Imminent Danger (Adrenaline Highs) (6 page)

That’s how it went for the next forty-five minutes. Officer Rivera asked questions and tapped on his keyboard. Blake didn’t budge from his spot near the wall, but she could practically feel his tension, which did nothing for her nerves. Still he quietly urged her on when she got frustrated and didn’t think she could come up with anything else specific about the man besides his thick, bushy eyebrows, fat nose and Fu Manchu, which they all knew he could shave off in a heartbeat. His dark sunglasses had hid his eyes and his cap had covered his head. Not a whole lot to work with.

Officer Rivera put a few final touches on the face then turned the monitor toward her. “What do you think? Close?”

“That’s good,” she said. “But we still can’t really see him.”

“The point is to see what you saw.” With a little more prompting, he made a few adjustments and refined the picture even more. Then they took a break before starting on the next one with the same process. Another forty-five minutes later he adjusted the monitor toward her again.

Blake had come around them as she’d described the other suspect and stood behind Abbey’s chair. “Holy shit,” he said softly.

Abbey and the officer both glanced at him. He looked as pale as Abbey had ever seen him. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“The guy you just described.” Blake ran his hand over his jaw, but never took his gaze off the computer screen. “I know him.”

“How? From where?” Abbey stood as Blake swallowed hard. She’d never seen him like this. “Who is he?”

“The only name I have for him is Kwami. He’s already wanted for kidnapping and assault, among other things.”

“Who’d he kidnap,” Officer Rivera asked, grabbing a nearby phone off the base.

Blake took a deep breath. “Me. And my whole family.”

A cold chill streaked down Abbey’s back. She knew Blake’s history because Julie had starred in the movie written about the event. It had been national news when his family had been rescued.

“He was one of the guys who worked for Paul Facinetti two years ago. He was in the car that got away when the cops zeroed in on the house.” Blake’s eyes turned icy blue. “He’s the one who cut off Brendan’s earlobe.”

Abbey knew this from the movie about the event, and she’d met Blake’s twin brother, Brendan, a few times during the past year.

The officer listened carefully to Blake then called the detectives on the case. Blake took a moment to send a text. A few minutes later, the small room filled up when the detectives assigned the case and Troy and Julie all filed in.

“You’re sure this is the guy from your kidnapping?” Detective O’Kelly asked as Rivera handed him the printout of the composite. O’Kelly’s blond hair and blue eyes were better suited to an actor than a cop.

“I’m sure,” Blake said. “I’ll never forget his face. Problem is he wasn’t in the system two years ago and I doubt he is now or someone would’ve caught the connection.”

“This gives us something to work with,” O’Kelly replied. “We’ll dive back into Paul Facinetti’s life and see if we can’t find more on this guy. If I remember right, Facinetti’s cousin took over his end of the business so we’ve got a good place to start.”

“The whole reason I went into this line of work was to find the asshole who hurt my brother. I want this son of a bitch behind bars where he belongs.” Every muscle seemed taut, and the intensity in Blake’s eyes might’ve scared Abbey if she didn’t know him.

Abbey had never asked Blake about the ordeal, but looking at him now, she realized it had affected him as profoundly as her own assault.

Kim took her breakfast dishes to the sink and looked out the window at the backyard. The bright sun climbed up and over the trees and made the small ripple in the aqua pool sparkle like diamonds. She looked around the opulent grounds. Not a bad life if you had it. Of course, she didn’t. Her stay was only temporary. A huge drag considering she could get used to this place. A girl could dream.

“I told you the maid would do that. What are you daydreaming about over there?” Stephanie asked as she came closer, sipping her coffee.

“Life,” Kim said, facing the massive kitchen with its gray granite counters, mosaic backsplash and antique cabinets. The dark porcelain flooring sparkled with a high sheen. “Just wondering when I might get one.” She smiled at her friend because she didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer. “So what’s the plan for today? Am I going to Carl’s office or am I working from here?” She had no delusions about the amount of work ahead of her if Carl wanted her to go through the books. Apparently the man had his finger in everything from entertainment to sports to finance. If he suspected a problem, Kim doubted it was going to be something glaringly obvious. If this Nathan guy had really embezzled from him, and he was halfway decent at it, he should’ve been able to hide it, which meant Kim had to take her time.

