Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Logan had been right. It had been too late.
Maybe she’d known that, deep inside, even as she frantically tried to save the shooter. But she’d still needed to do something.
According to the report they’d received, Morris Hart had died in the ambulance. He’d still been transported, though, taken to the ER because they’d been en route and…
Dead.
“Let me make sure I’ve got all the facts.” Detective Meredith Reece paced around Logan’s office. Her dark red hair had been pulled back into a loose knot. “You were out for a run, minding your own business, when the dead man suddenly began shooting at you.”
Logan lounged in his desk chair. He’d changed clothes. Showered. Gotten rid of the blood on his hands.
Charlotte glanced down at her hands. She’d gotten rid of the blood on her fingers, too.
I can still feel it, though. Pouring hotly against my skin.
Her fingers clenched. Like Logan, she’d showered and changed. They both wore jeans. He had on a black shirt. She’d donned a blue blouse. Her hair was still the faintest bit wet.
Logan looked dangerous and sexy and fully in control.
Meanwhile she felt…
Scared. Shaken. Not that she would show those emotions. Not happening. Not for a spy. But the memory of running toward Logan, of being so afraid that she would not get to him in time…
I heard the first shot. I saw the gun. She’d just come around a corner, and she’d been rushing for him, trying to scream and run and—
“Yep. That’s exactly what happened.” Logan’s bored voice. “I was out, going for one of my nightly runs, and this jerk started shooting at me—me and my guards.”
“And your personal assistant.”
Charlotte’s head whipped up.
She found Meredith staring right at her. The Vegas detective had appeared at the scene even as the ambulance had been driving away. She’d secured everything with the help of local uniforms and Logan’s own security personnel from the hotel.
So far, Meredith Reece seemed very thorough and also very suspicious.
Of Logan.
“Yep,” Logan repeated in the same, bored voice.
“My personal assistant was running, too. Thus, both of us being in workout clothing when the uniforms appeared. We graciously turned over our clothing to your crime scene team. Even told you which street cam you should check for your investigation. That cam caught the attack. The footage backed up my account of events. I had no choice but to use deadly force to protect myself.”
Meredith had already viewed the security footage. They’d all viewed it.
The footage showed the shooting. Showed Morris with his gun, firing. Showed him shouting and threatening…
Showed the bullet to the shoulder that Dewayne Donahue had taken.
And the footage showed Logan rushing right at the attacker, going in hard and taking Morris down.
Logan put my knife in Morris’s chest, and I have the feeling that he did that…for me.
Charlotte wet her lips.
“Do you always go on post-midnight runs with your boss?” Meredith wanted to know.
“I—”
“Certainly not always,” Logan inserted smoothly. “Charlotte is pretty new, so this was her first run with me. Hopefully, it didn’t scare her off future outings.”
Her head turned so that she could lock eyes with Logan. His mood seemed off. Far too controlled when she was used to him being uncontrolled and rather outrageous.
Then again, he had killed a man that night. And been nearly killed himself. Considering those circumstances, Charlotte figured Logan was entitled to be off. “It takes a great deal to scare me.”
“Oh.” From Meredith. “Seeing a man stabbed in the heart and watching him bleed out doesn’t do it for you? Most civilians would lose their minds at a scene like that one. But you seem, gosh, dare I say…amazingly collected?”
Well, it wasn’t her first time to be attacked by a man with a gun. It wasn’t her first time to see someone die. It wasn’t her first time to try and save someone, just to have the person die beneath her hands. “I’m cool on the outside. On the inside, I’m breaking apart.”
Meredith arched a brow. “Why do I have a hard time believing that?”
“I don’t know. Why do you?”
“Ahem.”
That very loud throat-clearing had just come from the man sitting on the couch.
Blond hair, clean-shaven. Wrinkled shirt and expensive Rolex flashing on his wrist. “My client has been more than cooperative,” Tobin Hollister announced.
His voice wasn’t mild. It was distinctly annoyed.
“He—and his personal assistant—have answered your questions. Numerous times. They’ve provided you with security footage to back up their harrowing accounts for the night.
They’ve done their due diligence. Honestly, they have gone above and beyond for you.
” He flashed a pearly-white grin. One that somehow seemed menacing.
“They are traumatized. They need their privacy now, and they’ll be getting it.
” He rose from the leather couch near the right wall and motioned toward the closed office door.
