Finn ran faster than he could ever remember running before. The frigid air burned through his lungs, and his muscles ached as his boots pounded the ground. He was covering Ryder’s ass. Although he had done that dozens of times while in the Marines, this time was different. Ryder was not only his best friend but recently became his business partner. But it was more than that. Ryder was married now and would be a father soon. Finn had promised Ryder’s wife Caroline he would bring her husband back alive. And he didn’t make promises lightly.
Pop, pop, pop.
Finn returned their enemies’ fire, the shots pinging off mountain boulders and rocks. The assholes were gaining on them. Mostly because Mr. Bayram Kubat couldn’t run worth shit. Hell, Ryder might have to sling the guy over his shoulder if they had a chance of making it out of here alive. He was surprised he hadn’t done so already. “Move your fucking asses!” Finn screamed at them.
“Cover us!” Ryder shouted back then lifted the bag of bones off the ground, threw him over his shoulder and took off again.
What the hell did Ryder think he had been doing? Pop, pop. Rat-a-tat-tat. Those fucking terrorists had machine guns but they obviously hadn’t had any training. Their aim was so far off it would have been funny if the idea of one of those bastards getting a lucky shot hadn’t crossed his mind.
Ryder and his baggage disappeared around the bend. Finn fired off a few more shots, killing at least three of those fuckers, then followed his friend. His booted foot slipped on the wet, snow-covered ground. He heard a snap then nearly lost his balance.
Ryder glanced back at him.
“Keep going!” Finn shouted, refusing to give in to the searing pain in his ankle. Only a few hundred yards to the clearing and they could kiss Syria goodbye. If he stopped or slowed down now he would be kissing his ass goodbye.
Their job had been to go in and extract a Turkish Ambassador to the United Nations. The guy had been in Syria doing God only knew what when he’d been kidnapped and taken prisoner last week. For some reason the government needed his safe return but wasn’t authorized to send the military out on such a mission. According to their contacts this extraction was all hush-hush, which had made Ryder and him a little nervous. But the money they’d been offered was too much to pass up.
Finn kept running and shooting, ignoring his throbbing ankle. A few more yards. He could do this. And then just like that an Air Force chopper appeared from behind a wall of mountainous hills. They were going to make it out alive.
Finn cleared his throat. The newlyweds were so busy kissing they had forgotten all about him standing there. Enough already.
Caroline Ryder broke away from her husband and had the decency to look embarrassed. Ryder only managed to look annoyed by the interruption.
Caroline had met them at the airport. She stepped forward and kissed Finn on the cheek. “How’s your ankle? John said you slipped in the snow.”
“I’m fine. Just a sprain. Nothing to worry about.” It still hurt like hell, but he wasn’t about to admit it. Caroline would only start questioning them about the mission and it would make her go crazy with worry. As if spraining an ankle was the most worrisome part of their job.
“Good. John said you guys went to D.C. to offer protection to an ambassador. That must have been exciting!”
“Yep,” the men said in unison. Although they had only gone to D.C. for their orders before being shipped off. Ryder did not discuss the factual details of a mission with his wife, but she always insisted on knowing something. Thus the reason for the bullshit story they’d told her.
“Did you get to visit the White House while you were there?”
“We were pretty busy,” Ryder told her.
Busy dodging bullets.
Caroline frowned. “Oh, that’s a shame.”
They walked outside of the small, local air terminal and headed across the snowy lot to a parked SUV. It was after midnight and Finn was exhausted. He and Ryder had gone nearly forty-eight hours without sleep other than the few winks they’d gotten on the plane. He couldn’t wait to climb into bed. He’d probably sleep until tomorrow afternoon. He was staying at Ryder’s lake house, was thinking about buying it from him since his friend now owned three houses with his wife. The one in town, and two on the lake.
“I see we got some snow while we were gone,” Ryder said as he and Finn tossed their bags in the back end of the vehicle. Ryder helped his pregnant wife into the passenger seat then went around and climbed behind the wheel just as Finn crawled into the backseat.
Only another six weeks and his friends would be parents, he thought noticing the car seat in the back. Finn was pretty proud of Ryder. He’d handled things quite well when he’d found out his girl was pregnant. Even though Finn knew Ryder was scared out of his mind about having a kid he never showed it in front of Caroline. Well maybe when he had first found out, but he’d come around pretty quickly.
As they rode along Caroline rambled on about the weather and how many inches of the white stuff had fallen over the past four days. Then she turned to look at Finn in the back. “Oh, I almost forgot. Do you remember my friend Macy Winthrop?”
