Black Kat (8 page)

Bending over she braced her hands on her thighs and took several deep breaths.  With all the training she did with Dane, this was the first real chance she had had to put it to the test.  Not counting taking down that dimwitted cousin of Alexander’s in his office.  Despite the terror that still rang in her head, Kat smiled.  She could do this.  She could find the man who took her, and she no longer had any doubt that she would be able to finish the job once she found him.

With her gun still in her right hand and her eyes on the house she had run from, Kat pulled out her phone and called Colin.

“Kat,” Colin’s voice answered on the first ring.

“I need you at 638 Warren Avenue.  And you should bring backup…and an ambulance.”

There was a beat of silence.  “What’s going on?  Are you okay?”  Colin’s words were rushed and filled with fear.

“I’m fine, Colin.  I’ll wait for you.”

With that she hung up.  He would have plenty of questions, but she thought they were better answered face
-to-face.

Chapter Nine

“Goddamit!” Colin yelled when the line went dead.  Standing up so fast he nearly knocked his chair over, he grabbed his suit jacket from the back of it.  He locked his eyes on his partner’s face and barked, “Get the LVPD over to 638 Warren.  Medical too.”

While Bass made the call, Colin pulled his extra weapon from his desk drawer and slipped it into the strap around his calf.  The second Bass put his phone down, Colin order
ed, “Let’s go.”

“Are you going to let me know what we’re walking into here, partner? 
Cause I’m not too keen on going in blind,” Bass said from the passenger seat a few minutes later.

Colin’s knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel with enough force to almost rip the thing off the dashboard.  “Kat called from this address,” he bit out.

Bass shook his head and leaned back in his seat.  “You’re calling in the cavalry because your girlfriend’s off the radar?”

Colin whipped his head around and growled at Bass.  “She’s not my girlfriend.”  Though God how he wished that weren’t true.  Facing forward again, he ground out through clenched teeth, “Kat doesn’t call. 
Ever.  Unless there is something seriously wrong.”  In fact this was only the fourth time she had ever called him, with the first three being when she had received the anonymous notes.  So he knew it was serious.  The only thing keeping his head from exploding was the fact that she had said she was okay.  And she had sounded as if that were true.

The flashing light on top of his car allowed them to speed through downtown Las Vegas and into the seedier side of the city.  Annoyed that they had reached the scene before the police, Colin caught sight of Kat’s car and pulled up right behind it.

In two seconds he was at her door, opening it and pulling her out and into his arms.  He was always careful not to touch her, because she had never allowed it.  His feelings for her had grown exponentially over the years, and it was a dagger to his heart each time she shied away from him.  But the stark fear he had felt for the last ten minutes since she called had him embracing her tightly.  Kat immediately stiffened in his arms, but surprisingly didn’t push him away.  After a long moment, she relaxed slightly and awkwardly hugged him back.

Colin couldn’t help from taking advantage of this rare moment, and he dropped his face to the top of her head, inhaling deeply the scent that was uniquely Kat.  He only ever got the slightest hint of it, but now so close to her the intoxicating scent shot straight through him.

Bass, the bastard, cleared his throat loudly behind them, and the sounds of sirens approaching grew louder.  Kat dropped her arms and Colin did the same before he overstepped her boundaries.

She met his eyes for a moment, another thing she rarely did.  Those beautiful blue-green eyes that frequented his dreams held emotions he had never seen in them before.

“What’s the situation here?” Bass asked, and Colin had to resist the urge to land one on the old bastard’s jaw.

Kat broke eye contact and looked toward Bass.  In a matter of fact tone she said, “There are several women being held in that house.  Drugged and tied down.  And…there might be a rather large man with a gunshot wound to his upper
right thigh.”

Bass raised both bushy eyebrows. 
“Really?”

Kat shrugged. 
“Maybe.”

Bass turned to greet the LVPD officers who had just arrived.  C
olin stayed right where he was.

Scrubbing both hands over his face and through his short brown hair, Colin said, “How do you know that, Kat?”

She leaned back against her car and crossed her arms over her chest, a classic Kat defensive pose.  “You probably don’t want to know.”

