The Billionaire's Prize: Taken & Tempted: (Book 3 Billionaire Bodyguard Series) (4 page)

Except not for a good reason. Her moment of happiness dwindled.

Adam’s vivid green eyes pinned her to her chair, and she shrank back under his scrutiny. A muscle flexed in his jaw. “We have a problem.”

Cade stopped typing on his laptop. “What is it?”

Flattening his hands on the table, Adam looked grim and intimidating. “Bruno Ramos was released from prison—yesterday.”

Shock fried Kylie’s nerves like an electrocution. She gripped her chair as horror sank in. “Bruno Ramos killed Maria,” she gasped.

Muscles rippled up Adam’s arms. “Looks like it.”

Looking pale under his tan, Cade pressed a thumb against his temple. “This is huge.”

“Hugely bad,” Liam said. “As bounty hunters we took down scores of guys in his drug cartel. If he didn’t have it out for us already, he will now.”

“Yeah, now that Kylie’s under our protection.” Adam narrowed his eyes at her. “What’s your connection to Ramos?”

Her hands trembled as she explained. “I worked as an intern for Bruno’s defense attorney. When I started asking questions about a possible correlation to Jacob Soren’s death, he went frigid on me and terminated my internship two weeks later. So I pursued the leads I uncovered myself.”

“You did what?” Adam bellowed.

“We’ve been over this.” Cade rose from his chair and rested his fingertips on her shoulder. “Kylie had no intention of creating an association between Bruno and Maria. That was an accident. But somehow he must’ve known Kylie had contacted Maria, and that Maria had talked.”

“I know it was a mistake,” she said, guilt twisting into painful knots inside her. “I wanted to do the right thing. I wanted to follow-up with some proof for the cold case.”

“An accident.
A mistake. Whatever you want to call it, this puts us all at risk.” Adam started pacing. “Does he know you’re here?”

“No,” Cade answered for her. “I pulled Kylie out of Vegas as soon as I heard about Maria’s death.”

Liam turned to her. “I take it you’re in law school?”

She shook her head. “I’m getting my degree in paralegal studies.”

“So you’re an armchair detective.” Adam sneered. “That’s freakin’ great.”

Despite how hard she’d worked on her degree, on all her own cold cases, his remark cut her to the bone. He was right. She had no authority or legal recourse or a law degree backing up her assumptions. She wanted to curl up and disappear, wishing she’d never set foot in that defense attorney’s office—or followed her hunch about Jacob Soren’s suspicious death in the first place.

Cade glowered at his cousin. “Don’t be a dick.”

“Try a realist. One of us needs to face the truth. Ramos has deadly connections, and those connections have connections. He could’ve ordered a hit on Kylie by now.”

Liam crossed his arms on the table. “It’s more likely than not. We should move forward with that expectation.”

“We should move her out of this office. We can’t risk someone following her trace here, putting our employees and clients in danger.”

Liam sent her a look of compassion. “It’s not Kylie’s fault Ramos is a coldblooded killer out to silence the truth.”

“There was a woman involved,” she interjected, desperate to prove herself worth the trouble of keeping her safe in Denver. “Maria described a couple arguing in the next room. The name Ramos came up.”

Adam’s jaw went slack. “Why didn’t the cops
track that lead from the beginning?”

“Maria’s English wasn’t very fluent five years ago,” Kylie said. “She told me she tried to explain the best she could, but the officers didn’t find her statement relevant or credible enough, so they never pursued her claims.”

Cade’s expression changed. A haunted look stole into his eyes. “What about the couple? Did Maria tell you more about the argument?”

She nodded. “Maria said they were fighting over money. There wasn’t enough, or help came too late. Something along those lines.
Maria knocked on the door to see if everything was okay. A man who she identified as your father opened the door and insisted they were fine. When the door shut the argument continued. Out of context Maria had a hard time making sense of their quarrel, but it spilled into the back alley. The same woman was screaming and crying, ‘He’s dead. He’s dead and it’s your fault.’ Then she heard two gun shots. When Maria raced to the window, a black Cadillac peeled out of the parking lot. The same car the woman was driving when she arrived at the motel. Presumably to meet with your dad.”

