“Bye, buddy! I’m glad you came to my birthday party,” Tony told him. “You come back and see me, okay?”
“Okay. I come tomowoe,” Stringer declared, then he hugged Nikki and kissed her. “Bye, Nitty. I wike you hayah. Iz vewy pwetty,” he cooed, stroking her hair.
“Oh, thank you, sweetie! I’m so glad you were here.” She hugged him back. “You be careful going home, okay?”
“I be cayfuw. You be cayfuw too,” he said absentmindedly as Brittany led him out the door, distracted by the dollar bill Vic had given him.
Clayton hugged Tony first, then Nikki. “Happy birthday, Dad. I appreciate everybody being so supportive.”
Tony clapped him on the back. “Son, that’s what we’re here for! He’s a great little guy. I hope we get to see lots more of him.”
Clayton flashed a gentle smile. “I hope so too.”
“So, how would you rate this birthday?” Nikki asked as they got ready for bed.
“On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the best, I’d say a thirteen, at least.” Tony took off his jeans. “New girlfriend, prospective new grandchild. There’s only one thing that would make it better.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
Color rose in Tony’s cheeks. “Could I get a replay of my Father’s Day gift?”
“Oh, I think that could be arranged.” Nikki patted the space on the bed beside her. “Come to mamma.”
She did the exact same thing she’d done before, except for one thing – she tied his hands to the headboard. That was unexpected, and he argued a bit, even struggled a little, but in the end he gave in and stayed put without too much fuss.
It meant that, when he came, he found himself in a new predicament, and she didn’t stop as soon as he came, but kept going until he was jerking, gasping, and begging her to stop. Watching his pecs and biceps strain against the restraints made her so hot and wet that she was almost frantic to get on him. She climbed up to the headboard and straddled his face, lowering her mound to his mouth, and she gripped the headboard while he sucked, licked, and pulled her clit to climax. After she came, she went down on him and teased him back to maximum hardness, then rode him in reverse cowgirl position like he was a bucking bronco and she was a rodeo star before she finally untied him.
When they were both spent and in each other’s arms, Nikki giggled. “Wow, baby, you should moonlight as a porn star!”
He let out a hearty laugh. “Funny, I was thinking the same about you!”
Nikki dawdled a fingertip around his nipple. “You and Stringer really hit it off, huh?”
“He’s a cute little guy. Wonder what his story is?”
“I’ve got a feeling we’re going to find out tomorrow at the office.” Then she chuckled out, “Hey, cowboy, thanks for the ride!” as she kissed him goodnight.
“We aim to please, ma’am,” he drawled as he smiled and kissed her back.
“His mom was addicted to heroin. He was born addicted,” Clayton explained. “He’s got some minor developmental issues because of it, but mostly he’s just sad and abandoned.”
“Where is she now?” Tony asked.
“Dead. Overdosed. No dad. No one. He’s an orphan.” Clayton stopped for a moment and looked first at Tony, then at Nikki. “We’re hoping . . .”
“One day at a time, son. If it’s meant to be, it’ll happen,” Nikki reminded him calmly.
“I know. And he’s fitting in so well, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job of adapting too. By the way, as long as he’s a foster, any sitters we use have to be approved by the social worker. So do you think maybe you two . . .”
“Send her on over, son.” Tony would do anything to help out, and he hoped Clayton knew that. “Not a problem. Do we have to jump through the same hoops you did?”
“No. I’ll bring you a sheet of stuff she’ll be looking for, though. And thanks – we really appreciate it.”
“No problem, honey. We’re glad to help,” Nikki added.
After Clayton left, Tony sighed. “I really hope this goes through for them.” Then he looked into her eyes and smiled. “And I’m really kind of excited, you know?”
“I can tell!” she smiled back. “I am too. He’s a cute little fellow, and the two of you really looked very cute together!”
“Yeah? Think so?”
Nikki blushed. “Well, you were cute together, but watching you with him got me really hot.”
