Today I took no chances with a broken heel. I wore flats. And I was late. Hurrying down the walkway, I pulled on the entrance door to the building with more force than I intended and almost fell backwards when someone grabbed the door from behind me.
Strong arms encircled my waist. “Steady, my-ah sladkaya.”
Max. I could always trust him to turn up at the strangest, most inopportune times.
“If you didn’t sneak up on people…”
He gripped me a bit closer and my pulse ratcheted up a notch. “I’ve got it now. I’m not going to fall. You can let go.”
He whispered in my ear, “Do you really want me to?”
My breath hitched. No. I didn’t want him to let go, but we were in a very public place, and I felt like all eyes were on me. “Please,” I begged.
We entered the building, his laughter following me inside. “You have confused me.”
He was confused? The sexy Russian constantly kept me off-balance.
We rounded the corner of the lobby and ran into a more irate than usual Ryder.
“Becca, there you are. And I should have known you’d be with Chernov.”
The two men squared off and for a moment no one spoke.
“I was walking Becca to her office,” Max said before I could think of a clever reply.
“Good, we can all walk together,” Ryder said.
But wasn’t Ryder headed out the building when we were headed in?
“By the way, Max, did Becca tell you her latest brilliant idea?” Ryder’s voice dripped sarcasm as he walked on the other side of me, sandwiching me in between the two big men.
Max regarded me as we all continued to move toward Daley & Palmer’s suite. “Becca, what’s R.J. talking about?”
What was Ryder talking about?
“So she hasn’t told you, either. Don’t feel bad. I had to find out through my sources,” Ryder said.
The two men stopped. I got glares from both of them. And I didn’t even know what I’d done.
“Becca, would you like to tell me something?” Max asked.
I entered the suite and put my things on the desk. The reception area was empty except for me and the guys.
Ryder leaned against the door jamb somehow appearing both angry and amused. “Go ahead, Becca. I’d like to hear it from the horse’s mouth.”
Horse’s mouth? “Max thinks I have sexy lips.” Both Max and Ryder continued to stare at me. Maybe my lips weren’t so sexy when they had thoughtless words dribbling off them. “I gather this isn’t about my lips?”
“Okay, if Becca won’t tell you, I will.” Ryder left the door jamb and walked deeper into the suite.
Max focused his attention on him.
“Seems like our Becca got this crazy idea to make herself the murderer’s next target,” Ryder said.
Our Becca. Since when was I their Becca?
“What!” Max regarded Ryder and then turned his full attention to me. “What in God’s name have you done, Rebecca?” He advanced on me, and I backed up putting the desk chair between us.
“I – I haven’t done anything.” My voice faltered, and I desperately wanted to be anywhere but here.
“You’re too modest,” Ryder continued. “She’s been telling people that she witnessed O’Malley’s murder.”
Max cut loose with a string of Russian that probably would have burned my ears if I’d understood any of it. He advanced on me and slid the desk chair out of my grip and closed the gap between us. His dark eyes blackened and his hands formed into tight fists. “Tell me he’s lying,” Max said through gritted teeth.
I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe.
“Go on, Becca. Tell him about the pictures, too,” Ryder prodded.
“Shut up!” I finally managed. “Both of you. Just be quiet. I can’t think. I can’t get my breath.” I pushed with both hands against Max’s rock-hard abs and didn’t so much as budge him.
“Becca, I’m waiting. Talk to me.” Max didn’t give ground. If anything he came even closer.
“Go on, Becca. Tell Max how you came to my house,” Ryder prompted.
Max no longer stood in front of me. He turned on Ryder and stared him down, daring Ryder to make the first move. I had the feeling it wasn’t all about me, but about some history these two men had between them.
“Miss Reynolds, what is the meaning of this?” Dr. Dick stepped out of his office and stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding in front of him before turning his attention to me.
“I can explain,” I offered still not moving. Then, “You know, actually, I can’t. I have no idea why they’re squaring off.”
Ryder and Max moved apart, an uneasy truce settling between them.
“I think you both should leave,” Dr Dick said.
To their credit, both men left the suite. Max turned back and gave me one last scowl, as if to say we weren’t through with this.
I was going to kill Ryder, but first I had to find a way to explain this to Dr. Daley and keep my job.
“Since your employment, we’ve gone through a lot here at Daley & Palmer, Miss Reynolds. But the last thing I ever thought I would see in this suite would be two grown men ready to throw punches. And I can’t help but believe it was about you.” Dr. Dick leveled his gaze at me.
“Really? I would have thought the last thing you would have ever thought to see was a dead body in the office,” I responded. We both turned and studied the place where Robert O’Malley had been murdered.
Dr. Dick shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. To give him credit, he conceded the point. “You know what I mean. An altercation in an office dedicated to mental health is not a good advertisement. Explain.”
“Ryder was goading Max. That’s all.”
“That’s all? I think not.”