“Jesus Christ, Kat!  What the fuck are you doing?  Are you
trying to get yourself killed?”

Kat merely watched him as he had a semi-meltdown.  The thought of her putting herself directly in danger like that was enough to make him go postal.  Normally any implication on his part that she couldn’t take care of herself was met with an equal amount of yelling on her part.  Today, though, she watched him and said nothing while he lectured her.

“Colin, I’m okay.”

Colin raked his eyes over her lean body and enchanting face and saw that she was in fact unharmed, although there was a red mark high on her left cheekbone.  H
is hand itched to reach out and caress her face, but he held back.

“Tell me what’s going on, Kat?”

“I came here to find a woman that may have been held in the same place as me.  I found a lot more in that house than I bargained for.”

Colin scoffed and shook his head.  There were no words for the squeezing pressure in his chest when he thought of Kat being hurt - again.

“How…how did you know where to go?”

Kat wouldn’t meet his eyes, and Colin had a sinking feeling he knew where the
intel had come from.  His vision was already hazing over with the redness of rage when Kat confirmed his suspicions.

“A tip from Alexander.”

Colin’s hands clenched into fists at his sides.  “I swear to God, I will kill him!  Does he have any idea what he was sending you into?” Colin shouted.

Kat stepped forward to wrap her fingers around his biceps.  The fact that this was the first and only time Kat had ever initiated physical contact with him didn’t go unnoticed.

“He didn’t know I was coming here.  He only called to let me know what his investigator had found.  Alexander was going to send his own men to check it out.”

“Then why are you here?”

Kat let go of his arms and looked straight into his blue eyes.  “I had to.  Colin, I can’t move on until I find him.  He has to die for what he did to me.”  She motioned toward the house behind them that was now swarming with LVPD.  “And for what he’s done to them.  And God knows how many other women.”

Colin spun around and shoved his hands into his hair.  He understood what she needed; he just wished she didn’t feel the need to exact revenge herself.

“Thank you,” Kat’s voice was soft as it spoke those two simple words from behind him.

Slowly he turned back around and saw that curious emotion again in her eyes.  When he furrowed his brow in question, Kat continued, “Thank you for saving me, Colin.  I have spent a lo
t of time thinking about what had been done to me in the past.  Today, in that house, I saw what didn’t happen to me.  What you saved me from.”

Colin was momentarily speechless.  Saving her had been enough.  He never expected her gratitude.  Though he had long hoped for her feelings to be returned, he had come to th
e conclusion that she might be incapable.  Now though, seeing something new in her eyes, and hearing her say those two simple words to him, hope flared anew in his heart.

Kat tentatively took a step forward and lifted her arms slightly.  Colin didn’t need any more invitation than that.  Gently pulling her close, he was careful not to hold her too tightly as he had before.  If she was offering herself to him, in this simplest of ways, he sure as fuck wasn’t going to mess it up.  When Kat loosely looped her arms around his shoulders and briefly laid her head against his chest, Colin’s heart constricted painfully in his chest.
  The moment lasted mere seconds, but the feel of Kat in his arms would stay with him forever.

Once again Bass interrupted the moment with his gruff voice.

“This isn’t our specialty, but the locals are willing to let us poke around if you’re interested.”

Kat pulled away, and Colin saw the spark of interest in her eyes.  Shaking his head, he said, “Sorry, Kat.  I can’t let you go back in there.  But I’ll go in and take a look around.”

She nodded and resumed her lean against her car.  “I’ll wait here.”

Colin raised his hand and waved over a uniformed officer.

“Yes, sir?”

“This lady is a material witness.  Guard her with your life until I come back.”

The officer tipped his hat in Kat’s direction while she rolled her eyes.  “Will do.”

Colin followed Bass down the street and tread carefully through the yard to the side door that was standing wide open.  They had to step back for a moment to allow the paramedics to take a man out on a stretcher.  He was cursing up a storm, and Colin
felt a twinge of pride that Kat had taken him down.  Not that he ever wanted her to be in a position like that again.

“Your girl’s pretty tough,” Bass commented as they made their way up the short flight of stairs to the main floor of the house.  Colin didn’t correct him this time.

