Outspoken Angel (23 page)

Cameron stirred as Maxwell jumped to the bed,
curled around her pillow, and tickled her nose with his tail.

Her whisper was so faint he could barely hear
her. “Max?”

He smoothed her curls away from her face.
“Yeah, Baby, it’s me.”

She sighed and snuggled closer to him,
awakening the bulge in his jeans.

Grimacing from the contact, he reached
between them and lowered his zipper half an inch before he draped a
hand across her hip. “Sleep,” he whispered across the top of her
head. “You’re safe now.”

* * *

The early morning sun shining through the
bedroom curtains woke Max. He buried his face in Cameron’s neck and
nudged her awake. Obviously annoyed, she sat up and smacked him
with a pillow.

“Keep it up, Chrome Dome, and you’ll sleep in
your truck.”

He grabbed the pillow and tossed it back to
the bed. “Doctor’s orders, Grumpy. I have to make sure you’re
alive.”

“It sucks to be you, Max. Leave me alone!”
She sunk back into the pillows and fell right back to sleep.

Wide awake and hungry, Max climbed out of bed
and went down to the kitchen with Maxwell trotting along
behind.

Rummaging through the refrigerator, he pulled
out mustard, lettuce and tomato, ham and cheese. He stumbled as the
cat meowed and wound around his legs.

He pushed the purring nuisance away with one
foot and continued to build his sandwiches. “Damn! I was planning
to share with you, until you tried to take me out. Again!”

He sat down at the table and watched as the
furball had the nerve to jump up on the table, sit down and give
him an evil stare.

Convinced the cat wouldn’t hesitate to
challenge him, Max sighed. “Alright.”

He tore off a chunk of ham and tossed it to
the oversized tabby, who watched it bounce off his nose and hit the
table with a thunk. Then he stared at it. Finally, the cat stood,
stretched, inched his way closer, and sniffed. Finally, he hunched
down and delicately nibbled.

Max shook his head. “If you were a dog, you
would have caught that and swallowed it whole.” Max took a bite of
his sandwich and continued his one-sided conversation. “You’re way
too girly to have a macho name like Maxwell.”

Maxwell twitched his tail back and forth and
flattened his ears against his head.

“How about Sissy?” Max taunted.

Obviously insulted, Maxwell growled and his
fur stood on end.

The scratches on his foot encouraged Max to
back off. He looked up to see Cameron yawn as she entered the room
and curled up in his lap. “Who are you talking to?”

She picked up his glass and drank before
burrowing into his embrace. Max scooched down in the chair, rested
his chin on top of her head, and rubbed her arms.

“You have goosebumps.”

Her lips tickled the skin of his neck as she
spoke. “Someone turned off the heat. Were you talking to
Maxwell?”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t listen to me any better
than you.”

His buzzing cell phone interrupted her
response. He drug it from his pocket and flipped it open.

“Hey, Steele. Give me some good news.”

“I’ve got somebody here who’s very anxious to
visit with you.”

“You got him?” Max straightened and nearly
knocked Cameron off his lap. “Where?”

“Funny thing about car thieves,” Steele said,
“they attract a lot of attention.”

“He saw you break into my truck?”

“Yeah, walked right past the house. I
followed him down the block and grabbed him.”

“Where are you now?”

“Empty warehouse. Sixth and Valhalla.”

“I’m there,” he said, slapping his phone
closed.

“Steele’s got Stone.” Max stood and deposited
Cameron into his chair. “I’ve got to go.”

He gave her a quick kiss and he headed
upstairs.

She followed. “Isn’t Brett going to call the
police?”

“Not yet. I’m going to have a little talk
with him first. Believe me, Doll, if he ever gets out of prison
again, he won’t come anywhere near you.”

“Max, don’t do something that’s going to get
you in trouble.” She sat down on the bed to watch him dress.

He chuckled inwardly. She was worried about
him getting into trouble? Trouble was her middle name.

He squatted in front of her and placed the
back of his hand to her forehead. “How do you feel?”

“Better.”

“Get back in bed and I’ll be back as quick as
I can. Do you want me to call Holly and see if she will stay with
you while I’m gone?”

She shook her head and laid her hand against
his cheek. “Rachel and Holly are coming over soon. We’re going to
hang out by the pool.”

