Reed (Allen Securities) (2 page)

She crept toward the back. If they were up to no good, then she didn’t want to alert them of her presence. Better to just leave and make the call.

As she neared the final rows, she could hear someone talking quietly. The tension slipped slightly. It would all seem like a silly mistake if she caught them all talking over books. When she came to the final row, she frowned. There was no one in sight, but she could still hear their faint murmurings.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she stared at the door to the back room. It had a bold red-lettered sign that said “restricted.” Not even the transients tried to get back there. She stepped closer to the door and listened. The sounds grew a little louder.

Olivia shook her hands, trying to knock out the fear. She took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. This was nothing. She could do this. When she placed her hand on the door, her stomach bottomed out. Sweat rolled down her neck and slipped into the collar of her sweater.

The door made a swoosh sound as she stepped through. Just like that, she was engulfed in darkness. Whoever was back there had shut off all the lights. She flipped open her phone. Not the best tool, but it would work.

Although each step was painful, she had never been so happy to be wearing flats. The echo from her heels would have alerted anyone near.

She slowly moved around the boxes and carts. She spied a broom to the right and debated picking it up as a weapon. Olivia nearly snorted at the idea of her using a broom to fight off people.

As she moved further back, the voices became clearer. Light and sound filtered through a door that had been propped open. She peeked through the opening.

Across the alley, the woman and one of the men stood side by side. Another man, one she’d peg as a shady person, stood near them, his bug-like beady eyes nearly popping out of his head as he leered at the small woman next to him. Deep pits littered his face, likely from years of meth use. Even more surprising was the man next to him.

“Ben?” she whispered.

An arm shot out and clamped over her mouth. Another arm pulled her against a solid wall of flesh. She struggled to pull free. Bile rose up as she dared to look at her captor with the light from the alleyway illuminating him. The same menacing stare from before greeted her. His dark eyebrows were knitted together in a firm line. It was too dark to make out most of his features, but his hazy green eyes searched hers.

He bent down and whispered gruffly in her ear.

“Stay quiet, or this could go bad.”

Olivia didn’t know if he meant bad for her or bad for everyone. She turned and silently watched her brother through the door.

“Did you bring the documents or what?” the seedy man said to her brother.

Ben patted his pocket at the man. The arms holding her tightened. She wondered what his role in all this was.

“Right here, Neil.” He turned to the man and woman. “You got the money?”

“Right here, babe.” The woman shook her little bag and winked.

The sight made Olivia’s stomach roll. This was just all so wrong.

Neil gave a wide smile and stepped between the two. The man behind Olivia also moved forward slightly. Apparently, he didn’t like what was going down.

“Well ain’t that all grand? But there’s been a minor change to the plans,” Neil said. Everyone outside froze.

The large man with the woman tensed visibly and stood a little taller. “And what the fuck does that mean?” The man towered over Neil, but this seemed to have no effect on the smaller man.

Ben, however, seemed shaken and took several steps back.

“Well, Kevin, it means that we make new negotiations before we move on.” He smiled and winked at the woman. She turned, the revulsion written all over her face.

“Hey, I don’t know what game you’re playing.” Ben slipped his hand in his pocket. “But this isn’t what I wanted.”

Neil narrowed his eyes at Ben. The black pools reflected hate. “I don’t give a shit what you wanted.”

“So what are you asking for?” the woman said.

Neil’s eyes swept over the woman’s body with greed. “What are you offering, Cindy?”

“Cut the crap.” Kevin maneuvered his body between them. “We stick with the original offer.” He leaned forward and jabbed Neil in the chest. “Otherwise we cut you out altogether.”

“Oh, I don’t think you’ll be doing that.” He gestured behind them.

Two very large men silently made their way down the alley.

“Shit,” Olivia heard the man behind her say. “Don’t move, kid.”

Her eyes shifted to Ben, and she knew there was no stopping him. He turned and sprinted away.

“Hey!” The two thugs yelled and pulled out very large guns.

Olivia twisted until the hand slipped from her mouth.

“Ben!” she screamed. He turned to look at the door just before disappearing around the corner.

The sound of gunfire pierced through the night.

The arms around her loosened just when she thought she needed them most.

“Don’t move,” he said and moved to the door.

The large man pulled out his own gun and started firing. He yelled out to Kevin and Cindy, who were also firing. The two large men had ducked behind a trashcan. Neil and her brother ran in opposite directions. She sent a silent prayer that she would see him at the apartment later. Dirty dishes and all.

Chapter Two

Olivia flattened herself against the wall when the man and woman jumped through the door, just narrowly escaping gunfire.

“I need to lock this,” the large man said to her. “Do you have a key?”

She yanked out the keys from her pocket. The banging against the door from the men outside made her shake. She held up the key.

The man snatched it from her and slammed it into the lock. When he had bolted the door, he snapped the key off. He stood directly in front of her, placed the keys gently in her hand and grasped her wrist.

As he pulled, she found herself following without much thought. It was either try and deal with the two men who had just fired on her brother or follow the group that seemed to have protected him.

“What the hell is going on?” she whispered.

The three ignored her question, trudging through the rows of shelves.

Next to the main door from the library to the back, the large man opened the breaker box, and flipped all the switches. The library fell into darkness. The sound of breaking glass came from the front. Olivia’s heart was nearly lodged in the back of her throat.

“We need a way out of here, fast,” the man said to her. He squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Olivia thought. There was really only one way left.

“Beside the side door, there’s the cellar. They won’t know it’s there, and it goes to the back shed.” She tried to keep her voice as even and quiet as she could.

The man nodded. “Take us there.”

They crept across the room to the door on the floor. The sounds of the men out front were closing. She only hoped the door would open with ease.

She pried open the door as quietly as she could. The jingle from the hinge seemed to bounce off the walls. The shouting from the men got closer, and she knew they had been alerted.

