Zane: #7 (Allen Securities) Read online

  “Do you think they will come after me?” she asked.

  He switched ears and moved toward the door. Zane stared out into the darkness.

  “Right now just focus on your driving,” he said. “How far out are you?”

  She grew quiet, and for a moment he thought that maybe they had lost connection. Or worse.

  “El?”

  Lights flashed down the road as a car turned the corner.

  “I’m almost outside,” she said finally.

  Zane stepped out into the cool night air. “Just pull up front.” He hit the red button on the phone.

  He looked all around. There was a chance that whoever had shot at her car had been able to follow her. The night was still around them, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  Zane walked over to the driver’s side door and opened it for her once the car had stopped. Ellen stepped out and instantly wrapped her arms around him. Her whole body shook.

  He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, ready to defend Ellen.

  “Take her in,” Cage said quietly. “I’ll pull the car around back inside the garage.” He nodded toward the street. “In case,” he motioned to the back window, “whoever did that comes looking.”

  Zane hated to involve anyone else in this, but she was a mess, and as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he needed the help.

  “Let’s get you in,” he said in as calm a voice as he could manage.

  She nodded against his chest, her soft dark blond hair concealing her face.

  Zane led her inside slowly and up the stairs to his boss’s office. It was the most comfortable of them and would allow for a bit of privacy. He helped her to sit on the couch while he brewed a pot of coffee.

  He watched her as she settled on the couch. She looked older than the last time he’d seen her. It had been over five years.

  Ellen looked so pale and fragile sitting there. her ugly blue scrubs doing nothing to help her pallor.

  Zane brought a cup over to her and watched as a small smile filtered onto her face. “You remembered.”

  He quickly turned away to deal with his own coffee. “Cream and sugar,” he said. “Some things don’t change.”

  He paused for a moment wondering if she’d picked up on the sadness in his voice. There were too many things that he hadn’t dealt with, and now they were all right there, smack dab in his face.

  Zane locked up his rampaging emotions. They had other things to talk about. Pressing things like people shooting at her. He turned and took a seat in a chair near her.

  “Now why don’t you tell me what happened.”

  Chapter Three

  Ellen opened her mouth to tell him about the men, but she couldn’t form the words. In her mind she could still see that poor man on the ground, his hands battered from being crushed. And then the blood. So much blood.

  She’d dealt with plenty of crime victims in the ER, but that was a controlled setting, with a staff of medical professionals and brightly lit, not some dingy alleyway where she felt helpless to do anything.

  The more she thought about it, the more that fact bothered her. She’d gone into nursing to help people, both sick and injured. As terrified as she was, it killed her that she hadn’t been able to save that man.

  She wondered if she’d called out if she could have saved him. The thought passed. The truth was, if she’d yelled, they would have just shot her and then the man. Those ruthless, evil men didn’t seem to care about hurting people.

  Ellen sighed.

  Zane leaned forward and placed a hand over her wrist as she held on to the mug in her lap with both hands.

  “Start at the beginning,” he said. “Tell me everything, and we’ll work up to it.”

  The soft, soothing way he said it made her feel at ease, like he would handle things. Of course that was Zane. It was five years later, but he was still the same man, reliable, handled things, handled people who hurt her.

  She nodded. “Zoe had called and asked if I’d bring a box over to the casino,” she said as she stared down at the coffee in her hands. “Just some old things, pictures, mementos, nothing special in terms of money, and since I don’t see her much these days, I decided to go. After Mom…” Her lip shook, and she took in a few deep breaths to steady herself. “The problem is her new guy. You see, she got this new boyfriend a year ago.” She looked up at Zane. “He’s not a good guy. Not just that, he’s a bad guy. Really bad.”

  Zane didn’t interrupt but nodded. She wondered if he was worried she might break down and just start sobbing. Hell, Ellen half wondered it herself. Lord knew she wanted to.

  “So I bring the box,” she said. “We argue about things, about her life, and then I hear a noise. This awful noise.” She swallowed the bile that rose into her throat. The sickening crunching sound still echoed inside her head. “She told me not to go,” Ellen said. “It was like she knew. Like this wasn’t the first time she’d heard something like that. I can’t… how can she be used to something like that?”

  Zane frowned. “And what is it that you saw?”

  Ellen could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Her sweet baby sister knew what was going on and just wanted to ignore it. Maybe Zoe was completely gone if she could do something like that.

  “There were three men,” she said. “One on the ground, and two standing over.”

  Zane leaned in farther. She knew this was the part he had been waiting for.

  “They were using a sledgehammer to break the guy’s hands,” she said. “I…”

  She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath, but all she could see was the way the hammer came down and the pleasure the two men took in it. Her stomach lurched, and she took several deep breaths to calm herself.

  “The biggest guy was hammering, but there was another guy there. He was in charge.” She stared directly at Zane. “I thought they were going to let the guy go, but then the guy in charge pulled a gun, and he shot the guy they were hurting, three times. Shot him dead.” She shook her head. “I’ve seen a lot of people die in my line of work, but I’ve never seen someone murdered in front of me.”

