Mac knew they had it wrong. Lexie didn’t do this, but someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like she did. The bastard was still out there while Lexie curled in on herself, feeling beaten down and alone.
Mac stood and stormed to the door. It was blocked by Díaz.
“I thought you would still be here.” The man nodded to the screen. “You watched?”
“Yes.”
“And your take on it?”
“Everything points to her, sir, but she didn’t do it. No one is that good an actress.”
“Are you sure your emotions for her aren’t in the way?”
“Maybe, but this is bugging you just as much as it’s bugging me. I can’t explain it any more than Lexie can. We have the wrong person, and I’ll stake my career on it.”
Díaz entered Mac’s office and dropped into one of the two chairs, stretching his legs in front of him. “No need. I agree with you. The drone may have been launched from Mrs. Trevena’s workstation, but Sarah is looking for any evidence that someone found a back door into her system. It’s a long shot, but my gut tells me that all Lexie Trevena is guilty of is being a worried mom.”
Mac moved behind his desk and brought up the surveillance video from the testing facility. “These guys are well trained, and they picked Lexie for a reason. She’s too smart to leave her personal information unprotected for anyone to see. They must have a damn good hacker on their team who tore through Lexie’s life with a fine-toothed comb.”
“Maybe a revenge angle? A jilted boyfriend gave her up?”
Mac shook his head. “Her next-door neighbors told Jason there has been no one in her life since Rico. They have tried to set her up, but she isn’t interested.”
“Can’t blame her there,” Díaz murmured. “What Rico did was, in my book, unforgivable. She’s raising his kid, and from all appearances, is doing a damn good job at it. I sent Andrew and Michaels to pick up the boy.”
“Sir, you can’t call in Child Protective Services. That would kill Lexie.”
“McNeil, I’ve read her file, too. Someone is out to destroy Lexie’s life. Gabriel is going into protective custody. Jason offered to stay with him.”
“He has his hands a little full right now.”
Díaz shrugged. “Jason knows Gabriel. He stops by a few times a month to check up on them.”
“And Lexie allows this? She hates—”
“Just you, Mac. She likes your brother. Rico died saving Jason’s life. I guess that means something to her.” He rose and rolled his shoulders. “So let’s switch gears. Get your team to take apart Lexie’s life from another angle. Let’s see who wants to hurt her or who will gain with her out of the way.”
“Which means we need Sarah back in here. Jason is going to have your head.”
Díaz let out a laugh. “Not mine, yours. I’m releasing Lexie into your custody. You can brief Jason when you drop her off.”
A tired, frustrated groan escaped Mac’s throat. Great. A pissed-off Lexie in the tight confines of his truck. Yup, that was exactly how he wanted his day to end. Maybe she would allow him to keep his skin long enough to get her back to her son.
The woman found her way under his skin on day one. He understood her animosity, but it had been more than two years and she still couldn’t stand to be in the same room with him, while Jason dropped by whenever he wanted, getting close to Gabriel. And why the hell hadn’t Jason mentioned he was in touch with her? Did his brother think he didn’t care? Well, he did care, and it hurt that she could forgive Jason and not him.
Mac flipped the screen back to the conference room. A man stood talking to Lexie. “Who is that?” he said, turning the screen so Díaz could see it.
“I don’t know. I don’t recognize him.”
“The damn building is swarming with an alphabet soup of agencies, but I thought you were the only one to interview her.”
Lexie stood and a slight smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. She nodded at something the guy said and followed him out of the door.
Díaz picked up the phone. “I don’t like this. He’s taking her toward the stairwell. I’ll call backup …”
“I’m on Lexie.”
Chapter Seven
The deserted hallway loomed in front of Lexie. It took considerable effort to place one foot in front of the other even though she had spent the last several hours doing nothing physical. This was a new level of exhaustion that redefined her previous definitions of bone tired and emotionally drained.
Ryan strolled behind her, the heavy, spicy scent of his cologne clogging her nostrils. She’d actually bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep the cuss words in her head from coming out of her mouth when he’d entered the conference room.
The jerk was another federal agent. Shit. What the hell was fate thinking? Maybe that was the negative vibe she felt on their coffee date.
God, was that only last night?
The closer they moved toward the stairwell, the more tense Lexie became. She slowed her pace, allowing Ryan to walk beside her instead of behind. His ball cap was shoved down over his eyes so she couldn’t read his expression.
Just before they reached the stairwell, he reached out and placed a small device on the wall where another hallway to her right intersected. Lexie would have missed the move if she weren’t watching him.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. I bet you’re exhausted.”
“Last night, why didn’t you mention you were a federal agent?”
“Because I’m not a federal agent.”
Lexie stopped. “Then what are you?”
Ryan took her elbow. His grip didn’t hurt, but the move set her heart beating hard. Damn, he made her uncomfortable. She eased out of his hold and stepped away from him. He wasn’t a tall man, only about four inches above her height, but he loomed over her.
“Let’s go.” He nodded toward the stairwell door.
