“Come on, Brax. Dad’s offices are in one of the most heavily guarded areas and even well outside of Houston city limits. I have a hard time getting through security, and I’m the CEO’s daughter.”
“Fine. But you’re taking one of the guys with you.”
“He stays in the car. He’s not coming into the office with me.”
“Heather.”
“Braxton.”
He glared at her, intentionally giving her his meanest expression he usually reserved for criminals under interrogation. His intimidating glower caused her to break out into a fit of laughter.
“Be reasonable.”
“I am, Brax. I’ve been vetted, and the security there knows me. I can get in and out much faster alone than if I took one of your men in with me. I could argue that I’m already unnecessarily taking a much needed set of eyes and ears out of the equation as it is. He wouldn’t be allowed to keep his handy ear comms in—security would have a field day with that,” she argued.
“I don’t know why you picked nursing school. You’d be one hell of a politician—spinning the facts to meet your needs. Okay. Your escort waits outside. You keep your cell phone on you at all times. If there’s one suspicious thing, you get out and call me first. For the record, I don’t approve of this. But if I don’t set it up, you’ll just sneak off on your own.
“It’s scary how well you know me.” Heather beamed, happy she’d won that war of wills.
A couple of hours later, Roman and Heather drove together to the Port of Houston, home of the largest oil refinery in the United States. The waterways in the port were constantly busy with vessels entering and leaving with imported and exported goods. Large container ships looked more like floating cities with one large container stacked on top of the other like skyscrapers.
After clearing port security, they drove to the corporate offices where Emmett spent his days. The guard at the entrance to the parking lot eyed Roman suspiciously as he double-checked the visitor list for the day.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Reed, but I don’t see you on the list for today. Is Mr. Greer expecting you?”
“No, but I need to see him. Please call and get approval,” she replied.
“And your guest?”
“He’ll wait in the car.”
The guard looked even more suspicious and more uncomfortable with that answer. “Then I’ll need to check your driver’s licenses first.” He nodded toward Roman. The guard walked back to his station to check Roman’s identification and to contact Emmett for permission to allow Heather up to the executive wing. After several minutes, the guard finally stepped back to the vehicle window and returned their licenses.
18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“You’re cleared to go in now. Use the visitor parking spaces at the front of the building. Ms. Reed, your father said to come on up to his office. He’s cleared his schedule for you.” The guard smiled warmly.
“Mr. Ramsey,” he addressed Roman. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you at first. You’re well-known in the sniper and sharpshooting world. It’s an honor to meet you.”
Roman nodded in appreciation. “Good to meet you, Bell,” he replied, looking at the name tag bearing the guard’s last name. “Army?”
“Yes, sir. Ranger.” He directed them to the parking area and waved as they drove away.
“I recognize that look.” Heather grinned slyly.
“What?”
“You think he’d make a good addition to the team. You want to recruit him.”
“Don’t you have a meeting to go to?” Roman asked sardonically, one side of his mouth lifting in a half grin.
Heather laughed as she opened the car door. “I won’t be too long. I’m sorry to make you wait out here, but it’s best I do this alone.”
“No problem. I’ve had worse details.”
She took a deep breath as she pulled the giant glass door toward her. The meeting with her dad would be hard for them both, but she’d decided on the best course of action for her life. Her priorities had changed over the years, and she’d finally realized the focus on what was most important to her had shifted.
The ride up to the twelfth floor was agonizingly slow. She had way too much time to second-guess the speech she had rehearsed to perfection. Steeling her spine, she walked into the large executive office wing, and her father’s secretary escorted her directly into his office. “You have a visitor, Mr. Greer,” Betty announced.
“Come in, sweetheart. It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you.” He rose and pulled her into his arms, hugging her close to him and kissing the side of her head. “Have a seat. Your mom said you went by to see her earlier. I’ve been so busy with work I haven’t been home much lately.”
“Yes, I know you have. That’s why I came here. I know the two of you are leaving for a while to finalize this deal. This is the only way I’ll get to see you before you leave.”
“So, what do you have to tell me?” he asked, leveling her with his fatherly expression. “You don’t just show up at my office for a chat.”
“We need to talk about a couple of decisions I’ve made before you take off for Oklahoma. I’ve spent years being proud of my independence and ability to handle everything on my own. But the truth is, I’ve missed a lot of time with Brax over those years, and I don’t want to miss one minute more.
“He’s been the love of my life since the day I met him, and he will be until the day I die. We’re talking about starting a family soon. Well, actually, I brought it up and told him I’m ready, and he’s agreed he is, too. So, that’s the good news—you’ll hopefully have a grandbaby soon.”
Emmett turned his chair to the side and remained uncharacteristically silent for longer than Heather felt comfortable waiting for his response.
“Say something, Daddy.”
He turned his head and locked his gaze with hers. The tears shimmering in his eyes made her heart skip a beat, and the air seized in her lungs. He cleared his throat and prepared to respond.
“You’ve lost a lot of years and opportunities to make the best memories of your life because of me.”
“Because of you?” The shock in her voice relayed her confusion.
