Secrets Collide (Bluegrass Brothers) (6 page)

“Yeah, well, I guess you didn’t have the right connections.” Cy’s cocky smile reappeared and Gemma rolled her eyes.

Oh, she had made it in, but it hadn’t been easy and she didn’t know the number of people she flashed in her trashy getup. But it had been worth it. She had gotten information about one of the giant movie companies paying off the most respected review critic in the industry. During her investigation, she discovered that the movie companies bought almost all of his reviews, even though he touted himself as completely independent.

“Squeeee!”

Gemma cringed at the high-pitched screech and Fred popped his head out of the bag and growled at the woman in knee-high leather boots and a micro-mini running over to him.

“Cy!” The woman flipped her long hair over her shoulder and threw herself on him. Her bright red lips left a perfect imprint on his cheek as the flashbulbs from the paparazzi went wild. Wait, Gemma knew who that was. That was the actress from the summer’s big chick flick,
Summer Island
.

“Hey, Autumn,” Gemma heard Cy say. Autumn Hayes moved to block Gemma out now.

“I heard you were leaving L.A. for some Podunk town in the South. Want a going-away present?” Autumn dropped her voice when she asked her question and Gemma felt a little annoyed, somewhat jealous, and totally dumpy as she stood in her damp shirt, jeans, and trashed hair. Not to mention the woman with her exposed back and long tan legs was a knockout, rich, and famous. How could anyone not feel self-conscious being ignored by that?

“Actually, Gemma and I were on our way up to my place for a bit. But, thank you. If you’re ever in Podunk, let me know.”

“Gemma who? Is she that new actress on that action movie you just finished?” Autumn put her hands on her hips and looked around the crowd.

Cy leaned around Autumn and grabbed Gemma’s hand. “This is Gemma. It was nice seeing you again.” Gemma let Cy drag her past the stunned starlet and through the VIP entrance. He ducked behind the bar and into the kitchen before stopping. “Do you want to stay here or go up with me?”

Well, if Autumn Hayes was about to go upstairs with him, it couldn’t be that bad, right? “I’ll go up with you. Then we can go to my place.”

“I’ll be quick. You’ll need to be too.” Cy unlocked the door and walked through a large open living room filled with dark leather furniture and continued toward his bedroom. “You can grab a drink from the fridge if you want,” he called from the depths of his room.

Gemma looked around at the spotless, state-of-the-art apartment in confusion.

Bachelors she knew didn’t live like this.  Of course, the bachelors she knew were still stuck thinking they were in college. Some boys just never want to grow up and move past that phase of their lives. She set down her bag and Fred jumped out, trotting straight to Cy’s bedroom. Guess he made his choice; now it was time for Gemma to do the same. The question was whether she should trust Cy Davidson enough to put her life in his hands.

Cy threw his clothes into a large suitcase as Fred sat on the bed watching him. He was trying to give Gemma enough time to make up her mind. He hoped she would decide to go with him or he’d have to take the situation into his own hands. No matter what she thought, he was going to do everything he could to keep her safe.

He walked into his bathroom and pulled out his Swiss army knife and began to chip away at the grout between the large white tiles behind the door. He wiggled the knife under the tile and lifted it to expose a safe. Cy entered his code on the keypad and then placed his thumb on the scanner. The safe’s lock released and he opened the heavy door. He pulled out his agency-issued Glock, his weapon of choice, and his documentation proving him an employee of the CIA. He also pulled out his spare credit cards and passport under his cover name, Cy Davidson, as well as his real ones.

Raising his t-shirt, he placed the gun at the small of his back and shoved the rest of the documents into his bag. He only had one picture in his whole apartment. On his nightstand was a picture of his family. He wrapped it in a shirt and put it in the bag before zipping it. The owner of the club was going to ship everything else to him in a couple of days.

It was time to find out if Gemma had made up her mind. “Let’s go see what your mommy decided.” Cy grabbed his bag and scooped Fred up in his arm. He walked into the living room and found Gemma looking out the tinted windows on the far side of the room.

“I can’t go,” Gemma said distantly. “My sister needs to be buried with all the love, respect, and honor that she deserves. I can’t leave her in some city morgue.”