“Let’s not. Answer my question, Ryan. If you’re not an agent, then who do you work for?”
He stepped into her personal space. It took a moment to recognize the point of a 9mm barrel jabbed into her side. Ryan’s expression turned cold, hard, and his sneer sent a jolt of fear down her spine. She broke eye contact just long enough to search the hallway. Just when she needed a damn special agent, not one was available.
“Move.”
“I …you can’t do this. It’s the FBI.”
Lexie hated the stutter in her voice. Nothing could have kept it at bay. He shoved her toward the stairwell.
“What do you want with me?”
“Answers.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with the drone attack.”
“I know.”
Lexie sucked in a quick gasp of air. “How do you …?”
The rest of the question froze in her throat. Shit! Her first semi-date in two years and it was with a drone-killing terrorist. “What do you want?”
“Did you mention me?”
“What?”
“To Díaz. Did you mention me?” He grabbed her elbow and turned her around to face him.
“Damn it, you’re hurting me.” She tried to yank free, but his hold tightened. “Why do you care if some federal agent knows we had coffee?”
“Answer the question.”
“No, you egotistical creep. Agent Díaz wasn’t interested in my dating habits.”
A hint of a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. “Good, then this is going to be easy.” With a hard shove, they reached the door.
“Lexie?”
Mac’s deep baritone voice sounded from behind her. She recognized the calm tone, and it meant only one thing. There wasn’t a calm bone in his body. She tried to turn but Ryan jammed the barrel into her side with such force, she couldn’t keep her yelp of pain quiet.
“Where are you going, Lexie?”
“I wouldn’t take another step, Special Agent—?”
“McNeil. Who the hell are you?”
Lexie yanked free enough to peer over her shoulder. “He placed something on the wall about a foot from you. Don’t move.”
Ryan lifted a small remote control that looked a lot like a garage door opener and pressed the center button. “I would listen to Lexie, Special Agent McNeil. You can’t see it, but there is a beam stretching across the hallway. One move and you’ll splat all over the walls like lovebugs on your windshield.”
“We have a problem. I can’t let you take her.”
Ryan shoved her in front of him, her body his shield. Mac’s Glock was in his hand at his side, and he leaned against the wall as if they were just talking about the weather.
Lexie swallowed the urge to tell Mac to back off. He would never leave her with Ryan. If Mac stayed, they were both dead.
The hallway filled with several agents. Mac straightened, his stare glued to her. “Let go of Lexie, back into the stairwell, and you’re home free.”
Ryan let out a laugh. “Here’s something, McNeil. You know that little toy I stuck to the wall an inch from you? I have them all through this building, the stairway included. Mess with one and they all go off.” His fingers still digging into Lexie’s arm, he pressed his back into the door, and it opened easily.
There had to be something she could do. Rico had drilled into her the move she used in the bank. She hadn’t thought much, just reacted. With a gun to her side and Ryan’s thumb only a centimeter from the whole damn building going to hell, Lexie was too scared to move, much less reason.
“I’ll go with you. Just don’t …”
“No need, Lexie. I got what I came for.” He leaned his mouth close to her ear and whispered, “Don’t miss me. I’ll be seeing you real soon.”
He gave her a hard shove. Lexie stumbled and began to fall forward into the beam. She swung her arms back and dropped to the floor, her butt and elbows hitting the linoleum. She curled her knees into her chest and froze.
“Lexie?” Mac’s tone turned harsh.
“Is he gone?”
“Yes. Are you okay?”
“No, McNeil, I’m not okay.” Sobs clouded her throat as she righted herself and inched away from the stairwell. “Now what?”
“Don’t touch that door. The bomb squad is on their way.”
“Mac, I don’t think there’s time for them to do any good. You need to get everyone out of the building before that psycho hits the kaboom button.” Her vision blurred from the moisture in her eyes.
“I’m not leaving you here. Lexie, I need you to trust me. Can you do that just this once?”
Agent Díaz stood directly behind him. “What’s your plan?”
“Lexie and I stay. The rest of you need to get out of here.”
“I don’t care for that plan, Mac,” Díaz said.
“I’ll deactivate the bomb and then we’ll run like hell.”
The blood rushed to Lexie’s head, and she felt faint. “No, no …”
“Lexie, I know what I’m doing. Can you trust me?”
If she died, who would love her son? Tears spilled over her cheeks. “Mac, don’t put your life in danger. Gabriel is going to need you. Please just go, get out of here.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” No, hell …
She trusted herself not to be such a clueless idiot like she was in the bank. She needed Mac if she was going to get out of this mess so she had to trust his training.
“Sir, get everyone out of the building. I can give you maybe a minute.”
Agent Díaz glanced at his watch and placed a hand on Mac’s shoulder. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.” He backed away and rushed down the hallway.
“Lexie, look at me.”
“You’re crazy, Mac McNeil. Don’t you get that I don’t want you—”
“When I say run, you come at me hard. Got it?”
Lexie took in a shaky breath and nodded.
