Chapter Two
Before tonight, I had no idea who Synamon Honey was, but now, I could tell you a few things about her.
She was gorgeous, talented, funny, and incredibly kind and generous with her fans.
And she’s your…
She’s in more danger than she could possibly comprehend, I cut off my bear before he could make any ridiculous declarations.
This woman was a superstar, and I was the borderline feral bear Sawtooth Security sent to The Stepchild at the last minute when her manager put in a panicked request for our help.
But right now, Synamon was looking up at me incredulously. She blinked repeatedly, and this close to her I could see past the makeup into those blue eyes. She parted her red lips.
“Can this wait?” she asked.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to freak anyone out but the situation was much more serious than I could quickly explain. I needed her to trust me.
“We lost him,” my colleague Beau’s voice crackled in my earpiece, punctuated with a sigh. “Crowd swallowed him up. Guy’s a slippery fucker.”
“They paid a lot of money,” she repeated, like she was having a hard time believing all these people were here to see her. Like one wrong move could make everything go away.
There was an innocence in those eyes that made my cock twitch.
“It will just take a minute.” I had no idea if that was true, but I couldn’t leave her here, vulnerable and exposed, while this maniac was on the loose.
“I can handle it,” Jen said. “Don’t worry about us. They know you’re worth waiting for, right?”
A collective groan echoed from the line as Synamon reluctantly rose from her seat. She blew a kiss over her shoulder and my bear rumbled. I didn’t have time to convince him he’d simply gotten caught up in the moment. A woman like this, a celebrity, was totally out of our league.
Once we were in the hallway, I took her by the arm.
“What are you doing?” she exclaimed.
“My job.” I didn’t mean to growl but there was no way she was this fucking oblivious. “There’s a really bad dude out there, and I’m not going to let him lay a paw on you.”
“That doesn’t mean you need to put your paws on me,” she grumbled as she shrugged away from my grip.
She was feisty—good.
“Thought you might make a break for it and sign some more autographs,” I said, trying to lighten the moment.
Before she could finish rolling her eyes at me, a flurry of static blossomed in my ear, and I couldn’t hear what Beau was trying to tell me. Damn it. It could be critical information. Without the details, I needed to take every precautionary measure.
I grasped her shoulder and opened the closest door.
“Why did you just shove me into a storage closet?” she demanded as we stood in the dark, body to body, in the tiny, dark space. It smelled like cleaning supplies and my shoulder bumped against a shelf. “Now are you gonna tell me what the hell is going on?”
It was useless to raise my brow in the dark. I was absolutely mortified that I’d brought her to a closet. So much for being the smooth and stealth lead bear on the job.
I couldn’t see her, but sweet moon, could I ever feel her. Heat radiated from her nearly naked body that was just inches away from mine. And her scent, warm berries and vanilla, like she was a decadent dessert to be savored.
“You really have no idea?”
“No, all I know is Jen said there were some creepy comments.” She let out a long sigh. “I’ve had creeps on my page before. A couple guys I had to block. I’m careful though. I make sure they don’t know where I am. Who I am. I should really shut up.”
“No, you should keep talking,” I urged. “What did they say in those comments?”
“Basically they just described how they wanted to have sex with me. In detail.” She was close enough I could feel her shudder.
“We have forums for the performers, so we can talk about how to grow our channels and things like that. When I asked them what I should do, they said it was a rite of passage.”
“But Jen saw something that made her call us.” I knew exactly what the threat was, but I wanted to hear it from Synamon without giving her information that would lead her. “I take it you didn’t tell her about this rite of passage?”
“Of course I did,” she huffed. “I don’t know what she saw, because after the peach cobbler video went viral, there was no way I could keep up with all the comments and messages.
Jen’s the only one…the only one I trust, so I asked her to help me.
A break like this is a once in a lifetime thing. I don’t want to screw it up.”
“You don’t have to be nice to every creep.
” I felt for her, because I felt the same way about my job.
Here I was, an outdoor survivalist who helped humans get their backwoods thrills working side-by-side with all these ex-military guys.
My training was pure primal instinct. They were educated, trained, and calculating.
“I’m being nice to you, aren’t I?” Her arms bumped against my stomach when she crossed them in front of her.
