Chapter 23 #4
“You can and you will stay right here under my protection.”
“But—”
“No buts.” This time as I touched her face, indulging in a quiet moment of savoring the soft feel of her skin, she nuzzled into my hand instead of pulling away.
“I’ll take care of obtaining everything you need, including your cat.
You’re going to stay right here and you will not attempt to escape.
Do you understand? Or do I need to grab my handcuffs? ”
At least she blushed, indicating she wasn’t in shock.
“I promise. I have no desire to be the center of a madman’s target practice.”
“That’s good to hear.” The doorbell grabbed our attention, her eyes reflecting a decent level of fear. Which I would hope her emotions would allow. She needed to be afraid to help keep her safe. “Saige. How many people pointed out you weren’t the regular card girl?”
“No one. Why?”
“Patrick Kilborn knew. Correct?”
Nodding, her eyes narrowed. “You really are thinking a case of mistaken identity.”
“Like I said. I’m looking at this from all angles.”
“Mark knew. But I don’t honestly remember if he either knew or used my name. Patrick did. Do you think…”
“Relax. I doubt Sean McCarthy would allow you to work in the club then decide to have you killed. However, I will discover more about your friend’s background.”
“Her name is Tawny Gaines. She was bright and beautiful. She’d recently tossed out this asshole of a man she was dating.
Finally, after weeks of my telling her the man was no good for her.
” Saige held a faraway look in her eyes while trying to hold it together.
“I don’t even know the name of this new guy.
But he was rich. He took her on his yacht for a sail around the Hudson on a date the night I worked for her.
They said she jumped off the roof. Why didn’t she come to my place from the club? That doesn’t make any sense.”
She was right. It didn’t. If something important had been on her mind, why stop by her house? Unless she’d wanted to bring something with her.
“That’s just… No way,” she continued. “I don’t believe it. I know her. You need to believe me. She was murdered.”
At this point, my main objective was determining who’d been the target of the attack at the Strike Zone.
It was looking less and less as if Sean had been the intended party.
“Good to know.” While her information narrowed down the playing field, there were dozens of yachts that regularly sailed the Hudson.
“I do believe you. And I think you were next. That’s why you’re going to under my watch.
Tawny sounds like an amazing woman. I can understand why you were friends,” I told her, trying to add another layer of comfort.
I could already see her wheels spinning.
“You’re free to roam the house. There’s a guest bedroom upstairs, clean towels in the bathroom.
Drinks. Food. Whatever you want. Just stay inside and close the blinds.
One man will stay inside, a few others guarding the exterior. They won’t bother you.”
Her lower lip quivered as she nodded. “Okay.”
I pulled a pad and pen from the kitchen desk. “I need Tawny’s address.” I’d search the girl’s records held in the HR department tomorrow, but I’d need to get the jump on whatever information I could find as soon as possible.
“The police had the place surrounded.”
“They won’t be there forever.”
“You’re worried.”
“I’m cautious,” I retorted.
Her hand no longer shook as she wrote down the address, sliding it across the island as soon as she was finished. “Were you watching me tonight?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you stay outside my apartment after you dropped me off?”
With her question, at least one answer was handed down. Whether or not Tawny had been the intended target, Saige had either already been targeted or was now in the middle of a war. “For a little while.” I had, but not for as long as I needed her to believe. At least for now.
Her sigh of relief was substantial. Who the fuck was after her? I did what I could to keep from physically reacting.
With the address in hand and before backing away, I rolled the tip of my finger around her lips.
Whoever the assassin was, I now had my doubts he didn’t know who lived behind the thick mahogany doors.
It only mattered in the sense of who he was working for.
I grabbed a flashlight from a drawer before heading to the door.
If this was all an elaborate plan by Mikhail, he was mirroring what he’d done with the Irish before.
Pitting one crime syndicate against the other.
I’d need to have a long chat with Sean about the fighters.
My guess was the dead man had fought at the Strike Zone at least once or twice.
Sean might not come to every fight, but he’d keep track of who stepped foot inside his club.
“Why is someone dead set on killing me?”
Her question was honest and asked without much if any emotion. It also deserved an honest answer. With a slight tilt of my head, that’s exactly what I gave her.
“Because you belong to me.”