In Her Sights (3 page)

Lexie twisted back to him and studied him a moment. The sirens drew closer. The sweat on his brown increased. Finally she nodded and sealed his fate, whatever it could be. “Very
well. Hold still while I free you. If you dare move an inch, Mike is going to
pop you again. If I get electrocuted because of that, I’m going to leave you
for the police.”

His pulse threaded through him at racing paces. She was
letting him go. Heat gathered at his lower back and spread up his spine. Holy,
shit. She was really letting him go. “I understand.”

He faced head down, forehead against the cool marble
flooring. He’d rather she just cut the wires. It’d be
faster, but he didn’t argue. Her hand flattened on his back, and he gritted his
teeth. Fingers brushed his shoulder blade as she found her grip, and it
happened. Fire, burning, ripping of skin as the first probe was yanked out. He
grunted and squeezed his eyes as she went for the second one. With another
snatch, she surely ripped half the skin off his back.

She raised her chin and looked down her nose at him. “Get
out of my house. I’ll be at your office at nine to finish this discussion. You
cross me on this, and I will ruin you in every possible part of your life
imaginable.” She pinned him with a hard glare. “And then in ways you can’t.”

He’d heard that threat before and had been arrogant enough not to listen to it. His wife and daughter had paid the price. This time, he
wouldn’t be so naïve. He left the tiny room, and a whoosh of relief dropped on
him. He was nearly free. His business nearly saved. She said not a word as he
stepped past and in the direction of the opened door to the office. He didn’t
care to leave his back to her twice, but with no time, he turned and ran
through the maze of her home to the back where he’d crept in.

He sprinted across the acres of her huge backyard as streaks
of blue and white light danced across the treetops. With her security disabled,
he cut across the center of the well-trimmed yard without worry of being seen.
Along the backside of the security wall, he grabbed the rope he’d left there and pulled himself
up, climbed high enough to throw a leg over the security wall, and dropped to the
other side. He hobbled to the truck, his back screaming.

He closed the passenger door and reclaimed most of his wind.
“Drive.”

His right-hand man, Reid, didn’t wait for further
instructions and did as told. “What happened?”

Clayton looked over his shoulder for any flickering blue
lights on their tail as they drove away, but saw none. “I got caught.”

Shit. He rubbed his face. Heart still pounded and nerves had
his hands shaking that he rubbed them hard across the top his thighs. He’d been
buried shoulder deep in her safe digging. The woman had more pieces of jewelry
then a damn jeweler. A dagger should have been easy to spot. As valuable as the
thing was, surely she didn’t just set it on a table somewhere. It should have
been in that safe.

He shook his head. Unless she had no idea what she had on
her hands. Since she wasn’t aware she had the dagger to begin with, that’s what
he was starting to believe. There would be no sleeping before his meeting with
her at nine.

“What happened?” Reid’s hands twisted on the steering wheel.
The leather creaked under the man’s big grasp.

Clayton just shook his head. He really didn’t know how all
that happened. He’d done his research on the house, knew the layout of the
place, the weak points in her security, and the few surprises. He’d watched her
house for hours after the lights went out and never saw movement. If he would
have had another forty seconds, he’d have been gone and she’d have never known
he’d been there. “I don’t know. She was there and waiting for me.”

“She?” Reid’s brow cocked.

Clayton swore under his breath and hit the dash. “Lexie
Olympia.”

She’d just appeared from nowhere without a sound. The room
had been empty and silent. Then the click of the probes fired and put him in agony
until she gave him relief.

Damn Shane Gilroy. The man had shamelessly begged and pulled
out all the stops. Even said that Clayton would always be the only son he ever
had.

And so Clayton had caved and took the damn case that was as fucked
up as could be. Shane had fallen hard since the years Clayton had seen him
last. The man used to be the best in the private investigation business. He had
wasted it. Lost it to gambling debts and started working cases way too far over
the shady line.

So far over that Clayton didn’t even know who he worked for.
He just had the information on the case.

