SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version (32 page)

“You mean to tell me that crazy bitch tried to
have me killed today?”

Caleb winced. “Yeah, unfortunately, I think so. Given
today, I’ve been trying to backtrack to see if her actions match what’s been
happening with you.”

Micha frowned. “Maybe, but I’m not sure it fits.
She had no reason to fuck with me. We didn’t get together until after the
stalking incidents.”

Caleb linked their hands together. “Honey, if she
is trying to hurt me through you and threw out a red herring or two, it’s not
hard. Any idiot can see how I felt about you. It’s not like I hide it very
well.”

“I didn’t know.”

He kissed the end of her nose as he led her out of
the building. “Yeah, well, you didn’t want to know. I’ve been in love with you
for two years. Anybody who knows me as well as Sabine does can figure it out. Especially
if she’s been watching my movements. She knew exactly what to say to you that
night to get you to run.”

Micha let some of the tension roll out of her
shoulders. So just like that she could have her life back if they caught
Sabine? “So what’s the plan to catch her?”

“I’m working something out right now. I could do a
classic prisoner exchange.”

“You can’t hand over Annie.” Shock and incredulity
stunned her motionless.

He tugged on her hand. “Relax, I’m not going to
hand over Annie. But I want Sabine to think that. We still have some of the
bugs from my office, so we can set a trap for her. I only want to use Annie as
bait.”

“No.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to let anything happen
to that girl.”

“That’s not what I meant. I know you wouldn’t. What
I’m saying is I think you should use me as bait. It’ll be safe for Annie, and
we can completely control the situation.”

“Are you out of your damn mind? No, Micha.”

 She freed her hand from him. “Look. It’s my life
she’s taken away from me for the last several weeks. I want it back. I want to
take it back. I don’t want to allow her to make me scared. Besides, you’ll be
there every step of the way.”

“Why the hell would you volunteer for something
like this?”

“Because I want my life back.”

Micha tried not to fidget as she sat at Cafe Nine
Ten. She was in a window seat, so she was clearly visible to the street and
anybody who cared to look. Caleb’s men were also all over the place. There were
three in the restaurant with her. Two others on the patio, three on the street.
And of course Caleb in the car parked directly in front of the restaurant.

Micha strained and stared out the window, but she
noticed nothing out of place. It was a typical La Jolla day. Shoppers, stay at
home moms, and the too-rich-to-work crowd milled the street with tourists and
popped in and out for lunch. Caleb had arranged with the restaurant to seat all
bystanders in the back patio so that the upper restaurant was mostly clear. He
didn’t want any collateral damage.

Last night when she’d volunteered for this little
date as bait, she hadn’t known what to expect. But mostly she’d wanted to have
this whole thing over with. To finally be done. If Sabine was behind all this,
then she was diabolical and just this side of crazy. Or maybe not really. If
she’d been trying to scare Micha and Caleb into cooperating, then it had, in
fact, worked, hadn’t it?

When they’d returned to her place the night
before, Tom and crew brought one of the active bugs over, and she and Caleb had
set their plans. Both speaking into it as naturally as they could, when in
reality, they’d been perched on the edge of their seats around her coffee table
going over plans to make up their botched lunch date.

The plan was she’d wait at the restaurant as bait,
but when Caleb didn’t show for lunch, she’d call a phone with another active
bug, berate him, and he’d tell her he was working to keep the informant safe. He’d
give up his position with the informant, and Sabine would think that she was
unprotected. Caleb had another team at his supposed location with the informant,
waiting to grab Sabine if she opted to leave Micha be and go for Annie.

An hour into it, Micha had started to sweat. She’d
been holding herself stiff and rigid since she’d arrived. Finally a waiter had
come over to her table and slipped a note under her hand. She glanced down at
it.

Relax
.

She rolled her eyes, but tried to release some of
the tension from her shoulders. It didn’t do much good. She still didn’t know
how to be natural. Give her a camera crew or a room full of people any day. That
she could do and not bat an eyelash. Even though she’d volunteered for this,
she was terrified, and anxious, and worried.