Macy Winthrop? Boy did he ever. Dr. Macy with the TV show in Chicago. He looked skyward as if he was trying to place her. “Can’t say that name rings a bell.” It had been six months since he’d last seen her. In her hotel room. Naked. Yep, he remembered her well.
“Dark hair. Really pretty. She was at my wedding. Our wedding,” she corrected with a smile for her husband. “She’s famous. Has her own TV show. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice her, Finn, because I don’t believe you.”
Finn saw Ryder eyeing him from the rearview mirror. He knew that look. Ryder had accused him of hitting on Caroline’s friend but Finn had denied it. He didn’t kiss and tell, and besides, there was nothing to tell anyway. They’d kissed, they’d groped a little and then the woman had passed out. No big deal. But he did remember that luscious body of hers. Those full breasts and her curvy ass and hips.
“Oh, yeah. I seem to remember meeting her. Sorry about that. I don’t watch much daytime television.”
Caroline shot him a look of skepticism. “Well, anyway, she needs some help. It seems some crazy guy has been calling the show and saying weird things. She didn’t want to go into detail with me, and I know it’s because I’m pregnant.” She gave a little eye roll then rambled on. “I wish everyone would quit tiptoeing around me. I can handle things just fine. So I cry once in a while?” she said with a shrug. “It’s not a big deal. All pregos cry. It’s the hormones. We can’t help it.”
Finn nodded. Okay then. From the way Ryder talked Caroline cried on a daily basis, some days several times, and according to him she didn’t seem to need a valid reason.
“Anyway, she needs someone to be like a bodyguard or something, until they can find this guy.”
“Honey,” Ryder said, interrupting her, “you do realize Finn and I don’t do that kind of work. We do more . . . military style work.”
Yeah, we get paid to kill people if the need arises. But Finn didn’t say anything aloud. He just offered a nod of agreement.
And then came the tears. Oh shit.
“I can’t believe you would say such a thing. Macy is one of my best friends.” Sniffle, sniffle. “And she needs help.” Caroline wiped her tears with the sleeve of her coat. “We can’t just ignore her. I promised her I would talk to you.”
“Okay, okay.” Ryder reached across the console and patted her jean-clad knee. “Don’t cry. We’ll figure something out.”
Finn scowled at him in the mirror. We’ll figure something out? Like what, asshole? “Why can’t the police help?”
Caroline mumbled something between tears that sounded like, “They have to keep it quiet or it could hurt the ratings.”
Oh, for Chrissakes! Is that all Macy was worried about? Her damn ratings?
“Okay,” Ryder said again. “I’m sure Finn will be happy to talk to her.”
Finn will be happy to talk to her?
No way, Jose. Finn did not want to talk to Macy Winthrop ever again, and he was quite sure she did not want to talk to him.
“Why don’t you give her a call?” Finn suggested to his best friend who soon might not be a friend at all if he opened his mouth again to volunteer his services.
“I think it would be best if you flew to Chicago, Finn,” Caroline said with watery eyes. “I promised her John would handle it, but he just got back and I’d really like to spend some time with him.”
No, no, no.
“Besides, there’s no telling how long it will take to find this psycho. And I need my husband here. You guys promised this ambassador thing would be the last mission until after the baby is born.”
Finn tried to think fast. “Why don’t I call her in the morning? I’m sure it’s nothing.”
“She has to be on the set pretty early tomorrow. Some special program they’re taping before the show goes on hiatus. I can’t remember what it was all about. I was so concerned about those phone calls I wasn’t listening. Why don’t you just fly out in the morning?”
He hated commercial flights, and he just got off one less than an hour ago. “Well, I need to check my schedule first.”
More tears. “You don’t want to help her. Is that it?” Sniffle. “If it’s about money, she can certainly afford to pay your fee, although she is a friend so I was hoping you could do it for free.”
Jeezus. How did Ryder stand it? “Okay, I’ll pay her a visit. See if there’s anything I can do. But I’m driving, not flying. I can be there in a little over seven hours if I don’t stop to piss or eat.” He didn’t bother hiding the sarcasm. “I’ll leave at the crack of dawn.”
“Thank you.” More tears.
“Caroline, didn’t you hear me? I said I would help your friend.”
She jerked her head up and down. “Yes, I heard you.”
“Then why are you still crying?”
“These are happy tears.”
Happy tears? Oh, shit. Like he was supposed to know the difference. Just what the hell had he gotten himself into?
