Page 14 of Kiana's Hero

A deep voice sounded from behind him. “My finger’s shaking. If you move even an inch, I can’t be responsible for blowing off your head.”

Chapter 4

Standing on the porch outside the Aloha Escorts office, Kiana bristled at being told to stay when she was the one who knew this office and the people who ran it.

When Dev froze just inside the doorway, Kiana left the spot he’d pointed to and stepped up behind him. “Look, I know these people,” she said, “you don’t. Let me—” Kiana came to an abrupt halt, the air leaving her lungs at the sight of the cool gray metal of a gun barrel pressed to Dev’s temple. “What the h—”

“Kiana,” Dev said softly. “Get back.”

Before she could follow his order, the door swung wider.

Daylight shone in on the blond-haired man holding the gun to Dev’s head. The man wore his signature light gray pin-stripe suit, but his hair wasn’t neatly slicked back with a ton of product like Kiana remembered. It stuck out at odd angles.

Kiana opened her mouth to say something.

Before she could get a word out, Dev moved in a blur of motion, snatched the gun from Cliff and turned it around to point at the older man.

Cliff held up his hands in surrender. “Call him off, Kiana. I didn’t know he was with you.”

Kiana reached out and placed her hand on Dev’s arm. “It’s okay. This is Cliff Rey, the man we came to talk with. Cliff, meet Devlin Mulhaney. He’s new on Oahu and looking for work.”

“Can’t help you.” Cliff backed away from Dev, rubbing the wrist Dev had knocked aside while stealing the pistol. “The office is closed until further notice.”

Kiana blinked. “Closed? Why?” Her eyes narrowed as she studied his face.

The closer Kiana looked, the more she could see of Cliff’s face. One eye was swollen, a dark purple bruise spread across his cheek and his lip was split, with dried blood in the corner. “What the hell happened?”

Cliff raised a hand to touch his lip. He winced and shook his head. “I’m not sure. I’d just sent Rose out to get us a late lunch. Niko was out delivering four of our escorts to a convention. I had the place to myself when a couple of guys walked into the building wearing ski masks.”

Kiana gasped. “Did they rob you?”

He snorted. “I wish. No, they wanted information.”

“What information?” Dev asked.

“They wanted to know where Kiana’s friend, Meredith, was.”

Kiana’s heart squeezed tightly in her chest. She touched Cliff’s arm. “Do you know where she is?”

Cliff laughed and clutched his side. “Do you think that if I’d known where she was, I would look like this?” He pointed to his face. “I’d have told them and spared my face and ribs.” He shook his head. “If not for my upstairs neighbor shouting, I’m calling the cops, those guys might’ve finished me off.”

“Sweet Jesus,” Kiana murmured. “Did the cops come?”

Cliff nodded. “They left a few minutes before you got here. I called Rose and told her to go home and lock the door. I told Niko to stay away from the office until further notice.”

“What about you?” Kiana asked. “The cops didn’t call for an ambulance? Should you still be here instead of a hospital?”

Cliff shot a glance past Kiana and Dev, out into the street as if looking for his attackers. Apparently satisfied for the moment that they weren’t lurking nearby, Cliff motioned Kiana and Dev across the threshold and closed the door behind them. When he switched on the light, Dev whistled.

“Wow,” Kiana stared at the mess. Chairs had been turned over, a file cabinet’s drawers lay on the floor, the documents inside covering the worn carpet. “They did this?”

“In between using me as a punching bag.” Cliff shoved a hand through his hair. “When I wouldn’t tell them anything they wanted to hear about Meredith, they turned my office upside down, digging through my files. I’m glad they did. It was the noise that pissed off my neighbor who works night shift.”

“Did they find what they were looking for?” Dev asked.

Cliff shook his head. “The file cabinets are only for paper copies of bills paid and insurance policies. We don’t keep any paper documents about escorts or clients. That information is encrypted in our online files.” He bent to lift a fallen office chair but moaned and stopped short.

“Let me.” Dev set the chair back onto its wheels.

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