Reckless (4 page)

"
He says brazenly, with the knife to his neck." She slapped a pair of handcuffs around the steering wheel. "Fasten this to your hand."

"
And if I don't?"

"
My dream can be fulfilled with your face intact, or slashed up. The choice is yours."

"
Fastening the handcuffs," Troy replied, and snapped them around his wrist.

"
Much better." She leaned forward and let him see her face.

Tro
y was shocked at her unkempt hair and red-rimmed chocolate brown eyes. He started to feel slightly uncomfortable.

"
Start the car and drive."

"
To where?"

"
Out of the parking lot and left."

He drove.
"Left on Collins?"

"
Yes." She shoved the knife again so he could feel it. "No tricks."

"
No tricks," he repeated. "So, how have you been?" It was a weak attempt at humor.

LeAnn chuckled.
"Why, I've been just fine, thank you. A little enraged that my website was shut down, but I've managed to work around it."

"
That was quite a website, darling. You certainly had me fooled."

She looked at him strangely.
"I wasn't trying to fool you, Troy. I was trying to love you, and have you love me back. Obviously you're not capable of that."

He glanced her way
. "I'm sorry you think so. I enjoyed the time we spent together."

"
Good. Glad you feel that way. Turn right at the next corner."

"
Right at Meade?"

"
Yes." She shoved the knife again. "We're going to be spending more time together."

"
Is that so?" he asked calmly.

"
Yes that's so," she snipped at him. "You have something I want."

"
And that would be?"

She put her face up close to his.
"Why, a baby, of course. You're going to give me a baby."

Troy bit back a surprised chuckle.
"Um, okay. How exactly is that going to work?"

She shoved the knife at him as she talked.
"If you wouldn't have been such a prude, I could be pregnant already. But no, Mr. Safe Sex...turn left."

"
Left at Wyatt?"

S
he slapped his shoulder. "Turn the fucking car, what are you, a fucking road map?"

Troy turned and cleared his throat.
"Uh, LeAnn, I can see a couple problems with your plan."

She smirked and twisted the knife at his neck so it drew blood.
"Pray tell, what, my Lord?"

He glanced at her, hoping to get free before she fell completely off the deep end.
"I've heard of men being raped, but I'm not exactly sure how it's done."

"
I'll tell you how," she snarled at him. "You handcuffed to my bed, an erectile dysfunction drug and my magic touch. I think we'll get along just fine, lover."

He swallowed. A few weeks ago, he might have gone for that scene voluntarily.
My, how quickly things change.
"You know, you don't always get pregnant the first time."

"
That's not what they told us in high school."

"
Even so..."

"
Even so!" she mimicked. "I guess I'll have to hang on to you until I'm sure your boys have done their job."

"
Great," he muttered to himself, and felt the sharp knife point again.

"
A comment, Mr. McBride?"

"
No, nothing," he said politely.

"
Turn right here, and don't announce the name of the street, please."

Troy did as she asked, and
watched her point to a small house. "Pull in there." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a garage door opener. She clicked it and instructed him, "Pull into the garage." He did, and parked. "Now, I'm going to come around and let you out. I'm sure you think you can overpower me, but I can do a hell of a lot of damage with my knife before you do. And then you'll run into my brother, Bubba. He's waiting for us in the house. Bubba doesn't like you very much. So of course, if you hurt me, he'll have to hurt you."

"
Of course."

LeAnn got out and opened his door.
"I'm going to unhook this handcuff, and attach it to my wrist. I swear to God, if you try anything, I'll cut you."

"
I won't try anything," he assured her sincerely.

She took the cuff off the steering wheel and latched it to her own arm.
"Get out, we're going in."

Troy got out of the car, trying not to touch or otherwise upset her.
"To meet Bubba."

LeAnn laughed, and was caught off-guard when three sets of headlights appeared in her driveway, one right after another.

"Freeze, police!"
someone shouted, and LeAnn turned toward them. She pulled Troy in front of her and stuck the knife under his chin.

"
We're frozen," Troy said loudly, and she kicked him.

"
Shut up!" she mumbled.

"
Drop the knife! We have you surrounded!"

"
LeAnn," Troy tried to talk to her.

"
I said
shut up!
" she yelled at him.

H
e could almost see her mind working, trying to figure out what to do.

"
LeAnn, please," Troy started again, but he angered her.

"
What part of
shut up
don't you understand?" She stabbed the knife at his stomach with all her might.

She hadn
't taken his strength into account. Even with one hand out of commission, he easily overpowered her and knocked the knife out of reach.

She growled her fury and charged at him with her free hand. Grasping him by the neck, she clawed and tried to choke him. Troy
had just pushed her away when a shot rang out, and he felt, rather than heard, a surreal
whiz
.

LeAnn
's eyes grew wide.

He gazed
at her in disbelief as a bloodstain formed on her chest and oozed in all directions. "LeAnn!" he looked into her eyes, and for a moment, he remembered the feeling of her tender kisses. She stared straight ahead, and fell forward into his arms. They were handcuffed together; she had nowhere else to go. "LeAnn!" he called again, then yelled in a raspy voice, "Somebody call an ambulance!"

