Finders Keepers Losers Die (13 page)

Who would want to kill me? Whoever it was, I
wasn't going to make it easy for them by staying at Mom's.

I drove away from the curb and headed to
Gina's. I'd call Mom in the morning and tell her what had
happened—the edited version.

So, if I was worried about Mom, why was I
going to Gina's?

It wasn't as easy to link me to Gina. Sure,
if someone knew we were friends, but who out of Lou's associates
would know that?

I parked in front of her building and looked
up at her second-floor window. Light backlit the filmy curtains,
flapping in the breeze of the open window. Someone moved into my
line of sight. From the silhouette, I knew it wasn't Gina. It
wasn't even a woman.

Strange. She hadn't mentioned she was
expecting company, and we tell each other
everything
when it
comes to men. There was only one reason she wouldn't tell me.

Will.

I squinted up at the window but he moved
away. It could have been Will. Tall, broad across the shoulders and
chest. I kept watching but I couldn't see much. I waited around but
no one left the building and eventually the light in her apartment
went out.

Greaaaaat
. Gina and Will were
definitely a couple. If that wasn't bad enough, I had nowhere to
stay. I could sleep in my car but not outside Gina's. I didn't want
Will finding me in the morning camped out in my car like a
loser.

I sighed and turned the key in the ignition.
The huge bunch brushed against my knee. Apart from my own keys, I
still had Mom's keys, Mrs. Krenski's, and the office key which I'd
forgotten to—

The office key! The office had a couch. An
old, lumpy couch, but a couch was better than the front seat of the
Civic. Plus it had a bathroom and a kitchen. I could stay the
night, get up at first light, shower and have coffee then head to
Mom's for breakfast. Will wouldn't be in that early and it was
Sunday so Carl had the day off. No one need know I spent the night
there.

Twenty minutes later, I lay down on the
couch under the picnic blanket I keep in the trunk of my car and
tried to push all thoughts of the day from hell out of my head. It
was easy. I was exhausted. Who'd have thought I could handle only
so much drama?

***

Click. Click.

My eyes flew open but I didn't move. I
didn't dare.

The front door creaked and someone entered,
paused, then shut the door behind them.

I lay still on the couch, the blanket pulled
up to my chin, too scared to breathe. I'd been followed to the
office after all.

Fuck
.

I waited for the fire but nothing happened.
Thank Christ, because Will would kill me if his office burned down
because of me.

Footsteps drew closer. In the darkness, I
could just make out the shape of a man. A tall man. Hopefully he
hadn't spotted the lump on the couch.

As I saw it, I had two options. Wait for him
to move past and then run like hell outside and into the car, or
confront him.

The first option was tempting but risky if
he had a gun. The second option was even less appealing, for the
same reason.

I'd have to use the element of surprise.

When he moved beside the couch, I leapt off
and tackled him at leg height. He went down, landing heavily on the
floor with an
oomph
. I sat on top of him and frisked him. No
gun.

Before I could question him, he flipped me
over with a deft wrestling move, trapping me beneath his body.
That's when I realized he was a giant. Massive. Stronger than The
Rock.

I struggled but he pinned my arms to the
floor.

"Who—?" He didn't finish the question. I
kicked out, hitting him in the shin. He swore and the pressure on
my arms eased. I slipped my hand free and swung a punch. It
connected with his head and he lurched to one side, giving me some
space. I brought my knee up to get him in the groin but missed and
got his hip instead.

Before I could take another shot, he stood
and lifted me roughly by my arms. He shook me and squeezed. Pain
shot to my fingertips. I didn't want to cry out, didn't want to
show weakness, but I think a small sound escaped because his grip
suddenly loosened.

"Who the fuck are you and what are you doing
in my office?"

Oh. Shit.

Will.

Maybe if I pretended to be someone else,
he'd let me go before he turned the light on and—

He shook me again. "Well?"

"It's only me," I squeaked.

He let go like I was a piece of hot coal.
"Cat?" His shadow moved away then the light came on. He stood at
the switch near the hallway.

I waved at him. "Hi."

