Take a Risk (Risk #1) (20 page)

‘Are you afraid he’ll beat you up?’ Lyssa asked. ‘He’s actually very gentle.’

‘Providing you don’t step out of line,’ Colt said.

‘And what would be out of line?’ Archie asked.

‘Appearing at my girlfriend’s place of employment without an appointment.’

‘Keeps a tight leash on you, does he?’ Archie asked.

‘Archie’s having a problem,’ Lyssa said to Colt. ‘He came here to seek advice.’

‘Don’t tell him my private affairs,’ Archie stated. ‘We have confidentiality.’

She shook her head. ‘We don’t. You’re not a patient, I can’t treat you and you don’t get spousal confidentiality anymore either.’

‘I came here because I trust you,’ Archie said.

‘You need something from me. I haven’t heard from you in two years and I doubt that you came to me for advice on your relationship issue with the receptionist.’

‘He’s seeing a receptionist?’ Colt asked. ‘Beauty over brains?’

‘Youth and bust size over intelligent conversation,’ Lyssa explained. ‘Archie doesn’t need a woman showing him up so he likes them to be lacking in smarts.’

‘That why you got rid of him?’ Colt asked her, then focused back on Archie. ‘It’s hot as hell when she disagrees with me. I guess you’ve just got to know how to put her in her place.’

‘You do not put me in my place.’

‘Want me to prove it?’ Colt murmured.

‘When Archie’s gone,’ she stage whispered. ‘I wouldn’t want you to embarrass him.’

‘Do you have no compassion?’ Archie asked. ‘This is not a time to be glib. I am in serious need.’

‘In a precarious position that you put yourself in,’ she said. ‘I have no compassion for those who do wrong and then expect to be pitied. You have, or at least had, more money than you knew what to do with, there is no excuse for your actions.’

‘You never used to be this judgemental,’ Archie grumped.

‘Colt has friends in law enforcement, maybe if you explained your predicament to him he could see what he could find out about the state of the investigation.’

‘I think not!’

‘Are you sure? His contacts go pretty high up,’ she said, without a clue as to how far his contacts actually did extend.

‘I have a team of attorney’s on my case, they are working to disprove these ridiculous claims as we speak.’

‘What are we talking about?’ Colt muttered to her. ‘Domestic abuse? Tax fraud? Kiddie fiddling?’

‘I beg your pardon!’ Archie spat.

‘Tax evasion,’ she replied.

‘Lyssa!’ Archie chastised, but the office door opened again and this time it was Suzette who came in wearing her hospital uniform. She came up short when she witnessed the identity of the occupants in the room.

‘I feel like I should take a picture,’ Suzette said, her attention darting back and forth between the men. ‘The past meets the present. Seeing them side by side like this is… unnerving.’

‘How do you think she feels?’ Colt asked. ‘What do you want?’

Lyssa was surprised that Colt asked this question when she hadn’t had a chance to say anything herself. ‘Are you ok?’ Lyssa asked her best friend.

‘I heard that you were on the complex and I wanted to… I thought that we could talk.’

‘She’s a bit busy at the moment,’ Colt said.

‘What is wrong with you?’ Lyssa whispered at him.

‘There’s a queue of people who want your attention right now, Miss. Lys,’ he said.

‘Do you have something that you need to tell me?’ she asked.

He’d been away from her for more than twenty-four hours and she was eager to find out where he’d been and what was going on. Her belief had been that if there were any important, or urgent, updates then he’d have been in touch with them in real time. Now she considered that her assumption could be false.

‘No,’ he said, still focusing on Archie who was staring at Suzette. Lyssa knew immediately that Colt had just lied to her. Knowing him as she did, she knew that he would have a good reason for the deception.

‘How have you been Suzette?’ Archie asked. ‘I heard that you are betrothed.’

‘Where did you hear that?’ Suzette asked. ‘Have you signed up to the hospital gossip circuit? I thought you left that when you went uptown to your fancy building.’

‘I still hear things,’ Archie said. ‘He’s a security technician or something.’

‘No, he’s an IT manager,’ she said. ‘Not that it’s any of your business.’

‘And I thought my invitation to the wedding just got lost in the mail.’

‘Unlikely,’ Suzette said.

Suzette’s dislike of Archie had started early on in Lyssa’s relationship with him. Colt didn’t get along with her particularly well either and Lyssa wondered if she should take that as a bad sign. If Suzette’s judgement of a man’s character was accurate then perhaps that didn’t bode well for her relationship with Colt.

‘I’m sorry,’ Lyssa said. ‘Archie is upsetting everyone today. I’ve already had a client upset with me that my ex interrupted a session. I think it’s a case of misplaced anger if I’m honest.’

