Love Me Reckless (Love Me Dangerous #2)

Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

SAWYER

I need to get out of here. What if Sheldon is planning something that targets Kirilee directly? Even though I watched him get on that bus, I didn’t see it pull away. If Sheldon’s desperate, he’ll do anything. And if he’s realized Kirilee’s wealth, things could get scary very fast.

This is my fault. I should have never let Sheldon stay the night. I should have never gone to work today. But more than the awful events unfolding in real time, I should have never allowed Shel to hold our past over my head all these years. I’ve paid for his silence since, again and again. The last time he came to me, we agreed it was the end. I for sure thought it was the end.

But it’s clear that as long as I have value to him, this will never end.

How am I going to get us out of this mess?

“I’m going to turn this over to our cyber security specialist,” Stu says

“Am I under arrest?”

“No, you’re going to cooperate,” Stu says in a firm tone. “That means helping the cyber security team by turning over your account information and passwords so we can conduct a full investigation.”

“I have done nothing wrong.” My words come out gritty and harsh.

“Then you have nothing to worry about.” Stu stares me down.

I release a tight breath. The quickest way out of here is to do what Stu says. “Fine. Tell me where I need to go so we can get this over with.”

A knock on Stu’s door startles us both.

“Enter,” Stu says, frowning.

Leslie Jones from HR steps into the room, dressed in a long wool coat with a colorful scarf around her neck, like she’s headed home. Or was.

Her quiet eyes stay focused on Stu, her face tense. “I heard, um, Mr. Reed was in your office, and I, uh, was told to deliver this in person.”

The bad feeling from earlier cranks lower, harder, spreading the sense of doom deep into my core. “Deliver what?”

Leslie seems to pause at the door for another moment, her eyes troubled, then hurries to Stu’s desk. To my further confusion, she places an envelope on my end. It’s addressed to me.

“The results came back.” She squares her shoulders, like she’s steeling herself for something distasteful.

Results… what the fuck is she talking about? “I don’t understand.” I can’t seem to touch the envelope. Like if I do, whatever bad news she’s delivering will become a reality.

“It’s your termination notice.” Her eyes flash. “The drug test came back positive.”

“No, no, no,” I say, shaking my head. The drug test from today? This can’t be right. “That’s bullshit. I don’t do drugs. I’ve never done drugs. I don’t even drink. Ask anyone!”

She takes a step back from my outburst. The sudden anger in her expression is like a knife to my gut. She believes I would put the safety of our guests in jeopardy by getting high on the job. I want to shake her. It’s not true! I want to scream.

I ball my fists at my sides to keep from doing just that.

This is not real.

“Thank you, Leslie,” Stu says in a firm voice.

Leslie spins on her heel and hurries from the office, shutting the door softly behind her.

“Let’s go,” Stu says, rounding the desk.

I’m tempted to barrel through him, to fight my way out of here if I have to. But Stu is six-foot-four and outweighs me by fifty pounds of solid muscle, at least. Plus, the entire Finn River security team is seconds away, and from what I’ve heard, are highly trained in martial arts, plus every single one of them carries a weapon, so even if I managed to subdue Stu long enough to get out of this room, I wouldn’t make it very far.

And as much as I want to break out of here, the thought of hurting Stu makes my skull throb. Stu’s been on my side since the day we met, helping me get hired here and making sure I felt welcome. He’s only doing his job.

It hits me that I’m no longer employed with Finn River Ranch. I don’t have to scrutinize the fine print to know that proof of drug use is an automatic termination. As a mechanic, I’m responsible for guests’ safety. Which means I need to be one hundred percent sober at all times.

Will my crew find out? The knife in my gut twists tighter. McTavish, with his big heart and short fuse, will think I let him down. They all will.

My roommates, who’ve become good friends, won’t want anything to do with me.

I’ll have to move out.

How could everything be going wrong so fast?

There’s no way my test was positive. There’s a mix-up. Once I get out of here, I’ll contest it. There has to be an appeals process, right? I’ll give blood if I have to. Fuck, I’ll give them a kidney .

There’s another possibility, but it pains me even to think of it, because it’s so cruel. Could this be retaliation from Kirilee’s family? A sure way to turn my life upside down?

I let Stu lead me down the hall to the security hub manned by a rotating team of experts monitoring the security cameras, drone footage, and other surveillance systems located throughout the property.

