Razor's Edge (14 page)

“It's fine. Just try knocking next time, okay?”

 

 

Mira waited until Razor was gone, then locked the door behind her. Her hands were shaking so hard, she was sure Razor was going to notice. Thank goodness she'd been too preoccupied with her own problems to notice Mira's.

She hurried to where Clay sat slumped, hidden by a bank of servers. Blood leaked from his nose and his lip. A bruise darkened his left cheek, and there was something off about the angle of his left arm, making her think his shoulder was dislocated or maybe even broken.

“She's gone,” said Mira, keeping her voice low.

“Did you say anything?” asked Clay.

His face was pale, his skin taking on a sickly ashen color that worried the hell out of her. She kept hoping he'd get better, but over the last few weeks, the headaches and everything else seemed to be getting worse.

“No,” she said, “though I have no idea why you don't want people to know you got mugged.”

“It's embarrassing. I'm supposed to be able to protect myself better than that.”

She grabbed a box of tissue from her desk and dabbed at his bloody nose. He winced, making her stomach turn.

She was no good with blood, which made having a friend like Clay increasingly difficult.

“I think it's broken. We need to go see Dr. Vaughn.”

He shook his head slightly. “No. I told you I don't like doctors.”

“Yeah, well tough patooties. I can't set a broken nose, and I'm sure not going to try to fix your shoulder.”

“I'll do it myself.”

“And damage your arm for life? Do you really want to lose your job?”

“Of course not,” growled Clay.

“I can see you now, working in a cubicle for the rest of your life, maybe even wearing a tie.”

“Enough already. I got it.”

“So you'll go see Dr. Vaughn?”

“No, but I'll go to the emergency room. That way it won't end up on my work record.”

It didn't have to end up on his record if he went to see Dr. Vaughn, either. If Mira had to, she'd hack into the medical records and delete them. There wasn't anything she wouldn't do for Clay, not after all the things he'd done for her. Not after the things her father had done to him.

Mira had a lot of evil to make up for when it came to Clay.

“Wherever you want to go. Let me check the security feed to make sure the coast is clear. Can you walk?”

Clay nodded, and more blood flowed from his nose. “Yeah.”

She helped him to his feet. “I really wish you'd go see Dr. Vaughn. She's good. She could help you with the headaches.”

“Don't, Mira. Just let it be. The headaches aren't that bad.”

She knew that was a lie. They both did. But now wasn't the time to push. That he'd agreed to go to a hospital was more than a miracle, and, right now, with him leaking blood all over the place, she was willing to take what she could get.

 

 

“Where the hell are you?” snapped Tanner as soon as he answered the phone.

Roxanne snapped right back. “Don't talk to me like that. I don't have to check in with you.”

“You do until Bella says differently.” She heard him let out a long breath. “Listen, Razor. I'm just worried. I went to check on you, and you were gone.”

“I found a lead.”

“A lead?”

“Mira's our resident computer genius, and she managed to find the place where Jake sent me that e-mail. I'm going to check it out. Want to come?”

“Absolutely. Where are you?”

“I'm headed to the back employee entrance. Meet me at my car?”

“I'm already there.”

Roxanne punched the elevator call button. “How did you know?”

“I didn't. I just didn't want you leaving without me, so I parked my ass on your car.”

Lucky car. She just bet he had a world-class ass under those jeans. What few glimpses she'd had of it so far were more than enough to pique her curiosity. “I need to run by my place to pick up some clothes. You?”

“I'm good.”

She met him at the car. Even in the dimness of the parking garage he seemed to glow with vitality. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, making the sleeves of his T-shirt stretch to their limits over delicious muscles. He hadn't shaved, and the shadow of his beard made his cheeks look leaner and his jaw harder. His eyes settled on her, tracking her as she walked. And while his expression hadn't changed, something in his posture had. There was an awareness there, a relaxed kind of power, like that of a predator waiting to pounce.

Not that he would. He didn't seem the kind of man who lost control.

Pity.

His gaze moved up her body as she neared, and a wicked little shiver slid through her as she watched his blue eyes darken. He liked what he saw, and while she knew better than to be pleased by that, she couldn't seem to help herself.

Roxanne ripped her eyes away from his body and dug in her purse for her keys.

“Are you safe to drive?” he asked. “You didn't get much sleep last night.”

“I'll sleep when I find Jake.”

He said nothing about how ridiculous her statement was. She knew she might not find him today. Maybe even not tomorrow. But she needed to hold that hope close and let it comfort her, and Tanner seemed to get that.

“Where are we headed?”

“New Mexico. I put the address in my phone's GPS. I'll swing by home, and then we'll hit the road.”

He paused in the act of opening the door. “I can't go. I have a birthday party I have to be at or it's my ass in a sling.”

She gave him a questioning glance. “That's your call. I just thought you were all about invading my personal space.”

“We can go right after.”

“Sure, if you want to catch up with me, that would be fine. You're handy to have around on the off chance that I have another lunatic try to strangle me again.”

“I don't want to catch up with you. I want you to wait.”

“While you go to a party? Jake needs me, Tanner.”

“And my niece needs me. Or rather the rest of my family thinks so. It's her first birthday and it's a big deal.”

While his commitment to his family was endearing, she wasn't about to risk Jake's life over a party that the guest of honor wouldn't even remember. “After the party, you can fly to the nearest airfield and I'll pick you up.”

Tanner fell silent, his jaw clenched in frustration.

They got into her car, and she waited for the gate to lift before pulling out of the secure lot.

“Do you have a plan?” he asked.