“No shit.” Adam regarded her with new respect. “Uncle Jake was there for a reason. This woman must have a connection to Bruno.”

“She did.” Kylie breathed deep. “At the front desk Maria found the check-in log with the last name Ramos scribbled on the sheet. In fact it said Emilio Ramos. When she went to offer it to the police an hour later, the page had been torn off and she never saw it again.”

Cade ran a hand down his face, sadness pinching his features. “Maybe that’s why he told me to stay with Mom and called Trey for backup. He knew the meeting wouldn’t go well.”

Liam scratched his sideburns. “There’s a clue in there. If Uncle Jake got to the motel first he would’ve signed in. So why under the last name Ramos, unless he wanted someone to know who he was dealing with?”

“That’s what I wondered, too,” Kylie said.

“I want to know more about the woman in the black Cadillac,” Liam said. “I’ll see if I can get a hold of video footage from surveillance cameras for that day.”

She shook her head regretfully. “There isn’t any footage. The motel’s cameras were for show, they didn’t work.”

Liam offered a crooked grin that made his dimples pop. “Maybe you and the cops couldn’t find anything, but I have a buddy who works at an AV company in that part of town.”

“AV?” she asked, unfamiliar with the term.

“Audio/Visual. My buddy
manages the equipment repair department. He might be persuaded to follow up with the shop owners or nearby businesses for their old footage. I think there’s an AV storage database he can access, too. For the right price.”

Cade walked to a safe embedded in the wall, dialed four digits then pulled a wad of hundred dollar bills from the contents. He closed the safe, spun the dial. “This is off the books.” He approached Liam and dropped the stack
of cash in front of his cousin. “Make it happen.”

Kylie jumped in her chair, startled by the buzz of her cell phone. She glanced at the caller ID.
Dominique.
“Excuse me for a minute.”

She answered the call out in the hallway. “Sorry I didn’t text you sooner. I just arrived in Denver an hour ago, and—”

“They came here.” Dominique’s voice sounded garbled and strained. “To the apartment. The men threatened me. My daughter was in the next room!”

Terror stuck her like hot lightning. “Who came, Dominique?”

“I don’t know! They asked for you. I pretended I didn’t know you, but I live right below you in our duplex. They called me a liar. When I told them you left, they pointed a gun between my eyes and said if I didn’t tell them where you went they’d kill me.” Dominique sobbed.

Kylie’s voice dropped to a fearful whisper. “Did you tell them I’m in Denver?”

“I had to,” Dominique wailed. “I’m sorry, Kylie. I had to…my daughter…”

“Okay. It’s okay.” Her blood turned to ice in her veins. She spoke in controlled tones, but she wanted to sob hysterically, too. “You need to get out of the house. You’re not safe there. Bruno Ramos killed Maria, and I believe he’s after me.”

“Is that who sent the men to our home? Is he a criminal?”

“Yes, a very bad one. You can’t go to the motel down the street. It’s too close, and there won’t be enough security.” As her discussion with the Soren men had just proven. “Go to the police, make a statement. Then call Professor Carlton. He used to prosecute men like Bruno
Ramos. He’ll know what to do, where to go, so you and Jayda
will be safe.”

Dominique sniffed. “What about you?”

Kylie glanced through the crack in the partially closed door and saw Slone’s rock solid shoulder in view. “I have a bodyguard. I’m not worried.” She nearly choked on the lie. “Cade makes a lot of money keeping people safe, his company’s reputation is excellent. I couldn’t be in better hands.”
I hope.

“All right, love. Be safe. I’m taking my daughter to the police station now.”

“I will. Take care, Dominique.”

She ended the call. Her body shook with live wire tension.

Fear scorched her insides. As she returned to the conference room,
she felt like she was slogging through thick, slow-moving lava.

The four men in the room stared at her with varying degrees of concern
and dread. “Sounds like you just got some bad news,” Liam said, his forehead tight with a frown.