Every muscle in his body tensed as he raised his thumb and finger up to the device, easing out a short, black, looped wire. A grayish shield about a centimeter in length connected at the bottom of the loop. Very slowly, he twisted one wire while keeping the other still until he separated the loop into two distinct wires. An instant later, he blurted, “Now!”
Lexie charged toward him. He reached out and grabbed her hand just as a tiny blue light flashed from the box.
“Run!”
Mac yanked her with him as he charged down the joining hallway. Seconds later, the device exploded into a hot, debris-filled blast. A whoosh of heated air knocked them off their feet and tossed them several yards onto the floor and against the far wall. Mac landed on Lexie hard, knocking the air from her lungs. Another device exploded in front of them. She couldn’t see how close they were to this blast because Mac’s body covered hers and his hand pressed over her head.
Then everything in Lexie’s world went dead. An annoying ring buzzed between her ears. She pulled on her lobes and something popped. The ringing was replaced by the blaring fire alarm. When she tried to breathe, the pungent stench of smoke burned down her throat into her lungs. She jerked her head free from under Mac’s hand as a wracking cough shook her body.
Mac jumped off her and lifted her from the floor. “Can you run?”
Again, the words couldn’t pass through her throat, so she nodded.
He grabbed her hand and raced toward the end of the hallway, coming to a stop halfway down. Fire and smoke blocked their path. Lexie twisted around. The intersection was also completely in flames. In the next instant, Mac kicked his foot hard above the lock on the nearest door, and it crashed open. He shoved her into the small office and shut the door. Mac lowered his head and, placing his hands on his knees, took a deep, cleansing breath. The back of his suit was charred in several places, but it didn’t appear to have burned through to his skin. Following his example, Lexie tried to clear the smoke from her lungs.
“Are you okay, Lexie?” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Her ears still rang, but at least she could hear. Panic rose into her throat. “I can’t catch my breath.”
His hand moved gently up and down her back. “Relax. Breathe in and out slowly.”
His voice sounded so calm, so caring, that her anxiety began to ease and her lungs filled with air. “Thanks.”
A smile touched his lips before he broke contact and moved toward the window. Pulling the blinds up, he leaned over as if to see where they were.
“What are you doing?”
“This window is our only way out.” Mac raised the desk chair over his head.
“Stop, we’re on the fourth floor.”
“We don’t have a choice. There’s a wide ledge and the level roof below is only about twelve feet down.” Mac slammed the chair against the glass. It bounced back at him, and he lost his footing.
“That’s tempered glass. It’s built not to break. You’re going to have to hit it at the pressure point.”
He stared back at her. “Where?”
Lexie moved beside Mac and took only a moment to study the glass. “If you hit it at the bottom corner, the glass should break toward the sill instead of all over you.”
Mac placed a hand on her elbow and took a step back. Instead of lifting the chair again, he pulled out his Glock and fired a shot into the bottom right corner of the window. It shattered in a million pieces and dropped straight down onto itself.
“That was effective,” she said with the first hint of humor all day.
Mac brushed the loose shards of glass onto the floor and climbed up on the edge of the window pane. She couldn’t believe her heart could pound any harder against her chest until he stepped outside onto the ledge. Lexie turned back toward the door. Thick grayish smoke seeped in under the threshold.
“Lexie?”
“I can’t go out that way.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“Heights and I don’t like each other, Mac.”
His expression softened, and he held
out his hand to her. “Trust me.”
The man had no idea what he was asking of her. She could count on three fingers the people in her entire life she trusted: Gabriel, Cole, and Marcus. Four if she included herself.
“The hallway is in flames. Smoke is coming in under the door.”
“Damn it, I know that,” she said.
“Take my hand, and I’ll get you out of here.”
For once, when she glanced at Mac McNeil, there wasn’t an expression of total frustration staring back at her. The only thing she read in his eyes was concern. She reached for his hand, and he helped ease her up onto the window sill.
“Just keep your eyes on me. I won’t let you fall.”
Staring into Mac’s hazel eyes was no hardship. If she allowed herself to feel, his eyes had the power to melt her from the inside out. He would be the perfect hero material if he weren’t such an irritating, opinionated jerk most of the time.
Keeping her eyes locked on his, she stepped out onto the ledge. A light breeze tossed her hair into her face. With one hand grasping Mac’s hand in a vise grip and the other holding onto the window frame for dear life, there was no way to brush the hair off her face. For a split second, she looked down.
“Shit, shit, shit. I can’t do this.”
“Eyes on me.” He tilted her chin up. “I’m going to let go of your hand—”
“No. Hell, no.”
“I have to let go to climb down to the roof.”
“Mac McNeil, if you leave me up here alone, I’ll never, never forgive you.”
Lexie prided herself on being self-sufficient. If there was a clogged toilet, she fixed it. If she had a flat tire, she changed it. Roaches, ants, hairy tarantulas, bats―she took care of all of it. But this was too much. Standing on a ledge alone four stories above ground turned her into a world-class chicken.
“I’m not going to leave you. I have to get down, then I’ll help you down.”
Texas Temptation Page 117