Bass pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on.  Crouching down he sifted through some of the trash on the floor.  Colin wandered over to the stairway leading to the second floor.  There was blood spray on the banister where Kat must have shot the man.

Another officer came down the stairs, carefully avoiding stepping in the blood, with his hand on his radio.  “I’m going to need at least four buses down here.  There are several women here who need medical treatment.”

Colin made his way upstairs where four doors off the hallway stood open.  The stench that permeated the first floor was even worse up here.  Poking his head into the rooms he found women in various stages of undress, some passed out, some tethered to the walls with heavy rope or steel cables, and a couple of them were hysterical.  The officers were doing their best to calm the women, but it was obvious they were on something.  Only a sedative straight into the vein was going to stop that screaming.

Having seen enough, Colin went back downstairs and found B
ass talking to another agent who had just arrived on the scene.  Colin caught his eye briefly and then headed outside.  There really wasn’t anything to be found in there until the women could be interviewed and the CSI unit did their job.

Kat was watching him the second he emerged from the house, and she met him in the street halfway between the house and her car.

“Well?” she prompted.

Colin rubbed his hand over his short hair.  “There are at least fifteen women in there.  They’re in bad shape, but they’re alive.”

Kat wrapped her arms around herself.

“Come on,” Colin said, draping his arm loosely over her shoulder and guiding her away from the house.  “
Let the police do their job, and I’ll follow up after they have a chance to talk to the women.”

When they reached her car, Kat pulled out her keys like she was getting ready to leave.

“You can’t leave yet, Kat.”

“Why not?
  You said there isn’t anything we can do here.”

Colin chuckled and shook his head.  “You shot a man, Kat.  You’re going to need to give your statement.”

A hint of a smile graced her lips.  “Oh, right.”

Colin reached out and brushed his knuckles across her cheekbone.  “And I want you to get checked out.”

Kat allowed the brief contact but backed away at the mention of medical attention.  “I’m fine, Colin.”

He sighed, knowing this was not a battle he would win.  “I’m going to let the officer in charge know I’m taking you down to the station for your statement.  Don’t leave without me,” he ordered.

Kat gave him a cheeky smile and saluted him.  “Yes, sir.”

Maybe this was what she needed.  He’d certainly never seen her be so open with him before.  And he didn’t want it to stop.

Chapter Ten

Luke slipped his dark jacket
on over his broad shoulders and felt naked without his holster and 9mm at his side.  However, the kind of trouble he might find tonight would only require his fists.  And they would be put to good use if any drunk assholes dared to even look at Natasha the wrong way.

Alexander had no idea how right he was to have Luke go with her and her friends to celebrate her birthday.  No one, except maybe Alexander himself, would take better care of her.  And
, Luke thought with a grimace, it had nothing to do with his work ethic.  Unbeknownst to anyone, his interest in her was very personal.  And he vowed it would stay that way.

Shoving his wallet in his back pocket, Luke left the
suite of rooms he used at The Onyx, only one floor below Alexander’s penthouse apartment.  Alexander had arranged for a limo to pick up the girls and bring them to The Onyx to begin their evening.  The limo driver had called Luke to let him know they were on their way.

Strolling through the sleek crowded lobby of The Onyx, Luke automatically glanced around to make sure nothing was out of place.  Exiting through the grand entrance, Luke stood to the side while he waited for the limo to arrive.  With the glaring sun setting over the horizon, Luke slipped on his sunglasses to
block out the blinding light.

His blood hummed through his veins, and a restless energy had him shifting his weight and crossing his arms over his chest.  In the years that Natasha had lived here, Luke had gone out of his way to avoid spending any prolonged amount of time with her.  He simply didn’t trust himself not to cross the line with her.  Never in his life had he wanted a woman so completely.  And
never had he not allowed himself to go after what he wanted.

Checking his watch, Luke sighed.  This was going to be a long night.

“You look as perfect as you did thirty seconds ago when you last checked,” joked Allison from the seat across from Natasha.

