No One to Trust (8 page)

“Then why’d you lie?”

“I—”

“What. Is. This?” Each word was punctuated
and precise.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t
know, okay?”

“Where did it come from?”

The note her brother had left said not to
trust anyone but Porter wasn’t just anyone. And he had resources
she didn’t. “If I tell you, you have to promise you won’t tell your
brothers…Or your father or anyone at Red Stone.” She figured
covering all her bases was the smartest thing she could do under
the circumstances. Porter was smart and would figure out a loophole
if she let him.

He stared hard at her, his eyes turning
glacier cold for a moment. She could practically see the wheels
turning in his head. He glanced down at the key and turned it over
in his hand. His expression was thoughtful. “I’m pretty sure this
is a safe deposit box key because I have one just like it. Is this
from your brother?”

She didn’t respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he muttered. When
she didn’t say anything else, he growled at her. “Do you know why
Orlando came after you? I can’t believe you’re holding back
information when your best friend could have been hurt today.”
There was no hiding the disgust in his voice.

She jerked back. His words were like a slap
across the face, stinging and brutal. She would have never done
anything to endanger Mara or…anyone. “I told you I don’t anything
about Orlando’s motives and I’m not lying!”

“Then what aren’t you telling me?” He stared
at her as if he didn’t quite believe her.

Lizzy rubbed her palms against her skirt.
“Benny left me a note the other night. All he said was that he left
me something in our childhood hiding place and that I’d know what
to do with it. But I
don’t
. I have no clue what that key
goes to or if it’s a safe deposit box key like you said. And if it
is, I don’t even know what bank it’s for.”

Porter shoved the key in his pocket. “Do you
still have that note?”

Her lips pulled into a thin line as she
nodded. “Yeah, it’s in my purse.”

“Good. I want to see it
now
.” There
was none of the softer, gentler side of Porter she’d come to know
in his voice or his expression. Right now he was angry with her and
she wasn’t sure that she blamed him. She doubted there was anything
in the note he’d be able to decipher that she hadn’t, but a twinge
of guilt slipped into her veins. Maybe she should have told him
about it from the beginning. She shouldn’t care what he thought
about her but right now she hated the mistrust she saw in his eyes.
Aloofness or annoyance she could deal with, but this was a side of
Porter she never wanted to see again.

* * * * *

Orlando slammed the door to his office shut
and headed for the balcony of the second story room. Even the
perfect sunny view of the Atlantic did nothing to calm his
rage.

None of his men could find Benito Martinez.
At least part of his plan to scare Elizabeth had gone into effect
but with Benny missing he lost a lot of leverage with her. He
couldn’t threaten to hurt her brother if he wasn’t around. Not to
mention Benny still owed him money.

Yes, it was a pittance compared to what he
was bringing in monthly but in this business he couldn’t appear
weak. Especially since he’d just taken over for his dead
father.

Right now people in the industry were looking
at him, judging him,
wanting
him to fail. No doubt expecting
that he wouldn’t be able to fill his father’s shoes. As he blindly
stared at the ocean one of his private cell phones rang in his
pocket. He didn’t give this number out to many people, so even
though he didn’t recognize it, he answered on the second ring.
“Yeah?”

“Hello, Orlando.”

Speak of the devil. “Where the hell are you,
Benny?”

The other man snorted softly. “Like I’m going
to tell you.”

“I’m eventually going to find you so make
things easy on yourself and—”

“Enough. I’m not paying your money back and
you are going to leave my sister alone.
Forever.
” Benny
sounded sober and sure of himself, a very rare occurrence for this
pathetic man.

Orlando gave a sharp bark of laughter as he
walked back into his office. “You just keep digging yourself into a
deeper hole,
amigo
.”

“I’m not your friend and I’m going to tell
you exactly why you will leave Elizabeth alone. I have something of
yours and unless you want me to release it to the Feds, you’ll do
what I say.”