‘I think it’s just his personality,’ Suzette said. ‘He has the kind of face that people just take a dislike to.’

‘What time do you finish your shift tonight?’ Lyssa asked Suzette.

‘Eight.’

‘Can you come over here around six?’ Lyssa asked. She would offer to go to Suzette, except Pete’s office was on the same floor and so she didn’t want to be caught in Suzette’s company when that could cause her friend problems. Suzette nodded and glared at the men, then exited.

‘What’s going on with her?’ Archie asked Lyssa, but she had no intention of answering the question.

‘I can’t help you, Archie,’ she said, extricating herself from Colt’s lap. ‘I’m sorry about your troubles, I don’t care about alimony, but thank you for coming to tell me.’

‘I didn’t come here to tell you that,’ he said, leaping from the couch. ‘I need a place to stay.’

‘You came here because you need a bed? What’s wrong with a hotel?’

‘The bank accounts have been frozen,’ he said, pained to admit such a humiliating truth in front of Colt, who didn’t help matters by sniggering.

‘You can stay at my place,’ Lyssa said.

‘What?’ the men said in unison.

‘As it happens, it’s empty at the moment,’ she said, reaching down for Colt’s hand, causing him to rise to his feet. ‘I’m spending my nights with Colt anyway.’

‘You’re living with him?’

She shrugged. ‘Unofficially.’

‘Or officially,’ Colt said, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck.

Leaving his side, she went to her purse and retrieved a set of spare keys from the pit, then handed them over to Archie. ‘Clean up after yourself, you’re responsible for all maintenance, and when I say out, you leave, no questions. I will be moving my practice back there as soon as I can.’

‘Why did you move it away?’ Archie asked.

‘That’s none of your business,’ she said. ‘Now if you’ll excuse us.’ He lowered to kiss her cheek, which she knew was just to spite Colt. After that he did leave quietly, then she spun around. ‘Now what’s your deal?’

‘Why did you do that?’ Colt asked. ‘Why give him a break?’

‘It makes no difference to me if he’s at my place. I’ve been at yours. And I’ll feel better knowing that someone is there rather than the place being empty. If he’s occupying it then it’s less of a lure for burglars and such. In addition, I know Archie, if he’s coming to me then he’s exhausted his luck with his first wife, so he’s desperate. When Archie’s desperate, he’ll do whatever he wants anyway.’

‘If you want me to deal with him—‘

‘I want you to tell me where you’ve been and why I slept alone last night.’

‘I was installing security at your place last night,’ he said. ‘Hoping that if we monitored it we might catch this guy in the act.’

‘That’s very clever,’ she said, crossing to take both of his hands and lead him down onto the couch. ‘Now you can keep an eye on Archie if you want to, and hopefully we’ll be able to identify exactly who is behind this.’

‘I know who is behind it.’

She had been about to lean in and hold him, but this statement made her draw back. ‘You know?’ He nodded. ‘You know who the stalker is? You know who murdered Bobby?’ Again, he nodded and she waited. ‘Well?’

‘Well what?’

‘Who is it?’ she asked.

‘I’m not going to tell you that.’

‘You’re not going to…’ Lyssa hit his chest. ‘Don’t be ridiculous, of course you’re going to tell me.’

‘I’m not.’

‘Why not?’ she asked, realising she was becoming more shrill with every word.

‘Because I don’t want you to change your behaviour.’

‘A few weeks ago that was exactly what you wanted. Why the change of heart now?’

‘I wanted you to change your behaviour because I hoped that we could draw him out. Things didn’t go exactly to plan, but that doesn’t matter because I know who it is now. So we move onto the next stage of the plan.’

‘Which is what?’

‘Compiling an evidence portfolio. I know who did it but I have no evidence, and I don’t want the police to stomp in and spook our perpetrator. I plan to get as much evidence as I can and then when I know the case is solid enough to bring the perp in, I’ll hand it over to the cops.’

‘And in the meantime I just sit here, a walking target?’

Colt ran a hand into her hair, but she withdrew. ‘Come on, you know I’m not going to let you get hurt.’

‘Accidents happen, you know.’

‘Yes, but if I tell the cops now and they start questioning things, then you could be in more danger. Right now the cops don’t have enough to do anything, they can’t act. I’m going to give them what they need in order to act. I’m keeping Chavez in the loop unofficially.’

‘Why would you do that if you don’t trust the cops?’ she asked.

‘Because if something happens to me—‘

She gasped and flew off the couch to head for the desk. ‘This is crazy.’

