizen with a lot of politically powerful friends—without hard evidence. The justice system was so broken it made her want to cry. Or punch something.

Mina started to say something when a soft chime filled the room, the alert letting them know someone had entered the front door.

“Mina? Is Zoe here?” Blue called out from the front of the condo as Mina stood.

Zoe followed suit and realized she still had her jacket on—and still felt cold despite the warmth in the room. It was a bone-deep kind of chill, one that had nothing to do with the temperature.

A second later Blue and another man entered the living room, both dressed in suits. It took Zoe a moment to recognize the guy. Dark hair, piercing green eyes, about six feet of raw muscle that a suit couldn’t hide. Sawyer McCabe. Navy SEAL, or maybe former, if he was working with Blue now. The last time she’d seen him, he’d punched her brother in the face.

Zoe withheld a groan. Just freaking great. She had enough to deal with without some jackass who’d tried to hurt her little brother being present to hear all her drama.

Chapter 2

Braddock Klein wrapped his fingers around the glass tumbler, trying to temper the rage burning inside him as he stared out at the Atlantic Ocean. The spectacular view from his lanai normally soothed him, but nothing could do that now. He couldn’t believe the way Zoe had spoken to him after all the time they’d been apart, and in front of someone else no less.