“Gemma, listen to me. I’ll have someone from the agency claim your sister. She’ll be with U.S. heroes and can then be buried at a time and place of your choosing. But if I don’t get you away from here right now, I’m afraid you’ll join her. These are professionals and they won’t quit until you’re dead. I can protect you. Please, come with me.” Cy looked down and saw that he was holding her hands in his as he willed her to understand the seriousness of the situation.

Gemma took a deep breath, her hands shook in his. “Thank you for taking care of my sister. That means so much to me. I’ll go with you,” she paused, “on two conditions.” Gemma squeezed his hands. Her dark green eyes snapped in determination. “First, you agree to tell me everything. Nothing but the truth. No secrets and no hiding anything from me. Second, you promise you’ll find the men who are responsible for my sister’s death and bring them to justice. I want them dead, but justice is what my sister would've wanted.”

“Deal. Let’s go get your stuff.”

Cy drove his red F-type Jaguar convertible around the block twice. There didn’t seem to be anything unusual outside the six-story apartment complex, so he pulled into a spot to the right of the entrance.

“Can you see your apartment from here?” he asked as he put the car in park.

“Yes. The light’s off and everything looks okay, I guess,” Gemma said hesitantly as her eyes darted to every shadow surrounding the building.

“Okay, let’s go.” Cy pushed open his door and walked around to Gemma’s side. No one was shooting at him so he took that as a good sign as he opened her door.

They headed into the small lobby and he waited as she grabbed her mail in the bank of boxes before pushing the elevator button.

“Fourth floor,” Gemma told him as she got in. The soft classical music filled the small space as they rode up to her floor. “Bach.”

“Beethoven.”

Dammit, he was right. She could never get the right composers. The door opened and she stepped out and turned right. She walked the length of the hall to the end unit.

“Is this it?” Cy asked as they came to a stop in front of her door.

“No. I just stopped here for fun.” Gemma put her key in and hid her smile when she heard Cy snicker. Most people didn’t appreciate her smartass side.

Gemma opened her door and felt the cool air conditioning hit her. Cy’s hand gently wrapped around her wrist and squeezed, silently urging her behind him. It was only then that she noticed he had a gun in his hand. Gemma watched as he efficiently went through her small apartment checking all the rooms. It sure looked like he was a professional. Of course, he could just be a really good actor. The town was full of them, after all.

“It’s all clear. Pack whatever you need. You have five minutes and then we need to be out of here.”

Gemma rolled her eyes as Cy went to the window and looked down at the front entrance of the building. He looked so big in her small place. He seemed to fill it, and it wasn’t his height or his wide shoulders. He just possessed an aura about him that radiated confident male.

Gemma grabbed some food for Fred, his leash, and a bowl and stuffed them into a tote bag. She poured out the milk from her fridge and headed back to her small bedroom. The bed filled most of it and she couldn’t resist sitting down for a minute. Gia had helped her pick out the comforter. Tears welled in her eyes. It felt as if everything she knew was being ripped away—her sister, her apartment, and her comforter—everything.

“It’ll be okay. I promise, I’ll keep you safe and find out who did this.” She heard his low voice drift over her as she looked up and found Cy leaning against her door watching her.

“It’ll never be okay. Everything has been taken from me. What do I have left?” Gemma turned her head, not wanting Cy to see her tears.

“You have everything left. It hurts now and it’ll always hurt. But if your sister was anything like mine, then she’d want you to experience life, love, and kids. Let me help you find these men and bring them to justice for your sister. I'll show you just how much you have left.”

Gemma felt the tears flow down her cheeks as she listened to him. Her eyes connected with the picture of her and Gia smiling at their last birthday. Cy was right about something. She did have something left—vengeance.

Cy watched as she wiped the tears from her face before turning back to him. With a nod she stood up and promptly bent over to dig under her bed, leaving Cy with a great view of her rear end. With a mental groan, he turned and headed out of the room.

He picked up Fred and started looking at the pictures she had on her mantel as he waited for her to finish packing. It was obvious she was very close to her sister as he looked at pictures of them as kids, teenagers, in college, and more recently.

“Hey.” Cy turned toward the bedroom as he heard her voice call out to him. “Can you put all those pictures in this bag? I just need to grab my bathroom stuff and I'll be ready to go.”