  Zane’s brow furrowed. She could see how serious it was just by looking at his expression.

  “Did you know these men?” he asked after a moment of thought.

  She shook her head. “I’ve never seen them before. They had thick Russian accents, and the one that did the shooting looked like he had expensive clothes on. Nice purple shirt, suit, lots of gold chains. They didn’t know I was there at first, but then they noticed me.”

  “Fuck,” Zane mumbled.

  Ellen didn’t like the sound of that. She took a drink of coffee, and the smooth warmth washed over her. It helped fight the cold that had enveloped her heart.

  “How did you get away?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I always carry pepper spray. A guy came up and grabbed me from behind, so I sprayed him. The other two shot at me but missed.” She offered a silent prayer of thanks. “Well, mostly missed. You saw my car.”

  “And Zoe?”

  She shook her head. “She was gone when I turned around,” Ellen said. “Likely cleared out as soon as she smelled trouble. Zoe always was good about not getting caught.” A quiet and bitter laugh followed.

  Zane leaned back and scrubbed a hand down his face.

  For the first time, she realized there was stubble there. Something she’d never really seen aside from when they were teens, and he thought it was being cool. Which it was. Dark circles lined his eyes, and she could see the redness in the whites.

  “How fucked am I?” she whispered.

  He shook his head. “You’re a loose end,” Zane said. “They need to tie it up, or you can end up sending them and who knows what other people away if they were aware this guy was going to get killed.”

  Ellen swallowed. “So I’m totally fucked.”

  He stood and placed his cup in the small sink by the coffee pot. “For now you’ll come to my place,” he
said. “I need a good night’s sleep and a clear head to make any decisions.”

  She frowned. She didn’t have to work tomorrow, but it would have been nice to change clothes.

  “What about my place?”

  Zane turned back to stare at her. “Did they have a chance to see your license plate?”

  She could still see the boss guy as he watched her drive away. The evil glint in his eye as he did so. Her heart dropped, and she let out a long groan. “Yes.”

  He nodded and took the cup from her hand. Ellen stood as he did so.

  “Then they will know where you live by now. The Russian mafia has ties everywhere these days. It’ll be easy for them to make a call and get your address.”

  She froze. “Did you say Russian mafia?”

  Ellen could feel her head start to spin as Zane nodded. She’d thought she was in deep trouble, but she hadn’t quite grasped how deep until just then.

  “Your sister got mixed up in the wrong crowd,” he said. “And she’s put you in terrible danger. The Russians mean business, and they don’t forget. They don’t have a problem killing innocent people or women. We need to keep you off their radar until I can get this fixed.”

  The world shifted around her, and suddenly Zane seemed like he was much farther away. Like he was shouting at her from down a dark hall.

  “El?”

  Warm arms wrapped around her, and she felt all her weight being lifted.

  “El? Ellen!”

  There was a comfort in those arms, and Ellen let herself slip down the tunnel until she closed her eyes completely.

  Chapter Four

  Ellen still lay in Zane’s bed sleeping. After all the stress the night before, she’d collapsed into his arms, her face pale from everything that had happened.

  Zane took her exhaustion seriously. She wasn’t a woman who couldn’t deal with stress. She’d helped patch up who knew how many victims of violence up in the ER. This was different.

  This wasn’t her world; it was his.

  With Cage’s help, Zane had been able to get her down the stairs and into his car. It was only then that he had the chance to examine Ellen’s car. There were three holes on the driver’s side of the car and another four in the back, in addition to the broken windshield.

  They hadn’t just taken a few pot shots at her. Ellen had been lucky. With that many bullets, they had been serious about taking her out.

  He’d driven her to his small home last night and placed her in his bed. It wasn’t exactly the best situation. There was only one room in the house, and his couch was shit for a man his size, but still, it was better than trying to sleep in the car. Even before she’d shown up, he was exhausted, and if he was going to help Ellen escape the Russian mob, he needed to be well rested.

  Going straight to the police was a bad idea until they knew who specifically they were dealing with. Low-level Russian enforcers were one thing, but if they were dealing with one of the big boys, Ellen could easily have an “accident” while in protective custody. The corrupt web of organized crime had spread throughout the city.

  No, he needed a chance to catch his breath before the cops got involved.

  Zane yawned for about the millionth time as he sucked down his cup of coffee. Normally he didn’t like the stuff, but with the schedule he’d been keeping, there was no way he’d make it through the day on his own.

  He glanced at the clock on the wall. Six. Despite the late night, he’d still been up early. Likely from years of training himself to be up before the rest of the family.

  A scowl slipped onto his face. It had been years since he’d thought of them. Seeing Ellen only brought back all the shit he’d been trying to forget.

  She looked older than the last time he’d seen her. Her face had filled out more, and although she had always been beautiful, it only seemed like that had grown over the years.