“I talked to a man in a bar. He found out what I did and
he gave me a wad of cash,”
according to Shane. For a month, he’d managed to
track the dagger in the mail until he got hurt.

What Clayton did know was once he recovered that dagger,
it was going directly back to California to the owners. He didn’t give a shit
who had hired Shane.

When he had agreed to the case, the last place he expected
to be led to was
Melville’s Sweetheart
, Lexie Olympia. He suspected she
was innocent in the dagger business, but he didn’t know for sure. Sometimes
rich people do things because they think they can pay their way out of trouble.
Because of that, Clayton went out on a limb and broke in to go after the object
for Shane. Whatever Clayton could do to get this case over with and get far
away from it was his goal.

He was still maintaining that thought, but now he was
pulling in more help. “I want to call in Brad Livingston and Clark Russells when
we get to the office.”

“You’re calling investigators? What for?”

“Because I have a meeting with Ms. Olympia first thing in
the morning and I don’t want any more surprises.” He looked to Reid. The man
was his only friend from Georgia who’d made the move to Mississippi when
Clayton had opened his private investigation and bodyguarding business. “I’ve
had enough surprises in the past.”

Even if he had to spend the rest of the night digging up
information on the woman, he would be better prepared before seeing her in a
few hours.

Chapter Three

As police sirens grew louder Lexie’ breath shortened. She
hoped Clayton Addison made it out of the house. If he got caught, she’d have a
harder time finding the information she wanted. She’d also have to explain why
she let him go when he was captured. Neither of those were appealing.

She stared at the empty space on the floor where he’d been
and glanced to the open safe. With the way he efficiently snuck in, she had no
choice but to hope he got out as smoothly.

She faced her employees. “I couldn’t sleep, came downstairs
to work in my office, and found the door to my safe was open. No one was here.
I called help, and Julia called the police.” She looked to Julia. “Does that
work with what you told the police department on the phone?”

Julia nodded. “Yes. I just said we had a break in and that I
didn’t have any details.”

“Good. Any questions?” When the three of them shook their
head, Lexie gave them a nod in return. “Alex, catch the police. Mike, backtrack
Addison’s exit and make sure nothing was left behind.”

She passed her weapon and phone off to her head maid, Julia,
who would take care of them. “What did Arnold bring this afternoon? And why in God’s
name did he bring it here?”

Julia’s cheeks were colored but she focused as she handled
the items and stuck the barbs back in the Taser. “I don’t know. A groundskeeper
was mowing the grass. Said Arnold drove up, handed him this opened box.” Julia nudged
a cardboard box on the floor by the desk chair. “And said it was yours. Said
Arnold was gone before he could get in the front door. I was going to talk to
you about it in the morning, since you were sleeping this afternoon.”

Sleeping this afternoon, because she hadn’t been sleeping
much at night. She lifted the box, and they started out the room. “What’s in the box?”

“A big knife. Looks old.” A roller had come loose from Julia’s
hair and shook with her shaking head. “I tried calling Arnold Pritchard this
afternoon to let him know the mistake, but he hasn’t answered the phone. I sent
someone over there with the package, but no one was home.”

Lexie turned the box over in her hands. It was a
couple feet long and maybe half a foot wide. A simple cardboard box with a
cleanly printed, white label saying the box belonged to her neighbor. “Did
anyone see what was inside?”

“Not that I’m aware of. If anyone did, it would have been the
groundskeeper who brought it in, but it was still wrapped up tight in
newspaper, so I don’t think he saw it. I sealed the box before
trying to send it back to Mr. Pritchard.”

“Strange.” She shook her head. It didn’t make any sense at
all. “Until I know more about this, I want to keep it in my other office upstairs.”
The secret one hidden behind a wall. The one the police wouldn’t find if they wanted
to have a look around, just in case. The dagger would have to disappear for a
while.

They hurried up the stairs as police knocked on the front
door. Alex would wait until the two of them had gone on to the second flight before
letting the cops inside.