Finn parked in the garage on West Adams Street and walked the two city blocks to the Willis Tower, aka the Sears Tower. His foster parents had taken him and the other kids to Chicago when he was fourteen. He could still remember the view from the top of that tower. The tallest building in America. One-hundred-eight stories high. At that time he’d thought while peering out over the sky deck, it was the scariest and most thrilling thing he would ever do in his lifetime. Little did he know he would be jumping out of airplanes and helicopters or that he would get shot at with machine guns and lose an eye. Fun, fun, fun.
He blew out a long breath as he reached the building, seeing the white cloud it made.
Dozens of people—mostly tourists he decided, seeing the maps in their hands—muddled in front of the elevator doors. Finn waited his turn then took the elevator to the designated floor and got off. Following the signs he located the TV studio and walked through the glass doors.
He was greeted by a gray haired woman behind a long reception desk. “Can I help you?” Her name plaque said Lesley Richards.
“Yes. Daniel Finney to see Ms. Winthrop.”
Lesley glanced down at a book lying open-faced in front of her, frowned then scanned her computer screen. “I’m sorry, Mr. Finney. Did you have an appointment? Because I don’t see your name here anywhere.”
“What about John Ryder? Ryder, Finney and Associates?” The name of their operation sounded very professional although they had yet to hire any associates. However, they had contracted some outsiders, like his friend Luke Remington, to help a few times, mostly with communication services and background checks.
She scanned the book again. “Oh, yes. Mr. Ryder’s name is right here. Let me see if Ms. Winthrop can see you now.” The woman got up from her chair and disappeared around a corner.
Finn took a seat in the much-too-bright reception area and picked up a magazine from the glass topped table. And whose face was plastered on the front? Macy Winthrop’s, of course.
He stared at her bright blue eyes and that tumble of dark hair that he’d threaded his fingers through the night of Ryder’s wedding. Those eyes spoke volumes. They were warm, friendly, inviting. Unlike the Macy Winthrop he remembered.
“Mr. Finney?”
Finn dropped the magazine onto the table and stood.
“Ms. Winthrop will see you now. Let me take your coat.”
Finn shrugged out of his gray wool pea coat. The only clothing he’d had to choose from was the clothes he’d brought with him to Orchard Falls last week before leaving on their mission to Syria. He hadn’t packed a sport coat so he was probably underdressed in jeans, boots and a cotton Henley. Not that he cared all that much.
Lesley took his jacket to the adjacent coat room and hung it up for him. She gave him a warm smile. “This way.”
Following the receptionist down a hall, he passed what appeared to be a television studio, complete with cameras and lights, before turning a corner. The woman opened a door to what looked like a board room. Maybe a conference room. Although it was empty. No conference today.
“Have a seat. They’ll be right with you.”
“They?”
“Yes. Have a seat.” Lesley smiled brightly then left him alone.
“Macy, I don’t think this is a good idea. I wish you would have let me handle things.” Jeremy Matthews penetrated her gaze with a stern look. “We don’t know if we can trust this man. Why don’t you pack a bag and come stay with me till this thing blows over?”
Macy stared at him from the mirror of her dressing room as he stood behind her. She didn’t even have to consider the idea. The answer was no. Jeremy was the executive producer on the show and had been trying to get close to her ever since the show started, even before his nasty divorce was finalized earlier this year. While he was a nice guy, he wasn’t her type. And, besides, he was way too old for her. He had a son who was almost her age. Jeremy was probably close to sixty, nearly thirty years older than her.
“I trust my friend Caroline. She said her husband was sending his business partner.” She glanced at the text from her friend that morning. “She said his name is Daniel Finney. Caroline knows the situation—well, at least as far as what I wanted her to know— and would never send someone untrustworthy.”
Jeremy nodded and slapped his hands to his sides. “Fine. You win. But I don’t want word of this thing getting out. So what are we going to tell people around here when they see you walking around with a bodyguard?”
“I don’t know.” She thought for a moment. “Can’t we say he’s a friend, or a relation of mine? I know, maybe we could say he’s my cousin from Orchard Falls.” Although she didn’t have any cousins, or siblings. She’d always thought it would be fun to have more family. It had just been her and her parents growing up. Her parents now lived in Florida so she didn’t see them as often as she’d like. Currently they were touring Europe, a recent anniversary gift from her to them. They’d been married thirty-five years. Amazing.
Frowning, Jeremy didn’t argue but his sigh said he wasn’t happy about the idea. Was he against it because it was a stupid one or was it because he wanted her to stay at his place instead? “You know this would be the perfect way to test the waters between us. You can move in with me for a little while. We’ll spend some time together and see what happens.”