“No shit! Hmmmm. Who knew grandpas were sexy?”
“No, baby, grandpas aren’t sexy; you’re sexy. And you might happen to be a grandpa,” she laughed.
“Travis, come here and look at this.” Autumn stopped the video footage on her computer screen and ran it back. Travis came to look over her shoulder and squinted at the screen.
“What is that? What am I seeing?” he asked, leaning in.
“That’s a Walters truck.”
“Is that Walters in the truck?”
“No. I don’t know who it is. That’s the hospital site.”
As they watched, the truck pulled up, facing away from the camera. Some other vehicle pulled up beside the passenger side of the truck, out of the range of the camera. They could barely see the activity on the passenger’s side of the truck as the door opened and someone got in, then there was some kind of activity inside the truck. They both leaned in and squinted, then Autumn squealed and pulled back.
“Oh my god! They’re having sex! Eeeeeewwwwww!!!!!” She turned around, disgusted.
Travis made a face. “Who is that?”
“Damned if I know. I just know it’s not Tony Walters. Oh, that’s just gross!” She slammed the laptop shut.
“Well, that’s really interesting,” Travis said. “We’ll have to keep an eye on that.”
“You go right ahead,” Autumn announced. “I don’t want to see that ever again!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
I swear, if there’s a piece of paperwork that comes through this company, I think it finds its way to my desk, Nikki thought as she shuffled through another pile. She’d been helping out human resources and payroll, and she hadn’t been able to get out of the office for three days. Her regular ride-along with Tony had also had to wait. Plus all of the furniture and artwork for Vic’s office was in, and she hadn’t even been able to take a couple of days to go down and supervise the delivery and installation. She had to get that done; Vic’s birthday was the next week on October thirtieth, and she wanted it all in place by then.
She’d gotten most of the documents into big envelopes sorted by the offices they went back to when she heard it. The whole building shook, and Cheryl screamed. Nikki jumped up and ran to the front door, and she nearly fainted.
Tony’s truck was sitting across the lot, and it was blazing. At the moment she opened the door, the reserve gas tank blew, and fiery pieces of metal shot in every direction. She almost fell to her knees, then, staggering, she threw the door open and started running straight to the truck. As she ran, she shrieked his name, terrified, not hearing or seeing anything around her, just watching as the truck burned, flames shooting twenty feet into the air. She was almost to it when something, someone, grabbed her and lifted her off the ground in mid-stride.
“Whoa, baby, stop! It’s me!” Tony yelled as he clasped her around the waist from behind. “I’m fine! Nikki, look at me!” Tony spun her around. Eyes wide, her mouth dropped open, and she couldn’t speak or breathe. She felt faint.
“Baby! Hey! It’s okay!” Tony shook her – hard. “Stay with me, sweetie!” She sank down, and he swept her up into his arms and carried her back to the sofa in his office. “Breathe, Nikki! Breathe!” She drew in a hard, ragged breath while he poured her a glass of water, but when he handed it to her, she could see that his hands were shaking.
“God, Tony! What the hell?” she screamed and sat bolt-upright, finally coming out of the panic that had thrown her into near-unconsciousness.
“I have no idea. I’d just gotten out of the thing when i
t blew. Thank god I was inside the shop or I might’ve really gotten hurt.” He grabbed a wad of paper towel, wet it, and went to work patting and wiping her face to cool her down and calm her, then sat and held her, both of them numb.
They were still sitting like that about five minutes later when they heard a commotion as Clayton, Steve, Peyton, José, and Laura hurried into the office. Tony looked up at them, and Steve announced, “We need to have a talk. Now.”
Nikki had been trying to rest, but she sat up and moved down the sofa. Clayton and José sat down with her, with Laura perched on the sofa arm; poor Clayton looked like someone had punched him in the gut. Tony took his seat behind the desk, and Peyton and Steve stood with their arms folded across their chests. There was a lot of posturing going on, and Nikki didn’t like it one bit.
