How to Kill Your Boss (30 page)

“What do we do now?” I asked, trembling with nervous energy. At least the adrenaline negated some of the pain.

She shut off the engine and slipped into the back of the van. Raising a finger to her lips to keep me quiet, she slid large headphones over her ears. I watched her shoulders relax as she released a long puff of air. “He’s in there. He’s talking. Sounds like two men and a woman are with him.”

For the first time since I woke in the hospital, I could breathe properly. I hadn’t realized the weight of worry crushing my sanity until it lifted off me and dissipated into the air. He was alive. “Now what?”

“You wait here. I get Franklin.”

Over my dead body. I couldn’t sit still while he fought for his life. “No. I want—”

“Can you shoot?” she interrupted.

“No.”

Annalise reached into a metal box, pulled out three intimidating weapons and tucked them into the belt of her pants. “Use a knife?” she asked, piercing my resolve with an ice cold, steely glare.

“No.” Damn.

“Dodge bullets?”

Bingo. “I’ve been doing some of that lately.” Sure, I wasn’t much good at it. But at least it was experience.

Her eyes softened and she laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll get him. I promise.”

“If Jay is in there, he’s big and he can fight.”

The dark-haired beauty laughed at me. “I appreciate your concern. It’s cute. Are you a good driver?”

“Sure.” Even better when I can move muscles without them screaming in protest.

“Get in the driver’s seat. When you see me come out with him, get your butt up there and be ready to roll.”

I nodded yes.

Annalise walked casually up the sidewalk. Her ability to hide guns in her tight pants and black T-shirt boggled my mind. Was that part of secret agent training? I’d have to ask Franklin. When she disappeared around the back of the house, I glanced around the neighborhood. Aside from a yapping dog two houses down, it was quiet.

My phone buzzed and I dug it out of my handbag. “Hi, Leland. I’m sorry we got cut off earlier.”

“What’s going on, Tatum? Please tell me why your friend took down one of my men.”

“It’s classified. That was pretty cool though, huh?”

“Why don’t you ask him how cool it was?” It’s too bad Leland never had kids, because he killed the chastising parent vibe.

“Sorry.”

“No, you’re not. What’s going on? Who’s the woman?” he asked, demanding my compliance.

“Never mind her. Jay has Franklin at Wallace’s house. Nan is there, too.”

“How exactly do you know this?” I could tell he was walking by the way his breaths blew into the phone.

“There’s another man here. Don’t know who he is.”

“Goddamn, Tatum,” he yelled. “Tell me you aren’t there.”

I cringed. “I’m not there. Technically, I’m a block away.”

“Get out of there, now. Leave. I mean it. If you step one inch closer to that house I’ll lock you up and throw away the key.”

“I can’t leave. I have to drive the getaway car.”

“Getaway…what…I don’t even want to know. I’m on my way.” He ended the call, but not before I heard a few unpleasantries.

I stared at the house. Minutes ticked by. Soon, I heard sirens in the distance. The closer they came, the harder my heart knocked against my breast.

He had to be okay. Had to be.

I tapped on the steering wheel, bounced my leg up and down. Fidgeted in my seat.

A pop, pop, pop came from the house. I never wanted to hear that sound again. My adrenaline spiked into overdrive. I started the engine and peeled away from the curb. I lurched to a stop in the grass a few feet off the driveway and limped toward the front door.

He had to be okay.

As I stepped onto the front stoop, the door swung open and Jay stumbled out. Face pale, eyes wide, he wrapped an arm around his midsection. “Ah, Tatum. I’m afraid you’re too late. You missed the fun.”

The sirens were deafening behind me and red lights bounced off the windows of the house.

“You’re the worst thing that’s ever happened to me,” Jay sputtered and lunged toward me. I jumped back and he fell at my feet, landing on his back. Blood spread across his torso and stained the Italian tile of the front stoop.

I stepped over him and stumbled inside. Annalise crouched over Nan, who lay with her face to the floor. Over her shoulder, Franklin slumped in a chair, arms tied to the sides, head hung forward with the handle of a knife sticking out of his right pectoral. Another man lay motionless at his feet.

I called his name and hobbled to him. He didn’t move. My heart seized. My lungs deflated. So much blood. Everywhere.

I cupped Franklin’s cheeks, his skin ice against my fingers. I lifted his face to see me. There was no life in his eyes.

Behind me, I heard shouting and footsteps barreling through the door. I looked up, Annalise was gone.