“Seriously. Too much testosterone. But I swear to you it won’t happen again.”
“Bringing your love life to work is not acceptable.”
“My love life?”
“Yes. We can’t have it. What you do in your off hours is entirely up to you, but while you’re here at the office, you are required to set a tone. And that tone does not involve men fighting over you.”
Testy. But at least he hadn’t fired me over it, and I started breathing a bit better.
He peered at his watch. “Where is my first patient?”
I hoped he was speaking rhetorically, because how in the heck was I supposed to know?
“I’m going to have to talk to Marcy about this behavior. Your probationary period is almost up, and we have some serious concerns to address.”
I sat, slumping into my chair.
“You must know it hasn’t been working out.”
I knew nothing of the sort.
Before he could tear into me further, his patient raced through the door. “Sorry I’m late. Traffic was a bitch on the interstate.”
Dr. Dick gave me that glance that said that we’d continue this discussion later. Well, he’d have to stand in line for that one the way this morning was shaping up. And then he and his patient disappeared into his inner office.
What a morning! As I put my things away, I wondered what else could go wrong.
I couldn’t wait for lunchtime to hit. Not for the food. I needed to get out of the office and get some fresh air. Blow off the stink of the morning. Erase the image of Ryder and Max squared off and ready to go after each other.
When I stepped outside, I sucked in a huge gulp of fresh air. The day turned out to be gorgeous, at least from a weather standpoint. Warm, low humidity, bright and sunny without a cloud in the sky.
“Becca.”
Oh dear God. Max. What the heck was he still doing here? My first instinct was to flee. But I merely sped up my pace.
“Wait up,” he ordered.
I stopped and figured I’d better get this over now, rather than later.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded.
“When?”
“Setting yourself up as a decoy. Are you crazy? What if it actually gets back to the murderer? Don’t you think he or she will come after you? And believe me, if someone wants to get to you, they’ll find a way.” His face expressed intense concern.
“I’ve given up that plan. And I admit it was stupid.”
“Stupid isn’t the word. You’ve got to be careful. And speaking of careful, what were you doing at Ryder’s house?”
So there it was. Max was jealous of Ryder. I didn’t know whether to be happy or not.
He edged closer to me. “He’s a dangerous man.”
“Look who’s talking,” I couldn’t resist saying.
“You’re playing with fire on many fronts. I know R. J. Ryder, and he’s not someone you want to be involved with.”
“You mean because of the married women.”
Max appeared truly puzzled, and I couldn’t believe that I actually knew something that he didn’t.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. All I know is it isn’t safe for you to be around him. The man has a temper and can push my buttons. You can push my buttons.”
I couldn’t help it. I smiled. And clearly it didn’t make points with Max.
“I went to see Daisy,” I finally admitted. “Not Ryder.”
“Daisy? What business do you have with Daisy?” Now he was on full alert, and his tone had grown truly menacing.
“She’s the one who saw the murder. She’s the one who was behind the supply door when it went down. I was trying to get her to tell me who the murderer was. I even took her a photo array to help her, but she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, identify the killer. I’m worried about her safety. If the killer finds out it was Daisy who witnessed the killing, they’ll kill her too. I couldn’t convince Ryder of the danger. But then I’m not sure he believed she saw anything.”
Max seemed to consider this for a moment. “You’re telling me the truth.”
I nodded yes.
“Then I have to see Daisy. You’re right. She could be in danger. But then so could you.” He seemed torn between the two of us.
“Go. Watch over her. I can take care of myself.”
He still appeared torn. “I don’t want to leave you. But I owe Daisy. I’ll tell you about it sometime. Stay around groups of people. Don’t allow yourself to be alone. Do you understand?” He hugged me tight and then when I nodded, let me go. “You have my number. Don’t hesitate to call.”
He hurried to his car, and I stood there and debated whether to go out driving on my lunch hour or return to the office. But before I could make up my mind, my cell phone rang. “Granddad. What’s up?”
“It’s Higgins. I had to drop him at the groomers this morning. I don’t know what you did to him when you babysat for him, but his fur was matted and his nails were a wreck. The poor baby kept hanging them on everything.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That cat’s life was a bitch. Bite me. “So, he’s at the groomers. Good for him.”
“No, not good. I was supposed to pick him up, and I’m stuck here at church helping set up for the weekend bazaar.”
In the midst of my murder investigation, I’d kind of lost track of Granddad’s daily doings.
“Becca, can you pick the baby up?”
Every time he called that cat his baby, my left eye twitched. Violently.
“Well, can you?”
“Sure, Granddad. I’ll pick him up.”
There was crackling, and I spun around in place trying to get a better signal, but I completely missed the next couple of sentences.
“Granddad, you’re breaking up. Don’t worry. I’ll pick your baby up.”
I checked my watch. The groomer was twenty minutes away. I’d have to hurry to be back here on time.
One thing I didn’t need today was to call attention to my tendency to be late. I had enough going against me.