Then Steve walked straight to Tony’s desk, put his hands on the desktop, and leaned forward toward Tony. “If there’s anything you need to tell me, out with it, now,” Steve growled.
Tony looked shocked. “No! There’s nothing, nothing I know of. Don’t you think I would’ve already told you?”
Steve squinted at him. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. I got nothin’.” Tony looked pretty deflated.
“What about you?” Steve turned to Nikki, almost snarling.
“Hey, watch it!” Tony barked. “You show her some respect!”
“Hell, no. I got nothin’ either,” she replied indignantly.
“Okay.” Steve relaxed a little. “This is getting serious. I was just driving by here with Peyton when that happened. Laura and José were getting ready for shift change, and either of them could’ve been too close to that. How do you think I felt, seeing that, knowing how many people were endangered?”
“Yeah? Well, you should’ve been me.” Tony leaned back in his chair. “I don’t know what to do. What if that had been Nikki? Or Clayton?” He shuddered.
It got really quiet. Finally, Peyton spoke. “Anybody got any suggestions? I’m really stumped. It’s almost like somebody’s watching. Like they watched you get out of the truck, then detonated it. But we’ve done multiple sweeps and we haven’t found a thing.”
“By the way, where the hell are the cops and the fire department?” Nikki asked. “The damn thing is still burning. They should be here.” As if to answer her question, a fire truck tore up to the front of the building, then turned and went straight to the burning pickup truck. Two police cruisers pulled in right behind it. They heard the door open, then the thump of boots across the floor, and Keith Ford filled the doorway. He looked around the room at all of them. “Shit.”
“Exactly,” Tony replied.
“Somebody want to tell me what happened?” Tony started filling the detective in, with help from Steve and Clayton. Nikki looked over at Laura and gave her a half-hearted smile, but the muscular brunette didn’t smile back.
When they were done, Tony looked at Nikki. “Give me your keys to your company truck.” He held out his upturned palm to her. Nikki fished them out of her pocket and handed them to him, puzzled. “That’s it. You’re staying here in the office from now on. No site work. It’s just not safe.” Nikki opened her mouth to argue, then closed it. No point – she always wound up caving to him anyway. “I can use your truck,” he added. “No need to order me another one.”
Nikki frowned. “What about Vic’s office? I’m supposed to go down there and help him with the furniture and decorating.”
“Peyton or José can take you. Or Laura,” Steve offered. “Yeah, Laura, I think that would be good. You guys work it out amongst yourselves.” Nikki could’ve sworn Laura made a face, but she said nothing. He looked around the room. “So we need some kind of new strategy. What we’re doing isn’t working. We’re missing something here, but I don’t know what.”
I can’t do this anymore. Nikki got up and went to the office she shared with Clayton, the neurons in her brain misfiring in every direction. She put her head on her desk and took a deep breath. The sound of footsteps at the door made her look up to find Peyton standing in the doorway. “May I come in?”
She nodded and pointed for him to sit. “Please.”
“I know this is getting to you.” His crystal blue eyes were sympathetic. “But it’s eventually going to be fine. We’ll find these people. In the meantime, we’ve got to keep both of you safe, that’s all. Just hang in there, okay?”
“I’m trying.” Nikki was fighting back tears. “I was just so scared. I thought Tony was in the truck, and . . .”
“I know,” Peyton said quietly. “I did too.” Suddenly, Nikki felt sorry for the younger man. He seemed concerned about them, genuinely concerned.
“Peyton, I’m so sorry. I wish I knew something that would help you guys help us, but I don’t know anything.”
“That’s okay. But listen, if you need anything, anything at all, don’t hesitate to tell me, or Steve, or José. Laura too,” he added.
Nikki scowled. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”
Peyton gave her a tiny smile. “She doesn’t like anybody. But she’s good at what she does, and you can trust her. What you don’t know is that it’s not just the four of us. Steve’s got a whole stable of security people; former military, former law enforcement, former federal agents . . .”
“Which are you?”