‘What are you doing?’ he asked, watching her take her phone from her purse and scroll through the contacts.

Lyssa didn’t answer him, she just dialled the phone and waited for it to be answered. When it was, she put it on speakerphone and laid it on the desk. ‘I need you to kick the shit out of somebody for me.’

‘Ok,’ Ruger’s voice came down the line, and it sounded like his mouth was full of something like potato chips. ‘Text me the address. I’ll finish eating and get over there.’

The fact that he didn’t ask any questions made her smile with satisfaction at Colt and she was flattered that Ruger trusted her so implicitly. ‘Are you at Blaser’s?’

‘Yeah,’ Ruger said, swallowing his food, and then taking a long drink. ‘Right where you left me this morning.’

‘I can send him to you.’

‘Wow, victims delivered,’ Ruger said. ‘You’re a pro, sis. How roughed up do you want him?’

‘Roughed up enough that he’ll think twice about being an idiot, and maybe can’t walk for a couple of days. But not roughed up enough that he will be incapable of having sex with me.’

A brief silence was followed by a laugh. ‘You’re talking about Colt? You want me to beat up my brother?’

‘She’s being dramatic,’ Colt said, joining the conversation and moving across the room to stand on the opposite side of the desk from her. ‘She doesn’t like what I said.’

‘You wouldn’t like it either, Ruger. He’s being unreasonable.’

‘Ok, kids, if you can’t play nice I’ll have to separate you. What’s going on?’

‘He knows who the stalker is and he won’t tell me. He plans to get himself killed just to prove a point.’

‘That’s not what I said,’ Colt said. ‘But now that you’ve got the baby involved you’ve put him in danger too.’

‘I don’t agree with any of this,’ Lyssa said, overwhelmed by the depth of her concern for Colt.

‘No shit,’ Colt said, heading for the door. ‘I’m coming over, Ruge. Stay where you are.’

He glared at her and then exited. She sighed and hoped that Ruger would talk some sense into him. It didn’t matter if he was pissed at her, she’d rather have Colt pissed at her than to act without appropriate back up, he’d tried that once before and someone had ended up dead.

Although she hadn’t heard from any of the brothers for the rest of the day and she was eager to get home, Lyssa made a deliberate effort to put that out of her mind so that she could focus on Suzette, who had just arrived at her office.

‘I feel like we’re drifting apart,’ Suzette said. ‘That our lives are becoming so different that we’re losing each other.’

‘This is a difficult time, that’s all.’

They’d settled on her patient couch after Lyssa poured coffee, but the mugs remained on the end table untouched. Suzette had come here to talk and it was obvious that she wanted to get her thoughts out, to put them into words, maybe before she lost her nerve. Though it was possible that she’d been thinking and analysing so much recently that there was a build-up of pressure behind her words, forcing them out perhaps before they were fully formed into coherent concepts.

‘It’s not just that,’ Suzette said, shaking her head and swiping tears from her cheeks. ‘I didn’t realise just how much I depended on you until I didn’t have you anymore.’

‘I’ve neglected you this week,’ Lyssa said. ‘I’m sorry about that, but—‘

‘I didn’t even know about Bobby, I had to hear it from someone else.’

‘Who did you hear about it from?’

‘A detective came to ask about you. He said that you’d been one of the last people to see Bobby alive. It must have been a traumatising experience for you and I couldn’t even be there for you.’

‘What did the detective want to know about me?’

‘Just about your practice, and about Archie, and Colt, and—‘

‘Personal information,’ Lyssa said. ‘Did you tell him anything?’

‘Some of it,’ Suzette said. ‘I didn’t think that there was any harm, he’s a police detective.’

A detective who had a bone to pick with Colt. Covering for her speculation as to Hoburn’s motives, Lyssa sipped her coffee then took Suzette’s hand. ‘How are things going with the wedding plans?’

‘It’s crazy, I thought I was busy before, but I have everything to confirm and we were trying cake variations a couple of nights ago.’

‘I thought that you decided on a cake,’ Lyssa said.

‘We did, but we decided we wanted something a bit more special.’

‘It is going to be the most special day of your life.’

‘Your wedding was beautiful, I don’t think we’ll match that… Keith has been asking about you. I think he’s still holding out hope that you’ll change your mind about him.’

‘That’s sweet, but unlikely. I’ll be bringing Colt to the wedding.’

‘Oh,’ Suzette said, taking her hand away. ‘You will?’

‘Is that a problem?’

‘I just… I didn’t think that he’d want to come. You know, it’s going to be fancy, I don’t imagine it will be much fun for him.’

