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And what if you’re followed again?
Oh, Lord, what a mess! She grabbed a handful of hair and tossed it over her shoulder. Climbing out of her Audi, she stood on slightly unsteady legs just as another car eased into the garage. Glancing over her shoulder, she gasped. Fear petrified her. The car cruising into the lot of Flannery Security was the same wagon that had followed her. The tail she’d thought she’d lost. Oh, God! How could he have known?
The blond man behind the wheel stared straight at her and she saw his face—young and hard, flat nose, cold eyes and straight hair—stare back at her. He opened the car door, and Kaylie didn’t wait. Closer to the elevator, she sprinted across the cement and pounded on the button. The doors opened as the taste of fear settled in the back of her throat.
Zane! she thought desperately. She had to get to Zane! Inside the elevator she slapped the door panel. The doors swept shut, blocking out the blond man, and Kaylie sagged against the metal rail as the car moved upward with a lurch. Now, if only the man didn’t run up the stairs faster than the elevator…. Again, fear tore at her.
“Zane, oh, God, Zane,” she whispered, trying not to fall apart. When the doors opened, she half expected the man to be waiting, aiming a gun at her chest, but she found herself in the reception area of Flannery Security. She flew down the hall, past Peggy’s desk and bolted into Zane’s office.
“Kaylie?” He was standing at the windows, a dark expression on his face. She threw herself at him and clung to him, refusing to sob. “What the devil’s going on?”
Trembling, she knew she was scaring him and wished she could calm down. “Call the police,” she cried, “or send out your best man.”
“Wh—”
“There’s a man following me!” she cried, and Zane drew her closer to him, his muscles strong and hard.
“You’re okay,” he said, reaching behind him and pushing the button of the intercom, “Peggy, call Brad. Have him seal the building and send out a search team—an armed search team. There’s a suspect somewhere in the building.”
“The parking lot—” Kaylie clarified, glad for the feel of Zane’s arms around her. Still holding her, Zane reached into the top drawer of his desk and pulled out his revolver.
“What’s up?” Brad Hastings’s voice boomed through the speaker.
“Someone followed Kaylie here. Check the exterior lot and the basement lot, all the staircases.”
“You got it!” Hastings replied.
Zane checked his gun for ammunition.
Within seconds, the door to his office opened. “Is everything all right?” Peggy asked.
“Y-yes, fine,” Kaylie stammered.
“Could I get you a cup of coffee?”
Kaylie shook her head, and Peggy, with a quick glance at Zane, stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind her.
“Oh, God, I didn’t mean—I’m sorry.”
Zane held her close and kissed her forehead. “Sorry for what?”
She had to tell him. She’d be foolish to keep information like this inside. Trying to calm down, she let him lead her to the couch.
Peggy knocked quietly, then left a tray of coffee for two on Zane’s desk. When Kaylie tried to protest, the secretary held up a hand. “I know you said you didn’t want anything, but frankly, you look like you could use a cup of coffee and a shot of bourbon.” With those words of advice, she left the room again and locked the door behind her.
“Okay, so what happened?” Zane demanded, his lips a thin, dangerous line as he handed her one of the steaming cups.
Kaylie found strength in the warmth of the cup cradled between her palms. She hadn’t known she felt cold, but now that the fear had subsided, she felt chilled to the bone. Haltingly, between sips, she found the words. “This isn’t the first time,” she admitted.
“What?” he nearly screamed. “What the hell do you mean ‘isn’t the first time’?”
“Just don’t get mad…okay? I had this…feeling…for a few weeks now, but I told myself I was just overreacting to Johnston’s attack. You know, seeing ghosts in every corner.”
Zane became very still, every muscle in his body rigid and hard. “You should’ve told me.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to scare you.”
“You just did.”