Giving her hair and makeup a quick onceover - again - Natasha pulled out her red lip gloss and applied another coat.  When her brother had originally put the kibosh on her birthday plans, Natasha had already decided she was going out with or without his permission.  But when he agreed only if Luke was along as a bodyguard of sorts…well, she couldn’t say no to that.

Luke Wells was her brother’s best friend and right hand man, although exactly what work he did for Alexander was rather vague.  Natasha’s earliest memories from her childhood had included Luke, and she’d had a crush on him since she was old enough to have crushes.  None of the boys she had dated in high school or college had come close to living up to Luke - at least the Luke in her daydreams.  She really didn’t know him all that well
anymore, because ever since she had moved to Las Vegas he was rarely around when she went to see Alexander.

Allison shoved a flute of champagne into her hand as well as giving one to Shiloh, who was sitting next to Natasha.  The three of them had been roommates since sophomore year when they had moved out of the dorms and into a posh apartment, courtesy of Alexander.  This was their last semester of their senior year, and the last year they would live together.  Allison was moving to L
os Angeles for grad school, and Shiloh was moving in with her boyfriend.

“To Natasha
, for finally turning twenty one so she doesn’t have to use her fake ID anymore!”

The girls clinked glasses and gulped down the champagne since they were already on the Strip.  Natasha was a year younger than her friends due to having graduated high school early.  The boarding schools Alexander had sent her to
were intensely academic, and she had always excelled in school.  Which was one reason she chose UNLV instead of Yale or Harvard like Alexander had wanted.  She needed a break from the rigorous education she had devoted her life to up until then.  She wanted a real college experience - frat parties, skipping classes and sleeping until mid-afternoon.

As the limo pulled into the
long curved driveway to the main entrance of The Onyx, the girls all straightened their dresses and smoothed their hair.  Natasha wouldn’t admit to anyone that she had dressed to impress only one person tonight.  Even though he probably wouldn’t notice, because she was just the little sister of his best friend and boss.

“So who’s the guy your brother has watching over us tonight?”  Shiloh asked.  “I’ve never had a bodyguard before
- this is so exciting!”

“His name is Luke.  He’s worked for Alexander forever.”  Natasha looked out the window a
s the limo slowed to a stop and her breath caught in her throat just like always.  She managed to get out, “That’s him.  Over there,” and she prayed her friends didn’t notice the slight tremor in her voice.

Both girls’ heads’ swiveled around.  “Holy shit,” Allison breathed.  “He’s hot.”

That’s an understatement, thought Natasha as she took in Luke’s tall hard body standing at alert with his arms crossed over his chest.  He wasn’t as polished and sophisticated as her brother, and he still had an edge about him that never went away completely no matter how far he got from where he grew up.  He was wearing his usual uniform of worn jeans, gray t-shirt and dark jacket.  Luke’s eyes were shaded by his aviator sunglasses, but Natasha felt like he was staring through the darkened windows of the limo and straight into her soul.

She only had a moment
to collect herself before Luke stalked over and swung open the door of the limo.  Allison and Shiloh went out first, both nearly falling over their own feet as they got an up close and personal look at Luke.

Natasha drew in a deep breath of courage and scooted across the seat and out of the limo.  As she put her weight onto her black stiletto heels, she caught a whiff of Luke’s clean masculine scent.  And she did fall over - right into his rock hard chest.

Luke was used to ignoring the attentions of women, except when he chose not to.  So, it was easy to overlook the two twittering girls that spilled out of the limo.  But when Natasha slid a thin leg, bare to mid thigh, out of the limo and then promptly tripped right into his arms, his body immediately reacted like he was a fourteen year old boy copping his first feel.

Grasping Natasha’s delicate upper arms, he held her at arm’s length.  No need for her to know how easily aroused he was when she was around.  But Goddamn, she smelled good.  The perfume she always wore floated up and Luke inhaled deeply.  He would know that scent anywhere.  And then she looked up at him - her long dark hair falling in tousled waves over her bare shoulders, her cleavage bared by her low cut black dress heaving as she breathed deeply, and those milk chocolate eyes wide as she stared up at him.