‘I’ll make sure he wears a tux and eats with a fork,’ Lyssa said, unsure as to where her friend’s attitude came from. ‘You’ve never been a snob, Suzette, and Colt is a good guy, what’s going on?’

‘He’s snooping into your life and that’s… its weird, don’t you think? He’s your boyfriend.’

‘He’s also a professional in this field, he’s going all out to help me. He’s dedicating all of his time and resources to this. I’m very grateful to him. Why don’t you like him?’

‘He made you beg,’ Suzette said and the meekness she’d displayed thus far began to dwindle.

‘He didn’t,’ Lyssa said. ‘We struck a deal on that first night. One of his requests was that I didn’t tell anyone about it.’

‘Including me, don’t you think that it’s weird he didn’t want anyone to know he was associated with you? What possible reason could there be for that?’

‘In what he does he needs some anonymity, it’s as simple as that. I understand why he made the request.’

‘So you were fine with lying to me?’ Suzette asked, her anger broke out of her.

‘It wasn’t a comfortable experience,’ Lyssa said, putting her coffee cup down. ‘But it was necessary and I had to respect his wishes in order to get him to help me.’

‘Something about him doesn’t sit right with me. What kind of person tries to isolate you from your friends? From your support network?’

‘Isn’t that what Pete is doing when he asks you not to talk to me?’

‘That’s a completely different thing,’ Suzette said, offended by the accusation. ‘You said so yourself, he’s worried about my safety. He wants to look after me.’

‘And that’s all that Colt wants to do as well. He cares about me, and everything he’s done has been in order to try and uncover the identity of the person who is targeting me.’

‘But he hasn’t, has he?’

Her cellphone rang and Lyssa brought it out of her purse, which was on the floor by her feet. She read the screen and frowned. ‘Hello?’

‘It’s Crystal,’ she said.

‘Hey, is everything ok?’ Lyssa asked. When the name of the club had flashed up she’d expected Blaser to be on the other end of the line. Even although it was her opinion that he shouldn’t really be at the club without medical supervision, she knew he didn’t like to be tethered on a leash.

‘There are flowers here for you,’ Crystal said.

Chills speckled through her and the hair on her neck stood up. ‘There? At the club?’

‘They were at the back door,’ Crystal said. ‘There’s a card.’

‘What does it say?’

‘It says your name and then…’

‘What?’

‘It says, “him zero, me one”… someone is keeping score. What do you want me to do with them? Should I call Blaser and Colt? Is it a perv?’ Crystal asked.

‘No,’ Lyssa said, though she didn’t know that for sure. ‘Keep them there, I’m coming over.’

‘Ok. See you soon.’

She hung up and slid her purse strap up her arm. ‘I’m sorry, Suzette, but I have to go.’

‘I’m coming with you,’ Suzette said, springing to her feet next to Lyssa. ‘We need to have this conversation and I’m tired of us always running out on it.’

‘You have the rest of your shift to finish.’

‘I’ll tell them I’m ill,’ Suzette said, taking her own phone from her purse. ‘Our friendship is more important than work… and Pete’s gone home already so he’ll never know I left early.’

‘Ok,’ Lyssa nodded. ‘I have something to deal with and then we’ll talk, Colt’s office should be empty.’

The women left the hospital building together and got a cab to Risqué. She knew that she should phone Colt, it was unlikely that he was at the club already or he would have been the one calling her instead of Crystal. If Blaser or Ruger had been there then they would have called her, or called Colt first. The taxi driver spoke for the whole journey, not that she would have wanted to have a private conversation with Suzette in front of him, but it did limit what they said to each other.

Crystal was running the bar when they arrived inside. Though it was quiet, there was enough going on that she felt it necessary to duck around to the far corner of the bar, where she usually hung out with the brothers. It was sort of the family corner, and deliberately less illuminated because of that. When Crystal came to them, she curled her lip at Suzette.

‘What’s she doing here?’ Crystal asked.

‘She and I have things to discuss,’ Lyssa said. ‘Where are they?’

‘Locker room,’ Crystal said.

‘Thanks.’ Lyssa dived around the bar and crouched to retrieve the key to Colt’s office from the secret compartment in the floor panel of the bar. When she stood up again, Crystal was moving away toward Destiny, who had an order to fill. ‘Is Blase coming in later?’ Lyssa called to Crystal who planted a grin on her and twisted to walk backward.

‘He said he’d have to get his doctor’s approval.’

The women laughed and Lyssa rolled her eyes, and left the bar to cross to backstage, with Suzette glued to her heels. ‘Why is that funny?’ Suzette asked.

‘I’m his doctor,’ Lyssa said and right on cue her phone rang and her ex-boss’ name came onto the display. ‘I was just talking about you, boss.’