“
You
have something of mine?”
Doubtful. Orlando was ruthless in checking people when they came to
his home. No wires, no weapons, and he had scramblers set up all
around his house to make it almost impossible for the Feds or the
locals to listen in on him. Not that he did much business at his
house anyway. But it paid to be careful.

“Why don’t you check that false bottom in
your desk and tell me?” There was a smug satisfaction in Benny’s
tone. Also something he’d never heard from the other man
before.

For the first time in as long as he could
remember, Orlando experienced real fear. As Benny’s words
registered, something glacial slithered over Orlando’s skin,
chilling him straight to his bones despite the even temperature in
the room. “What did you just say?”

“Check it,” Benny ordered.

Orlando’s hands actually shook as he did what
the other man said. It took a few tries to get the bottom off—the
seaming was impossible to see with the naked eye thanks to
brilliant craftsmanship.

His hiding spot was
empty
.

A dull ringing started in his ears as if he’d
been smashed in the back of the head with a bat. Benny had stolen
from him?

His father had always taught him to hide
things most treasured in plain sight. Safe deposit boxes were
discovered, safes could be broken into and those were often the
first places anyone with
any
training looked. So Orlando had
kept his most cherished possession close at hand—in case it needed
to be destroyed. He’d always felt smug that it was hidden right
under everyone’s noses.

Now, all smugness was buried and only the
rising bile in his throat remained. “You son of a—”

“Save the threats and the curses. I just want
to be left alone or I go to the Feds. But not before I make copies
of what I took and send it to
everyone
you work with.”

Those words almost stopped Orlando’s heart.
Or at least that’s what it felt like. “When did you take it?” He
wasn’t sure why he asked. That wasn’t important. But some morbid
part of him needed to know.

“When you invited me over for that fight.”
Now Benny laughed, the sound sharp and cutting. “I didn’t even know
if I’d find anything in your office but you have the same
ridiculously expensive desk as my dad. Imagine my surprise…” He
trailed off again for a moment before continuing. “I thought that
was why you brought me to your house yesterday, because you knew
what I’d done.”

The other man’s words hung heavy in the air
and heavier in Orlando’s heart. Getting Benny to place that large
bet on the televised UFC fight had been part of Orlando’s ultimate
plan to blackmail Elizabeth into aligning herself with him. Of
course he’d checked everyone when they’d entered his home but when
they’d left…Orlando never would have considered
Benny
enough
of a threat to take anything of value from him. Least of all
this
. He’d gotten cocky and stupid in his desire to use the
pathetic junkie. “You have signed your own death warrant and that
of all those closest to you. I’ll start with that pretty sister of
yours. But I’ll play with her for a long time before I kill her,”
he growled.

Benny sucked in a sharp breath. “Anything
happens to her and I’ll not only do everything I said, I’ll post
copies of it on the Internet.” The phone line went dead.

For a moment, Orlando stared at the phone,
disbelieving that Benny had actually hung up on him.
Him.

With a snarl he heaved his arm back and threw
his phone across the room. It splintered into pieces against the
wall before falling onto the plush carpet with a soft thud.
Orlando’s hands balled into fists. He needed to break something.
Namely Benny’s face.

As he stared at his Louis XV style vintage
desk he wanted to rip it apart with his bare hands, one piece at a
time. The desk had been his father’s. Expensive, sturdy, masculine.
He’d kept it out of respect for the man and because it had always
made him feel powerful sitting behind the large thing. Now it could
burn to ashes for all he cared.

His father had been wrong and now Orlando
would pay the price for it. But not if he got to Elizabeth first.
No matter what Benny said, Orlando knew the degenerate wouldn’t let
her die. He’d trade his soul before that happened.

As he managed to calm his erratic breathing
he realized that things had drastically changed. He needed
Elizabeth now for more than just arm candy and he didn’t care about
the collateral damage anymore. One way or another he’d find and
keep her. In doing so he’d bring Benny to his death and keep all
his secrets. If he didn’t and what Benny had stolen got out…Orlando
was a walking dead man.