“Synamon, I’m sorry I brought you into this closet. I can assure you, I wouldn’t have done it if there wasn’t a major threat. To be honest, you probably should have someone watching you on a full-time basis.”
“I can assure you that’s not going to happen.” Her body tensed, and that berry vanilla scent spiked as she mocked my suggestion. “What’s happening? You’re freaking me out.”
She genuinely had no idea what kind of danger she was in. Where did I even begin?
“Have you ever heard of the Centerfold Slasher?” I asked.
She didn’t answer right away. The air was thick between us.
“Not sure,” she finally said softly. “Sounds like one of the guys on those unsolved murder shows that my grandma loves to watch.”
“He is one of those guys. Randy Cole.” I paused to see if it would ring any bells.
But the only thing that changed was the rising heat inside her.
She was close to a shift. “Twenty years ago, a bunch of adult stars were murdered. The tie between them? They all appeared as centerfold models. Went on for a couple years. Finally, Randy got a little too cocky, and one of his coworkers turned him in.”
“What does that have to do with me?” she asked.
“He was released from jail on some bullshit good behavior clause.” I wasn’t sure how to make the next part sound right. There was no way to sugarcoat it. “We have reason to believe he’s behind the messages that made Jen call us. And we’re pretty sure he’s here tonight.”
“Oh, sweet moon.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “He’s here to kill me.”
Not on my watch. “We don’t know that.”
“Why else would he be here, Brad?” she snapped, her shrill voice no doubt spilling into the hallway. “I’m sorry. I’m scared.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s a completely normal response.
We’re not going to let anything happen to you,” I said.
“I’m not working alone. I’m part of a team.
We’ve got eyes everywhere in this place.
But I’m gonna be real honest with you, because you deserve to know exactly what’s going on.
They booted his ass out the door, thinking it was a done deal and we’d all get to enjoy your show.
But he managed to get back in, and we’ve lost sight of him. That’s why I brought you back here.”
She clapped her hand over her mouth and then let out another shaky sigh. “What am I gonna do? I can’t go back out there.”
“We’ll figure out what to tell them and let Jen handle it. She’s your manager, right? That’s what you pay her for. And then we’ll talk about next steps—”
“There aren’t any next steps,” she insisted. “And Jen’s my best friend. She’s acting as my manager, but this isn’t her full-time job. She coaches--never mind.”
This woman was hiding something.
“We can make sure he never comes near you. My guys are the best in the business.”
“No, you can’t,” she insisted once again.
“Yes, we can. Are you concerned about the money? Because—”
“No!” Another sigh. “Jen’s my manager because she’s the only one who knows who I am when I’m not Synamon Honey. Nobody else can know, ever. Not you, not any of these guys out there, and certainly not the Centerfold Slasher.”
No wonder she got so uptight. She was leading a double secret life.
“We don’t know what kind of tools this guy is working with. He could know more about you than you think.” Moon knew with a few taps on a screen, our team could probably figure it out. “I wish I could guarantee your secret was safe, but again, I’ve got to be honest with you, I don’t think it is.”
“Sorry.” Her temperature spiked high enough to make dew bead on my skin. “It’s just that if anyone finds out… I should’ve never done this.”
“Hey, I mean it. No apologizing.” I reached for her, hoping that my hand landed on her arm. A jolt of electricity went through me.
She’s your…
A client. Here I was, with a gorgeous, half naked woman I’d stupidly brought to a storage closet, and my bear was ready to wax poetic about forever.
“You totally should’ve done this,” I added when she didn't answer. “You were incredible out there. Don’t let this guy take tonight away from you. We can help—”
“Brad, you can’t help me, I’m sorry. I’ve got to get out of here. Listen, you’re very sweet, and you made me feel very…guarded. But I don’t need anyone’s help. Just send Jen the invoice, okay?”
What the...
And with that, she opened the door and hurried back to her adoring fans, one of whom was most likely a serial killer.
* * *
“She fired you?” Barrett, my boss, leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead as I stood awkwardly on the other side of his desk, awaiting my fate the next morning. “That’s a Sawtooth Security first. How the hell did you manage that?”
I sighed. It was a little exhaustion mixed with a heaping helping of frustration. “Don’t worry, she’s still going to pay us.”