Luke could have stared into her eyes forever with maybe a few glances down at her full lips
, which were coated in slick red gloss tonight.  But that would have been highly unprofessional considering he was working tonight.

“Are you okay?” he asked gruffly as he held onto her arms just long enough to make sure she was steady on those ridiculously high heels.  Though they made her legs look real fucking good.

“Y..yes…sorry,” Natasha muttered, her eyes anywhere but on his.

A slight shiver ran down her spine and Luke noticed the
goosebumps on her arms.  “You should be wearing a coat or…more clothes,” he said harshly.

Natasha jerked her chin up and rolled her eyes, a move he had seen directed toward Alexander on more than one occasion.  “A coat wouldn’t go with my outfit.  And we won’t be outside much
longer anyway.”

Luke sighed and only then remembered the other girls were there.  “Let’s
get inside.”  He motioned for the women to walk ahead of him through the open door, courtesy of the doorman.  Did he think this was going to be a long night?  Luke scoffed.  Yeah, only the longest night in the history of long nights.

Natasha was anything but wobbly now as she strode confidently across the lobby, her arms linked with her friends.  Luke followed at a safe distance, so he c
ouldn’t smell her.  But short of gouging his eyes out, there wasn’t much he could do about the sight of her lean hips swaying as she walked, or the way her very short dress hugged her ass.  Shoving his sunglasses in his jacket pocket, Luke cursed as he followed the trio to the swanky seafood restaurant where they had dinner reservations.

As a guest, he would have been way underdressed.  But as an employee of The Onyx and known to everyone else who worked there, Luke got a professional smile and nod from the host as he led the girls to their table.

Luke took a seat at the end of the bar, so he had a good view of the restaurant as well as Natasha’s table.  The bartender brought over his usual glass of Jack Daniels, but Luke waved it away.

“Just water tonight.  I’m on the job.”  He tilted his head in the direction of Natasha.

The bartender looked over.  “Oh, isn’t that Mr. Petrovsky’s sister?”

“Yup.
  It’s her twenty first birthday.  I must have fucked up real good in another life to get stuck on babysitting duty,” Luke said.

The bartender laughed as he filled up a glass with ice and water.  “I wouldn’t mind babysitting her,” he replied with another lon
g look in Natasha’s direction.

Luke took the glass
of water, gripping it so tightly he was surprised it didn’t shatter.  In a tight voice, he warned, “Alexander is extremely protective of his sister.”

The bartender suddenly seemed to remember they weren’t ju
st two guys shooting the shit.

“Oh, right.  Of course,” he said and high tailed it to the other end of the bar.

Luke took a look around the restaurant and then turned his attention to his water glass.  Maybe if he stared hard enough it would give him the answers to how the fuck he was going to get through the night.

“Luke?”

Natasha’s soft sweet voice brought his head up real quick.  And her hand on his arm made him jump.  Jesus Christ.  He needed to get a grip.

“Yeah?” he said a little too harshly, judging from the way she dropped her hand and took a step back.  “I mean - do you need something?”

She bit her bottom lip as she shook her head.  Her white teeth sinking into the plump red skin.  Luke wrenched his eyes from her mouth as she spoke.

“I just wanted to thank you for coming out with us tonight.  I know my brother can be a bit…demanding.  I’m sure you’d rather be anywhere else…,” she trailed off.

“No,” he lied.  “It’s fine.  I don’t mind.”

“Okay.  Are you sure? 
Because you seem kind of…pissy.”

Luke barked out a laugh.  “
Pissy?”

Natasha smiled and shrugged.

Shaking his head, Luke couldn’t help but smile.  “It’s really okay, Natasha.  I want you to have a good time tonight.  Don’t worry about me.”

“Okay, well…thank you,” she said and flashed him a dazzling smile that nearly knocked him off the bar stool.  She turned and sashayed back to her table.  Glancing over her shoulder, she looked back at him and nearly plowed into a waiter with a full tray of drinks.

“Oh, shit!” she exclaimed.

Luke realized he was still smiling while he watched her gingerly sidestep the waiter.  What a fucking pussy he was.  One smile from her and he was practically drooling.  Luke checked his watch.  Ten minutes down.  Five hours to go.