“Yes. It’s my fault—all of it. I’m the reason why Braxton left town. He joined the Army and stayed away on assignments because of me. I was so mad at him for ruining your life, all your plans for the future. You were so young when you got pregnant.”
“He was the same exact age I was, Dad. We were both young and just trying to find our way.”
“I know. I’m not saying I was right, sweetheart. I was slightly distraught because you were pregnant during your senior year of high school, you got married too young, and you were going to miss out on the whole college experience.
“Then Dalton died, and I was mad for all new reasons. The pain I had to watch you suffer through was almost unbearable to me. I still don’t know how you were able to withstand it. I blamed him for putting you in that predicament in the first place.
“It seems he never told you about our run-in just before he left, which shouldn’t surprise me because it speaks volumes about what a good man Braxton is.”
He paused and inhaled deeply before forcefully releasing his breath, dreading the conversation ahead of him. “You were such a mess, sweetheart, and it killed me to see you that way. The doctor had prescribed a sedative for you, and I stood in the doorway watching you for several minutes. You were finally sleeping soundly after days of going through living hell.
“My anger reached a boiling point, and I lashed out at Braxton. When I told him it was all his fault you were going through this in the first place, he thought I was blaming him for letting Dalton die. As if he didn’t do his job as a husband and father. I didn’t correct him, especially when I realized it meant he was leaving. I thought that would mean a chance for you to be happy again.”
“When did you ever see me unhappy with Braxton?”
He froze in place a
nd openly gaped at her as her words sank in. The verbal slap in the face stung worse than he realized it would, though he couldn’t deny he deserved it.
“I’ve never seen Brax make you unhappy. I’ve seen you get mad at him, but never to the point where you wanted to walk away.”
“And I never will. You’ve always underestimated our bond. We started out as best friends and knew everything about each other before starting our relationship. Even now, after being apart like we have been, I couldn’t imagine not having him in my life every day. Which brings me to the other reason why I’m here today, the bad news, so to speak. I’ve decided I’m moving to Miami to be with Braxton.”
“What? Why? We already talked about him moving back here. He has a good job waiting for him right here.”
“Yes, I know we did. And I appreciate you offering him a job as head of security here, but I know my husband. He’d do it for me and never hold it against me, but he wouldn’t be as happy with it as he is with Steele Security. I can’t do this to him or let him do it for us. I can work as a nurse in Miami as easily as I can here in Houston.
“It’s time for me to be with my husband every single day I can. When we start our family, I expect you and Mom to visit us often. I’m sure his parents will too. I miss having him all the time, and I refuse to lose one more minute of being with him.”
Emmett steepled his hands over his face, his forehead rested on his fingertips, and his eyes were squeezed shut. His chest rose and fell rapidly in time with his flaring nostrils. When he’d composed himself enough to speak, he cut his eyes to Heather and dropped his hands in his lap.
“All I want is for my baby girl to be happy. I want to talk to Brax again. To apologize for what I’ve done to you both. To tell him I’m so very proud of him, what he has accomplished, and how he’s always taken care of you. I couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law, and if he’d let me call him ‘son,’ I’d be honored.”
Heather rose and flew around the large executive desk, and Emmett stood to embrace her. Father and daughter clung to each other, letting years of strife and disagreement melt away into oblivion. The healing and bonding between the two of them was long overdue, as was the release of unspoken resentments that had festered over the years.
“You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you, Daddy,” she said softly.
“I love you, Heather. And I love Brax like he’s my own son. It’s time I told him. Thank you for not giving up on your stubborn, hardheaded dad.”
“Never. Brax loves you too. He’s told me many times how he wants your approval and wants a good relationship with you. You’ll just have to come to Miami to see us frequently.”
Emmett pulled away, kissed her forehead, and gave her a sad smile. “You’ll get sick of seeing us, we’ll be there so often.”
“We’ll buy a house with a separate apartment so you can come as often and stay as long as you want.”
Without warning or preamble, an intense rumbling emanated from all around them and shook the entire building, knocking pictures from the walls and office supplies off the desk. The windows rattled and broke into shards. Sharp pieces flew into the room, forcing them both to duck and shield their heads with their arms. Wave after wave, the noise grew louder and mixed with the sounds of people running and screaming in terror. The power blinked a few times before it completely shut off. In a matter of milliseconds, the world around Heather and Emmett ceased to make sense.
“What the hell is going on? Is this an earthquake?” Emmett bellowed and rushed to open his office door. The twelve-story building was in complete chaos. On the top floor, employees ran past his office frantically, tears streaming down their cheeks. Panic-stricken faces were contorted in pain as blood dripped down their temples, arms, and legs.
“Run, Emmett!” His chief operating officer, Russ, yelled. Emmett watched, dazed and confused, as his friend limped by. Russ rushed as quickly as his injured leg would allow, blood trickling down the side of his face and dripping from his chin.
The building was unexpectedly rocked by another blast. The force of the second explosion shook it even harder, knocking several people off-balance, and they fell to the floor. Emmett and Heather watched in horror as some were trampled underfoot by the terrified mass of people. As if in a surreal dream, Emmett stood rooted to the floor while he looked down the hall toward the direction where the blast originated. In his confounded state, his brain could barely process what his eyes saw.
