Close To Danger (Westen #4)(9)
“Were you at the meeting?” She paused, waiting for a reply, hoping to keep him on the line for whatever reason Wes seemed to think he needed her to do.
Nothing but heavy breathing again.
Anger shot through her. She didn’t have time for this guy’s stupid games. And she wasn’t about to let him think he had her running scared.
“Is that what this is about? Trying to get me to drop the pay-out my client deserves?” she bit out, letting him and the man across her desk know she was pissed.
The voice on the other end chuckled, sounding like some evil-mechanical clown.
Then the line went dead.
Once more her gaze flew to Wes’s face. He was studying something on his phone.
She waited.
Counted to ten.
Counted again.
“Exactly what are you doing?” she finally asked through nearly clenched teeth. Great, her TMJ was going to act up tonight after all this teeth grinding during the day.
“Trying to triangulate where that call came from.”
Huh? What was he? A wanna-be super-spy? “Triangulate? Like with satellites?”
“Yes. Only got two cell towers pinged before he disconnected though.” Wes shook his head slightly and pocketed his phone once more, lowering his big frame into the straight back chair across the desk from her. He fixed her with an intense stare. “Want to tell me again that you don’t think you have to worry about this guy?”
“Okay. I probably should be…am concerned, but like I said earlier, it’s really none of your business.” She hated admitting that he was right. She also wasn’t ready to give up her anger, both at the stranger stalking her and Wes for acting like some over-protective male taking care of the little lady, when it clearly wasn’t his problem.
“Actually it is.”
She drew her brows down and tilted her head to the side, puzzled. “How is any of this your business?”
He leaned back in the chair, pulling up one jean-clad leg to rest the boot on the knee of his other leg. “Simple. You’re the sister of two people I consider friends. Both of whom have enough on their plate without trying to solve this problem. Therefore, I’m going to help you.”
She stared at him, her mouth slightly agog at his audacity. How dare he just force himself into her business? Who the hell did he think he was?
Before she could tell him exactly what she thought of him, his arrogant attitude and misplaced offer of help, a knock sounded on her door.
“Come in,” she snapped.
The door opened and in stepped one of the firm’s other junior associates, Justin Matthers. “Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t know you with a client, Chloe.”
“You weren’t interrupting anything, Justin,” she said, tamping down her anger at the man seated across the desk who’d quirked one brow at her in some sort of bizarre sign of amusement. “What do you need?”
Justin stepped further into the room, carrying a thick file. “It’s the Richardson merger. I have some questions about the figures in the contract.”
Crap. That contract was due in her boss, Dale’s office tomorrow for the final negotiations on the merger. The last thing she needed was the misogynist implying the reason the contract wasn’t finished or incorrect in any way was because she, a lowly little woman, was in charge of it.
Both in college and law school she’d run into that male-superiority attitude her immediate boss had about women, as archaic as it was. She’d dumped more than one boyfriend for trying to man-splain something to her that she already understood quite clearly. One professor even suggested that because of her looks, she go into modeling rather than a career like the law that might tax her brain. One of the reasons she worked so hard in her current position was to prove to herself and anyone looking that she could handle any problem thrown at her, even complicated business mergers.
She switched her attention back to Wes, who was already reading the situation correctly and rising from his seat.
“We’ll get back to this once you’re finished,” he said, nodding to Justin, who moved out of the path so Wes could walk through the door frame, pulling the door closed behind him.
It wasn’t until the door clicked shut that she realized he’d left his coat hanging on her coatrack. She should’ve known he had no intention of leaving until they hashed out the problem of her stalker.
And for some reason, she wasn’t angry about his sticking around. In fact, for the first time in two weeks her body released some of the tightly held tension.
CHAPTER FOUR
Despite the drizzle that had started falling outside, the Peaches ’N Cream Café was half full with customers when Bobby entered late-morning. Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue greeted her. All the Christmas songs on the jukebox had been replaced with fifties rock-and-roll and country favorites—a combination of Lorna and Pete’s favorites. The music added to the retro ambiance of the café with its chrome edged and red leather upholstered barstools and booth seats.
She’d made her rounds of all the businesses and the local bank before heading to the café. Most of the proprietors were planning to close early, since the weather channel predicted freezing rain, sleet and then snow. Typical Ohio winter weather. Over the car radio, she’d heard Gage send Cleetus out to check on the schools to be sure they were sending the kids home by noon. The town council and schoolboard didn’t want to take any chances on a bus accident and injured students due to the predicted inclement weather.