She glanced over at him. He was too big for her sporty little car. He filled the seat, his knees precariously close to the dash. One arm was propped on the door, and the other across his lap. His shoulders were wider than the seat, forcing him to lean toward her just a bit. Cool air swept past her face, but it did little to lower her body temperature. She swore she could smell his skin with every breath she took.

Roxanne cleared her throat and focused on the road, keeping track of the cars around them. “We'll check out the area, see if anyone has seen Jake.”

“Do you have a photo of him?”

She nodded. “At home. I'll bring it along.”

A red truck switched lanes several cars behind her, giving her a brief glimpse of a black sedan she'd seen a few miles back. Their exit was three miles ahead, but she decided to take the next one instead.

As she veered onto the exit ramp, the black sedan passed her, speeding along the interstate.

She let out a long sigh of relief and relaxed her grip on the steering wheel.

Tanner's warm hand settled on her arm, giving her a moment of comfort. To his credit, he didn't say not to worry. Instead, he looked over his shoulder and scanned behind them. “I think we're clear for now.”

“I'm taking the back roads home. If we run into trouble, there's a gun in my glove box.”

Tanner opened it, removed the weapon, released the loaded magazine, and checked it with smooth, efficient motions. “I won't risk shooting in a populated area. Stray bullets have a tendency to find the innocent.”

She glanced at him, seeing a fierce tension lining his mouth and bulging in his jaw, and she wondered if he spoke from experience. “I'm not asking you to take any risks. Just know it's there if you need it.”

Roxanne split her time watching the road ahead of her and behind her. When she finally pulled into her garage, her fingers were glued to her steering wheel. She unclenched them with a conscious effort, stretching her hands to ease the ache in her knuckles.

She went into the house, expecting to hear the shrill beep of her alarm, but instead, she was greeted with silence. Before she had time to process the implications of that, Tanner flung her back, onto the floor of the garage and crushed her under his bulk. His hand cradled her head, cushioning it from the hard concrete.

A heartbeat later, a thunderous boom exploded to her right. Tanner flinched and grunted.

Roxanne tried to push him up to see if he was okay, but he didn't budge.

Her heart jolted inside her chest as a rush of adrenaline poured through her. She couldn't see anything, but her nose was crushed against his shoulder, and she could smell Tanner's skin and the sharp stench of explosives. She could hear his pulse pounding and feel his hard chest press against her with every rapid breath.

He was still alive. They both were, thanks to his quick action.

The warm weight of his body left her as he pushed up. A ferocious snarl twisted his mouth. A drop of blood slid down along his cheekbone. His blue eyes were narrowed with anger, and his voice came out in cold, bitter bites. “Stay down. Don't move.”

Roxanne nodded, willing to do anything for him in that moment. He'd saved her life. The least she could do was comply. Besides, her legs had gone weak, and she wasn't even sure she could stand right now.

She watched as Tanner retrieved a weapon from his bag and went into her home. The back of his shirt was bloody, and there were several holes where shrapnel had shredded the fabric. She didn't know how bad it was, but he didn't seem to be concerned.

As soon as he disappeared inside the door, Roxanne pushed herself up. Her ears still rang, especially the right one. Her elbow was abraded from the concrete floor, and her back had a bad case of rug burn. But other than a few scrapes and bruises, she was fine—shaky, but fine.

Roxanne got to her feet, staying clear of the house. She got her gun out of the glove box and tucked it into her waistband. Tanner had told her not to move, but she couldn't just lie there on the floor, doing nothing. If he ran into trouble, she needed to be ready to help.

She listened for signs of distress or some kind of struggle, but she heard none. “Tanner? You okay?”

Silence greeted her, and she was just about to go in after him when he came back. His expression was grim, made worse by the blood smearing his cheek. “Whoever did this is gone. There were no more booby traps.”

Roxanne dug her feet into the floor to keep herself from running to him. He'd taken a beating, and was bleeding. It was all she could do not to reach out and try to offer some kind of comfort.

Too bad it was her fault he was in this mess.

“How did you know what was going to happen?” she asked.

“I saw the wire he used to set the trap. The light hit it just right or I wouldn't have seen it at all.” That admission seemed to piss him off more.

“I didn't see anything.”

“It was high. Above your line of sight. They knew you'd be focused on the knob or your security keypad.”

He was right. She never would have thought to look up upon entering her home. “If you hadn't been with me, I'd be dead. Thank you.”

He wiped the blood from his cheek. “Don't thank me. The fuckers ruined your house. And your safe is gone.”

“My gun safe? That thing weighs a thousand pounds.”

“It shows in the gouges they left in your wood floor. Sorry.”

“I don't give a shit about the house. I'm worried about you. We need to get you patched up. Is it safe to go inside?”

He nodded. “I did a sweep. It looked like they were in a hurry, so they probably didn't take time to plant more than one trap.”

“I bet they figured that one would be enough to take me out, because it would have been if you hadn't reacted so fast.”

He shrugged and winced at the motion. “Bella ordered me to watch out for you. It's all part of the job.”

“Come on. Let's see how much damage they did to you so Bella knows how loudly to scream at me for getting you hurt.”

Tanner led the way inside. He was right. Her house was ruined. The area around the explosion was charred and tattered, leaving exploded bits of drywall and wooden trim in its wake. Parallel gouges in her shiny wood floor showed where they'd dragged her gun safe to the back door out onto the wooden deck. The deck railing had been ripped away and left abandoned in the grass. Tire marks were visible where their truck had dug into her manicured lawn.

She wasn't sure how they'd managed to move the thing without wheels, but they'd found a way.

At least Jake's journal was no longer in the safe. She was losing only a few guns, some cash, and a small store of ammunition.

Roxanne hoped that the time it took them to break into the safe and find out they hadn't gotten what they were after would be enough for her to find Jake.