Close To Danger (Westen #4)
Suzanne Ferrell
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Dear Reader,
Thank you so much for trying my Indie published book. I understand that there are many options for you to spend your money on and am honored that you chose one of my books. For that reason my team and I strive to put out the best product we can from the awesome cover design through the entire editing and formatting process. For my part, I hope to deliver an entertaining story that keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next.
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Now the important part: Here’s Wes and Chloe’s story. I hope you will love them as much as I did while I was writing Close To Danger:
CHAPTER ONE
Click-click-click-click.
Chloe Roberts’s heels struck a staccato-beat against the concrete flooring. The clicks echoed in the parking garage. The closer she got to her car, the faster she moved. The rhythm of her stride sounded like the Allegro portion of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony—quick, choppy, intense.
Great. Now she was bringing music into her crazy.
Three feet from her car, she hit the unlock button. She nearly leapt into her driver’s seat.
Shutting the door hard, she hit the lock button immediately and gripped the steering wheel with both hands to stop her trembling.
You’re safe. You’re safe. You’re safe.
With the mantra running like an audio loop in her head, she closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly, willing her pulse to reduce to a normal rate. She might not be a doctor like her sister, Dylan, but even she was pretty sure the machinegun-firing of her heart wasn’t a good thing.
“Dammit,” she muttered, releasing her grip on the wheel and slamming her palms against it.
She forced her eyes open and stared out her rearview mirror. Nothing moved in the florescent lighting of the parking garage. Quickly, she switched her gaze to the side mirrors to be sure no one had crept up on her while her eyes had been closed. Again, nothing moved.
Rubbing her hands over her face, she slumped against the leather upholstery. She should’ve had the security guard walk her to the car. It was late at night. Plenty of the female law clerks and secretaries did that on a regular basis when they worked late. No one would think anything of her asking for an escort.
But she wasn’t just a single woman working late. She was Chloe Roberts, junior associate with Berger, Dennison and Napier, who wanted to make partner. To show fear of anything meant showing that she was vulnerable, defenseless, a helpless female. Something none of the men in her office would respect.
Dale Napier.
Her boss’s face came into her mind and she snorted. Not like old Dale was ever going to respect her anyways. The man was a throwback to the nineteen-fifties. Three months ago, he’d made a pass at her when no one was in the office to hear him. She’d put him in his place by asking if he really wanted a sexual harassment suit. He’d backed off immediately.
Not long after that the phone calls started.
Could it be him? She’d asked herself that several times. Each time dismissing the idea. He might be slimy enough to try and get a little ass on the side, but his wife had him by the balls financially and no way would he risk his bank account, not to get even with a lawyer who turned him down.
Besides, there were others who were far angrier with her than Dale.
Nathan Tremont.
Yeah, the hot-headed owner of five area sporting goods stores hadn’t taken kindly to losing to her in court. It thrilled her to watch the jury’s decision that he should pay the medical bills plus damages to her client for her injuries and loss of income sustained when Tremont t-boned her in a collision. Yeah, Tremont would definitely want to get revenge on her.
Derrick Whitehead.
There was another man who wouldn’t be above terrorizing her. She’d taken his ex-wife’s case pro-bono. She’d wanted him to leave her alone and leave their kids alone. Chloe had filed restraining orders against the professional football strong-safety four times, only to have him violate each one. The last time ended with her client in the ICU and her kids living with her parents. Thankfully, it also ended with Whitehead now serving twenty years for assault and kidnapping. That made two men who wanted to hurt her.
Tap-tap.
“Ahhh!” she screamed lurching away from the driver’s window and the dark-suited body standing there.
“Ms. Roberts?” the man lowered his body for her to see his face. “You okay in there?”