Page 8 of An Indecent Longing

Now Ben turned to the guy who stood at least three inches taller than him, which put him at six-four, at least. He reminded Ben of some film-noir tough guy. All he needed was a fedora.

He stuck out his hand. “Ben.”

The guy took it. “Blank. You and Keller gotta be related.”

Ben tried to hide his surprise but figured he didn’t do such a good job when Blank nodded, his gaze never leaving Dorrie.

“Why do you say that?”

The big guy huffed. “I’m good with faces.”

Then Blank made another sound, one that made Ben look a little more closely at him. “Hey, man. You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Ben looked even closer. And saw how pale the guy was.

“Shit.” He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Were you hit?”

“No.” But now the guy was practically clenching his teeth. “Not really.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means I got grazed and it hurts like a mother, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Where?”

“My side—”

“Damn it, Blank.” She sounded pissed. “When were you going to tell me?”

Dorrie had obviously finished talked to the EMTs, who were loading the woman she’d been helping onto a stretcher, and started to strip Blank’s jacket off him.

Without batting an eye, Blank took her hands and held her at a slight distance. “I’m fine. We need to leave. Now, before the cops get around to questioning you.”

“I have nothing to hide and you’re bleeding.”

“Then take me back to your office and patch me up there. But we’re not staying.”

Her jaw clenched in a way that made Ben’s lungs catch.

Damn, the woman was pretty. Made him want to—

“Blank.”

Her voice had been low but Ben heard the fear in her tone. He turned just in time to see the big guy’s eyes flutter and his body sway.

“Okay, maybe I need to sit down for a few minutes.”

Dorrie looked at Ben. “I need to get him to my office.”

“Out the back it is then.”

Ben took a quick look around. The EMTs were still busy with the wounded and so were the cops. He counted four of those at the moment but knew there’d be more arriving in seconds.

“I assume you know the magic word to open the door.”

She nodded. “The keycard’s in my purse. I dropped it by the door.”

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