Page 15 of Deadly Designs

“No. I have a better idea.” He explained his plan,and she nodded her head.

“That might work, but we shouldn’t do it today. He’sprobably busy with the cops.”

“We’ll try it tomorrow. My office secured us a placefor tonight.”

“I’d love to go by my condo and get some things. Ihaven’t been there since I returned home from Arizona.”

“We’ll head there now.”

Chapter Four

Aja Blue gave Christian directionsto her condo a few blocks away, and he pulled his rental SUV intothe underground garage. They’d left her vehicle behind at the hotelfor now.

She’d managed to cool her jets on her attraction tohim for the moment, but it would be a constant struggle. He wasjust so male. Big. Strong. Handsome.

She’d never felt safer in her life. Aja Blue had beenon her own for a long time. She was used to relying on only herselfand took pride that she was so independant, but she had to admitthat having Christian by her side removed a load from hershoulders. Many things she could handle alone, but a gun-toting,tracker-placing, purple-hat-wearing thug wasn’t one she wanted toattempt solo.

They didn’t encounter anyone on the elevator to thelobby, but they had to stop at the security desk to access the liftto her condo. The extra layer of protection was something she’dlooked for when shopping for a place to live. It was especiallycomforting now that someone had been following her.

“Hi, Roland. How are you?”

Roland’s brown eyes lit with pleasure, and a smilebroke across his face. “Ms. Aja Blue. I’m glad you’re back. I’mdoing good. How was the trip?”

“Exhausting.” She turned to Christian and grabbed hishand. “Roland, this is an old friend of mine. Christian. He’s intown for a few days.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Christian,” Roland said,holding his hand for Christian to shake. “Any friend of Ms. AjaBlue is lucky. She’s the best. I will get you added to the approvedlist.”

They went through the steps of filling out paperwork,making a copy of Christian’s driver’s license and snapping apicture for the files. No one got by Roland, and the extra measureswere reassuring.

“Roland, has Jay been by to see me while I wasgone?”

“Mr. Jay has not been here.”

“What about anyone else?”

He shook his head. “No. Why? Is there a problem?”

She told him about the man who might be following herand described his hat.

“No, I haven’t seen him, but I will keep an eye outand call the police if he comes here. He won’t get past me.”

“I know he won’t. Thanks, Roland.”

Once they were on the elevator, Christian turned toher. “Jay is the assistant whose apartment you were supposed to goto while you waited for me?”

“Yes.”

“Something’s wrong.”

It wasn’t a question but a statement. Aja Blue wasn’tdoing a very good job of hiding her feelings. Once again, sheshared her load. She told him she hadn’t been able to get in touchwith him for a week and that he wasn’t returning her calls.

Christian motioned for her to precede him when theyreached her floor, and she stepped out. “That’s unusual?”

“Extremely.” She slid the key into the door. “He’salways been reliable . . .” Her voice trailed off when she openedthe door. “What the heck?”

“Aja Blue, go to the hallway and wait for me.”

“What—” She gasped when she noticed the gun in hishand.

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