‘All good?’

‘Obviously,’ she said. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘I’m fucking fine and my brothers are driving me mad. I need to get out of here. Where are you?’

It was nice that he was giving her the respect of her profession and her new position in the family. She’d bailed him out and since then a bond was forged. ‘If I tell you that then you might worry.’

‘I don’t give a fuck if you’re in danger,’ Blaser said, though she knew it wasn’t true. But she did hear Colt shout something in the background.

‘I’m not in danger,’ she said. ‘I’m in your club.’

‘You are?’ Blaser said, and his voice became decidedly lighter. ‘You’re re-hired.’

‘I am?’ she laughed. ‘What brought on the change of heart?’

‘If you’re there then I can be there,’ he said. ‘I’m on my way.’

‘I don’t know if my boyfriend will approve of me working for you.’

‘Screw him,’ Blaser said. ‘I need you on the premises until I get back to normal. I’m short-staffed too, and I promise no clean-up for you. You can leave early. My brother will approve of that.’

‘Ok. I have something to do and then I’ll get changed.’

‘For real?’ he asked, as though he hadn’t actually expected her to agree.

‘I loved working here,’ she admitted. ‘Even if I did suck at it.’

‘You provided entertainment,’ Blaser said. ‘I’ll see you in ten minutes.’

They hung up, and Lyssa pushed into the locker room and went over to her locker to unlock it, she never had turned her key back to Blaser.

‘You really fit in here now,’ Suzette said. ‘You’ve made friends with everyone.’

‘They’re a welcoming bunch,’ Lyssa said, though she’d never struggled to make friends with people when she needed to.

‘What’s it like working in a place like this? You just waitressed? You didn’t have to take off your clothes?’

‘There’s a sample of the wardrobe back there,’ Lyssa said, retrieving the flowers from her locker. She tossed the stems into the trash after she took the card from them. Frowning at what it could mean, she took out her phone and text Colt to ask if he was coming in with Blaser. He replied in the affirmative and she wasn’t surprised. They had their own issues to discuss, and he was probably going stir crazy in the apartment as well.

Sticking the note back in her locker, she sought out Suzette who was examining the rails of clothes with wide eyes.

‘I’m going to go with the purple tonight,’ Lyssa said, pulling out a hanger. ‘Do you want to try the red?’

‘What?’

‘How long has it been since we did something crazy together? Call it one last fling before you’re married and respectable?’

Suzette laughed and Lyssa knew that her best friend was up for the challenge. ‘Your boss won’t mind?’

‘If he does I’ll just up his meds and he’ll agree to anything,’ she said, and her smile became a laugh. ‘It’s your call.’

‘One last fling,’ Suzette said, snatching an outfit and the women went into the rest room to change while Lyssa gave Suzette the lowdown on the setup.

‘I don’t agree with this,’ Colt said, scrutinising Lyssa as she tottered toward him on very high heels in her revealing outfit. When she got as far as him she let herself collapse into his arms.

‘Live a little,’ she said, planting her mouth on his. In his kiss he apologised to her and she apologised right back, but that didn’t stop her from snuggling her face in close to his neck and whispering in his ear. ‘I don’t like it when we fight.’

‘Then start behaving yourself,’ he said and squeezed her ass, pulling her into the vee of his thighs and pressing her into the bulge of his arousal.

‘Behave myself,’ she said, wriggling against him. ‘You’re the one being naughty.’

‘The pair of you behave yourselves,’ Blaser said, appearing at the other side of the bar. ‘Honestly, what is this place? A playground for the lot of you? I don’t recognise that one, when did I hire her?’ He nodded to Suzette who was giggling with customers and taking orders at a table a few feet from the bar.

‘She’s just having a bit of fun before she gets hitched.’

Blaser shook his head. ‘I give up, really, I do. You lot just do what the hell you want, don’t you?’

‘You don’t have to pay her,’ Lyssa said. ‘What’s wrong with people exploring life experiences especially when it doesn’t cost you a dime?’

‘And if she falls and breaks her neck? Or gets sexually assaulted? Who covers my attorney’s fees, huh?’

‘You’re actually insured for stuff like that?’ Lyssa asked, finding her feet and her doctor’s face.

‘This place is legit,’ Blaser said slowly, then looked at Colt. ‘What does she think we’re running?’

‘I told her that all of the girls were required to pick a financial backer and screw his brains out. Don’t mess with what I’ve got going on,’ Colt said.

‘Really,’ Blaser said, unamused by his brother’s comments. ‘I give up on all of you.’

‘What’s his problem?’ Ruger asked when he came over and joined them.