A tall, fit man in a dark suit joins us inside the door.

“Our lead cyber security agent Malcolm Fisher will take it from here.” Stu hands over my phone to the man, then turns to me, his gaze brimming with disappointment. “Looks like this is goodbye.”

I have the urge to at least shake his hand, thank him for the opportunity this job has offered me. Thank him for giving me a chance. But my heart is locked in a vice, so I turn away and follow Agent Fisher to a workstation.

He asks me the same questions, my banking info and every scrap of personal information in existence right down to my previous addresses. Then Agent Fisher turns his attention to his screen.

The room is dim, with TV screens mounted on the wall, where images flash in real time. Cars coming in and leaving the gate. Views of different parts of the property—the lodge entrance, the lobby, the maintenance yard, the bottom of each ski lift, and several locations in the village. Men and women sit at monitors with headsets. Drone footage of the snowy property and its handsome perimeter fencing flit across several other screens.

I tune out the soft tapping of keyboards and the hum of the vent system keeping the high-tech electronics cool.

Where is Sheldon? What’s he planning?

Not being able to talk to Kirilee right now is stealing my concentration. I need a solution that gets me out of here.

What if Kirilee believes that bogus drug test?

Focus .

My gut tells me to keep quiet about Sheldon. Agent Fisher won’t let me go if he thinks Shel and I are working together. His team will want to bring Sheldon in and interview us, breaking us down until one of us cracks. I can’t let that happen, because there’s no telling what kind of lies Sheldon will concoct to save his own skin.

I need to find Shel and get him to confess. Repay what he stole, and if he can’t, I’ll repay it myself. But first, I need to get to Kirilee and keep her safe.

But the unease buzzing under my skin has gotten louder since I dropped Sheldon at the bus station. It’s a warning. I try to ignore it, but it’s like a hammer to my skull.

As long as Kirilee is in my life, Sheldon will keep coming back for more. He’ll be like one of those lab rats pushing the lever for a treat. Anytime he’s hard up or in trouble, he’ll think of sweet Kirilee and how he can use her to get what he wants.

The realization of what I have to do to protect her engulfs me like a wall of fire.

I have to let her go.

I won’t risk Kirilee being caught in anything like this again. I love her too much.

Fuck!

“Reed checks out,” Agent Fisher says into his cell phone, his serious eyes fixed on his computer screen. “It’s not him.”

The monitors on the screen zoom back into focus. In the middle one, a truck comes into view. I stare. It’s my truck. Kirilee’s behind the wheel.

With Sheldon sitting next to her.

I stand up, my eyes never leaving the screen.

“Hey. Where do you think you’re going?” Agent Fisher asks.

I grab my phone from his desk. “We’re done here, yeah?”

Agent Fisher scowls. He gives the TV monitor a suspicious glance, but Kirilee and my truck are gone.

I can almost see him weighing his options—continue to grill me, which would only waste time, or get back to work. “For now.”

“If you need me, send your henchmen.” I stare him down, willing him to let me go .

Agent Fisher sits back. “Fine. I’ll call you an escort.”

“I can show myself out.” I spin away and head for the door. I brace for Agent Fisher to call out or make some demand, but he’s no doubt under tremendous pressure to track down the culprit, and he now knows it’s not me.

To my relief, I slip into the hallway undeterred. As soon as I’m clear of the lodge, I break into a run.

First, I try calling Kirilee, but it goes straight to voicemail.

Shit.

I call Zach as I follow the lit path to the maintenance yard.

“Hey, what’s going on? What did Stu want?”

“Shel’s got Kirilee,” I say, cutting him off.

“What?”

“I saw it on the TV monitors in the security hub. She drove into the ranch with him in the passenger seat.”

“We put him on a bus two hours ago.”

“He’s here now. He tried to hack Kirilee’s identity today. He stole from her, but there’s a lot of security on her account and it got flagged. I think he’s trying another angle.”

“Shit. This is my fault. I let her leave. Said she wanted to get some of her things from Birch’s house. I guess he’s out of town. We all offered to go with her, but I got the feeling she wanted to be alone.”

I grimace. This isn’t Zach’s fault. “You couldn’t have known. Like you said, we both saw Sheldon get on that bus.”

“What’s our plan?”

“I want to try to talk to him.”

“Why? He’s just gonna spew bullshit. We should alert security.”

