Wired (Buchanan-Renard #13)(81)

“To us,” Stiles said as he loosened his hold and gave Brett a shove away from him. “I want to know if you think she was telling the truth. Is there a missing part?”

Brett didn’t have to think about it long. “Yes, I believe her.”

“Why didn’t you know that? You did look at the software, didn’t you?”

“Yes, of course I did. I tested it over and over again, and it looked complete.”

“You should have known,” Stiles muttered. “We have to get the missing part. It has to be buried somewhere in her computer. There’s too much money involved to let this go. We’ve got to get it,” he repeated. “No matter what it takes.”

Brett was still irate, but there was a tinge of self-pity in his voice when he said, “She ruined my reputation. I was humiliated and embarrassed.”

Stiles agreed. “She shouldn’t be able to get away with this.”

“No, she shouldn’t.”

The two men continued to talk as they walked out of the room together.

“I’m guessing they forgot the mikes were still on,” Noah suggested.

“Or they didn’t care,” Liam said.

“In their minds I’ve become the villain. Brett steals my work and then blames me when I ruin his plans? He’s beyond contemptible,” Allison railed.

“What do you want to do about this?” Noah directed his question to Liam.

“Excuse me.” Allison finally got her hand away from Liam’s and stepped back. “I’ll decide what’s to be done. This is my problem, not yours.”

“Ordinarily I would agree with you.” Liam told the lie without cracking a smile. “But you’re Phillips’s asset, so he has to know about this and handle it. I will, of course, offer to help.”

Hands on her hips, Allison responded, “How come I’m your asset when it’s convenient for you and Phillips’s asset when it isn’t?”

“It’s a quandary,” Liam answered.

“I’d call it a dilemma,” Noah remarked.

“They’re pretty much the same thing,” Liam said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

They were having a fine time teasing her. “Know what I think?” she asked.

“That you should let us do our jobs?” Liam asked. He evaded an argument by placing his hands on her shoulders and turning her toward the door. She was as stiff as starch.

“I’m still going to tell you what I think whenever I want to,” she grumbled.

He smiled. “I figured you would.”

When they reached the main floor, Noah said his good-byes and left. Allison and Liam continued to walk across the lobby. When they reached the entrance, Allison suddenly stopped. “Is that Brett waiting for his car? It is, isn’t it? If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to have a few words with him.” Her voice was shaking when she got the last sentence out.

Liam grabbed her arm before she could take off. Exasperated, he said, “Didn’t we decide that was a bad idea?”

“No, you and Noah decided it was a bad idea. I didn’t.”

There was a small alcove near the bell captain’s desk, and without any explanation, Liam pulled her toward it and told her to stay put.

“What do you mean, ‘stay put’? And will you stop dragging me around!” She was about to go into a full-blown lecture on the merits of good manners and suggest he might want to get some until she noticed he wasn’t paying any attention to her. Standing directly in front of her, he was looking across the lobby as he unbuttoned his jacket and unsnapped the leather holster securing his gun.

Liam knew Brett hadn’t seen them, but Fred Stiles and the guard hired to protect the door from unwanted guests during their presentation had seen them. They were coming at them, and coming fast. The thick-shouldered guard with squinty eyes reached them first. Standing just a foot away, he looked up at Liam and said, “You don’t intimidate me. Get out of my way. I want to talk to that bitch hiding behind you.”

Liam didn’t move. In a voice Allison had never heard before, he said, “Get the hell out of here.”

“That troublemaker cost me a lot of money tonight. I was supposed to get a bonus if everything went smooth. She’s the reason it all fell apart, so she owes me.” He tried to push Liam out of his way, but Liam didn’t budge. Then the man tried to shove him in his chest next. Liam had had enough of pretending to be a nice guy. He grabbed the man’s hand and twisted his fingers back as he turned him and half lifted him, slamming him into the wall.

Stiles looked appalled by the guard’s behavior. Liam knew his outrage was all a pretense.

People coming and going through the doors of the hotel didn’t notice the guard, who had dropped to the floor inside the alcove. When he slowly sat up and rubbed the side of his head, he looked dazed.

Allison was amazed by Liam’s strength. She knew he was muscular. She should have known, for she had kissed and caressed every part of him. Still, to twist a man’s fingers, lift him, and slam his head into the wall took remarkable strength. And a temper. She was shocked by that revelation. Liam had always been so calm and easygoing with everyone . . . until now.

Unfortunately, the confrontation didn’t end with the guard. Stiles tried to walk around Liam to get to Allison, but Liam wasn’t about to let that happen, either. He quickly blocked Stiles.