He stared. And stared. Then he pressed his
fingers into his eyes. When he withdrew them, he stared some more.
"Cat! What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too."

The disbelief on his face was replaced with
seething, vein-popping anger. He looked like he'd explode. "Enough
with the cute talk," he ground out through clenched teeth. "Just
answer me."

When Will got angry, I couldn't help fueling
the flames. Think of me as a self-appointed ego-buster. The way I
see it, he shouldn't be allowed to get away with the he-man
attitude. Someone had to stand up to him—why not me?

Then again, I could just be a masochist.
Arguing with Will gave me a rush, sort of like little tingles
scuttling across my skin. Maybe it was all the extra adrenalin
produced by the fight. It was kind of…exciting.

"A little grumpy tonight aren't we?" I
asked.

"You break into my office, tackle me, and
punch me in the face. What do you fucking expect? A welcoming
party?"

"I did
not
break in. I have a key.
And I thought you were a burglar."

"And what made you think you could take a
burglar on by yourself?"

"I did okay considering the size
difference."

He rubbed his jaw where my punch had
connected. "Yeah, you did okay. But you still haven't answered my
question."

"I would if you gave me half a chance and
stopped acting like an ogre."

"I'm not acting. And stop avoiding the
question. I won't give up that easily so you might as well just
tell me what you're doing here."

"I'm not avoiding the question, I'm merely
trying to calm you down so I can explain—"

"I AM FUCKING CALM!"

Wow, those veins could pop any minute. I
took a step back just in case. "You know, you swear a lot."

"Yeah? Well, you bring the worst out in
me."

"You mean you're only an overbearing, mean
bully with an attitude problem around me?"

His brow creased. "Is that how you see
me?"

"Not just me."

Will ran both his hands through his hair.
"Christ, Cat, I…" He sat heavily on the couch arm, shaking his
head. After a moment, he looked up at me. The furrow deepened
across his forehead. "You're doing it again. And you nearly got me
that time."

"What?"

"Avoiding the question. Look, Cat, I won't
get mad. If you've come to collect something you left behind, you
should have asked. I could have arranged to be out of the office
and Carl—"

"That's not why I'm here."

His dark eyes locked with mine and I think
something suddenly clicked. "Cat, what's up? What's happened?"

I sat on the couch next to him and pulled
the blanket across my lap, suddenly wanting to cover my bare
legs.

"Why's there a blanket out here? I don't
remember…" He paused. "Were you sleeping on the couch?"

I nodded. "My place burned down."

"WHAT?"

I gave him the details including the part
about someone breaking in and deliberately setting my bedroom
alight. He listened, the deepening frown the only outward sign of
concern.

"Did you lose much?" he asked.

"Clothes mainly." I sighed. "And my
autograph book." I swiped at a tear.

"I'm sorry. It must have been important to
you."

I nodded. "Every star I ever worked with
wrote in it. It means more to me than all the clothes and
shoes."

"That much?"

"So anyway, I needed somewhere to stay so I
came here."

"What about your mother's? Or Gina's
place?"

"I didn't want to endanger her," I said. "Or
Gina," I added, unable to look at him. He must have come straight
from her place to the office.

"Good thinking," he muttered. "Well, you
can't stay here." He stood.

"Oh. Right. Sorry." And here I thought we'd
just connected. Sort of. I wasn't sure whether to play the
innocent, vulnerable female and beg to stay or just leave. I didn't
feel like arguing with him anymore.

"Follow me in your car," he said. "You know
where I live, don't you?"

"Huh? Yeah, I think, but…" I shook my head
vigorously. "Will! I can't!"

His hand hovered over the light switch. "I
have a spare room, if that's the problem. Don't worry. You may not
believe me, but I can be a perfect gentleman." He paused. "If I
have to be."

"No, that's not it. I mean, I'm sure you can
be a gentleman, although you haven't always been very gentlemanly
here at the office, but I've seen evidence of it tonight, so
there's hope—"

"Cat. Christ, you can talk," he muttered.
"What's the problem?"

"Gina."

"Gina?"

