WindSwept Narrows: #18 Paige Andrews

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “They always vanished before they got there,” she said in a slight grumble. “That was three weeks ago. Two calls, two vanishings. Haven’t figured out where they parked…just saw the lights and tried following them. I think they’re coming in on a boat,” she blinked, the answer dawning as she talked out the problem. She looked over at the scowl on the etched features, pale eyebrows arched above bright blue eyes. “That’s why I never saw a car…it’s why the cops never…”

  “This isn’t a game, Miss Andrews,” he said firmly.

  “A clue…I need to park closer to the water and…” She stopped when she remembered she wasn’t alone.

  “You will stay away from the property, is that clear?”

  “I…”

  “The right answer is yes, sir, Mr. Hartley, sir,” he said stoically, standing up, draining the cola and handing her the glass. He watched something flair in her eyes, her chin up and hand out to take the glass from him. “Good night, Miss Andrews. I’ll see you at the office in the morning.”

  Paige waited, watching him lift the helmet and go out the door without looking back at her. Then she decided it was safe to breathe again as she turned the lock on the door, her shoulders against it and eyes closed.

  “Guess that means I’m still employed,” she realized before going in search of food.

  Chapter Two

  Paige opened the office shortly after seven, sinking into the contracts and proposals to be done for signatures when she heard the door open behind her. Chase offered a palm up as he continued into his office, his phone at his ear and voice sharp. She let him continue without interrupting, slipping one of her ear pods in and attaching it to her computer.

  The soft singing voice was the first thing to register when he pushed the door inward, a briefcase in one hand and helmet with gloves shoved inside in the other. He saw her eyes go to the round mirror in the corner before she was back to typing, her fingers fast on the keyboard as she filled in spaces and sent something to the printer.

  She’d given it a lot of thought and pretending it hadn’t happened was at the top of her list at the moment. She liked her job. She was receivables, payables and tons in between to engage her. Even the little tiny nagging thought of the people on the property. She wasn’t entirely sure who to talk to about it. She’d gone through the offices on one of her first visits to the abandoned site. She’d been an admin for almost ten years, she knew all the good hiding spots and found some interesting things in her exploration.

  Sebastian came out of his office, dropped a hand full of folders to her desk and snapped fingers in front of her face. She’d been staring out the side window without blinking.

  “Do you break for lunch, Miss Andrews?” He leaned his hip against her desk, watching as she suddenly snapped back from somewhere, blinked and reached into a pack at her feet, coming up with a large red apple. She bit into it and nodded.

  “Yes…thanks for reminding me,” she said absently, setting it down before reaching for the new folders, sorting and separating them into piles.

  “I’m going after food,” he tried once more. “Can I bring you anything?” He stood up, one hand gripping the helmet.

  “No, thanks. I’m good,” she answered, reading through things and beginning new files on her computer.

  She was still considering the demolition when five came and she was locking up the office. There was a vague memory of both men leaving not long ago. It wasn’t that she ignored orders, she thought as she slid the gun into the hollow of her back. For the most part, she honestly didn’t think about them. A lot.

  She parked her quiet little car on the edge of the pedestrian walkway that ran the length of the waterway. She’d worn her sneakers on purpose, her jacket snug and hiding the weapon, her wallet with permit in her pocket and keys silenced in another pocket as she ran along the rocky beach.

  Sebastian leaned back on his bike, one foot up and resting on the handle bars, arms over his chest as he watched her jogging over the rocks. She had a good stride, a strong, aligned pose as she ran.

  It bothered him that the scent of her shampoo was still in his mind and that the firm, strong feel of her against him kept replaying itself.

  It bothered him that she didn’t listen well. He shoved keys into a pocket and locked his helmet and gloves inside the case on the side. He picked his way toward the water, keeping himself in the shadows of the large warehouse and losing sight of her. He swore and picked up the pace, strides long and purposeful, narrowed eyes scanning and taking in the area he covered.

  Paige moved quietly, dropping down as she snuck from abandoned piling to piles of junk laying in uneven stacks over the lowered tides. Just a normal little boat with a motor on the back, she noted, going quickly through things lying around the bottom. Nothing offering identity or justification. She had an idea what they were searching for, at least one of them, anyway. She’d spent several nights researching crimes to try and find what she wanted to know but had come up empty so far.

  Of course, if the things were stolen from a thief, would the thief report the missing items to the cops? That idea made her head hurt. And it was distracting. Distracting enough to have her cursing softly and gritting her teeth when she felt her back strike the thick, damp piling.

  Hard. A loud woosh of air was forced between her lips.

  “Did you hear that? Jimmy…I heard something outside…” hissed a furious, nervous voice.

  Sebastian had her pressed firmly between him and the piling. He saw her mouth open at the same time the angry voices filled the air and his mouth came down hard on hers. Silence.

  “Shit…just some couple pawing at each other…you’re too damn jumpy. Get in that office and tear it apart,” ordered the other voice.

  Hard, hot and thorough. Paige’s hands came from her sides to cling to the lower edge of his jacket, mostly because her knees were shaking while his mouth plunged them both into a world far from the broken down grain elevators and warehouse. His hands framed her face, thumbs stroking along her jaw as the kiss deepened. Slowly, Sebastian pulled his mouth away, trailing hotly over her jaw as he forced his mind and vision to focus on their surroundings.