“Don’t overdo.”

“I won’t. Behave, Max. I don’t want to have
to raise bail money.”

He tousled her mussed curls. “No trips to
jail for me, I promise.”

* * *

Max shook his head in disbelief when he
parked in front of the vacant warehouse.
Damn, Steele.
The
place was something right out of a mob movie, complete with several
mounds of dirt and a bulldozer parked nearby.

Steele shoved Stone at Max as he stormed
inside the warehouse. “Hey, Sterling! Welcome to the party.”

Max grabbed Stone and forced him into a
chair, undeterred by the blood that dripped from his nose.

“Looks like you started the party without
me.”

“Hey, I have rights! You guys can’t just
kidnap me and beat me up!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Steele circled Stone. “We’re just having a little talk, right
Sterling?”

“That’s right.” Max leaned into Stone’s face.
“I should kill you for all you’ve put Cameron through.” He grabbed
the front of Stone’s shirt and lifted him by the collar. His feet
dangled in the air. “I know over thirty five ways to kill a man.
With my bare hands, and I can make it look like an accident.”

“Hey, I just wanted her back. If you
wa...want her that bad -” Stone gasped for air. “You can have her.
The bitch isn’t worth all this.”

Max fought his temper as his face reddened.
Planting his fist in Stone’s stomach, he let go of Stone’s shirt
and watched him drop to the floor while he coughed and cursed.

Steele placed a hand on Max’s shoulder when
Stone started forward again. “Easy, Sterling. He’s not worth it.
Let me question him, okay?”

Max paced away from them, then turned and
nodded.

“Go for it.”

Steele lifted Stone by the collar and propped
him back into the chair. “Did you really think you were going to
win her back by scaring her and trying to kill her?”

“Ow, I think he broke my ribs,” Stone
groaned.

“Quit whining and answer my question.”

“I didn’t mean to scare her. I left her a
present and called her. I didn’t try to kill her.”

“You punctured her brake line!” Max
thundered.

“No way!” Stone protested. “I don’t even know
where a brake line is.”

Steele’s phone interrupted the interrogation.
The conversation was short.

“Uh, Sterling. We have a small problem.”

“Yeah, I know.” Max started toward Stone
again. “But he’s going to tell the truth real quick.”

“Wait. He is telling the truth. The prints on
the brake line weren’t his. Where’s Cameron?”

“At home. Rachel and Holly are with her.” A
wave of disbelief nudged him.

“Call her, Sterling,” Steele snapped, pulling
Max from his shock. “Tell her to lock the doors and don’t let
anybody in but us.”

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Holly,” Cameron groaned while she extended
her left arm and attempted to bend it to copy Holly’s position, “I
don’t think my arm moves like that.”

“I know mine doesn’t,” Rachel mumbled.

“Relax, ladies.” Holly gave an encouraging
smile. “Just take a deep breath and try again.”

Cameron looked at Rachel and shrugged. Holly
swore by the healing qualities of exercise and since Cameron felt
like she’d been hit by a Mack truck, she decided to go along.

Rachel gasped as she raised her arm over her
head. “Are you sure we’ll feel better after all this?”

Holly nodded. “Absolutely.”

Cameron raised her right arm and bit her lip
to suppress a whine. “How long do we hold it like this?”

“Not much longer,” Holly assured her.

Cameron’s arm burnt and her fingers
threatened to go numb just as she heard the doorbell gong. “Darn.”
She unfolded her arms and eased off her lounge chair. “Please,
carry on without me.”

“Coward,” Rachel muttered.

Holly cleared her throat. “Let’s just ignore
it.”

Cameron gave her an apologetic smile. “I
promise, I’ll be right back. I swear I won’t bail.”

“I think we should wait for Max.” Holly
lowered her arms and glanced at Rachel. “What do you think?”

Rachel frowned. “Cameron, are you expecting
someone?”

The doorbell chimed again.

“No. It’s probably just a delivery.” Cameron
dismissed the two worry-warts with a wave of her hand and headed
inside.

Once she stood in front of the door, she
hesitated just a moment before she turned the knob. Maybe she
should wait for Max.
Good grief.
She chided herself for
being so silly. Max had the bad guy. No need to panic.