And I was losing Franklin.

“No!” I shouted, pulling his face closer to mine. “No.” My hands trembled against cold skin. “You aren’t going anywhere, you hear me?” I slapped at his cheeks as if that would wake him. A thick arm ensnared my waist and tried to pull me back. I kicked, punched, and pinched until I was free. Franklin needed to know what he meant to me. Maybe he’d fight harder. “You can’t leave me, Franklin. I love you. Do you hear me? You can’t go away.” I wrapped my arms around his head and held him to my chest. “Wake up, please. I need you. I love you so much, don’t leave me. You can’t—”

“Tatum.” Leland placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let me have a look.”

Tears poured down my cheeks, burning my skin. I knelt and held his face in my hands again. “Don’t leave me, please. Wake up, please. Wake up,” I pleaded, stroking the sides of his bloodied face.

Leland called over his shoulder, “Where’s that fucking ambulance?”

Someone answered, “ETA three minutes.”

“Tatum. You need to let me do my job.” He placed his hands over mine and pulled them away from the lifeless body of the man I loved.

I wanted to die. I wanted to pull the knife from his chest and plunge it into my own. Oh, God, it was the worst kind of pain, seeping through flesh and bone, suffocating any hope. I fought to stay close to Franklin, to breath him in for as long as I still had him here on earth. Leland used his muscle and forced me away. “Hold her!” he shouted.

Somebody grabbed my shoulders from behind, squeezed tight and pulled me back. I fell to the floor and gasped for air.

Leland blocked my view of Franklin. “He’s breathing, but barely.”

Nan lay on her stomach, arms wrapped around her head in a protective lock. I crawled to her side. “Oh my God, are you okay? Did they hurt you?” I lifted her arm. Purple and blue covered the left side of her face and her eye was swollen shut.

Nan’s tears flowed almost as heavy as mine. “Is he dead? Oh, Tatum. I tried to help, I tried.”

I wrapped an arm around her. “Shhh. It’s okay. He’s fine. He’ll be just fine.” If I said it enough, it’d have to be true.

Paramedics burst into the kitchen. Leland pulled a utility knife from his back pocket and cut the binds off Franklin’s wrists. His arms fell to the sides. They laid him on a stretcher, and a man lifted me to my feet and walked me outside. “We need to clear the scene, Miss Wood. I’m sorry.”

I buried my face in my palms and released a flood of tears. My face, my head, everything hurt so damn bad, but I couldn’t stop. Franklin couldn’t be gone. I’d just found him.

We reached the ambulance and paused. “Detective Waters wants you to ride with Reed to the hospital. Can you climb up?”

I didn’t answer but crawled into the back of the vehicle. A few short breaths later, Franklin, motionless and pale, was lifted in.

The ride took eons. I held his hand, tried to breathe, and willed my heart to continue beating.

The waiting room walls closed in around me. After four hours, I called Lizzie. She brought me clean clothes and greasy bar food that I couldn’t eat. We didn’t talk. Lizzie held my hand and let me cry. Leland checked in a few times, promising he’d be there as soon as he finished at the scene. Jay Masters and the other man were dead. Gunshot wounds. Nan was recovering from a nasty blow to the head. She’d already been released from the hospital.

Seven hours after our arrival, a nurse came in and asked me to come with her. “He’s asking for you.”

My heart compressed, pumping the black, oily sludge from its chambers, then filled again with bright red, energizing blood. “He’s okay?” I jumped out of the seat so fast, my head buzzed and the room spun. I had to grab the nurse for balance.

“He’s going to be fine.”

I kissed Lizzie and told her to go home. “I’ll check in with you later.” She waved as I strode through the swinging door, feeling the weight of a thousand lifetimes lifting from my shoulders.

“Killer,” he breathed as I walked through the door. His playful smile gutted me.

“I hate you,” I cried and buried my face in his uninjured shoulder. I didn’t want to break down in front of him. I wanted to be strong, show him I could handle whatever shit came my way, but the sight of him blew the false composure I’d mustered to bits.

He pressed his face to the top of my head. “Shush, baby. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I thought you were dead,” I mumbled into his chest.

“Silly girl. You think I’d let death take me away from you?”

“No,” I snorted. “You wouldn’t.”

“See? You worried for nothing.” Soft lips pressed into me. “Besides, you hate me, remember? You should be throwing a party.”