"Gina. You know, the girl you've just spent
half the night with." He stared back at me, so I went on. "Gina, my
best friend, your girlfriend. Remember her?"

His eyes widened then he threw his head back
and laughed. When he finished, he straightened and turned the light
switch out. He came to me, took me by the arm and steered me toward
the door.

"Cat, that's the funniest thing I've heard
in ages. Me and Gina?" He opened the door, still chuckling. The
street light caught the gleam in his eye. "Gina and I wouldn't last
a week. No, not even a day. She'd drive me nuts. And I'm sure she
finds me less than fun to be around."

He locked the office door and walked me to
my car.

I shook my head, confused. "But, tonight?
You were at her place…"

"No. I was working from home. I'd forgotten
a file so I came here to get it." He shrugged and glanced back at
the locked office. "I'll get it tomorrow."

"Let me get this straight. You and Gina
aren't an item? But she said…" What did she say exactly? I tried to
recall our conversations but couldn't. Blame the cocktails. "Never
mind." It didn't seem important anymore anyway.

"Unlock your car and get inside," Will said.
"This isn't a neighborhood you want to parade around at night
wearing nothing but a see-through shirt."

Ha! So he was human after all.

And my shirt was see-through?

***

I followed Will the short distance to his
place. I'd been there once before to drop off some files when he'd
broken his big toe. He lived in a narrow two-story house painted
cream with dark green trimmings in a quiet, suburban street. Other
homes had bicycles and toys strewn across the front yard but his
had a few tangled rose bushes and a squeaky gate.

Inside, the house had been completely
renovated. Polished, hardwood floors throughout, a modern black and
white kitchen opening onto a comfortable living room with minimum
furniture—a TV, two-seater couch, single armchair, coffee table and
waist-height bookshelves crammed with, wait for it, detective
novels. A fruit bowl containing one black banana and a shriveled
apple sat on the small round table tucked into the corner near the
breakfast bar. Beyond the living room was a stairway.

Looking around, anyone would think Will was
a neat freak. Which didn't add up because the office was utter
chaos. Apart from the decaying fruit, there were no signs that
anyone lived there.

"Do you have a housekeeper?" I asked.

"No, why?"

"Just asking."

He followed my gaze. "I don't spend much
time here. When I'm home, I'm either asleep or in the spare bedroom
working."

"Working? You've got to get a life,
Will."

"Tell me about it," he muttered. We headed
up the stairs and stopped at an open door. "The spare bedroom is
yours for as long as you want it."

"Just tonight," I said quickly. Tomorrow I
could stay with Gina since she and Will weren't doing the wild
thing. Hopefully my presence wouldn't cramp her style with whoever
she was doing.

"Right. Sorry it's a bit messy."

I take it all back. Will was a pig. The
spare room looked like the storeroom at the office. Boxes, files,
papers, and equipment were strewn across the desk, the single bed,
the floor. A pile of books threatened to topple over in a corner
and a stained mug took pride of place on top of a stack of
paperwork on the desk.

He cleared off the bed. "The sheets are
clean. The bathroom's across the hall, towels are in the cupboard
beneath the sink. Anything else I can get you? Do you want a night
cap?"

I was about to say no but changed my mind.
Alcohol seemed like a good way to obliterate a crappy day.

We returned to the kitchen and he poured two
whiskies. We sat on stools at the breakfast bar and sipped in
awkward silence. Maybe I should have bypassed the nightcap and gone
straight to bed. Awkward silences made me nervous.

"Cat, are you okay? Did I hurt you before?"
He indicated my arms where he'd grabbed me.

I undid the top button on my shirt and
shrugged one shoulder out. No bruises. "I'm fine," I said,
re-buttoning.

Will stared at my shoulder. "Right. Good.
Glad to hear it."

Boy, talk about awkward. It felt weird him
being nice to me. It just seemed…wrong, like the world had been
turned upside down and everything was in reverse. It threw me into
a spin and I didn't know how to react. Maybe I should pick another
fight…

"I think I better loan you some clothes,"
Will said, studying the contents of his glass.