She turned in her chair and stared up at him. “Jeremy, we’ve talked about this. It would never work between us. Besides, everyone thinks I’m married anyway. How would that look if I was staying at your place?” Jeremy was the only one at the show who knew she was single. Only because the lie had been eating away at her, she had finally confessed several months ago. Although sometimes she wished she hadn’t. Like now.
“We can be discreet.” He raised his brows and gave her a hopeful look.
She shook her head. “It would ruin our friendship.”
“You know I want to be more than friends.”
“I know. But I don’t. I’m sorry, Jeremy. With the show I don’t have time for a personal life even if I wanted to have a boyfriend.”
He blew out a noisy breath and waved a hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good guys always finish last and all that baloney.”
She smiled, glad he was able to joke about it. “And besides, I thought you had a girlfriend.”
“We split up.”
“I’m sorry. What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s for the best.” He smiled sadly. “Oh, by the way, David Greenberg called and was asking when you were going to sign your contract.”
Five years had passed by so quickly it was starting to become a blur. “My manager is still looking it over.” While that was the truth, she hadn’t asked her agent to rush with it either. “I thought I had a few months before renewing it.” Actually, she wasn’t sure she was going to renew, but she wasn’t about to bring that up again. She and Jeremy had gotten into a huge fight several weeks ago when she’d told him she was thinking about quitting the show. She wanted a life. And after all her lies about being married she couldn’t date even if she did meet someone. She was lonely, tired and bored. Yes, she made a ton of money, but she couldn’t spend all the money she had saved up now. Why on earth did she need more?
“Well, ask him to hurry it up,” Jeremy said. “David is getting nervous.” He sighed again. “You ready? We’d better go meet this bodyguard. We’ve kept him waiting long enough.”
Finn lowered himself into one of the cushy leather chairs and made himself comfy at the huge mahogany table. He waited for what seemed like twenty minutes then checked his watch. It had actually only been ten minutes but felt longer. He spotted several bottles of water sitting on a cart in the corner of the room. He got up, grabbed a bottle and downed it in a few gulps.
After tossing the empty into the trashcan he paced the length of the room a few times, checked his watch again. Now it had been twenty minutes. Did Macy know it was he who had come to see her and not Ryder? Was she deliberately ignoring him? Probably. He swore. He didn’t need this crap or this job assignment. He was about to walk out and leave when the door finally swung open.
In walked Macy dressed in a black shift and a blue cardigan sweater draped over her arms. She was wearing another pair of four-inch heels. Her dark hair skimmed her shoulders. She looked regal, sophisticated. Look but don’t touch was written all over her.
Behind her was a man who appeared to be in his late fifties, with a receding hairline and gray at his temples. He was holding something in his hand. A device of some kind. An iPad maybe?
Suddenly Macy’s smile disappeared and in its place was a scowl. She speared him with a nasty look. “What are you doing here?”
“Ryder couldn’t make it. He sent me in his place. He was supposed to have sent word.”
The man looked at Finn then back at Macy. “Macy, do you know this man?”
“What? Uh, no. Sorry, I was just caught off guard. I was expecting someone else.” She looked at Finn and gave him a bright smile. “Please forgive my rudeness.”
Okay, so that was how she was going to play it? They didn’t know each other, huh? Alright, he could play that game. He took a step forward. “Daniel Finney.” He held out a hand and after a moment she took it. Her hand was soft, warm and tiny inside of his. He dropped her hand and then shook with the gray-haired man.
“Mr. Finney. Thanks for coming. I’m Jeremy Matthews, the executive producer of Dr. Macy.” Matthews was thin and stood about five-ten, which was short compared to Finn’s six-four frame. The man placed a hand on the small of Macy’s back and led her to a chair.
Finn waited for them to sit and then resumed his seat across the table. “I understand you have a problem you need help with.” He was addressing Macy but Matthews spoke instead.
“Yes. On Fridays we open the call lines to the public. They can ask for advice and Macy responds. About a week ago, there was a caller and the woman apparently followed one of Macy’s suggestions.”
“And?”
“Supposedly the woman’s boyfriend had beaten her. She said it wasn’t the first time. Macy told her she should leave him.”
Good advice, but Finn was confused. Where was this story going? He raised a brow, glanced between Macy and Matthews. Macy worried her fingers on the table but did not meet his gaze.
“He’s been calling the studio, threatening Macy.”
“Threatening her how?”
Macy looked up finally. Unshed tears gathered in her eyes. “He said he’s going to make me pay. And that when he was done with me he was going to kill me.” She swallowed noisily. “Choke me to death, the way he killed his girlfriend.”
Shit!