I lifted my head and looked long and hard at his gorgeous, battered mug. I reached out to stroke his face, and he closed his eyes, a low groan rising in his throat. “Say it. Please. I need to hear you say it. Just once.”

I leaned over and kissed the corner of his mouth that wasn’t bruised and swollen. “I love you.”

He kissed me back and his lips slackened against mine.

“Sleep, Frankie, I’ll be right here,” I whispered. And I would be. Every day. Like he’d always been there for me, waiting in the shadows.

“Isn’t this the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen?” Sasha leaned over my shoulder, blowing her minty breath across my cheek.

My fists clenched. I wanted to punch her. Lucky for her, my body wasn’t up for a game of Rock ’em Sock ’em Robots.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, not giving her the satisfaction of looking her way.

“It’s time to let him go. You’re only going to hurt him if you stay. His career will be over.” Sasha splayed her hand across my back and rubbed with comforting strokes. “He’s nothing without his job.”

“I’m nothing without him.” I shrugged her hand off me and turned to meet her square on. “I’m sure you know how that feels.”

Her composure faded for the briefest moment, and she stepped back before she forced a challenging smile. “You almost got him killed.”

Protective, possessive rage swirled in my abdomen and rose to settle in my cheeks. The throbbing heat made my eyes water. I straightened my shoulders and stepped closer to the woman who’d pushed my last button. Wrong day to challenge me. “Maybe. But I found him.” I pressed my index finger into my own chest. “I brought him home. Me.” I raised my other hand and pointed at her, then toward the door. “You failed. I win. Now, get the fuck out of here.” My chest rose and fell in rapid bursts.

Her peachy cheeks darkened to red. “I’m not a woman you want to piss off. You don’t want me as an enemy.” Sasha’s gaze drifted to Franklin, drew up and down the length of his body and rested on his face, then she turned to leave. I had a feeling it wasn’t the last I’d see of Sasha Reed.

H
is rough tongue brushed the length of my sex. “Franklin, you’re still recovering. We shouldn’t do this. It’s too soon.” I hoped he didn’t take me seriously because holy, horny heck, I needed it.

“It’s been too long, baby. I’ll make it quick, I promise.” His finger penetrated me and I arched into him, grinding against his mouth. He was a man of many, many talents and I’d become a slave to each and every one of them. I came hard, digging my nails into the sheets.

Before the tremors subsided, he prowled over me until his erection rested against my tummy, kissed me silly, then pushed inside, slow and steady. We hadn’t made love since the accident, three weeks ago. Doctor’s orders. It hadn’t stopped him from trying. Today, I let him win.

“Does it hurt, baby?” he asked, voice husky with lust.

“No,” I moaned, cupping his ass and pulling him against me.

“God, I love you,” he whispered as he stretched and filled me one delicious stroke at a time. When fully sheathed, he paused and lifted his head to meet my gaze. “Say it. Tell me again.”

“I hate you,” I teased. He shoved a hand between our bodies and pinched a nipple. “Ouch!” I squealed. “Okay, okay.” I pulled his face to mine and bit his bottom lip, then stroked my tongue across the surface. “I love you, Franklin Reed.” I paused to make sure he was looking. “So
fucking
much.”

Franklin punished me for the profanity with another tweak to my nipple. “Stop. Stop.” I laughed and smacked his hand away. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

“I love your laugh.” He thrust his hips against mine, then groaned. “You’re my heaven, Killer. Swear to God, my heaven.”

“Mmm.” I moaned into his neck, nibbled and sucked. He tasted so good.

He pumped into me again and again. Sweat beaded across his brow. The exertion was too much for him. Legs locked around his waist, I arched my back and pulled him closer, knowing it would set him off faster. Franklin came, face buried in my hair, proclamations of love murmured in my ear, then collapsed at my side with a tremble.

“Shit. I could sleep the day away.” He yawned and dazzled me with a lazy grin.

I stroked the spot between his eyes, tracing one of the wrinkles. “You sleep. I’m going to shower.” I kissed his luscious lips one last time and rolled out of bed.

When I came out of the bathroom, feeling drained, I wasn’t surprised to see my sexy man up and at ’em. Franklin stood by the kitchen counter, wearing his ass-enhancing jeans, one of his skintight, long sleeved jerseys, and looked downright yummy. He held a coffee mug to his lips. I’d died and gone to heaven. Franklin and coffee. What more could a girl ask for?