Kevin jumped through the hole without a sound. Cindy followed. Olivia cringed at the idea. There was no way she would land as well, even if she had two good feet to land on.

“I’m going to lower you down,” the man said in her ear. His hot breath tickled the hairs there and sent a shiver down her spine. “He will catch you below.”

Without another word he lifted her up by the armpits and lowered her through the hole as if she were a rag doll. Hands gripped her waist, and just like that, she was through. Seconds later the man was down the stairs, door closed firmly behind.

Kevin was just setting her down when the thugs moved loudly above them. The man came to stand next to her and gently drew her toward the walls of the cellar. They might have made it through the hole in time, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still be found.

Time moved slowly as the thugs stomped around. For what felt like hours, the four stood perfectly still. The weight of her body was proving to be too much for her injured foot. Just when Olivia felt it start to shake, an arm snaked around her waist. Exhausted and in pain, she leaned into the man.

Reed stood silently and thought. He had no idea what he was doing with this woman. For all he knew, she was the enemy. She did know Ben after all, but she sure didn’t feel like the enemy. She felt like, well, like a damn librarian. Scared, hurt and helpless.

He cursed in his head. That was no way to be thinking. It was that sort of thinking that got him shot, broken and left for dead. It left his family open for danger and promised nothing but misery.

Reed inhaled deeply. The vanilla scent coming off the woman was driving him crazy. He wondered if it was something she washed with or a lotion she rubbed on. He could feel his pants getting tight at the thought and thanked God that no one could see him right now. He’d never live it down with Cage and Meg. He moved away from the wall, startling the woman beside him.

“I think we should be safe to move now,” he said quietly.

They moved silently through the tunnel. Boxes of old odds and ends littered the passage. He wondered why the library would want all this stuff but put the thought out of his head as they reached the tunnel door. Unlike the last, this opened like a normal door.

Reed drew his gun and heard Cage and Meg do the same. He pushed the woman behind him as he opened the door and peered around. The shed was silent.

One by one, they filtered through and when the shed door had been cleared, they moved to the dark back alley.

“Reed, what’s the plan?”

He shot his brother a dark look. Number one rule in his business was no real first names. They turned to look at the woman only to catch her hobbling down the path.

Reed walked over and slipped his hand around her waist, bringing her to a halt.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

He felt her lean into him once again and fought with himself on how right it felt.

“Home,” she said quietly. “I live only a couple blocks away.”

“Do you live with anyone there?” Reed flicked a glance to Cage. This could be a set up. It seemed a bit on the elaborate side of things, but he’d seen worse.

“My brother Ben has been staying with me.” She lifted her gaze to his. He could see the tears shimmering in the moonlight. “But after tonight…”

She trailed off. Uncertainty clouded her voice.

Reed sighed. This was such a bad idea.

“Why don’t we all go back there and figure out a plan?”

Cage shot him a look that he knew all too well. This was risky and might get them all killed. For whatever reason, this tiny woman sparked something in him, and he couldn’t live with himself if something happened to her because she got wrapped up in all of this.

Meg took the lead with the woman as he and Cage fell back. Both as lookouts and to talk.

“You know this is a bad idea,” Cage said quietly.

Reed’s hand flexed on the handle of his gun. “I know, but she just seems so helpless and in shock.”

They diligently scanned the open spaces between the fences as they walked the alley.

Cage turned to look at him. “This might be a trap.”

The woman froze at the sidewalk and turned quickly.

“You know, I’ve put up with a lot of shit tonight, and I’m not about to let you talk about me like I’m a common criminal,” she said, pointing a shaking finger at Cage. “But you remember, I’ve got all of your names and plan on reporting you to the police as soon as I get home, Kevin, Cindy and Reed.”

Reed cursed and glared at his brother, who actually had the nerve to laugh. He pushed past the other two and caught up with the woman.

“Please wait,” he said.

“Why?” she said, stamping her foot and them grimacing. “Not finished talking bad about me, or are you going to take me out or ice me or whatever you kind of people say?”

Meg snorted behind him. Reed scowled at the woman.

“Why the hell would I take you out?”

“Don’t I know too much?” Her brow knitted together in confusion.

“Listen.” He looked around the street. “It’s not safe for us here.” He could hear the pleading in his voice but did little to hide it. Maybe if she had some control she’d feel better.

“Olivia,” she said quietly.

“What?” he leaned closer, catching a breeze of that sweet vanilla.

“My name is Olivia.”

Without another word, she started walking.

***

Olivia’s heart raced as they slowly made their way to her apartment. Climbing the stairs had been hard the first time, but after such a long night, she found it nearly impossible. Strong hands once again made their way around her waist, quietly urging her along.

A few times the unsteady ankle shook from the weight, but Reed was right there to offer support. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, there was something about this man that made her want to trust him. His warmth radiated through her and caused little tremors of excitement to roll through her.

They reached her door without a word. Olivia slipped her hand in her pocket and groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Reed’s fingers flexed on her hips as he turned her to face him.

“My purse is still at the library,” she groaned again. It was amazing how bad this day could get. She watched them out of the corner of her eye as they exchanged looks. It wouldn’t take too much to assume that the bad guys might find it and come to her apartment.

Olivia gently pried his strong hands from her and reached up to pull the key from the door ledge. She wobbled slightly as the pressure proved to be too much. When Reed moved behind her, she felt his body press into hers as he reached over her head to grab the key. She closed her eyes and took in the feel of him.

Either the pain from her ankle was getting to her, or she really needed to consider going on more dates. Here she was, in front of anyone who happened to look in the hall, with a man who may or may not be a bad guy. Olivia frowned. Actually, they could have all been bad guys. Considering that most of them had guns, it wasn’t that farfetched.