“I think Carl wants to go to Nathan’s office first and see if he can talk to him face-to-face. But he wants you to go with him.” Stephanie poured herself a second cup of coffee. “Carl thinks if Nathan sees an outside source about to go through the files that he’ll come clean. Personally, I think Carl has given him way too many chances already, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. The damage is done, whatever it is.”

“Consider me one of the Avengers. I’ve come to save the day.”

“Well, I certainly hope so,” a voice said from the doorway. Carl hadn’t come home by the time they’d gone to bed last night, so Kim hadn’t seen him yet. In fact, she’d only met him the weekend of the wedding. After the ceremony the couple had gone off to their month long European honeymoon. Yeah, she’d see one of those in her dreams too.

“How are you, Kim?” Carl came into the room and hugged her. He was close to sixty, medium height and on the skinny side. His brown eyes seemed to sink into his head and he kept his thin hair spiked in some attempt to look rock-star cool. Carl swore every gray hair on his head came from years of hard work. He’d always struck her as a bit cold and his hug didn’t change her perception. Her heart went out to Stephanie a little bit more. Kim may have wanted to marry for money, but not at the cost of love. She’d thought falling for a rich guy would be as easy as falling for any man, but she’d learned the hard way when no one fell for her. Oh, they were happy to get lucky, but when it came to the morning after, they were more concerned with getting out the door.

Yes. Ouch. Repeatedly.

So she’d learned. After taking multiple bats to the head, figuratively speaking, of course.

“I’m fine, Carl. Sorry I was asleep last night when you got in.”

He waved a hand as he leaned toward Stephanie and pecked her cheek. “Don’t think twice about it.”

“If you lived here, you’d know it’s a common occurrence,” Stephanie said. The undercurrent in her tone put Kim on guard.

Carl gave a deliberate look to the cup in Stephanie’s hand. “Is that your second?” He lifted gray eyebrows. “We’ve talked about your caffeine intake, Stephanie.”

Kim wouldn’t have put up with that tone for a million bucks, but Stephanie took a measured breath and tossed the rest of her coffee down the sink.

Trouble in paradise. Damn. She hated being in the middle of it.

“Stephanie told me you want to go to Nathan’s office this morning. Are we picking up files or just hoping to see him?” Kim asked.

“Both if I can manage. He won’t answer his phone, so I have to stop by the office. I don’t know why Bonnie, his secretary, hasn’t returned my call either. It’s all a big mystery.”

“Who doesn’t love a mystery?” Kim hadn’t meant to blurt that aloud and when Carl frowned, she felt two inches tall.

“I, for one, could do without it,” he snipped. “Especially when it concerns my money.”

“Of course. Sorry. Didn’t mean to imply otherwise.” It wasn’t as if Kim didn’t understand the meaning of a dollar.

Stephanie gave her a small shake of her head. A gesture that said,
don’t let him bother you.

Kim crinkled her nose in return.
Not a problem.
It took a lot more than Carl to scare her. No one ever thought she was tough. She probably perpetuated that notion with her wardrobe, but just because she liked beautiful clothes and frilly girl things didn’t mean she wasn’t tough.

“Stephanie, I don’t imagine you’d want to come with us. We’ll be going from Nathan’s office to my office. I’ll bring Kim home tonight.”

That news came as a surprise to both of them since they’d discussed Kim using their extra car…a convertible Mercedes she was dying to drive. They shared a glance. Apparently the king had spoken.

“I thought Kim and I might be able to catch up at lunch,” Stephanie said.

“I’m not paying her to have lunch with you.” Carl finally looked at his wife and sighed as if she’d just dropped a two-ton load of crap on his shoulders. “You can have lunch with her this weekend. It’s not long off. Don’t pout. You know how I hate that.”