They had wanted to stay off the radios as much as
possible, but eventually she heard Caleb’s smooth, velvety voice. “Did you get
my note, Angel?”

She nodded slowly too afraid to speak.

“Then why aren’t you relaxed?”

She shrugged. His responding chuckle did warm her
up enough from the inside so that she could relax her shoulders. But she still
didn’t feel any more at ease.

“Make the call, sweetheart.”

Micha cleared her throat, then placed the call to
Caleb’s cell. They both played their parts well and ran through the script.

“You’re late.”

“I had to move Annie. We’re at the hotel going out
the back tunnels.”

“I’ll meet you back at my place.”

And on they went till the close of the script.
Then there was nothing left to do but wait some more.

After another hour and thirty minutes, Caleb
called the mission. Three of his guys flanked her, giving Sabine no clear shot if
she was, in fact, watching them. “You guys, I feel like Michelle Obama, which
is nice because she’s fierce, but is this necessary?”

Tom’s answer was a firm “Yes” as he scuttled her
into Caleb’s waiting car.

Once she was settled, she glanced at Caleb. “I don’t
get it, what happened? I thought for sure she’d take the bait.”

“Me too.” He expertly dug out his battery and
removed the listening device attached to it. “I think she had us made from the
moment we found the first bug. She knew there was no exchange. And she knew she’d
been effective in scaring you, so there was no reason to come after you today.”

“I don’t get it. So you’re saying I’m not the
target?”

“Shit, I don’t know.” Caleb spoke rapidly into his
phone after tossing the listening device out the window and rolling over it
with a tire. “Report in.”

Through the speaker, Micha could hear the team
near the convention center report that they had no activity. The two-man teams
back at their place reported no activity, and the men at both of their
respective offices reported nothing.

There was one hit though. The man he’d posted at
the front desk at the Westhorpe called to let him know that a woman had come in
posing as a US Marshall looking for Annie. She’d shown him the picture and
insisted on surveillance images. Caleb cursed.

“There’s no way she could know that Annie is
there. There’s no record of her. There’s only a record of me, and Jaya, and
Ricca.”

“I know. She’ll hack the security feed, and she
still won’t find Annie, but I don’t like her looking so close. She’s already
figured out my relationship to Alec, so she’s looking at the hotel. It’s only a
matter of time until she finds the house.”

Micha shook her head.  “The house is in Adele’s
name, and Adele has property all over the city. Annie has to be safe.”

“You don’t know Sabine. Only choice I have is to
meet her head-on. I’m calling in reinforcements.”

“Do you mind if we stop by the office before we
head back to the house? I want to grab the notes on my next interview and
review Adele’s proposal of having me anchor the show.”

Caleb nodded. “You’re sure you’re feeling up to it
tonight? It’s been a long, complicated couple of days. Maybe it’s time for a
little break. Adele’s happy with the Jax interview.”

“Yeah, I know, but I can’t turn it off. Sitting in
that restaurant for two and a half hours—I sort of feel like I got all dressed
up and no one showed up to take me to the prom. I’m too keyed up to go home and
sit, and I know you have to make arrangements to get Annie home.”

“Make it quick. I don’t have anyone in your
building today, so it’ll be you and me. I don’t want to take any chances and be
outmanned, in case Sabine tries some other insane tactic to get our attention. In
and out, all right? Actually, why don’t you tell me what you want, and I’ll
send someone for it.”

Micha narrowed her eyes. She was in no mood to do
this shit again. He had to ease up sometime. “Look. We know its Sabine taking
all these shots to get to you through me. She didn’t take a shot at me when I
was a sitting duck. I’m going to run in for thirty seconds tops and grab my
stuff. You can’t protect me from everything. Besides, I already told Ryan I’d
pick up those notes tonight. I need to get them to the rest of the crew by
morning.”

He ground his teeth. “I’m coming with you.”

She was about to argue when he clicked his jaw
shut, and she saw him working that muscle under his cheek.