Chapter 6

Porter tried to keep his eyes on the road but
was finding it increasingly harder to keep his focus off Elizabeth.
She wore a form-fitting, strapless dark blue dress that hugged all
her curves and showed off miles of sexy tanned legs. Sitting in the
passenger seat next to him, her legs were crossed, causing the slit
that ran up her thigh to splay open seductively. But he knew she
wasn’t trying to tease him. She’d been completely distracted from
the moment they’d gotten into his SUV. Probably because they’d left
the relative safety of his home and she knew she wasn’t as guarded
anymore.

Even though he didn’t doubt his ability to
protect her, he’d had a team of guys assigned downstairs to cover
the elevator entrance from the parking garage of his condo and two
guys standing guard directly outside his front door. Not subtle and
definitely not a long-term option but for now it was the only
choice they had.

He
had
to keep Elizabeth safe.

And if he had his way they wouldn’t have left
his condo for anything in the world. Anything
except
his
younger brother’s engagement party. Porter and Elizabeth were both
in the wedding—he as the best man and she as the maid of honor.
There would be extra security at the party and it was a very low
key affair, not highly publicized, so he wasn’t worried about
anything happening on site. It was transporting Elizabeth there
that had him worried. He didn’t like bringing her out in the
open.

“Are you worried about tonight?” Her quiet
voice echoed through the vehicle’s interior and he found her
staring intently at him, her brown eyes wide. She wore her emotions
so vividly, it pained him to see the worry in her gaze.

Hell yeah.
“No. Security will be tight
and we’re not going to stay that long. Just long enough to make an
appearance, do some toasts and then I’m getting you out of there.”
He’d expected an argument but when she simply nodded he realized
how scared she must be.

Not that it was surprising, but after Grant
had stopped by so she could look at mug shots—a fruitless
exercise—she’d holed up in his guestroom the past couple hours
working on her laptop. She’d been so wrapped up in her work he’d
had to remind her when it was time to get ready for the party. At
her parent’s house they’d briefly argued about her keeping her
brother’s letter a secret from him, but he hadn’t had the heart to
push her too much. Tomorrow morning they planned to go to Porter’s
bank to see if it was the right bank for the safe deposit key. The
‘M’ engraved onto it was a very distinctive symbol for one of the
biggest banks in Miami. Since he had a key almost identical to the
one Benny had left, it was the best starting point.

If her brother had been smart, he’d have put
her name on the account but until they got there they wouldn’t
know. Whatever was inside that box—if anything—had better redeem
Benny or Porter was ready to hurt the guy himself. Well, after
Orlando Salas.

With Elizabeth so subdued and not even
mustering enough attitude to argue with him—he found he missed her
feistiness more than he’d ever admit to her.

“I hate that I’ve dragged you into this
mess,” she said quietly.

Frowning, he pulled through the intersection.
None of this was her fault. “You didn’t do anything—”

The sound of screeching tires alerted him a
split second before a Bronco clipped the front of his vehicle,
sending them into a tailspin. His neck and shoulders tensed as he
gripped the steering wheel for control. “Just perfect,” he muttered
under his breath as he started to straighten them out.

While he slowed and righted the SUV, sudden
sharp bursts of gunfire hailed around them. It sounded like hail
crashing down as rounds sprayed the bullet resistant windows. The
fist around his heart tightened as reality crashed over him. They
were under a full attack.

Elizabeth screamed and ducked down in her
seat, sending the contents of her clutch purse scattering
everywhere.

“Hang on,” he muttered, willing himself to
stay calm. If the SUV wasn’t armored, he’d be more worried.

Gripping the wheel, he managed to keep moving
forward and stay focused on their surroundings. Getting boxed in
right now was not an option. Cars and trucks honked from all
directions. Even though they had a security team following them he
wasn’t worried about staying with them. His only priority was
getting Elizabeth out of there.

He floored the gas pedal and shot through a
red light. Elizabeth was gripping the door handle with one hand and
the center console with the other as she crouched lower, but she
was otherwise unharmed.