Just as a precaution, she stood on her
tiptoes and peeked out the peephole. Her eyes widened behind her
sunglasses when she found someone quite unexpected on her front
porch. Carelessly, she flung open the door.

Her visitor gave a cocky smirk. “Hi.”

She inserted her body in the doorway and
folded her arms across her chest.

“Pirelli,” she drawled. “What are you doing
here?”

“Can I come in?”

“Why?”

“I’d like to talk to you.”

She noticed his eager eyes caress her breasts
boosted by her bikini top. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on, baby.” He reached to tweak a
curl.

She batted his hand away.

“My name is Cameron, Pirelli, and the answer
is no.”

He stuck his foot in the doorway as she
attempted to close the door and then grabbed her arm to pull her
against him. She gasped as she felt cold metal kiss her bare
stomach.

His smile was laced with venom as he pushed
her inside and back against the wall. “Now, let’s you and I have
our talk.”

She glanced down at the gun and then
remembered the alarm control panel, now inches from her head. “I
have company.” She raised a hand to trace his bottom lip with one
fingernail. “Wouldn’t you rather talk here ... alone?”

Pirelli gave a sideways smile and lowered his
head until his mouth was poised to take hers. “You’re so easy,
sweetheart.”

As Cameron turned her head to the side to
escape his touch, her left cheek rolled across the security
pad.

He cursed under his breath. “Tease.”

He peeled her from the wall and with the
barrel of the gun pressed to the small of her back, nudged her
through the house and out the patio door.

“Cameron?” Rachel asked, as he pushed Cameron
back into her chair.

She swallowed hard and attempted to appear
unphased. “I’ve attracted another psycho, Rachel.”

Rachel laid her hand across her swollen
stomach. “Obviously he falls into the fourteen percent of
ex-boyfriends who turn into stalkers,” she mumbled to Cameron.
Rachel turned to look up at Sean. “What do you want?”

“Revenge.”

Pirelli waved the cold steel in the air. The
telephone rang from the depths of the house.

* * *

Unfamiliar, sheer, black fear swept through
Max and numbed his insides as Cameron’s voice mail answered his
call. A shudder rippled his heart.

I shouldn’t have left her alone.

“Shit, she always answers her phone.”

“Focus, Sterling.” Steele’s sharp tone forced
Max to redirect his thoughts. “Try the house.”

“I did.” He dialed another number and then
spoke into the phone. “Hawke, call the police.”

“Why? Where are you?”

“Just do it,” Max ordered. “The prints on the
brake line weren’t Stone’s. They were Pirelli’s.”

“Sean Pirelli’s?”

“Yeah, I’m headed to Cameron’s.”

“I’m right behind you.”

The phone line stilled before Max could
protest. He released a heavy breath and glanced at Steele.

“Hawke’s on his way to the house.”

Steele cleared his throat. “Hawke?”

Max scrubbed a hand down his jaw and ignored
the sarcasm in Steele’s voice. “We’ll send him in as a decoy.”

Steele lifted an eyebrow, clearly not
impressed by the idea. “Are you sure?”

Max’s blood boiled and his patience snapped.
“Hell yes, I’m sure. What’s your major malfunction, Steele?”

Steele’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Unless
we’re talking about another Jaydon Hawke, the public thinks he’s a
freakin’ rock star, Sterling! I’m not convinced this is a good
idea.”

Max exhaled in desperation. “His wife is
there and I won’t be able to stop him. Besides, Pirelli won’t be
threatened by Hawke.”

Steele gestured at Stone. “What about
him?”

“Put him in the truck. Do you have
handcuffs?”

Steele nodded and locked Stone’s hands behind
his back before he pushed him into the extended cab of Max’s
truck.

* * *

Sweat coated Max’s brow as he drove the
distance to Cameron’s house. Pirelli. The bastard better hope he
had a guardian angel. If Pirelli so much as even touched one of
those blonde curls, Max would rob him of fresh air.

“I told you I didn’t have anything to do with
it,” Stone said from behind him.

Max squeezed the steering wheel until he
thought his fingers would snap and glanced at Steele.

Steele gave a cocky grin. “Shut up,
Stone.”

Once he drove up Cameron’s driveway, Max
jammed the truck into park and got out. Steele opened the passenger
door, stepped out, and slid his seat forward.