  Something tugged inside him. The same aching need that he always felt when she was around.

  Zane grabbed the coffee and slammed it back like it was a shooter.

  He didn’t need to be thinking about this or dragging out all the old feelings he’d worked so hard to bury. Right now she needed his help not to end up in a grave, and that was all. She’d probably only called him because she knew he was working in a reputable security firm.

  He’d do the job and roll right back into his normal life, the one without a relationship for longer than a night and no complicated feelings.

  Zane stood and took a deep breath. The best thing for him was a good run. It would clear his head and get him ready for the day. He laced his shoes and grabbed a hoodie from the hook by the door.

  For a moment he paused, wondering if he should let her know, but shook his head. The last thing he needed was to see her sleeping face again and besides, she needed the rest.

  With that, Zane headed out into the dimly lit morning.

  * * *

  Ellen rolled over in the bed. She breathed in deeply and sighed. Something smelled good, but she couldn’t quite place it. Maybe she’d changed the detergent she used.

  She breathed in again. Something about this smell was very male to her.

  Slowly she opened her eyes and was surprised to find that she wasn’t in her own room. Her brain raced to keep up with just what the hell was going on.

  Suddenly, everything from the night before came crashing back.

  Her sister. The dead man. The Russians. Zane.

  He was the last thing she could remember. His concerned face staring at her as he talked about the Russian mafia.

  Even now, just the thought made her head spin a little.

  What the fuck had her sister gotten herself into? Of all the shitty men she had chosen to be with, this one took the cake. She swore if she got her hands on that piece of shit Billy, she would tear him limb from limb.

  Ellen jumped when something moved nearby. She turned and found Zane pulling some clothes from the closet next to the bed. The light from the crack in the bathroom door allowed just enough light for her to see in the early morning hours.

  He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and for a moment, she couldn’t really process much more than that.

  Although she’d known him for years, she’d never really seen him with his shirt off. Even when they all used to go swimming in the creak, he would still wear it.

  Back then she used to wonder what he looked like. It was a sort of fantasy she would play in her head. Clearly, he had bulked up over the years though. She wondered if he hit the gym every day, or twice a day.

  The frame she remembered wasn’t near so wide or defined. Zane was always muscular, but this was the body of a man, full of firm muscles and hard, defining lines around those muscles.

  Zane turned around, and they stared at one another.

  Heat spread to her cheeks when she realized he had totally just caught her checking him out.

  “Sorry,” he said quietly and stepped out of the closet.

  In the light, she could see the sheen of preparation on his chest and his damp hair.

  “It’s the only bathroom I have,” he said.

  Ellen swallowed and sat up a little. She glanced at the clock beside the bed. Quarter to seven.

  She gave a small smile. He always was an early riser. He used to show up at their house just in time for breakfast. It was likely why she’d become an early riser as well. Just so she could be ready when he came over.

  Not that Zane ever cared. Being five years younger only meant that she was invisible in all the important ways a girl didn’t want to be. To him, she was just the kid sister, and that never seemed to change as the years went by.

  By the time she’d blossomed into her own woman, Zane and her brother were already out in the world, doing their own thing.

  She told herself that it didn’t matter. That she’d long since gotten over her childish crush, but seeing him there with his shirt off only brought back all the same longing she’d once felt. And knowing that nothing had really change
d just made the ache all the worse.

  “I’ll just be a few minutes,” he said. “You might try and get some more sleep.”

  She shook her head and yawned. “No use,” she said. “Once I’m up, I’m up.”

  Zane gave her the same half smile that always used to melt her heart and much to her annoyance, Ellen’s thumped harder in response.

  “I’ll be right out then,” he said and turned to the bathroom.

  It was only briefly, but she could clearly see the scar on his back.

  She’d always heard the rumors that he was a rough guy when they were younger but had never seen that side of him. Still the talk was there. That he skipped school or hung out with the wrong crowds. It was a wonder that her mother let Dean continue to hang out with him.

  But she’d always had a soft spot for Zane, making sure he got seconds at any meal and inviting him to all the family events. Her mother always seemed keenly aware of everything that he didn’t have with his rougher family situation and helped how she could.

  Ellen gave a small smile. Her mother would be glad to know that Zane was doing well. They had heard he got the new job, but it seemed like he had finally gotten his life on track. She only hoped that he could leave the life he knew before behind him to make a new start.

  Chapter Five

  When Zane stepped out of the bathroom, a delicious smell hit his nose. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He’d know this smell anywhere: French toast. Not just delicious, familiar and evocative.

  Good memories flooded back. If he tried hard enough, he could imagine Lydia, Ellen’s mother, standing in front of her old gas stove fixing French toast on the griddle. It was one of the few bright spots in his childhood that he could remember, one of the few times he could taste what familial love felt like.

  Zane opened his eyes and followed his nose into the kitchen. Ellen stood there in his shirt and a pair of sweats that she must have found in his closet. He hadn’t even thought to offer her something, but it was no surprise that she helped herself.