Adored (Masters and Mercenaries #8.5)(48)

Someone had spray-painted the wall over her bed.

Bradford’s whore

Oh, someone was going to die.

Lisa gasped and then he heard a low growl from behind him.

“Son of a bitch.” Will stepped into the room, his eyes wide and an angry look on his face. “Tell me you’re taking care of this, Mitch.”

“I’m doing everything I can. I’ve got O’Donnell on the case.” He hesitated mentioning the bodyguard. As sweet as Lisa was, she would absolutely go straight to her sister and tell her everything, and then he would have one very stubborn Laurel to deal with. He tried her phone again. She should be back from lunch by now.

It went straight to voice mail.

“Maybe it’s time we thought about getting her out of the line of fire,” Will said. “She can come and stay with me and Bridget.”

“No.” He wasn’t giving her up. “I told you, she’s safe at the house. My place is far more secure than your building. I’ve got the rest of it handled. There’s a reason he’s going after soft targets like this place.”

Will stared at him as though he could see through him. He finally nodded. “All right, but the minute he gets anywhere close, she needs to be out of this.”

“The contract is finalized next week. A few more days and it’s all over. He’ll have to find another target for his irrational rage.”

“Will, we’ve got an eye on all of this,” Li explained. “And Derek is taking another look, too.”

Will nodded and seemed to calm a bit. “I tried Laurel, but I can’t get hold of her. I’m going to run over to her office.”

Derek smiled and asked Lisa to join him so he could take her statement, leaving him alone with Will and Li.

Li leaned in, making sure Lisa couldn’t hear them. “Mitch put a bodyguard on Laurel a couple of weeks back.”

Will let out a long breath, obviously relieved. “Thank god. Does she know about the apartment?”

Mitch dialed her again and it went to voice mail. “No. I think you’re right. I think we should go and talk to her. Let me check in and make sure she’s all right.” He punched in a number and a Cajun accent came over the line.

“This is Guidry.”

“Do you have eyes on Laurel?”

“That’s my job. Though you should know that keeping my eyes on that pretty chère ain’t no job at all.”

Maybe she needed a new bodyguard. He had to hope all of Tag’s new employees weren’t such flirty asshats. “So she’s back at work?”

“Nah, she’s taking an extra long lunch today. Must have something to do with her male friend. You said this was a protection job. You didn’t tell me she was cheating on you. Do you want pictures or something?”

His blood seemed to chill. “What are you talking about?”

The line went quiet for a moment. “So this wasn’t about the fact that she’s getting cozy with someone else?”

His blood started to thump through his system. This was a place he’d been in before. It wasn’t the first time he’d stood there like an idiot while some professional investigator gave him the rundown of all the ways the woman he was committed to had given her body to someone else. A vision of Laurel in bed with some nameless man assaulted him. The man would be younger, kinder, more giving, he was sure. The new man would be all the things Laurel needed. All the things Laurel had given up when she’d gotten pregnant by Mitch. “Where is she?”

Guidry’s voice came over the line. “No, slow down. I was joking around. I was surprised that she was spending so much time with someone I haven’t seen before. She usually follows a routine. She eats lunch at her desk or in the break room. Maybe this is completely innocent.”

But she hadn’t mentioned that she was having lunch with a man. She’d texted him, as they’d agreed, to let him know her phone wasn’t working, but now he had to wonder. Was it truly not working or did she merely want to be alone with someone? She hadn’t mentioned any male friends. Laurel loved to talk about work. He knew the names of everyone there. She was friendly with some of the male workers. Maybe that was all it was.

“Is it one of her coworkers? I know she’s friends with a Jeremy.” That was all. Jeremy was young and good looking, but Laurel told him they were only friends. He forced himself to calm down. He was being an irrational freak. He trusted Laurel.

“No, I’ve documented all the coworkers. This is a new guy.”

“Where is she?” He would go and see for himself. Maybe she was interviewing a client. She took her work seriously and she was a compassionate woman. It didn’t mean she was cheating on him.

“She’s at the deli next to work. It’s not like she’s in a motel.”

“How long has she been there?”

“An hour and fifteen minutes. Look, Bradford, I really was joking. I was ribbing you. She’s been eating and talking.” There was another pause over the line. “That’s all.”

That little pause made him think. There was something else. Something Guidry wasn’t telling him. “What else? Damn it, Guidry. You work for me. I’m the one paying the bills, and I want to know what else she’s done with him.”

A long sigh came over the line. “She hugged him for a while and she seems pretty affectionate with him for a man she just met, that’s all. At one point, she held his hand for a little while as they talked. But from what I can tell, she’s an affectionate girl.”