  “Let’s go.” He ground out the words between his teeth before he stepped back and took her arm tightly in his.

  “No…we have them…”

  “They’re armed and that little gun you carry won’t handle them. I watched them come across from the far side,” he held her arm and pulled her after him toward the lower edge of the beach.

  “You’ve been watching them?” She asked, shaking her arm and pulling free. “Lighten up there…I bruise easy.”

  “And you don’t listen worth a damn,” he returned, setting his sights lower and gripping her palm with a sharp tug along the rocky shore.

  “Yeah…my hearing’s going bad in my doddering old age,” she murmured testily, eyes frantically going from rock to rock to avoid ending up on her ass.

  “You’re supposed to be a god-damned admin! Not some…”

  “Nancy Drew was my hero,” she said cheekily, chuckling to herself. “She could handle herself, too.”

  “This isn’t some fucking fictional…”

  “Just another part of life,” she interrupted with a shrug. “I got four older brothers, trust me, I can manage on my own and I have the police on speed dial.”

  “Exactly what part of this is not part of your job aren’t you getting, Miss Andrews?” Sebastian continued dragging her over the rocks until they stood near her car when he finally gave her a little shove against the fender. Only then did he realize just how furious he was. He slapped a palm hard against the metal on either side of her, a gleam of satisfaction on his face when she looked nervous.

  “Why isn’t it?” Paige had been intimidated by her brothers most of her life. This wasn’t so very different. “I like my job. I like my work. Which means keeping idiots from messing with it is part of that.”

  “I don’t believe…” Sebastian blinked
and leaned in real close. “This site…this location…those people…are not your problem. Do you understand me? Has that been clear enough for you?”

  “Of course,” she pulled herself a little closer to the car which was almost impossible because neither the metal of the car or him were going to give a fraction of an inch. “Umm…you think maybe…a little room here…” She pulled her hands, somehow, in between them and pushed. “It’s laughingly called…personal space.” She ground out tonelessly. Nothing moved.

  “Do I make you nervous, Miss Andrews?”

  Paige saw his lips move. Not one other muscle on his face inched out of place. She chewed on her lip a little.

  “You did…only in as much as I was concerned with being fired,” this time she saw disbelief flair to life in his eyes. “Now I don’t think you’ll fire me because that wouldn’t stop me. I’m not entirely sure why that’s…yipe…” Paige backed up a little more, her body almost bent over the fender when he moved against her, framing her between himself and the car.

  “I do not want you on that site. I do not want to find your body on that site,” he said each word slowly, clearly. Shoved them between his teeth and kept his face inches from hers.

  “I completely understand,” she nodded rapidly.

  “Understanding and compliance are very separate things. I somehow doubt you do, Miss Andrews.”

  “Well…technically…what I chose to do in my off time…”

  “Is a direct reflection upon the reputation of Hartley and Montgomery,” he interrupted coldly. He could tell by the look in her eyes she’d been expecting that one. “And having you arrested for trespassing…”

  “I asked Chase,” she threw out quickly. “It’s not trespassing because I work there and…”

  “I do not want you on the site. Why is this not getting through to you?”

  “I have this issue with authority figures,” she murmured, eyes sliding from side to side to find an exit. Paige watched him close his eyes and noticed the hard thumping pulse at the side of his throat, the tense muscles bundled and held tautly, rigidly in place by sheer will. “Maybe you should…relax a little…take a deep, slow breath…” her head snapped back another inch when his eyes popped open, her breathing frozen in her throat. “Or not…”

  “I don’t remember the last time a woman haunted me…frustrated me…royally pissed me off…as quickly and as easily as you do,” he tasted the words as they left his mouth. He knew people who would scurry off to find a place to hide when he flayed them like that. She only blinked at him, sympathetically.

  “It’s a gift,” she quipped without thinking, wincing. “I have four brothers you would be able to compare notes with,” she offered with a crooked shrug. “And they would completely offer understanding and sympathy.”

  “It amazes me that you lived.”

  “I’m tenacious…and learned early on how to maneuver and survive. I had dolls to protect,” she confided with a little chuckle.

  “Take me somewhere for dinner, Miss Andrews,” he ordered abruptly, backing up and striding around the car, waiting while she processed his instructions. Darkness had covered the early spring but he heard the keys and opened the door to slide in beside her. His hand moved to the side and then beneath his legs, releasing the seat and giving him much needed leg room with only a mild curse.

  “Anything in particular?” She asked carefully, decided that any reprieve was worth the cost of dinner at this point. She took a chance and looked over at him, watched him rake one hand through the smooth strands of gold and darker straw. It fell in thick heaps straight back from his forehead, over his ears and barely touching the collar of his jacket.

  “Pasta and large salads,” he said simply, putting his head back against the headrest. “You are annoying, Paige.”

  “Alright. It’s pretty much a given,” she said with a shrug, starting the car and heading them onto the coast road. “I wouldn’t be if you didn’t…”

  “I wouldn’t continue that statement if I were you,” he interrupted flatly.