“No!” I bark. I think about Agent Fisher and the others, armed to the teeth and all too eager to play bad cop. “It’s too risky. What if he—?” My throat clamps shut, and I force a slow breath. “We don’t know what he’s planning.”

“You think he’d hurt her?”

“I think he’s desperate, and that’s what scares me the most. ”

“Damn it. Let me at least come to you. We can talk to him together.”

“I won’t let you risk your job.”

“Instead, I’m supposed to let you risk your life?”

I huff a tight sigh. “I have an idea.”

“Sawyer,” he says, his tone urgent. “What are the odds you can actually talk sense into him?”

“I have to believe there’s hope.”

“I don’t like this.”

“Give me an hour. I’ll check in.”

“And if you don’t?”

“Then do what you need to do.”

He releases a long sigh. “Shit. All right.”

Finn River Ranch is a big place. Outside of the village condos, most properties are situated on several acres. I’ve been to Kirilee’s bungalow, but none of her family’s other residences. The wedding invitation had a return address of Grayhawk, which is one of the developments. My gut tells me Sheldon wants Kirilee to take him there. With Birch out of town, it’s the obvious choice.

What’s Shel’s leverage? He’s either spun some wild tale to get her to help him, or he’s threatened her somehow. I need to find them.

Though I’m anxious about talking with Carson thanks to the termination notice in my pocket, I call him as I walk.

“Hey,” he says with a sigh. “There’s this crazy rumor going around?—”

“It’s not true,” I say.

“Oof, that’s good news.” He gives a low chuckle, like he’s relieved. “So, it’s a mistake?”

“Yes. Where’s Grayhawk?”

“Like inside the ranch? Uh, it’s the farthest residential community from the village. You take Larkspur to Creekside, then go up the hill. It’s where all the big dogs live. Most lots are ten acres minimum.”

“Thanks,” I say, unlocking the door to maintenance .

“Wait, why?”

“Someone I need to see is there.”

“I’m glad you’re not a drug addict,” he says.

“Me too.” I try to smile but my face feels ready to crack. Maybe once Kirilee is safe and Shel has turned himself in, I’ll be able to drink in this kindness.

“Later,” he says.

“Later,” I echo.

I grab the keys to one of the work trucks and back it out of the garage, then cruise the smooth blacktop road to the intersection. I don’t drive these roads often. As a mechanic, we take the maintenance roads to reach the lifts in the summer, and in the winter, we use the sleds.

I try Kirilee’s phone again but it goes to voicemail. Sheldon likely has it silenced.

Damn it! I need to find them.

After turning left, I try to recall the maze of roads that weave and intersect. I follow a long curve only to reach another intersection. I go right, feeling my way.

Finally, I find Creekside. I follow it up the long hill, the hazy night sky revealing only a few faint stars. The secluded driveways and giant homes on sprawling acreage have that distinctive look that blends so well with the surroundings. But which one belongs to Birch?

At the top of the hill, the road continues, but there are no more driveways or house numbers, so I turn around. I scrutinize the homes, looking for anything that might tell me which is the right house. Finally, I catch a flash of dark metal beneath a glowing outdoor light. It’s my truck, parked in front of a four-car garage attached to a giant, modern-looking house of pale-yellow stone and gray wood and lots of glass. The deck lighting outlines the expansive second story, and in the moonlight, the rows of solar panels on the long plane of the roof shine like wet glass .

My heart thumping hard against my ribs, I turn off my headlights and head up the driveway.

Between the bare branches of the aspen trees clustered along the curved road, I catch glimpses of the house, but I don’t see movement. Lights from the second story illuminate what looks like a high-vaulted living area or maybe a dining room, with a huge stone chimney to one side and an expansive covered patio, all positioned to encompass the mountain view. Watching the sunrise from the deck must be like watching a master painter at work.

It’s intimidating as fuck.

I park next to my Dodge in the driveway and check my phone. I’ve only got thirty more minutes until I have to check in with Zach.

What am I walking into?

The garage is connected to the house, so I’ll have to get in some other way. Outside my truck, the cold air bites my cheeks and slices down my throat with each shallow breath. At least the wind has softened, creating an almost eerie silence.

A heated walkway leads to a massive front door that I’m sure is locked. I eye the second story and the expansive deck.

I have no idea how I’m going to get up there, but I will find a way.

I will do whatever it takes to save Kirilee.