Stephanie’s look could have frozen the sun. Kim bit her tongue—literally—to keep from saying something to Carl. Nothing about Stephanie indicated a pout, which probably accounted for the steam coming out of her ears. As each minute went by, Kim hated that she’d agreed to help the man.

“Okay then.” Stephanie’s voice was as icy as a shallow pond in a Montana winter. “I’ll see you later, Kim. Don’t let him work you too hard. Especially since you left your own job to come help us.” That last bit was directed completely at Carl and he nodded to confirm Stephanie’s message.

It was going to be an interesting stay.

Leo made a trip home to take off his makeup from the morning show and change into some more comfortable shoes. Slipping on the new Nikes he’d picked up at a recent gifting didn’t help his pissy mood nearly enough. His phone call to the bank to transfer the funds didn’t really go as he’d hoped, especially when the
representative
told him he didn’t have enough funds for the transaction. After a fifteen minute argument, Leo gave up. Time to go to the source. A few minutes later, he was out the door and ready to confront Nathan.

As he waited for the green wrought-iron gate to slide open, he revved Stella’s engine. She was the only female on the planet who didn’t give him shit and he loved every sleek inch of her. “Stella, my love, you are sounding awfully sexy this morning.” He revved the engine again just to let the neighbors know he was taking off. That must have caused a few eye rolls. Smiling, Leo slapped on his Maui Jim shades, pulled onto the street and headed into Beverly Hills.

He almost never went to Nathan’s office. Nathan usually came to him. But Leo had already wasted too much time and if the man thought he could dodge trouble a minute longer, then he was wrong. Oh so very wrong.

Leo might’ve been a lot of things to a lot of people, but he was never late with a payment on anything. People often billed him as a ladies man, but just as often, an egomaniac, sleazeball or scumbag. They either loved him or hated him. He didn’t run into too much middle ground. Most women liked his fast moves and others weren’t fans, but he rolled with the dice and didn’t really care what anyone thought about him. After years of setting up
Leo Frost
, he’d gotten what he wanted with amazing results. It didn’t take away from his talent, but it occasionally made it hard to be taken seriously by people on the business side of his life.

Everybody had a breaking point though, and Leo was just about at his. Nathan had seen to that.

Leo pulled into the small parking lot of Nathan’s stand-alone building where two cars were already parked. The single story building itself wasn’t any great shakes, but the real estate it occupied was prime Beverly Hills. An old white Honda that desperately needed a wash took the corner spot and a gorgeous maroon Bentley Rolls Royce had the primo space by the door. He whistled as he unfolded his six feet two inches out of Stella and took a stroll around the Bentley. It must have been shipped from England because the steering wheel sat on the right.
Nice.
It was old, too, but in mint condition with a tan canvas convertible top. Must have cost a quarter of a mill’ easy. He could’ve afforded one for himself, but Stella was more his style. Sleek, shiny and untouchable on the road if he wanted to let her out to play.

“Don’t go away, Stella. I’ll be fast.” He hit the alarm and Stella double chirped her reply.

“Nathan, you jackass, ready or not, here I come.” Leo swung open the front door and three heads turned his way. Bonnie, Nathan’s assistant, stood behind her big cluttered desk on the right. With her frizzy red hair and glasses, she looked wigged out. Four large windows showed that the offices in back were currently unoccupied. The two people in front of him didn’t look familiar. Although why the blonde was spending time with a guy old enough to be her father was beyond him. Stiletto heels accentuated her outstanding calves and a short black skirt clung to her perfectly curved ass. A long beaded necklace cut the divide of her full breasts beneath a turquoise silk shirt. What a waste of a gorgeous woman. Did the old guy know how good he had it? Probably.

Bonnie’s eyes widened at the sight of him. The blonde cocked her head just slightly as she, too, recognized him.

Leo stepped behind them and waited his turn in line.

The old guy didn’t bat an eye and just turned back to his conversation. “When was the last time you talked to him?” he asked.

Bonnie’s attention zeroed back on the man. “I don’t know. Yesterday morning, I think. It’s been a little busy.”