Taken by Tuesday (Weekday Brides Series) (15 page)

Zach closed his eyes and shook his head. “I never understood
innocent until proven guilty
until last year with Karen. Seemed every report on the news gave a clear explanation of a crime and the guilty party was a given. Only it’s not that way and the guilty are free to do whatever the hell they want.”

“If and when I’m taken in, Judy will be the weakest. She’ll need everyone. This guy preys on weakness or he wouldn’t have attacked her when he did. He didn’t kill her because the chase, the thrill . . .” Rick swallowed the nausea building in his throat. “The thrill of hurting her gave him more pleasure and he’ll want to do it again.”

Neil patted Rick on the back. “The problem is this guy might hit her one too many times and end his pleasure.”

Zach grew white. “Maybe we should keep her under house arrest.”

“Is your sister going to go for that?”

Zach glanced across the room. All of them followed his eyes only to see Judy lift her gaze to them with a shrug.

“No. Judy won’t let this guy have that kind of power.”

Chapter Sixteen

The building might have been in the exact same place and hadn’t been modified by paint or construction in the short amount of time she’d been away. But it
was
different.

Judy stared out the window of the passenger side of her car.

Rick pulled the car up to the curb and cut the engine.

“We’ll take this one step at a time.”

Her answer was a nod.

“Today is walking through the door, getting through the stares and questions. I’ll be on your floor before five to take you home.”

“I can meet you down here.”

“Humor me.”

Fine. Humoring Rick until she found her sea legs again was OK by her.

“Let’s do this,” she said as she pushed from the car with her purse in her hand.

He walked around the front of the car and placed a hand on the small of her back. “Ready?”

She’d brushed her hair around the section that was removed to stitch her up and knew that scar was hidden. Long sleeves were useful to hide her arm and the carving the butcher left with her. A little foundation, a lot of concealer, and it didn’t look as if she’d had too many nights without sleep.

They walked together inside the building. Already the air conditioning was working overtime to keep the heat outside.

The lobby consisted of a security desk with a guard that stood behind it watching everyone as they walked in. He’d offer a good morning and addressed many people by name. There wasn’t a checkpoint that only employees of the building could walk past, and she and Rick sailed by the security guard without any words.

She didn’t notice the stares until they stood by the elevators waiting for the lift.

“Is that her?” someone whispered behind them.

Rick must have heard the question, too. His hand kneaded her lower back and he inched closer.

Inside the elevator was worse. Besides her and Rick there were seven more people crammed in. All except one person kept glancing her way.

The slow, steady climb, with several stops along the way, took way too long.

Rick led her from the elevator and onto the floor that belonged to Benson & Miller Designs.

Nancy popped her head up from the reception desk and opened her mouth like a guppy. She swiped the headset from her head and walked around the desk. “Oh my God . . .”

Rick stood back as the woman wrapped her arms around Judy as if they were the best of friends.

“We heard . . . we all heard.” Nancy stood back. “Are you all right?”

“I’m better now, thanks.”

“My ex loved using his fists. I know it’s not the same, but if you ever need to talk.”

“Thanks, Nancy.”

Nancy slid her eyes to Rick for the first time. “Wow . . . boyfriend or bodyguard?”

He glanced at Judy and started to answer.

“A little of both,” she answered for him.

Those dimples made an appearance and he winked.

“Do you have a brother?” Nancy asked.

Judy felt laughter in her gut.

“Just me,” Rick answered.

Nancy fanned herself and turned her back so only Judy could see her face.
He’s hot
, she mouthed.

Judy walked into her office, giggling.

Her cubicle hadn’t changed much in her absence. It was tidier than she left it and in the corner sat the tube holding the plans she’d been taking home the night of the attack. Her gaze caught the tube and held.

“This is your desk?” Rick asked.

“Yeah.”

The tube hit the ground first. Over her staccato breaths, she heard it rolling away.

“Babe?”

Shut up, bitch.

“Judy?”

His breath was on her ear, blowing against her hair. “You’re not so tough now, are you?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them, Rick was there, leaning over to force her to see him.

“You back?” he asked.

She nodded. “I remembered something.”

“What?”

“He said,
You’re not so tough now, are you?
I remember being confused. His words didn’t match what he was doing.”

“
You’re not so tough?
Are you sure that’s what he said?”

“Positive.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

Something else was there, tickling her head and scratching at her memory. Then it was gone.

“That’s it.”

Mr. Archer walked by her cubicle and stopped. “Judy?”

It was strange hearing her real name from the man’s lips. “Mr. Archer. Hi.”

“It’s good to see you back.”

“Thanks.”

The man actually smiled. “If you need anything . . . or need to leave, just let someone know.”

“That’s generous of you, Mr. Archer, but I’ll be OK.”

Mr. Archer looked at Rick then back to her. “Well, if it changes. I know José is backing up so you can pick up with him. We have someone new in the mail room, so don’t bother there.”

“Sounds good.”

Rick stood and offered a hand. “Rick Evans.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Steve Archer.” They shook hands.

“Mind if I took a look around, Steve?”