Two police officers rushed forward, one grabbed the keys from LeAnn
's hand and released the handcuff from Troy's arm. She slumped to the ground, and Troy crouched down and rolled her over. Her eyes had gone back in her head, and she wasn't breathing. One of the officers checked her pulse and shook his head.

Troy held her for a moment, not realizing he was crying until he saw tears splashing on her face.
"Why, LeAnn?" He looked at the police officers. "Why did you have to shoot her? She was harmless."

The officers snorted at the remark, and one said,
"She had a knife, ready to stab you, Mr. McBride. We don't consider that harmless."

Troy looked at her face one more time, then back to the police officers, who by now, had multiplied to six.
"She said she has a brother in the house."

The police got into position and burst through the door. Several of them entered the house. Troy stared into LeAnn
's face until he heard Dave's voice.

"
Holy crap, Troy! Are you all right?" He ran up the driveway.

Troy looked at Dave, then back at LeAnn. He wiped his face quickly, then laid her gently on the garage floor and stood up.

"Are you hurt?" Dave asked.

He looked down at himself.
His shirt was covered with blood. "It's not mine." He looked back up at Dave. "What are you doing here?"

"
Joe and Steve called me as soon as they realized what was happening, then they alerted the police."

Troy nodded.
"I figured they would. I'll never bitch about paying for bodyguards again."

Dave smiled.
"They're good. The transmitter on the car, and the bug inside it were very helpful."

Troy looked around.
"Where are they?"

"
They took off when the police showed. Some of their gadgets are, shall we say, on the edge of legality."

Troy nodded again, and looked up as a policewoman called his name.
"Mr. McBride? You might want to see this."

"
Is Bubba in there?"

She shook her head.
"There's no one, and only evidence of a single person living here—one sick, sick person."

Troy stepped into the house with Dave behind him. The living room was empty except for a computer on a small table, and one chair. Two walls of the room were papered with pictures of Troy, cut
from magazines and newspapers. He was sickened to see multiple copies of his face staring back at him.

"
Look at this," the policewoman said, pointing to the computer. The screen saver scrolled the message
Troy, I'm your biggest fan! Love, LeAnn
. She jiggled the mouse and the desktop appeared, with a large smiling picture of Troy as the wallpaper.

"
Jeez," Troy muttered and shivered as he looked at Dave. "I want to go home."

The policewoman
continued, "I'm afraid we'll need to keep your car until the initial investigation is complete. We can try to get it done by tomorrow."

"
It's okay." Troy waved his hand.

"
I'll take him home." Dave nodded.

She handed Dave her card.
"Have him call me tomorrow. We'll have a few questions for him, and he can get his car."

"
Thanks." Dave stuck the card in his pocket, and put his arm around Troy's shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Let's go."

They walked back out through the garage, and Troy took one last look at LeAnn lying on the floor.

"This way," Dave encouraged him. "You'll feel better when you get home."

Troy nodded.
"I want to go home."

Dave led him to his car.
"We'll be there in just a little bit."

Troy shook his head.
"No. To my mother. Back in New York."

Dave laughed and put Troy in the car. He shut the door, and went around to his side.
"Oh, Troy," he said as he got in. "You don't want to go back to New York. Stay here, in beautiful California. We love you here."

They both
glanced back at the dark-haired beauty's body, still visible on the garage floor. "Okay," Dave admitted. "Some of us a little too much. But ninety-nine percent of us are sane."

Troy leaned his head back against the car seat.
"I wish I could forget this whole thing ever happened."

"
I think you should be careful what you wish for," Dave said with a sly smile. "By the way, I have a message for you from Carrie. She didn't know your new number, but she wants to talk. I think she misses you."

Troy shot him a look.
As much as he hated to admit it, seeing Carrie sounded pretty good just then. Once he got over this blasted headache. "I don't suppose you have any aspirin."

"
As a matter of fact, I do." Dave reached in his console, and tossed a packet to Troy. "I even have a lovely bottle of bourbon to crack open when we get back to your place."

Troy
leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He'd think about Carrie, and the many ways he could make amends, tomorrow. "I hope it's a big damn bottle."

One Hot Cayman Night

"
Was that Orlando Bloom?" Jaden Donner twisted her neck to catch a glimpse of the man who strolled past her.

Keisha Cooper shook her head.
The man looked handsome, but not a famous movie star by any means. "They told us at the Hyatt that he checked out, remember?"

"
That's what they
said
." Jaden gave one last look and continued walking down the sidewalk. "I figured after he finished shooting his movie he might hang around for some playtime. It's so beautiful here."

"
You're right about that, but he was here for several weeks on location. He probably needed to get home, wherever that is." Keisha looked around the streets of George Town, the bustling capital of Grand Cayman, the largest of the three Cayman Islands. "This place
is
fantastic. I can't wait to hit the Seven-Mile Beach. I hear it has the whitest sand in the world."