Page 54 of Two Steps Ahead

Kayleigh didn’t feel safe. As she walked through the rooms, with Weston at her back, she took in the ripped furniture, shredded clothing and destroyed pictures on the walls. Everything was ruined, and the more she saw, the more she hurt. Seeing the life she’d built for herself in pieces felt violating.

But the real damage came when she stepped into her studio.

Camera lenses had been shattered against the hardwood, computers knocked over with cracked monitors. There was even a pile of hard drives on the floor—her photographs—each one damaged and twisted like someone had taken a hammer to them. Even the canvases on the wall had been ripped into pieces.

Her safe space was ruined. It was pure carnage.

Kayleigh’s hand flew to her mouth and tears flooded her eyes as she took it all in. “Years of work, destroyed.”

There were backups, of course. And any work she’d done for a particular client had already been delivered. Ultimately, almost all of it was replaceable.

Yet the very violation left her distraught.

She felt Weston’s arms come around her and she was so thankful to have him to lean into.

“Who would do this?” she whispered, afraid if she spoke any louder, her voice would crack.

His arms tightened around her. “We think they were searching for something particular and either couldn’t find it and got angry, or tried to cover the search up.”

“Does this have anything to do with the merger? This doesn’t seem anything like a kidnapping attempt.”

He let her go but stayed close. “Kidnapping, no. But it definitely has to be related to the other things that have happened—the attempt at the lake, the mugging, the fire at Leo’s. How exactly it’s related, I’m not sure. They obviously weren’t trying to get their hands on you while doing this.”

Kayleigh nodded, feeling like a bobblehead when she couldn’t get herself to stop. She needed to focus on what she could control. “Okay. Okay. I can handle this. Insurance will cover the damage, so that’s good.”

Inside, her feelings were roiling.

The cameras at her feet made her chest ache. She’d had most of them for a decade—had never gotten rid of a single one. To her, they signified years of hard work. She had built her career with those cameras and found the most important parts of her life with them. Every picture she’d taken had been one step further to living her dreams.

Now they were gone and, despite the fact that the pictures still existed, it hurt more than she’d ever expected to see this destruction.

“Is it a threat? Someone trying to get me to stop the merger?”

Weston ran a hand down her arm. “I know it’s not what Leo wants, but things are obviously escalating. Stopping the merger would give you an out, remove you as a target.”

She sighed, trying to push past the scene in front of her long enough to think it over.

The more she looked, the angrier she got. “No, I’m not going to stop the merger. In fact, I’m even more determined to make sure it goes through. I’m not going to make my decisions out of fear.”

When Kayleigh glanced up, the look Weston gave her was one of quiet reverence and pride. It gave her the strength to reach for him and take what she needed. For the moment, it was a hug, but she couldn’t help feel the energy between them building. Soon, she’d want more than just that simple touch.

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said, pulling from her embrace and taking her hand.

She led him toward her bedroom, looking through the remnants of her belongings scattered on the floor. Taking a settling breath, she let go of his hand and gathered a couple changes of clothes to add to what Maci had already put in the duffel.

They walked to the front hall, where they could hear Chance and Maci arguing outside. “What about the house? Do we need to wait for the police?”

He held the door and ushered her out. “Chance and our team will go through the house first, then he’ll call his friends at the San Antonio PD to come in and document the scene. You’ll need to go in and give your statement eventually, but not right now. I don’t want to take a chance that whoever did this is waiting for you there.”

Kayleigh’s jaw tightened, but she gave in. She didn’t like not having control of things; however, she knew it was temporary.

“We’re heading out,” Weston said to Chance as they walked to the car, grabbing the duffel. The two were still glaring at each other. “Call if you need anything, or if there’s any changes we should know about. Maci, if you need a body disposal, call Brax.”

Maci beamed at him. “I promise to leave Chance’s body in the most obvious spot I can so everyone can see my handiwork.”

Chance shook his head in disbelief and pulled his phone out, waving quickly to Weston and Kayleigh before walking off to make his call.

Weston chuckled and turned, placing a hand at Kayleigh’s back to lead her to the car. “Follow me to Mom and Dad’s. We’ll make sure there’s nobody tailing us. This could all be an elaborate plan to find out where you’ve been hiding.”

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