“Not at all. The police already did. I don’t think they found anything in here.”

Rick leaned back on his heels. “I won’t take long.”

Mr. Archer walked away, leaving the two of them alone.

“You won’t blend walking around the office.”

“I don’t want to blend. I want everyone in this place to know my face.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips to hers. “I want everyone to know I’m your boyfriend.” He kissed her again. “I want them to know they will be messing with me if they mess with you.”

She stopped his next kiss. “Territorial much?”

“Very.”

He kissed her again and someone cleared their throat.

Judy jumped back.

Debra Miller stood by the cubicle wall. “Is this a kissing booth and where do I buy tickets?”

“Ms. Miller.” Judy felt her cheeks warm as Ms. Miller’s smile grew wider.

“So good to see you back, Judy.”

“Thanks.” Judy glanced at Rick, who leaned against her desk as if he belonged there. “And sorry. Rick just wanted to make sure I made it here safely.”

“That’s understandable.”

Judy made introductions.

“So a bodyguard and a boyfriend? Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

“Not to us.”

Ms. Miller didn’t question further. “Security has been escorting all the women to and from the garage during off hours and most of us leave in groups. We’ve all been on edge.”

Judy hadn’t thought of that. She wanted to tell her boss that the attack felt personal, that she didn’t think anyone else needed to worry. Instead, she kept that to herself in case she was wrong. She’d hate to have something happen to someone and be the reason they weren’t watching their backs.

“Rick wants to look around the office. We cleared it with Mr. Archer, but are you OK with that?”

“Be my guest. Why don’t you show him around?”

“A quick tour, and I’ll get to work.”

“Great. I’m looking forward to that project we talked about.”

When Ms. Miller walked away, Judy felt much better about being back.

Meg glanced up from the computer screen and pushed away from the desk. “I think a temporary move of the business is necessary,” she told her boss, who directed her son to the backyard and balanced her not-quite-two-year-old daughter, Delanie, on her hip.

Samantha shifted Delanie to her other hip. “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

She clicked a few links and brought up the database. “If Rick and Neil are right, and the police manage a search warrant, all this information would make it into their hands.” It wasn’t that Alliance itself had anything to hide. The clients that used Alliance, on the other hand, had plenty to worry about going public. “The move will be temporary. Once Rick clears his name in this we can move everything back.”

“You’re right. I know you’re right but it feels crazy to have Alliance anywhere but here. We’ve considered an office location more than once but it didn’t feel safe.”

“So skip a storefront. The phones all forward to the mobile. Keep the number here. Since I’m your main girl on the computer, I’ll take this baby home and set up an office. It will be better for all of us for a while.”

Delanie rejected her mother’s arms and Samantha placed her on the floor and shadowed her while they talked.

“The more people coming in and out of Michael’s home right now the better. The security is stepped up there.” Meg continued to plead her case.

“Fine. I can’t say I’m in love with the idea, but I know you’re right.”

Eddie ran in from the backyard, a handful of flowers with plenty of dirt-covered roots dangling from his fingertips. “Look what I found for you.”

Meg laughed at the trail of dirt the boy brought into the house.

Samantha knelt down, scooped her flowers into her hands, and hugged her son. “Thank you so much. They’re lovely.”

“Daddy says boys give girls flowers.”

“They do.”

Eddie’s big eyes took in Meg’s presence and he turned around and ran back outside.

Samantha put into motion a team of movers to come to the house and, with Meg’s direction, remove the files and everything Alliance, and move it to Beverly Hills.

With a handful of dirt-filled flowers, Meg waved good-bye to her boss and waited for the additional help.

It was after noon when Rick made his way into the house. He stopped at the office door and frowned. “What’s going on?”

Meg continued to pack a box and seal it with packing tape. “What are the chances of this place being searched?”

Rick dropped his keys and cell on the top of the desk with a sigh and helped her pack.

“Hey, babe?” Rick said when Judy walked into the foyer of her work at the end of the day. In his hand were three pink roses.

“You didn’t have to.” But she had to admit she was happy he did.

“I told you I was picking you up.”

She sniffed the flowers and smiled. “The flowers, you didn’t have to.”

“Doesn’t that make them more special?” He handed them to her and removed the tube from her hand.

“Thanks.”

He turned to Nancy, who was packing up her things. “Are you walking out?” he asked.

“I-I’m in the garage. Just waiting on the group I walk out with.”

The office buzzed about the attack in hushed tones all day. Judy knew her presence would get people talking, but for the most part, no one treated her differently.

Like when he’d dropped her off, he parked in front of the building in what was usually reserved for loading and unloading. The security guard outside the building waved and smiled at Rick as he walked by.

“I take it you made some new friends.”

He opened her door and tucked the tube in the backseat. “I’d rather not be responsible for your car getting towed.”

Rick pulled into the mass exodus of traffic and drove in the opposite direction of home.

“How was your day?”

He looked over the rim of his sunglasses. “I’m much more interested in yours.”

She reflected on it as she watched the cars around them. “Good. It was nice to get back to work, do stupid meaningless crap most of the day that kept my mind away from . . . well, away.”