What had once been a luxury office complex was now reduced to mostly rubble, devoid of any form or resemblance of what it once was. The wall at the far end of the hall that held the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows, giving a full view of the refinery operations behind the building, was completely gone. The majority of the back half of the building was missing, the floors and walls that once framed it lay in piles of wreckage and debris many stories below.
The refinery stations which had stood tall and proud had been replaced with enormous balls of orange flames. Everything outside was on fire as far as his eyes could see. The large vats that once held the refined oil were reduced to heaps of twisted metal and gnarled debris. Sirens screamed from every direction, alarms rang, and voices shouted, but their words were indecipherable.
In what remained of the office building, injured and dead bodies littered the floors below his, visible from where Emmett remained cemented in his spot. In the chaos and wreckage, nothing made sense to his logical and analytical mind. Operating with complete bedlam and turmoil surrounding him was not his strong suit.
It was like a war zone.
His mind screamed, What the fuck is happening?
“Dad!” Heather yelled and shook him hard. “We have to move. Now! Those blasts are timed—spaced apart intentionally. Everyone is running in one direction, and the blasts are quickly following. He’s trapping everyone in one place.”
“Who? Who’s trapping everyone?”
“The terrorist! I’ll explain it all later. We have to find another way out. Right now!”
“This way—down the back steps. They’re a direct connection to the executive wing from the first floor, so there won’t be many people in this stairwell.”
Emmett led her to a locked door and dug his keys out of his pocket to open it. He swung the door open wide and locked the swing arm in place to keep the door propped open. “This way, everyone! Follow me!”
Emmett and Heather led the way down the stairwell, running and taking multiple steps at a time.
Twelve floors, Heather thought. We’ll never make it out in time.
At that moment, another explosion tore through what was left of the building. More powerful than the last, the aftershock of the blast knocked their legs out from under them, split the concrete stairs in two, and separated the outer wall of the building from the stairwell. Rising to her knees, trying to steady her shaking legs, Heather peered over the edge of the broken concrete. The rebar jutted out, twisted unnaturally from the force of the blast. The platform shifted precariously underneath her, revealing more of the scenery outside and the ground below. Quickly counting back, Heather realized they’d only made it down to the eighth floor, at most.
Still at least eighty feet high, she thought. We’d never survive a jump from this height.
“What do we do?” a frightened woman behind Heather screamed. “Oh my God, we’re all going to die! I’ll never see my kids again!”
“If we die, it won’t be from a lack of trying to get out,” Heather yelled in response, forcing the woman to stop her hysterics long enough to make eye contact. “We can’t go back up. We’ll keep going down as far as we can. Then we’ll jump. A broken leg is better than being buried in the rubble of this building.”
“Okay,” the woman sniffled. “Okay, let’s go.”
Emmett and Heather jumped to their feet and again led the descent down the shaky and fragile steps as fast as they could move. Heather glanced up every few seconds, watching the sway of the tons of concrete above t
heir heads. She prayed they would reach a floor close enough to the ground so they could jump before the materials holding the now-frail building together finally gave way.
The frightened woman’s cry continued to ring in her ears with every step she took. She thought about never seeing Brax again, of dying in a tomb of steel and concrete, of never fully realizing her dream of having a family with the man she loved. Those thoughts made her want to shut down, to allow the fear simply to take over so she wouldn’t have to deal with the overwhelming possibility of it all for one more second.
It was the thought of letting Rashad win by using her to hurt Braxton that pushed her on. She could hear her husband’s voice in her head, urging her to come to him, commanding her to never surrender, and demanding she keep going even when she didn’t think she could take one more step. It was his love that gave her the strength she needed to fight off the anxiety and fear trying to incapacitate her.
With the next blast, the outer wall crumbled to the ground below. The stairwell became completely exposed to the outside elements, and the stairs began breaking beneath their feet.
“Heather, we have to jump now, or we’ll be buried by the floors above us,” Emmett shouted over the roar of the disintegrating building.
“Okay, let’s do it, then,” Heather agreed, scared out of her mind. She glanced over the edge and estimated they were somewhere around the third or fourth floor.
Thirty to forty feet to fall, she thought. Thirty feet is the outer limit for surviving a free fall. Half the people live. But half of them die.
“I’ll lower you over the edge so you don’t have as far to drop. Then I’ll be right behind you,” he assured her, as if he were reading her mind.
“Together,” she insisted.
“No. My arms are longer, and that gives us both a better advantage.” He spoke as he guided her to the edge.
She sat with her legs dangling over the side and tried to mentally prepare herself for the terrifying move she had to make. Emmett took her hands in his as he knelt behind her. She slid over the edge, and he stretched out on his stomach, lowering her as far as he could over the jagged side. Men behind him grabbed his legs, allowing him to slide the upper half of his body over the edge to get her closer to the ground.
Wicked Intentions (Steele Secrurity Book 4) Page 18