“Fine. But you’ll see that you’re being over-protective.
The cops said there’s been no activity for several weeks. I really think this
is Sabine’s handy work. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

Caleb shook his head as he pulled up to the front
of the building. “Don’t underestimate how dangerous she is. She killed that
poor kid’s parents and has killed countless others like them. Her plan was to
sell Annie back to Cabrillo for whatever it is she wants from him. She won’t back
off just because we know she’s coming. She won’t take it easy on you because
you’re a woman. She will kill and annihilate everything in her path to get to
her goal. You have to remember that. It’ll save your life. And as good as you
are at Krav Maga, she is lethal at fighting styles you’ve never even heard of,
so you’ll want to keep your guard up.”

Micha squared her shoulders and tilted her chin
up. “Fine. I’m sufficiently freaked. Happy?”

“No. I won’t be happy till I neutralize her.” He
slid out of the car easily and jogged around the passenger side to let her out.

The moment she was exposed to the balmy night air,
she felt the change in him. He was no longer a slightly over-protective
boyfriend. He was as cold as steel and on full alert. He was working now. She
entered the building and swiped her ID in the interior door. After hours,
security was posted in the garage, but not in the main lobby.

They rode up the elevator in silence for several
minutes before Caleb leaned in and said, “Look, I’m not trying to freak you
out. I want you taking Sabine seriously.”

Micha let some of the tension roll out of her
shoulders. “Yes, I know. And I understand. I wish she was fucking someone else’s
life up, that’s all.”

The elevator chimed when they reached their floor
and they exited, turning right toward the SDM entrance. A whirring sound
started from the opposite end of the hallway. Caleb immediately unholstered his
weapon, and Micha drew in a long breath to steady her nerves. She wasn’t the
hysterical type. She also wasn’t dumb enough to ask a million questions and
give anything way. She knew the drill. In times like this, she listened to him.
He was the one carrying the gun.

“Micha, get into your office and stay under your
desk until I come for you.”

He wanted her to hide. Fantastic. It went against
everything she wanted to do, but she knew he couldn’t concentrate if he thought
she could get hurt, so she did as she was told, using her key fob to open the
SDM doors.

Before he headed down the hallway, she grabbed his
hand and squeezed. “Be careful.”

He nodded and texted something on his phone before
he headed toward the whirring noise. For once, Micha did as she was told and
went straight for her office. But in this case, she was also calling for
reinforcements. She texted Tom en route and had her finger poised and ready to
hit send on a call to 911, when she saw the light in her office. What the hell?
Had she left it on?

Not likely, but if she had, why hadn’t Ryan turned
it off? He was never that careless. He always recycled her paper and soda cans,
so it was unlikely he’d left them on. She checked her watch. It was only seven,
so maybe he was still working. “Hey, Ryan, it’s me, are you still here?”

No answer. Alarm bells rang in her head, but she
didn’t give into the fear and run out the door. First, she wasn’t going to
leave Caleb up here by himself. Two, she was ninety-nine percent certain there
was nothing to be afraid of.
Except, of course, Sabine
.
It was that one percent that had her pulling pepper spray out of her purse. Of
all the stupid days to carry a purse too small to hold her weapon.

Unable to walk quietly in her Louboutins, she
slipped them off and left them by the reception desk. Quietly, she padded down
the hall, expecting to find Sabine sitting behind her desk, holding a gun. Her
heart hammered, and her breath refused to come in slow or even.

But when she rounded the corner, nothing. No one
was in there.

Breath whooshed out of Micha’s lungs, and she let
her head hang forward as relief washed through her. “You’re losing your touch, Bennett.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. You really shouldn’t
be too hard on yourself,” came a voice from behind her.

Micha whirled and chocked out a laugh when she saw
Ryan. “Jesus, shit, you scared the fuck out of me. Didn’t you hear me calling
your name?”

“I heard you, but the whole thing about the
element of surprise is you don’t want to alert someone until you’re damn well
good and ready. Or, at least that’s how I remember it.”

Micha frowned as she examined Ryan. His normally
perfectly coiffed, gelled hair was now in a disarray of spikes around his head,
and his suit jacket was gone, revealing a button-down shirt with the lapels out
of the trousers.