“Looks like it, too.” Adam pulled out her chair. “Come sit down. Before you pass out.”

Cade reached for her, stroking his hands up her arms. “What happened?”

“Several men came to my house searching for me. They threatened my neighbor, my best friend, Dominique. They held a gun to her head. She has a daughter, and…” Her voice cracked.

Cade’s tone hardened. “Does Dominique know where you are?”

Tears threatened. She couldn’t speak. Only nod.

“Damn it,” he cursed under his breath.

Adam slammed his fist against the table, making her flinch. “So much for the element of surprise. Cade, he’ll track her down. That slaps a target on all of us—”

“I know that,” Cade snapped. His strong hands kneaded her tense shoulders while he talked. “She’ll be safe at my place. Dozens of cameras. Security guards twenty-four/seven. My own private elevator. Ramos won’t connect her to me, not immediately. That’s our one saving grace right now.”

“Better be,” Adam muttered. “This just went from bad to shit.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For everything.”

Cade cupped her chin. “This isn’t your fault.”

Adam drummed his fingers on the table. “Uh, it kind of is.”

“Knock it off.” Cade speared Adam with a glare that made his cousin go silent. Then he faced her again. “You’ve been through a lot today. Let’s get you to my place. You can settle in, we’ll order takeout.”

Realizing Dominique could’ve been killed because of her, she couldn’t even think about eating. “I’m not hungry.”

“When the adrenaline wears off you will be.” He nodded to the bodyguard, Slone. “I know your shift ends soon. Interested in overtime?”

“Whatever you need, sir.”

“Thanks. Knowing you’re there will take the edge off.” Cade wrapped her in his coat once again and kept his arm firmly planted around her waist. The shelter and strength of his tall body at her side eased the trails of fear running through her. “Liam, if you hear from your AV friend, let me know.”

Liam gave a two finger salute.

“Adam, if you can follow up on more leads about Ramos’s whereabouts, or further ties to this mystery woman, I’d appreciate it.”

“You got it, man. Be careful out there.”

Cade led her back to the elevator. They rode down to the first floor with Slone in tow again. Cade didn’t let go of her. She let herself believe for a second she might be okay.

Until they exited the building, where a well dressed woman with perfectly coiffed hair stood with a microphone in hand.
Surrounded by two cameramen.

The news trio raced up to them. “Hell, not now.” Cade shoved Kylie behind him and stood like her own personal shield. He addressed the female reporter with steel in his tone. “Miss Rappaport. I thought we rescheduled for tomorrow.”

Ignoring Cade, she turned to her cameramen. “Are we rolling?” The men nodded. She cleared her throat and pasted an earnest expression onto her face. “Mr. Soren, is it true you’ve recently learned that your father, a well-known bounty hunter, was murdered in Las Vegas five years ago?”

Cade stiffened. “No comment. If you want to discuss the success of last weekend’s fundraiser, we can do that right now.”

Blinking at the round lenses of the cameras, Kylie broke into a cold sweat. She flashed back to the weeks following her mother’s gruesome death. The press had hounded her, her sister and her father. Daddy had been the prime suspect, instead of the rich slimy bastard who’d ripped her mother away from their family with the promise of glamour and fame and wealth. She knew who’d killed her mother, and one day she would prove it. But the shock of reliving that dark time in the present moment made her shudder. She gripped the back of Cade’s suit jacket, bunching the expensive fabric between her fingers.

“Do you believe your father’s death is connected to the recent murder of a motel maid, Maria Sanchez?” Miss Rappaport pressed. “We have it on good authority…”

Cade murmured over his shoulder to Slone. “Get Kylie out of here. I’ll meet you at my penthouse.”

A second later Slone whisked her down the sidewalk and practically tossed her into the waiting limousine. He slammed the door and pounded on the divider, ordering the driver to leave stat.

“Damn media,” he muttered.

Kylie swallowed and glanced out the back window, relieved the press’s focus had remained on Cade. “You’re not a fan either?” she asked.

“I’d rather shovel camel crap in Afghanistan in a hundred and thirty degrees than face the press.”