Cy caught the bag she tossed at him and quickly stuffed the pictures into it. By the time he was finished packing all the pictures from the apartment, Gemma was walking out of the bedroom with a duffel bag over her shoulder. Cy hiked up the bag with the pictures and bent down to pick up Fred who was balancing on his hind legs begging to be held.

“Ready?” he asked.

Gemma tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked around her place one last time. “I’m ready.”

Cy opened the door and looked out into the empty hallway. Taking the lead, he walked by the stairs and to the elevator. He pressed the button and waited as the elevator came from the floor above.

He looked at Gemma standing next to him and saw the doorknob from the stairwell turn. “Do any of your neighbors use the stairs?”

“Hmm?” Gemma asked. She had obviously been deep in thought. The barrel of a gun coming out of the slowly opening door answered his question.

“Get back!” Cy shoved Gemma behind him and against the doors of the elevator. He shifted Fred into his left arm and pulled his gun in one movement. The door flew open as the man scanned the hallway.

Cy fired off a shot and hit the doorjamb. The man jumped back but stuck his arm out and fired blindly. Fred growled in Cy’s arms as he returned fire. He had Gemma smashed against the elevator doors with his body shielding hers as he tried to keep the man pinned down.

“Come on,” he grumbled at the elevator. There was no such luck, though; the stairway door flung open. A man tried to run across the hall for cover while his buddy fired at Cy and Gemma. Cy could feel Gemma’s fingers digging into his back as she hid behind him. Every instinct he had was to keep her safe. He had never felt anything so strongly before.

Cy reloaded his gun and fired at the man leaping for cover across the hall. He was satisfied when he heard the man scream out as his shot hit its mark—the man’s foot had been carelessly left exposed. The man hiding in the stairwell fired off another shot that had Cy pressing further back against Gemma. The bullet lodged in the wall not far from his head with drywall exploding onto him as he heard Gemma scream.

Suddenly the elevator doors opened and they fell backward into it. Cy scrambled forward and fired some shots back into the hallway as the men sprinted toward them. Gemma banged the Close Door button over and over again as Cy returned fire. Bullets pinged off the metal doors as they slowly closed.

Cy reached over where Gemma was still hitting the button and pushed the number two.  Gemma finally stopped and they both sat in silence as the soft classical music played.

“Chopin,” Gemma finally said in a shaky voice.

“Handel,” Cy grinned as the elevator started its slow descent.

The doors to the second floor opened and Cy slowly looked out. The hallway was clear. “Come on.”

“Why are we getting off here? Won’t they be in the stairwell?” Gemma asked as she slowly walked out of the elevator.

“Yep. And they’ll be in the lobby, too. That’s why we’re going to send the elevator down to the first floor while we climb out the fire escape in the back of the building. You have experience with those, after all.” Cy shot her a smirk as he carried Fred to the window at the end of the hall. With a bit of effort, he got the window open. “Ladies first.”

Cy looked back where a pale Gemma stood plastered against the brick building. In one hand she had a suitcase and in the other, Fred’s bag. She looked worried, and if he was honest, he was worried, too. He only had seconds before the men inside realized they weren’t inside anymore.

His car was parked just a short distance away but the trouble was the man standing next to the black SUV. While he wasn’t holding a gun, the bulge of his jacket told Cy the man was definitely armed.

“Okay. We’re going to quietly walk to the car. We should be able to get to it without being seen. By that time, it’ll be too late for them to get us. Once you get to the car, dive in and keep your head down. Okay?”

“That’s the plan? You’re a freaking CIA agent and your plan is to just walk over to the car?” Gemma whispered frantically.

“Yeah. You got something better?”

“Running and hiding?”

“Nope. All my supplies are in that car. No matter what, they’ll leave someone here as a lookout. Better to get it over with. Just like pulling off a Band-Aid.”

“I’m starting to think you enjoy this way too much,” Gemma grumbled.

“What? You’re not having fun. I thought this was a pretty memorable first date.” Cy winked and then grinned as her cheeks flushed and her eyes narrowed. Good. She wasn’t shaking with fear anymore. Anger was an emotion he could work with.