Page 53 of Deadly Designs

“How did you know what happened if you didn’t hearthe phone?”

“Sara Lea.”

Aja Blue glanced at the woman, who held up a hand andshrugged unrepentantly. “I climbed through his window to wake him.It was worth a breaking and entering charge to ensure he wasokay.”

She loved her employees. She hugged Sara Lea.

“Do you know anything yet?” Marla asked.

“Yeah, like who they found inside our office?” SaraLea added.

“Nothing yet. Hopefully, they’ll know tomorrow.”

“Do you think it’s Jay?” Darwin wanted to know.

“I’m going to keep my thoughts positive about Jay.”Even if it didn’t look good.

Suddenly anxious, she searched for Christian. Shedidn’t like being separated from him, even if it was only a fewfeet. He and his coworkers spoke with Detective Herbert and twoother people she didn’t know.

Her gaze strayed to the other businesses destroyed bythe fire, wondering if they would hate her. Oh, who was shekidding? Of course they would. Because of her, their livelihoodswere gone . . . at least until insurance kicked in and they couldrebuild.

Christian glanced at her and smiled, and her heartskipped a beat. Oh, she loved him—so much. People would argue thatshe’d only known him briefly, and only fools rushed in, but AjaBlue didn’t care. There was no denying her feelings. His caring,protective demeanor, handsome looks, and fierce protectivenessmingled with his mind-blowing talents in bed, and she was agoner.

She turned back to her coworkers. “Why don’t you guysgo home and get some rest? There’s nothing we can do here. I’llkeep you posted on what’s going on with the investigation.”

“What about our jobs?” Marla fretted.

“They’re safe, but obviously, we’ll be working fromhome for the foreseeable future. Sara Lea will set up a conferencecall for later this week, and we’ll keep in contact that way untilI can find a new office setup.” She’d also have to deal with theinsurance company and wasn’t looking forward to it.

Aja Blue thought of the furniture, some of her firstdesigns, and mourned the loss, but nothing was more important thanthe person who had perished inside the inferno.

“You’ll let us know about Jay?” Darwin’s questioninterrupted her thoughts.

He rarely showed emotion, so to see the pinched browsand pursed lips that let her know he was distressed was almost herundoing.

“I will.”

With hugs, the trio left, and Aja Blue walked over toChristian. A black van with the wordsChief Medical Examinerstenciled in white on the side had parked among the fire trucks andpolice cruisers. Two people in head-to-toe hazmat gear pushed astretcher with a black body bag. She shuddered and averted hergaze. She prayed it wasn’t Jay inside there, but whoever had losttheir life had loved ones they’d left behind.

As much as she didn’t want it to be Jay, who elsewould’ve been inside? Now, she wished she’d allowed Christian toinstall the security system like he’d wanted. She’d been trying tosave money, but it might’ve spared someone’s life if it had been inplace.

Christian noticed her unease. “You okay?”

She wanted to scream no. Everything was wrong. Jaywas missing. Her office had been destroyed. There was anunidentified dead person on the way to the morgue. Her employeeswere stressed. She’d almost been abducted, only to watch thekidnapper die. The only right thing was the man standing beforeher, gazing at her with concern. He’d risked his life for her andwas keeping her safe. She would be strong for him. He didn’t needadditional weight on his shoulders, no matter how capable theywere, so she nodded.

The authorities started asking questions, and she wasbone-tired by the time she’d answered every single one. Most werethe same questions over and over. She’d wondered if they weretrying to trip her up or something. Everything she told them wastrue. She had nothing to hide.

All she wanted to do was fall in bed with Christianand sleep for a week. Maybe when she woke, Jay would havereturned.

Detective Herbert promised to keep them apprised ofany developments, and they made their way back to the SUV. The sunwas rising, and activity in the area was picking up. Most of thefire trucks had left, but barricades blocked the street in front ofher office.

Once they were all inside and belted in, Presleywrinkled her nose and said, “We smell like we brought the fire inhere with us.”

They did. The stench was even in their hair. AjaBlue’s eyes burned from the smoke, but the pain paled compared tothe one in her heart. It wasn’t the loss of her office, though,that was devastating. Things could be replaced. She had insurance.Their computer systems were backed up to the cloud. Her mostimportant documents were on her laptop and saved on a drive shekept in a safe. It was the loss of the person inside the buildingthat devastated her.

Christian reached over and clasped her hand. How didhe always sense when she teetered on the edge of hysteria? He wasthe calm to her storm, and she absorbed his strength.

It was dark enough outside that his coworkerscouldn’t see them linking their fingers together. She didn’t careif they knew, but Christian did. She would defer to his wishes. Hewas the one who had to work with them.

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