“Don’t worry, Detective Reece, I’ll let your captain know that you have everything you need to wrap up this investigation.
I expect that no additional follow-up will be necessary from your department. ”
That was all a very pleasant way of Logan’s lawyer saying… You’re done. Don’t talk to my clients again. Get the hell out.
Detective Reece clearly received the message. Her mouth tightened, but she gave a grim nod. “Appreciate the cooperation.” Her stare cut to Logan.
He shrugged. “I’m an upstanding citizen. I’m all about cooperating with the law.”
“Right.” The detective’s gaze moved on to Charlotte. Lingered. “A piece of advice?”
“What would that be?”
“Find a new job. Being Logan Sterling’s assistant strikes me as a very dangerous career choice.”
Charlotte straightened her spine. “I think it’s a position that will provide me with a lot of upward mobility.”
“Or it’s a position that could shove you into an early grave.”
That was not really on the agenda.
Meredith Reece cut her gaze back to Logan. “I hope you’re not planning to leave town anytime soon. It will take me some time to wrap up this case.”
“Uh, excuse me.” Tobin positioned himself in front of the detective.
“You don’t get to tell a victim what to do.
If you are arresting my client for some reason, then do it right now.
Otherwise, don’t try to toss out bullshit orders.
Not with Logan. Not with me. My client has recently acquired new property in both Greece and in France.
Property that he will need to go personally examine soon to make sure it is the value that he expects.
When he’s ready to go, he will be hopping on his private jet and flying off. ”
The detective’s jaw hardened. “I’m not arresting him, but a man is dead. There will be a thorough investigation.”
“The footage you have shows everything you need to know.” Tobin was unfazed.
“Morris Hart tried to kill multiple people tonight. Luckily, my brave client selflessly risked his own life to stop a known criminal. You should be thanking Logan, not wasting his time with BS chatter about not leaving town. Logan will go wherever he wants. I’m sure your captain will agree with me on that. ”
“Because the captain and Logan are such close friends?” Meredith bit out.
Uh, oh. Was Meredith implying the captain was on Logan’s payroll? Sure sounded that way to Charlotte. There had been a decided emphasis on close.
Tobin just flashed a megawatt smile. “Because the captain understands that victims are free to live their lives. Now, I believe we’re done?”
“Fine.” A jerk of her head toward Logan. Then Charlotte. “Watch yourself,” she warned Charlotte. Then Meredith was gone. Fast, angry steps. The door clicked closed behind her.
No one spoke.
Logan kept reclining behind his desk.
As for his lawyer…
Tobin let out a weary sigh. “There is having me on retainer…and then there is having me on retainer.” He swung to fully face Logan. “Do you know how late it is? Hell, I don’t even know exactly.” He looked at his Rolex. “Five forty-nine a.m. That means I didn’t sleep last night. It means—”
“It means I’ve probably paid for you to get a new Rolex. You’re welcome.”
Tobin’s shoulders did a fast roll. “I do enjoy a nice Rolex.”
“I know that you do.”
Tobin studied Logan in silence a moment, then noted, “It was a big night, my friend. You acquired a new casino, you picked up a new villa—I’m all fine with making sure the paperwork is handled on those, no problem, but then you go and nearly die?
” He advanced toward Logan’s desk. “Your security guards were useless. They are supposed to be keeping you safe. You could have died. If she…” A dramatic wave toward Charlotte.
“If she hadn’t been there, that second bullet could have killed you!
I saw the footage. She tackled you at just the right time.
Otherwise, you could have been the one bleeding out in the alley when all the dust settled, not that prick Morris.
” A huff of breath. “You know what you need to do?” Tobin demanded.
She found herself creeping a little closer to Logan’s desk. Morris had said that second shot had been meant for her, so Charlotte wasn’t exactly sure that her big body slam into Logan had saved her fake boss.
Another dramatic wave from Tobin toward her. “You need to give this woman a raise. Double her salary. Make her your bodyguard and not those idiots who were running in your wake.”
“Tell me what you really think,” Logan murmured.
Tobin did. “First of all, your security team should have stopped you from taking those late-night runs ages ago. People learn your routine from shit like that. That shit makes you vulnerable. You need to be unpredictable because you have a million enemies out there who would love to have the honor of saying they offed you. I personally don’t want that to happen because I like my salary and my Rolexes and you are—”
“Done,” Logan cut in to say.
Tobin did a double take. “Done…with what?”