The third floor was as quiet as she left it. She flipped on the
hall light as she walked, and stopped at what appeared to be a standard air conditioning
controller. She lifted the top panel and keyed in the sixteen-digit code. The
wall softly clicked and shifted. She pushed the false wall by a vertical
piece of paneling to release the door. It opened enough so she could slip in,
drop the box on her desk, and get out while Julia placed her other items down. “I
got a little sweaty and need to freshen up.”

“Go on. I’ll lock this back down.”

Taking no extra time, Lexie hurried to her room, stripping
her shirt off as she stepped through the door. She had breast and pit sweat,
and neither should be on her after waking in the night. She wiped off with a damp
rag, pulled on a fresh shirt as she walked back out, and met Julia in the hall.

Even cooled off from the adrenaline rush of dealing with a
burglar, Lexie was still warm. Sweat peppered on the back of her neck and weighed
on her upper lip. She pulled on the front of her shirt, trying to cool off, but
it was just stifling warm. It wouldn’t be long and she’d know if Addison
managed to escape or not. Maybe she should have followed him out to make sure
he was gone. She could have kept a close tail and he would have never known,
but she’d needed to make sure a story was fabricated for the break-in
before the police walked in the front door.

“This will be fine, Lexie.” Julia rubbed her arm and a
little comfort soothed under her skin. “You know the drill. They’ll ask some
questions. Take some statements, and that will be all of it.”

Lexie rolled her shoulders back, already knowing that, but a
reminder was always good. It was just having to play the innocent and scared
roll with the cops all the while knowing if Addison was caught and he confessed
she trapped him, it would be word-against-word. Sure, he was the one who’d
broken in. That would give her more credibility, but it would still leave a
lingering gray spot on her reputation that hinted there could something more to
her. With her line of work, one spot was too much. One spot could become two,
then three. She breathed and wished her heart rate would slow. She fanned her
face with her hands. “Why is it so hot?”

“The temperature is the same as always. I haven’t adjusted
anything.”

Down the next set of steps, her heart beat was still faster
than she’d like, and her palms were sweaty. This was ridiculous. She was a
well-trained contract killer. She’d been in far more stressful situations than
this. The lack of sleep over the last couple weeks were getting to her. With
another flight to go, she couldn’t hear the officers, but she knew they were in
the house. She stretched her neck and focused to get her head on straight. “I
didn’t check to see if he left anything. Or clean off prints. Or—”

“Lexie.” Julia caught her arm and stopped her. Her brows
were dipped. “You gave instructions to Mike to do those things. You know he’ll
take care of it. Mr. Addison had gloves on. Is everything all right? You’re all
worked up.”

She shook out her wrist and remembered the gloves and knew
Mike would have seen to everything else. “I’m fine. You’re right. I’m over-reacting.”
She pushed out a slow breath. “I’m just messed up right now.”

Julia patted her arm. “Well your nerves will look good for
the police.”

Ever the optimist, but Julia was right. “I haven’t been able
to sleep.”

The dream had started. Being nine, youthful. Life wasn’t
perfect, but it was fun most of the time. All up until that point of opening
that door.

She stretched her arms to knock the memories away. As easy
as it seemed to be happening lately, she couldn’t become sidetracked with
thinking of that morning she had found her parents dead. “I was already awake. That’s
why I was able to get the jump on Addison.”

Julia’s light blue eyes softened. The wrinkles at the corner
that were normally prominent with her smile were faded somewhat. “If you want,
I’ll tell them you took something to sleep because of your nerves over this
happening, and you can speak with them tomorrow.”

Tempting, but no. “I’d rather do it now before I meet with
Addison in the morning.” She sighed. Why had she made that appointment so early?
“In a few hours.”

Assuming he had gotten out of the house. Hopefully he had parked
along the back road behind her property. It was a nearly forgotten road
stretching the length of the neighborhood. Nothing to see back there but fences
flanking the homes on her block, and another fence sectioning off the city park.
It was a dark, generally unobserved place. One she drove often.