Page 4 of Burned
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Kenzi surprised me as she stood ready to attack with one of the ceramic lion book ends in her hands. Her beautiful green eyes were focused on the entry to the shelter. It was only after she saw it was me entering that she took in a sigh of relief.
“You almost got your head bashed in,” she said as she placed the book end on the end table. “Where did you go? I didn’t think you trusted me enough to leave me alone.”
“I went outside to make sure it was safe to leave.” I walked over to where she was standing. Trying to keep the little clothing she was wearing from affecting me, I took the lion from the end table to place it back on the bookshelf. Leaving the comment about trust on the back burner, I turned from the bookshelf until our eyes met. “Get dressed. We need to leave.”
“Why are we leaving now? I didn’t think the plane was leaving until four.”
“Change of plans. Please, just get dressed.”
I watched Kenzi turn and walk back to her bedroom—unable to take my eyes off her sweet ass as it swayed with every step she took. Focusing on what needed to be done, I pulled my gaze from her and began filling my black bag with gear I thought would come in handy if we ran into unexpected company.
~3~
Axe
Given the way Stevenson’s housekeeper looked at me, my request to know where Kenzi was might have been a little harsh. The ass-ripping I got from Davian was confirmation that it was. All I wanted was to find Kenzi and take her back home, where she belonged.
I clenched my fists and rested them on my thighs in defeat. Stone drove away from the large log home and all I could think about was Stevenson and the type of man he was. When we first arrived at the house, Davian had mentioned that he had a pretty good idea who lived there. It was only fair that he elaborated, so I asked, “How well do you know this Stevenson guy, Davian?”
A few seconds passed before Davian replied, “River Stevenson, for the most part, is a good man.”
“What do you mean, for the most part?” I asked.
“Losing someone you love can do strange things to a man. Even blaming someone instead of yourself.”
Davian was talking in riddles, and I wasn’t in the mood to figure out what he meant. “Just come out with it, Davian.”
Davian twisted his body enough to put us face to face. “River Stevenson and I used to be close friends and business partners. That all changed a few years ago. He blamed me for his wife’s death. He was bound and determined to prove that I was involved, but he never could.” Davian paused, shaking his head as he relived the past. “I’m positive that River would never hurt Kenzi. More than anything, I think he feels obligated to protect her, just as he felt obligated to protect his wife.”
Nothing Davian said about River Stevenson not hurting Kenzi sat well with me. Stevenson was working with Wilkerson and Harris. I was certain of it. The only person who understood the magnitude of the situation that put Kenzi in harm's way was me. I was also the only person who knew what Van was capable of.
Since our visit with the housekeeper ended up a dead end, we reevaluated what we knew. Once we were a safe distance from Stevenson’s log home, Stone pulled off to the side of the road with the long entrance to the house still in our sights. So far, we knew that Wilkerson and Harris no longer had Kenzi, which meant their threat to hurt her was inconsequential.
Knowing Wilkerson, he would still follow through with his plan and Margot Horton’s bookstore would be nothing but ashes come tomorrow. “We need to get someone over toBooks-n-Things,”I blurted. “Even though Wilkerson and Harris no longer have Kenzi, I wouldn’t put it past them to blow the bookstore to smithereens themselves. They need the bookstore to be gone to save their own asses.”
Davian’s brow furrowed as he looked at me before removing his cell from the back pocket of his jeans and making a call. With his eyes on me, he finally said, “Patton, get a couple of men over to Margot’s bookstore. Once Wilkerson and Harris figure out that we know they don’t have Kenzi, they might take matters into their own hands and blow up the building themselves.”
I couldn’t hear what Patton was saying on the other end, but given the way Davian was nodding, he was adhering to Davian’s request. Before long, Davian ended the call and looked between Stone and I. “Patton is going to have Marcus and Calvin head to the bookstore. He thought it would be best to take Margot away from the building in the event things go south.”
If things went south and Wilkerson executed his plan, the last thing I wanted was for Margot to get hurt. It was one thing to blow up her building, but taking her life was unthinkable.
After we waited on the side of the road for hours with no sign of Stevenson, our consensus was that he would not be returning anytime soon. The only option was to return to the warehouse and regroup. It killed me not knowing where Stevenson had taken Kenzi or if he had hurt her. Regrouping was the last thing on my mind. It didn’t matter how much we picked apart what we knew. We had to come up with an alternative plan. I wasn’t about to sit around and wait until that happened. My link to finding Kenzi was Wilkerson and Harris.
~
The minute Stone pulled the SUV inside the warehouse, I made an excuse to leave. All I needed was a few minutes to call Wilkerson and get whatever information I could weasel out of him. Somehow I had to entice him to admit that he no longer had Kenzi, and it would be in his best interest to let me know where she was. The most private place to make the call was outside of these warehouse walls.
Standing in the alley where I could have some privacy, I pressed the send button and waited for Wilkerson to answer. The call went unanswered, and instead was followed by a text. There was only an attachment when I opened it. I didn’t know what Wilkerson’s game was, but I was willing to play along. The text piqued my curiosity as I place my finger on the attachment and several files began downloading to my phone. As I opened each one, my concern became real. There was a sequence of photos showing a detonator and then play-by-play photos of Margot’s bookstore collapsing like a house of cards. My first thought was that these photos couldn’t be real. As I looked more carefully at each photo, another text came in.You should have done what I asked. Now you will pay for your fuck-up.
I wanted to text him back and let him know I knew he didn’t have Kenzi, but instead I headed back inside the warehouse to let Davian know about the text. I underestimated Wilkerson. I never really thought he would take matters into his own hands and do the job himself. The possibly of him using Levi came to mind, since he would never risk getting his hands dirty.
When I entered the computer room, I didn’t have to say a word. Davian and the guys were already aware of what took place. Six days a week, Margot Horton dedicated her life to bring a ray of sunshine to book lovers across Atlanta. Within seconds, all of that was taken away. Even though I didn’t push the button on the detonator, I felt responsible for taking away everything she worked so hard for.
The sound of the large garage door opening caused us to switch our sights toward the computer room entrance. When a black SUV drove inside the building, I knew it could only be Marcus and Calvin. Davian had instructed them to watch the bookstore and to make sure that Margot was safe. I focused on the back passenger door, praying that it would open and reveal Margot on the other side. When the door swung open, a sense of relief washed over me. Margot came into view and defeat washed over her. The red that rimmed her green eyes told me she was mourning the loss of her bookstore. Guilt engulfed me, and I looked at her when her eyes met mine. How could I allow her to look at me, knowing that I caused her dream to turn into a nightmare?
Margot walked toward me, stopping inches from where I stood. Her tear-drenched eyes stared up at me as she asked, “Who would do this, Axe? Who would want to take everything that I worked so hard for?”
“I don’t know.” I lied.