“Military. Special Forces, then combat. Had to, um, retire because of my injury.” He got up and walked to Nikki’s side, then pulled up his left pant leg. His prosthetic was state of the art – Nikki had never guessed by watching him walk that there was anything different about him. “So you see, we’ve all got our crosses to bear. We just have to make the best of it.”
She nodded. “Thanks, Peyton. You’ve been good to me. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re easy to be good to. You’re a good person. Hang in there – we’re all gonna get through this. We just have to stick together.” He started out of the office, then turned and looked at Nikki from the doorway. “And if I’m tailing you again, don’t ever try to get away from me. Can’t be done. I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth!” He laughed.
“Duly noted.” Nikki smiled at him as he left. What a sweet young man, and so cute too. She hoped he had someone special.
She heard more movement, and Tony appeared in the office door. He leaned against the door facing in his jeans and tee-shirt, arms and ankles crossed, and it was all she could do to stay in her chair – she wanted to grab him and run her hands all over him. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I am now. Peyton came in and gave me a little pep talk. He’s such a nice guy. But I’m a little ticked off at Steve. Where does he get off talking to us like that?”
“Hon, he’s just frustrated. We all are.” Tony sighed and plopped down in the chair where Peyton had been sitting. “I am too. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Me neither.” She wadded up a piece of paper and threw it toward the trash can. And she missed.
“So what would you like to listen to?” Nikki asked Laura.
Laura just stared out the window. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Oooo-kaaaay.” Nikki changed the satellite radio to a progressive rock station.
Ten more miles went by in silence. “So, are you married? Got kids?”
“No and no.”
Five more miles, and Nikki asked, “So what do you like to do in your spare time?”
“I don’t have spare time,” Laura grunted.
“Right.” Fifteen miles later, Nikki got right to the point. “So, why is it that you dislike me so much?”
Laura huffed. “I don’t dislike you. I don’t like you. I don’t have any feelings whatsoever toward you. I’m just doing my job.”
Nikki tried very hard to rein in her frustration. “Okay then, well, I’ll just pretend I’m alone and you can just sit there and pretend you’re an emotionless shell and we’ll both have a dandy time.” As far as Nikki was concerned, she was finished. She’d done all she co
uld.
They rode in complete silence all the way to Lexington. When they got to Vic’s office, Nikki got out of the car and went on inside, saying nothing to Laura. She could come in, or she could sit in the car; Nikki didn’t care.
Vic greeted Nikki as soon as she walked in the door. “Hey, baby! It’s so good to see you! You doing okay?” He scooped her up and hugged her tight.
“Hey, sweetie! It’s good to see you too! I’m good. You?”
“Good. I see you brought a suitcase with you.” He frowned and pointed through the door at Laura, who had taken up a position out front.
“Yeah. She’s as friendly as a porcupine,” Nikki snarled.
“Don’t I know it. She’s a hot little thing, but I tried to talk to her, and she just shut me down. And this time, I don’t think it’s me.” Vic shook his head, bewildered.
She giggled at Vic. “It’s never you, gorgeous. You’re almost as hunky as that beautiful cousin of yours! So did you get the delivery arranged?”
“Yeah, they’ll be here in about an hour. You’re gonna have your work cut out for you.”
“As long as the albatross stays out of the way,” Nikki said, looking at Laura, “it shouldn’t take long to get it all sorted out.”
“’Bout done?” Tony asked Nikki when she answered the phone.
“Yeah, I’m probably forty-five minutes from being finished. Vic wants to take me to dinner before I head back. Honestly, I wish I’d brought clothes to stay over at his house, but I didn’t. Can you fend for yourself for dinner?”
“Sure. I’ll check with Clayton and Brit, see what they’re doing. Maybe I could go over there and see Stringer.”
“Oh, that would be fun! But let me know what you’re doing so I won’t worry.”
“Hey, same on your end. You and Laura getting along okay?”
“Yeah. Can’t not get along with somebody who won’t talk to you.”