Matthews placed an arm around her shoulders, gave her a squeeze. “We’re going to find this guy. For all we know it’s just some crackpot playing a joke.”
She nodded, but it was clear to Finn she didn’t believe that.
Finn didn’t like the way this guy kept touching her. Were they involved? Close friends perhaps? Either way, he still didn’t like it and he had no idea why. “I assume you recorded these threats. Can I hear them?”
“There’s one from the woman and one from the boyfriend.” Matthews swiped his finger across the screen. “I need your word that you won’t repeat anything on here.”
Finn just stared at him.
“I have to protect the show. If word gets out about this it could hurt the ratings.”
The ratings. Finn swallowed back his anger, but still said what was on his mind. “I would think you would be more concerned about Ms. Winthrop’s safety instead of the ratings of some damn television show.”
Matthews blinked but didn’t try to defend his actions. “Listen to the recording.” He slid the iPad across the table.
Finn pressed the Play button.
“I always seem to pick losers,” a female voice said. “I must have a sign on my forehead that says I’ll settle for anyone.” A pause. “The first time he hit me I figured I deserved it. He accused me of being a bitch, and I guess I was.”
Finn detected a slight slur in the woman’s voice.
“No woman deserves to be hit by a man.” Macy’s voice. “Not for any reason.”
“He said he was sorry. That he would never hit me again, but I’m not sure I believe that.”
“He will do it again. Trust me. You need to leave him.”
“I’m afraid. If I try to leave he might kill me.”
“Is he there with you now?”
“No. He’s at work.”
“Then you need to get out of there right now.”
“But if I leave him he’ll find me.”
“You need to call the police. Call your family. Your friends. Anyone who can help protect you.”
“I don’t have anyone.” Another pause. “I’m scared.”
“Please listen to me. You need to—”
“Oh my God! He’s calling me. How did he know? I have to go.” Click. Dial tone.
Finn looked up.
“There’s more,” Matthews said, nodding at the iPad.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” a man’s voice bellowed through the speaker. It sounded muffled as if he might be trying to disguise it. “You told my girlfriend to leave me?”
“I was concerned for her safety. I was being honest.” Macy’s voice sounded assertive.
“Honest?” The man barked out a laugh. “You’re not even a real psychologist, you fucking bitch! What do you know about it?”
“You need to get help.” Now Macy sounded panicked on the recording.
“Shut the fuck up! You are going to pay. Just like I made her pay. You think you know about relationships? Well I know your secret. What if I tell everyone what I know about you? Bitch! This is all your fault.” There was silence and more muffled sounds before the man continued. “I didn’t mean to kill her. You made me do it. And now you’re going to die the same way. I’m going to choke the life out of you.” Dial tone.
Fucking psycho. Finn looked up and glanced between Macy and Matthews.
“This was on the air?”
“No, no.” Matthews shook his head. “We take the calls and screen them before we play them on the air.”
That was good. He pushed Play again and listened to each of the recordings one more time.
When they ended Matthews reached across the table and dragged the iPad to rest in front of him. He released a loud sigh.
Finn saw Macy shudder, and it was no wonder. “You okay?” he asked. He wanted to reach across the table and wrap her hands in his, but that wasn’t going to happen.
She lifted her head, nodded, tears clouding her blue eyes.
Good. “Tell me about the rest of the threats? Have there been any more calls?”
Matthews took over again. “No more calls.”
“Who knows about this?”
“I’ve only mentioned it to David Greenberg, the director. And now you.” He looked over at Macy.
She shrugged. “I told Caroline Ryder, of course.” But Finn would bet she had told others as well.
Matthews intervened again. “Please understand the Dr. Macy show is for entertainment purposes only. She doesn’t have to be licensed as long as she isn’t treating people. We put a disclaimer at the bottom of the credits but most people don’t pay attention to stuff like that.” He paused. “We have to protect the show from all the nasty people out there. We don’t want the viewers to think of Macy as a fraud. It’ll kill our ratings.”
The ratings again. “Of course not.” Finn rolled his eyes and made a tsk sound. “Anything else I should know?”
Matthews shook his head.
But Macy spoke up. “There was a note. The receptionist found it under the door one morning.”
Finn jerked his gaze toward Matthews who then dug into his shirt pocket and produced a typed note. He read, “I can’t wait for the world to find out about your husband.” He passed the paper across the table for Finn to read.
Macy’s husband? A huge lump the size of the Titanic formed in Finn’s throat. She was married? He cleared his throat. “Excuse me? You have a husband?” He directed his question to her personally as his gaze pierced hers.