  “Guts and glory, you know,” she returned, turning the radio on and tapping the CD button. “Maybe we should take a day trip to the grain warehouse. It isn’t nearly as creepy in daylight, although the weather and all the holes in the roof and all it’s not overly warm and some of the smells…I don’t think I can even begin to identify them. Some stuff is kind of really moldy. It’s amazing the things you find in abandoned buildings, offices…” she stopped and realized he was staring at her. And the pulse was thumping again. “Or maybe it would be best if I just stick to my admin stuff and not concern myself with the clearing of the grain silos and warehouses.”

  “And I believe hell has frozen over,” Sebastian mumbled, amazement edging his voice.

  “I think your blood sugar is low,” she returned, pulling carefully into the parking lot and turning the engine off. She dug beneath the front seat and came out with her pack, dropping the keys into a little pocket and stepping out of the car, locking the door behind her.

  Sebastian stepped from the car, shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it into the car before closing the door. His stride was long when he crossed in front of the car and gripped her elbow, guiding her toward the door with little resistance.

  “Two, please,” he told the woman at the main desk. “I’ve spent the better part of my life being patient and completely in control.”

  Paige wasn’t sure if that was meant to solicit a response so she stayed quiet. They were both dressed in jeans since he rarely wore the chaps to the office. She liked the office because it was designated casual. Chase liked his suits. She liked being able to bounce from one to the other, depending on her morning mood. So far, Sebastian Hartley preferred jeans and simple cotton button shirts. And the leather jacket. She slid into the chair he held for her, accepting the menu with a smile.

  Sebastian looked over the menu and set it aside, his mind snapping at something she had said.

  “When did you start going to the site, Paige?”

  “I…the…well…” she cleared her throat and raised the menu a little, chewing on her bottom lip as if she didn’t see the lettering of the items printed before her eyes. She closed her eyes when his hand came up on top of the menu and pushed it lower. She glanced around quickly, catching the eye of the waitress and wiggling her fingers. “We’re ready to order,” she said cheerfully, beaming a smile at her and ignoring Sebastian. For a whole two minutes, she figures. Smart people take their reprieves any way they could get them.

  “One more time, Paige,” Sebastian said softly, sliding his chair a little closer to hers.

  “If you take a moment and think about it…” She began, clearing her throat and wondering why he made her so nervous. She studied the hands she had folded on the table, opening them a little as she spoke, excitement coupled with awe as her imagination took control. “It’s like a giant mystery board. Huge silos and a couple warehouses, ships coming in to load up American grain for years and years from literally all over the planet! I’ve read through some of the manifests in one of the offices, and you have the Ukraine, Panama and Russia…you have countries that no longer exist on paper picking up grain to feed their people.”

  Pale red lashes widened considerably. How had she missed seeing his hand on the back of her chair that was now firmly wrapped around her ponytail? He lifted slightly. Just enough to make her straighten and focus, not enough to draw attention to them, other than for people to see a man lean close to a woman and talk in a low, sexy voice.

  “Oww…” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth.

  “I have your attention, Paige?” Sebastian let the slow, soft voice filter just next to her ear. She nodded. “When did you first visit the granary?”

  “A week after the sale was final,” she said quickly, breathing deeply when his hand retreated and he sat back in his chair, watching her. “That is not very nice.”

  “I want effective. I’m learning what works on you,”
he told her without hesitation or contrition. “That was over a month ago,” he saw the narrowed lashes and pursed, full lips. “How often do you go there?”

  “Sometimes…now and then…I do have other things I do,” she informed him, quickly reaching up and pulling the band from her hair, her fingers digging through the red and massaging her scalp. “Didn’t you ever read mysteries when you were a kid? That’s what this is…shadowy figures looking for something mysterious that they were told about from a guy they met up with in prison…it really would have been amazingly simple to smuggle things in and out of the country. I found this little journal kind of thing in one of the offices…some of the inspectors were less than honest and they talk about how easy it was to get things off the ships…” She stopped when he got that look on his face, the tense jaw and stony glare.

  “I repeat…you are annoying me on a new and surprising level, Paige Andrews,” Sebastian leaned back in his chair, one booted foot up to rest on the knee of his other leg, arms folded over his chest.

  “Alright…well…I prefer being efficient and amazingly talented with admin work, especially considering you’re my boss and all but still…”

  “Oh, the annoying part has nothing at all to do with work,” he almost laughed at the expression of total bewilderment in her eyes.

  “I don’t think I understand,” she sat back, hands on her lap as their food was spread across the table.

  “No…no, I can see you don’t,” he said, thanking the waitress and taking a long drink of the iced tea he’d ordered before digging into the spaghetti and salad placed in front of him. “I keep seeing your resume and then listen to the woman sitting next to me and it worries me that there might be two of you.”

  “Just one…just me,” she assured him with a shrug. “A resume lets you show people what they need to see. If you lose your curiosity with life, what’s the point?”

  “What’d you do right out of high school?” He asked, indulging the need to know more about the annoyance that had entered his bloodstream. He met the wide brown eyes and saw honesty.